Monday, September 30, 2019
Atomic Company Case Study
Thanks to a lucky series of events, Atomic Company has enjoyed a sharp increase in sales of their Tiger Pants line. The most obvious and immediate pains being felt by management is the inability to predict future sales and the high amount being paid out in sales commissions. While these are legitimate concerns, I believe deeper problems exist. The current sales structure divides independent sales representatives into different product lines and territories. This means that an Atomic Company retailer carrying four or five different Atomic product lines would have four or five different sales representatives. Not only that, independent sales representatives typically have a fairly high turnover rate in the industry, which means that relationships with Atomic retailers suffer. With this structure, it’s difficult to get a full picture of a retailer’s needs. In order to place an order for Atomic clothing, the retailer has to go through multiple people. With high turnover, it could mean that a retailer has to work with a new sales rep every year – sometimes more frequently. It’s difficult to estimate future sales because sales reps don’t have a big picture view of retailer needs. More importantly, Atomic Company is not encouraging fully committed relationships by creating value, meeting expectations, or building trust (Cron & DeCarlo, 2009). An added issue surrounding sales structure is that commissions are set up so that sales reps get rewarded with high commissions for orders from existing accounts. If the sales reps are getting orders from a spike like the one just experienced, they may not care to go out and find new business or nurture existing accounts since they’ve already met their personal commission goals. Alternative Courses of Action 1. Develop a sales structure where a greater number of territories are created for independent sales representatives. Keep the commission at a flat 15 percent. 2. Transition into a company sales force for all product lines of Atomic Company, including Tiger Pants. Set salary at $40,000. Reduce the commissions to 10 percent for sales from the first year of new retail accounts and five percent of new sales to existing retail accounts. Further, set up a way for existing accounts to place straight rebuys directly with the company that sales reps would receive two percent commissions. 3. Maintain status quo, sticking with the current structure for independent sales representatives and commissions. Analysis of Alternatives 1. By increasing the number of territories and then assigning one representative to each territory for all apparel lines, reps will be able to focus on building relationships with retail stores. Each rep will have a good idea of the total amount of Atomic apparel being purchased by their retail stores, along with opportunities to expand various lines. They will understand their customers and be better able to predict future sales because they will have developed a relationship with store managers. This approach will simplify the purchasing procedures and create value for retail stores since they will only need to place one order for all Atomic products. The number of sales calls will decrease, level of communication will increase, and overall expectations will be met at a much higher rate. Commission rates would be kept at the usual 15 percent so current independent sales reps working with Atomic wouldn’t have to adjust to a new pay structure. More importantly, Atomic won’t have to risk losing their current reps and have to go through the hiring process or risk disruption to current accounts. The downside to going with this approach is that Atomic Company may end up spending more than they should on sales commissions. Fifteen percent is a very high rate and really starts to take its toll when sales spike like they did in the case of Punk Rock Academy. Further, independent reps are less loyal to the company, leading to higher turnover rates and, ultimately, impaired retail account relationships. 2. Hiring company sales reps and separating them out into defined territories for all Atomic Company product lines will provide each of the benefits stated above. Additionally, company sales reps will feel a higher sense of commitment for Atomic and the accounts they serve since they will be receiving a salary with commissions based on performance. The way the commission structure is set up, there’s incentive for sales reps to try to identify opportunities for new business. If a situation similar to Punk Rock Academy arises, sales reps will still get some commissions from their existing retail accounts without getting bogged down with administrative tasks. Straight rebuy orders will be processed internally, allowing reps to focus on generating new sales. A downside of going with this new structure is that there would be a significant adjustment period for new reps to get hired and become familiar with retail accounts. Additionally, an investment would have to be made in providing office space, equipment, training, and an employee benefits package. 3. Sticking to the status quo will produce results similar to what have been achieved to-date. While the company has experienced success with it, recent developments with Punk Rock Academy have proven that it is flawed. Independent sales reps don’t have a fully vested interest in Atomic’s success. This structure also makes it difficult for true relationships to be formed with retail accounts. Finally, commission rates are structured in such a way that there is not a lot of incentive to develop new retail accounts as long as business is booming. The minute fads change, however, reps will be set back and will have to scramble to make up for the loss in sales. Recommended Course of Action Although switching the entire company and all product lines over to internal sales reps would require a significant initial investment of time and money, it will be worth it in the long run. My recommendation is to go with option two. Overall, this course of action will put the focus back on forming account relationships that will create value and allow Atomic Company to meet the expectations of their retail outlets. More in-depth knowledge of accounts in smaller territories will make it easier to predict future sales, especially when a spike in sales occurs. Retail stores will provide excellent input on consumer behavior since they know their client base and can use past experience as a reference. The revised salary with commission structure will help reps balance out serving existing accounts with finding new business. A base salary will help retain sales reps since they won’t be worried about facing months when sales might be a little slower. Implementation/Action Plan All existing independent sales reps should be alerted as soon as possible that effective the beginning of third quarter, Atomic Company is making a switch to inside sales representatives. All reps with a solid track record would be invited to continue on as a full time employee with salary and revised commission structure. Reps would have two weeks to make a decision on their intentions to stay with the company. If individuals choose to leave, they would be offered a bonus if they stay on contract until the beginning of the fourth quarter. After two weeks, Atomic Company will have a sense of how many new sales representatives will need to be hired so they can begin the recruitment process. Formal salary and commission structures will be set up and the VP of sales will develop a complete plan for sales training and account relationship management under the revised territories. Benchmark sales goals, objectives and strategies will be written out to fall in line with overall company goals. After the first quarter under the new structure, management will need to evaluate progress and adjust as needed. Contingency Plans If timing doesn’t allow for a quick implementation of the new sales structure, a hybrid approach can be taken. The eastern territories can be broken down into smaller areas and inside sales reps can be hired to manage those accounts. Meanwhile, the central and western territories of the U. S. can maintain use of independent sales reps for various product lines. This could be a good opportunity to test out the new structure to see how well received it is by retail accounts and how it impacts overall sales.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Indianization Term Essay
Question 1 What does the term `Indianization` or `sinicization` refer to when used to describe government administrations headed by invaders or foreign powers? Please give at least 2 examples.                These two terms refer to a general cultural assimilation of the foreign government. Over time, occupying powers in China and India became familiar with the local culture and began to blend in, appearing more and more as locals than foreigners. In the case of these two countries, this process led to locals being promoted to government positions that were initially reserved for the foreign or invading power. The nation gradually looks less and less like a conquered state, as more of its own people are placed in positions of power and its populace regains greater self-determination.            In India, this process was introduced by the British in the 1920’s and was actually termed Indianisation. The British appointed Indians to fill senior military ranks and government positions, and set up specific officers to handle this process in a deliberate manner.            The example is perhaps clearer in China, where Kublai Khan fell in love with Chinese culture in his youth. In 1271, after being Khan for 20 years, Kublai created the Yuan dynasty which covered the area of China under Mongole rule. The Yuan dynasty was initially a Mongol administration and was part of the Mongol empire, but with time, successive rulers saw themselves as Chinese emperors rather than Mongol lords. The Yuan dynasty lost influence over Mongol lands outside of China, and became a true Chinese empire until conquered by the Ming dynasty in 1388 (Saunders, 2001). Question 2 What developments in Southern Song China resemble the Industrial Revolution of the West? Why were the emperors during the Song period so successful when their predecessors were not?      The Song period was one of great growth and development in China’s industry and infrastructure. One of the largest factors of this was the introduction of paper money, leading to a normalized market economy. This was also a time of development of cities, as opposed to the agrarian economy that had characterized earlier periods. Cities became centers of trade and industry, leading to the development of a merchant class similar to the later Bourgeoise in Europe.            Chinese industry grew along with the merchant class during the Song period. While finding exact numbers from the time period is difficult, Robert Hartwell notes that Chinese iron production lept sixfold from the early 800’s to 1078, where he notes that Chinese iron production reached 125,000 tons (Hartwell, 1962), far beyond that of the Western powers. This abundance of iron allowed China to manufacture tools, machinery, and trade goods. The result was that China’s economy grew dramatically, leading to China surpassing Western Europe in per capita income during the Song dynasty (Maddison, 2006).            Several factors contributed to the occurrence of this Chinese â€Å"Industrial Revolution†under the Song dynasty. One was the establishment of a civil bureaucracy as opposed to rule by warlords. This helped to encourage the development of trade and industry, as well as education, as commoners could achieve these posts via taking the imperial examination. Another factor was technological innovation, marked by developments such as gunpowder and movable type. Such social and technological innovation led to expanded opportunities for the peasant class and allowed many to migrate from farms to cities to pursue the newer career paths available to them. Question 3 What combination of Mongol attributes and Song weaknesses made the Mongol conquest successful? Please analyze it detail.            