Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 77

Reflection - Essay Example Franklin Roosevelt highlighted that the American nation was willing to use its energy, organizing power and resources to defend freedom of other nations. He was keen to highlight that America’s efforts would ensure that the world experiences the four critical types of human freedoms. Roosevelt highlighted that the first essential human freedom was the freedom of speech and expression while the second was the â€Å"freedom of every person to worship God in his way everywhere in the world†1. He further highlighted the third freedom as the freedom from want based on economic understandings that foster a measure of economic security in every nation. According to Roosevelt, the world also needed to enjoy the freedom from fear without any potential threat of physical aggression. Therefore, the freedom from fear was defined as the fourth freedom. Philip Randolph was a civil leader who delivered a speech titled, â€Å"why should we March?†. His speech urged Negros to participate in the march of African American on Washington. Randolph highlights that African Americans had been denied an opportunity to work in the US defense industries. Moreover, other industries did not give African Americans job opportunities. Therefore, many African Americans were subjected to discrimination under the Jim Crow rules. A close analysis of the racial discrimination that Randolph was fighting against reveals a high level of irony when compared to Roosevelt’s, which highlighted the four freedoms. Notably, the American nation promoted the four freedoms but only to the whites. It is ironical that African Americans lived in fear and poverty. Additionally, the African Americans were denied the freedom of speech and expression. Notably, the African American population did not have the chance to enjoy the four freedoms that Roosevelt had talked about. According to Randolph, â€Å"the community is democratic only when the humbles and weakest person can enjoy the higher

Multimedia Report Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Multimedia Report - Article Example I wondered how parents find joy in parenting a child who does not grow intellectually and socially; is unable to interact with parents and siblings; does not exhibit sensory and conscious awareness, communication and personality factors associated with personhood. I wondered how parents of anencephalic children find joy in parenting. I found an answer in a North Carolina News 14 video about a Charlotte family invited by an organ donor organization to ride a float in the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade. The video was well-done, with still shots of the baby, family, and footage of parent comments, and information. During Shannon’s pregnancy, baby Skylar, a girl, was found to be anencephalic. She had a brain stem and open neural tube, said by our book to sometimes be caused by a lack of folic acid in the mother’s body (Page 36). They decided to carry her to term. They did this in order to donate her organs (her liver cells), to give meaning to Skylar’s life, to help anoth er family (the mother explained), to keep from â€Å"focusing on the dark side† (as the father said). Skylar lived for 99 minutes, after birth, surrounded by family and friends, and died in her mother’s arms. The photos clearly show love and compassion and parenting joy in this child. The mother commented, â€Å"She really changed our lives†. ... 5 video clip and article, together, about a Colorado boy with anencephaly (brain stem only, open neural tube) who has miraculously lived for his first birthday celebration. Most babies with anencephaly do not live even until birth, and even then not more than minutes, usually. His mother and grandparents clearly love him. He is cuddled and held. Mom explains that he cannot see, hear, suck, crawl, sit, and has no teeth. She expresses pain that she will soon have to bury him, yet she brags about how he smiles sometimes and how they once â€Å"got him to laugh† (Vanderputte, 2009). They celebrate every milestone, not knowing if there will be another. Mom says, â€Å"He’s a miracle. He’s changed so many people’s lives†. Because I am captivated by this theme of the joys of parenting, and how it overcomes difficulties as great as a lack of apparent personhood and consciousness, I am impressed by her courage in finding parenting joy. In this particular art icle, however, I am most intrigued by the mother’s statement that they â€Å"got him to laugh†, and the excitement in her report of his smiles, and their ability to â€Å"celebrate every milestone†. It is possible, though unlikely, that modern medicine is mistaken and that children without a brain can express emotion, consciousness and learning. If not, the mother is projecting hopes onto a child incapable of fulfilling them. Yet she does so and feels joy. If we are â€Å"programmed to respond positively to babies† (Brooks, 2010, p 3), is parenting joy simply parental projection, in this case? Two among six reasons that people reportedly take on the parenting role are to feel excitement at children’s growth and development and to feel accomplishment in helping children grow (p 4). If growth and development are lacking,

Analysis of Challenges in International Management Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Challenges in International Management Essay Analysis of Challenges in International Management† Abstract The following essay analysis the challenges in International Management with particular regard to the challenge of â€Å"culture† in international business as it is the must difficult to deal with and being essential for successful results in a wide range of global management tasks nowadays and in the future. Introduction Today successful international management requires more than a lot of frequent flyer miles or seasoned expatriate managers. But what are those exclusive challenges of international management in today’s world? The importance of international management is constantly increasing, as we exist in a world where globalisation is affecting the traditional borders in a broad range of areas. †¢Trade and investment, †¢Economic alliances, †¢The international stage players, and †¢The work environment are changing rapidly, being supported by the increasing sophistication and lower cost of information technology. World trade and investments are growing fast (the volume of world trade among countries has grown at an average rate over 8% since 2005 (WTO 2008)), linking the economies and creating opportunities and threats. New, strong and forced competitors are coming from developing nations in Asia and the transitioning economies of Eastern Europe. Furthermore, the constantly rising level of foreign direct investment also has a globalising effect (Thomas 2002). Moreover, the emergence of the free-trade areas drastically decreased traditional economic boundaries. So do the three largest groups, the EU, the NAFTA, and the APEC, account for nearly half of the world’s trade (Cullen 2002) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) now has 140 member-nations, aiming to reduce tariffs and liberalize trade. But globalization also affects the work environments within organizations. Changes involve cutbacks, team-based management movements and privatization. For instance, there can be factory closings, as Nokia closing their German plant in Bochum moving to Romania, because of cheaper labour. All in all, as one key consequence of globalisation, international managers nowadays have to face a more dynamic, complex, competitive and uncertain environment and need skills (as a global mindset or the ability to work with people from diverse background) not considered necessary for domestic-only managers. The environment of international management can be divided into †¢economic, †¢legal, †¢political, and †¢cultural factors (Thomas 2002). So for making decisions it is essential to understand the economic strategies of the countries in or with one wants to conduct business with, because level of economic development and quality of life differs extremely worldwide. Furthermore, there are various national sovereign laws and regulations existing in the world which have to be observed and made allowance for. And in addition, there are several varieties of political systems (e. g. , theocratic totalitarianism in Saudi Arabia), containing different levels of political risks which have to be managed. For instance, decision makers have to able to estimate the degree of risk associated with a government’s involvements in business affairs depending on characteristics of their company. All these factors present impressive challenges multinational management has to face. However, the management challenge of culture and its effects on business practices and organizations is one of the most difficult to deal with. As conducting business with people from other cultures will never be easy you have to understand how culture affects management and organizations. â€Å"Culture† is a concept borrowed from cultural anthropology and there are numerous and subtle different definitions. As each definition has limitations focussing on international management the following description of Geert Hofstede seems very helpful. He defines the culture of any society as comprising shared values, understandings, assumptions and goals learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society and passed on to succeeding generations (Hofstede 2008). Culture is something shared by members of a particular group, differentiates humans from other groups, is transmitted through the process of learning and adapts to external and internal environments and relationships. The international businessperson needs to be aware of three levels of cultures that may influence multinational operations. These include national culture, business culture, and organisational cultures (Cullen 2002). National culture can be described as the dominant culture within the political borders of a nation-state. But one has to be aware that multiple cultures can exist within political boundaries and they do not necessarily reflect cultural borders. For instance, Canada being home to Anglophones and Francophones. Furthermore, even relatively homogenous cultures can have diverse subcultures, including cultural differences which are affecting the international business. Nevertheless, as most business is conducted within the political borders of a state and nations can be defined as political unities, varying in governmental, legal, educational, institutional and labour systems, influencing the way people interact with their environment (Thomas 2002), national culture has the greatest effect on international business being probably the most logic starting point trying to understand the cultural environment. Business culture, reflecting the national culture, influences all aspects of work and organizational life (e. g. , motivating staff, negotiating with business partners, etc. and knowing it’s basic requirements (e. g. , what to wear to business meetings, business etiquette is more formal in Germany than in the U. S. with conservative dark business suits, etc. ) is essential for the international manager. Moreover, especially in the last few years, people realized that the â€Å"culture†-concept also holds for individual organizations. So may differences in organizational culture may be one reason why the merger of two otherwise successful companies failed. It is important to evaluate the influence of organizational rules, norms and procedures to understand the causes of behaviour in organizations. With shared behaviours, conditional relationship, being socialized into and partly involved in it, etc. organizational culture differs in construction and elements of national culture. Even so understanding these cultural factors is fundamental for international managers conducting international business, they have to be aware that â€Å"cultures† can just offer wide guidelines for behaviour, as for instance organizational cultures differ within any national context and individuals vary in each culture level. One cannot predict exactly how each person acts, feels, thinks, etc. Nonetheless, broad generalization about a culture provides a level of analysis from which to begin to understand the cultural environment and the complexities of cultural differences, because management functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in a global economy have to account for them. As international managers have to face various cultural challenges testing their management abilities they must be able to unpack the culture concept. Therefore the basic concepts of cultural dimensions can help them understand how two or more cultures might be different. An essential implication of these frameworks referring to international management and culture is that cultural interpretation and adaptation are a prerequisite to the comparative understanding of international management practice (Morden 1995). The following sections describe two popular models. Hofstede’s Culture Model This Framework, created by dutch scientist Geert Hofstede and based on a research over 11600 people in 50 countries (starting with 39 IBM subsiadiaries worldwide), tries to evaluate how basic values underlay organizational behaviour. National differences are investigated by five dimensions of basic cultural values: 1. Power distance 2. Uncertainty avoidance 3. Individualism 4. Masculinity and 5. Long-term orientation (Hofstede 2008). 1. This first value dimension refers to how cultures deal with inequality and tries to postion the inequality acceptance level by unequal power distribution society members. In countries with a high power distance acceptance (e. g. , such as Mexico), people respect and hardly ever bypass formal hierarchy positions (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008). 