Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Operations Management - Assignment Example The Author asserts and emphasizes on the CITA accreditation, and sheds the concepts of Operations Management in order to achieve the CITA accreditation by Al-Jouf International School. Having these Operations Management concepts applied, the Author justifies that the School will achieve CITA accreditation in the future. The case study organization, the author relates to is Al-Jouf International School. The author has served as an educator (tutor) for the past 3 years in the School. The author has found out certain managerial issues, high turnover rates for educators, failed system in order to support the CITA accreditation, and declining school enrolment. The author suggests that Operational Management concepts are a must for the School in order to gain the repute among other competitive International Schools. Al-Jouf International School is located in suburbs of Sakaka, Saudi Arabia. It is the school having two separate sections, each comprising of Boys wing and Girls wing that are gender based separated. The foundations of the school was led in 2006, with an aim to increase in quantity and to provide the quality and satisfactory education for the children, that will foster the future of Saudi Arabia and whoever learns and are ready to serve the International market. Al-Jouf International School laid its foundations on the basis of skill based education. The aims of the school were to provide the best quality education with an aim to be a part of an International Accrediting. It aimed to provide the quality education having leading quality educators with going beyond â€Å"Chalk and Talk method†. The structure of the School includes the Chairman of the School, followed by the Principal, Vice Principal and Faculty. The management staffs include the Finance sections comprising of Finance officer and his Co Finance Officer. There is a

Global Business in Emerging Regions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Global Business in Emerging Regions - Essay Example Vodafone plans to enter yet another market in order to expand their reach in the world. This time the plan is to enter the market of Thailand and provide them with their award winning services. The reason for choosing this country is because in spite of confronting various political tests, Thailand has made extraordinary advancement in social and monetary issues. Thusly, Thailand has been one of the incredible improvement examples of overcoming adversity, with maintained solid development and amazing destitution lessening. In the decade that finished in 1995, the Thai economy was one of the planet's quickest developing at a normal rate of 8-9% for every year. In the wake of recouping from the "Asian Crisis" of 1997-1998, the Thai economy took off once more. From 2002-2007, Thailand's development found the middle value of at around 5%. Thailand's budgetary development reduced in view of worldwide financial conditions and political lack of determination in 2009 and once more, in 2011, from the destroying surges. Notwithstanding, Thailand's monetary movement is continuously coming back to typical, with quarterly budgetary development rates now closer to the levels regularly seen before the worldwide fiscal emergency started in 2008. The GDP bounced back from the surges at 6.4% in 2012 and is anticipated to keep developing at 5.0% in 2013. Most development turned purchaser merchandise brands and retailers are mindful of the enormous business chances that lie in rising markets. Their thick populaces talk volumes: in China there are 1.3 billion individuals, accompanied nearly by India at 1.2 billion. Different crowded nations right now being eyed-up as hot focuses by the industry incorporate Indonesia (238 million) and Brazil (194 million). Joined, these four biggest rising markets hold a stunning three billion potential clients. Constantly, seizing chances of this scale is a not exactly direct process for purchaser merchandise organizations and obliges acclimating m arketing and operations to an entire have of unpredictable elements. The potential changes required may identify, for example, to dialect, society, purchasing propensities, inventory network modernity, administrative situations, and accessible transport base and value affectability inside each one market. Here, innovation can assume a pivotal part in empowering firms to adjust their methods. Case in point, enormous information dissection instruments might be utilized to mine divided information from sources, for example, social media, centering assets on the most lucrative micro-markets and controlling market section methodologies. (Dunning, 1993) To overcome poor logistics foundations and regularly quite divided supply chains, the utilization of remote track-and-follow results can permit producers and retailers to accompany their merchandise all around the inventory network. And additionally guarding against misfortune and burglary, this can likewise guarantee provenance, screen th e state of perishable and delicate merchandise and enhance stock arranging. In nations, for example, India and Nigeria – where little shops record for 97% of the retail market, its likewise essential

The Concept Of Civic Education