The single largest factor leading to the successful Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty was the attitudes of each culture towards war. The Mongols were born and bred for it. Their culture glorified battle and conquest. The Mongol empire had been growing for centuries, winning victory after victory, which surely inspired fear and doubt in any army forced to stand against them. The Song were not pacifists by any means, but they were not warriors in the same vein as the Mongols. When they broke the Mongol alliance to recapture former lost cities, they were not prepared for the war they had unleashed.            One major Song weakness was that the initial battlefields of the war were not favorable positions to hold. Kaifeng, Luoynag, and Chang’an were already ruined by war. The Song strategy of defense also played into the Mongols’ hands, allowing the horsewarriors to choose the time and place of battles and ensure local superiority. This led to the Song being driven back, finally retreating to Guangdong and losing their leader, Emperor Gong, in the process.            The Song dynasty was now left effectively leaderless. The two heirs were mere children. Without a decisive and strong leader, further efforts at resistance were to prove futile. The final defeat of the Song at the Battle of Yamen in 1279 was almost a foregone conclusion, as the demoralized and cornered Song were beaten soundly by Kublai Khan’s naval forces, leading to the death of the final Song emperor and the assimilation of Song lands. Question 4 Why did Chinese culture become so popular and accepted in Japan? What are the major differences and similarities between the Chinese and Japanese culture.            Many aspects of Chinese culture passed to Japan in the earlier centuries AD, when China was a more advanced society and the Japanese eager to learn and advance themselves. This hunger for learning and improvement of their culture was the primary factor that allowed Chinese cultural influence to infiltrate Japanese society. When the two cultures first made contact Japan had no formal written language and adopted that of the Chinese, which would later be evolved to a similar but distinct written form. Japan also modelled its imperial bureaucracy after that of China, and the courts of the two nations ended up being very similar in the ranks and titles used.            The largest form of cultural influence, though, was religion. Both Confucianism and Buddhism made strong inroads in Japan, which at the time had a much less sophisticated form of religion. Both of the Chinese religions imparted practical knowledge about how to run a society and live one’s daily life, and this proved attractive to the Japanese. This influence led to the development of Zen Buddhism and the famous Japanese samurai culture.            With these similarities, differences between the two cultures remained. One of the strongest was the samurai culture, the code of Bushido. The Japanese samurai evolved to be a warrior caste, something which did not have a counterpart in China on nearly the same scale. As a result of this, Japan evolved to a more feudal society, with peasant-serfs supporting the samurai nobility in a system of lesser warlords (daimyo) owing fealty to the imperial court (in reality, the Shogun). Chinese culture, especially in the Ming period, treated the peasantry more as independent landowners rather than as the lowest tier in the feudal machine. Question 5 What impact did Buddhism have on the development of Japanese culture and lifestyles? Give examples in both art and literature where Buddhism was a major factor.            Japanese Zen Buddhism infiltrated and permeated every aspect of Japanese culture, influencing the way they thought, governed, created, even loved and made war. The Japanese have long been famous for appearing reserved, for keeping emotion private. This is a very Buddhist trait coming from the teachings of the Middle Path, the path of moderation. Excess is frowned upon. Discipline and focus are encouraged. Those two words have formed the foundation of Japanese lifestyles for centuries. The formalized ritual of the tea ceremony also demonstrates Buddhist influences over such a simple thing as the drinking of tea.            The samurai give excellent examples of how Buddhism affected Japanese culture. The samurai were the ruling class, and as the elite, the commoners would seek to emulate them. The samurai were known for their unshakeable dedication to their duty, that of serving their daimyo, or leige. They paid particular emphasis to Samadhi, one of three branches of Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path. The teachings of Samadhi emphasized right effort (continual self-improvement, via constant training at their disciplines), right mindfulness (awareness of one’s surroundings, seeing the world clearly), and right concentration (self-awareness, accomplished via meditation and self-reflection).            Buddhism’s influences also spread into the art and literature of the period. The clearest example in art is in Japanese gardens and architecture. Japanese homes were sparse and minimalist, rejecting luxury in favor of the simple necessities, in which the Japanese took joy. Their gardens were designed and grown as places for tranquility, as places of meditation. Buddhist influence over literature is seen in such writings as â€Å"An Account of My Hut†by Chomei, an argument for a life of peaceful meditation and tranquility. Question 6 How did a Japanese emperor differ from the Chinese emperor? Which would you consider more superior and why?            The primary difference was in the power they wielded. Chinese emperors tended to wield far more power over their territory and ruling in a monarchial fashion. While many Chinese emperors were overthrown in the end by court intrigue, regicide, or revolution; during their time on the throne a Chinese emperor was his nation’s absolute ruler.            In constrast the Japanese emperors were mostly figureheads. Though viewed by the populace as a living god, in truth their power was very limited. For most of the last 1,000 years the real power in Japan was held by the Shogun, the primary warlord who had gained dominance over the others. Within that period were also many times of strife where Japan had no strong leader but was instead fragmented into many separate warring states, led by Daimyo. The emperor still reigned during these periods but had no power to stop the warfare.            Chinese emperors fit more closely with the western idea of monarchy, whereas Japanese emperors were described by European explorers as being more akin to the Pope: a spiritual leader with little political clout, while the Shoguns were mentioned as being similar to the European monarchs (Howe, 1999).            In absolute terms, Chinese emperors seem to be superior to Japanese by virtue of the greater power they wield. Argument could be made that monarchial institutions have the inherent weakness of relying too much on one man who may or may not be qualified to rule (just look at the damage some of the Roman emperors such as Nero and Caligula caused), that is beyond the scope of this work. For the purposes of this discussion, I will argue that Chinese emperors were superior as the Japanese emperors were for the most part figureheads. Question 7 What characteristics of the nomadic peoples made them `barbaric` to the civilizations of India and China? What characteristics of the nomadic peoples would you consider to be strengths?            China and India viewed their nomadic neighbors as barbarians due to what was seen as an overall lack of civilization. Most of the nomadic cultures lacked such â€Å"civilizing†characteristics as a large and detailed government system, with most using a system that was very feudal in nature, chieftains owing fealty to greater warlords. They also lacked what were seen as other civilizing characteristics, such as advanced agriculture with public works projects like canals to support it.            Another major factor was that of religion. China and India had very sophisticated religious belief systems, as opposed to the less developed beliefs of the various nomadic groups around them. As has been seen throughout history in all parts of the world, religion is commonly used as a barometer to judge the level of civilization of a culture, such as in Europe where Christians viewed non-Christians are barbarians. Based on this barometer, the Chinese and Indian cultures viewed others with simpler belief structures as not being as advanced spiritually and philosophically. Finally, many of the neighboring nomadic cultures had not developed a fully-functional form of written language, often borrowing from Chinese writing.            And yet despite these â€Å"disadvantages†, nomadic cultures such as the Mongols would end up conquering the great civilized empires. Their active tribal lifestyle bred them as warriors, not farmers. Their lifestyle also led them to be superior horsemen, which proved yet another advantage in warfare. Their people were hardy, used to living without luxury, and well-suited to conducting long campaigns. These cultures that were dismissed as â€Å"barbaric†would end up proving mightier than expected. Question 8 When did the Mughal dynasty rule India. What achievements occurred during this dynasty? What led to the decline of Mughal rule in India?            The Mughal dynasty began in 1504 when Babur of the Timurids conquered Kabul. His force was a Muslim army of Mongols and other more local peoples (such as Afghans and Persians). This and the following decades of consolidation of power with battles fought against smaller regional powers established the Mughal dynasty, and brought Islam to the front in the Indian subcontinent.            Of note, though, is that the Mughals exercised a religious tolerance rarely seen in the time period. Though Islam was the primary religion throughout most of the dynasty, Hindus and other religions were rarely persecuted. The reign of Akar from 1556-1605 brought about the most dramatic change of all, with a policy of direct attempts at reconciliation with Hindus, promoting them to high government office and abolishing the poll tax on non-Muslims.            Another major and lasting achievement of the Mughals was their architecture. They were renowned for massive construction projects, including large fortress-palaces such as the monstrous Red Fort in Dehli. There is also the Taj Mahal, perhaps the most famous lasting architectural sample, built in Agra and completed in 1648.            The decline of the Mughal empire was a long process. The reign of the last of the strong Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb from 1658 to 1707, saw the empire hold together but the decay had begun and his policies, while temporarily effective, added to the long-term problems. Wars demonstrated Mughal military might, but drained the treasury; and new anti-Hindu policies led to resentment and rebellion at home and class struggle (Habib, 2001). This led the way to foreign invasion from the neighboring Marathas, Persians, and Afghans, eating away at the empire until the commonly accepted date of the empire’s final ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar who was exiled in 1857. Question 9 Ironically, while Europeans later fought wars over control of the sea routes in the Asian region, China abandoned its dominant position. Why did the Ming court decide to end the maritime voyages of Zheng He just as China reached domination of the Asian seas? Was this a poor decision or one that strengthened China? Please explain.            There were multiple factors that seem to be present in the Ming’s decision to suspend Zheng He’s voyages. Zheng He did most of his exploring during the time of the Yongle Emperor, and when he died in 1424 his successors seemed to view Zheng He’s growing influence at court as a threat. Curbing his travels that made him famous would be a good way to reduce his influence.            Cost was also a major factor, as China became embroiled in conflict with its Mongolian neighbors to the north. Having been once conquered by the Mongolians, the Ming court took this threat very seriously, and devoted every effort to protecting their borders and resisting the Mongols. Zheng He’s expedition fleet was massive, and the cost of the journeys was thus immense, as he went as an emissary and explorer rather than a trader. His journeys did not result in wealth pouring into Chinese coffers as did that of the European explorers from the colonies they founded and trade routes they started. The Ming needed their resources to fight the Mongols, and thus cut back in other areas, such as these naval expeditions in order to meet the Mongol threat.            