How Did Hindenburg Undermine German Democracy in 1925-33? Essay

Paul von Hindenburg was the second president of the Weimar Republic, who had led Germany through economic prosperity of the Golden Age under Stresemann (1924-9), but also the series of severe crisis ranging from nationwide political revolts (1919-23) to worldwide economic depression (1929), that have influenced the Reichstag as a whole. For the first five years after taking office, Hindenburg fulfilled his duties of office with considerable dignity and decorum. Nevertheless, many claim that with the election of President Hindenburg, German democracy was doomed. There is a certain degree of truth in such statement, for Hindenburg had played a considerable role in undermining the German democracy in his later presidential years, through appointing Adolf Hitler (1933) chancellor of Germany in spite of his awareness of Hitlers dictatorial qualities, and invoking Article 48 under which the government no longer functioned democratically. Hindenburgs biggest mistake was to make Adolf Hitler chancellor of Germany in 1933, for this meant that an era of German elections and parliamentary life had come to an end, and an era of dictatorship and terror was soon to emerge. As the following evidence proves, Hindenburg was clearly aware that giving power to Hitler would be a vital step in the downfall of the Weimar Germany. In 1932, although the number of seats for the Nazis in Reichstag fell from 230 to 197 , it still remained to be the largest Party. Von Papen therefore offered to bring Hitler into his new government by giving him the Vice-Chancellorship. However, Hitler was not tempted and reiterated his desire for the Chancellorship, and would accept nothing less as his aim was complete power, not the sharing of power. When Von Papen put these demands to Hindenburg, and offered a way for Hitler as Chancellor, Hindenburg refused, and Papen, unable to command a majority in the Reichstag had to resign. In consequence, Hitler told Hindenburg he would form a presidential Cabinet, one whose powers would derive, not from the will or votes of parliament, but from the Presidency. Hindenburg could not accept these extraordinary terms and brought his negotiations with Hitler to an end, instructing his State Secretary to write to Hitler:The President of the Reich thanks you for your willingness to become head of a presidential Cabinet. He considers, however, that he would not be doing his duty to the German people if he handed over his Presidential powers to the leader of a  Party which has repeatedly emphasized its exclusiveness, and which has taken up a predominantly negative attitude. In these circumstances, the Present of the Reich cannot help fearing that a presidential Cabinet conducted by you would inevitably lead to a Party dictatorship, bringing in its train of bitter aggravation of the conflicts within the German peopleHindenburg thus turned to a former army officer, General von Schleicher and asked him to take over the Chancellorship. Some may argue that the reason for Hindenburgs dislike of Hitler was rather due to Hitlers personal backgrounds (he was Austrian). However, through Hitlers overly ambitious speeches and rebellious actions against the government shown in the prior years, (e.g. the Munich Beer Hall Pusch 1923) it is certain that Hindenburg was aware giving complete power to Hitler was not a clever idea, as it may inevitably lead to a Party dictatorship and a chaos within the nation. Nonetheless, he ended up giving power to the aggressive leader of the biggest Party of the Reich, undermining the German democracy. If it wasnt Hindenburg who in 1933 became convinced that there was no longer an alternative to Hitler and appointed him the Chancellor due to his advisers who without exception favored a government of national concentration under Hitlers leadership and the rumors that Schleicher was planning a putsch against Hindenburg, the vast human and ecological destruction of the twentieth century could have been avoided. Through Hindenburgs decision of appointing Hitler chancellor, Hitler came to power legally and headed his countrys government. In correspondence to Hindenburgs prediction, Hitler almost immediately forced the German legislature to give up its authority and made himself absolute dictator of Germany, taking the title of Fuhrer in 1934. Due to Hindenburgs decision and his failing attempt to make Hitler his puppet, the Third Reich lasted only 12 years and yet in those few years the history of Germany and the world changed under the influence of one man. Prior to Hitlers gain of power, Hindenburgs usage of Article 48 during his presidential years was also a significant factor which undermined German democracy. In 1930 Hindenburg appointed Bruning chancellor and agreed to sign presidential emergency decrees under Article 48 if the government faced opposition in the Reichstag. Therefore under Hindenburgs governing and Brunings chancellorship the government no longer functioned democratically  as Bruning relied on the presidents emergency powers to push through the legislation he desired. Article 48 gave the president special rights to issue emergency legislation, but the Reichstag could disapprove the presidents measure later. The president, in turn, could dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections. Thus, Hindenburgs policies were collapsing the German democracy as he represented an abuse of the constitutions emergency powers, which were initially meant to protect the democratic functioning of the constitution, not to disrupt it. Moreover, Hindenburgs failing energy and senility (he was 85 when he got reelected in 1932) made him an easy prey to his rightist advisors as he was heavily influenced by those who surrounded him and was open to their suggestions. Thus the extremist parties were profiting simultaneously from Hindenburgs ineffectiveness and the economic crisis which made enormous gains for the Nazis. After the Reichstag Fire in February 27 1933, Hindenburgs inability to lead the Weimar to the road of peace was proved as he was later agreeing to Hitlers demand of allowing him to use part of Article 48 which stripped people of their civil rights and allowed the police to make arrests without warrant, declaring a state of emergency. Hindenburg, though not fully trusting Hitler, nevertheless signed a Decree for the Protection of the People and the State taking away freedom of speech and assembly. His signature eventually undermined the Constitution and destroyed basic liberties. Hitler was able to take advantage of Hindenburgs senility and under Hindenburg, he and the Nazi Party could rise to full power. The unintentional methods of how Hindenburg undermined German democracy may vary. Among the few, two noteworthy reasons include Hindenburgs constant use of article 48 and his ineffective decision making skills which promoted Hitler as the chancellor of the Weimar Republic. However, it is inappropriate to hold him the most responsible character for the collapse of Weimar, for the constitutions downfall was due to numerous interwoven factors such as the instable social, economic and political aspects during the period 1929-33. Indeed, the tragic fate of German democracy cannot be attributed to any one major factor, because to single out any one factor ignores the complexity of the situation. Nonetheless the second president of the Weimar Republic, Paul Von Hindenburg, in spite of all the achievements  he had made in his early years, still remains to be regarded as an unimpressive leader who had given power to the brutal dictator—Adolf Hitler. The German democracy was thus doom ed with his decision, for Hitler neither took nor gained power through elections, but was given power by Hindenburg, a man with growing senility and disinterest in politics. http://en.allexperts.com/e/p/pa/paul_von_hindenburg.htmA History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 818A History of the Twentieth Century, Martin Gilbert, p. 819Germany A New History, Hagen Schulze, p. 243Exploring World History, John R. O Connor, p.556http://www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyD7.htmlhttp://www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyD7.htmlhttp://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/paul_von_hindenburg.htmhttp://www.studyzones.com/questionzone/detail.cfm?objectid=3F9B3DE7-8988-11D7-B24D00B0D049C8DF

The American Health Care System is Most Expensive but not the Best in the World

No doubt, the United States has gained enough attention on the amount it spends on health care every year. Ten years ago, it was documented that America spends $4,178 per capita per year on health care (Chua 5) with the second greatest spender spending almost just half of what this country spends. Switzerland, which then held second place in health care spending, spent only $2,794 per capita per year on health care. Up to the present, 15% of this country’s GDP goes to health care while most of developed countries spend only an average of 8.6% of their GDP on health care (Chua 5). By far, the United States is the greatest health care spender among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. In spite of the whopping amount that goes to health care each year, it could be argued that Americans spend a lot on health care without providing the best possible health services to Americans. This is the position that shall be defended in this paper. To be able to show that the American Health Care System lags behind in spite of spending, it will be best to first establish certain standards.For this paper, the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) should be used. In 2001, WHO pegged the goals of world health care into three: good health, responsiveness, and fairness in financing (WHO in Bureau of Labor Education of the University of Maine 1). By good health, WHO simply refers to having desirable health for the citizens within the expected life cycle. This would mean the availability of health services that could aid the citizens live a flourishing life from birth until death.Responsiveness, on the other hand, refers to â€Å"the extent to which caregivers are responsive to the client/patient expectations with regard to non-health areas such as being treated with dignity and respect† (Bureau of Labor and Education o the University of Maine 6). Fairness in financing refers to a health care system that makes the less privilege also spend less. This means probably having payment caps or similar services that relieves the less privileged of health expenses. Given such, we could now look at how the American Health Care System measures up to such a standard.In spite of America’s big spending on health care, more than 50% of spending is still done by private entities: 35. 8% are paid for by private insurance (American Hospital Association 6). Consumers’ out-of-pocket spending on health care account for 13. 7% of the 2003 health care expenditure, while other private expenditure account for 4. 8% of the expenditure (American Hospital Association 6). In spite of the very large per capita spending of the state on health care, out-of-pocket spending and other private expenditure are still big.This probably may not be a very bad thing, but in spite of all the money going to health care, a large 15% of non-elderly adults do not have access to health care since this population is uninsured (Ch ua 1). Converted to numbers, this amounts of millions of non-elderly American adults who through some reason were unable to get either a publicly or privately funded insurance. This puts this population at risk, millions of potentially or actually productive Americans whose health is at risk because of some faulty health care system.If millions of non-elderly adults are at a health risk due to lack of access to health care, the elderly also have their own share of problems in health care. It is true that the elderly aged 65 and above have access to Medicare. This means that the seniors have access to hospital services, physician services, as well as prescription drug services (Chua 2). This sounds all good but there are geriatric needs that are not covered by Medicare. This forces the elderly to avail of premiums that would make their Medicare account more useful for geriatric needs.The premium account would make the senior citizen have access to nursing facilities; preventive care coverage; and coverage for dental, hearing, or vision care. As such, the elderly would have to spend a total of 22% of their income for the cost of health care (Chua 2). It could be noticed that the premium account covers services that should be basic for the elderly. These services may be optional for younger populations but these become real needs for people aged 65 and above.As such, it becomes a source of wonder why an insurance card that is designed for the elderly and the disabled requires an account upgrade for services like nursing facilities, dental, hearing, and vision care. The United States ranks poorly in infant mortality rate compared to other OECD countries: it ranked 26th in infant mortality rate among the industrialized countries (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 5). This speaks of a big problem somewhere in the health care system that fails to save infants in instances that ought to be curable.America also ranked 24th among the OECD countries on disability-adjusted life expectancy rate. This means that many Americans are expecting to live a part of their lives as disabled. This should not come as a surprise since millions of Americans do not have good access to health care. Given the above reasons, America spends too much but inefficiently. We may have the biggest spending rate on health care but America is far from being the best health care service provider in the world. Works Cited American Hospital Association. 2005.Overview of the US health care system. Database online. http://www. aha. org/aha/issues/CBHCS/index. html. Bureau of Labor Education of the University of Maine. 2001. â€Å"The US healthcare system: best in the world or just most expensive? † Chua, Kao-Ping. 2006. â€Å"Overview of the US Health Care System† under the AMSA Jack Routledge Fellowship. http://www. amsa. org/uhc/CaseForUHC. ppt. 2007. â€Å"Health Care in the United States. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Health_care_in _the_United_States.

Chapter 12 Taxation and Income Distribution

Chapter 12 Taxation and Income Distribution I. Impact of taxes on income distribution hard to determine because of tax incidence II. Tax Incidence a. Who actually pays a tax b. Legal Incidence – who is legally responsible for paying a tax c. Economic Incidence – who actually pays the tax d. Example – tax of $1 is placed on $10 item how is income distribution affected i. Price stays at $10 – income of seller reduced ii. Prices rises to $11 – income of buyers reduced iii. Price rises to $10. 30 – buyers pay $. 30 and sellers pay $. 70 e.To the extent taxes affect quantity sold and produced, tax affects income of suppliers of inputs for the product. i. Example: tax on gasoline reduces gasoline consumption it reduces income of gasoline tanker truck owners and drivers. ii. May reduce the income of furnace manufactures by reducing the price of heating fuel. III. Tax Incidence Perspectives a. People pay taxes not corporations b. How to group people for purposes of tax incidence i. Often think of producers and consumers 1. But consumers are also producers and producers are also consumers 2. 0 of households own stock directly, others own stock indirectly ii. By income Rich, Middle Class, Poor 1. How do you define these categories? c. Tax affect both suppliers of inputs and consumers of a product. i. In practice tend to ignore one side and do analysis on the other 1. Tax in commodity ignore impacts on inputs 2. Tax on inputs, ignore impact on consumers d. Incidence depends on how prices are determined i. How taxes change prices determine who pays the taxes ii. Amount of time is important – more time more adjustment to taxes e. Tax incidence depends on how tax revenues are spend . Progressiveness of tax system i. Policy says tax system should be progressive. ii. Higher income pay a higher percentage of taxes 1. Usually measured as increase in average tax rate taxes/income 2. Exemptions, deductions and marginal rate structur e affect average tax rate iii. 2 measures 1. Percentage change in tax rate divided by percentage change in income 2. Percentage change in taxes divided by the percentage change in income 3. Measures can produce different results IV. Partial Equilibrium Models of Tax Incidence a. Analyzes impact of tax on the market in which tax was imposed b.Ignore impact of market change on other markets i. Appropriate if tax is small ii. Appropriate if market is small iii. Otherwise need general equilibrium analysis c. Tax incidence of a unit tax – tax per unit of the good i. Legal incidence on buyers – figure 12. 2 1. Tax reduces the demand curve for the product from the supplier’s point of view since at each price the consumer buys less of the product. [pic] ii. Legal incidence on seller – figure 12. 3 1. Tax reduces the supply curve for the product from the consumer’s point of view since at each price the suppliers supply less of the product pic] iii. Economic incidence is independent of legal incidence 1. Arrive at same Price, Quantity, and tax split regardless of whether tax is on producer or supplier. a. Sales tax example iv. Tax incidence depends on relative elasticities of demand and supply v. Example Qd = 1,000 – 5P and Qs = 4P – 80 Tax $45 per unit [pic] [pic] d. Tax incidence of an ad valorem tax – tax per unit of the good i. A percentage tax rather than a unit tax ii. Sales tax as compared to gasoline tax iii. More difficult to calculate but shifts demand as shown in figure 12. V. Payroll Tax Controversy a. Legal incidence 7. 5% paid by employer and 7. 5% paid by employee b. Statutory distinction between employer and employee is irrelevant c. Economic split depends on elasticity of supply of labor d. Logical that the labor supply is fairly inelastic i. Household provides certain amount of labor regardless of wage ii. May not be true in long run VI. Tax on Capital a. Increasingly capital perfectly mobile b. M oved to where return is highest after adjusting for risk c. Rate of return on capital same everywhere in world d.No single country can make suppliers of capital bear any portion of a tax on capital VII. Taxes in markets with monopoly power a. Impact of taxes same as in competitive markets b. Consumers and monopolist share tax depending on the elasticity of demand c. Figure 12. 10 VIII. Taxes in oligopoly markets a. Impact of taxes difficult to determine b. Price increase resulting from reduction in output resulting from the tax may make a company more profitable IX. Tax on profits a. Tax on normal profits reduce investment because profit is return on capital and risk b.Tax on economic profits born entirely by company with change in behavior c. Seemly ideal tax but not very operational X. Tax Incidence and Capitalization a. Tax increase on real estate is capitalized into PV of property b. Borne entirely owners at time tax is levied c. May be reimbursed if public expenditures increase property values XI. General Equilibrium Models a. Read first paragraph P 271 b. Generally not operational [pic] ———————– Po Pg Pn Q0 Q1 Supply ConsumerDemand Supplier Perceived Demand Tax paid by Consumers Tax paid by SuppliersDeadweight Loss from Tax Consumer Losses and Producers losses Po Pg Pn Q0 Q1 Supply Demand Consumer Perceived Supply Tax paid by Consumers Tax paid by Suppliers Deadweight Loss Consumer Losses and Producer losses Deadweight Loss Consumer Losses and Producer losses Tax paid by Suppliers Tax paid by Consumers Consumer Perceived Supply Demand Supply 300 400 95 140 120 Deadweight Loss from Tax Consumer Losses and Producers losses Tax paid by Suppliers Tax paid by Consumers Supplier Perceived Demand ConsumerDemand Supply 300 400 95 20 200 120 140

The Mass - An Obligation Or Joy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Mass - An Obligation Or Joy - Term Paper Example The primary objective of this paper is to establish that the Mass is a feast of joy and not an obligation. This research paper will compare and contrast the Old and New Testament viewpoints of the Mass and illustrate how different parts make the Mass a joyful feast. The paper will also highlight the significance of active participation during progress of the Mass makes it a feast of joy. The concept and process of the Mass are similar in the both the New and Old Testaments, although there are some differences in viewpoints of the Mass between the two Testaments. The New Testament mass comprises of two main parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist2. These major parts are further divided into subsections to make a whole Mass. The standard duration for a Catholic Mass is two or three hours, and two or three Mass services may run on a Sunday. The Mass is a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice, which makes present the passion of Christ through the priest and joins huma n beings as partakers of His meal. Most people believe that the Mass is an obligation for all Catholics; however, the Mass is a joyful and voluntary activity among the Catholics. The Celebration of the Mass in the Old Testament and Comparisons to the New Testament Concept of the Mass The fundamental nature of the Mass is contingent upon the venue and functions that participants perform. The Mass in the Old Testament was celebrated in Tents and Temples. There existed the Holy of Holies that housed the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was covered with the Propitiatory or Mercy Seat. The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff and the vessel containing Manna. The Holy of Holies also contained the Cherubim, which was a winged creature supporting the throne of God and acting as a guardian Spirit. The Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant were kept in the Temple. Old Testament priests were allowed to access the Tabernacle and the Ark of th e Covenant during feasts and sacrifices. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies are similar to the Tabernacle in the New Testament. The Old Testament Temple and Tents of Worship housed the sanctuary. The sanctuary was the Altar of incense, which contained ten candlesticks. The sanctuary also contained the table of loaves, which was also referred to as the bread of the presence. The frankincense that the New Testament priests spray to the congregation during the Mass commemorates the Old Testament incense. The Catholic Church has an altar table from where the priest prepares the Eucharist before distributing it to the congregation3. This table holds the Eucharist bread and the wine that symbolizes the blood of Christ. The candles keep burning on the sanctuary throughout the church service. These candles are similar to the ten candlesticks in the Old Testament. The New Testament, however, burns two candles while the Old Testament used ten candlesticks to represent the Ten Comm andments. The table for the loaves in the Old Testament is similar to the Eucharist table in the New Testament. Another component of the Old Testament Temples was the Vestibule. The Vestibule was the bronze altar of sacrifice. The Vestibule contained the bronze sea of water for purificatio

Can Go company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Can Go company - Case Study Example On the other hand, the firm can outsource the storage function to competent providers. In the second video, online gaming implementation is a complex issue. The success of the firm depends on its responsiveness to market needs and sustainability of trading options. The other issues in the firm include hardware, software, and bandwidth complexities. One way of solving this has to include different stakeholders in the implementation stage. It will erode the possibilities of resistance and hurdles attached to implementation (Crawford, 2003). The second approach is that of involving technical expertise in developing and re-evaluating options in hardware, bandwidth, and software preferences. The third video presents the variance in merging the goals of the firm and the individual preferences and interests of employees. This poses much resistance in organizational direction and overall firm performance. The second issue that is depicted in this case is the hurdle of successful planning. One way of addressing this is through conducting enterprise-wide awareness campaigns for the purposes of stakeholder buy-ins (Crawford, 2003). The other recommendation is carrying out comprehensive data-mining efforts to make evidence based

Perspective of Cultural Heritage towards the Education Essay

Perspective of Cultural Heritage towards the Education - Essay Example The essay "Perspective of Cultural Heritage towards the Education" analyzes the cultural heritage importance in terms of enhancing education in the society. The cultural heritage has a sense of belonging to everybody and is quite important to the learners as it helps them to develop the aspect of living together or having the concern of one another. Dee never wanted to be isolated from the family after she got married because she wanted to remember their grandmother who brought them up. This aspect of having the concern of one another is quite important as makes people help one another when at the point of need. The preserved cultural heritage makes the learner understand better the life of the ancestors that they led. When Dee was young never liked their way of living but she came to appreciate it when she was marrying. Cultural heritage also gives some contrast to the life that modern people are living. In the story, Dee was a young modern lady who had taken formal education visite d their home while wearing a short orange dress that contrasts the attires that her kid sister Maggie was wearing. Culture preserves other important aspects that can influence the learners of today in the right direction. In the story, a narrator who was the old-fashioned woman was industrious person based on the activities that are illustrated. This aspect will make the learner develop an attitude of hard work. The culture had some basis that was quite important in educating the society and helped them to live in harmony.

5000 word annotated knowlege database (Knowlege Work in Healthcare Essay

5000 word annotated knowlege database (Knowlege Work in Healthcare Practice) - Essay Example The implications of the findings indicate that public hospitals should provide more opportunities for nursing development. It is assumed that more opportunities for career development will lead to greater knowledge. For care of the elderly, this means that nurses who receive additional education and development specifically geared for elderly care are more likely to possess a wider knowledge base in elderly care. It also suggests that nurses should carefully plan their careers and look specifically for greater opportunities for career development, particularly if there is a desire to work in a specific area of nursing, such as geriatric or elderly care. The authors of the article explain by graphic representation, the relationship between the geriatric nursing institution environment, the patient outcome and knowledge of nurses within the unit. External influences on the institution’s environment include size, number of beds, ownership, location and payer mix. Internal influences on the environment include institutional values of the elderly and staff, resource availability and the level of staff collaboration. Education and experience of nursing staff affect resource availability. While nursing staff education and experience affect the institution’s resource availability, the internal influences of the institution in turn, affect the level of knowledge and competence of nursing staff. Internal influences also affect patient outcomes. There is no mention of how knowledge of nursing staff directly affects quality of geriatric patient care. The purpose of the research is to investigate the level of job satisfaction and its relationship to length on the job, for nurse aides working in nursing care centers. Results show that those with greater job satisfaction are less likely to think about leaving or searching for another job. Satisfaction of nurse aides is

Operational Management Business Plan Term Paper

Operational Management Business Plan - Term Paper Example (National Center for Education Statistics) Operations management is essentially overseeing processes that turn inputs into outputs. The goal is to achieve organisational objectives at the lowest cost in order to maximise profits. I work for General Trading which is a grocery and dairy supplier. The portfolio includes distribution, wholesale as well as export operations. The company trades in approximately 10,000 grocery items and 2,000 products and sports its own brands Parade and Better Valu. The export markets range from Europe, South America, Africa, Caribbean and the Middle East. (General Trading) The largest branch of operations exists for food items delivery to supermarkets within the metropolitan area. General Trading acts as the middle man between the wholesalers and the larger grocery stores. Myriad physical resources including warehouses, offices, transport equipment, support services are required to support operations. On the human side, hundreds of workers are required ea ch day by General Trading to ensure prompt delivery of food items. The business philosophy is rather archaic and well set in and the management is not highly committed to change (in terms of modernisation). Business operations demand investment in physical and human resources in order to maximise efficiency and production. At General Trading the, top management has been relentlessly unwilling to invest money in company operations in the short-term to prosper in the long-run. The company’s operations suffer due to lack of training, archaic physical resources, inefficient warehouse operations (stacking and retrieval), lack of employee metrics as well as the lack of a coherent quality management scheme. Operation Analysis and Evaluation General Trading being a logistics operator has to deal with warehousing and transportation. These two operations form the bulk of the company’s operations management. Goods flow both into and out of the warehouse. The material needs to be stacked in order of certain preferences so that it can be readily deployed as required. These preferences include delivery dates, nature of food materials (preserved or fresh), room for fire fighting and escape etc. Food orders are created to record all transactions of incoming and outgoing food materials. Experienced personnel are required to create food orders so that the right amount of detail is entered flawlessly intro records. Similarly, experienced store handlers are required to locate the food materials both when they arrive and when they are about to leave. Investments in the physical equipment have also been lacking which have promoted inefficient operations. A description of the operations is provided below for areas where improvements are desired. Relevant weaknesses are listed alongside the process evaluation so that continuity and relevance can be maintained. Warehousing Warehousing refers to the storage of materials for further processing. In terms of business value a ddition, warehousing

Research paper politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research paper politics - Essay Example It soon became evident that the American colonies of the New World were more interested in slaves than gold, and the slave trade quickly overshadowed the gold trade. Dutch, English, Danish, and Swedish competitors weakened Portuguese control and in 1642, the Portuguese left the Gold Coast permanently although their influence continues to this day. Various European powers attempted to dominate the profitable slave trade. The Dutch West India Company operated throughout most of the eighteenth century, and the British African Company of Merchants, founded in 1750, was successor to several earlier organizations and became the dominant European power on the Gold Coast (Buah 2004). Portugal's control of West Africa was gone by the seventeenth century, and Angola was the only major area left under Portuguese control. Angola, independent at present, is strongly influenced by Portuguese culture and its official language is Portuguese. It is especially distinctive because of South African infl uence and white settler communities, as well as the harsh colonial style of the Portuguese. The area therefore has become unique in Africa. As in most Portuguese colonies, mixed race children hold a different status (Angola 2007). In addition, Angola became divided into three factions-capitalists, independent, and the dominant party at present, the Population Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Violence, hunger and poverty marked the end of the twentieth century in Angola with peace being achieved in 2002. Even though they have gained their independence, "class, cultural, and linguistic divisions still haunt the country" (Birmingham 2006). Although France traveled to West Africa as early as 1483 and the first West African settlement was founded in the mid-seventeenth century in Senegal, it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the French were firmly established in Cte d'Ivoire. Cte d'Ivoire, like the rest of West Africa, was subject to European influences, but absence of sheltered harbors made the area less appealing. The slave trade had little impact on the peoples of Cte d'Ivoire. Its profits were in ivory, but a decline in elephants closed down the trade by the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1904, French West Africa consisted of Cte d'Ivoire, Dahoney (present-day Benin), Guinea, Niger, French Sudan (present-day Mali), Senegal, Upper Volta and Mauritania, ruled by the governor of Senegal, who became governor general. Most of the inhabitants of the colonies were subjects of France with no political rights (Handloff 1988). Handloff continues his history of the Ivory Coast noting that until 1958, gover nors appointed in Paris administered the colony of Cte d'Ivoire using direct, centralized administration that left little room for Ivoirian participation in policy making. The French colonial administration adopted divide-and-rule policies, applying ideas of assimilation only to the educated elite. These elite were inclined to take on the culture of the colonizers, moving away from their African heritage, and the influence of French culture continues to this day. The French-educated elites, or evolues, embodied the "African

Small group communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Small group communication - Essay Example That first group meeting allowed some frank discussions where we talked about what we wanted to achieve as a group, how we would achieve our goals and objectives, and what things we could put into place to ensure that we remained on track. Also, one thing that we did to loosen the tension in our group was to go on a fun outing so that we could get to know one another in an informal situation. We decided to go out to a bowling alley and get to know each other a little better. We did not even talk about the project that we had to do; the whole focus was on bonding with one another. I would say that the norms developing in my group are a good thing. We have a certain amount of respect for each other yet we can also get on really well too. I think that we are in the norming stage now because everyone is the group knows their role and what they need to do to contribute towards the groups success. My typical role in any group is to act more like a motivator. I am not really a leadership type person so I prefer to take a backseat role and let others dictate the agenda of the group. I will use my friendly personality to encourage others to remain upbeat and do what is required of them for the groups sake. My behavior is very much influenced by others in my group for this class. Because they are focused and driven to succeed, this has also rubbed off on me and know I share the same feelings. I have noticed that my work ethic has picked up as I see my fellow team members working as hard as they can to help the group. My behavior has influenced my group members because I have really tried to help them to relax. When we first started working together I noticed that some of my team members were really stressed. I wanted to get them to relax and be calm because a team can work better if they can laugh once in a while and joke

Publius Virgilius Maro Essay Example for Free

Publius Virgilius Maro Essay Aside from Christianity there is no other force that shaped Western civilization other than the Greco-Roman culture. And there is no better representation of that period in history other than Rome and Publius Viirgilius Maro, also known as Virgil. A closer examination of Virgil and his works made many to realize that Virgil was a byproduct of events and it is the twin forces of the Roman Empire and Greek history that prompted Virgil to write. This paper will look into the two factors that influenced the writing of Publius Virgilius Maro. This can be done by looking first at the events that transpired before Virgil began writing and this means tracing back Greek and Roman history. The second way of knowing the connection between history and Virgils writings is to dig into his works and of course this means analyzing the Aeneid. It will be shown later that it is Roman history and Homer that shaped Virgil to become the writer that he was destined to be. Rome After more than two thousand years the world is still mesmerized by Rome. It is because of its legacy, it military prowess, and form of government. Rome was without equal when it comes to how it help shape Western history. Yet in the early days of Roman history there is not much to see. There is nothing that could make an outsider ascertain its potential to be a dominant ruler of known world in antiquity. Ting Morris traced its early development in obscurity and he remarked, â€Å"Rome began around 2,800 years ago as a few small settlements on wooded hills overlooking the Tiber River† (4). But then Rome began to distance itself from the Latin communities from which it was supposed to be a part of. What happens next began a series of development that will catapult this small community into the world map, â€Å"†¦the roman Republic conquered first Latium, then all of Italy. The Romans annexed much foreign territory to their own state, but they also established a system of alliances with all other states. This gave the Romans a vast reserve of manpower that allowed them to overthrow every major power in the Mediterranean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mackay, 40). A new age has come and a new military superpower was born. But when the Romans began to assimilate remnants of Alexanders Empire, the new European power came face to face with an ancient civilization whose insight into religion, politics, and philosophy was far ahead of its time. In short the Romans, â€Å" recognized something in Greek culture that was more impressive than anything Rome itself achieved, in spite of Romes unprecedented military success† (Cox). At this point Rome was all brute force. Yes the soldiers led by the Caesars were brave, strong and are very eager to make their mark in the battlefield but when it comes to culture, the Romans were barbarians compared to the Greeks. The Romans discovered an effective methodology in fighting wars and they even had the distinct advantage of knowing how to build an empire out of disparate tribes and nations. They were experts in campaigns that require traveling far from home and yet they lack one more thing. They did not have a good system that can be put in place after victory. This is similar to the idea that it is easy to start a war but the more difficult thing to do is how to end it. So when Rome began to feel the success of empire building the more that they felt the need for a way of life that will enhance their reputation in Europe while at the same time offer them an opportunity to enjoy life more. They found the answer from the sophisticated Greeks. Virgil The Romans had to learn from the Greeks and their history can be characterized not only by empire building but also by the why they incorporated Greek thought and the Greek’s way of life into their own unique system. Now there is none better who understood the need for assimilating Greek culture than the Roman intellectuals of that time. In fact, â€Å"Among the adaptors of Greek culture, none was more brilliant than the poet Virgil. He faced a formidable challenge. Everyone who encountered Greek culture recognized how much it was shaped by Homer† (Cox). This means that there is a great need to surpass Homer and if this is not possible then at least equal Homer’s genius. If this can be achieved then the Romans had done something which other Greek imitators failed to do and that is to provide a great explanation for their existence. A myth has to be created, a legend has to be made and the purpose for such an endeavor is obvious. There is a need for something that will hold the empire together. At the time of writing the Aeneid, Rome was again in the cusp of revolution. Julius Caesar was defeated by Augustus Caesar and so steps must be made to consolidate his power and to strengthen the arm of the new emperor. For a brilliant man like Virgil, times like this one is an opportunity that must be grabbed by both hands. Virgil proceeded to hit two birds with one stone. First he would write an epic that will explain the origins of Rome. He will do so by using stories that are already familiar among the people that he wants to see united under Augustus Caesar and during that time there was no other story quite like the one weaved by Homer centuries before. Virgil saw that epic struggle for good and evil; battles between heroes; and the self-sacrificial behavior of some heroes simply because they believe in something higher than themselves proved to be a formula hard to resist. Virgil was ready to accept the challenge. But it is clear from the beginning that it would not be an easy task. Aside from that Homer is a world unto itself. And as they say there is no way one can improve on perfection, the Iliad and the Odyssey are the blueprints for creating great epics and so what else can be done to make it better. Virgil was able to solve this problem by being inventive and by starting where Homer ended his story. When Troy fell, one of her sons went on to build another kingdom. But then again Virgil cannot escape the past. Virgil could not resist using a successful formula. As they say there is no need to fix what was broken. Judging from the power of the Iliad and the Odyssey to move people it is almost impossible not to use the same method and technique of telling a great story. And so Virgil copied many ideas from Homer. In the introduction to the Aeneid Levi Robert pointed out that: Virgil borrowed from Homer a great many items: his verse form, the division into twelve books, mythology, many episodes and similes. In the Aeneid Venus doubles for Nausicaa, Dido for Calypso and Circe, and Drances for Thersites. The funeral games the desecent into Hades, where Aeneas meets Dido as Odysseus met Ajax, the prophecy of Anchises, the catalogue of ships, Turnus attempt to burn them, a broken truce †¦ a quarrel of two Italian leaders †¦ and a final single combat (Robert, xiii). Aeneid The Aeneid is basically the story of Aeneas, the god-like leader of a band of Trojan refugees fleeing to Italy after the fall of Troy. In the beginning, Aeneas built a fleet with the goal in mind of settling in a foreign land and to finally establish a new nation of Trojans. In Virgil’s mind, he wanted the world to understand the basis for the establishment of the Roman Empire. And there is nothing as perfect as that. Hornstein, Percy and Brown’s book, The Reader’s Companion to World Literature, was very helpful in understanding the context from which Virgils Aeneid was written, and they said that it was written at a time of conflict. Italy was ravaged by more than fifty years of revolution and civil war. When the long-sought peace came, a new form of government was fashioned from a battle weary nation. And with the new set-up, ultimate power was in the hands of one man- Augustus Caesar. It was during this time that the Roman Virgil began working on the Aeneid. Hornstein, Brown and Percy wrote: Vergil began the poem in 29 B. C. , two years after the battle of Actium brought this period of civil war to an end. He had long been preparing for the task. His purpose was national: he desired to glorify the Roman people by his theme and exalt the Emperor in the person of his hero. (5) Homer Putnam acknowledge that Virgil is under the towering shadow of Homer when he made this judgment, â€Å"Homer himself, against whose essential insights into humanity, Virgil’s own achievement will always be measured. † Homer’s success allowed him to set the standard upon which others who will come after him will be forced to measure up. Allen Mandelbaum tells of how his previous study prevented him from fully appreciating Virgil’s works and he said, â€Å"One was a tag line of mark Van Doren that echoed through my youth with tenacious resonance: ‘Homer is a world; Virgil, a style’. † It also did not help that the critics saw Virgil as copying Homer, Gaskell said, â€Å"The overall plan of Virgil’s epic was plainly Homeric, with its main elements reversed: now the odyssey of the man comes first and the armed fighting follows it: but the Homeric parallels are many and obvious. † (161). The only major difference was that Homer was illiterate and therefore had to express the beauty of his poetry in oral reform. On the other hand Virgil was literate and he could study Homers Iliad and Odyssey in written form as well as compose his own epic and was able to write it down. This explains the difference in style but all the more strengthens the view that Virgil was strongly influenced by Homer. Conclusion Now the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall down into its proper places and one can now see the bigger picture. It was mentioned earlier that it was in 168 BC when the Romans began to conquer the remnants of Alexanders Empire and it is through the conquest of former Greek states that the Romans saw first hand the beauty that was Greece. In short the highly militaristic Romans lacked the cultural refinements that one can find in abundance in Greek societies. It is through the process of incorporating Greek culture into the Romans way of life that they rediscovered the power of Homeric poetry. It took the genius of Virgil to use Homers works and use it as the foundation for his own epic. And so in 29 BC Virgil began writing the Aeneid with the purpose of emulating what Homer has achieved in Greece. Homers Iliad and Odyssey provided a sense of identity for all Greeks and Virgil was hoping to achieve the same results. But the desire to incorporate Greek life into Roman life is easier said than done. But everyone who will try to copy from someone begins by copying almost everything that one can see and the eye can appreciate. For instance the Romans copied the design of their temples and they also described their gods using the same attributes found in Greek society. But there is no need to worry because the Roman changed the Greek sounding names of their gods into Roman names for their statues. Virgil attempted to accomplish two major things when he wrote the Aeneid. He wanted to impress the new emperor (Augustus Caesar) and secondly he wanted to have a unique Roman epic that will help unite the people. Virgil was successful in achieving both. The hero of the Aeneid was behaving in much the same way as Augustus Caesar especially with regards to his conquest and the subsequent creation of a new nation out of that sheer determination to succeed. Now for the second part, Virgil was also able to create an epic that can be comparable to Homer. It is true that he copied many things from Homer and yet at the same time his stories were never simply a rehash of what Homer did. Virgil simply needed an inspiration to get going and he found it in the character of Aeneas whom Homer briefly mentioned in his work. From this little known character, Aeneid began to build a story that made the peoples pulse to race. It was indeed an epic story of battles, of struggle between good and evil, of heroes who most of the time failed to achieve their potential and sometimes die a tragic death. The Aeneid is basically an explanation as to the existence of Rome. For many there is a need to have that kind of idea, that kind of emotional anchor in times of trouble. And there is no way to fully understand the impact of Aeneid towards the people of Rome. But one thing is sure Virgil’s work was able to unite the whole of the empire and is instrumental as to why the empire endured for so long. It is now very clear that that Virgil was influenced by historical events and the circumstances that surrounded his life. If there were two streams where these influences came from then Homer is a mighty source of inspiration while the politics and warfare in ancient Rome provided Virgil with more materials to use. In Rome’s struggle to carve out a nation in Europe was evident in Aeneid where the hero had to travel and faced with numerous risks just so he can establish a new nation. It was Homer who provided much influence for Virgil. If Homer did not produce the Iliad and Odyssey it is hard to imagine Virgil able to make his own. This is not to take away anything form the accomplishments of Virgil but it would be almost impossible for him to write beautifully without Homer as guide. Homer did not only provide the seed from which Virgil will grow a powerful story, Homer also provided the correct format. And so putting it all together it is now very clear that Virgil was a byproduct of the events that surrounded him. Yet even before he was born, Homer’s influence and genius was already felt in many parts of the Western world. When Virgil was still very young it is easy to imagine that he was already familiar with the Iliad and Odyssey and no doubt the stories found in those epics help to shape the way he thinks. Works Cited Appelbaum, Stanley. Ed. â€Å"The Aeneid by Vergil† Trans. Charles J. Billson. Canada: Dover Publications, 1995. Cox, John. Introduction to Virgil, The Aeneid. 2008. General Education at Hope College. 03 April 2008. http://www. hope. edu/academic/ids/171/Aeneid. html Gaskell, Philip. Ed. â€Å"Landmarks in Classical Literature† Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999. Hemminger, Bill. Exploring Ancient World Cultures: Rome. 1997. EAWC at University of Evansville. 02 April 2008. http://eawc. evansville. edu/ropage. htm Hornstein, L. H. , G. D. Percy, and Calvin S. Brown. Eds. â€Å"The Reader’s Companion to World Literature† New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. , 1973. Knight, G. R. Wilson. Trans. â€Å"The Aeneid by Virgil† New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. , 1956. Mackay, Christopher. â€Å"Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History. † New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Mandelbaum, Allen. Trans. â€Å"The Aeneid by Virgil† California: University of California Press, 1971. Morford, Mark P. O. and Robert J. Lenardon. â€Å"Classical Mythology† 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Morris, Ting. â€Å"Ancient Rome. † MN: Smart Apple Media, 2007.

Evolution of white women in society Essay Example for Free

Evolution of white women in society Essay During the colonial chronology of the United States, many a historian pictured women as better situated than their more recent contemporaries (Mary Beth Norton, 1984). The value of women in the colonies was premised on the survival mode of the colonists during that time (Norton, 1984). To survive, both male and female were expected to pull their own weight in the community for the common good of the community (Norton, 1984). Due to this situation, the common lines of separation on the roles of women from the men were blurred greatly (Norton, 1984). As such, women in the colonies could engage in the activities that were also done by the men folk in the community (Norton, 1984). But what gave women a distinct advantage was that they could produce offspring, a very large contribution to the survival of the colonies (Norton, 1984). Also, the Common Law as it was applied in England was not fully complied with in the colonies (Norton, 1984). Hence, women were able to contribute more fully in the life of the colonies (Norton, 1984). Today’s society bears little distinction in the role of women in the colonies. At present, women are doing many of the duties and employment that men have usually been pictured. Women can do what the men are doing to be able to cope with the increasing costs of living in the present economy of many countries. Most are successful in many of traditional endeavors of man. Sadly, there are opponents from both sides, one saying that women must be confined to their traditional station, while another seeks greater power for the women. What lies in the crux of the issue is the issue of equality for both sexes. We must treat women as vital instruments to the growth of a society, not only as objects to look and admire at. That aim can be achieved in terms of affording greater avenues for women to make that contribution, not locking them away from them. In this day and age, all hands count in the survival of a community. Reference Norton, M. B. (1984). The evolution of white women’s experience in early America. The American Historical Review, Volume 89, pp. 539-619

Do New Wars Pose Difficult Challenges Politics Essay

Do New Wars Pose Difficult Challenges Politics Essay Civil wars in todays modern world have become increasingly described as new wars ever since the end of the Cold War era due to a perceived change in the format of warfare and the emergence of war economies as central to internal skirmishes. Some scholars argue this evolution in warfare and intrastate conflict requires adjustments and changes to the post conflict reconstruction process due to new challenges new wars creates in comparison to the old wars of the past. This essay argues that there is in fact little evolution in warfare since the end of the Cold War and in fact many of the characteristics of the so-called new wars are in fact present in conflicts in the past. It is for this reason that new wars do not pose more difficult challenges any more than the already complicated problems associated with post conflict reconstruction; although some changes are necessary to adjust the course of development, it is in fact the growth and advancement of media and the communications secto rs that have led to an increased focus on civil wars that has pushed them into the public arena and granted them a new status. The first part of this essay will analyse the new wars thesis posited by Kaldor and outline the characteristics attributed to new wars; this will be followed by the convincing criticisms by many academics that argue new wars are not in fact new and assists the final section of the essay that discusses the post conflict reconstruction process and argues contemporary conflict does not post a more difficult challenge to the post conflict reconstruction process anymore than old wars do. The concept of new wars was first written about in detail by Mary Kaldor at the end of the 1990s, as she attempted to define the characteristics of low-intensity conflicts and distinguish them from traditional state versus state conflicts of the past. Kaldor argues that towards the end of the 20th Century, in particular in the post-Cold War order, a new form of organized violence has emerged, with blurred distinctions between war, organized crime and large-scale human rights violations (2006, pp.1-2). This thesis has gained considerable academic support as scholars notice the trend in the decrease of interstate wars and the increase in violence within states (Holsti, 1996, p.40). New wars are characterised as criminal, depoliticized, private and even predatory in their nature, whilst the old wars of the past were ideological, political and noble (Kalyvas, 2006, p.100). Kaldor thus believes there has been a progression in the nature of warfare and conflict since the Cold War as intern al conflicts become the norm and interstate battles become far less common. Kaldor argues that New wars can be contrasted with earlier wars in terms of their goals, the methods of warfare and how they are financed (2006, p.7); these differences will be outlined in the following section to explain the new features of new wars. The goals of new wars are based on identity politics, especially ethnic identity, rather than ideological differences or geo-political ambitions, and often occur due to the erosion of state autonomy and state failure (Kaldor, 2006, pp.5-7). Groups will claim control of the state or certain areas of the state in the name of ethnicity, religion or tribe (Kaldor, 2005, p.212). The Bosnian conflict during the 1990s is often depicted as the archetypal example of a new war as it displays this identity conflict clearly (Kaldor, 2006, p.33). Due to its ethnic diversity of Muslims, Serbs and Croats (as well as several other ethnic identities), it was no surprise that conflict arose between the groupings as the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats set about ethnic cleansing in an attempt to establish ethnically homogenous territories (Kaldor, 2006, pp.34-5). Furthermore, the attrition of state power means the monopoly over violence is severely limited, which leads to widespread skirmishes and conf licts as groups compete to fill the vacuum created through state collapse (Newman, 2004, p.175). The warring parties in the Bosnian war described themselves as states and made use of the former state apparatus in order to finance, resource and run their campaigns (Kaldor, 2005, p.214). Globalisation has resulted in a cleavage between rich and poor that results in conflict and structural violence (Berdal, 2003, p.479) and also a cleavage between cosmopolitanism and the politics of particularist identities (Kaldor, 2006, p.7). There is a growing them and us divide as identity politics play a more dominant role in how individuals see themselves to each other. This of course increases the inevitability and the probability of conflict among groups of differing identities The form of combat has also changed as guerrilla and counter-insurgency tactics become the norm (Kaldor, 2006, p.8), as the nature of conflict adapts a distinctively politically chaotic and military atrocious character (Snow, 1996, p.105). In the past, guerrilla warfare has aimed to capture hearts and minds of civilians and the population; however, the new warfare uses counterinsurgency methods of destabilisation, aiming to create fear and hatred amongst civilians instead, using this to gain support or at least prevent citizens from disobeying orders (Kalyvas, 2001, p.109). New wars appear to lack military order or discipline (Angstrom, 2005, p.8) which often leads to extreme violence and barbarism, directed in particular at civilians as a deliberate strategy (Mello, 2010, p.299). This strategy of civilian targeting rests in the aim to control populations, inducing destabilization and terror in an attempt to remove those of a different identity through violent and barbaric killings a s well as techniques of intimidation (Kaldor, 2006, p.9). The genocide in Rwanda or the random atrocities committed against civilians in Sarajevo highlight this dark side of new war (Snow, 1996, p.105), and in situations such as Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda and Liberia, the military objective was the systematic murder and terrorizing of civilian populations (Snow, 1996, p.ix). Civilian casualties and forced displacement has increased in proportion to all causalities in conflict since the 1990s, highlighting this deliberative civilian targeting, further assisted by a blurring of boundaries between civilians and combatants as public authority breaks down as part of state failure (Newman, 2004, p.175). The final feature that distinguishes new wars from old wars is the form of financing that occurs; war economies of the past focused on using resources to defeat the enemy (Broodryk, 2010, p.11), whilst the new wars utilise looting, criminal networks, diasporic support and taxation of humanitarian aid to provide resources for their conflict (Kaldor, 2005, p.216). The simplest form of financing the war effort is through looting, robbery, extortion and hostage-taking and is seen in a number of contemporary wars (Kaldor, 2006, p.108). However, some war economies utilise networks of legal and illegal trade, arms and drug trafficking, corrupt governments and supportive diasporas that influence the outbreak and perpetuation of violent conflicts (Mello, 2010, p.300). The new war economies involve the fragmentation of the state as it cannot monopolise production and employment in order to fund their war cause (Broodryk, 2010, p.11). Resources are instead traded outside of the country to private companies lacking any interest in the conflict, only aiming to profit on the internal disruption (Broodryk, 2010, p.11). Kofi Annan highlights the economic struggle as central to internal conflicts: The pursuit of diamonds, drugs, timber, concessions and other valuable commodities drives todays internal wars. In some countries the capacity of the State to extract resources from society and to allocate patronage is the prize to be fought over (Annan, 1999, emphasis in original). This creates a globalized war economy in which rivalry between criminal groups occurs over resources or illegal commercial activities (Newman, 2004, p.176). The process of resource capture thus means there is no real desire of victory as groups aim to maintain resource profitability and the power they capture (Newman, 2004, p.176) the state of war is preferred to peace as it provides a cover for illegal economic activities by warlords and non-state actors (Melander et al., 2009, p.511) However, there are a number of academics that criticise Kaldors new wars thesis, arguing that many of the new features of new wars can be found in earlier wars, and that the differences between old and new wars are not as dichotomous as made out and are often exaggerated (Newman, 2004, p.173; Mello, 2010, p.305). This essay agrees with this to an extent a number of the features of new wars that Kaldor outlines in her argument are also present in wars of the past and suggest there is little new about modern warfare in internal conflict situations, as will be outlined in the following section. In terms of empirical evidence for new wars, Newman accepts that civil war have been more frequent than interstate war, but argues that both forms of conflict have decreased since the mid-1990s, with the exception of a spike in intrastate conflict in the early 1990s (2004, p.180). This, as Newman believes, shows there has not been an evolution of new wars in the post-Cold War period, and infact, the probability of country being in conflict is not similar to that at the end of the 1950s (Newman, 2004, p.180). In addition, Melander et al. argue battle severity (the number of deaths in battle) has declined in the post-Cold War era, whilst violence against civilians in civil conflict has also decreased (2009, p.507). Kalyvas explores the features of the new war convention, contrasting them to those of old wars, and concludes there are probably more similarities than differences, and that the new wars thesis is flawed in a number of ways. Firstly, he takes the argument that ideological concerns were the motivations of old wars, claiming that in fact, many wars in the past have involved high levels of looting (such as the Russian and Chinese Revolutions) and that many combatants actually made decisions to fight based on local considerations (Kalyvas, 2001, pp.106-7). Many soldiers are usually stimulated due to group pressures such as comradeship, respect and network ties such as family or friendship ties (Kalyvas, 2001, p.108). This can be seen in Irish Revolution and Civil War, where often the ideology at the centre of the war was rarely discussed amongst combatants and the conflict was based instead on family factions and old feuds (Hart, 1999, pp.264-266). Moreover, the depiction of new wars as lacking any ideological movement can be challenged; many rebel forces of contemporary civil wars have been stigmatised as missing any ideological motivations for combat, but in fact many hold an in-depth understanding of their own participation from a political perspective, as shown in Sierra Leone (Kalyvas, 2001, p.104). The portrayal of contemporary warfare existing through a move from chivalrous fighting to that of barbarity by militia and warlords is unfounded (Newman, 2004, p.181); the use of gratuitous violence can be found in old civil wars such in America, Russia and Spain, whilst the practice of child abduction to create child soldiers may be associated with contemporary Africa, but was common in conflicts in Afghanistan (during the Soviet invasion), Peru, Guatemala and the China (Kalyvas, 2001, pp.114-5). The horrific violence and barbarism portrayed in Kaldors new war thesis is also visible in past wars; the deliberate targeting of civilians can be seen in the Mexican Revolution at the start of the 20th Century, whilst World War II represents perhaps the most widespread cases of atrocities in the form of the Holocaust, the German advance into the Soviet Union (with huge civilian displacement) and the Russian advance on Berlin (with numerous cases of rape or sexual brutality) (Newman, 2004, pp.182-3). It is for this reason that Madame de Staà «l remarks that all civil wars are more of less similar in their atrocity, in the upheaval in which they throw men and in the influence they give to violent and tyrannical passions (cited in Kalyvas, 2001, pp.114-5). It is also possible to argue that modern intrastate conflicts do not utilise senseless violence, and that actually the portrayal of violence is defined by culture those in the West find the use machete as more barbaric than mass killings through bombings (Kalyvas, 2001, p.115) who is it to say which is the more atrocious and inhumane? Furthermore, Kaldor contends the violence rebel and militia movements use is not as gratuitous as made out, and in fact it is often strategic and selective Kalyvas argues the Algeria massacres, or the tactics used by RENAMO in Mozambique were part of larger strategies, whilst the forced amputation of womens hands in Sierra Leone can be seen as calculated to instil fear (2001, pp.115- 6). This is not to deny the acts as barbaric, but it certainly weakens the depiction of the violence as undisciplined and random. A case study that suggests new wars are not in fact new can be found in the Congo civil war during the 1960s; Newman argues this conflict closely follows the new wars model and identifies with several characteristics of Kaldors thesis (2004, p.184). The conflict arose after Belgium withdrew from Congo in June 1960, resulting in a political crisis as the centralised government broke down and disorder erupted. The Katanga province, rich in minerals, declared independence from the Congolese state after receiving support from the Belgian mining companies who were protecting their interests and promoting secession in the background (Newman, 2004, p.184). Conflict and struggles against the new leadership of the Republic of Congo was motivated primarily by material aggrandizement, particularly amongst militias and private mercenaries; at the same time, ethnic and religious differences stimulated the violence further, with some fighting orientated around clear political agendas (such as the unitary state against Katangan secession), whilst most fighting revolved around the interests of warlords and local factions (Newman, 2004, p.184). State failure and the breakdown of authority led to social disorder and the emergence of a war economy as mercenaries attempted to perpetuate conflict due to the benefits they gained not only from their employers but also from illegal activities such as arms sales (Newman, 2004, p.184). This case study therefore highlights the presence of new war features during the Cold War period, with state failure and collapse leading to social disorder and conflicting identity groups competing for resources. This suggests that new wars are in fact not new but have always been present; it is instead the emergence from the Cold War era that simply brought these conflicts to the fore and the expansion of media and communications that has led to the reporting of the internal disputes around the globe. The essay will now turn to the question of whether new wars pose more difficult challenges to postconflict reconstruction, and whether new approaches to state rebuilding after internal civil war are required. Although the essay has argued throughout that new wars are not completely new, it has also noted that some characteristics of contemporary intrastate conflict have evolved from those of the past, and there have been some changed in the forms of conflict. It is for these reasons that the post conflict reconstruction process must make a few adaptations in order to assist a states recovery after civil war. As Newman outlines, evolution and advancement in historical, technological and social-economic terms have meant the nature of conflict has also changed (2004, p.185), and therefore the reconstruction process will face some new challenges. In many post-conflict nations, the levels of crime and human rights abuses remain high as warlords and militia remain at large, making use of t heir illegal economies created through civil war the are weaknesses in the reconstruction process that mean identity politics and the new wars rebuilding programmes are not tackled head on (Kaldor, 2006, p.x). At a basic level, post conflict reconstruction must address a wide and complex range of challenges in states ravaged by internal conflict the prevention of future armed conflict, the rebuilding of effective state institutions, recreation of a social fabric, redressing of human rights abuses and the nursing of a health civil society are all central to the reconstruction process (Call Cook, 2003, p.135). The prevention of further armed conflict is particularly important in the case of new wars as it is essential to discourage warlords, militia and other forces from restarting and perpetuating conflict in order to sustain the resource capture that is common in contemporary warfare. This therefore means the war economy that existed during the conflict must be replaced by an effective state economy that has a monopoly of the nations resources and can prevent resource competition from accumulating and resulting in a fresh break out of conflict. Furthermore, the prevention of future confl ict is not simply a matter of removing arms access and taking guns from the combatants, but it is also the establishment of accountably, transparent, and participatory systems of authority (Call Cook, 2003, p.135). In the aftermath of a new war, it is essential for restructuring forces to quickly create a form of state authority that is accountable to the people and is capable of solving the grievances of those involved in the conflict. Kaldor stresses the importance for reconstruction to primarily involve the restructuring of political authorities and civil society, in the forms of law and order and the mobilisation of political groups (2006, p.145). The integration of all identities is also essential in order to remove the binary them and us dichotomy than can threaten to reignite ethnic or religious differences and disputes. The establishment of law and order requires disarmament, demobilisation, policing or training police forces, arresting of war criminals and the re-establishment of the justice system (Kaldor, 2006, p.146). However, it is not that simple; disarmament through buy-back programmes results in the handing back of average or poor weaponry whilst the high-tech arms are held onto (Kaldor, 2006, p.146). Furthermore, as new wars are essentially a combination of war and criminality, law enforcement must involve both soldiers and police in order to provide adequate security and authority. Infrastructure s uch as basic services, transport and production needs to be restored at both regional and local levels in order to re-establish the economy and reduce the need to humanitarian aid (Kaldor, 2006, p.147). Humanitarian assistance also needs to become more targeted in order to remove war economies and their siphoning of aid, and also to prevent over-reliance on aid that means the economy cannot be rebuilt. For instance, in Somalia, food provisions were high and numerous in an attempt to ensure all of those in need actually received the aid; however, this meant food prices in the state fell, creating an environment where it was no longer economically viable for farmers to produce food (Kaldor, 2006, p.144). Another example of aid problems can be seen in El Salvador; here, and IMF stabilisation programme attempted to provide monetary assistance for the country to reconstruct. However, the strict spending limits of the IMF provisions meant the state could not afford to build a civil police force and enact buy-back schemes for disarmament that was required by the peace programme to help reintegrate combatants back into society (Kaldor, 2006, p.143). In this instance, therefore, humanitarian assistance in post conflict reconstruction needs to become more targeted and utilise local knowledge for it to be effective at rebuilding after a new war. This essay has only touched on the surface of the reconstruction process after a new war, providing a basic outline of state rebuilding. However, it explains the need to adapt certain procedures uses in reconstruction of the state after a new war the need to retarget and develop aid provision, the importance of establishing effective authoritarian institutions to enforce security and peace, and the importance of reconstructing state structures that enable grievances to be addressed, civil society to be rebuilt, war economies removed, and the implementation of policies to prevent future state failure and conflict. To conclude then, this essay points to the need for perspective when approaching new wars and post conflict reconstruction each struggle will need its own unique form of reconstruction, and therefore the post conflict rebuilding process is a case-by-case thesis, with no singular set of reformation practices or factors and the presence or lack of certain factors associated with new wars is down to the unique contexts and mitigations of specific conflicts rather than linear historical changes (Newman, 2004, p.180). There has indeed been a decrease in state vs. state conflict commonly associated with the past, whilst globalisation, decolonisation and the following state building, and the resurgence of identity politics have all suggested a shift from warfare of the past and therefore the need to adjust reconstruction policies (Newman, 2004, p.180), and indeed some changes are required. However, it is perhaps more appropriate to highlight the rise and expansion of the media and communic ations as an explanation for the perceived changes in conflict many of the factors Kaldor outlines in her thesis are not in fact new and have been present in past skirmishes it is simply the prominence and attention these conflicts now receive from the media that has resulted in changes of perceptions and ideas of civil wars (Newman, 2004, p.179). The first section of this essay outlined the basis of Kaldors New Wars argument and the factors attributed to contemporary civil war; following this, the essay provided and agreed with the criticisms of the new wars thesis, highlighting the fact than many of the characteristics of new wars are not as new as Kaldor makes out. Finally, the essay contended that contemporary wars do not provide many more difficult challenges for post conflict reconstruction in comparison to old wars, rather small adjustments must be made in order to account for the rise of globalisation and the modern world.

The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter According to the New England Primer, a basic textbook used during Puritan times, in Adam’s fall, â€Å"we sinned all†. This quote very much applies to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s characters in The Scarlet Letter. The main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and the Puritan society represented by the townspeople, all sinned. This story is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon. Hester Prynne's sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he takes it less serious than those of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester’s sin was a sin of passion. This sin was openly acknowledged as she wore the â€Å"A† on her chest. She did not deliberately mean to commit her sin or mean to hurt others. Hester’s sin is that her passions and love were of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code. This is shown when she says to Dimmesdale, â€Å"What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other!†(Hawthorn pg. 48) Hester fully acknowledged her guilt and displayed it with pride to the world. This was obvious by the way she displayed the scarlet letter. It was elaborately designed as if to show Hester was proud. Hester is indeed a sinner, adultery is no light matter, even today. On the other hand, her sin has brought her not evil, but good. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the broken-hearted, he unquestionable presence in times of trouble are all direct results of her quest for repentance. Her salvation also lies in the truth. She tells Dimmesdale of Chillingworth’s real identity, keeping it a secret before, to aid in her salvation. