1.Appreciate important issues in computer system design such as speed Essay

1.Appreciate important issues in computer system design such as speed and flexibility and be able to demonstrate an understanding of the organisational principles of current computer systems - Essay Example In the mid 1970’s when the personal computer was not as common as the current times, computing attacks were done on the telephone systems for example John Draper hacked the AT&T system to make free long distance calls. Randy (2009) pointed out that he achieved to get through the respective system by a simple whistle which he got in a cereal box. Later, he came to be known as Captain Krunch. Different types of attacks have been witnessed over the years and have gotten more sophisticated with the advent of new technology. By the end of 1970s, personal computers became comparatively more accessible than earlier. This marked the start of spam emails; first spam email was sent in 1978 on ARPAnet by the CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation to disable a new computer. The spam in those times generally consisted of advertisements or promotions unlike the financial gain objectives that are hidden in them now. The current motives behind spam deal with far more severe aspects for e.g. identity frauds, online scams. Personal email addresses databases are maintained by many companies these days. Spam is sent to these recipients without their consent or permission with the alias of different forms to make them look professional. These kinds of spam emails transformed into phishing by the year 1996 and consisted of content like the announcement of winning of a lottery by the recipient or an official letter from his respective bank to update his personal details. The recipient enters his personal information in res ponse, thinking that it is a genuine banking process. The email scammer gains the recipient’s personal information as well as banking information that can be used in any desired malicious activity. The stealing of personal information has led to the most appalling of the cyber crimes which is â€Å"identity theft†. According to the statistics provided by the Javelin Strategy & Research Center

It is important to know right from wrong Essay Example for Free

It is important to know right from wrong Essay During this essay I am going to try to prove that it is important to know right form wrong. I am also going to explain how different cultures; backgrounds and circumstances can change peoples morals on right and wrong. An example of how people morals can changes due to circumstances is war. How is war different to murder? War can be defending the country you live in from being invaded and taken over. If your countries soldiers dont shoot the invading soldiers then you would either be dead or living somewhere everything about you is considered wrong just because of you nationality. However, war can be attack where your country is the one who is invading another. But either way, does the little man have a choice? The little man has to do what his leader tells him to avoid being named a traitor or being killed by the enemy. In my opinion war isnt murder. If both sides have weapons and neither side has a choice because if they dont shoot first then theyll end up dead. Its a no win situation. However, a person who commits murder can have a choice. Murders can happen due to jealous or revenge or even pure hate of the person. But the murderer has a choice or whether or not to take someone elses life. There is an exception in my opinion of somebody who is beaten up or constantly being injured by his or her spouse. Im not saying women who get beaten up or men who do because it can happen both ways. There is a point in some people where they snap and cant take any more and their hidden anger get released and they can murder someone in a moment of losing control. This does bring up the question Is suicide murder? and one which I cant answer myself for many reasons and therefore Im unable to give my opinion on it. Some people may consider self harm to be a sickness and that even thinking about suicide is murdering yourself. If the life is yours to take who decides if you take it or not? Other people, maybe those who have considered it themselves believe it can be a way of escaping a situation rather than fighting through it and even that considering it is just bringing them to a conclusion that nobody else has reached yet. Is murder right or wrong? Murder is wrong in circumstances and can be right in others, the same for suicide. It all depends on the point of view that somebody looks at it from. There are always going to be exceptions in murder and suicide so nobody can give a clear right or wrong answer. Another example of right and wrong is the black and white version. The law is in black and white and doesnt consider exceptions in many cases. The legal age of understanding the difference between right and wrong is ten years old in the United Kingdom. No child under the age of ten can be prosecuted and even those who are older are very rarely prosecuted as the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) doesnt always agree to go ahead with the cases. Some cases do go through such as the case when Robert Thompson and Jon Venables murdered James Bulger. The CPS did agree with prosecuting them as they had taken a life and the chance of getting a conviction was realistic. The law has to be in black and white to ensure they treat everybody equally To know the difference between right and wrong you have to have substantial judgement to know when something you are doing is wrong. Growing up living in a location where burglary and violence are everyday occurrences can tilt the persons point of view on right and wrong. Circumstances can change the way their view is on different situations and the basic common sense that people have can cause the person to have different outlooks on different situations. This can cause their view of right and wrong to lead them to things they wouldnt do other wise and end up in prison for committing a crime that they didnt even know is wrong. Is it possible to unknowingly do something wrong? I believe that it is possible to do something wrong without realising it is wrong. It depends on common sense and the situation. In my opinion it is important to know the difference between right and wrong. If you dont then you can do things unknowingly that are wrong and kill somebody due to not understanding the consequences of your actions. This makes it important to know the difference and be able to judge a situation on whether its right or wrong yourself. Ethics and morals are part of everybodys opinions on whether something is right or wrong that means that your opinion has more influence on your actions and the way you treat other people than you realise. The problem with just saying it is wrong to murder or war is murder is that things arent that simple. The world isnt in black and white like the law, it is in colour and so many things and situations have an exception, which is why people have to understand the difference between right and wrong so they can be able to judge the world for themselves.

Stream of Consciousness in Faulkner’s Absolam, Absolam! :: Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Essays

Stream of Consciousness in Faulkner’s Absolam, Absolam! While I was reading Absolam, Absolam! I was reminded once again of Faulkner’s particular writing style of stream of consciousness. The book itself is laid out very confusing having multiple narrators depicting incidents of the past, a recurrent theme of Faulkner’s identifying man’s connection to his past. The first narrator of Absolam, Absolam is Rosa, the sister in law of Thomas Sutpen. She describes Sutpen with so much hatred that he almost takes form of a monster, which is incapable of feelings. Interestingly, Rosa is telling her story to Quentin Compson, the second narrator from The Sound and the Fury, who later as we know commits suicide. At the end of the first chapter, I was left with many pieces of what seem to be the tragic story of Thomas Sutpen, a man who mysteriously shows up in Jefferson, Mississippi buys one hundred acres of land and turns it into a plantation. We also know that he becomes married to Ellen who is twenty-four years older than her you nger sister Rosa. The final image of Sutpen given by Rosa is that some black man kills him on his plantation. Rosa also asks Quentin to come with her to the old Sutpen mansion, because she thinks someone is hiding out there. Continuing with his stream of consciousness technique, Faulkner has Mr. Compson tell the next few chapters through his memories of Thomas Sutpen. Sutpen was in the Cival War with General Compson, and as the stories have been passed down to Mr. Compson, he is passing the story now to Quentin. In Mr. Copsons version, I learned of Sutpens marriage disaster, his immediate family,his illegitimate child with a slave, and a previous marriage to a woman who was 1/8 black, who bears Sutpen a son, which is his dream, but also his downfall. He also explains, how Charles Bon, Sutpen’s abandoned 1/8 negro child comes home with Henry Sutpen from college. Later he is killed by Henry, which is not fully explained yet. I think, that there may be a connection between Sutpen’s hatred of non-whites, and the effects they have on his son, Henry.

Persuasive Essay on Gun Rights Essay

Gun Control Have you ever been involved in a home invasion? How did you protect yourself, or if this would happen have you thought about how you would protect yourself? This is a real concern in families’ minds across the nation. When I think of having a future family I think about how I would keep them safe. Growing up I never had to worry about this, because I knew that my parents would be able to protect me. The way my parents would and have protected me was with a gun. Today, gun control is a major concern in political campaigns across the nation. I will be talking about why we should keep our gun rights based on: home safety, illegal guns and the second amendment of the constitution. We would agree that home safety is in the minds of most Americans, but no matter how hard we try to protect our homes it’s not always a realistic fact. According to fbi.gov, nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 367,832 robberies. According to Gary Kleck, Ph.D. a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee and author of â€Å"Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America† conducted a survey by random telephone sampling of 4,978 households in all the states except Alaska and Hawaii. Results indicating that American civilians use their firearms as often as 2.5 million times every year defending against a confrontation with a criminal, and that handguns alone account for up to 1.9 million defenses per year. My family and I had a personal experience with a home invasion. It was a normal Wednesday night; I was finishing up some late night studies while I heard something from down stairs. Someone had decided to rob our house. I went to my parent’s room to tell them about the intruder. My dad went and unlocked his gun safe and pulled out his twelve gauge shotgun. He exited the room with a loud pump of the forestock. The intruder was quick to run out the door after hearing this. We never had to fire a shot and our guns saved are possessions from being stolen and are family from being harmed. Gun control that is proposed isn’t stating that all guns should be taken away, but that restrictions should be put on guns. Well this does sound logical and does sound like it should work, but it doesn’t necessarily mean  it will. Almost all drugs are illegal except for marijuana in few states, but how many in this room knows someone who could provide them with illegal drugs? Almost everyone. This is the same with guns. Criminals find ways to get drugs just as easily as they could find ways to get illegal guns. According to a recent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) report, there is a significant diversion to the illegal gun market from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL). The report states that â€Å"of the 120,370 crime guns that were traced to purchases from the FFLs then in business, 27.7 % of these firearms were seized by law enforcement in connection with a crime within two years of the original sale. This rapid `time to crime’ of a gun purchase d from an FFL is a strong indicator that the initial seller or purchaser may have been engaged in unlawful activity.† No matter if gun restrictions have been risen or not this is only restricting the people that are lawful with their guns and restricting the people that are responsible with their guns. Criminals are not affected by gun restrictions, because due to criminal records most can’t buy guns legally anyways, but they still find them through black markets and criminal acquaintances. Taking away the gun rights of law obeying citizens is unfair and is violating our constitutional rights. According to the second amendment of the United States constitution states â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† I think this says it all. The constitution is what our country was built upon; it is what our founding fathers had set for us to follow in order to become a better society than the one they came. Myself, being very patriotic, I find it hard to see why someone would want their rights that they are given as a free, American citizen, taken away. These amendments have kept us as a reigning world power for so long and why would anything change now? We have been so fortunate to be founded on such morals and freedoms that we have perfected a functioning society within law. Yes, the United States has been in slump lately, but we are still considered a world power and in most eyes we are still considered top dog. So, why change something if we are already on top ? If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Guns save lives, not takes them. Education is the big problem with guns in today’s society. We have been raised to fear guns, but in reality guns have been something that has so much as freed our nation from England’s reign. Guns have been a part of negative outcomes, but with these outcomes a bad person stands behind this gun. Bad people will always be bad, whether you stick them behind bars or if you put a bracelet around their ankle. We shouldn’t let these bad people determine how all the good people live. We should stay above the bad people and show them that they have no control in our great nation. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Thank you. Bibliography: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html Title: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment, Charters of freedom Publishing: National Archives; last revised 1791 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/procon/guns.html Title: â€Å"How criminals get guns†, Hot guns Publishing: pbs.org, Dan Noyes http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/violent-crime/robberymain Title: The fbi federal bureau of investigation, robbery Publishing: U.S. Department of Justice; last revised 2010 Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America Author: Gary Klerk Publishing: A. de Gruyter, New York, 1991