It is difficult to say whether this was a wise decision or not in retrospect. The money saved on naval excursions surely assisted the Ming in their mostly successful efforts to resist the Mongols, culminating in the expansion of the Great Wall of China. Perhaps if Zheng He’s costly voyages had continued, the resources would not have been available to hold off the Mongols. And yet there was a cost, which is that when the European nations began arriving in force, the Chinese were not able to resist them. Overall I would say the decision was wise, in facing the immediate threat rather than a potential and vague future threat that might never materialize. Question 10 Who founded the Ming Dynasty and what were main characteristics of rule during this period? What were the major achievements of the Ming Dynasty? What is meant by saying that the `sprouts of capitalism` can be found in the Ming Dynasty?            The Ming dynasty was founded in 1368 by Zhu Yuanzhang, a man of peasant birth and monastery education who was one of the leaders of a series of revolts that destroyed the Yuan dynasty. Upon ascending to the position of emperor, he took the name Hongwu. Some major traits of Ming rule were favor given to the poor, a strong military, a strong internal focus, and the replacement of the prime minister post with that of the Grand secretary.            The Ming period was a good one for the peasantry. Hongwu seemed to favor the poor, and gave land to peasants to farm. Peasants who moved to and farmed unused land could claim it as their own and be free from taxation on it. This led to an agricultural class much like that to be found later in America, with free citizens owning and cultivating land rather than a feudal serf system.            The early Ming favored agriculture over trade, and would eventually forbid oceangoing trade ships from leaving China. Despite this, trade flourished due to other factors, such as the introduction of silver to the economy which established currency and limited barter. Another major achievement of the Ming dynasty was its refinement of the Chinese legal code. The laws were designed to be fair and understandable, so that they could not be taken advantage of by the upper class.            Capitalism in China flourished during the Ming period. The empire was stable politically, the lower class more prosperous than ever before. Owning their own land meant that they received the benefits from their work rather than owing most of the fruits of their labor to a leige. This was the beginning of a free market, and combined with increased trade, Chinese citizens were rewarded for their hard work and this encouraged them to do well. Bibliography Habib, I. (2001). The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1526-1707. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hartwell, R. (1962). A Revolution in the Chinese Iron and Coal Industries During the Northern Sung, 960-1126 A.D. The Journal of Asian Studies , 21 (2), pp. 153-162. Howe, C. (1999). The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy. Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Maddison, A. (2006). The World Economy: Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Saunders, J. J. (2001). History of the Mongol Conquests. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Mixed Economic System Essay
A mixed economy is an economic system in which both the private sector and state direct the economy, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and planned economies. Most mixed economies can be described as market economies with strong regulatory oversight and governmental provision of public goods. Some mixed economies also feature a variety of state-run enterprises. A mixed economic system (also known as a Dual Economy) is just like it sounds (a combination of economic systems), but it primarily refers to a mixture of a market and command economy (for obvious reasons, a traditional economy does not typically mix well). As you can imagine, many variations exist, with some mixed economies being primarily free markets and others being strongly controlled by the government. In general the mixed economy is characterized by the private ownership of the means of production, the dominance of markets for economic coordination, with profit-seeking enterprise and the accumulation of capital remaining the fundamental driving force behind economic activity. But unlike a free-market economy, the government would wield indirect macroeconomic influence over the economy through fiscal and monetary policies designed to counteract economic downturns and capitalism’s tendency toward financial crises and unemployment, along with playing a role in interventions that promote social welfare. Subsequently, some mixed economies have expanded in scope to include a role for indicative economic planning and/or large public enterprise sectors. Advantages of A Mixed Economy In the most common types of mixed economies, the market is more or less free of government ownership except for a few key areas. These areas are usually not the resources that a command economy controls. Instead, as in America, they are the government programs such as education, transportation, USPS, etc. While all of these industries also exist in the private sector in America, this is not always the case for a mixed economy. Disadvantages of A Mixed Economy While a mixed economy can lead to incredible results (America being the obvious example), it can also suffer from similar downfalls found in other economies. For example, the last hundred years in America has seen a rise in government power. Not just in imposing laws and regulations, but in actually gaining control, becoming more difficult to access while simultaneously becoming less flexible. This is a common tendency of mixed economies. Introduction to Economic Systems There are four primary types of economic systems in the world: traditional, command, market and mixed. Each economy has its strengths and weaknesses, its sub-economies and tendencies, and, of course, a troubled history. In this project examine each system in turn and give ample attention to the attributes listed above. It’s important to understand how different parts of the world function economically, as the economy is one of the strongest forces when it comes to balancing political power, instigating war and delivering a high (or low) quality of life to the people it serves. An economic system is a system of production and exchange of goods and services as well as allocation of resources in a society. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entities (or even sectors as described by some authors) and consumers that comprise the economic structure of a given community. A related concept is the mode of production. The study of economic systems includes how these various agencies and institutions are linked to one another, how information flows between them, and the social relations within the system. Among existing economic systems, distinctive methods of analysis have developed, such as socialist economics and Islamic economic jurisprudence. Today the dominant form of economic organization at the global level is based on market-oriented mixed economies.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Thesis Paper for Assassinations in International Relations Essay - 1
Thesis Paper for Assassinations in International Relations - Essay Example that end, to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace†(Wachtel 2005, 677). Legal theorists claim that the most effective means to remove threats to peace and order is to eliminate those prominent people who encourage them, by taking them into custody, but otherwise, by assassinations or targeted killings. Targeted killings present numerous pragmatic benefits over established processes of far-reaching assault. The most evident and frequently mentioned advantage is saving the lives of combatants who would be exterminated in the course of an attack intended to take a leader into custody, to tear down his regime, or to seize control and authority over his nation. Similarly, all over the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous well-known thinkers struggled with the issue of targeted killings, but almost wholly in the perspective of armed conflict and pragmatic analysis. Majority agreed that assassination during time of war was acceptable, but slaying them deceitfully was not. Aside from the pragmatic argument that targeted killings will prevent the death of numerous people, the common agreement of these early thinkers was that assassination was allowable, as long as it was not deceitful. The argument against deceitful killing appears to have appeared from a widespread desire to safeguard generals and leaders from disgraceful and capricious attacks. The emergence of the ideals of modern warfare and the appearance of non-state players raised arguments against this pragmatic perspective. However, these early assumptions effectively placed deceitful killing and targeted killing in their appropriate historical and pragmatic framework. In order to strongly support the thesis, the following issues will be discussed: (1) the principle and effectiveness of ‘targeted killing’ rule; (2) the morality of state-supported or legal assassination; and (3)
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Law case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Law case - Essay Example However, when Freddy arrived he found that there was only a selection of 35 records available. He there upon informed Richard, the manager of the Red Lion, that he could not perform under these circumstances and left the pub immediately. Richard was furious, he told Bill to leave the equipment set up and began telephoning around to find another DJ. He eventually found a DJ called Sally who agreed to perform at that Red Lion for  £150-00. Richard agreed to pay this fee; but when she arrived she found that Bill had taken down all the equipment and had gone home shortly having done so. Richard was forced to pay two local boys  £35 each to set up the equipment for Sally. Freddy and Bill are demanding their fees of  £60 and  £20 from the Red Lion Club. Richard has refused to pay them and is threatening legal action by the Red Lion which is an incorporated company against Freddy for Breach of Contract. In the above, it is necessary to discuss whether either party can sustain a claim for breach of contract. In order to do this it is necessary to discuss the formation of a contract and the issue of privity of contract with regard to any potential claim Bill might have. From this is should be possible to advise the parties with regard to any monies they might be entitled to. The formation of a contract requires there to be an offer1, followed by acceptance2, and then consideration. If all three elements are present the court will generally rule that the contract has been fully constituted. In the above, the contract has been created between Richard and Freddy, with Freddy offering the services of Bill to assemble the equipment, and Richard acting on behalf of the Red Lion Club. When considering privity of contract it is important to note in this case that privity exists between Richard and Freddy. Privity can be horizontal or vertical. Horizontal privity would occur in the case of Bill as he will be getting the benefits from the contract made between