The Concept Of Civic Education The concept of civic education had its origin in the ancient Greek city-states. Citizen is the agent who react the state politically. In Platos ideal state, there are three classes of citizens: rulers, soldiers, and the people. Citizen of the different levels should accept different civic education. Duties of good citizen are depend on their abilities and role in life. They should do what their best suited to do, and they should create value for society. For example, ruler must have the virtue of wisdom; soldiers should have the virtue of courage. And the rest of the people, such as merchants and farmers must exhibit the virtue of moderation. In my opinion, the organization of Platos ideal city, every classs responsibility is clearly stated; it makes them know their place and cultivates their civic patriotism. After World War II, some countries are aware that such a narrow view of the civic education leads a lot of contradictions. Therefore, patriotism begins to fade. It is not just talk about rights and obligations, but more emphasis on universal values, such as equality, freedom, justice, and aims to train students to become citizens of the world. In the contemporary scholarship on civic education J. Mark Halstead believe that civic education should be analyzed according to three aspect, namely the about citizenship, the good citizenship and the active citizenship. In about citizenship, civic education cultivate well-informed citizens. The good citizenship emphasis students socialize in society, such as obedience, commitment, patriotism and authority of citizenship. In active citizenship, children should have active participation in the political, civil and social life of the community. Davison and Arthur (2006) further stated that citizenship can be divided into passive citizenship and active citizenship. In passive citizenship, as the member of society, citizen performs ones obligations, such as obey laws, be polite. Also, citizen develops the ability to participate in society individually. The development of the critical thinking, and enable an individual to participate in society are necessary for active citizenship. In Hong Kong, according to Leung, civic education cultivates the sense of belonging to China and the sense of pride of being a Chinese in One Country, Two Systems policy. According to the Basic Education Curriculum Guide of Moral and Civic Education, there are five priority values and attitudes that are essential to students personal and social development, such as Perseverance, Respect for Others, Responsibility, National Identity and Commitment. The aim of civic education in Hong Kong is to help students to become knowledgeable and responsible citizens and committed to the well-being of their fellow humans. In other hand, national education can be divided into five forms: cosmopolitan nationalism, civic nationalism, cultural nationalism, anti-colonial nationalism and totalitarian nationalism'(Leung, 2002). First, cosmopolitan nationalism is the all human ethnic groups are who on his mind believe that people are equal and show respect, deep concern and love, in disregard of race, gender, nationality, religion, class and believe that the improvement of mankind is the responsibility of individuals. Second, civic nationalism defines the nation as an association of people with equal and shared political rights, in disregard of race, color, creed, gender, language of ethnicity. Citizens participation in governing and policy of the nation is not limited. Third, cultural nationalism is a form of nationalism in which the high cohesion of nation by a shared culture. Cultural nationalism builds up a national identity by the same cultural traditions, historic territory, and the unity and national consciousness of the nation. Fourth, Anti-colonial nationalism defines the nation stand against oppressive, imperialist and colonial regimes. Citizen has strong desire to fight against foreign rulers of political and economic independence and racial equality. Parmenter (2005) had proposed that national unity and national identity can be developed through national education. National education systems inevitably co-exist with nationalism. A nation can be unified by the administrative systems of national education systems. And become a sense of the imagined community of the nation (Anderson, 1991). The aim of National education feels they are take part in the national sense of belonging. Through National education, citizens are educated to see themselves as part of the nation, and educated into ways of behaving and thinking appropriately as a member of the nation (Reicher and Hopkins, 2001). The Minister of Education in the Peoples Republic of China, Yuan Guiren claims that all nationals should receive national education. And the former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chen Zuoer said that national education is essential in every nation, so Hong Kong people should have responsibility to contribute to the country. But some scholars refute the argument that why Hong Kong people have to accept to receive national education as a citizen. It showed the problem that there is a contradictory relationship between civic education and national education. Parmenter (2005) holds that National unity and national identity thrive on difference with outsiders, and this is where national education can come into conflict with cosmopolitan identity and citizenship, which is based on the premise that all people are equal and similar citizens of the world. First, National education is too much emphasis on increasing sense of belonging. If national education emphasize on increasing sense of belonging in a large part, national education fosters patriotism. According to Leung, identity is a two-edged sword, it can build up national patriotism of citizens, but it can also lead to serious consequences. Totalitarian nationalism represents the term patriotism. It emphasizes the loyalty and absolute obedience to the state and the ideology of the party and its leaders. The love for the country is equivalent to the love for the ruling political party and its ideologies, and the citizen firmly believed that the ruling political party is the savior of the nation. Hong Kong people definitely reject education for totalitarian nationalism, because all related concepts communism, communist party, socialism and the politics in Mainland China. It very alien to people and political culture of Hong Kong people and they were afraid of the politics of Mainl and China. Also, Leung criticizes the education bureau discarded civic education and change into national education. National education excludes the universal value of civic education. Leung criticizes national education only focuses on emotional recognition, establish sense of identity through glory of nation. It will cover up all the faults of the party of