2. The second value dimension concerns about the degree humans in a society are threatened by uncertain situations. The social system of a higher uncertainty avoidance society is dominated by regulations and rules, predictabilties and orders and people tend to be suspicious of change, whereas people from lower levels of uncertainty avoidance societies (for instance, countries such as Denmark). tend to be less formal, take higher business risks and plan and structure less 3. Individualism refers to the affinity to primarily take care of oneself and one’s direct family, and then to the rest of society (with the U. S. being a good example) (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008). 4. The fourth dimension of â€Å"masculinity† concerns about the ranking of tradionally â€Å"masculine† values in a society, such as less concerning for others, materialism and assertiveness, whereas â€Å"feminity† on the other side emphasises the quality of life and relationships. 5. Long-term orientation cultures are insistent and saving (e. g. the culture of China) and short-term orientation is more self-centered, money-oriented and more social. All these factors are inter-reliant and interactive in their effects. So shows the Anglo-Dutch example Unilever the practicability of multinational enterprises where the power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism values are similar; and where the masculine achievement orientation of the British complements the people orientation of the Dutch (Morden 1995). All in all, so there is a lot of criticism (for instance, the time-dependence of the results, the non-exhaustive investigation of only one multinational US company, etc. to these findings and the model of Hofstede, it is still a very valuable and useful â€Å"gift† for understanding culture and culture-based behavior. Trompenaars’ Culture Model The model created by Fons Trompenaars its also based on the researched of value dimensions. He studied the behavoiur of 15000 managers, representing 47 national cultures (Hampden-Turner 2008). Five of the seven dimensions of his model deal with the challenges of h ow people relate to each other: 1. Universalism versus particularism 2. Neutral versus affective 3. Specific versus diffuse . Achievement versus ascription 5. Time as sequence versus synchronisation The two final dimensions deal with how a culture manages time and how it deals with nature. They include: 6. The society-orientation to the past, present, or future and 7. â€Å"Control of† versus â€Å"accommodation with† nature 1. The value of univerlism refers to the application to systems and rules objectively, without taking consideration to personal circumstances, whereas the particularism culture (e. g. in countries as Spain) is more subjective and focusses more on relationships. 2. The second, the neutral-versus-affective, value dimension refers on the emotional orientation of relationships (such as expressing your feelings and emotions more like, for example, the Portugese). 3. In Addition the specific-versus-diffus dimension investigates if people from a special culture tend to be more or less specific or diffuse in their relationships (for example, Germans try to separate work and personal issues). 4. In the achievement-versus-ascription dimension, it is asked: †What is the source of power and status in society? † (Elizabeth M. Christopher 2008) So is for instance, in an achievement refering culture, the â€Å"status† of a person mainly based on it’s individual achievement (such as job performance, etc. ). 5. â€Å"Time as sequence† orientated cultures separate events in time (â€Å"step-by-step†), whereas â€Å"time as synchronisation†-orientated indiviuals manage events in parallel. (For example, if their business partners are not sharp on time, Germans, coming from a â€Å"time-as-sequence† orientated culture, may consider it an insultation). 6. This value dimension is about past versus future orientations. 7. Moreover, this dimension refers to the extent to which individuals feel that they themselves are the primary influence on their lives. Using this framework trying to understand some culture-basics some interesting patterns may emerge. Altough, being recognised for their validity (the results of these both major studies have some significant parallels, even so they were carried out in different times using different methods and examples), these concepts of cultural value orientation proposed by Hofstede and Tropmenaar can only give a basic framework for the analysis of cultural differences. They are utensils to help understand a culture and adjusting business practices to diverse cultural environments. They are for instance, a prerequisite to the successful new-market country entry, whether by setting up licensing or new subsidiaries, joint ventures, mergers or for the establishment of efficient programmes of international HR development (Kay 1993). But international managers have to realise that the understanding of another culture is a inexhaustible learning process. They will have to practice for their international work with or in other countries by studiying all that they can about the country, including more than just the business etiquette. Understanding the national culture builds just the foundation. As you seldom can get behind the front stage of culture without speaking the national language onother basic instrument is learning the language. But the challenge of â€Å"culture† in international management takes such much more than this. International managers have to broaden their understanding of cultural differences and to learn to seek advantage in differences. Understanding the culture is just a basis for the diverse international management tasks, as appropriate cross-cultural communication (using appropiate communication styles), effective and positive motivating and leadership in international organisations and across cultures, successful negotiation with international business partners and making ethically and socially responsible decisions. Conclusion The environment of international management can be divided into economic, legal, political, and cultural factors, with â€Å"culture† being the most challenging and most difficult to deal with, influencing a broad range of management tasks. Providing oneself with the necessary knowlegde and understanding of the national culture of the country or the people one is conducting business with is essential and builds just the foundation for the successful complementation of global management tasks, such as for instance leadership in multinational organisations (where you have to have understanding of all three levels of culture; national, business and organisational culture, being different and influencing each other).