Discuss the ethics of euthanasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Discuss the ethics of euthanasia - Essay Example This concept of mercy killing has always been a bone of contention in the society. The notion that one is allowed to simply take their or someone else’s life just because they are in pain then the value of life is meaningless. It is believed that if someone is meant to die then they will die if not, then it is our responsibility to ensure that they live for as long as possible. There is a big difference between letting someone die and killing them. Euthanasia gives people the impression that it is okay to relieve yourself of life because the suffering has become too great. In some cases however, the turnout of some events are beyond our control. Some patients go to hospitals in great pain but they are so willing to die that one can do nothing to help their situation. When a patient, for instance, refuses to take their medication and insist on doing away with all the burdensome medical procedures, they are bound to die. However, the doctors cannot be blamed for mercy killing in this case because the patient was difficult. The doctrine of double effect is another occurrence that is usually above the medical staff control that people confuse with euthanasia (Keown, 23). When a person is administered to drugs they are meant to help them get better. This is the common knowledge of how hospitals operate that people are familiar with. However, this is not all true since there are some cases that the doctor might administer medication that help manage side effects of diseases but also cause the patients statues to degrade. This is what is known as the doctrine of double effect. In an accident scenario, a doctor might try to relieve the pain of a victim using a drug that might cause their liver to shut down in the process killing them. However, this person will not die painfully but gracefully slip to oblivion. To most people, the thought of taking a life is something that should not even be put into discussion. While most cultures are very
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Current event summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Current event summary - Essay Example The President was addressing a Congress sobered by the assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and he made use of â€Å"his best chance of the year to connect with the country†to prove to the nation about his vision of economic revival. Thus, Obama devoted most of his prime-time to deal with the issues of the economy which is now reeling from a monster recession. (Feller, 2011). In his address to the Congress, President Obama clearly outlined his broad strategy for the economic growth of the nation in spite of the current issues of the struggle. The President maintained that both the Democrats and Republicans need to work together to keep the nation a competitive and stimulating economy. Addressing the issues of the economy and the strategies to overcome these, President Barack Obama emphasized the need for unity in a new era of divided government. In this speech, the President addressed his key plans to boost the economy, create jobs and cut spending, and his m ajor endeavor was to persuade the emboldened Republican Party which is deeply skeptical of the President’s plan for economic revival.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Scale Construction Evaluation Project and report Essay
Scale Construction Evaluation Project and report - Essay Example A., & Lefcourt, H. M. ,1983; Miczo, N, 2004) It alleviates stress and can be resorted to in building stronger interpersonal relationships. Studies on humor’s implications on physical health have likewise been done and it shows that â€Å"there is very little evidence of stress-moderating effects of humor on health-related outcomes, using existing self-report measures of sense of humor and life events measures of stress†(Martin, 2001, conclusion, para. 13). However, it was also contended that certain types of humor may be effective with certain types of stress. Self-report measures of humor have been developed and used in studies on humor. The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire (SHRQ), (Martin & Lefcourt, 1984) measures respondents’ degree to which they smile and laugh in a wide variety of situations. The Coping Humor Scale (CHS), (Martin & Lefcourt, 1983), participants evaluate how they use humor as a coping strategy. The Sense of Humor Questionnaire (SHQ-6), (Svebak, 1996) evaluates different components of the humor process and the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS), (Thorson & Powell, 1993) investigates different humor behaviors such as humor creation and humor appreciation. In 1999, Martin and associates (Phulik-Doris and Martin, 1999) developed a humor scale measuring four humor styles: Social humor (tendency to share humor with others to put them at ease and enhance relationships); Self-enhancing humor (tendency to maintain a humorous outlook on life even when not with others, to cope with stress or to cheer oneself up); Self-defeating humor (tendency to amuse others by self-disparagement to hide one’s true feelings from self and others); and Hostile humor (tendency to use offensive humor to put down or manipulate others). This 60-item Likert-type format questionnaire has been developed and validated by Puhlik-Doris and Martin (1999) in a large Canadian sample. This original version of the Humor Styles Questionnaire was
Monday, September 23, 2019
Software Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Software - Research Paper Example They understand the metrics of the business they operate in. With this knowledge they are able to improve the performance of the business. They are continually looking for business solutions from a technology perspective (Bloem, Doorn, & Mittal, 2005). In this regard, the CIO is expected to provide these solutions so that the business is seen to improve. They engage data mining techniques to get the information required to improve the data. They are seen to be business catalysts. They are helping the businesses to make money out of these decisions. The decisions they make are valued by management. They bring about major revolutions. They are included in very crucial management meetings of the company. Management makes use of these CIOs to improve the line of business seen to bring the expected targets. These CIOs are common in industries where competition is so high. They help to bring innovation in the company so that they remain ahead of competition. Disadvantages One disadvantage with this setup of that there is a lack of coordination between the various IT services. There is no integration of technology in business. This is because there is a lot of autonomy in undertaking the business. This hinders the successful integration of technology and business. ... The changes that are experienced today are seen in the role that Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are having. CIOs are from time to time asked to evaluate the role that IT plays in an organization. As technology becomes a very important and integral part of any business, the role of the CIO becomes very crucial by the day; these officers become business leaders of any type. Their main role is to transform the IT function from the traditional role which was expected to make things work faster in an organization with an international strategic function. The CIO is being asked to look for more strategic solutions that will make the business ahead of the competition. Another advantage is that organizations are getting all the reason to align their IT functions with the objectives of the business. Most managers ask the CIO to give a justification of the technology investments that the company makes and then deliver on the benefits that they have promised will be achieved. There is global ization that is being realized in organizations today, thus bringing changes to the role in which the CIO plays in the company further. When combined with technology, globalization is making the business to scale great heights. With this trend, organizations are no longer limited by distance. The companies which are leaders in their field of operation are swiftly moving so fast to take the full advantage of the benefits that come with technology. These changes are making the role of the CIO and the information technicians change. It will bring changes and transformation in the way processes are undertaken. Information technology has the power of changing the normal operation of any business. They also
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Compare absolute and relative morality Essay Example for Free
Compare absolute and relative morality Essay There are two types of morality, absolute morality and relative morality. An absolutist believes that certain things are always right or wrong no matter the consequences or situation, while a relativist is more concerned with outcomes and believes something is either right or wrong based in certain circumstances or situations. An absolute command is a command that is true all the time, in all places and all situations. An absolutist thinks about what is the right thing of itself, for example murder, because killing someone regardless of the consequences of an action or the results might occur. this means they approach is deontological. The system is simple and easy to apply, as a crime will be a crime regardless of the circumstances. An example is stealing, stealing is always wrong no matter the culture of the person, what the reasons were or when it happened make no difference; stealing is universally wrong and everybody knows that. There are many strengths to absolutism. firstly, because certain things are neither judged right or wrong in all situations, it makes it easier to apply than relativism. for example, in absolutism, if someone was to steal, it would be seen as wrong, while in relativism if someone steals, it might be, because they cannot afford food for their baby, so all other circumstances need to be taken into account. Also, it enable us to have a UN Declaration of human rights, as it provides a universal code to measure everything against. However, there are many weakness to absolutism as ethics are deontological which means that it pays no regard to the outcome or consequences of an action, so for example, if a poor mother stole food to feed her hungry child, this act would be judged wrong, because absolute ethics believe a crime is a crime, even though surely the stealing is for outcome and her childs life is more important. Also no one can really know what absolute morals are since all sources of morality are open up to peoples opinions and own interpretation. However relative morality judge things relative to the situation. it means there are no universally moral principles and there is no objective truth and if there is it cannot be found. There are many advantages to relativist, such as it is flexible and takes everyones opinion into account, as it is based on peoples point of view, so no one is wrong and it also takes certain circumstances into account. For example a relativist may believe abortion is wrong, but if a poor mother with hardly any money is pregnant they might allow abortion then, because it avoids the mother bringing a child into the world and giving it a bad life, so with relativism they are more concerned with the outcome. However, there are a number disadvantages to relativism, such as it is very difficult to apply, as judgements are always subjective and based and influenced by peoples thoughts, feeling and opinions, so everyones ideas of what is right and wrong will be different. Relativism is a lot more difficult to apply than absolutism. Also some acts have always wrong like genocide, so relativism doesnt allow moral progress. In conclusion, absolute ethics and relativist ethics ways of judgement are both very different, both having lots of disadvantages and advantages. however in my opinion relativist judgements are better, because they take certain situations into account and acts like abortion cannot be wrong.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Ryanair British Airways | Fare comparison