Essay Plan

The purpose of this assessment is to provide developmental feedback to help you to improve your performance on the final module examination which carries 100% of module marks. Each of the essay questions below will appear as a ‘seen' question on the forthcoming examination paper: engagement in this formative assessment task is therefore essential in your preparations for this. It is imperative that you complete this task to the best of your ability to optimism your level of performance on the doodle overall.Failure to engage with this task is likely to adversely affect your performance on the module. The task You are required to produce an essay plan of 500 words (excluding words In reference list). This should Include the following: 1. An Introduction of 200-250 words written In full with appropriate citations. 2. An outline of the main body which Includes a list of key Ideas/arguments, presented In a logical order Including Indication of key authors. Links to the question sho uld be highlighted to demonstrate relevance of Included material. 3.Outline of conclusion which summaries key points and links back to the question set. 4. Reference list In full which follows Harvard Referencing. You should select ONE of the following questions: A. Perspectives, Perceptions and Selections Outline the social exchange perspective on selection. In what ways does this develop our understanding of the selection process? B. Managing Performance Why Is performance management necessary In organizations? Critically assess the difficulties that arise In Its Implementation. BY MEETS You are required to produce an essay plan of 500 words (excluding words in reference list).This should include the following: 1. An introduction of 200-250 words written in full with appropriate citations. 2. An outline of the main body which includes a list of key ideas/arguments, presented in a logical order including indication of key authors. Links to the question should be highlighted to demo nstrate relevance of included material. 3. Outline of conclusion which summaries key points and links back to the question set. 4. Reference list in Why is performance management necessary in organizations? Critically assess the difficulties that arise in its implementation.

The Hardest ACT Reading Questions Ever

The Hardest ACT Reading Questions Ever SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re aiming for a top score on the ACT Reading section, you probably want to know what the hardest questions look like so you’re prepared for everything the test throws at you. In this article, I’ll walk you through the answers to some of the toughest questions I’ve seen on the ACT Reading section. Why exactly are they so hard? How do you tackle them? How well will you do? Challenge yourself for that top score. Detail Questions Detail Questions will ask you to paraphrase or analyze a specific part of the passage.These questions can be difficult because they require a strong understanding of the author's specfic viewpoint and a high level of reading comprehension. Here’s one of the hardest detail questions about the narrator’s point of view that I’ve come across on the ACT: In the last paragraph, a comparison is made between "diminished excellence" and "flawed competence." From the narrator's point of view, the conditions are different because the one is: F. a source of sorrow while the other is a source of pride.G. based in the family while the other is based in the self.H. inherent in the environment while the other is inherent in the individual.J. a sign that the individual can improve the world while the other is a sign that the individual can't. This is the comparison the question refers to: We plan makers are accustomed to things turning out not-quite-as-good-as-we-had-in-mind. Our world view includes the â€Å"diminished excellence† component. Diminished excellence is a condition of the world and therefore never an occasion for sorrow, whereas flawed competence comes out of character and therefore is frequently the reason for the bowed head, the furrowed brow. How do we go about solving a question like this? First, we need to establish what the narrator is saying about the difference between diminished excellence and flawed competence. What is diminished excellence, according to the passage? It’s a â€Å"condition of the world† and â€Å"never an occasion for sorrow†.Diminished excellence is not something to be sad about because it’s out of our control and exists naturally in the world. Ok, how about flawed competence? In contrast, flawed competence â€Å"comes out of character† and is a reason for â€Å"the bowed head†.Flawed competence is a part of the individual, not an immutable condition of the world, so it can be cause for distress. Ok, we know the difference. Now let’s examine the answer choices. Choice F:a source of sorrow while the other is a source of pride Well, one of them is a source of some degree of sorrow (flawed competence), but neither is a source of pride, so this doesn’t work. Nope, this is an irrelevant answer! Choice G:based in the family while the other is based in the self Again, this is sort of half-correct in that flawed competence is based in the self. However, diminished excellence is not based in the family - it’s based in the world at large. Nothing in this answer choice describes diminished excellence. Cross this one out too! Choice H:inherent in the environment while the other is inherent in the individual This seems likely.Diminished excellence is described as a â€Å"condition of the world†, so it’s inherent in the environment.Flawed competence â€Å"comes out of character†, so it’s inherent in the individual. Keep this one! Choice J:a sign that the individual can improve the world while the other is a sign that the individual can’t This is a confusing answer choice, because we don’t see either of the conditions described as signs of anything in the passage.Diminished excellence could be interpreted as a sign that the individual can’t improve the world, but flawed competence certainly isn’t any kind of sign that an individual CAN improve it. This answer is a weird concept jumble - get rid of it! Choice H is our answer! This question was tough because it asked us to consider and compare two complicated ideas in the passage.We had to grapple with abstract concepts as well as be very specific with our answer choice. You can see, however, that when we closely examine the direct evidence and definitions provided, it becomes very clear which answers should be eliminated. If you come across unfamiliar concepts in the passage that you need to understand to answer a question, sometimes it's helpful to write down their definitions in a simpler form next to the question so you can stay focused. Sometimes you have to look at things from the author's point of view on the ACT, even if you can tell he's someone who wears ugly glasses and stares off into the sunset wondering why he wasted the best years of his life. Development and Function Questions Development and function questions ask about the structure of the reading passage and how certain lines or paragraphs contribute to its meaning.These questions can be difficult because you have to have a strong understanding of the argument presented in the passage and how each piece of the passage fits into that argument. Here’s one of the hardest ACT questions I’ve seen in this category: The author uses the events listed in lines 77-79 primarily to: F. show how weather-related disasters threatened the survival of Western civilization.G. criticize subsistence-level agriculture as being too dependent on the weather.H. illustrate how environmental determinism operated in the Little Ice Age.J. suggest the part that climate shifts may have had in producing modern Europe. Here are is the paragraph we need to reference: Consider, for instance, the food crises that engulfed Europe during the Little Ice Age - the great hunger of 1315 to 1319, the food dearths of 1741, and 1816, "the year without a summer" - to mention only a few. These crises in themselves did not threaten the continued existence of Western civilization, but they surely played an important role in the formation of modern Europe. Some of these crises resulted from climactic shifts, others from human ineptitude or disastrous economic or political policy; many from a combination of all three. Environmental determinism may be intellectually bankrupt, but climate change is the ignored player on the historical stage. I have the whole paragraph copied here, rather than just the lines in the question, because it’s necessary to read beyond the lines to get the right answer. That’s part of what makes this question difficult. All right - how do we solve this? First, let's figure out what the question is asking. What is the primary purpose of lines 77-79?It’s important not to miss the world "primary" in this question because some of the answer choices are tricky.They might support the author’s point, but they’re not her primary reason for using those lines. Now let’s go through the answer choices and see which one works. Choice F:show how weather-related disasters threatened the survival of Western civilization If you just read the lines mentioned in the question, you might think this answer was plausible.This is why it’s important to make sure to read the whole paragraph surrounding the lines to get the context.In the next sentence, the author specifically says these crises â€Å"did not threaten the continued existence of Western civilization†. This is an opposite answer - get rid of it! Choice G:criticize subsistence-level agriculture as being too dependent on the weather Hmm - it does seem based on these lines that subsistence-level agriculture was too dependent on the weather.But was that the primary point the author was trying to make by citing these crises?No, this answer misses the larger point even if it makes sense on a factual level. Eliminate it! Choice H:illustrate how environmental determinism operated in the Little Ice Age This answer choice would be easier to understand if you had the whole passage to look at, but the Little Ice Age is a time period of climate instability that was described earlier in the passage.These crises did occur during that time period, so that part makes sense. But is the author trying to support environmental determinism?She says it’s â€Å"intellectually bankrupt† at the end of the paragraph. This answer is slightly off - cross it out! Choice J:suggest the part that climate shifts might have had in producing modern Europe This seems right.The paragraph says the crises â€Å"surely played an important role in the formation of modern Europe†, so that's a pretty close paraphrase of this answer choice. This one’s a winner! Choice J is our answer! You’ll notice that the correct answer choice was the last one, so this question could be particularly difficult if you were rushing on the test.Some of the other choices also seem partially right at first glance. That’s why reading carefully and making sure every part of an answer makes sense is so important. That guy on the right is SO done with everyone he knows dying from malnutrition. Inference Questions Perhaps the most difficult ACT Reading questions are those that ask you to make inferences about the passage.This requires more developed extended reasoning skills and a deep understanding of the points being made by the author. Meaning in context questions are a subset of inference questions. They will ask you to look at specific lines in a passage to infer and then paraphrase their meaning. Here is an example of a very difficult meaning in context question on the ACT: Which of the following statements best paraphrases lines 5-8? A. The imagination lacks value and should be ignored in favor of paying attention to the actual world.B. Reason can enhance the imagination but at the expense of experience in the actual world.C. Rather than become isolated, the imagination should connect to the actual world at least occasionally.D. Reason, not the imagination, is the best way to appreciate and enrich the actual world. Here are the lines we’ll need to reference: A mind risks real ignorance for the sometimes paltry prize of an imagination enriched. The trick of reason is to get the imagination to seize the actual world - if only from time to time. This question is so difficult because the lines it references deal with a somewhat confusing and high-level concept. The answer choices also combine a lot of different concepts that are included in the lines but don't necessarily answer the question correctly. Ok, time to solve this. First, let’s try and understand what the lines are saying. What does the first sentence mean? A mind risks real ignorance for the sometimes paltry prize of an imagination enriched. It seems like it's saying that people often gain an enriched imagination at the expense of their knowledge of the real world.â€Å"Real ignorance† is the price they pay for an â€Å"imagination enriched†. Ok, how about the second sentence? The trick of reason is to get the imagination to seize the actual world - if only from time to time. It's saying that in order to overcome the problem in the first sentence, you have to get your imagination to connect with or â€Å"seize† the real world sometimes. It seems like we have a pretty good understanding of the sentiment in the passage: imagination can make you lose touch with the real world if you don’t bridge the gap between the two sometimes. Now let's go through the answer choices. Choice A:The imagination lacks value and should be ignored in favor of paying attention to the actual world. Hmm this sounds pretty extreme. Even though the author does say that you shouldn’t totally lose yourself in imagination, there’s no mention of ignoring it.She says imagination should â€Å"seize the actual world†, so the two are compatible. Imagination doesn’t â€Å"lack value†. This answer is incorrect! Choice B:Reason can enhance the imagination but at the expense of experience in the actual world. This is definitely an opposite answer. How can reason enhance your imagination if you are sacrificing real world experience?The author’s point is that reason should allow you to enhance your imagination by occasionally putting imagination in the context of your experiences in the real world. Eliminate this one! Choice C:Rather than become isolated, the imagination should connect to the actual world at least occasionally. Looking promising. The author definitely says that the imagination shouldn’t be isolated from the real world or the imaginer â€Å"risks real ignorance†.She also says imagination should â€Å"seize the actual world - if only from time to time†. This seems synonymous with connecting â€Å"to the actual world at least occasionally†. Keep this one! Choice D:Reason, not the imagination, is the best way to appreciate and enrich the real world. This is a plausible interpretation of what the author says, but it’s still not correct.It seems like she does believe that imagination can cause you to lose touch with the real world, so it might not be the best way to appreciate or enrich the real world.However, that’s not the point specifically being made in these sentences. Eliminate this one! Choice C is our answer! These answer choices were very difficult because almost all of them included a plausible element, even though only one was close enough to the meaning of the lines to answer the question correctly.This is common with inference or meaning in context questions, which is why reading the question carefully and being ruthless about eliminating answers that aren’t a perfect match is so crucial! What is the "actual world" anyway? How do we know our imaginations aren't, like, just as real? Duuuude. Review The hardest questions on the ACT Reading section ask you to analyze abstract concepts and paraphrase complex viewpoints expressed in passages. Often the answer choices provided will seem plausible or provide a statement that is true but does not directly answer the question being asked. No matter how difficult or confusing a question seems, you can always find the answer by referring to direct evidence from the passage.If you read carefully and don’t stray from the information you are given, you will get all of these questions right every time! What's Next? Read these articles for tips on how to approach ACT Reading passages and to learn more about the four types of passages you'll see on the test. Do you keep running out of time on the ACT Reading section? Learn about how to avoid the time crunch. If you're already achieving high scores on the Reading section and want to know how you can take it to the next level, check out our article on how to get a 36 on ACT Reading. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Canadian Marijuana Prohibition essays