mummies :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you think of a mummy what comes to mind? Most of us usually picture an Egyptian mummy wrapped in bandages and buried deep inside a pyramid. While the Egyptian ones are the most famous, mummies have been found in many places throughout the world, from Greenland to China to the Andes Mountains of South America. A mummy is the body of a person (or an animal) that has been preserved after death. Normally when we die, bacteria and other germs eat away at the soft tissues (such as skin and muscles) leaving only the bones behind. Since bacteria need water in order to grow, mummification usually happens if the body dries out quickly after death. The body may then be so well preserved that we can even tell how the dead person may have looked in life. Mummies are made naturally or by embalming, which is any process that people use to help preserve a dead body. Mummies can be dried out by extreme cold, by the sun, by smoke, or using chemicals such as natron. Some bodies become mummies because there were favorable natural conditions when they died. Others were preserved and buried with great care. The ancient Egyptians believed that mummifying a person's body after death was essential to ensure a safe passage to the afterlife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Last updated February 4, 1997 by CHICO WHAT IS A MUMMY Mummification in ancient Egypt was a very long and expensive process. From start to finish, it took about seventy days to embalm a body. Since the Egyptians believed that mummification was essential for passage to the afterlife, people were mummified and buried as well as they could possibly afford. High-ranking officials, priests and other nobles who had served the pharaoh and his queen had fairly elaborate burials. The pharaohs, who were believed to become gods when they died, had the most magnificent burials of all. In the case of a royal or noble burial, the embalmers set up workshops near the tomb of the mummy. The art of Egyptian mummification consisted of many steps. First, the body was washed and ritually purified. The next step was to remove the deceased person's inner organs. A slit was cut into the left side of the body so that the embalmers could remove the intestines, the liver, the stomach and the lungs. Each of these organs was embalmed using natron, which served to dry out the organs and discourage bacteria from decaying the tissues.

Buddhism without Beliefs

It is a well-known fact that Buddhism religion is distinguished from all Asian religions due to its three innovative and original sifts: equal position of women; emergence of Buddhism as social transformation; replacement of monastery and building lay community â€Å"as the principal arena of Buddhist practice†. The book â€Å"Buddhism without Beliefs† by Stephen Batchelor describes the significance of three elements and their application to future development of the world. (Batchelor 1997)It is possible to suggest that the book is an intelligent effort to provide better understanding to the Buddhism religion and to make clear the attribute of â€Å"dharma practice†. Apparently, the book contains author’s personal reflections and suggestions how to apply Buddhism studies to contemporary era o skepticism. It is necessary to outline that the book contains three main parts called â€Å"Ground†, â€Å"Path†, â€Å"Fruition† and the last se ction devoted to culture and imagination. The author is rather persuasive, because he uses logical arguments, conclusions, facts and viewpoints to defend his position.Batchelor has managed to affect readers and to make them think about the issue. Therefore the book leads through abundant data presented to persuade readers that Buddhism is worth attention. Therefore, the apparent strength of the book is abundant data and evidence used to support the main idea. (Batchelor 1997) The first part of the book â€Å"Ground† involves theoretical framework of Buddhism religion and explains its core issues. The author begins with explaining differences between two entities – â€Å"dharma practice† and â€Å"religious Buddhism† – intertwined into the history of Buddhism theory.According to Batchelor those entities are closely related and thus are inseparable. Furthermore, they have to be preserved for discovering their contemporary significance. The first and the most significant entity for Batchelor is â€Å"dharma practice†, because it teaches and trains how to awaken and to feel freedom from â€Å"anguish†. The second entity â€Å"religious Buddhism† is a system of belief aims at ensuring social stability as well as providing religious consolation. (p. 16)Nevertheless, the author admits that world view and religious expression has little to do with core Buddha’s teachings, because they â€Å"pertain solely to the Asian cultural soil within which Buddhism took root†. Batchelor agrees that those entities have had significant purpose in ancient time, though they are hardly applicable to contemporary society. The author argues that if the dharma practice offers alternative approach to interpretation of core values and virtues, it has to be deprived of â€Å"its religious apparel and recast in a purely secular mode†.It would result in agnostic style of dharma practicing. (Batchelor 1997) Moreover, Batchelor believes that dharma practice would aim at social and personal freedom and liberation meaning that people have to escape from â€Å"suffering created by egocentric clinging†. According to Batchelor the positive moment of Buddhism is that the religion provides answers to great questions concerning place of humans in the â€Å"grand scheme of things†. The author seems to provide agnostic vision of the thinks stating that â€Å"the dharma is not something to believe in but something to do†.