Ryanair British Airways | Fare comparison Introduction This document reports the findings of a review of the economics and business literature on empirically-estimated own-price elasticity of demand for air travel for Ryan air and British Airways. It refers to the data on page two of the assignment handout to both above airlines to illustrate and explain the concepts of price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically approximate demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel provide in the data on the second page of the assignment topic and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different airline such as Ryan air and British airways, furthermore will evaluate the achievement of cost savings of Ryan air through fixed costs and variable costs as well as writing a critical analysis the article on BAA Airports: ‘Notice of release of interim undertaking 1. Price Elasticity of Demand and Income elasticity of demand in the context of air travel demand: (Ryan air British Airways) This paragraph identifies two distinct prices for air travel which are price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. Specifically, it is observed that studies of the demand for air travel demand should distinguish among prices for: Low cost carrier (LCC) example of Ryanair and Full Service Carrier (FSCs) example of British Airways in this case study; business and leisure travel; long-haul and short-haul travel; and international and European long-haul travel. Accordingly, to examine the sensitivity of the demand for air travel to its price, separate estimates of the price elasticity of demand are gathered for each of these two distinct markets. Price Elasticity of Demand ‘Price Elasticity of Demand is a numerical value which describes the degree of responsiveness of demand to changes in prices. (Andrew, D. 1988: 260) The demand for a particular good or service depends on a variety of factors. Key influences include, the levels of consumer income, the price and quality of the services in question and especially services that are close substitutes (Sloman, 2005). In order to obtain useful estimates of the price sensitivity of demand for a product, we must carefully control for all the factors affecting the demand. As a general rule, once other influences on demand stay unchanged, a higher price for a product leads in a lower quantity demanded. However, the price responsiveness of demand varies from one good to another and from one market to another (FitzRoy et al, 1998). Since the availability of alternative modes of transportation that are reasonably close substitutes for air transport diminishes with distance travelled, it is expected that the demand for air transport will be less elastic for longer flights typical example of British airways with is a FSCs than for shorter flights typical example of Ryan air. Determine the demand and for the premium value the demand is low. means that for the different strategies the demand is price strategy, in al produEach price will lead to a different level of demand and therefore have a different impact on a companys marketing objectives. The higher the prices are the lower the demand of the goods (Kotler 2002). British Airways has two types of customers:  · Price sensitive customers (students, independent travelers, frequently travelers) who are looking for the cheapest prices and the best offers, and  · Low sensitive customers (business and executive customers) who are concerned more in the quality than the price. Considering the three different pricing strategies of British Airways the demand curve will be as shown in the figure below. The price demand considers being elastic which means that for the different pricing strategies the demand is noticeable changing. For the low cost price the demand is high and for the premium value the demand is low. 2.3.3 Cost estimation British Airways estimating the cost of the products in relation with the quality its one provide. The cost of the ticket includes:  · The price of the service  · The added value (extras)  · The airport fees, and  · The travel agents extra fees However if someone book a ticket from the internet has at www.britishairways.com has a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤10. 2.3.4 Pricing method Considering the three different types of customer, the three segments, British Airways has set a pricing method of perceived value. Perceived value is the value promised by companys value proposition and the customer must perceive this value. British Airways perceived value is made up by the companys brand mane and image, the customers image, the performance of the company and the quality of the product created by the company. 2.4 Promotional pricing British Airways has set some promotional prices on flights to some special occasion:  · Christmas gift voucher. The promotional offer for the Christmas known as British Airways escape ticket offers a perfect present. Flying to 14 travel zones from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤59 return on UK and Europe destinations and from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤269 return on the rest of the world.  · Domestic and European fares from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤49 return: Low fares to 135 destinations across Europe.  · Club World business class offer: When flying to club world business class you can upgrade to first class on a free one way ticket. 2.5 Relation within the sector The competition has increased since the introduction of the low cost airlines as easy jet and Raynair. Those airlines have achieved to sell chip tickets by eliminating all the unnecessary costs. They eliminated the intermediaries, the on board value and basically they eliminated completely the augmented product. They have concentrated just on the basic product which is the flight ticket from the on destination to the other. They using a low cost low quality pricing strategy and set a market penetration objective in order to gain more market share. The have a method of value pricing of selling their tickets, the basic, in a greater value than their competitors. Other companies with same objectives as British Airways like Lufthansa and Virgin have followed the same pricing strategies and policy. They set different price rates in relation with value added and looking after how to gain a bigger piece of the market pie. 3. Conclusion Considering the increased competition in the flying industry which is rising people expect that companies will reduce cost by providing less quality products. That is partly true considering what easy jet and Raynair has succeeded. However this is only one part of the true. Companies like British Airways fight the competition with different methods like introduction of low cost ticket where customer can still enjoy a good quality product in a low affordable price. Just considering an example where Ryanair (a low cost airline) flights to Milan from  £49.99 return and British Airways from  £628 return. The problem though with Ryanair is that you can find this cheap ticket if you book it about it well in advance. But if you try to book it on the same day before your journey the price has gone up at  £179.99 return when British Airways price will be still remaining the same until a week before your journey. So does it really worth flying with the low cost airlines which offer just a ticket with no allocated seat, no food or drinks and from unfrequented airports when you have a company like British Airways with so much extra for almost the same price? Thats a question that each of as has to answer on his own. Further, international travel tends to be widen over more time than domestic travel, so that the airfare is a smaller proportion of overall trip costs, which makes international travel less sensitive to changes in ticket prices. In addition, leisure travellers are more likely to postpone trips to specific locations in response to higher fares, or to shop around for those locations offering more affordable fares. Consequently, it is expected that the demand for air transport for leisure reasons will be more elastic than business travel who usually travel with FSCs. Acco rding to Anthony et al (2000) Ryan air prices management is systematically offering different prices to different customer segments in response to demand whereas (Kimes, 1989) suggests that the team in charge of yield management need to identify how changes in price will affect their customers. Within the airline industries customer demand may be higher on week ends, during Summer months, or at particular times of a day, (Belobaba, 1987). Managers must be able to forecast time-related demand so that they can make effective pricing and allocation decision to manage the shoulder periods around high demand period. However the corporate business traveller during the week becomes a leisure traveller when on holiday or at week-ends. Different occasion find the same consumer having different expectation and needs, (Buttle, 1986). Such a concept is termed elasticity of demand. According to the Data downloaded from Ryan air website giving on page two of the assignment topic the price of the flight on the day it been downloaded is far more higher than the price of the flight on other following days of the week day. However, when approaching the end of the week-end or school holiday, there is a huge demand and the increased demand drives the price up again as customer are returning from their vacation or family are going on holiday. Closer to the date and time of the scheduled service, the price rises, on the simple justification that consumers demand for a flight becomes more inelastic the nearer to the time of the service. The low cost airlines such as Ryan air follow the pricing strategy outlined above. Customers booking early with carriers such as Ryan air will normally come across lower prices if they are ready to commit themselves to a flight by booking early. This gives the airline the plus of important how full their flights are likely to be and a sou rce of cash-flow in the weeks and months prior to the service being provided. People who book late often regard travel to their planned destination as a need and they are therefore likely to be prepared and able to pay a much higher price very close to departure. Airlines call this price discrimination yield management but despite the consider name, at the heart of this pricing strategy is the straightforward but important concept price elasticity of demand. Ryanair has a seat pricing policy that causes fares to rise as a flight fills up (Ryanair.com, 2010). Following theory of supply and demand, if customer wants a seat so badly, they will pay more for it than otherwise. Income Elasticity of Demand It is defined as numerical values which describe the responsiveness of demand to a change in consumer incomes. (Sloman, 2005) Because of the recession, demand for low cost flights grew rapidly as family with higher income who were travelling with FSCs before would prefer low cost than traditional airlines and some current low cost customer with low income may prefer domestic flight or would just prefer not to travel by air. However, since elasticity is measuring proportionate change, elasticity values will change along almost all demand functions, including linear demand curves. Estimation of elasticity values is therefore most useful for predicting demand responses in the vicinity of the observed price changes. As a related issue, we recognize that in markets where price discrimination is possible comprehensive data will not allow for accurate predictions of demand responses in the relevant market segments. In air travel, FSCs are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by FSCs also create a complex form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares (typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure t ravellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explaining the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. Oum et al. (1992) provide valuable tools that occur when evaluating the demand models. Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets such as low cost airline. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. The entry of low cost carriers leads to lower fares for a subset of traffic and competitors will offer a supply of seats to match these fares. Lower average fares should lead to lower demand elasticity estimates, while increases in the number of competitors in the market will lead to higher demand elasticity estimates. 