nation, lack of criticism of the party, and ignore the civil and human rights. It not helps thinking about the discussion of human rights of the nation. The core values of Hong Kong is freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law etc., is also known as the universal values of human rights, democracy, freedom. It is not expedient that Democracy and human rights is the value of belonging to the world of the country. Leung points out that the National domain of national education does not mention national issues from the point of view of the world. It may limit the horizons of the students, and narrow space of interpretation, lead the universal values change into the Chinese characteristic values National education emphases on patriotic rituals like flag raising ceremonies. The flag-raising ceremony of national flag and SAR flag is raised every morning once a month. According to Fairbrother, patriotic rituals such as the flag-raising ceremony are formalities that have no educational purpose but indoctrination. Leung believes that national education emphasize the Emotion and national identity, it ignore the critical thinking. According to Cheng, positive teaching materials of national education cannot nurture a critical thinking attitude on the part of students. Worries about the essential areas of civic education, such as human rights, democratic education were neglected because the national education is in high priority between national education and civic education. Choi Po King pointed out that if the national education emphasized instill identify with the political consciousness of the country, it violate the principle of civic education, such as independent and critical thinking, emotional and irrational (Choi Po King, as cited in Leung, 1995). The model of national education in China is outdated. Morley claims that a nations shrinking national boundaries are shirked and blurred through travel, media and electronic networks. The concept of territorial identity and citizenship is not necessary. Also, the concepts of place, and specific place of their location, are changing (Morley, 2000). Parmenter (2005) holds that there is no theoretical reason why there are conflict between national education and civic citizenship because the coexistence of state and world citizenship are accepted in the ancient Greek. Individuals should realize that they have of multiple identities and they are in various territorial spheres of life. The concept of multiple identities is based on the notion of as a composite of multiple, often contradictory, self-understandings and identities.They think that they are the I fluctuate among different and even opposed positions (Hermans, Kempem van Loon, 1992). There is no contradiction between national identity and citizenship on the one hand, and cosmopolitan identity and citizenship. The co-existence of the two identities and citizenships is recognized to some extent in reality as well as theory. Cosmopolitanism is a way of viewing the world that among other things dispenses with national exclusivity, dichotomous forms of gendered and racial thinking and rigid separations between culture and nature. Such a sensibility would be open to the new spaces of political and ethical engagement that seeks to appreciate the ways in which humanity is mixed into intercultural ways of life. (Stevenson, 2003) The aim of such national education would be cosmopolitanism. It is because a critical and balanced national identity and sense of national citizenship can be achieved by the stimulation of the right of cosmopolitan identity and citizenship. Peoples horizons can widen through national education. Peoples identities not only focus on the nation, they can take a board view of the world. The development of National education in Hong Kong is special, the identity of Hong Kong changes from a British colony into a Chinese Special Administrative Region. As early as in 1985, the Education Department Guidelines on Civic Education in Schools require students to understanding China Affairs, patriotic and proud of being Chinese. Due to the political Environment, Hong Kong peoples understanding of national identity is not clear, national education commenced in the absence of clear national concept. Although schools teach Chinese language and Chinese history, but only focus on knowledge of subjects. Civic education focused on understanding of the society, and the practice of the citizens in the world, not stressed explicitly to develop students sense of national identity. The Guidelines on Civic Education in School (DCC, 1996) published in 1996 also emphasized education for human rights, democracy, education for the rule of law, and national education, global education of critical thinking (Leung, Chai Ng, 2000). But this guideline is just policy documents, it avoids the contradiction between national education and Civic Education, national education should not simply bring into Civic Education. The guidelines stressed democracy, the rule of law, human rights education and critical thinking. But in other side, it emphasizes students positive values and attitudes and identity-building, and builds up a sense of closeness and belonging with the motherland. In my opinion, the aim of Civic Education, national education is different; it makes contradiction and confusion of identity. The promotion of national education has become a central element in curriculum development since 1997. Soon after 1997, government circulars were issued to remind schools to raise the national flag on significant occasions and to use national symbols (Lee, 2008). Tung Chee-hwa , the first Chief Executive, highlighted national education and patriotism to develop a nation identity and called on the community to work together to foster patriotic Chinese citizens. In 2001 report on curriculum development, students should know their national identity; do their utmost to contribute to the country and to society. But still labeled as civic education and was promoted gradually through practice participation. A National Education Center was also established