(p. 17) However, Buddha didn’t have answers to metaphysical questions of his day. The only known fact is that Buddha was teaching followers about sufferings and cessation. Thus the author makes a conclusion that Buddha’s teachings are therapeutic, existential and may be referred to liberating agnosticism. For example, Batchelor makes an attempt to escape from metaphysical questions of his day by arguing that Buddha â€Å"was merely adopting the symbols, m etaphors, and imagery of his world†. (p. 17)Nevertheless, Later Batchelor suggests that Buddha â€Å"accepted the ideas of rebirth and kamma†, though he considers them â€Å"odd that a practice concerned with anguish and the ending of anguish should be obliged to adopt ancient Indian metaphysical theories and thus accept as an article of faith that consciousness cannot be explained in terms of brain function†. (p. 37) However, Batchelor seems not to approve Buddha’s metaphysical theories, although he doesn’t completely reject the idea of reincarnation or rebirth.Instead the author thinks that honest approach has to be taken in understanding life after death, because existing knowledge isn’t enough to state anything. Buddha accepts the ideas of reincarnation and kamms indicating a â€Å"failure to summon forth the courage to risk a non-dogmatic and non-evasive stance on such crucial existential matters†. (p. 38) It is apparent that the author tends to use a variety of logical arguments to approve his interpretation of Dhamma. Batchelor’s arguments succeed in gaining cogency due to oversimplification, selective relevant citations and rationalization.For example the author discuses â€Å"four ennobling truths† and finds put that these truths aren’t â€Å"propositions to believe [but] challenges to act†. (p. 7) Nevertheless, such statement is hardly truthful, because the author fails to admit that â€Å"tasks imposed by the truths acquire their meaning from a specific context, namely, the quest for liberation from the vicious round of rebirths†. The dichotomy between â€Å"religious Buddhism† and â€Å"dharma practice† is hardly endorsable. The author calls to â€Å"recognize a spectrum of Buddhist practices, ranging from simple devotional and ethical observances to more advanced contemplative and philosophical ones†.Those observances are involved into faith and understanding, though they disappear when dharma practice is regarded on the basis of different suggestions. The author considers premises underling the traditional Buddhist practice as reincarnation and kamm, though he thinks they are only consolatory elements crept into the religion. (p. 18-19) The second part of the book is titled â€Å"Path† and aims at providing relevant sketches to agnostic conceptions based on the dharma practice. Furthermore, author provides clear and lively explanations of the issues displaying his creativity and literary gift.The part is divided into subsections devoted to awareness, overview of emptiness and development of sympathy and compassion. Apparent strength of the part is simple examples introduced in every subsection. Most original examples involve practicing awareness and mindfulness, showing essence of emptiness, challenging the findings and reflecting on common sufferings of friends, enemies and acquaintances. The second part includes also twelve links of dependent origination interpreted rather originally and illustrated by mistaken perception.(Batchelor 1997) Nevertheless, the conception of the path is absent in Batchelor’s interpretation, though it is considered the traditional foundation of Buddhist religion: â€Å"the Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels†. The author thinks that mentioning the path doesn’t have any sense in the frame pf agnostic conception, though omission of path seems rather significant. Furthermore, the author doesn’t mention either code of moral rules or the Five Precepts. However, Batchelor slightly talks about ethical framework and proposes integrity.Despite the fact he speaks about impressive insights of integrity, the issues is still questionable as it has neither sufficient basis for ethic nor exact guidelines. (p. 48-50) The third part of the book â€Å"Fruition† is an exploration of consequences of dharma practice and explanation why dharma pract ice is called â€Å"passionate agnosticism†, Batchelor starts with accounting meditative path. The author explains the process of meditation stating that it consists of â€Å"radical, relentless questioning of every aspect of experience†.Nevertheless, such beginning makes readers profoundly perplexed, though for author â€Å"this perplexed questioning is the central path itself†. (p. 98) It means that the path aims at finding no goals and answers. Such conception of dharma practice seems bizarre and strange. Further, the author returns to meditation stating that its goal to justify belief system and to approve using the raft of the dharma practice. According to author, Buddha stresses the insight meditation, because it is able to lead to thorough knowledge of true nature. Thus Batchelor shows once more â€Å"the bearing of one's starting point on one's destination†.It is apparent that the author firstly starts from agnostic concept and then turns to exces sive mystery and doubt. However, Batchelor believes that if a person trust dharma practice, he/she has to follow the right View and consequently to find Right Knowledge and Right Liberation. (p. 108) The last section is devoted to the concepts of culture and imagination. The author deals with correlations between contemporary world and Buddhist teachings and religion. In other words, Batchelor tries to find implications of Buddhism in modern world.The author asserts that throughout the Buddhism history, â€Å"Dhamma has rejuvenated itself by continually altering its forms to respond to changing social and cultural conditions†. However, such statement may be considered the act of author’s imagination, his gift of talented thinker and his creative vision of things. (p. 107) Batchelor has given new and fresh approach to Buddhist teachings. Some critics find Batchelor’s vision of Buddhism too simplistic, though it is difficult to agree with them. Batchelor seems to present his original point of view, his understanding and his perception of Buddhism.He succeeded in making viewers interested exactly by simple explanation of core Buddhist issues. Nevertheless, the author has failed to explain sufficiently the role played by orthodoxy in stimulating dharma practice. What is more important to mention is that Batchelor believes that Buddhism applied to contemporary world may rise the need to create meaning that dharma practice is able to stimulate creativity in followers. According to author, dharma practice is a â€Å"new culture of awakening that addresses the specific anguish of the contemporary world†.(p. 109) It is necessary to conclude that Batchelor has created a new vision of Buddhism culture of awakening by stressing the integrity of Buddhist tradition and their responsibility to the present and the future. Despite the critique the book is rally worth reading, because it provides better understanding, advantages and disadvantages of not only of Buddhism religion, but also of agnostic concept. References Batchelor, Stephen. (1997). Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. New York: Revierhead Books.