2. How ‘low cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed Costs and Variable Costs. Ryan airs business model is focus around its general low cost philosophy. That is Ryan air attempts to cut all non value adding activities as it strives to drive costs down to the total minimum. Below are typical examples how it drives its downwards which include selling directly to its customer over the internet or over the phone rather than via agents and middlemen, thus saving commission cost and administrative cost. Ryan air is a ticketless as most of it customer buy over the internet, in return for a booking reference that is exchanged at the checking counter at the airport for a boarding pass. The airline has no in flight meals which is a cost saving measure that cannot be much inconvenience to its customer since all Ryan air flights are short haul. Nevertheless has subcontracted catering services on its flights where customer can buy an in flight meal and drink should they wish which is another way of driving price. Cabin crew double up as cleaner and this helps Ryan air to promise a turnaround time at any airport of 30 min rather than 45-60 min that has FSCs been the norm. Another cost cutting device, is the typical example of the UK smaller airports such as London Luton, cheaper to fly to from than bigger airports such as Heathrow which it is use at least as its base as they are less congestion and facilitate turnaround times for aircraft to be a lot shorter. Fixed Costs Fixed Costs are defined as the Total costs that do not vary with the amount of output produced (John, S. 2005:82) Ryan air as a LCC operate in the environment of high fixed cost, fixed capacity in the short term, a perishable product and seasonal demand. Virtually all of airlines costs can be considered fixed. The cost of the capital tied up in the plane, the fuel it take to fly the route, the crew it will take to staff the ground and flight operations insurance, rent, etc†¦ All these cost are fixed once the company decides to fly a particular route and the variable costs associated with serving another passenger on the flight are figure lively peanuts. Ryan air generates sufficient revenue through ancillary services such as car rentals, accommodation, currency, travel insurance, transactions, refreshments, to cover variable costs and offset at least some fixed cost. Management believes that providing these services through the internet allows Ryan air to increase sales, while at the same time reducing costs on a per unit basis. Variable Costs Variable Costs are defined as the total costs that do vary with the amount of output produced (Sloman, 2005: 82) The relatively low variable costs associated with many capacity- constrained Ryan air allow for some pricing flexibility and give operators the options of reducing pricing during low demand times. Ryan air always seeks for low variable costs. Below are factors that help Ryanair to maintain a low variable cost: * One type of aircraft, management believes that its strategy of limiting its fleet primarily to three variants of a single type of aircraft from a single manufacturer enables it to limit the costs associated with personnel training, maintenance and the purchase and storage of spare parts, as well as affording greater flexibility in the scheduling of crews and equipment. * Pricing is based strictly upon revenue maximization process that matches the aims and objectives of prices elasticity of demand * Internet booking which cut paper and administrative costs * No airport sales offices/ no cancellations * Charging a surplus for excessive baggage * Maximization of seat capacity per plane Use of less expensive airport as ‘Ryan air been offered incentives is a controversial one Ryan air director of communications. Ryan air further endeavours to reduce its airport charges by opting, when practicable, for less expensive gate locations as well as outdoor boarding stairs rather than more expensive jet ways. Ryan air has entered into in agreements on competitive terms with third party contractors at certain airports for traveller and aircraft handling, ticketing and other services that management believes can be more cost resourcefully provided by third parties. Management attempts to obtain competitive rates for such services by negotiating multi-year contracts at prices that are fixed or subject only to periodic increases related to inflation. One of the typical example is the price of aviation fuel which is directly related to the cost of oil but Ryan air control this through hedging. All these factors listed above contributed to a low variable cost of Ryan air, a key component in any successful yield management system and provide an opportunity for leverage against its major competitors. 3. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: ‘BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking Bibliography
Friday, September 20, 2019
Essay --
Immanuel Kant addresses a question often asked in political theory: the relationship between practical political behavior and morality -- how people do behave in politics and how they ought to behave. Observers of political action recognize that political action is often a morally questionable business. Yet many of us, whether involved heavily in political action or not, have a sense that political behavior could and should be better than this. In Appendix 1 of Perpetual Peace, Kant explicates that conflict does not exist between politics and morality, because politics is an application of morality. Objectively, he argues that morality and politics are reconcilable. In this essay, I will argue two potential problems with Kant’s position on the compatibility of moral and politics: his denial of moral importance in emotion and particular situations when an action seems both politically legitimate and yet almost immoral; if by ‘politics’, regarded as a set of princip les of political prudence, and ‘morals’, as a system of laws that bind us unconditionally. In Perpetual Peace, Kant writes, â€Å"all politics must bend the knee before right†(Kant, PP pg. 125). He claims that morals, in the sense of the doctrine of right, should demand more significance in political decisions, or even be the predominant consideration. To emphasize the lack of between morals and politics, Kant cites Matthew 10:16: â€Å"Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves†(Kant, PP pg.116). Wisdom is not sufficient if it is not conducted towards a consistent purpose with an application towards morality. Kant considers the wisdom of the serpent to be used for the betterment of morality. Not only should politics be congruent with morals, but also properly conceived poli... ...metimes it is the mechanisms that keep the political wheels in motion. If politics were absolutely subservient to morality and honesty, it would seem not only rather unrealistic but also undesirable. In the face of this problem, a challenge for Kant would be to defend the practicality and intuitive desirability of ‘honesty is better than any policy’. Kant’s claim in Perpetual Peace supplies an inspiring vision of a just, peaceful and flourishing cosmopolitan world. It is true that morality and justice demand truthfulness, civil obedience and a full suite of basic rights and liberties; however, because human nature and emotion subsists of more than duty to moral law and there exists circumstances that demand lying, civil disobedience such as revolutions and the temporary restriction of rights and liberties, there does exist a conflict between morality and politics.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Biology :: essays research papers
Biology      1. The virus is made up of five parts and is in the size range of 10 nm-300 nm in diameter. The first is the coat made up of protein that protects the virus to a point. Next is the head that contains the genetic material for the virus. The genetic material for a virus is DNA. The two other parts are the tail sheath and the tail fibers that are used for odd jobs. I believe that a virus is not considered to be a living creature due to the fact it is a parasitic reproducer. To me it is just like ripping up a piece of paper because it is still the same thing and it isn't carrying out any other function besides reproduction. Since the virus cannot continue to do its functions without taking from a host and being a parasite it is considered an obligated parasite.      2. The adult fern plant in its dominate generation (sporophyte) develops sporangium on one side of its leaf. When meiosis is finished inside the sporangia and the spores are completed the annulus dries out releasing the spores. The spore germinates and grows into a prothallus which is the gametophyte generation. The antheridia and the archegonia are developed on the bottom of the prothallus. The archegonia are at the notch of the prothallus and the antheridia are located near the tip. Fertilization occurs when outside moisture is present and the sperm from the antheridia swim to the eggs of the archegonia. A zygote is formed on the prothallus and a new sporophyte grows.      4. Flowering plants have unique characteristics that help them survive. One is the flower itself that contains the reproductive structures. The color of the flower helps because it may attract birds and insects that spread the plants pollen which diversify the later generation of plants. Flowers also produce fruits that protect their seeds and disperses them with the help of fruit eating animals.      5. Fungi, Animalia, and, Plantae are all believed to be evolved from Protista. All 3 of these kingdoms are eukaryotic and their cells have a nucleus and all the other organelles. Fungi live on organic material they digest, Plants produce their own organic material, and Animals go out and find their food. Animalia are heterotrophic whereas Plantae are photosynthetic. Fungi who digest their own food on the outside are different from animals who digest their food on the inside. Plants and animals both have organs systems but animals have organized muscle fibers and plants do not.      8. The Gasreopoda , Pelecypoda, and the Cephalapoda all have three of
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
cocaine production Essay -- essays research papers
Cocaine Production in Columbia Columbia is the largest coca producing country in the world. Over 70% of our nation’s cocaine is produced and manufactured in Columbia (â€Å"battles won†1). The cocaine production in Columbia is different than the rest of the Andean countries because it is grown on plots of land that are gigantic, whereas in Peru and Bolivia coca is grown on small plots of land. Cocaine producing plants are poor farmer’s biggest cash crop. Battles are fought every day between the government and farmers over thousands of acres that produce the raw material for cocaine. In the region that most of these farmers live the growing of coca and the transformation to cocaine is the largest and only functioning industry. It is a reliable income that has brought money into the country’s economy for over forty years (â€Å"a crop†1). For many of these farmers, coca is the only plant that can bring enough money to their family for survival. Coffee, sugar, and bananas have bee n a major export for farmers in the past but a worldwide over-production has lead the farmers to producing fields of cocoa bushes. The lone functioning governments in parts of Columbia are leftist guerrillas. In these areas order is maintained by FARC, which is the countries largest rebel army. The Columbian governments have put laws into place since the 1990’s to cut down on drug trafficking. â€Å"A legal structure has been in place that encourages traffickers to surrender and collaborate with the authorities in return for judicial leniency†(Clawson 90). The drug trafficking in Columbia is causing many problems for Columbian and United States governments. These drug traffickers earn billions of dollars every year selling cocaine to Europe and the United States. The use of the coca plant has been a major way of life for indigenous people for thousands of years. Before coca was mainly used to produce cocaine, it was used by laborers as a mild narcotic to suppress hunger and give energy. â€Å"Some 70 different folk remedies include coca, sometimes in combination with other plants†(Lee 24). â€Å"Cocaine is one of 13 alkaloids produced from the coca leaf, which has been cultivated in South America for at least 2,000 years†(Lee 21). In Columbia it is illegal to grow coca plants unlike Bolivia and Peru but Columbia is still the world’s largest producer of Cocaine. This is credit to drug cartels in Columbia... ...e. Battles are fought every day between the government and farmers over thousands of acres that produce the raw material for cocaine. The Columbian government needs to go into the jungle and wipe out the guerrilla groups but cocaine has somewhat kept Columbia’s economy stable and if cocaine production is demolished then the country might hit rock bottom. The best solution to Columbia’s problems is to cut down on the production of cocaine and create more profitable programs that encourage farmers not to produce coca. Work Cited â€Å"The Absurdity of the Drug War in Columbia†. The Thistle. Oct.2001. Vol.13. 1-2 â€Å"Andean Drug Battle Bears Fruit†Christian Science Moniter.April 2000. Vol.92 . Issue 98 â€Å"Andean Coca Wars†. Economist.March 2000. Vol.354. Issue 8160.1-3 â€Å"Battles won, a War still Lost†.Economist. Feb. 2005. Vol.374. Issue 8413. 1-3 Clawson, Patrick L. The Andean Cocaine Industry. New York:St. Martin’s Press. 1996 â€Å"Columbia’s Cocaine Frontier. National Review. Dec. 2001. Vol.26. Issue 6. 1-6 â€Å"A War Down on the Farm†. Christian Science Moniter. May 2001. Vol.93. Issue 125, 1-3 Lee III, Rensselaer W. The White Labyrinth. New Brunswick. Transaction Publishers. 1989
