Management and Indian Culture Essay

1. Evaluate the managerial style of Brian Moseley and explain how it fits with Indian culture. Be specific in identifying any mistakes Brian made in managing Indian workers. * Brian spoke with managers and employees, made mental notes of conversations (3 months) * Identified employees whom he felt should be replaced and whom had greatest potential for advancement * After 3 months, met with senior managers and proposed that they collectively formulate turnaround strategy * Suggested changes such as pay-for-performance programs, annual performance reviews, management by objectives, 360-performance appraisal program * Highly frustrated, he sometimes criticized members of managerial team in front of subordinates relationship with managers became increasingly strained * â€Å"Big Boss† manager who had little understanding of Indian culture * Rajan criticized Brian as being too direct and forceful â€Å"culturally imperialistic†, saying Brian was too immature, concerned that Brian was trying to change culture to fit American Management * His style of management was way too direct and forceful, didn’t fit with the Indian culture at all as they are more relaxed and laid back. * He made the mistake by trying to force it upon all the managers and if they didn’t give in, they should just quit, which they did. 2. Rank the following principals and justify the ranking in terms of responsibility for the lack of change at the Bindi Brake Company: Brian, Rajan, Aspen, the Indian Manager. * Brian – Although he was very excited to implement change, he didn’t implement the change according to the differences in cultures that India is accustomed to. He tried to hard to implement an American strategy rather than adapting to the culture surrounding him. * Indian Manager – I believe that hes the most responsible because people that work for the company look up to the manager, listens to the manager and will accept changes in the company if the manager asks them to do so. Because of their refusal to accept changes, they didn’t initiate or implement the strategies towards their employees, which made it that much more difficult to implement change. * Rajan – he was being stubborn and not listening to his directing officer. Even though he didn’t believe in the change process, he could’ve at least attempted to implement the change within the employees to see if it would make the company more efficient. His refusal to accept responsibility and take action caused the company’s plans to fail. * Aspen – sent an employee who they thought was experienced and competent to complete the job. 3. What could each of the above-named principals have done differently to avoid the situation? * Brian – adapted to the cultures instead of being stubborn and trying to implement a completely new culture into an organization that isn’t accustomed to it * Indian Manager – listen to his commanding officer and attempted to improve the company * Rajan – instead of being negative about all the ideas, comply to them and test them and see where it goes. Offer suggestions instead of just refusing to do anything * Aspen – monitor Brians progress and see how well he’s doing. Hire a more competent and easy-going person for the job 4. What should Brian do now? * He should learn to adapt to the Indian culture and develop new strategies to implement in order to improve the companies efficiency. *   * Brian selected to direct organizational change effort because of his past accomplishments, to improve overall efficiency and profitability of Bindi Brake Company * MBA in management from Michigan State * Bindi produced reasonably high-quality breaks, low labour costs, but just not efficient * Plant crippled with bureaucracy and there was no incentive for exceptional performance * Too many employees drinking tea and socializing instead of working * No performance reviews, pay for performance was never considered * Employees were never fired, even if they were not suited and performed poorly * Pay increases based on sonority, hired based on relation with current employees, high # of sick days * All of the managers were Indian and educated at Indian universities. * Rajan Patel – studied in London, postgrad for Econ, Brian felt he was one of the most promising candidates for advancement, hoped that he would take lead in change in management program * Brian became dissatisfied with progress by Indian Managers

Rice by Manuel Arguilla Essay

I. Writers Background He was born in Barrio Naguilian in Bauang, La Union on June 17, 1911. He was the fourth child of Crisanto Arguilla and Margarita Estabillo, hard-working farmer folk who owned a small piece of land. Aside from being a farmer, his father was also a carpenter; his mother, on the other hand, was an occasional potter. When he was seven years old, he enrolled in a school in the neighbouring Barrio Calumbaya, where he was taught the cartilla by Alfredo Abuan. Later, he transferred to the public elementary school in Bauang, La Union and graduated in 1926. Arguilla was a brilliant and active student. Aside from excelling in academics at the provincial high school in San Fernando, he edited as well the school’s official organ, the La Union Tab. A wide reader, he won in a vocabulary contest held in the school. He was a champion swimmer and an expert tango dancer, constantly winning in dance contests. He was known to have a â€Å"therapeutic† personality and was well-loved by everyone he knew; for he liked to listen to people tell him their stories. Anything that interested him became an almost intrinsic part of him. It took him only three years to complete his secondary education, graduating as class salutatorian in high school. In 1926, he entered the University of the Philippines. While studying, he worked as a writer and printing assistant at the Carmelo and Bauermann office. He became a member of the UP Writers Club, and eventually led it in the school year 1932-1933. He also came to edit the Literary Apprentice. In 1933, he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in education. During the same period, he married Lydia Villanueva, another aspiring writer. After graduating, he taught at the University of Manila while working at the Bureau of Public Welfare. The Arguillas’ home along M.H. Del Pilar in Manila became a sanctuary for friends and fellow writers, such as Estrella Alfon, Jose Garcia Villa, N.V.M. Gonzales and A.V.H. Hartendorp. Arguilla did not remain a teacher for long for he believed that writers were born, not made, and that a talent for writing was an innate attribute that could never be taught or acquired. Before leaving his students, he counselled them to just read volumes of stories. In 1940, he became the managing editor of the Bureau of Welfare newsletter, the Welfare Advocate. He worked at the Bureau for three years until the latter half of 1943. By then, the country had been under Japanese occupation for two years. He was appointed to the Board of Censors and was asked to serve in the Japanese propaganda agency. But Arguilla had also just become an agent of the Markings Guerillas. Thus, while apparently working for the Japanese, he was actually heading the â€Å"Porch,† the Markings’ counter-intelligence and propaganda unit operating in Manila. It was not long before the enemy discovered his guerrilla activities, and subsequently, had him arrested in February 1944. Along with his mother and a few relatives, he was incarcerated to Fort Santiago. His wife was initially unaware of his arrest but later, was able to evade the dragnet. After two months, Arguilla’s mother and relatives were released, while he was transferred to the Old Bilibid Prisons. Later, after being tortured and subjected to a sham trial, he was brought back to Fort Santiago for execution. Arguilla the writer often portrayed the life of the ordinary Filipino, usually the rural Ilocano, in his more than 50 short stories that have permanently enriched Philippine Literature. The critic Leopoldo Y. Yabes cited him as â€Å"the best craftsman among Filipino fictionists in English, (whose voice) is the only really authentic voice. He is shamelessly Filipino.† His stories are still considered unrivalled in his depiction of the life of the Ilocano farmer. In the prime of his life, Arguilla died a hero’s death. Yet he would not be forgotten. On June 12, 1972, Arguilla was honoured with a posthumous award, the republic Cultural Heritage Award. He was cited for producing literary works that have â€Å"continued to influence Filipino fiction writing†¦ and literary scholarship.† In his honour, a marker was installed in his hometown on August 25, 1983. II. Synopsis An afternoon on a hut with a tamarind tree beside it, Pablo, an old farmer, came from the farm and unhitched his carabao upon its empty sled and began to feed it with a grass. Then, he called her wife, Sebia, from their hut but no one answers him. He goes to the neighbourhood to ask if they’ve seen Sebia and his children but Osiang, their neighbour, seems not hearing what Mang Pablo is asking and give a question back regarding his husband Andres. Later sometime Osing told Mang Pablo that his wife and three children went to the creek for some snails. Mang Pablo reminisce the scenario later that morning when he with the several other tenants driven with their sleds to the house of the senora to borrow some grains. But as they go changes come, their usual tersiohan system on borrowing became takipan meaning the amount that they borrow becomes double at harvest time. His co-tenants refuse for this is too much and can’t even know if they can pay it exactly at the time given. In the end everyone leave with an empty sled and will come home without any rice to eat. Then, Osiang’s voice broke the silence. Asking if he had already cooked their rice and offered him pieces of coal. When he is about to go back home Andres came and give a sign telling he must wait for him. Andres – dark, broad and squat man, wearing a printed camisa de chino appeared asking Mang Pablo if he is coming with them. Mang Pablo advice he not to continue this because they will commit stealing but Andres together with other men is desperate. As he turned, he had seen wife and three children and was accompanied with a man. The man told him that they are fishing in the fields but Sebia disagreed and told him that they are just gathering some snails. Then, the watchman told Mang Pablo that they must pay five cavanes. Sebia is asking for the rice but Mang Pablo told him that there is no rice while looking in his hungry children seeing weakness and pain then he asks for his bolo joining Andres and together they walked to the house of Eli.