Minimum Wage and Unemployment Rate †A Direct Relationship Essay

In any labor market, free or regulated, there is friction and rigidity that result in labor issues. With 11 million people unemployed, and millions more discouraged or underemployed, there is justification to believe that these high population levels represent a glitch in the American labor market (1). These basic statistics, coupled with the elementary economic theory of supply and demand, demonstrate that minimum wage regulation has not only proven to be unsuccessful, but should be eliminated immediately. Although compulsory wage levels may be problematic in our contemporary labor market, the theory supporting a minimum wage dates back to over three centuries ago. The earliest evidence of a mandatory minimum wage could be found in New Zealand when in 1894 there was an effort to extinguish sweatshop labor. Also during this time, Australia made amendments to the Factories Act which created a wage price floor in six industries that were considered to have low paying wages. Although this amendment began as an experiment, within a few years additional amendments were created to expand minimum wage to over 150 different industries (2). It took until the early 1900’s for the minimum wage model to appear in the United States. In 1912, Massachusetts set up a commission not to demand minimum wages, but to recommend them – especially for women and children. Within eight years, 13 US states and Washington DC implemented their own compulsory minimum wage laws (3). Due to challenges from the Supreme Court during the Lochner Era – a time where the Supreme Court exercised its power to protect economic liberty and private contracts – it took until 1938 for federal minimum wage laws to manifest in the United States. Presented under the Fair Labor Standards Act under the scope of the Commerce Clause, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the power to regulate employment. As a result, the first ever federal minimum wage entered the market at 25 cents an hour (4). Today we have a federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour and even higher in some states like Washington where the minimum wage is over $9/hour. Aside from the role minimum wage laws play in our current market, they’ve also made prominent news headlines and been in the minds of many laborers as of recently. Many of these headlines reveal a desire by workers and politicians alike to raise the minimum wage. Organized protests by workers in the fast food industry have assembled in the streets of major cities to bring to attention not only their demand for a much higher minimum wage, but for union representation as well. Additionally politicians like Barack Obama and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn have spoken publicly about their desire for an increased minimum wage. While the President has put pressure on Congress to legislate a $9/hour minimum wage, Mayor McGinn has expressed his support for a $15/hour minimum wage by his respective legislators (5). Aside from the strong political appeal that may encourage politicians to propose minimum wage increases, on the surface this type of legislation seems like a well-intentioned effort to raise the standard of living of people working for relatively low wages. This is not only because people naturally desire better things for themselves, but it also seems like a productive way to align wages with levels of inflation that the Federal Reserve is primarily responsible for (6). To make minimum wage theory even more confusing, there have been multiple studies on the issue only to garner completely opposite results. David Neumark, an economics professor at UCI and William Washer, an economist on the board of governors at the Federal Reserve wrote a descriptive 155 page monograph that elaborately detailed the negative effects that minimum wage laws created. Conversely, David Card an economics professor at UCB and Alan Krueger, a professor at Princeton University, published a highly renowned study that concluded minimum wage laws would only cause minimal job loss and in some instances could even raise employment levels (7). However, when studying economic phenomena mixed results are completely common due to the failure to meet the cetaris paribus condition, which stresses the concept of keeping variables constant. Not surprisingly, there were very few constant variables between these two studies. So rather than fill this essay with the observations of others, I plan to mainly use deductive reasoning to discuss the logical consistency of my argument. Because minimum wage laws are not only self-defeating but also make society poorer, it is in everyone’s best interest, especially those the law is intended to help, to abolish minimum wage laws immediately. In rudimentary economic studies, we learn about the affects supply and demand have on market clearing prices and that where supply meets demand is price equilibrium. We also learn that when prices are arbitrarily set above equilibrium, the result is a surplus. Wage labor is no different, and when analyzing this data, the surplus can be expressed as unemployment. These surpluses (unemployment) result when the productivity of a laborer is not high enough to warrant the new minimum wage. Now an economic burden to the company, the employer will have no choice but to terminate the employee(s) in order to remain profitable in their endeavors. Because these compulsory created economic burdens will generally be people already earning relatively lower wages, wage price floors actually hurt the people they are intended to help. Even if one was to claim that the terminations resulting in raising the minimum wage were offset by the new people making higher nominal wages, this person would be committing an arbitrary value judgment. Additionally, minimum wage laws have a dampening effect on inner city youth (8). After spending time in subpar public schooling, many