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Usability Evaluation and Recommendations
Usability Evaluation and Recommendations For Sixties Press Poetry Magazine IT3210 – Web Systems and Technologies John Winko Capella University Introduction This paper will propose a website redesign for Sixties Press Poetry Magazine located at http://www. sixtiespress. co. uk. The site is owned by Thushari Williams according to Whois and the primary purpose of the site is curating/collecting/publishing various poets’ work that relates to a 1960’s era theme. There does not appear to be any corporate backing to the publication or syndication of any sort.After reading through the tirade of obfuscated source code, it is a safe assumption the site was initially done in an older version of Microsoft Word then saved as a webpage. Site improvements will be recommended based off of a blended heuristic matrix found in appendix 1 formed from Search Engine Journal and usereffect. com. Table of Contents Introduction2 Table of Contents3 Identity4 Structure and layout4 Informat ion architecture and site navigation5 Use of visual elements6 Usability7 Accessibility7 Conclusion8 References9 Appendix 1 – Heuristic Usability Questionnaire10Appendix 2 – Site Navigation and Use Case Scenario14 Identity The website http://www. sixtiespress. co. uk is for a magazine called â€Å"Sixties Press Poetry†. The site has a logo that is replicated at the top of every page but does not have a clear tag line to indicate the purpose of the site. A user has to glean the fact the site is a collaboration of different authors generating 60’s themed poetry from menu items and the body content on the main page. There is not a specific â€Å"About Us†page anywhere on the site and the only contact information is in a small section on the bottom left portion of the homepage.The target audience is anyone seeking poetry with a 60’s theme and critical of poetry publishing processes in place in today’s society. Additionally, there are opti ons for purchasing hard-print magazines chosen from a catalog. These facts are not readily ascertained from the overload of content found on the homepage. The site redesign will give a more concise description of the site’s purpose on the homepage as well as a brief tagline. The amount of content on the homepage will be trimmed down so that the site’s identity and purpose are more readily apparent.Structure and layout From a layout standpoint, the overall wrapping of the body of each page on the site changes with the homepage having a wrapped width of 836px while the poetry page has a fixed width of 989px. This inconsistency leads to extra whitespace for some pages while less or none for other pages based on the user’s browser resolution and size. The body content is also left aligned so all extra whitespace is shown on the right which detracts from easier focus on the central content of pages. All of the pages show the site logo at the top followed by a navigat ion menu.This is considered good design and will not be changed structurally for the site redesign. The homepage uses a 3 column layout while other pages vary from 1 to 3 columns for their layouts. Columns are not distinctive in their content and are structurally disruptive giving the appearance of â€Å"cramming†information into a tighter space. There are apparent sections within the homepage body to delineate different parts of the site but no form of clean navigation to identify a relevant section quickly aside from consolidated coloring for each section.Pages are laid out with tables using blank paragraph tags to add space for formatting. This creates a very different viewing experience across different browsers as each medium has a different set of default values for spacing padding etc. The table widths also vary from page to page and section to section creating different alignments from the fixed position formatting used. The site redesign will eliminate the table str ucture for layout and use floated elements (divisions) to accomplish a more fluid layout. Column structure will follow designs set forth in Appendix 2.Information architecture and site navigation The entire site is broken into about 8 pages branching from the homepage with numerous anchor links used to navigate long pages of poetry. The actual content pages are extremely long, to the point the thumb scroll becomes it’s minimize size at 1920Ãâ€"1080 screen resolution. Given the breadth of information on pages such as â€Å"Poetry. hml†, the architecture could be improved by breaking out pages by author and/or subject. Individual hyperlinks do follow a consistent pattern of being underlined and a hand mouse pointer to indicate that clicking the link is actionable.The actual ordering information for hard print magazines is hidden in a catalog link not listed on the main navigation bar. There are also pages for internal authors that are only accessible from the main page and are not descriptive to being a collection of a specific the respective authors work. The site redesign will encompass using a more description navigation menu to better direct the user if they wish to purchase anything the site has to offer as well as a more intuitive menu and architecture for collective works by author. Use of visual elementsFor a website decided to poetry, the decisions for color and contrast do not follow a typical 60’s theme let alone theming for easier reading. Typically 60’s themed colors include Turquoise, Jade, and Mint Green amongst others (McEvoy, n. d. ), starkly contrasted to the dark red on black shown on the homepage. The â€Å"important†headings all have a random color with an â€Å"XOR’d†background while the menu has the same variation of random colors with a pitch black background. Each subsection of content within the body of the homepage is a different color with additional areas having an offset color sche me.The under-contrasted pages would make viewing the site very difficult for someone that is color blind The background wallpaper on each page has a subtle 60’s them but does not contrast well with the multi-color text of poetry passages or content in general. The font size and space are adequate but the font face itself detracts from the aesthetics of the pages’ content. The majority of the block text uses a â€Å"Black Chancery†font face which is not considered web safe and the site would be better suited to use a standard serif font.An exception can be made to allow for an embedded font such as Bellbottom Laser (Lorvad, 1991) to be used for adding flare to title headings. Usability Rather than using the html pseudo element â€Å"©Ã¢â‚¬ the designer made a picture of their copyright statement and it appears they expanded its size from the original distorting the image quality. The site redesign will use text in place of images used to accomplish to th e same task. The picture of Barry Tebb, one of the authors, requires a java applet to run only to have a non-value added effect of water droplets on a grainy photo.The site redesign will remove the unnecessary applet and use a static image instead. Additionally, the site logo will be linked directly to the homepage making navigation easier. There is a text area on the homepage that contains about 5 paragraphs of text and requires scrolling in a very narrow window. This will be revised into a more useable text block following the same design pattern as the rest of the site. With the exception of archives page, text blocks are limited to less than 80 characters per line making reading easier.Although links are properly anchored and are consistent with being underlined, the redesign will consolidate link colors to preserve thematic relevance. The actual number of links on the homepage will be reduced as its current form has more links than descriptive content detracting from understand ing the purpose of a homepage. Accessibility A W3C validation of the homepage discovered over 130 HTML coding errors and all of the styles were made inline without any use of external CSS. (W3C, 2012) None of the images on the site have alt text to failover if the image failed to load.There is not a concise separation between navigation and content within the code as the home used a table row and other pages used paragraphs as the separating entities. By eliminating the table structure of pages, the site redesign will properly code in HTML5/CSS3 ensuring the viewing experience is consistent across the majority of browsers. The site uses a JavaScript based pop-out menu to assist navigating large pages of poetry but there are numerous compatibility issues that occur. The pop-out menu rests about halfway down the screen and overlaps the body content both when expanded and collapsed.The menu bar beneath the logo is in an intuitive place but â€Å"jumps around†when navigating dif ferent pages since the formatting rules vary between browsers. The site redesign will eliminate the JavaScript based pop-out menu and will instead use a floating sub-menu for individual sections. Conclusion The majority of changes to the site will be thematic in nature, updating the color scheme and positioning. Additional changes will be made to improve the site’s identity starting with revising the homepage and including an â€Å"About Us†page to further expand the site’s purpose.HTML and CSS coding standards and practices will be strictly adhered to ensuring compatibility and proper viewing experience across major browsers. References Cumbrowski, C. (2008, Feb 20). 50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Website. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Search Engine Journal: http://www. searchenginejournal. com/50-questions-to-evaluate-the-quality-of-your-website/6400/ Lorvad. (1991). BellBottom Laser font. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Fontspace. com: http://www. fontspace. com/lorvad/bellbottom-laser McEvoy, D. (n. d. ). Interior Design Retro Style.Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from All Things Frugal: http://www. allthingsfrugal. com/retro_interior_design. htm Meyers, D. P. (2012, Feb 10). 25-point Website Usability Checklist. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from User Effect: http://www. usereffect. com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist W3C. (2012, Nov 25). W3C Markup Validation Service. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): http://validator. w3. org/check? uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. sixtiespress. co. uk%2Findex. htm&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0Appendix 1 – Heuristic Usability Questionnaire Navigation 1. Are links labeled with anchor text that provides a clear indication of where they lead? Yes. 2. Depth – what is the maximum number of clicks it takes to reach a page within the depths of the site? All pages are a single click away from the homepage (2 clicks if including anchoring fro m the menu). Given the amount of content on the site it would be more manageable to have a 3 click architecture to more concisely filter and arrange content (by author/by subject). 3.If a splash screen or navigation feature is provided in a Java/JavaScript/Flash format, is a text-based alternative also available? Yes, a JavaScript pop out menu is feature on long pages of poetry and a text version is available at the top of the page. 4. Do clickable items stylistically indicate that they are clickable? Yes, all items that are underlined are linked to some content and the mouse pointer changes to a hand to indicate that the click will be actionable. 5. How intuitive is it to navigate? Are signs obvious or obscured?In a general sense the navigation is intuitive but far from consistent with the layout changes between different pages. The pop-out menu is intuitive in IE but not in other browsers (actual clickable area is not visible). 6. Main navigation is easily identifiable. Mostly yes , however there is a page that contains revenue generation from ordering magazine that is not shown in the navigation bar or easily identifiable. Additionally there are pages that are specific to internal authors that are only accessible from the main page. 7. Navigation labels are clear & concise.Textually relevant yes but thematically difficult to read. 8. Number of buttons/links is reasonable. No, there are links to too many different areas on the homepage detracting from being concise. The homepage itself has more link than actual content. 9. Company logo is linked to home? page. No. 10. Links are consistent & easy to identify. All links are underlined but thematically change very regularly from size and color. An exception exists for the clickable area for each of the links, clicking to high on the text has no effect. Accessibility 1.Is content structurally separate from navigational elements? The navigation menu on the home page is separated from other content by a tag but on subsequent pages is contained in a tag. There is not a concise separation between navigation and content. 2. Is the website cross-browser compatible? No. The layout is achieved using tables and paragraph blanks and the viewing experience was different between Firefox, Chrome and IE. 3. How compliant is the website with W3C coding standards? Valid HTML/CSS? No, a W3C validation resulted in over 130 errors.The pages only contain inline styles with no external or embedded CSS. 4. Are ‘alt’ tags in place on all significant images? No, there are not alt tags used for any images. 5. Are text-based alternatives in place to convey essential information if this is featured within images or multimedia files? No, on top of alt text being absent, the java applet containing a photo on the main page does not fail safely and left as an empty area. 6. Site load? time is reasonable? Yes, there are very few pictures and most pages consist primarily of text in the form of poems/poetry. . Adequate text? to? background contrast? No. The featured articles page has text color very close to the background color while the navigation items are too contrasted in difference. 8. Flash & add? ons are used sparingly. Yes, but the sole java applet add-on used has no specific utility or purpose. The JavaScript pop-out menu does not load correctly across all browsers and is completely cut off from use in Chrome and Firefox. 9. Site has custom not? found/404 page. No. (Requires a server side change so not applicable) Identity 1.Company logo is prominently placed. Yes 2. Clear statement of PURPOSE of the site? Purpose does not become clear within a few seconds without reading much or no text copy at all. Assumptions have to be made from the text in the logo and menu to find out it is a magazine about poetry. 3. Who is the target audience? The site is meant for anyone seeking 60’s era poetry and those looking to purchase a copy of the print magazine. 4. Tagline makes company ’s purpose clear. No tagline present. It is assumed the site is about poetry after reading through the body content. . Home? page is digestible in 5 seconds. No, there are multiple vectors the eyes are drawn to which makes getting an overall view more difficult. There are laundry lists of authors, selected readings and selected sections for each subpage of the site on the homepage. 6. Clear path to company information. No specific â€Å"About Us†page listed and had to specifically perform a WHOIS search to determine true site ownership. The homepage does contain a clause that specifies original copyright remains with respective authors and images were courtesy of Leeds Library. . Clear path to contact information? Not really, there are contact details on the bottom left corner of the homepage but not specifically listed as official site contact. Design 1. Is the site’s design aesthetically appealing? No, the color scheme alone makes the site very unappealing. T he stark contrasts set against the â€Å"swirling†background makes focusing difficult and the left aligned nature draws too much attention to the whitespace left on the right side of the screen. 2. Are the colors used harmonious and logically related?No, colors seem extremely random in nature although they are logically related to sections (one color for each section). 3. Are the color choices visually accessible? No, some parts have color themes that are too starkly contrasted while others are not contrasted enough to allow easier reading. It would be very difficult for someone color blind to absorb a lot of the content. 4. Is the design audience appropriate? Yes, the font size is appropriate for older audiences and those wishing to â€Å"retro†to 60’s content. 5. Font size/spacing is easy to read?Font size and spacing is adequate. 6. Readability and appropriate type face? No, there are multiple different fonts used and the specific fonts do not add to the re adability or theme of the website. The â€Å"Black Chancery†font use predominately for block text is not considering a web safe font. Content 1. Is the website copy succinct but informative? There are continuous sections of poetry that detracts from being â€Å"succinct†but the content only design can be considered informative. 2. Does the copywriting style suit the website’s purpose and ‘speak’ to its target audience?There is an attempt at using vibrant colors resembling 60’s design but that attempt falls short of effectively speaking this to the audience. 3. Are bodies of text constrained to
Monday, September 16, 2019
Concepts What is Culture?
Did you know that culture is universal, meaning that all people have a culture; however, it is different culture within communities because of numerous reasons like beliefs, religions, and race. Society cannot exist without developing a shared culture. With that being said, many individuals find the Amish culture very different and unique. The Amish roots originated from Europe and due to the torture and deaths the Amish culture had suffered as a result of their strict religion and beliefs, they found refuge in other locations throughout Europe, to include Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, and Russia; this was known as the protestant reformation. (Amish America,2010) The Amish is a subculture, there are several groups called â€Å"para-Amish†(G.C. Waldrep), they share many characteristics with the Amish, like horse and buggy transportation, plain dress, and the German language. The conflict of the groups compared to the Amish would be their religious beliefs. Furthermore, the Amish culture is different from the mainstream American culture in many ways such as, their food and housing, their life style, and their beliefs. Amish culture can be considered very reluctant to adopt to the convenience of modern technology. (WIKIPEDIA Amish) They live off the land, they do not eat any processed foods like potato chips or corn flakes. They eat German foods such as, sauerkraut, cabbage and potatoes, home baked breads, eggs, dairy products, grain-based foods, fresh poultry and vegetables grown in their gardens. They are well known for their delicious desserts like shoofly pie, sugar cookies, and schnitz. At the same time, the Amish usually only drink beverages like coffee, tea, milk, and lemonade. (United States Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch) Furthermore, the housing for the Amish include mostly large farm like homes in which they share with two or three other families. However, their life style is relatively different from the American life style, Most Amish people make a living by cooking foods, making clothes, building homes, fencing, and wood structures to sell for profit, others farm on their own lands and/or family lands. They speak German or Pennsylvania Dutch. They make their own clothes, the females wear solid colored long dresses with white or black head covers called bonnets, unlike the males who mainly wear plain colored pants with a t-shirt, suspenders, and straw hats. (WIKIPEDIA Amish) Equally important, The Amish operate a one room school, and they do not offer schooling after the eighth grade. Additionally, teens thirteen to sixteen years of age are encouraged to attend vocational training under supervision of their parents, or teachers, but no other schooling is permitted after that. The Amish teach their youth how to live in the Amish culture so no schooling is needed after sixteen because by then they should know how to do the things to sub stain a successful life. The boys learn how to work the farms meaning milk cows, grow crops, gather eggs, and so much more or they learn how build things out of wood to sell or use, while the ladies learn how to cook, sew. And how to take care of a child. (Wikipedia Amish) However, when it comes to transportation the Amish have a little different way to get around they use horse and buggy. The Amish men train the horses to be able to contain a buggy full of people up and down hills and on roadways with the distractions of other vehicles like cars, trucks, and motor cycles. The Amish men also build buggies to sit in so that they can carry their family and protect them from the weather, they hook the horses to the buggies. To my surprise some buggies are even built with lights, horns, and even windshield wipers depending on where the person lives and/or drives. Consequently, that all plays a role into their beliefs and religion. The Amish have many spiritual beliefs, they are a group of traditionalist Christian fellowships with swiss Anabaptist origins. (Wikipedia Amish) The Amish church membership begins with baptism, baptism is required in order to get married. Once a person is baptized with the church, he or she may marry only within the faith. (Wikipedia Amish) Once a couple is married the husband will then grow a long beard to represent he is a married man. In church which is held every other Sunday in a members home a Bishop along with several ministers and deacons will stress the importance of their Rural life style. They will go over the rules of the church which includes the prohibitions or limitations of the use of power-lines electricity, telephones, and automobiles, if a member is caught doing things outside the Amish religion they are excommunication and may be shunned, which means no one in the community will talk or help that person they are pretty much on there own. (Wikipedia Amish) Moreover,, the Amish can easily be picked out of a crowd because of their material culture. Examples of the material culture that the Amish express are homemade dresses, they are long and one solid color , the bonnets the ladies wear, the horse and buggy they ride in, the hair cuts and facial hair of the men and the long hair for woman. However the non-material culture the Amish express would be there Pennsylvania Dutch language they speak, their belief of baptizing as an adult instead of an infant, the little to no technology they can use, and their belief to not continue their education. In my opinion I respect the fact that they strongly believe in a life with no violence, they seem very family oriented. I believe that the Amish culture love having a honest life living off the land and they are very talented when it comes to the things they can make by hand. Nevertheless, I experienced culture shock after researching how they can live without electricity and telephones, Furthermore, The Amish indicated cultural lag when they stated that they only make medical decisions based on the bible, the mothers have their children at home instead of in hospitals. They do not go to doctors they use remedies and scriptures for healing. In conclusion I feel i am like the Amish in some ways because, I believe in god and share some of the Christian beliefs, i also have grown my own produce before. In contrast, I differ from the Amish mainly because I encourage expanding your education and I love the use of technology I would more than likely be lost without my cell phone and car. I also work outside of my family and home and I can freely date any culture or race if I desire. I would have to say I am just simply more independent and free to do as I want.
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