Technology and change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technology and change - Essay Example Cell phones, especially GPS phones raise lots of concerns over the privacy issues. Consumers are often not aware that their movements are monitored. Their secrecy and private life will be in jeopardy while they are using such GPS mobile phones. Women and girls can be traced and their private life can be exploited by intruders. Blackmailing and robbery can be accomplished using the GPS. Security is another concern. â€Å"Government officials and communications experts are assessing the public safety and security implications of a newly posted online article that provides directions for making cheap devices that can jam Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. The Phrack article provides a detailed guide to building a low-cost, portable GPS jammer out of components that can be easily obtained from electronics supply houses. (Bob Brewin) As per this article, an average person with slight knowledge in electronics can make GPS jammers without much effort. In the modern world of highest terrorist activities, GPS can act as a blessing and a curse at the same time. â€Å"Global Positioning Systems (GPS) reveal a persons location. This type of location data helps police with their investigations, such as tracking down a criminal or even someone who is lost or missing. They can act as a safety device to protecting your family and loved ones. Location technology also helps locate stolen cars.†(Brad Seabourne  ). For example, suppose a person with a GPS phone is being kidnapped. The police can identify the location of the person who is being kidnapped with the help of the GPS system easily. GPS can provide valuable information to the drivers such as total miles driven, speeds that it was driven, travelled routes and current location. The driver can now find their exact location and get directions, and more over they can have it delivered by voice with the help of

Micro1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Micro1 - Essay Example However, the freedom of movement can also act as a determining factor of the existence or non-existence of freedom. When one has the freedom of movement, they have the choice to choose where the place they will move to is. They can either choose to move to a good place or move to a bad place. Let’s consider a hypothetical situation where two individuals have made a choice to move. One individual chooses to move to a good place while the other chooses to move to a bad place. Initially, the two individuals are both free, but their choice dictates their freedom. The individual who chooses to move to a good place is essentially free. This is because their choice has made them free. The other individual who chooses to move to a bad place, though initially having the freedom of choice, is not free on the basis of their choice. His choice determines that the freedom in itself does not make the individual free. This is the paradox of freedom. From this paradox, it can be derived that freedom does not necessarily make one individual free; it does not guarantee that one will be automatically free. The freedom of an individual is determined by the manner in which the individual uses the freedom at their disposal. Freedom is highly perishable. Any individual that has a particular freedom or is seeking for freedom has the fundamental obligation of using it wisely. If carelessly used or handled, freedom will automatically degrade due to its highly perishable nature. Another paradoxical feature of freedom is responsibility - responsibility comes with freedom. Any individual, group, or country that has achieved or attained freedom to a certain extent has had to take responsibility for it. A free individual is held accountable for their every decision, mistake or success and have to be answerable over any uncertainties or eventualities in terms of outcomes. Freedom therefore is not a lifeless concept but a concept of life; a living entity proof. Freedom has many forms, l evels, and states. Some of the aspects of freedom are on an individual basis while others are on an integral basis. The most basic but essential freedom is the freedom to think. This is an inner freedom that determines whether or not freedom is truly in existence. This is because the freedom of thought is the foundation of all other freedoms. Any kind of assault or annihilation of this freedom results to a restriction of all other freedoms. According to Hamilton (2011: 33), humans deprive themselves of freedom by pursuing their very desires. Man is so caught up in fulfilling his desires that he unknowingly curbs his freedom of thought. He becomes unable to spawn from his ability to think, and this is perilous because it is a fundamental freedom of man. The freedom to think is similar to the freedom to move. Similar to the freedom to move to either a good or a bad place, the freedom to think enables us as individuals to either have good thoughts or bad thoughts. At such a point, the questions that can be and ought to be asked are what are good thoughts and what are bad thoughts. The answer to this questions can be derived by an individual with regards to their beliefs, moral standards, and principles. In addition, the societal perception of certain issues can also be a basis for gauging whether the thoughts that an individual has are good or bad. However, the most standard way of determining the nature of thoughts that are generated by an individual is by analyzing their environment. From the concept of extension, the brain extends

Innovations in Human Resource Management Assignment

Innovations in Human Resource Management - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that distrust of customers leads to decreased profits and market segments. This will lead to losing customers to competing companies who use this information to lure customers and win their trust. Data misuse by third parties has led many users of Facebook have encroached self-determination that limits them from having prosperous careers. Mary Jane has the experience and knowledge to take up the position of Field Sales Manager. However, her negligence and ignorance concerning the use of social networks have tarnished her name and image. Field Sales Manager interacts with so many people and her image should portray all the values of the company. Some of the clients she is going to reach out to use Facebook and will eventually leak out information to prospective clients concerning the pictures. This will give the company a poor image and therefore, the HR administration should reconsider their decision of hiring Mary. Her negligence and ignoran ce portray that she will do the same for the clients she mingles with when hired by the company to carry out the responsibilities of Field Sales Manager. This position is prestigious and needs to be given to an individual with an all-around personality encompassing outstanding social behaviors. Through social media, employers can check on their employees for harassing postings on Facebook, but cannot use data achieved to discriminate against their employees due to religion, race or sexual orientation. A candidate’s legal right to privacy is breached when employers hack into their protected accounts. Encrypted Facebook accounts, with passwords, should not be tampered with by employers.

THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ECONOMIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ECONOMIC - Essay Example It emphasized that foreign goods should only be imported if there is an indispensable need and that too for exchange of domestic products instead of gold and silver. The mercantilist thought opposed free trade with other countries and empires believing that it was fruitless and beneficial to one side only. This paper aims to investigate the important contributions made by the critics of mercantilism which led to the development of classical economic thought (The economist, ). The mercantilist policies, where successful, produced an oversupply of wealth eventually leading to severe inflation. Sooner, protests against government regulations were voiced due to fiscal difficulties. In the late 17th and 18th centuries in France, economists developed physiocracy (government of nature) which advocated agricultural practices, land development and stressed on higher pricing of agricultural commodities. Pierre le Pesant de Boisguilbert opposed the prohibition of export of grain which was ruining the neglected agriculture sector. Fracois Quesnay in his work ‘Tableau Economique’ also opposed trade and industry as sources of wealth arguing that real economy mover was productivity in agricultural and diffusion of its surpluses in the system. Marshal Vauban asserted that working class were the main pillars of social welfare and should be protected. Among other notable contributors were Richard Cantillon, Marquis d’Argenson and Vincent de Gournay who advocated free trade and is believed to have originated the physiocratic slogan ‘laissez faire, laissez passer’ meaning ‘let it be, let it pass’. John Law in his ‘credit theory of money’ proposed that since silver and gold fluctuate, land would be the most stable measure of value. He proposed the use of mortgage-notes for mobilization and paper money for domestic circulation upon security of land. Similarly in Britain, William Petty, John Locke, Dudely North, David Hume and others strongly criticized

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop - Research Paper Example Although the main character in the poem is a fish, the situations described therein are not only applicable to the fish itself but is reflective of the struggles of common human beings. Therefore, the discussions in this paper will be dealing with the literary devices used in the poem as well as their relations to the poet. Elizabeth Bishop clearly describes the fish in her poem and brings her readers to think about common things in life observed everyday as a way of bringing connections from the fish to the reader. She brings out common observances as a way of saying, â€Å"This is not simply a talk about a fish but this is also about us†. First and foremost, the author calls the attention of her readers to the â€Å"tremendous fish† that she caught by describing how the fish hung from her hook, looking â€Å"battered and venerable and homely†. In real life, there are so many people with such situations- people who have been through a lot of troubled times but b y overcoming, they have gained a respectable status. The word â€Å"homely† expresses the thought of the poet of this circumstance as a common predicament and not an extraordinary situation and therefore, makes a common ground for the fish and the reader. Early in life, Bishop experienced several troubles herself and was introduced to the words ‘struggles’, ‘trials’, ‘tests’, ‘grief’, ‘disappointments’ and many other difficulties even when she was still unable to understand words. While she was merely eight months old, Bishops’ father died from a disease he has been suffering for six years. This became the start of her troubled life because although her mother was a respectable woman, she was greatly distressed with the death of her husband which led her to get in and out of the mental hospital for the rest of her life (harvardsquarelibrary.org, Miller). As a result, Bishop had a short-lived relationship with her mother because she eventually died when the poet was but five years old. Nevertheless, she tells of memories about her mother such as the boat ride they had when she was around three years old wherein one of the live swans bit her mother’s finger when she tried to give it some peanuts. On another occasion, she picked up a â€Å"woman’s black cotton stocking† which represents an intimate clothing and she was reprimanded of her curiosity by her mother. As a result, she became indignant of her mother and did not have such a good relationship from then on (Miller). From the accounts above, it is clear that even at a young age, Bishop has been through tough times and she sees herself in the fish but as mentioned earlier, she also sees other people’s lives in the fish. She then describes the physical appearance of the fish, commenting on its skin. Bishop uses simile not only to give a vivid description but also to bring the reader from the setting wher e the speaker is fishing to the world beyond it where other people are living. Similes such as â€Å"his brown skin hung like strips†, â€Å"like ancient wallpaper† and â€Å"like full blown roses† give color to the images presented and make the fish an interesting character contrary to what really happens in daily life. Such commonality and vivid descriptions come together as attractions to the reader to consider what the poet is saying. Sure

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Research Paper - 2

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Research Paper Example In many cases, the victim may not register any complaints about the sex harassments and hence the number of the actual sex harassment cases is extremely higher than the number of the reported cases. Sexual harassment is considered as employment discrimination if it takes place at the workplace. Earlier sex harassment incidents at workplaces were mostly happened against the women employees. However, at present even male workers are complaining about the sexual harassment they are facing from their female superior employees. In other words, both males and females are equally suffering from the sexual exploitations at workplace. Nature of sex harassment incidents at workplace Sex harassments can take place in the workplace in different forms. Sex harassments can take place physically, psychologically, verbally or nonverbally. Even some of the gestures can categorize in the sex harassment lists. In most of the cases, sex harassments start verbally. The culprit often tries to catch the at traction of the victim with the help of comments with sexual overtones or remarks sexual nature. Chaudhari (2006) has pointed out an incident in which a senior doctor used verbal sexual harassment even in the operation theatre. A female doctor of 34 years of age said â€Å"ah† when the operation theatre needle accidently pierced her hand. In response to that the senior doctor said â€Å"You are making a sound like you are having sex† (Chaudhari, 2006, p.11). In this case, the senior doctor tried to harass the junior doctor even in the operation theatre which shows that sex harassments are happening even at workplaces where one would never anticipate such activities. The culprit often analyzes the response of the victim to the initial verbal... This essay stresses that sexual harassment is an act of intimidation, bullying or coercion for in an effort to force a person to engage in sexual activities. In many cases, the victim may not register any complaints about the sex harassments and hence the number of the actual sex harassment cases is extremely higher than the number of the reported cases. This paper declares that earlier sex harassment incidents at workplaces were mostly happened against the women employees. However, at present even male workers are complaining about the sexual harassment they are facing from their female superior employees. In other words, both males and females are equally suffering from the sexual exploitations at workplace. Sex harassments can take place in the workplace in different forms. Sex harassments can take place physically, psychologically, verbally or nonverbally. Even some of the gestures can categorize in the sex harassment lists. In most of the cases, sex harassments start verbally. The culprit often tries to catch the attraction of the victim with the help of comments with sexual overtones or remarks sexual nature. The culprit often analyzes the response of the victim to the initial verbal assaults microscopically before deciding whether to continue his/her activities or to stop it there. In the above incident, if the junior doctor r esponded or seems to be responded favorably to the comments of her senior doctor, sex harassment will enter the second phase of unwanted body touches or physical activities.