Canadian Marijuana Prohibition essays The time has come to end the war on marijuana. As almost every Canadian knows, marijuana is illegal, and has been since 1920. But why did they outlaw this plant? It could not have been simply because it was bad, actually Canadian marijuana prohibition originated in anti-Chinese racism. In the early 1920s Maclean's ran a series of articles by Emily Murphy, which were compiled into a book called The Black Candle. The book was very popular and almost solely responsible for marijuana prohibition in Canada. At one point Emily Murphy explains whom she blames for the marijuana peril: ``An addict who died this year in British Columbia told how he was frequently jeered at as a `white man accounted for.' The Chinese peddlers taunted him with their superiority at being able to sell the dope without using it, and by telling him how the yellow race would rule the world. E Murphy The criminal prohibition is an anachronism from the 1920s that is no longer appropriate for our society. The continued persecution of marijuana smokers is harmful and destructive to our Canadian society. Most Canadians agree that marijuana is a valuable herbal medicine which should not be exterminated. It's time to end Canada's war on marijuana and cannabis culture. 65% or two-thirds of Canadian taxpayers think cannabis should be decriminalized 92% of taxpayers think cannabis should be made legal for medical purposes 19,200 taxpayers or family members (sick and healthy) were arrested for cannabis in 1998 66,000 taxpayers or family members (sick and healthy) were arrested for cannabis in 2000 with close to 45,000 for simple possession OR one every 12 minutes (Statistics Canada) An increase of 23,400 taxpayers arrested per year and still going strong. Whose money is it, and how much of it? By the Year By the Month By the Day By the Hour By the Minute $500,000,000 $41,000,000 $1,367,00...

The Difference Between Of and From

The Difference Between 'Of' and 'From' Many English learners have difficulties understanding the difference between of and from in English. This comes from the fact that a number of languages, like Italian and French and German, use the same preposition for both of and from. For example, in Italian, the phrase I am from Milan or I come from Milan can be translated as, Sono di Milano. The possessive use of of in English can also use the preposition di in Italian. For example, the phrase, Hes a friend of ours can be translated into Italian as, E un amico di noi. In other words, the preposition di in Italian corresponds to the use of both from and of in English. This is true in many languages. In English, however, there is a distinct difference between of and from. Using Of in a Sentence Of is mainly used as a possessive. For example: Hes a friend of mine.The color of the house is red. It is important to remember that it is more common to use the possessive s or the possessive adjective in English than to use of- even if of is grammatically correct. Thus, the sentences above would generally be in these forms: Hes my friend.The houses color is red. Common Phrases With Of Of is also commonly used with all and both to describe a common trait that many objects share. For example: All of the students in the class enjoy volleyball.Both of the assignments are due at the end of the week. Common Phrases With Of Another common phrase with of is one of the superlative form plural noun singular verb. This phrase is commonly used to focus on a specific object that stands out from a group. Notice that although the plural noun is used, the singular phrase takes the singular conjugation of the verb because the subject is One of the.... For example: One of the most interesting things about my job is the people I meet.One of the most difficult subjects for me is math. Using From in a Sentence From is generally used to express that something originates from something else, that something comes from somewhere, or some person. For example: Jack comes from Portland.This formula derives from the work of Peter Schimmel.This pearl comes from the South Pacific. Common Phrases With From From can also be used with the prepositions to and until to mark the beginning and ending point of time of an action or state. Generally, from...to is used with past tenses, while from...until is used when speaking about future actions. However, from...to can be used in most situations. For example: I played tennis from two to four in the afternoon yesterday.We are meeting in Chicago from Monday until Thursday. Understanding the difference between of  and from can be tricky at first for ESL students, but like all commonly-confused words, the difference between them becomes more clear the more they are used.