under the management of a pro-China education body, the Federation of Education Workers, in 2004. I participated in a tour in A National Education Center about celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War. One of the aims of the tour is strengthen the national identity of motherland. I visited lots of historical sights about the Second Sino-Japanese War and attend the seminar that titled three years and eight months, the period of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. I listen seriously the history of Second Sino-Japanese War and her personal experiences. I am impressed with what she said about the difficulties in war and she thinks what she does in the war or giving seminars to primary and secondary school or public is a blessing for her, because she can do for the country. It makes me understand the truth of loving country, just pay, without asking for anything in return. In 2007 Policy Address, The HKSAR Government promotes grow to love our motherland and Hong Kong, aspire to win honor and make contributions for our country. The SAR government starts to promote National education from schools to communities. Nurturing awareness of national identity and national self-Sense of pride and a sense of responsibility there is interest in the implementation of one country, two systems, to maintain Hong Kong and the country held continued development and prosperity. In school, Teachers and students are sponsored to visit the mainland through exchange programmes in order to gain a better understanding of the current development of China and to develop a sense of national identity through personal experience. In 2004, the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB, later renamed EDB, the Education Bureau) launched a national education programme as part of the youth leadership award scheme, arranging for one hundred and seventy student leaders to enroll in an 11-day programme in Beijing (Lee, 2008). Teachers, school middle managers and principals have also been invited to subsidized training programmes co-organized by local universities and mainland universities every year in the last decade (Lee, 2008). According to the Policy Address 2008, the government has injected additional resources to provide more extensive mainland exchange opportunities for pupils, including upper primary and junior secondary students. The Tonggen Tongxin (same root, same heart) programme, first introduced in 2008-9 by the EDB, is specially organized for upper primary and junior secondary students. In the school year of 2010-2011, the said programme provides 16 itineraries with designated themes accommodating 27,000 places for participating local teachers and students. In addition, a consultation paper on the Moral and National Education Curriculum (EDB, 2011) was released early this year suggesting Hong Kong students to receive further political socialization in the primary and secondary school, with national education as an independent subject. The guidelines on patriotic rituals from the EDB put great amount of resources into schools, communities and media to promote nationalistic education, the elements of citizenship education become unbalanced and not included in the mainstream curriculum, such as human rights, democracy and social justice(Tse, 2007). In my school, my music teachers teach students singing the national anthem in music lessons and school assemblies. The British national anthem God save the Queen was regarded as the anthem for Hong Kong before reverting to China in 1997. After 1997, March of the Volunteers, the anthem of the Peoples Republic of China became Hong Kongs anthem, it boosts teenagers sense of belonging to their country. Although I dont have Liberal Studies lesson, my History teacher likes to tell us the current news and analyze the pros and cons of opinions. Also, my school invited some scholars for seminar, such as Allen Lee Peng Fei. In communities, the international competition and events can foster Hong Kong peoples sense of belonging of China. The HKSAR government invited some famous national sportsmen, who succeeded winning in the Beijing Olympics attend the reunification celebration events in Hong Kong Stadium. The first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut also heightened the sense of belonging of being Chinese, because Hong Kong people take pride in the athletes. It tightened links between Hong Kong and China. Television announcements in public, an anthem plays in Our Home Our Country before 6:30 news report; it shows the pictures of different classes of Chinese people, it means the Chinese people should stay together. The TV broadcasting programs A Bite of China is a Chinese documentary television series about the traditional Chinese cuisine all around China in 2012. But it just show the positive way of China, such as Chinese culture. If Hong Kong people ignore the negative site of China, it limits the thinking and become political indoctrination because the ultimate goal of civic education is to cultivate rational, independent, critical thinking and active participation of citizens. National Education cultivates students agree with the identity of the Chinese and enhance the students awareness of Chinese identity by participation and contribution of local, national and world affairs. There are the things that can enhance citizens identity and a sense of belonging. In my opinion, I dont think that patriotism can be taught just like you cannot teach someone how to love somebody or something. I think every Hong Kong people should have a right to choose whether he or she love his or her country and agree or not with the culture of China, and a feeling that they are part of China. To make these decisions, Hong Kong people should understand more about their country China in three different ways. If most of the Hong Kong people have high standard of critical thinking, a mature civic society can be appear. In conclusion, citizenship education could contribute to the development of open-minded national education for cosmopolitan and liberal cities like Hong Kong.