Mexico Country Report Essay Example for Free

Mexico Country Report Essay The measures of economic development in Mexico include per capita GDP of about 9,000 dollars. Mexico has a population of about 110 million people. It has a relatively well developed infrastructure and communication systems. Adult literacy is about 94% for the males whereas 91% for the females. Most of the labor force is concentrated in the agricultural sector (4%), industries (26%) and service industry (70%). The life expectancy in Mexico is about 75. 19% at birth. This encompasses all the races and sexes (Kohler and Tausch, 2002) Dependency theory versus modernization theory Dependency theory describes poverty as a consequence of the manner in which a country is integrated into a system rather than lack of integration. Mexico is mainly involved with other developed countries in terms of exports and the imports as the main economic activities. On the other hand, the developed countries are rarely involved in such activities with the developing countries. They are mainly involved with other countries that are well developed as well as internal trade. This consequently leads to less bargaining power in the world market (Kohler and Tausch, 2002) Religion and politics There has been considerable shift as far as religion is concerned. This also involves the relationship between the church and the state. Mexico is primarily a Roman Catholic nation though there has been continuous expansion of other evangelical churches. Despite the several constitutional bans imposed on the churches, they have continued to involve themselves in political issues. The Catholic Church, for example, has continued to involve itself in sensitive issues which concern the public. Mexico is now a multireligious nation since other evangelical churches have continued to grow in numbers. This can be attributed to the recruitment efforts in the earlier years (in the 1980s and 1990s). There are a number of protestant churches in Mexico today such as Seventh Day Adventist, Assemblies of God and the Mormons. The growth was greatly reported mainly in the south eastern part of Mexico. These areas include Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo and other States in Mexico (Nesvig, 2006). The church state relations in Mexico have been reported to be one of the main causes of confrontations in Mexico. The Catholic Church has continued to play multiple roles in this nation. The government’s effort to curtail this influence has not been very successful. The catholic involvement in several areas (such as charities and institutions) and their rising numbers was seen as a threat to the government. The church’s involvement in politics is currently seen as a move to express their democratic rights and fight for the rights of the citizens. Their aim is to fight for good governance and correct the State. Currently, the relationship between the church and the state is a realistic one. This is due to the abolishment of most restrictions that had been imposed in the past (Camp, 2007). Ethnic-cultural divisions There are several indigenous groups found in Mexico. They belong to different ethnic groups and political affiliations. It is worth noting that the Indians are not just one group but comprise several ethnicities with a common background (historical and the cultural backgrounds). There are several cultural subdivisions in Mexico. One of the main subdivisions identifies the central, south eastern, northern and south Mexico. The northern part of Mexico which had been sparsely populated for a long time is now occupied by a small group of indigenous people. It is referred to as the frontier culture and it has a sparse population. The central and western part of Mexico has dense population. There are a number of indigenous populations in the central parts, coastal plains and the sierras. The culture in Mexico is a diverse one made up of different kinds of identities (Camp, 2007). Women and development It is reported that women participation in economic issues has greatly increased compared to the past. Most women are also involved in other activities in the nation and are paid better wages compared to the past. Despite the fact that men are the main persons in politics, women have also begun to be involved. This has been seen in the leadership roles in certain political parties in Mexico. On the other hand, women have also been involved in other social organizations and movements. Despite the fact that the law clearly advocates for equality between women and men, there is still differences between the two. This can be seen in the types of privileges and their authority. Women are mostly involved in religious issues in Mexico (Roberts and McBee, 2008) Agrarian reform and the politics of rural change The agrarian reforms in Mexico have been one of the main accomplishments in Mexico though it was not an easy task. It is reported that most people had small plots of lands which were not enough to meet their needs. Most of these people were the campesinos. However, most of the privately owned lands were taken and redistributed. The ejido or community plots were the mode of redistribution of the lands. In this arrangement, the government was petitioned by the citizens to seize most of the privately owned properties. The land was owned by the state but every person was free to farm. This was done either individually or as a group but the land could not be sold by the Ejidatarios. They were also compelled to continue using the lands or else the right of use is withdrawn. Every person had the right to use the land including the Comuneros. The current scenario in Mexico is the continued struggle to redistribute the lands to the poor who are landless. This is carried out by most organizations (Roberts and McBee, 2008) Rapid urbanization and the politics of the urban poor The rapid urbanization in Mexico can be attributed to certain policies which had positive impacts ion the industrial sector. They led to an increase in industrial production. Despite the rapid urbanization, several problems have also been encountered. For example, most cities do not have efficient way of distributing water supplies. Secondly, the sewerage system is not a good one in most areas. The factors which have contributed to urban growth are population increase and urban migration. Migration can be due to the search of better opportunities or lifestyle (Roberts and McBee, 2008) Despite the fact that the poverty trends in Mexico have been improving since 2002, the urban poverty has continued to rise. This is the greatest challenge as far as the equitable distribution of resources is concerned. The rural areas have continued to be improved with time and the level of poverty reduced in these areas. Several factors can be attributed to this change. These include; diversified incomes from economic activities and other services like tourism. The main area that needs improvement is the urban areas. Most people in these areas usually toil very hard but are paid less. Most of their incomes are got as a result of manual labor (about 60%). Accessibility of opportunities to the poor has not improved in the urban areas. Revolutionary change/Soldiers and politics The revolution in Mexico began as early as 1910 and it involved several movements. It kept changing from not just a revolt but into a civil war which involved several parties. It led to the establishment of the constitution in 1917 by the representatives. The beginning of the revolution was in 1929 with the establishment of National Revolutionary Party (NRP). It hang on to power until the year 2000 (Hart, 2007). This revolution involved everyone including Mexican women and their impacts were felt during this period. It is reported that they took part in several activities, professions and took part in wars. Some of the famous known women participants were known as the Soldaderas who were closely involved with the militias. It is reported that the main reasons why women joined in such risky affairs was due to fear of being left alone by their husbands. Some were also involved because they saw this as a collective duty. Some of the women who took part in the revolutionary process include Hermila Galindo and Dolores Muro (Jandura, 2009). The political economy of third world development Mexico experiences a wide gap more as far as wealth distribution is concerned. The level of inequalities has continued to rise in this country especially with the introduction of certain economic policies. It has been reported that a lot of people live below the poverty line with a small number of people in the middle class. The level of poverty and marginalization has continued to spread in many parts of the country but are mostly seen in the southern and central parts of rural Mexico. Most settlements do not have the basic services and social amenities. Most of the poorest groups are the Indians who are also highly marginalized (Anderson and Glade, 1963). On the other hand, the wealthiest groups of people are mostly the whites. The differences between the rich and the poor are easily noticed in the modes of dressing and the lifestyles of the people. The usage of facilities also shows a difference. Wealthy people have access to the best facilities and institutions whereas the poor are not allowed to. These differences have led to discrimination in Mexico and ethnic rivalry. Most of the government’s help is directed to the urban areas (Villareal, 2010). References Anderson, C. W. Glade, W. P. (1963). The Political Economy of Mexico. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Camp, R. A. (2007). Crossing swords: Politics and Religion in Mexico. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Hart J. M. (2007). Revolutionary Syndicalism in Mexico. Retrieved on 22 August 2010 from http://libcom. org/library/revolutionary-syndicalism-mexico-john-m-hart Jandura T. (2009). Revolutionary Mexican Women. Retrieved on 22 August 2010 from http://www. ic. arizona. edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/mex-jand. htm Kohler G. and Tausch A. (2002) Global Keynesianism: Unequal exchange and global exploitation. Huntington NY: Nova Science. Nesvig, M. A. (2006). Local Religion in Mexico. Gainesville: University Press of Florida Roberts E. R. McBee G. W. (2008) Modernization and Economic Development in Mexico: A factor analytic Approach. Retrieved on 22 August 2010 from http://www. jstor. org/pss/1152237 Villareal A. M. (March 31, 2010). US-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues and Implications. Retrieved on 22 August 2010 from http://www. fas. org/sgp/crs/row/RL32934. pdf

Internal combustion engine Essay Example for Free

Internal combustion engine Essay MGMT425 Spring 2013 – Haisu Zhang Marketing Research: Green Marketing Are Hybrid Cars Worth The Money? By Josh Nottingham Tyler Alberson Lei Ye James Chimitt Introduction: Over the course of the past few decades, Hybrid cars have slowly been multiplying on the road. General Motors sold 11,000 Chevrolet Volts in 2010 and are expecting that number to rise to 70,000 by next year (J. D. Power and Associates, 2012). The total percentage of Hybrid cars that cruise the road only makes up 3% of the entire automobile industry, but is expected to triple by the year 2015. There has been an immense debate over whether it’s worth spending the money to purchase a Hybrid car over a standard vehicle. What is a Hybrid Car? First built in the early 1900s, Hybrid vehicles are defined as a car that runs on two sources of power. The most common Hybrid vehicle combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor, which is known as a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV). While most people consider this to be a recent invention, the technology has been around since the development of the first car. In fact, the first Hybrid car was created in 1899. The Beginning of Hybrids: The first Hybrid car was created by an engineer Ferdinand Porsche, which was named the System Lohner-Porsche Mixte. This vehicle used the combination of a gasoline engine to supply power to an electric motor. Surprisingly, the Mixte had over 300 produced, but once Henry Ford started the first assembly line in 1904, the demand for Hybrids slowly diminished. The main reason the demand decreased was due to the fact that Ford was able to sell gasoline engine vehicles for less and they produced more power. The Rebirth of Hybrids: After almost fifty years later, the United States congress introduced legislation that encouraged using more electric vehicles to attempt reducing the air pollution in the 1960s. Over the next thirty years, auto manufacturers spent billions of dollars researching the development of Hybrid cars and the technology that was needed. Sadly, only a few cars were produced which would both reduce our world’s dependence on oil and be able to compete with the historic gasoline vehicles price and performance. These vehicles failed to attract consumers and were eventually dropped from the production line. It wasn’t until the Toyota Prius, which released in 1997; Hybrid cars were finally starting to gain popularity in the automotive industry. From there, numerous Hybrid cars were released into the United States. For example, the Honda Insight became the first mass-produced HEV in the United States, which was a a small two-door car. The Toyota Prius is known as the â€Å"Hybrid† to many people, because it gave the Hybrid technology the consumers were hunting for. This particular vehicle has been the most popular HEV ever produced and auto manufacturers have used the technology as the platform for their Hybrid vehicle models. In this era of being environmentally friendly, auto manufacturers have shifted their production lines toward offering more Hybrid models to their customers. Toyota still offers the Prius, but Chevrolet and Honda have high expectations for their newest family members, the Volt and second generation Insight. We can expect auto manufacturers to continue shifting their production in the field of Hybrids. The Future of Hybrids: Since there is an increasingly demand for Hybrids, we can expect the future of Hybrids to be near. The next biggest change consumers can expect is to phase away from Nickel-Cadmium battery packs. Virtually every Hybrid on the road today has these battery backs. They are great for durability and proven to work well, but they have disadvantages since they are nearly six-teen years old. Nickel-Cadmium batteries do not charge as fast as other batteries and they are very heavy, because nickel is very heavy. By finding an alternative to these heavy batteries and reducing the weight, cars will be more efficient and have the ability to charge faster. There have been rumors of switching HEVs to Lithium-Ion Technology, which is both lighter and charges faster. Another report indicated the transformation of using a diesel engine combined with electric, which would increase the fuel economy of the vehicle. All these changes the future hold are the next stepping stones of the Hybrid era.

Influence of Terror on Pakistan Stock Market Returns

Influence of Terror on Pakistan Stock Market Returns Abstract This paper examines the influence of political instability and terror on Pakistan stock market returns between 1997 and 2010. The study constructs three variables that quantify political instability and terror and examine the effect on country stock return. This study seeks to apply the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model to assess the impact of these variables on stock market returns and volatility using daily time series data for KSE. Results for KSE showed strong support for the hypothesis that bad news exerts more adverse effect on stock market volatility than good news of the same magnitude. Furthermore, terror and regime have significant negative impact while war has positive but insignificant effect on stock market volatility. JEL Classification: O40, C32. Keywords: Terror, Regime, political instability, growth, ARCH/GARCH. Introduction Many people agree that stock prices sometimes behave in bizarre ways. Markets are pretty tough and quite difficult. In the world of todays no one can negate the importance of stock markets. Stock market acts as a barometer for any countrys economy. In todays information-oriented world, news travels very fast and contagion can spread quickly and capital markets become more flexible and are absorb shocks brought on different news such as terrorism, political instability etc. Stock market of Pakistan is going through quite rough patch from many years. The change of political government and later on the terrorists attacks have badly affected the stock market and make the Pakistan Stock Market unreliable place for investment. As by seeing the overall scenario of Pakistans stock market during that time period it was not difficult for prices to follow certain patterns that support the rejection of Random Walk Hypothesis. This paper examines the impact of change in government, war and terror on economic growth in the Pakistan. Pakistan is one of those episodic-democratic countries who are facing continuous upheavals and socio-political disruptions since their inception. Military interventions could be witnessed in the political history of Pakistan. More over intervallic wars with India, strikes, antigovernment demonstrations and most importantly the ongoing war on terror have popped Pakistan to prominence on the socio-political platform. Such sociopolitical flux, terrorist attacks and other disruptions can have serious implications for stock price movement because stock prices reflect investors expectations about the future and these stock price movements on aggregate can generate a surged wave of activity. There has been an extensive work on study of stock market returns and volatility with respect to the fundamental variables and the macroeconomic variables but a diminutive work has been done so far to study the impact of socio-political factors on the stock market volatility in Pakistan. The existing literature on impact of socio-political factors on stock returns volatility is quite inadequate especially if we talk in context of Pakistani market. Masood Sergi (2008) analyzed Pakistans political risks and events that have affected the Pakistani stock market since its independence but their study chiefly covers the political events. Terrorism and strikes which have recently become the matters of intense interest and the source of unrest in the economy are the missing part there. The Karachi stock market is rapidly converting into a volatile market. If we see figure below it showed that there are high volatility during 1997 to 2010. This cannot be viewed as a positive sign for this emerging markets like Stock market of Pakistan. Though heavy fluctuations in stock prices are not an unusual phenomena and it has been observed at almost all big and small exchanges of the world. But focusing on the reasons for such fluctuations is instructive and likely to have important policy implications. The efficient market hypothesis argued that changes in stock prices are mainly dependent on the arrival of information regarding the expected returns from the stock and risk associated with that stock. (See Figure 1.1) So the purpose of our study is to examine empirically the impact of socio-political instability on Pakistani stock market. This study examines the three factors and their impact on the Pakistani stock market; the political instability due to military interventions, 1999 Kargil war, and terrorism. Literature Review A number of theoretical and empirical articles argue that these factors hinder economic growth of a country. Cutler, Poterba and Summers (1989) claimed that the sock prices move in response to the information other than about the fundamental values. They estimate the fraction of stock returns that can be accredited to various kinds of economic and non-economic events including assassinations of important political or national figures, war, invasions, raids and major policy change but their findings suggests a very small effect of non-economic news on the share price. Most of the studies have found a significant impact of political news or events on the stock market behavior. Chan Wei (1996) studied the impact of political news on the stock market volatility in Hong Kong and using GARCH-M model they found the strong evidence of the impact of political news on stock market volatility inferring that unfavorable political news is correlated to negative returns for the Hang Seng Index and vice versa. Mei Guo (1999) examined the impact of political insecurity on the financial crises in emerging markets and they observe that market volatility increased during political election and transition periods and political uncertainty could be a major contributory factor to financial crisis. Similarly Kim Mei (2001) infered through empirical analysis using GARCH(1,1) filter that the political risk affect the stock market volatility but this impact of political events or news is asymmetric, with bad news having a greater influence on volatility relative to good news. However Voth (2001) have argued that the impact of political factors in studies on German market has been over stated. He argued that the majority of events escalating political uncertainty had a minute or no effect on the value of German assets and the volatility of their returns. Instead, it was inflation that is mainly responsible for most of the variability in stock returns. He suggests that there is no direct linkage between the political factors and the stock market, however through channel it impacts. But Voth (2002) in a panel study of a set of 10 countries using panel regression confess that during great depression political risks changed dramatically over the period, and are adequate to account for a large part of the boost in stock price volatility. Beaulieu, Cosset Essaddam (2002) examined the impact of political risk in Canada on the volatility of stock returns, covering important political events in the country. Their study suggested that political news performs a significant role in the volatility of stock returns. Moreover the volatility of stock returns also depends on the degree of how much a firm is exposed to political risk i.e. the structure of its assets and the level to which there is foreign involvement. Kutan Perez (2002)Â  also found a significant impact of social and political factors on stock return volatility in their study conducted on Colombian stock market. Bautista (2003) applied Regime-switching-ARCH regression on Philippine stock returns to estimate its conditional variance and the estimated volatility was then related to major political and economic events. Their study revealed that the Philippine stock market is sensitive to radical changes in the political situation. Moreover the series of military takeover attempts during late 1980s in Philippines lead to hefty fluctuations in stock market index. Masood Sergi (2008) analyzed political risks and events that have affected the Pakistans stock markets since its foundation. They have found that Pakistans political risk carries a significant risk premium of between 7.5% and 12%. They made forecasts using Bayesian hierarchical modeling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques and found that there is relatively high probability of occurrence of events with an average arrival rate of approximately 1.5 events per year. Many others also wrote that political instability warped the future path of investment decisions (Calvo and Drazen (1997), lessened public investment leading to a shift of government budgets from capital spending to government consumption (Darby, Li and Muscatelli (1998), and makes governments less inclined to make improvements to the legal system (Svensson (1993) Wars and unrest at the borders creates instability and panic among the investors that could affect the stock market movement at large. The affect of war has been analyzed in many studies including Cutler, Poterba and Summers (1989), Aggarwal, Incaln Leal (1999) and in Pakistan Masood Sergi (2008). Aggarwal, Incaln Leal (1999) examined the sort of events that cause large swings in volatility of emerging stock markets. For this purpose they examine various social, political and economic events both at global and domestic level to find out their explanatory power in context of the returns volatility in the emerging markets including the impact of gulf war. Though at small scale but the impact of gulf war was felt in those emerging markets. Similarly Masood Sergi (2008) found that among other factors that they studied, wars with India, 1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999 kargil war negatively influenced the Pakistani stock market. Evia et al. (2008) examined the affect of socio-political conflict in Bolivia on economic performance. Factors studied widespread during the conflicts as strikes, demonstrations, road blockades, and conventional rent-seeking. Their results showed that economic growth due to external factors is positively related to conflict while growth due to productive investment is negatively related to conflict. Terrorism is another as put that has been studied in relation to economic activity. Many studied in this distance; produced conflicting results as Becker and Murphy (2001) argue that economic performance are not much affected, because terrorist attacks usually devastate only a small portion of the overall stock of capital in a country. By contrast, Abadie and Gardeazabal (2005) repeated that terrorism shape overall economic risk in a country and lead to the economic shakiness in the country. They also conclude their study that higher level of terrorism risks results into the lower levels of foreign direct investment (FDI). Almost all studies on terrorism and its influence on stock prices limited to only on a single or few events, such as the 11 September 2001 attacks, as considered by Hon et al. (2004) Chen and Siems (2003) study. Chen Siems (2003), used event study methodology to capture the aftermath of terrorism on global capital markets. They studied on the reaction of U.S. capital markets in response to terrorist attacks. Their results showed that capital markets of US are more resilient flexible than in the past and recover quicker from terrorist attacks than other global capital markets. Their study suggests this increased market resilience to be partially explained by a stable financial sector in US that provides adequate liquidity to support market stability and reduce the spread panic. Methodology and Data Description Stock index data is taken from Karachi Stock Exchange, Yahoo Finance. This is a well known and reliable source of business information in Pakistan. The daily closing value of KSE-100 index is used for calculating the daily returns. The continuously compounded annual rate of return is used to measure the returns for the specific period as; Rt = ln (Pt / Pt-1) The closing prices of KSE-100 index for Karachi Stock Exchange are taken for the period July 2, 1997 to Oct 13, 2010. Our proxies are TERROR, a dummy variable of terrorist incidents during this period; REGIME, a dummy variable for government changes from fully democratic government to Marshal Law or democratic under such condition; a dummy variable for the period of the Kargal War in 1999. We applied regression model and Arch/Garch technique to capture the results. ARCH/GARCH Study Models This section presents the methodology of the paper. Daily data for Karachi stock markets were obtained from Yahoo finance and data for terror, kargal war and regime were obtained from South East Asia Terrorism Portal, and Different News Paper of Pakistan. Study apply ARCH/GARCH tools to see the long term relationship of these variable taking stock return as dependent variable and terror, regime and kargal war as independent variables. As aggregate uncertainty may be a function of political instability, we proceed to model uncertainty directly. It is natural to look at the conditional variance of output. Thus, we examine GARCH processes, in a more general framework than in the previous section. The model estimated here is a GARCH (1,1) process. Engle (1982) argue that in high frequency data large and small disturbance errors appear in group therefore error term variances can be shown as a function of their lagged values. He calls it Autoregressive conditional Heteroskedasticity (ARCH). As an investor or policy maker, we might be interested in investigating the returns and variance financial assets over observable period of time (conditional) rather than long run estimate of variance (unconditional). Engle (1982) shows that it is possible to describe the conditional mean and conditional variance of a financial asset using information set of previous period; Where is the return of financial asset in time t conditional on the information set at time t-1. E represents the expected value in statistics. Consider the simple model Where Where the rate of is return and are the regression parameters. A typical ARCH model can be written as follows: Conditional Mean Equation; Error Decomposition OR where ‘v is the part of variance which is homoskedastic and is the conditional variance which is Heteroskedasticity. This conditional variance can be shown as ARCH Conditional variance Equation, i.e. where and are non negative. Engle (1982) has also derived a Lagrange Multiplier (LM) based principle to test the hypothesis of. Another useful variant of ARCH methodology, proposed by Bollerslev (1986) is the generalized ARCH or GARCH model. Bollerslev (1986) argues that conditional variance in financial series is not only the function of its lagged error term but also the function of its lagged conditional variances. Therefore, GARCH (1, 1) process would be So GARCH model helps to explain the conditional variance with the help of past squared error term and conditional variance lag value. Which also means that conditional variance at time‘t would be function of long run variances and also variances conditional on past information set (short run) or observed shocks i.e. . Testing for ARCH/GARCH effects: Before estimating Arch/Garch techniques, it is first important to check for possible presence of Arch effect in order to know which model is requires the ARCH estimation instead of OLS (Ordinary Least Squire). The presence of ARCH effects in a regression model does not invalidate OLS estimation. However it implies that there is more efficient nonlinear estimator than OLS. (See Table 1.1) Obs*R-Squared is 147.26 and has a probability limit of 0.000. This clearly suggested that ARCH effect is present and presence of Heteroskedasticity suggested that ARCH/GARCH is appropriate model for this type of time series data. So we can apply ARCH/GARCH model on this data instead of ordinary least squire regression. Result of GARCH effects: The results of GARCH are presented in Table 1.3. The first column presents the regression results when we include as independent variables dummy values of the regime, terror, and war. In most of the cases, the variables enter with the anticipated signs, but not all of them are consistently significant at the 0.05 level. We can see an evidence of significant negative impact of terror, regime that show due to bomb blast in Pakistan and change in government negatively impact the country stock return in long run while insignificant positive impact of war on the country stock return. The results can further explained that stock return volatility every day is explained by approximately 71% of the previous months return volatility for Karachi stock exchange. This is significant for KSE returns. The coefficient of return innovation are statistically significant for market implying that new information arrival into the markets has significant impact on predicting next days stock market volatility. Because, the constant term in the variance equation for KSE is significant. The results of GARCH (1,1) are presented in Table 1.3 (Table 1.2) The model can be written as; Mean Equation: = 0.001188+ 0.064048* R_KSE(-1) Variance Equation: GARCH = 4.01E-05 + 0.20721*ARCH+ 0.713458 GARCH(-1) 1.21E-05*Terror + 1.93E-05*War -1.48E-05*Regime The persistence parameter for KSE Durbin-Watson stat = 1.943, which is > 1. This show a very explosive volatility in KSE returns. It also demonstrates the capability of past volatility to explain current volatility (Engle and Bollerslev, 1986) and because it is very high, the rate at which it diminishes is rather very slowly. For ACRH/GARCH, conditional standard deviation and conditional varience graph were as shown in figure 1.2 and 1.3; The GARCH coefficient is both statistically significant and conforms to expectation. This implies that past variances exert significantly positive effect on stock return volatility in KSE. On the basis of these results, it is evident that there is significant time varying volatility in Pakistan stock market returns during the sample periods. Conclusions and Recommendations In this paper, we have estimated a nonlinear GARCH model for daily stock returns volatility and terror, Kargal war and regime in Pakistan. Data for the estimation of GARCH (1,1) models was obtained from Yahoo finance and South Asia Terror Portal and news paper of Pakistan. The asymmetric effect of terror, war and regime on stock returns and volatility was investigated. Preliminary investigation into the nature of the data reveals that study had to employ ARCH/GARCH techniques for data analysis. Firstly, results show evidence of time varying volatility in stock market returns across the market and from the asymmetric model, results indicate that bad news has larger impact on stock volatility than good news in the KSE. The result for KSE showed that terror and regime has negativity impact on returns of KSE while war has positively effect, it may be due to short term period of the war. All three variable are significantly have their impact on the returns.