Principles of Financial Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles of Financial Management - Assignment Example Funds for business operations can be obtained from two sources, these include: internal as well as external sources. Internal sources of finance refer to funds raised from competencies and resources within the organization, for example: sale of fixed assets and money saved from the total earnings. External sources of finances refer to those sources that are located out of the business vicinity, in the environment in which the business is operating (Bendrey, 2001, p.16). For example: sale of shares to other investors, bank loans, overdraft and investments from the investment world. Several benefits are associated with both kinds of financing methods. External financing sources such as sale of shares is one of the most fastest method for raising capital and gaining huge amount of money in a very short period of time. Money raised through sale of shares does not need to be returned and no interest needs to be paid. On the other hand, funds raised through internal sources allow the organization to continue controlling the organization and is not associated with payment of interest. If loan is obtained from banks, organizations can gain access to heavy amount of funds which can be repaid over a long period of time and company does not losses its say on the operations. These sources of finance have disadvantages associated with them, in case of sale of shares, owners of the company loose control and shareholders even participate in decision making process (Cottrell, 1980, p.248). If an organization borrows loan from a bank, it has a duty to not only repay the loan amount, it even has to pay the interest levied on the loan amount which might become difficult to repay if the organization fails to generate revenue. The money raised through internal sources are quite limited are required for day to day financing purposes. If money raised through internal sources is used up, the company might suffer from

Mangment 3000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mangment 3000 - Essay Example Another factor which can motivate me is the rewards and complements. I always like to deliver 100% in my profession. But if my efforts gone unnoticed or unrecognized, then my enthusiasm might gradually decrease. On the other hand if my outstanding works were properly rewarded or complemented, I will definitely increase my productivity knowingly and unknowingly. I would like to build up my career in my organization and all my efforts were primarily focussed on attaining higher places in my organization. So promotion is the best way of rewarding me for my outstanding performances. I know it is impossible for an organization to reward me with promotions always. Incentives, complements, nice words etc can also motivate me. Managers should have some idea about the motivating factors of their employees. Some employees may be satisfied with incentives or cash rewards while some others may need complements or recognitions. The awareness about these individual differences in motivating factors of the employees will help the manager to make custom made strategies for motivating his subordinates. My perceptions about my profession and my organization are very clear. I work for contributing something meaningful to my organization and for that purpose it is important for me to attain higher places in organization. Moreover, I would like to utilize all my talents for the growth of my society through my organization. I have lot of ideas and perceptions about the changes needed in my organization. I would like to participate actively in my organization’s policy making and decision making bodies. I know very well that I can contribute a lot to my organization if I attain higher places in my organization. I know very well that it is difficult for an organization to reward each and every outstanding works. For example, while working in a group, collective efforts are often required

Does Teaching Kids To Get 'Gritty' Help Them Get Ahead Annotated Bibliography

Does Teaching Kids To Get 'Gritty' Help Them Get Ahead - Annotated Bibliography Example In this respect, the grit concept helps instilling life skills on the students. This helps in preventing students from becoming slaves to education. However, it is hard to establish the extent to which grit is a determinant of a success among students. This is because it is hard to assess this concept. The concept of grit enhances the performance of students. It works best for students like the virtue of curiosity and courage. Grit is also associated with risks. These include the academic mistakes students are subjected to, in their daily tasks. The fortitude enables the students to stay through the course with regard to their academic performance. This helps students learn and make appropriate improvements. In the long-run, grit becomes a culture, which is based on the self-drive and excellence. Students are bound to learn from the success and failures of other people, who have applied grit in their academic endeavors. It is true that grit helps people to appreciate and explore their potentials in their academic

Prophet Mohammed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prophet Mohammed - Essay Example The intense conflicts between the Majority Shi’a adherents and the minority Sunni adherents have been apparent since the death of Prophet Mohamed. Both groups have been trying to rule over each other with violence and turmoil between them going back to when their two leaders were chosen. In agreement with the argument also, the war between the Sadam Regime and the Shi’a actually fitted the definition of a civil war. The Shi’a, the Kurds, and Sunnis all shared the state of Iraq with the Sunnis having more privileges compared to the majority Shi’a Muslims thus bringing eruptions of revolutions. The revolutions were, however, unable to shake the Saddam regime and thus the involvement of the United States. During the invasion, however, the US did not take any sides and was trying to bring peace to the state. Sadam was the enemy but not the Shi’a community and on bringing him down, they even started forming coalitions with other Shi’a leaders. A good example is the case of Abul Abed from Amariyah. Each group believing that their rivals follow false leaders thus being betrayers of Islam has brought about the sectarian conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites. For the faith to be cleansed, each believes that they must eradicate the other group completely. Therefore, the question whether they will ever reconcile is somehow already answered. However, they are all Muslims who believe that there is no other God but Allah, believe in the Koran and in the Prophet Mohammad, and will, therefore, seem to come together in case of a common enemy.

History of business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History of business - Assignment Example orkers in most cases remained unmotivated; he also noted that most of the workers who were coerced to perform repetitive tasks usually worked at a slow rate; he called this behavior ‘soldering’. Taylor argued that all tasks that an employee was assigned could be organized in such a way that the productivity of the worker would increase and that his scientific theory of management was more effective than the usual ‘initiative and incentive’ method, which was based on increasing productivity by placing responsibility on the worker to figure how to do it. In order to establish the best possible way to carry out a job, Taylor carried out some experiments, which he labeled time studies or as time and motion studies. In these studies, he used a stopwatch to time a worker’s motions in order to determine the most effective way to carry out a job based on the way that took the least time. He was an American businessman who founded the standard oil firm that led in America’s oil industry. He contributed a lot to the oil and petroleum industry. He operated the oil firm until 1870 when he retired. He was a Scottish American businessman who contributed a lot the growth and expansion of the steel industry in the U.S during the 19th century. In addition, he was a renowned philanthropist in that he utilized his wealth to help

Using Critical Thinking Effectively as a Leader Essay

Using Critical Thinking Effectively as a Leader - Essay Example Without critical thinking, chances of success as a leader are minimal. In this paper COBOL Systems, a fictitious IT company which deals in software and hardware, will be used as a reference point. The paper will focus on the critical thinking problems plaguing COBOL and how they can be solved. COBOL Systems manufactures and distributes computer software and hardware. It deals with several high-profile companies in the United States, taking care of their IT needs and offering technical support. The company was formed in 2002 by two young IT graduates with ambitious ideas on how to approach the IT segment. COBOL has since grown to become one of the largest IT firms in the United States. Revenues have grown and new branches have been opened to cater to serve their expanding clientele. It is not all good news however. The last 2 years have seen the company lose out on major deals to rivals, suffer a decline in market share, and launch underwhelming products. In January the board hired an auditing and consulting firm to help it determine what the problem was. There was a problem, that much was clear, but what was it? COBOL has a hierarchy-oriented culture. This means the company is structured, controlled, and leans heavily towards stability, efficiency and doing things right. This is not surprising considering COBOL is run by young, dynamic and highly-educated people who know what to do and how to get it done fast. However, this culture is unbalanced and lacks a quality desirable in all successful firms. Efficiency is not effectiveness, and quick execution does not mean excellent execution. The company lacks critical thinkers who can combine dynamism and efficiency with analytical sharpness to harness its potential. For instance, COBOL recently launched new risk management software that increased efficiency by 20 percent. However, the presentation and marketing of this software was so poor

History of business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History of business - Assignment Example orkers in most cases remained unmotivated; he also noted that most of the workers who were coerced to perform repetitive tasks usually worked at a slow rate; he called this behavior ‘soldering’. Taylor argued that all tasks that an employee was assigned could be organized in such a way that the productivity of the worker would increase and that his scientific theory of management was more effective than the usual ‘initiative and incentive’ method, which was based on increasing productivity by placing responsibility on the worker to figure how to do it. In order to establish the best possible way to carry out a job, Taylor carried out some experiments, which he labeled time studies or as time and motion studies. In these studies, he used a stopwatch to time a worker’s motions in order to determine the most effective way to carry out a job based on the way that took the least time. He was an American businessman who founded the standard oil firm that led in America’s oil industry. He contributed a lot to the oil and petroleum industry. He operated the oil firm until 1870 when he retired. He was a Scottish American businessman who contributed a lot the growth and expansion of the steel industry in the U.S during the 19th century. In addition, he was a renowned philanthropist in that he utilized his wealth to help

If the First World War was the war to end all wars, why was there a Essay

If the First World War was the war to end all wars, why was there a Second World War so soon after the First - Essay Example The first World War crippled the whole country of France and this once powerful nation demanded retribution, but they pushed it to the very limits of establishing one of the primary causation factors of the Second World War. From a realist perspective, it is in the normal aspectual realm to assume that because France was so depleted economically and politically, the feeling was one of a sense of hopelessness throughout that country (Aldcroft 1997). Therein lies the reasoning by France to demand some form of compensation from Germany in order to regroup and rebuild her lands. The compromises that France wished Germany to make were beyond rationalization, from the Germans perspective of the political issues. The supposed peace ‘The Treaty of Versailles’ was implied to have brought did nothing more than incite rage and fuel the flames of retaliation from the Germans. In actuality, there never really was a period of substantial rest between these historic wars. What did appear to be present, in the literary sense, was a prevalence of disdain and lack of trust from the Germans, in relation to France and her harsh implications. This lack of stability affected the whole European continent. These are some of the literary points that will be researched and theorized in this paper. It will look into the vast reasons why there was a part II of the first World War and what was the main factors leading to it. Three perspectives will be attempted to be intertwined into this literary work which are the: realistic, liberal, and Marxist theorizations that will give the causes as to how, why and what lead to the provocation of the Second World War. It was in 1946 that two main political speaker’s theorizations on the cause of WWII were openly acknowledged. Stalin and Churchill both had ideas into the causation of the Second World War, both holding similarities and differences at the same time. Perhaps this was due to one perspective being a UK