underprivileged adolescents are forced to turn to the streets instead of taking a low paying position where he would be able to acquire skills on the job. Rather than gain working experience, he is more prone to a perpetual cycle of poverty and violence. When viewed from a more macro approach, there are even worse social ramifications. Unemployment is universally agreed upon as a bad thing. This is because the negative effects have no offsetting benefits, rather they are considered a dead loss. When unemployment levels rise, people tend to crave acts of protectionism, which is are strives to restrict the immigration process and limit imports from competing countries. Not only can these actions lead to retaliatory actions from other countries, but can also impede the influx of cheaper goods, which will directly hurt the unemployed (9). Not only will unemployment lower total national output, but it also creates a demand for costly federal and state services such as the unemployment program. Furthermore, the logic behind the minimum wage legislation seems to contain not only many dissenting opinions on what the nominal wage should be, but many faults in logic as well. Down to the cent, there are thousands of people who all support the minimum wage but at different amounts. Although most main stream public figures seem to restrain a wage price floor from exceeding $20/hour, wouldn’t consistent logic prevail for compulsory wages of at least $100/hour or even $1,000/hour? Clearly, this is absurd. Rather than having economists design the economy, evidence prevails that it would be better for people to decide respective wage levels on their own. While it may be true that â€Å"moderate† rises in the minimum wage may not lead to substantial changes in the rate of unemployment, this is exactly why these laws are self-defeating. This price floor only affects a small sect of the economy, making some of it unemployed. When laborers compete for a job, they have two tools. On one hand is productivity and ingenuity. On the other hand is the wage at wish they are willing to work for. If a relatively unproductive worker wants to compete with a highly productive worker, then he or she must naturally accept a lower wage. In doing this, the worker gains a form of payment through knowledge and information that can be taken with them throughout life. Denying this ind ividual the right to do so, with arbitrary government price floors, removes his or her ability to compete and to find employment. Not only will this disarm the very people the laws were intended to help, but it also blocks a person from a basic right to work at whatever wage he or she chooses to do so at. Through the use of deductive reasoning, it is quite clear that although well intentioned, minimum wage laws have created a disturbing effect on our contemporary labor market and have had negative effects on the people they were designed to help. It should come as no surprise then that the urban areas of our nation experience the highest levels of unemployment. Works Cited 1) â€Å"Employment Status of Displaced Workers : The Editor’s Desk : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.† U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 2) â€Å"History of the Minimum Wage.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 3) â€Å"Minimum Wage in the United States.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 4) â€Å"Lochner Era.† LII. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 5) Associated Press. â€Å"Seattle Mayor Would Support Minimum Wage above $15.† USA Today. Gannett, 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 6) Casey, Chris. Killing the Currency. Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 27 May 203. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 7) MacKenzie, D.W. â€Å"The Ludwig Von Mises Institute.† Minimum Wage Laws: Economics versus Ideology. N.p., 14 June 2007. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 8) Caldwell, Roger. â€Å"Inner City Black Male Unemployment At 50 Percen t.† West Orlando News Online 2013 ® Central Florida News, Info, Sports. N.p., 15 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 9) â€Å"The Cost Of Unemployment To The Economy.† Investopedia. N.p., 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Free Essays on Buddha

Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of life. Buddhist practices such as meditation are means of changing oneself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator God, some people do not see it as a religion in the normal western sense. The basic Buddhist teachings are straightforward: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible. This enables people to realize and utilize the teachings in order to transform their experience and be fully responsible for their lives and to develop the qualities of wisdom and compassion. There are different forms of Buddhism throughout different cultures, but all traditions are usually characterized by non-violence, lack of dogma, tolerance of differences, and by the practice of meditation. The word â€Å"Buddha† is a title, not a name. It means â€Å"one who is awake†. It was first given to a man who was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal 2,500 years ago. Siddharta was born into the royal family of a small kingdom on the Indian-Nepalese border. According to the traditional story he had an understanding that life includes the harsh facts of old age, sickness, and death. After consistent meditation he sat down beneath a pipal tree and vowed that â€Å"flesh may wither, blood may dry up, but I shall not rise from this spot until Enlightenment has been won†. After forty days, the Buddha finally attained enlightenment. During the remaining 45 years of his life he traveled through much of northern India, spreading his teaching of the way to enlightenment. The teaching is known in the East as the Buddha-dharma: the teaching of the enlightened one. The Buddha was