Internet Pornography and Teens Essay -- Cyberporn Essays Research Pape

Internet Pornography and Teens      Ã‚   This essay discusses the social impact of exposing teens to internet pornography.    In a report, "Generation Rx.com: How Young People Use the Internet for Health Information," the Kaiser Family Foundation says that seventy (70%) of teenagers (defined as ages 15-17) "have accidentally come across pornography on the Web." Fifty-seven percent of the teens said "being exposed to pornography would have serious impact on kids under 18," while 41% teens responded that such exposure is "no big deal."(Generation)    Clearly, there is a major failure of adult responsibility when almost three out of four teens report they have accidentally come across pornography on the Web. The biggest failure of responsibility lies with federal and state prosecutors who turn a blind eye to obscenity on the Internet. If obscenity laws were being vigorously enforced, the last thing hardcore pornographers would want to do is draw attention to their vile wares by engaging in reckless marketing methods. If vigorously enforced, there would also be much less pornography to accidentally stumble across.    But prosecutors aren't the only ones at fault. Some ISPs provide parents with an option to filter out the pornography, but they refuse to block access to even illegal pornography unless a parent requests filtering. Some on-line services have rules against pornography, but they refuse to actively monitor use of their services for violations.    Many libraries and schools refuse to install screening technology -- arguing that rules and monitoring computer use can protect children from Internet porn. Even assuming such means discouraged teens from actively seeking pornography, how do they protec... ...icates pornography as precipitating 'a cascade of changes in the body that have an impact on health.' This supports former Surgeon General Everett Koop's diagnosis of pornography as a 'crushing public health problem.' Gary Lynch, University of California at Irvine neurologist corroborates these assessments. Brain research, he explains, reveals that what one sees in three-tenths of a second, 'has produced a structural change that is in some ways as profound as the structural changes one sees in [brain] damage.' It can 'leave a trace that will last for years.'(Psychopharmacology)    WORKS CITED: "Generation rx.com"  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.kff.org/content/2001/20011211a/AgendaFINAL.pdf New Jersey Family Policy Council.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.njfpc.org/research_papers/ "Psychopharmacology of Pornography"  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://drjudithreisman.org/Michell's%20brain,%20Jan%203,2002.htm

Comparison of Stereotypes and Stereotyping in A Dolls House and The Breakfast Club :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

Stereotyping in A Doll's House and The Breakfast Club      Ã‚   When you see someone with expensive jewelry, driving a Lexus with tinted windows, rap music blaring from a mega stereo system, do you assume that he is a punk or drug dealer? This is an example of stereotyping. How are stereotypes assigned? Often they are created by society and are based on gender, race, religion, age, or social standing. Henrick Ibsen focused on the theme of stereotyping in his play A Doll's House.    In A Doll's House, Nora is seen as more an object than a person. When the play was written, women in general were viewed as wives and mothers, not individuals. Nora skillfully plays the part of obedient wife as Torvald questions her about what she did in town, assuring him that she "would never dream of doing anything [he] didn't want [her] to (Ibsen 933)." In "The Breakfast Club," the characters' peers designate stereotypes as a result of a combination of social status and behavior. Brian is "the brain" because he is an A student, Bender is "the criminal" on account of his rebellious behavior, and so forth. In his essay to Mr. Vernon, Brian addresses the stereotypes that have been placed on him and his peers:    "...we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed" (Hughes).    In agreement with the opening quote from the movie, these characters "are quite aware of what they're going through" (Hughes).    Stereotypes are superficial, however, and when they are peeled off they often reveal something completely unexpected. When Torvald receives the letter from Mr. Krogstad and learns of Nora's secret, he begins to see her as "a hypocrite, a liar...a criminal" (Ibsen 974). When the conflict is resolved and it becomes clear that no one will suffer because of her forgery, Torvald returns Nora's stereotype of vulnerable woman, telling her he "wouldn't be a proper man if [he] didn't find a woman doubly attractive for being so obviously helpless" (Ibsen 975). In "The Breakfast Club," the teenagers have been aware of their stereotypes for quite some time.

PESTEL Analysis of K-Mart Essay

Understanding the general environment of a certain business requires knowledge regarding the key factors and trends in broader society. PESTEL Analysis gives a business the ability to break down the general environment into six different categories: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. By analyzing and studying each area, a company can create a strategy that most benefits them. Sears and K-Mart are two retail businesses that can gain from understanding the general environment through PESTEL Analysis. They could use it bad. One way to take a step forward is by creating new innovative strategies and conducting a PESTEL analysis is a good place to start. The first step of PESTEL is to try to understand the political environment. Sears and K-Mart focus on what political factors might affect the way they conduct business and create strategies based on this information. Sears and K-Mart are a part of many companies owned by Sears Holdings Corporation. Sears Holdings Corporation engages in government and political affairs that will benefit them. They openly express interest in politics on their website, stating â€Å"In some jurisdictions, Sears Holdings is engaged in the political campaign process to help elect candidates of both major political parties who support the retail industry and believe in the free enterprise system.1† Engaging in the political arena helps a business like K-Mart understand political trends. Political factors that may be lobbied on by Sears and K-Mart are ones that involve tax policies, labor laws and tariffs. Sears Holdings Company would most likely back the candidate that most benefited them. In 2008 former CEO of Sears, Alan J. Lacy, was one of many retail executives who supported John McCain for President.2 Being open about political affiliations can possibly affect customer opinions. This may not have affected the customer base of Sears, but Sears believes that the Republican Party best helps them. Economic and Social conditions are two major areas that any retail company must focus on in order to create effective strategies. These two areas have can have tremendous affects on the success of retail companies. If the Economy is down then people don’t usually like to spend a lot of money, and this takes a toll on sales of retail businesses. In 2011 Sears and K-Mart closed over 100 stores in an effort to raise cash. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the â€Å"problem is the weak economy that is hurting virtually  all retailers that cater to low- and middle-income shoppers, who are being forced to cut back on spending.3† Today, Sears and K-Mart are being affected by the changing retail landscape, where shoppers are going online for convenience and finding better prices. In order to be successful Sears Holdings must try to get on top of this changing landscape before it passes them by. Social factors go hand in hand with economic factors. If the economy is doing well that does not immediately translate into a major boost in sales. Social factors, like perception, play a gigantic role in the success of today’s businesses because of the affects of social media and the internet. Social perception is an area Sears and K-Mart have been lacking in. Preschool teacher Sara Kriz expresses a view that captures the perception of K-Mart beautifully by saying, â€Å"It seems easier to go to Target and Wal-Mart to get the same thing at the same price,† adding â€Å"the stores are cleaner, and they’re better stocked.4† If Sears and K-Mart want to become more profitable and generate more sales then they must direct their attention to trying to change this negative view associated with their stores. Social media and internet give customers a platform to share their opinions and experiences with the whole world. If most experiences are negative, then the general consensus will be to shop at other places. Technology like the internet has brought about a lot of change and it is another area of the external environment that businesses must try to understand in order to gain a competitive edge. Technology is everywhere we look and its getting better and better. Technology has affected the way Sears and K-Mart strategized in the past. In an attempt to bridge digital and in-store shopping, Sears and K-Mart rolled out iPads and iPod touch devices to almost 450 stores around the country in October 2011.5 Kimberly Freely, spokeswoman for Sears, Chicago, explained the move: â€Å"We wanted to enhance the relationship between customers and associates and improve the overall shopping experience,† adding that, â€Å"it is part of our strategy to become more of an integrated retailer a nd combining the digital and retail formats within the company.† This goes to show the impact that technology is having on the retail market. Today Sears and K-Mart are still striving to incorporate advanced technology in order to improve. Environmental and Legal factors are the last two pieces of PESTEL analysis. Sears and Kmart have aligned their environmental goals with that of the general public.  Sears and Kmart realize promoting a clean environment can benefit both themselves and society as a whole. Many of the appliances Sears sells tout the label of being energy efficient. This reflects Sears and Kmarts efforts to educate customers about a variety of environmental issues, including carbon and energy management, waste reduction and recycling, and water and transportation management. On Sears Holdings Company’s webpage you can learn about all the steps it is taking to promote a clean and sustainable environment. By continuing to engage in this type of activity, Sears and Kmart demonstrate responsibility and a genuine care for protecting the environment. This can go a long way in terms of changing social perception of Sears and Kmart. The Legal aspect of the external environment plays an everyday role in the way Sears and Kmart do business. Sears and Kmart must follow strict legal guidelines covering accounting and reporting practices, antitrust laws, and bribery and corruption among others. Failing to stay within the boundaries of the law can be detrimental to any business. Sears addresses its willingness to comply with laws in the Corporate Governance section of its main website. It states that â€Å"Sears Holdings Corporation values honesty, integrity, and adherence to the highest ethical standards. As part of this commitment, SHC has instituted a series of policies and procedures to reaffirm its dedication to the highest ethical standards.6† Keeping a keen eye on the legal aspect of the external environment will allow Sears and Kmart to focus on its corporate strategy without unnecessary distractions. Understanding the general environment of a certain business requires knowledge regarding the key factors and trends in broader society. It is essential for a business to know the aspects of the external environment so that it can create and enforce an effective strategy. Performing a PESTEL Analysis is the first step in understanding the external environment. Sears and Kmart can greatly benefit from knowing what external factors impact business operations. SWOT Analysis is the next step in collecting information to help understand what capabilities Sears and Kmart should focus on. Works Cited 1 â€Å"Government Affairs.† Sears Holdings. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. . 2 Farfan, Barbara. â€Å"Democratic and Republican Parties Both Get Strong Support from Retailers.† About.com Retail Industry. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. . 3 Berman, Jillian. â€Å"Sears Kmart Stores Closing: At Least 100 Stores To Shut Down Retailer Says.† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. 4 Berman, Jillian. â€Å"Sears Kmart Stores Closing: At Least 100 Stores To Shut Down Retailer Says.† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. 5 Tode, Chantal. â€Å"Sears Puts IPads in Shopper Hands to Enhance In-store Shopping.Napean LLC, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. 6 â€Å"Corporate Governance.† Sears Holdings Code of Conduct. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .

Prejudices: Challenging Level Prejudice Essay

â€Å"We are each burdened with prejudice; against the poor or the rich, the smart or the slow, the gaunt or the obese. It is natural to develop prejudices. It is noble to rise above them,† Author Unknown. Unfortunately, throughout history our society has become victim to the upbringing and menacing of prejudices within. The prejudices that our fellow neighbors endure range from scowling facial expressions to violent hate crimes. As far back as the decades go, prejudice has been an ongoing problem in society, our children and our future are affected immensely; it is our job to make a drastic change. Prejudice is a word that means judging someone or having an idea about them before you actually know anything about them, the word can also mean having an opinion about something without knowing anything about it. (Kids Health) On a more challenging level prejudice can refer to a positive or negative attitude or belief directed toward certain people based on their membership in a particular group. The root of the word is â€Å"pre-judge,† it is a set of attitudes which causes, supports, or justifies discrimination. There are three general theories for prejudice; personality needs, social learning and conformity, and social structure and economic position. Based on a study done by the Delmar University the three general theories were shown to be the most common reasons for prejudice within a person. These three theories lead to the forms and explanations of prejudice. The first form of prejudice being cognitive prejudice which refers to what people believe is true. Next is affective prejudice which points to peoples likes and dislikes. And finally, conative prejudice which refers to how people are inclined to behave. Playing a part in the causes of prejudice is also; family, school, peer groups, work, and the media. Unfortunately, all too often a person will create a prejudice based off of something that they learned from another person or another area. It is society’s job to recreate the environment that we set for our youth and humanity. We have to show our communities that not everyone or everything can be judged from lack of experience or another’s belief. Our country has been facing prejudice since as early as slavery and the Holocaust. Slaves consisted of â€Å"colored,† people known as Negro’s and now referred to as African Americans. These groups of people were pre-judge based on the color of their skin. Since they did not have a pale complexion they were treated poorly and forced to serve societies â€Å"white† race. Later on in history a prejudice dictator, Adolph Hitler, created a German based army that slaughtered the Jewish community. Hitler pre-judged any and all who did not fit the description that he followed. Unfortunately, because of his prejudices many humans died from the ignorance of color barriers. Still to this day prejudice is a problem, where our children of color or bi-racial background experience the emotion of not feeling good enough because of what another thinks or believes. In Toledo Ohio where I live, my community experienced first-hand prejudice when a group of Neo-Nazis were given permission to have a demonstration walk through one of our neighborhoods. The decision that our Mayor made to allow such a demonstration was one that jeopardized people’s lives and disrespected the integrity of different cultures. The problem with prejudice is that society does not give one another a chance at being themselves. Some of our society is quick to judge another person for their color, their culture, or their religion. By pre-judging before knowing anything about a person or thing we are allowing something or someone else to influence our opinions. Prejudice is seen in all kinds of situations such as; the cheerleading squad not wanting to be friends with a certain girl because she does not come from a wealthy family, a Caucasian family thinking that the African American family that moved in down the street will break into their home cause they watched a show on television where a family did that or even for instance some of society not wanting to vote for Barack Obama because they think that he looks like he could be a terrorist. Our youth have learned the ignorance that we have instilled in them and in return have lashed out in outrageous actions. We have youth forming gangs and cliques that do harm to other youth because of what they have or do not have, or because of the way they look, who their parents are, where they live. It is unfortunate that instead of teaching our youth to appreciate everyone for who they are, we teach them what we do not like about another person or group. â€Å"Prejudice and discrimination are negative manifestations of integrative power. Instead of bringing or holding people together, prejudice and discrimination push them apart. Ironically, even prejudice and discrimination imply some sort of relationship. However, if there is no relationship people would be completely unaware of another person’s or group’s existence. When there is any relationship at all–even a negative one–there is some integration. Kenneth Boulding referred to this as â€Å"disintegrative power†-â€Å"the integration that is achieved through hatred, fear, and the threat of a common enemy. † (Boulding, 1989). There are ways that we can show our youth to bypass prejudice. If we start now and work together then the future of our children could be brighter and less hateful. Some of our schools have begun practicing exercises to fight prejudice and â€Å"bullying. † At Crissey Elementary School the teachers began an exercise where each grade and classroom came up with ways of helping another student and being nice daily. The school worked together and colored their own posters that read, â€Å"Stop Bullying! † or â€Å"We all love each other at Crissey. † Not only did they join together to make these posters but they hung the posters all over the school for students, faculty and visitors to see everyday. Their idea is a great one that could be carried nationwide; to help show children that everyone is equal. Another exercise that Crissey students participated in was one where each student took a family picture into their class. The students then wrote about their families, such as; how many family members there were, what their favorite foods were, what they liked to do together and so on. Once each student had written about their family the class filled out a poster that took a tally of each answer that was the same. By the end of the exercise the students were able to see that even though they may not look similar in appearance or come from the same origin, their families liked the same activities, foods, and vacation spots. It is exercises like these that help teach our youth to be, â€Å"one† and not divide between each other. The future of our society depends on people who have open minds and see past prejudice. These kinds of people can help mediate between conflicts of other people with prejudice. According to the web-site, Beyond Prejudice, the victims of prejudicial thinking or prejudicial actions are already devalued in the eyes of prejudicial individuals and any action taken by these people is seen as less valid because of their devaluation. In addition to this person being devalued, his or her action also brings an oppositional force into the situation; this often creates more heat than light. Oppositional positions, while they may be completely â€Å"correct,† often trigger resistance within observers, as well as within the individual who perceives himself or herself as the target of that force. This is partly why we need people to intervene between those with conflict. The only way to completely intervene without causing more conflict is to continue to teach against prejudice. Illustration A: Illustration B: The first illustration here simply shows the prejudice person (person who feels a certain way about another person or group) and the other side shows the targeted side (person or group being prejudged). The prejudicial action force is where the prejudice feelings reside between the two. The second illustration shows both groups and the prejudicial action force but it also includes another section that shows a non-targeted person or group. This added section illustrates a neutral party that can intervene to help detour the prejudice feelings. Our society can practice similar exercises to those of the Crissey students on a day-to-day basis. If we wake up every morning and decide to do one or two kind things for someone of another race, sex, religion, or culture we are slowly helping the fight. If you open the door for the Native American walking out, allow the elderly ladies to cut in front of you at the store, or even offer the homeless gentlemen a cold water you are showing another person that prejudice does not have to overtake our society. Theresa D. McClellan sited that, â€Å"It is the subtle forces and faces of racism which are the most frustrating and, often, the most difficult to combat,† by Woodrick in the 1996 issue of The Grand Rapids Press. The whispers under the breaths of Caucasians who were raised to hate African American’s, or the impolite nudges of the men who were taught they are inferior to women are the hardest feelings of prejudice to look past. According to the Conflict Research Consortium at the University of Colorado, these kinds of prejudice feelings can be worked through with counseling and exercises like mirror imaging. Mirror imaging is a strategy which parties can use to assess the reasonableness of their behavior. It asks the parties to look at themselves the way others see them and make appropriate changes if they do not like what they see. Often if disputants will look at themselves honestly, they will sometimes notice that they are doing the same kinds of things–name calling, deception, and rumor spreading, for example–that they fault their opponents for doing. Once this is understood, parties can change their behavior to appear more reasonable, without altering or undermining their true interests at all. Another exercise that the Conflict Research Consortium suggests is power sharing. This is a strategy for resolving disputes over who should have the most powerful position in the social hierarchy. Instead of fighting over who should have power over whom, power sharing relies upon the joint exercise of power. If conflicts can be reframed to focus on how such power sharing might take place, they can become much more constructive. With all of the given suggestions for fighting against prejudice, our society and communities should follow through with simple exercises to teach youth and adults ways to work through feelings we were taught or have on our own. We have to continue to educate about different cultures, religions, races, and sexes. We can educate everyone through our schools, media and peers. The next time you feel that you do not like the person sitting next to you because of the color of their skin, the texture of their hair, the odor they give off or their size think about what kinds of aspects of life you may have in common with them. Would it make you feel better to know that they get their hair cut at the same beauty salon you do? Would it make you like them if you knew that the reason they are obese is from the same disease that your mother suffers from? We need to try to remember when we feel hate and prejudice in our heart that â€Å"we† are not perfect either and there may be aspects of us that the person sitting next to us does not like. How would we feel knowing someone did not like us, and they do not even know us? â€Å"Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart. † This is a quote by the Countess of Blessington that enlightens us to understanding that when we carry these prejudices inside ourselves we create the barrier between our fellow neighbors. Looking back at the history of prejudice and the pain we inflict on our children, our society and our future; we have to make the choice to learn the uniqueness of one another. It is our duty to the human race to stop prejudging another for what they are or are not. Reference Page Blessington, Countess. (2007). Welcome to the Quote Garden. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www.quotegarden. com/ prejudice. html Cole, Dr. Jim. (2003). Beyond Prejudice. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. beyondprejudice. com/index. html. Conflict Research Consortium. (1998). Prejudice and Discrimination. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. colorado. edu/conflict/peace/problem/prejdisc. htm. Kids Health. (2000). Prejudice-not giving a ‘fair go’. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. cyh. com/SubDefault. aspx? p=255. Lunny-Brady, Edith (2008,April 10). Subtle kind of racism still around. Pantagraph, A. 3. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from Business Dateline Database. (Document ID:1460281071). Myra. Harold. â€Å"Love in Black and White. † Christianity Today >38. n3(March 7, 1994):18(2). General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. 25 April. 2008 from http://find. galegroup. com/ips/start. do? prodid=IPS7. Theresa D. McClellan / The Grand Rapids Press (2008, April 24). Marking decade of Diversity: Institute for Healing Racism workshops try to heal a society built on Prejudices. The Grand Rapids Press,B. 1. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1468362011).

Frederick Douglass Essay

Life has many ups and downs. It is like a roller coaster ride in that it takes many turns. All the way through the life of a person, there will be good times and celebrations along with bad times and grief. The most significant thing to remember is to think positive and always stay strong mentally even at your lowest points. Frederick Douglass is a name of struggle. Being born into slavery, he faced many hardships throughout his life that people of today will never know, but overcome all of them because of his relentlessness to never give up, his passion to learn, be his own man, and more significantly staying strong mentally and keeping faith in God. Mental stiffness is when all things seem to be going wrong and there are no signs of hope, but you continue to strive for what you believe in, and Douglass did a good job of that. Douglass never gives up even when there appears to be no hope, and in the end is rewarded for all of his commitment. After the whole thing Douglass goes through, in the end he is not granted his freedom, but instead takes it on his own and his dream of being free is no longer a dream but in fact reality. Douglass resided in Baltimore intermittently from his arrival in the city in 1826 at the age of eight until he escaped from slavery twelve years later. Reflecting the uncertainties of black life in antebellum Baltimore, Douglass could state that â€Å"a city slave is almost a free man compared with a slave on the plantation† and lament that while in Baltimore â€Å"I often found myself regretting my own existence and wishing myself dead† (Narrative 50, 56). Douglass’s conflicting impressions of his adolescence as a slave in Baltimore, impressions of comparative liberty and abject despair, reflected the larger paradox of African-American life in the city that claimed America’s largest black population at the time of the Civil War. Located on the border of slavery and freedom, Baltimore created space for African Americans to develop dynamic institutions that proved very important to their post-emancipation history. Yet these institutions developed under harsh restrictions on the freedom of non-slave African Americans that white Baltimoreans devised to replace the increasingly impractical bonds of slavery. Black agency amid the constraints and opportunities of an urban slave society gave Douglass with his first classroom in the limits of freedom for nineteenth-century African Americans. When Douglass’s mother Harriet Bailey died he was hardly affected by the news for the reason that he rarely seen her. Douglass’s father was a white man; slaveholders usually impregnated their female’s slaves to increase the number of slaves they owned. As a child Douglass didn’t work in the fields because children weren’t strong enough. Therefore, he had free time to do other things besides tasks. Sometimes he would go along wit the Colonel’s grandson, Daniel, as a servant when he went hunting. Daniel in time became close to Douglass which was an advantage. But, Douglass still suffered because slave children were only given a long linen shirt, therefore in the winter he would be really cold. When Douglass was eight years old he was selected to go to Baltimore to live with Hugh Auld. Douglass was not sad to leave the plantation because he had no family or any sense of home that children usually had. He believes that if he had not been removed that he would still be a slave today. Douglass was amazed how kind his new was; unlike other white women she did not punish him for looking her in the eye. But, after some time, her kindness turned to cruelty, and she completely changed as a person. When Douglass first moved in with the Aulds, Mrs. Auld began teaching him the alphabet and some small words. When her husband found out he ordered her to sop because â€Å"education ruins slaves, making them unmanageable and unhappy. † Douglass overhears this and comes up with the strategy of what white men use to enslave blacks. From that he now understands what he has to do to win his freedom. Douglass lived in the Auld’s household for seven years, he was able to learn how to read and write. Mrs. Auld became hardened and cruel and no longer tutored him. But, Douglass already learned the alphabet and was strong-minded to learn how to read. Auld rents Douglass for one year to Edward Covey, who was known for â€Å"breaking† slaves. For the first six months Covey worked and whipped everything out of Douglass to the point where he no longer cared about reading or freedom. This all changed when Douglass and Covey had a clash and after the fight Covey never touched Douglass yet again. Douglass was then rented to William Freeland, even though Freeland was milder and a fairer man, he was still going to escape. Frederick went on to become a famous orator, U. S. minister to Haiti, and a leader of his people. Douglass, like the other slaves is not born with this mental toughness, but acquires it mainly through his faith in God, hard work, and learning to read and write. Douglass’ faith in God is crucial because Douglass can turn to God at any point in his life. When Douglass is at his lowest, his faith in God is always there to lift him up. â€Å"O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! † (72). Their are times where Douglass questions God because of brutal conditions with Mr. Covey, but Douglass still stays strong mentally and spiritually, and that is key to taking his freedom. Douglass has a strong mind of his own, and does not let anyone or anything change what he believes is right. Conditions for slaves are pretty much severe everywhere they go. Slaves work long hard hours, for pretty much nothing, and to go along with that are poorly nourished. Douglass is lucky enough to be sent to Baltimore to live with the Auld’s because conditions are a slightly easier there, but most importantly because that is where he learns to read and write. Luckily for Douglass, Mrs. Auld teaches him the alphabet and small words before her heart turns to stone. â€Å"Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. † (45). Although reading lessons with Mrs. Auld eventually stop, this does not stop Douglass in trying to acquire as much knowledge as possible. This makes Douglass even hungrier for knowledge because he knows that being literate is key to being free. The poor white children of the neighborhood eventually teach Douglass how to read in return for some food. â€Å"As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. † (49). This is crucial for Douglass to gain his freedom, and help him believe in himself. Although brutal times are shortly ahead for Douglass at Mr. Covey’s, the slave tamer, this knowledge and insight is definitely one of the major factors that helps him get through it. Before going to Mr. Covey’s, Douglass’ been through a lot of mental and physical pain, but he does not know the worst is yet to come. Because of his disobedience and excessive curiosity in Baltimore, Douglass’ master sends him to Mr. Covey’s, who is one of the cruelest slave tamer’s around. Douglass states that the first six months with Mr. Covey are unbearable. Douglass’ first task is to guide the oxen, and when he fails he barely leaves with his life. Covey whips him repeatedly, and continues to do so for weeks. Covey’s extreme work and brutal punishments drain Douglass mentally and physically; he feels his hope for freedom is slipping away. This is where Douglass’ faith in God is crucial because he literally has no one else to turn to except God. It seems as if Douglass is about to let Mr. Covey win, and believe that all he is put on this earth to do is slave for others. But one day as Mr. Covey tries tying Douglass up for another brutal beating; Douglass defends himself and finds the courage within him to stand up to Mr. Covey by fighting back. Douglass injures Mr. Covey to the point where he is bleeding. Because of his courage to stand up for himself, Covey never lays a finger on Douglass again. This part of the autobiography is indeed a turning point because it restores Douglass’ confidence that he always had inside of him, and makes him believe that he will one day be a free man. â€Å"This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning- point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. † (78). This is indeed the turning point in his life because he stands up for what he believes in and actually wins. After this point Douglass is extremely confident in himself, and due to the knowledge he gains and his mental strength he is able to get through possibly his hardest obstacle in his life. â€Å"I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me. † (78). This is such a powerful line in that it shows Douglass’ relentlessness to never give up, and it shows that he is once again strong, not necessarily physically, but more importantly mentally. This turning point helps Douglass stay on track, and eventually helps him escape to New York City. After New York Douglass goes to Massachusetts were he meets abolitionist Garrison, and is eventually employed as an abolitionist. All in all, Frederick Douglass achieves his goals due to hard work and his passion to learn. After all, the struggle throughout his life, Douglass’ dream finally comes true, and it could not have happened to a more deserving man. One more Douglass’ master was Mr. Gore who was a key example of the many white people who let their power go to their heads. Frederick Douglass lived a hard life as a slave as pretty much all slaves did. He is pushed to the limit mentally and physically, and although there are times Douglass almost breaks down, he never lets that happen to him. By learning how to read and write he realizes that knowledge is power, just like it is today. Ignorance is ugly, and he does not want that to happen to him. Douglass’ knowledge helps open doors for him that he would never have opened if he was not educated. Frederick Douglass is an amazing man, and shows that if you are strong mentally you can accomplish anything you put your mind too. Douglass accounts in his thrilling and morbid firsthand account of slavery in the south. Douglass lets the reader look at slavery in a style that reflects the desperation of slave life. Points covered range from the exploitation of slave women by their white masters to the violent treatment, and in some cases murder of slaves, to the back-breaking labor and lack of personal time. The biography includes chilling accounts of his mother. She walked twelve miles every night to see him, in infancy, and when she died, Douglass was not even allowed to witness her burial. This was common practice in those times, but to the modern reader, this is quite appalling. Douglass’ life was only made more complicated by the accusation that his master, Captain Anthony, was also his father. The treatment of these ‘mixed’ children was often worse than that of regular slave children due to the fact that the mistress of the house felt animosity towards them. As a result, Frederick had to face the wrath of Captain Anthony’s wife. What made Douglass’ experiences truly unique was the fact that he learned how to read and write. Most slaves were killed if they were caught doing so but in Douglass’ case, he was very lucky. When he was sent to Baltimore, Sophia Auld, his new mistress, taught him how to read a few simple words. From that point, he taught himself new words everyday through The Columbian Orator, a collection of speeches and essays dealing with liberty, democracy, and courage. Douglass saw this as his ticket to freedom. Douglass sheds some light on several areas such as the reason behind the slave songs and what it feels like to watch a family member be beaten and abused. His narrative does a very thorough job of conveying the slave experience to an audience that has no idea. The image conjured of slave owners and all of southern society in the 18th and 19th century is a negative one. This caricature holds shockingly true in Douglass’ narrative. However, there is a lot more complexity to Southern society show in Douglass’ well-crafted words. There are different kinds of slave owners in different parts of the south. People like Captain Anthony and Thomas Auld, who reside in the deep south, are cruel to the slaves they own, as they are property. Like the cotton gin, they are there to turn a profit. As long as they can work and do work, nothing else really matters. In Baltimore, a different type of slave owner is known. Sophia and Hugh Auld live next to neighbors that do not own slaves and are therefore, conscious of how they treat their slaves in public. Sophia had not even owned slaves before Douglass, so in the beginning, she was very kind and treated Douglass as you would treat any child. The abolitionist movement is a larger concern in Baltimore, because it is in the very streets. In the deeper south, though they are concerned about slaves escaping and abolitionists, the threat is not as axiomatic. Douglass also exposes the false piety of slave owners. Though many of them are bible thumping, none of them truly understands the lessons they are preached. Douglass analyzes the moral woes of slavery and the unnatural state that all involved are subjected to. Douglass’ words give the reader a depiction of southern life and morality in an intricate and intriguing way, which is fair and abrasively honest. In modern times, people think of slavery and think that it was north against south. In reality, many Northerners were indifferent to the plight of slaves. When Fredrick Douglass first escapes to the north, he finds that there are many people who support slavery and many that oppose it, but most of them are indifferent. This is because most northerners have no idea what is going on in the south. Therefore, they are ignorantly blissful with their lives. Douglass addressed this issue in letter to an abolitionist associate. Douglass moved to New Bedford in the year 1838 and found work as a caulker for whaling ships. In New Bedford, he decided to drop the name â€Å"Bailey,† in order to defend himself from slave catchers, and became famous as Frederick Douglass. Between the time of 1790 and 1860, the institution of slavery declined in Baltimore but the boundaries of African-American freedom narrowed significantly. When free black people posed little threat to white people, as in the 1790s, whites imposed relatively few limitations on them. But as the free black population grew so did racial competition for jobs and social power. White privilege responded to the dynamism of free blacks by circumscribing their liberty. Douglass lived in Baltimore when free African Americans made considerable economic gains and expanded an already powerful network of black institutions. By the time of the Civil War whites rolled back many of the gains of the 1830s and pushed free blacks to the edge of slavery. Douglass first witnessed white racism towards free black people during this tightening of Baltimore’s restrictions on non-slave African Americans that coincided with slavery’s end. Work cited Browne, Gary Lawson. Baltimore in the Nation, 1789-1861. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980. Douglass, Frederick. Letter to an abolitionist associate. In Organizing for Social Change: A Mandate for Activity in the 1990s. Edited by K. Bobo, J. Kendall, and S. Max. Washington, D. C. : Seven Locks Press. [1849] (1991) Douglass, Frederick. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. 1892. New York: Collier, 1962. Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. 1855. New York: Dover, 1969. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. 1845. New York: Penguin, 1968. Fields, Barbara Jeanne. Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985. Frey, Sylvia. Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. Gardner, Bettye. â€Å"Ante-bellum Black Education in Baltimore. † Maryland Historical Magazine 71 (Fall 1976): 360-366. Gardner, Bettye. â€Å"Free Blacks in Baltimore, 1800-1860. † Diss. George Washington University, 1974. Garonzik, Joseph. â€Å"Urbanization and the Black Population of Baltimore, 1850-1870. † Diss. State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1974. Graham, Leroy. Baltimore: The Nineteenth-Century Black Capital. New York: University Press of America, 1982. Maryland. House of Delegates. â€Å"An Act Relating to Paupers, Beggars, Vagrants, Vagabonds and Disorderly Persons in the City of Baltimore. † The Laws of Maryland ch. 116. March 10, 1854. Muller, Edward K. and Paul A. Groves. â€Å"The Emergence of Industrial Districts in Mid-Nineteenth Century Baltimore. † Geographical Review 69 (1979): 159-177. Steffen, Charles G. The Mechanics of Baltimore: Workers and Politics in the Age of Revolution, 1763-1812. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. Wesley, Charles H. Richard Allen: Apostle of Freedom. 1935. Washington: Associated Publishers, 1969.