Multiple Point Competition and Competitive Signaling Essay Example for Free

Multiple Point Competition and Competitive Signaling Essay This paper is the pre-assignment number 5 for course TU-91.2040 Global Strategic Management. The task was to answer three questions based on articles by Karnani, A. Wenerfelt B. (Multiple Point Competition, 1985) and Heil, O. Robertson, T. (Toward a Theory of Competitive Market Signaling: A Research Agenda, 1991). The questions are as follows: 1) How would you define multiple market competition? 2) What are pros and cons of the four alternatives to respond to a competitive attack? 3) Why engage in competitive signaling? Multiple market competition means a situation where two companies compete with each other not only in one place with one product but in several locations and possibly with similar products which are substitutes to each other. A simple example would be two companies of the same industry operating in two countries with the same products. As Karnani and Wenerfelt put it: â€Å"The more obvious examples of multiple point competition refer to situations where firms compete simultaneously in different product markets or in different geographical markets for the same product.† Multiple market competition is characterized by four different situations: peace, limited war, mutual foothold and total war. Total peace is extremely rare if two companies operate in the same market. The more likely situation is limited competition where two companies for example suppress the prices of a single product but do not challenge the competitors on other areas, leading the competition to being limited and not total. Mutual foothold equilibrium means a situation where both companies have a small market share on each other’s home/core markets but their core markets are separate and they are not in a total war situation. Total war means a competition in (nearly) every market. This is often a result of an escalation from mutual foothold equilibrium. Total war is usually very costly for both companies and can also lead to weakening and destruction of both companies. If company A comes under a competitive attack by company B, there are basically four ways how company A can react. Say that B lowers the price of product P on a mutual market. The first option is to do nothing. This naturally leads to B getting what it wanted: market share on the product P. The positive side is that there is no competition but the downside is that B won. Doing nothing also indicates weakness which might lead B to attack A on other markets also. The second option is to defend by also lowering the price of product P. This way there is limited competition equilibrium when both companies try to gain market share by suppressing prices. However, this might lead eventually to unprofitability in this product-segment and thus do harm to both companies. The third option for company A is to counterattack by lowering the price of product Q which is also produced by company B. Another example would be that the companies gain new products and penetrate new markets with them to start competing with each other. This way both companies have a foothold in each other’s core markets and the situation is thus called mutual foothold equilibrium. Mutual foothold is quite stable as both companies can easily counterattack if another makes a move toward the other. If this happens, the companies are very near to total war which is the fourth option for company A. If the companies end up in total war the companies start to imitate each other with their product portfolio and market presence. The prices and costs are cut in all product lines which leads to lower profits for both companies. The only good thing resulting from a total war is for customers: the momentary price cut. However, a long lasting total war drains the companies’ cash and resources for RD which might make the products inferior and the companies vulnerable for new entrants with high-quality technology. Companies can also indicate their future intentions by signaling to other companies. There are basically two reasons for companies to engage in competitive signaling: conveying information or gaining information based on the reactions of the signal-receiving companies. Often the information delivered through different public signals would be illegal to directly communicate to competitors (e.g. a coming price increase) but the signals enable companies to exchange this kind of information. The usual reason for competitive market signaling is for the signal sender to get a pre-emption and to discourage the competitors for following. The message needs to be both clear and packed with a high level of perceived commitment in order for the target companies to take it seriously. The message could be for example an intention of increasing production capacity or expanding to other market. This way the signaling company can gain pre-emptions and read their competitors’ reactions and countersignals. Through competitive signaling, companies can exchange information that would otherwise be illegal to convey. One example of such information would be making agreements on price increases. According to Heil and Robertson, this has been evident in airline industry where competing companies agreed on certain types of tickets’ pricing by changing their own prices on these tickets. This way other companies could get clear indications for other companies’ intension and willingness to raise prices. Exchanging this kind of information would lead to sanctions if the companies were to get caught in it. This kind of information is referred to as competitive norms of conduct. To conclude this, by competitive market signaling, companies might gain important competitor information, pre-emption, mislead competitors or agree on norms of conduct with its competitors.

Main Factors Leading To The Cuban Revolution History Essay

Main Factors Leading To The Cuban Revolution History Essay What at the time seemed so surprising about Cuba in 1959 was that such a thoroughgoing social revolution happened there, given its relative prosperity. The answer is to be found in the particular historical conditions of the country. Cuba had, since independence from Spain, been prone to political instability and had undergone many attempts at change ranging from reformist governments, revolution and dictatorship. All of these attempts, and the reasons underlying them, played a part in the eventual triumph of Fidel Castros revolution and, in the failure of previous attempts at changing Cuba, lay the seeds of the new order on the island. As Ruiz (1968, p.7) points out, the 1959 revolution represented no sharp break with the past. The conditions for revolution had long been present and previous responses to them conditioned the path that the revolution of 1959 would take. What, then, were the factors in Cubas history and in its social and political life which made that revolution possi ble? Having identified them, one must turn to a discussion of the conditions during Fulgencio Batistas dictatorship from 1952 to the end of 1958 and the course that resistance to it took, and how that resistance, with Castro at its head, eventually triumphed. The historical conditions which contributed to the triumph of the revolution were categorized by Wright (2001, p.2) into four main areas: firstly, anti-American sentiment, provoked in Cuba by economic and political dependence on America since independence, secondly the negative effects on Cuban society and its economy of overdependence on sugar production, thirdly, the fragmented and divided nature of Cuban society and lastly, the weakness of Cuban political institutions, their lack of legitimacy, and the unpopularity of a political class tainted by corruption. To this last point may be added the propensity of Cuban politics to descend into violence, a trend dating back to the independence struggle against Spain. United States forces occupied Cuba after it had gained independence from Spain in 1898 and its influence was to be a constant in the political and economic system of the island. The most glaring and most resented example of United States intervention in Cuba was the Platt Amendment of 1902. This put limits on how much Cuba could borrow from foreign countries and the negotiation of treaties. It also allowed the United States the right to intervene for the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property and individual liberty (Williamson, 1992, p.439). In effect, Cuba became a protectorate of the United States. The Platt Amendment represented a humiliation to many Cubans and a betrayal of the independence struggle, and remained a contentious issue even after its repeal in 1934. It linked advancement and progress to the need to rid the country of foreign interference and became a key question in Cuban politics. American intervention at such an early stage cut across the process of building confidence in, and legitimacy for, the new institutions of the state recently freed from colonial rule and identified the whole political system from its start with foreign domination. It also influenced the conduct of politicians who relied on the support of America to settle political disputes, which were many in the first 20 to 30 years of the Republics life (Thomas, 1971). Early Cuban elections were fraudulent affairs and United States intervention was called upon on a number of occasions. An armed challenge to the government elected in 1906 resulted in United States intervention and resulted in direct rule until 1909. Further interventions took place in 1912, and again in 1917 when the election result was challenged by an armed revolt by the defeated party. Another important intervention came during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. The American ambassador first replaced the dictator Machado and then supported the army backed overthrow of his successor, Ramon San Martin Grau (Argote-Freyre, 2006). A sense of the humiliation and moral decay suffered by Cubans is offered by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (McPherson, 2006, p.40) who said of Havana in 1950 that it resembled a giant casino and brothel. American tourists were picking up 14 year old Cuban girls and tossing coins to make men scramble in the gutter. He went on to say that nobody could be surprised if Cubans hated America. American political and economic influences on Cuba were closely linked. Investment from the United States had been steadily growing from the last days of Spanish rule. It increased in the 1920s as many Cubans had been ruined by the slump in the price of sugar in 1920, and by 1927 amounted to more than a billion dollars (Wright, 2001, p.4). Two thirds of all Cuban exports went to America in the 1950s (Paterson, 1995, p.35). By the 1950s, American interests controlled 90% of the telephone and electricity system, 50% of railways and 40% of the banking sector (Girling, 1980, p.49). This economic control had a number of effects on Cuba, one of which was in the way it limited the room to manoeuvre of Cuban governments. According to Ruffin (1990, p.77) economic dependence severely restricted political leadership in Cuba. Politicians for the most part acted in defence of American interests. For much of Cubas Republican history the need to appease American interests, and those of their followers in Cuba, made it difficult to influence any reforms which conflicted with those interests. The increasing American control over the Cuban economy meant a tightening of American political influence over Cubas affairs and meant that defending those interests became a prime concern for Cuban political parties. Legislation, such as much needed land reform, became subservient to the interests of the sugar producers who owned vast areas of land. In 1933, the government of Grau fell in part because the Americans refused to recognise it due to the reforms which it attempted to implement. Most Cuban politicians were unable or unwilling to upset the Americans and to disrupt the industry to which Cuba owed so much of its prosperity but which also fatally undermined its institutions (Ruffin, 1990). Taking on America was daunting, given Cubas dependence on American markets. Nowhere was this dependence on American markets more apparent, nor the need for change greater, than in the reliance of the Cuban economy on sugar production. The overdependence on sugar, which accounted for 85% of Cuban exports in the 1950s, (Wright, 2001, p.5) skewed not only the Cuban economy but also its political life and brought many social problems in its train. Decisions taken in Washington concerning quotas, duties and so on can and did have a profound effect on the Cuban economy. Cuba produced 3.6 million tons of sugar in 1923, rising to 5.2 million tons in 1925 and 7 million tons in 1952, falling to 4.7 million tons in 1954. Prices underwent similar swings which made economic planning difficult (Williams, 1970, p.480). The consequences of this dependence were many. Peasants were displaced creating an army of landless rural workers. Furthermore, as work on the sugar plantations was seasonal, from December to April, many were unemployed for a good part of the year (Ruffin, 1990). This unemployment, unlike the rise and fall of employment in other industries, was endemic to the system in Cuba appearing predictably every year when the sugar harvest was over. In addition, sugar attracted investment away from other crops and industries. Sugar companies owned or rented 70-75% of Cubas arable land (Sheer Zeitlin, 1964, p.24) and Cuba had to import much of the food which it needed. Other negative effects were to be seen in the financial sector. American banks were attracted to Cuba to underwrite the costs of the sugar industry. The 1920s was a key decade in this respect. Many who had borrowed in the boom years saw their fortunes wiped out during the depression and the stock market crash of 1929. The Cuban banking system collapsed, and the gap was plugged by foreign, mainly American banks. Whether the crop was good or bad or whether prices were high or low also had political and social consequences. Dulles (cited in Paterson, 1995, p.35) in a comment to President Eisenhower said that a reduction in the amount of Cuban sugar coming into America might easily tip the scales to cause revolution For example, Machados regime from 1925 to 1933 was marked by the convulsions caused by the fluctuations in the price of sugar and the collapse in the economy following the Wall Street crash of 1929 and which provoked a wave of strikes and street violence which were countered by a range of repressive tactics. On the other hand, the good years could help to provide a measure of political and social stability, as during the 1940s. There were social aspects to the sugar system as well. To meet the demand for labour in the good years, manpower was imported from Haiti, Jamaica and China sharpening already tense racial relations (Patterson, 1994). The existence of large numbers of workers who were unemployed for most of the year outside of the sugar harvesting season between December and April was always a potential focus for social and labour unrest. According to Sheer et al. (1964) all the mischievousness of the sugar system were aggravated by the fact that many Cubans saw them as having been inflicted by American business interests. The insurgents who had fought in the war of Independence targeted the cane fields and sugar mills burning many. It was during the American occupation when the industry was built back up again. Hostility to dependence on sugar and America constituted a grievance around which diverse groups in the fractured Cuban society could unite. Cuba also suffered from the fragmentation of its society throughout its history (Gott, 2004). Cuba, unlike other countries in Latin America lacked political elite, often composed of large landowners, with ties to the Catholic Church and the Military. In Cuba the old aristocracy had been wiped out during the independence struggle between 1868 and 1895, and there did not exist a powerful landowning class with close ties to the land (Williamson, 1992, p.439). The large sugar plantations dated from the last days of Spanish rule and much of them were in foreign hands. Nelson argued (Thomas, 1971, p.1111) that there was no national middle class. What middle class existed was based overwhelmingly in urban areas. The upper reaches of Cuban society threw in their lot with the system installed by the Americans. Native industry was underdeveloped and the ruling class interests were identified with those of their American allies. The lower classes were also fragmented. Most of the poor lived in the country while only a small urban working class existed in the towns and cities. Class divisions in Cuba were largely along rural urban lines. Some figures relating to rural housing conditions may help to illustrate this division. While Cuba in the 1950s could boast of relatively high figures in Latin American terms for ownership of consumer goods such as TVs, radios and telephones, the countryside painted a different picture. 97% had no refrigeration facilities, 85% no running water and 91% no electricity (Williams, 1970, p.479). Furthermore, seasonal workers were unemployed for a large part of the year and such an insecure life, in terms of employment, coloured their relationship with other groups and with society as a whole. Ruiz (1968, p.147) sums it up by his comments that no social or ideological bonds united workers or integrated them into the structure of society. Racial and ethnic divisions were also a feature of life in Cuba. Fear of a black takeover retarded the development of the independence movement in Cuba. Blacks made up a considerable proportion of the Cuban population and were disaffected with their treatment after their role in the independence struggle and by the history of slavery on the island. This disaffection was on occasions exploited by politicians in the early years of the Republic. They made up a considerable part of the army assembled by the Liberals after their defeat in the 1906 elections. A revolt of disaffected blacks took place in 1912 which was ruthlessly suppressed with the loss of 3,000 lives. This event would alienate blacks further from the mainstream of Cuban society (Gott, 2004). Fear of the black population also surfaced in the wake of the 1933 revolution. As the most impoverished section of the population, blacks seized upon the excitement of the times as an opportunity to improve their lot and played a leading role in the agitation on the sugar plantations where soviets were established. Despite the enthusiasm of many blacks for the revolution, thousands of blacks from Haiti were deported evidencing the degree of racial feeling in Cuba (Gott, 2004, p.141). Other institutions in Cuban society lacked popular support or respect and did not constitute a focus for unity or action. The Catholic Churchs position in Cuba had been weakened from independence with the separation of church and state in 1900. The Church was also seen as a white Spanish institution and therefore lacked influence among the black population. Also, unlike other Latin American countries, the Church did not form an alliance with the ruling elite or the military (Gott, 2004). Lastly, the political apparatus itself reflected the fragmentation in society. The parties were unrepresentative and by the 1950s the old mainstream parties were discredited and the way was open for others to fill the gap. Batista tried it with his dictatorship from 1952, but it was Fidel Castro who capitalised on the failure of democratic parties to address Cubas many and varied problems. This failure of democratic politics affected those groups who were to later make up the opposition to Batista and who helped in the success of Castros revolution (Gott, 2004). Weakness, incompetence and corruption were endemic to the Cuban political system from its earliest days. The first President Estrada Palma, led a class of politicians who, according to Thomas (1971, p.472) only sought the spoils of war after their role in the independence struggle. There was not a great deal of ideological differences between the Republican and Liberal parties. They suffered from the start from the involvement of America which wrested prestige and legitimacy from political institutions. Furthermore, the lack of democratic institutions prior to independence had not prepared Cubans well for eventual self government. The tradition of taking up arms, forged under Spanish colonial rule, was also frequently resorted to, which called into question the credibility of the entire political system. The possibility of calling in America as the arbiter of disputes was the default fallback position. The far from auspicious start represented by the fraud surrounding the first elections and the armed revolt against the government of Estrada Palma and the subsequent American intervention set the tone for electoral politics in the early years of Cuban democracy. Competition was not so much based on principle, rather as a crude struggle to see who would control the resources of the state which provided the means for personal enrichment, with the unfortunate turning readily to violence when hindered (Thomas, 1971). In a society dominated by sugar, and foreign owned industry, control of government jobs and access to the states resources proved to be a source of patronage and of enrichment for many. For example, between 1943 and 1949 the government payroll increased from 60,000 to 131,000 (Goldenberg, 1965, p.110). Many other corrupt practices existed such as the granting of permission for the sale of lottery tickets and it has been estimated that the dictator Machado made $3,000,000 a year from lottery collectorships (Sheer Zeitlin, 1964, p.46). These corrupt practices also provided a means of securing the loyalty of those who benefited from them. Electoral fraud was also a fact of life in a system where none of the parties had genuine mass appeal. Gott reports (2004, p.114) that in the early elections, armed supporters of the different parties would be present at polling stations and in the elections of 1916 the number of votes cast outnumbered eligible voters (Gott, 2004, p.127). The government of Gerardo Machado promised a new start. It initially was reformist and enjoyed a degree of popularity. However, it suffered from the uncertainty and turbulence of the 1920s in Cuba, occasioned by fluctuations in the market price for sugar and the eventual collapse of the Cuban banking system. In 1928, and despite a pledge not to govern for more than one term, Machado was elected unopposed for a second time. He also extended the length of his term from 4 to 6 years. It was a measure of the low standards of the Cuban political system that this flouting of democratic practice was supported by all the other parties in the Congress. There was a huge amount of social unrest, strikes, assassinations and bombings to which Machado responded with brutal repression (Gott, 2004). By the late 1920s a new generation was emerging of Cubans born in the Republic who expected more from it and who charged the old guard of betraying the ideals of the revolution which had won independence. Students, always to the forefront in Cuban political affairs, were particularly impatient for change, and groups such as the Directorio Estudiantil were to play an important role in the revolution which would topple the dictatorship of Machado (Thomas, 1971). The situation in Cuba was fast escaping from Machados control. The strikes, violence and worsening economic situation raised fears of social revolution and engendered a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty. Groups like the ABC, a terrorist organisation made up of middle and upper class students, replied to Machados notoriously brutal police force in kind, killing many of them in the street (Gott, 2004). The American government began to take an interest and sent their ambassador Sumner Welles to Cuba to try and settle the dispute. He tried to convince Machado to go, and when he eventually resigned, faced with the dire situation on the streets, the Americans sought to replace him with someone acceptable to them and amenable to American business interests on the island. Carlos Manuel Cespedes was appointed but proved unable to facilitate the unrest. He was brought down by a group of low ranking army officers led by Fulgencio Batista, a mixed race Cuban whose origins were far removed from the traditional military elite. Ramon San Martin Grau was eventually installed as the new president in 1933 (Argote-Freyre, 2006). The 1933 revolution promised great things for Cuba. The revolution was led in by a new generation untainted by the past and pledged to honour the promises of the independence struggle. There was a strong nationalist hint to their programme and it seemed as if some of Cubas most pressing social and economic problems would be addressed by a new wave of clean politicians. Their hopes were however to be dashed by a combination of American hostility, the betrayal of the revolution by Batista and internal divisions between moderates and radicals. The new government nationalised sugar mills and decreed that 50% of the workforce in all businesses had to be Cuban born. The American government refused to recognise Graus government, fearful of the effects it would have on American economic interests on the island. Batista, waiting in the wings, and mindful of the importance of American backing, especially given the internal opposition to Grau, helped to topple the revolutionary government in 1934 and so began the first of his reigns in Cuba, ruling through his control over a succession of puppet presidents until 1940, and in his own right until 1944. The army had become a player in the government of Cuba for the first time, a development which set a dangerous precedent (Gott, 2004). The 1944 elections were won, surprisingly to many, by Grau in elections which were accepted by all to be fair. Batistas rule had been positive in many aspects and had introduced a new, strongly social democratic constitution in 1940, the restoration of which would be a key demand of the 1950s revolutionaries. The peaceful handover of power to the man who had been vanquished in 1933 promised well for Cubas democratic future. However, the two terms of office of Graus Autentico party, formed after the defeat in 1933, were to prove some of the most corrupt in Cubas history and were probably the last nail in the coffin of peaceful, progressive democratic change on the island. Thomas (1971, p.737) asserts that Grau did more than any other single man to kill the hope of democratic practice in Cuba. Corruption was nothing new in Cuban politics however, for many, the governments of Grau and Prio Socarras were particularly foul and tainted not only by corruption but the actions of armed gangs, according to Thomas (1971, p.741) at least 10, who were tolerated and even used by governments between 1944 and 1948. The actions of Grau and the Autentico party were all the more disheartening for having been responsible by the hero of the 1933 revolution and the party which he founded in its aftermath. The party was able to plunder the countrys inflated repositories by the rise in prices for sugar during the years of the Second World War. The government of Prio Socarras which succeeded that of Grau was described by Sweig (Gott, 2004, p.145) as the most corrupt and violent in Cuban history. When Batista took power following a coup in 1952, it did not meet up with much initial opposition. Cubas political class had by now become totally discredited and many were doubtful if electoral politics could even begin to solve the countrys problems. In a sense Batistas coup was a response to this disillusion but in itself was a continuation of the misfortunes facing Cuban society and could provide no new way forward. Each generation of Cubans had been disappointed by politicians and had seen their hopes dashed leading to a rejection of the leaders of the previous generation. Cubans had no dependable political role models to look to (Wright, 2001, p.6) in changing and difficult times, making it easier for new departures and new methods to gain a hearing. This would have been significant in the revolution of 1959. Having looked at the factors in Cuban history which led to Batistas dictatorship, the problems which the country faced, and their influence on the revolutionary movement of the 1950s, it is time to look at the years of the dictatorship and the opposition which it brought forward in order to fully understand how Fidel Castros revolution triumphed and the path which the final phase of the Cuban revolution took. Cuba was, despite all its problems, a relatively prosperous society and there was some evidence of diversification in industry and a greater involvement by Cubans in the sugar industry. However, many inequalities and divisions remained, and the revolution which toppled Batista did not only seek to unseat an unpopular dictator, but also sought solutions to Cubas economic and social problems. In this respect it echoed the previous attempts at reform of the 1933 revolution and the promises of the 1940 constitution. Other factors were the absolute unpopularity, which was shared by a wide range of groups across society, and weakness of the Batista regime and the appeal and leadership qualities of Castro who at the end emerged as the leader of the new order in Cuba. Batistas regime in contrast was supported only by America, the rich, and the old discredited politicians of Cubas past and had no real social basis of support. The key to the survival of the regime lay in the continued support of America, and once lost, there were few to turn to among the decadent and discredited Cuban politicians who could broaden its appeal (Thomas, 1971). Fidel Castro was a product of the Cuban middle class and a member of the Ortodoxo party, formed in 1947 in response to the corruption of the two Autentico governments of the 1940s. Together with Ernesto Che Guevara he came to personify the revolutionary movement in Cuba. However, his 26th of July movement was not the only force opposed to Batista. Opposition, originated, as so many times before, with the students who were joined by the Autentico and Ortodoxo parties, Cuban intellectuals, and other revolutionary groups. Support for Castro was later to extend across a broad spectrum of Cuban society. The Civic Resistance Movement which supplied logistical support had as leading figures a former director of the National Bank, brokers and doctors (Paterson, 1995, p.30). There was little in Castros radical, but not overtly socialist programme, which would alienate the less radical elements of the anti-Batista opposition or justify outright American hostility and was based on the nationalist sentiment of the war of independence and the anti-American feeling which was an outcome of its perceived betrayal and harked back to the frustrated revolution of 1933. It promised an end to the endemic corruption which had plagued Cuban politics and a restoration of the 1940 constitution (Gott, 2004). The years of Batistas dictatorship were marked by resistance answered with repression. As the repression grew ever more brutal, more Cubans were alienated from Batistas regime. The contribution of the urban resistance to Batista has often been overlooked in favour of the more romantic guerrilla war waged by Castro and his followers when they took off to the mountains of the Sierra Maestra after the failed attack on Santiago in 1956. Resistance involved strikes, sabotage, assassination and propaganda. It was, as Wright asserts, (2001, p.16) the resistance in urban centres which pinned down the Batista forces and enabled Castros to grow in strength in the mountains and who also played a crucial role in supplying Castros guerrillas. The weakening of this resistance in the face of Batistas repression strengthened Castros position. An interview carried out with the American journalist Herbert Matthews and published in the New York Times in 1957 was a key event in the development of the war and a boost to Castros personal standing at home and abroad. It contradicted Batistas claims that Castro had been killed and the guerrilla defeated and aroused a lot of sympathy for the rebels in America. A failed attempt to assassinate Batista carried out by the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil in March 1957 could have changed the course of the revolution but its failure increased repression and eliminated another potential rival to Castro (Wright, 2001). Meanwhile Batista floundered on. An American arms embargo was evidence that he was losing American backing. A failed general strike in April of 1958 gave credence to the idea that only armed struggle would shift Batista. That Castros forces would be the most likely to lead it, was given a boost following Batistas disastrous offensive against the guerrillas in May 1958. Without American backing and unable to defeat the rebels militarily, Batista was condemned. In a bid to win American support and add a veneer of legitimacy to his regime he called elections in November 1958 from which most withheld, highlighting the isolation of his regime. Meanwhile a strengthened Castro began to emerge as the most likely to unseat Batista and his campaign spread outside of his mountain stronghold. After the fall of the city of Santa Clara in December Batista realised his regime was doomed and escaped to the Dominican Republic on New Years Eve 1958 (Paterson, 1995). The revolution had triumphed. The explanation of the 1958 Cuban revolution can be found then, in the history of the country: the anti-American sentiment of a broad spectrum of Cuban society, and the perceived betrayal of the ideals of independence by successive governments, the closely linked phenomenon of overdependence on the sugar trade and the subsequent underdevelopment of the countrys industrial base, the deep social divisions and finally, the weak legitimacy of its political institutions, the violent and undemocratic nature of Cubas political life and the low prestige of its politicians, all served to alienate Cubans from the political process and to seek answers from a new breed of leader. Events rooted in Cubas history made the revolution possible. As Johnson (1970, p.60) observed revolution often happens in countries which have already experienced change and where more change is necessary. Castro in his evocation of historic Cuban grievances which also harked back to previous reform programmes in 1933 and 1940 appealed to a wide range of anti-Batista opinion, but that Castro would be the one to lead it and to take it in a Communist direction was not inevitable. Castros revolution, regardless of what happened after taking power, was not a socialist revolution. It triumphed because it, as Perez contended, did not preach class war (Gott, 2004, p.166). The Soviet Union played no part in his triumph, and indeed the Cuban Communists did not ally themselves with Castro until 1958. Rather in its focus on the betrayal of independence, and his echoing of past failed attempts at reform, Castros programme was the culmination of a process begun on Cubas winning of independence. The ambivalence of America also played a part in Castros victory. The American position on Castro was not clearly defined (Gott, 2004, p.164) and in Castros success in not provoking greater intervention from the force that could have decisively swayed the outcome of the revolution was a key factor in the revolutions success. Another contributing factor was the weakness and indecision of the Batista regime and its identification with the failed policies and methods of the past. Batistas regime fell in part because it was as Julien (Goldenberg, 1965, p.146) observed rotten to the core.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay -- Robert Louis Stev