not a God and he made no claim to divinity, and Buddhists see him as a guide who can lead one to enlightenment. Buddhism sees life as a process of constant change, and its ... Free Essays on Buddha Free Essays on Buddha Charles Hallmark "Buddhism V. Newdism" Buddhism is unlike most other religions. The founder of it is not a god, a savior, but simply a man who walked among men and freed himself from attachment and suffering. "Buddha's" name was Guatama Sakyamuni and he is the founder of what its followers call the Dharma. The origins of Buddhism lye in Indian religion. The religion is supposed to embody the personal transcendence of a person's inner world. Guatama left behind his wife, son, and finely furbished home in Kapilavashtu to seek enlightenment. It was the sight of suffering that encouraged him and at the onset of his journey his day's sages that discouraged him. He became despaired by the sages and their doctrines. Then one night Guatama Sakyamuni (or Siddartha Gautama) put him under a trance at which point he discovered enlightenment and became Buddha. Presently, this faith continues to inspire, redirect, and focus members of society. Buddhism improves the livelihood of most people although "new Buddhists" values are disconcord with those of their faith. My purpose of writing this paper is two fold: to make a reasonable argument of the contribution Buddhism has made and the beliefs a person who truly follows the doctrine should have. Buddhists believe that Nirvana is the Supreme Reality or truth that liberates us from suffering. God is considered to me an ephemeral, limited concept that fades and coincides with the cycle of life and death. Nirvana is an end to the cycle of life and death and its very meaning cannot be put into words. The mundane earth, the world that we see, is entirely an illusion of suffering. The path of disillusionment is compassion for everything. The doctrine carries a set of four (4) noble truths and seven (7) steps on the path. The four noble truths consist of truth of suffering, origin of suffering, extinction of suffering, and the path that leads to the extinction of suffering. There... Free Essays on buddha Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of life. Buddhist practices such as meditation are means of changing oneself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator God, some people do not see it as a religion in the normal western sense. The basic Buddhist teachings are straightforward: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible. This enables people to realize and utilize the teachings in order to transform their experience and be fully responsible for their lives and to develop the qualities of wisdom and compassion. There are different forms of Buddhism throughout different cultures, but all traditions are usually characterized by non-violence, lack of dogma, tolerance of differences, and by the practice of meditation. The word â€Å"Buddha† is a title, not a name. It means â€Å"one who is awake†. It was first given to a man who was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal 2,500 years ago. Siddharta was born into the royal family of a small kingdom on the Indian-Nepalese border. According to the traditional story he had an understanding that life includes the harsh facts of old age, sickness, and death. After consistent meditation he sat down beneath a pipal tree and vowed that â€Å"flesh may wither, blood may dry up, but I shall not rise from this spot until Enlightenment has been won†. After forty days, the Buddha finally attained enlightenment. During the remaining 45 years of his life he traveled through much of northern India, spreading his teaching of the way to enlightenment. The teaching is known in the East as the Buddha-dharma: the teaching of the enlightened one. The Buddha was not a God and he made no claim to divinity, and Buddhists see him as a guide who can lead one to enlightenment. Buddhism sees life as a process of constant change, and its ... Free Essays on Buddha BIRTH In times long past, fully twenty-five hundred years ago, where are now the border-lands between Nepal and the northern parts of the provinces of Oudh and North Bihar, there were a number of little kingdoms inhabited by different races of people, each ruled over by its own Raja or King. One of these little kingdoms which lay some distance north of the present-day town of Gorakhpore, on the north side of the river Rapti, was the land of a race called the Sakyas, the king who ruled over them at that time being called Suddhodana. The family to which King Suddhodana of the Sakyas belonged was called the Gotama family, so that his full name was King Suddhodana Gotama; and the name of the chief city in his kingdom where he had his chief palace, was Kapilavatthu. This King Suddhodana had a chief queen whose name was Mahamaya. And after they had lived together for some time in married happiness, the Queen became aware that the day was drawing near when she should bring forth a child. So, before time came upon her, she asked her husband to give her leave to go and pay a visit to her own people who belonged to a city not very far away called Devadaha. King Suddhodana very willingly granted his chief Queen her wish, and sent out his men with orders to prepare the way for her, and do everything needed to make the journey to her father's house a pleasant and comfortable one for her. Now half way between Kapilavatthu and the town of Devadaha there was a very fine forest garden called Lumbini where the people of both places used to go in the hot weather to enjoy the cool shade of the great Sal trees of which there were many in the grove. Here in the month of May, these great trees were covered from top to bottom with lovely blossoms. In among their long branches flew many kinds of birds singing their sweetest songs so that the whole air was full of the sound of their warbling. And over and through the myriads of flowers, swarms of bee...