Comparing The Marble Faun Sartoris, The Sound and the Fury, Soldier’s Pay :: comparison compare contrast essays

William Faulkner - The Marble Faun   Sartoris, The Sound and the Fury,   Soldier’s Pay William Faulkner, originally spelt Falkner, was born on September 25 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi. The eldest of four sons of a middle class family, William grew up the in the South and enjoyed the luxuries of life in a rural area. Faulkner never finished high school; he left in 1915 after he got a broken nose playing football. Over the next few years Faulkner worked at miscellaneous jobs while beginning his writing career. Originally he worked with verse and had his writings published in small—scale journals and papers. In April of 1918, he enrolled in the British Royal Air Force but never made it into combat as the war ended before he finished training. The following year he enrolled in classes at the tin University of Mississippi. In 1924, Faulkner published The Marble Faun, a verse-sequence and continued to write his short stories. It was not until 1926 that he published his first major novel, Soldier’s Pay, in which lie depicted life of a soldier after returning from war In l929 Faulkner created the imaginary land of Jefferson and Yoknapatawpha County in Sartoris: it is these counties that are the setting for most of his following novels. In 1929 he married Estelle Oldhain and within a year he bought Rowan Oak, where lie spent most of his time in the following years. In October of that year The Sound and the Fury was published and proceeded to gain Faulkner a lot of recognition. It was a different approach to fiction in that it provided a look at a story from four very separate viewpoints. Each of Faulkner’s novels offers a little bit of enlightenment on the subject that they pertain to. Often they are stylistically enterprising, as well as the subject matter being of great interest Absalom Absalom! contrasts viewpoints from which the story is told as it depicts the life of a troubled. Southern family. The Wild Palms is another example of Faulkner’s creativity. The story is told from two distinctly contradicting points of view. In 1942 Faulkner again shocked the literary world with his graphic depiction of racial, specifically â€Å"black versus white†, interactions on a Southern plantation. Many thought that Faulkner had under taken the task of historically representing the south during this era.

The Importance of Individual’s Frame of Mind

People’s activities are divided into physical behaviors and mental behaviors. With their hands, they can do everything they want to do. However, without the support of mentality, these physical behaviors are meaningless. People’s happiness derives from their mind. When they are willing to do something, even it is insignificant, they can also be cheerful. Compared to the transient mind, to form everlasting frame of mind is meaningful for people’s life. However, different frames of mind bring people into different situations. In â€Å"On Habit†, Alain de Botton uses the example of De Maistre who experiences room-travel to recommend a frame of mind called traveling mindset, which is to observe any common events with traveling view. Compared to habituated view, an invariable attitude to treat daily life, traveling mindset brings more changes and creative imaginations in boring physical environment. Through forming active lifestyle, people can share enjoyable and meaningful life. However, some frames of mind have negative influence in people’s happiness. As in â€Å"Bumping into Mr. Ravioli†, Adam Gopnik finds that his daughter has an imaginary playmate called Ravioli. Then he notices the general frame of mind of people in New York through Ravioli and the conversation with his sister, a psychologist. Ravioli, the same as New Yorkers, always lives in a busy status. Even though people have spare time out of work, the atmosphere in New York makes them form a frame of mind that they need to be busy all the time. Due to this â€Å"busyness†, people in New York spend most time in their own space, which leads to a crisis in people’s relationship. In general, the existence of individual’s frame of mind, as a result of people’s psychological demands and the pressure of life, creates appropriate methods to adapt for challenges and make happiness. Since people have unique and meaningful experience, they can cultivate their individual frame of mind through their expectation of life. Like a lifestyle, once the frame of mind has been formed, it is hard to change. However, people need to keep on improving their frames of mind to seek for a sense of well-being in life. The reason which people cannot be happy is that they do not find a rational frame of mind to treat their life. As de Botton mentions, â€Å"the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room† (qtd. in de Botton 60). Treating the same thing with different frames of mind can lead to different results. Observing the common furniture and structure in the room, people with habituated mindset can feel weary about their room since they face the same objects all day. Then, habituated mindset becomes a kind of negative frame of mind and makes people upset. However, De Maistre decides to lock his door and make a room-travel. He reobserves details of furniture and makes imaginations. For example, when he walks by the bed, he can recollect the night he spends in it. He changes his mind to observe familiar room and get cheerful with traveling mindset. Opposite to habituated mindset, traveling mindset, as a positive frame of mind, corresponds with people’s demand in their boring life. In addition, people can also form a specific frame of mind because of their surrounding. As the situation faced by the daughter of Gopnik, â€Å"it [seems] obvious that Ravioli [is] a romantic figure of the big exotic life that [goes] on outside her little limited life of park and playgrounds†¦like imitation of the words she hears her mother use when she talks about her day with her friends†(Gopnik 154). She feels tired of her living environment. Then, she needs a method to express her expectation outside her limited space. To satisfy her aspiration, she imagines a friend who she can talk with like the relationship between her mother and her mother’s friends. She wants to be independent. However, she is too young to contact with the society. Therefore, this frame of mind becomes imaginary form and her mind relies on the existence of the imaginary friend. With different environment, people have their own frames of mind. These frames of mind can be positive and negative, but it is the way to think and live. Once the frame of mind makes people enjoyable and reflects the hope of future, it can have beneficial influence on people’s life. Different frames of mind lead to different perceiving about same thing, so people’s sense of well-being is influenced by their frames of mind. For a piece of leaf, some people can feel regret because it falls from the tree and loses its life. However, others can be delightful when they see the fallen leaves, because they become nutriment absorbed by the soil to support the growth of new life. It is the same in â€Å"On habit†, De Maistre spends time on enjoy the beauty of the sky at night. However, for the same sky, most people neglect its fantasy. As de Botton explains, â€Å"the reason they [do not] looking [is] that they [have] never done so before. They [fall] into the habit of considering their universe to be boring†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (62). De Maistre has different view about the life and the world, so his frame of mind brings happiness and pleasure to him. The same sky, considered to be boring by others, is redefined by his creative mind. He can be affected by the broadness and the power of the universe. This kind of frame of mind makes him joyful rather than boring. Therefore, the sense of well-being derives from people’s attitude toward their life. Keeping positive way of thinking is an approach to get happiness. Apart from this, people’s living environment can be a factor to influence the cognizance in people’s mind. Cars and televisions are inventions to bring people convenience. They can watch news around the world on television and travel for a long distance by cars. They are signs of modernization. However, considered through another part, these inventions are detrimental to the relationship between people. As Gopnik describes, â€Å"the car and the television pulled people apart-taking them out to the suburbs and sitting them in front of a solo spectacle†(158). On the one hand, the speed of the car is fast, so people can ignore their friends who come by. On the other hand, drivers have to pay attention to the roadway; then, they have no time to care about whether there is a friend around them. The car always takes people away. Due to its limited space, it restricts people to contact with others. Since Gopnik lives in New York, the crowed traffic can be one reason for her to resist the car. In busy lifestyle, it is necessary to create some chance to stay with friends. â€Å"Busyness† affects New Yorker’s frames of mind. Compared to drive cars, walking is more suitable for New York’s environment. Similarly, when people watch television, they do not want to chat with others. Moreover, once they get knowledge and information from television, they do not need to learn from others. In this situation, the topic between people can be less and the relationship slowly drifts apart. The busy atmosphere changes people’s frames of mind in New York. Therefore, individual’s frame of mind can be affected by many factors such as people’s attitudes towards life and their living environment. It can influence people’s lifestyle because it origins from people’s experience and expectations. The positive frame of mind can create happiness for people through changing their ways of perceiving things Individual’s frame of mind is a sign in life and a reflection of spirit to help people find their own way to achieve happiness. A beneficial frame of mind represents a ifestyle and a myth which can be followed by others, so people with the same frame of mind can be a group. In addition, people have impetus to try to imitate this mind when they notice that it can make their life better. As de Botton behaves, â€Å"I force myself to obey a peculiar kind of mental command: to look around me as though I [have] never been in this place before†(63). He finds that traveling mindset can make life different and interesting, so he wants to form this frame of mind. At the same time, his behavior â€Å"bears fruit†. He can see â€Å"a restaurant [becomes] filled with dinner rather than shapes†. By setting traveling mindset as a habit, he forms another view of the world and life in his spirit. He dose not feel the life boring any more, and this frame of mind in his spirit can remind him that he needs to treat his normal life creative and imaginative. Therefore, it is the power of individual’s frame of mind. Additionally, once a kind of frame of mind is identified generally, it can be more influential. As Gopnik highlights, â€Å"busyness is our art form, our civic ritual, our way of being us†(160). In New York, busyness can be considered as a sign of a country. People all indentify that â€Å"busyness† is the expression of their frames of mind. They live in busy life and contact with busy friends and colleagues. No matter whether they are truly enjoyable in this busy situation, they are used to it and become one part of it. Under the pressure of the society, people need to keep a appropriate frame of mind to deal with the challenges and create happiness. People can experience many kinds of frames of mind in their life. However, only some of them are beneficial for people to find happiness. Indeed, life is a process of seeking for felicity. Like de Botton, he hates his living environment when he returns to homeland from traveling. Therefore, he tries to think with traveling mindset, so that he can be happier than before. The same as Gopnik, he finds the essence of the culture in New York, so he can understand about his daughter’s imaginary friend and have an insight into the â€Å"busyness† in his life. Attempting to find suitable frames of mind in order to face trouble rationally, people can finally realize that happiness is around themselves.

Principles of the Enlightenment

Margarita Arnold HIS 112-100M Critical Essay #1 The three fundamental principles of the Enlightenment listed in the text of Traditions and Encounters are popular sovereignty, individual freedom, and political and legal equality. According to Gombrich, the author of the A Little History of the World, the three fundamental principles of the Enlightenment are tolerance, reason, and humanity. Traditions and Encounters describes popular sovereignty as a â€Å"contract between the rulers and the ruled† (623).The king or monarch is a representative of the people who has political rights, but the people hold their personal rights to life, liberty, and property. Individual freedom principle ties in to the personal right of liberty as a freedom of speech with no censorship. Political and legal equality states that everyone should be regarded as equals not matter what their profession is. Individuals should participate in creating laws and policy. If there is no general representative el ected, then the people would act as representatives.This is a  laissez faire thought- leave us be or let us do, although not mentioned in Traditions and Encounters as one of the fundamental principles. Laissez faire thought, meaning about the state of French commerce, did come after the Enlightenment, a little before the French revolution. Laissez faire encompasses the three fundamental principles in one thought: leave the people be. A Little History of the World states that tolerance, or common sense could unite all men and all beliefs â€Å"should be respected and tolerated† (214).Reason explained nature and paranormal things such as witchcraft. Gombrich proclaims that reason â€Å"is given in equal measure to all mankind the world over† (215). Human dignity prohibits a person to be publically humiliated. This meant that people could not be marked as criminals by branding or cutting of limbs. From Traditions and Encounters and A Little History of the World individu al freedom and tolerance could be compared as the same principle on the basis of tolerance could be regarded as the right to free speech and common sense that all people deserve.Gombrich pairs reason and tolerance in the same category, whereas they are quite different by reason meaning that things in nature could be explained by trial and error. Gombrich credits Frederick the Great as the bravest king to embrace the Enlightenment ideas because he wanted to make Prussia â€Å"a model state† (217). Gombrich’s assessment of Frederick the Great in A Little History of the World is accurately stated, because Frederick the Great did support the Enlightenment and made things easier for his people.He was still a king of course, and any tried to do what any king would: â€Å"to make Prussia the mightiest of all the German states† (217) The correlation between the Enlightenment and the revolutions are the ideas that the general population could have these rights of freedom , equality, popular sovereignty, and tolerance. Revolution comes after people realize that human rights are not administrated properly with great merits to John Locke, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who were courageous enough to speak out in those turbulent times. The Enlightenment did not single handedly cause the French or American revolutions.The French revolution occurred because of unrests in the middle and lower classes, lack of funds due to Seven Years War and the overindulgent spending of the monarchs. The American leaders were also influenced by the Enlightenment, and fought against their oppressor- England. Equality, freedom of speech and of the press, and religious tolerance are all Enlightenment ideas that were assimilated into the core and the laws of America. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote about the rights to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†.These ideas resonate John Locke’s argument in where individuals are the governors and that â€Å"the governments derive their power and authority from ‘the consent of the governed’† as stated in Traditions and Encounters, 625. These Enlightenment beliefs led unswervingly to the American Revolution, in which the colonists gained control over their own futures and the future of America. The American Revolution was especially productive, because it led to the establishment of a government by the people and for the people.The French and American Revolutions proved to the world that monarchs and overlords could be dethroned and that the common man, through reason, could attain his freedom. Without these revolutions, Europe would be stuck in an archaic system of monarchs and the Catholic Church ruling through fear and oppression. The differences between the American and French revolutions are that the colonies were revolting against an overseas king, while the lower class French were revolting against their king. The American Revo lution revolted against England, while the French Revolution revolted gainst France, Prussia, Austria, Spain, Britain, and the Netherlands as stated in Traditions and Encounters, 629. The French Revolution and American Revolution were fought in different parts of the world, as well as continents. The French Revolution was by far bloodier with the use of the guillotine, but lacked self-government as described in Traditions and Encounters. Gombrich’s description of the French Revolution in and A Little History of the World is a very violent revolution, which started with a very amusing characterization of the royalty.The kings of France â€Å"were incompetent, and content merely to imitate their great predecessor’s outward show of power† through â€Å"pomp and magnificence† (220). The kings of France were the only ones that did not live in a reality of the Enlightenment. Through the National Assembly, â€Å"terror [was] spread among the enemies of Reasonâ €  (225) and executions of the royalty such as King Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette prevailed. During the French Revolution, a new violent party emerged named the Jacobins.According to A Little History of the World, the Jacobins were â€Å"not only against the aristocrats: they were against anybody who disagreed with them, and anyone who crossed them lost his head† (224). One of the leaders of the Jacobins was Robespierre, a â€Å"stiff, sober and dry lawyer† (225) who always spoke about virtue. Robespierre was an insuppressible human being with a love for condemning people’s heads to the guillotine. Robespierre at first announced Christianity was an ancient superstition, then accepted God and declared himself as the priest of the Supreme Being.Traditions and Encounters compared to A Little History of the World Does not describe Robespierre the same way as Gombrich does. Robespierre is portrayed in Traditions and Encounters as a â€Å"popular radical† (629) who tried to eliminate Christianity and establish a cult of reason in place of Christianity with new calendar days and year. The Jacobins allowed some rights for women such as property rights, and divorce. It was not mentioned in A Little History of the World that Robespierre died by his favorite execution method: the guillotine.Robespierre was one of the leaders of the Jacobins, and he advanced the ideas of the Enlightenment through the Revolution. Robespierre advanced the Enlightenment through the reign of the Jacobins, and the use of the guillotine, sending people to their deaths who still believed in monarchy. After the French really saw what he had done, his reign of terror has gone too far, Robespierre was sent to guillotine by his own people that he liberated.

Hierarchies of corruption in Eastern Europe - Romania essays

Hierarchies of corruption in Eastern Europe - Romania essays I am not a crook, said former president Richard Nixon when he resigned. Perhaps he believed it too. However, the rest of the country knew it was not true. What one believes to be true and what is true, at times could be worlds apart. Corruption very well falls in this category. When corruption takes place, some people know that what they are doing is corruption and is wrong and in most cases against the law. Others not only may not even be aware that they are taking part in corrupt activities, but also believe that their choice of action is in the name of survival, thus making it OK. In fact if the result of the transaction is favorable in other words it lives up to expectations, the players will be quiet proud. But what is corruption? While one may find different definitions depending on the source, and even more so when it becomes a matter of opinion, here is one definition that tries to encompass corruption the best. Corruption is any agreement between parties to act or refrain from acting in violation of the Public Trust for profit or gain in either the private or public sector. The definition leads us to the two different types of corruption: One is when the party taking the bribe will act against the law to give what is expected in exchange, the other is when the law is not broken, but preferential treatment is provided for quicker access to goods or services. The problem with the latest is that, these goods or services are not going to those intended for or deserving them the most, but rather to the highest bidder, thus defeating the purpose of the system leading to unfavorable results in the long or short run. Now that we know what corruption is and how it takes places, the question is why? Why do people become vulnerable to corruption? Understanding the reasons and causes or circumstances of corruption will in turn lead us to understand the pyramid of corruption. One may commit a corrupt act to...