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde We see much of the story through Mr Utterson’s eyes. He leads the reader through the tale. But to begin with, he seems a surprising character for Stevenson to choose. Only when we know the book better do we realise how appropriate he is. The book ‘‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’’ is a horror story written by Robert Louis Stevenson and was publishes in 1886. The title which the author gave this book makes the book sound more like a mystery story than a horror. The title also makes it sound as if Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are two separate people. The character ‘‘Mr Utterson’’ plays a big part in the story. He leads the reader through the story although he is not the narrator. In the opening words of the story it says that Mr Utterson is a lawyer. In the opening paragraph Mr Utterson is described as ‘‘a man of rugged countenance, that was never lightened by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backwards in sentiment; lean, long dusty, dreary, and yet somehow loveable. This shows that Mr Utterson has two sides to him just like Dr Jekyll has. On one hand it says he is boring and cold but on another hand it says that he is a good friend and he is loveable. Mr Utterson is completely described in one paragraph. I believe that the whole story is about having a good and a bad side to them. I think that Robert Louis Stevenson name’s Mr Utterson as he did because Utterson sounds like utmost meaning extreme depth. It says that when Mr Utterson is at ‘‘friendly meetings and the wine is to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye’’. This shows he has a taste for good wines yet in another sentence in the book it says ‘‘He was au... ... prostitute. This just shows what society was like back then. The book ‘‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’’ was one of the first ever real horror books to be published. When Robert Louis Stevenson was young his mother was often ill and his nanny used to tell him horror stories at a young age. This turned Stevenson bad and got him drinking and getting prostitutes. This is partly were his book came from. The book obviously had an affect on the people because after the book was published the Ripper murder’s started to appear. People said that ‘‘The book was coming to life’’. I feel I have shown that Mr Utterson is a main and important part of the story ‘‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’’ and that he is man of trust. I also think I have shown what society was like in Victorian times. I think that without Mr Utterson in the book it would not have worked as well as it did.

Rousseau Amour Propre

Daniel Davis Philosophy D 12/01/11 What is amour-propre? What role does it play, according to Rousseau, in the Discourse on Inequality? Tutor: Robert Cowan In May 1755, Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality was published. The Discourse challenged contemporary philosophers in regards to the nature of man, and the fundamental principles of inequality. He highlighted that the inequality in current society developed due to the increase amour-propre has had on individuals.Examining amour-propre shows that it is fundamentally much more complex than simply being misconstrued as vanity; it could be described as a range of things such as pride, aggrandizement and prestige within society. It has played a decisive role within the development of society and has been attributed to being the source of the existing inequality within modern society. Although amour-propre is described in the Second Discourse as largely negative, it is responsible for the development of socialization and the individual drive for recognition.Amour-propre is a reflective trait that is triggered when human beings started coming together, as it requires a human to be compared with another being. It is the need for self-love and the intrinsic need to feel a sense of importance within society. Rousseau suggests this trait is the fundamental drive in all human beings. It gives way for the need to be recognised as a rational human being.Amour-propre could also be described as the drive to find distinction within society; this could be manifested as the need to be championed as the best at something, having your views being considered as rational and valued, or establish superiority over one’s peers. The nature of amour-propre is interminable, and the more it is used the greater of an influence it becomes on a person’s character; the more someone is held in esteem, the more passionate they become in maintaining their status. As it becomes more powerful, it bec omes a source of athologies such as shame and vanity; it is described as the ‘’the source of personal corruption and suffering and social evil’’ (Dent, 1992, pg. 34) due to the overwhelming nature of it. Moreover, as people are influenced more by amour-propre, their drive for a fulfilled life relies solely on their status. As everyone has the same drive it creates ‘’a world in which the amour-propre of all but himself is ignored’’ (O’Hagan, 1999, pg. 173). Rousseau highlights amour-propre as being a reflective trait by examining the state of nature.As savage man is an unreflective and solitary being, the awareness of status would not yet be in his realms of understanding. Moreover, at this point, Rousseau highlights that they have no sense of morality, and only possess two main unreflective traits: amour de soi (self-preservation) and pitie (compassion). The former gives the savage man a drive for survival, addressing only the most basic needs e. g. food, water, sex. Rousseau highlights the primary distinctions of amour de soi and amour propre in the Second Part in the Discourse.He believes that amour-propre is a modification of our amour de soi. The two are very different by virtue of their nature; if amour de soi could be described as the wellbeing of self, amour-propre could be described as the wellbeing of social status. This wellbeing of self doesn’t impose on other savage humans for a number of reasons: being naturally solitary beings, having an abundance of supplies to adequately satisfy their basic needs, as well as not having the unreflective concept of what another savage human is. Although there is a basic natural inequality between savage humans (i. . strength, height) the absence of society as well as reasons that led to one imposing on another makes this somewhat inexistent, further highlighting in Rousseau’s argument that society and the existence of amour-propre leads to the essence of inequality and corruption. As amour-propre displaces amour de soi it leads to it ‘’substituting for the intact self-possessed good with which the latter is concerned the delusive good which consists in procuring invidious personal dominance over others’’ (Dent, 1992, pg. 34).As amour-propre is the main drive for distinction and self-importance, competition between humans becomes more violent and deceitful which creates a greater degree of inequality within society. Moreover, as the sentiment is an artificial and reflective trait, it could be described as morally unjustified. The artificial trait is highlighted by Rousseau when he writes ‘’amour-propre is a purely relative and factitious feeling which arises in the state of society’’ (Rousseau, f/n pg. 73); it is due to the need for comparison with other human beings that it arises only in society and the coming together of human beings.It is this correlation that the trait has with society that leads it to having a significant role within the development of society. The development of amour-propre has played a pivotal role within society: Rousseau believes it is solely responsible for the ills, and inspires all evil in modern society. Civil society was founded when ‘’the first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying ‘This is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him’’ (Rousseau pg. 84).The state of civil society could not have happened overnight, that leap would require great conceptual development in humans, but from the moment that men started staying in communities was the first real sign in the development of amour-propre; humans started comparing themselves with other beings and ‘’from these first distinctions arose on the one side vanity and contempt and on the other shame and envy’’ (Rousseau pg. 90). Although in early stages of society ‘’amour-propre is morally neutral’’ (O Hagan, 1999, pg. 162) Rousseau suggests that it is the true cause of society’s discontent.This is due to the pathologies that develop from the first distinctions of men. These first distinctions also gave way to the prestige of status; status is the main ambition behind the trait of amour-propre; the egocentric need to prove your importance and standing in society. From this point, amour-propre becomes more established within human behaviour and becomes a major influence on the development of society. The pathologies, such as vanity and pride, then have a chance to develop. The overpowering nature of these pathologies begins to overshadow the fundamental needs for survival.As the influence of these pathologies grows, human beings initial drive becomes overwhelmed by their reliance on artificial needs. Although the initial drive for status can create a healthy competition, this drive can quickly becom e vehement and deceitful as we start to expect it from others. Moreover, the progress of these pathologies shows how our nature changes due to increased influence from amour-propre. In modern society, the omnipresence of amour- propre has changed people from being championed for what they can to do to what they can appear to do.This increases the amount of influence deceit has on society as people can be held in greater esteem for having the quality of convincing their peers of their abilities rather than showing them in practice. Amour-propre can have more negative effect on society: as the growth inequality increases, this attribute becomes consuming as we become obsessed about our status, esteem and personal possessions. As more sentiment is bestowed on our artificial needs, such as personal possessions, the unreflective attributes of human beings are overshadowed.Moreover, the need for such possessions becomes more overwhelming, as it gives humans a greater thirst for more mater ialistic things; as we own more things, our amour-propre not only lets us believe that we rely on such possessions, but more are needed in order to sustain our prestige and esteem. Rousseau gives evidence that these possessions don’t give any substantial happiness to their beholder, however in the Second Discourse: ‘’men would be unhappy at the loss of them, though the possession did not make them happy’’ (Rousseau pg. 8). The envious side of amour-propre is also heightened as competition between peers starts a tit-for-tat relationship on who possesses most of these personal possessions. Furthermore, the role amour-propre plays in society creates social standing, and inequality, by comparing your possessions with others: if you have more possessions, you are held in higher esteem. The more people own, however, the more they tend to rely on such things to maintain their social standing and in a way become enslaved by their personal possessions.Rousse au highlights this in the Social Contract by claiming ‘’man is born free and everywhere he is in chains, one thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they’’ (Rousseau pg. 181): Rousseau believes human behaviour is consumed by amour-propre to the extent it enslaves an individual’s very nature. Rousseau also claims that amour-propre acts as a catalyst for the growth of inequality within society. We also become more enslaved to our status the higher we are held in esteem, desperate to maintain societies’ high opinion of ourselves.Politicians are a good example of this, as their behaviour is constantly scrutinized they are bounded by constantly playing the role that society expects (that of an upstanding and honest role model; their freedom to behave in any manner they want is extinguished by constantly trying to uphold their status. Although it is described as largely negative within the Second Discourse, it is essential for the foundations of society. If humans didn’t have the drive for competition and standing, the socialization between humans would not happen as we require interaction to hold comparison between ourselves and our peers.Within modern society, the innate drive to better one’s self could stem for the overwhelming nature of the trait. Without this drive, the determination within the human nature may only extend to necessities of survival and not the technological and scientific advances that society has discovered. Although Rousseau argues that many ills that exist in modern society are born through society itself, the advancements in dealing with such problems surely have been spurred on with the drive for recognition and status that is bestowed on people responsible for these advancements.Amour propre also develops the desire to be respected and acknowledged, and gives us the sense that we matter. As we start to expect eminence from other humans, our nature changes due to ‘’societies which amour-propre runs rampant, people are alienated from their authentic or natural selves’’ (Riley, 2001 pg. 117). Our nature is augmented so much so, we would become vexed if we are individually disregarded in society, as it vitiates our status as a rational human being.From this viewpoint, amour-propre could be regarded as a fitting trait to tackle the problem of inequality; examples of this in society could be the struggle for inequality in America during the 1960s when the black community fought to improve their status within society and decreased the level of inequality within the country. This concept is somewhat counter intuitive, however, as it suggests amour-propre spurs on inequality but also reduces it. Amour-propre is the intrinsic need for distinction within society.The egocentric trait is fundamental in the development of human beings as it gives us a drive not only for this distinction but also gives rise to ine quality due to its competitive nature. As each human being is only concerned with their own status, conflict and inequality are increased as people develop a competitive nature due to the need for prestige. This has led to amour-propre playing a pivotal role within society. Due to the overwhelming nature of the trait, social class and rank have developed which has led to an unequal society that is driven solely by the need to surpass ur peers. Moreover, the fundamental needs for survival are overshadowed by the reliance human beings have for artificial needs such as personal possessions. Bibliography The Social Contract and Discourses, Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1913, Everyman Publishing, Guernsey C. I The Blackwell Philosopher Dictionaries, A Rousseau Dictionary, NJH Dent 1992 Blackwell Publishing, Oxford The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau, Patrick Riley, 2001, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Rousseau, Timothy O Hagan, 1999, Routledge Publishing London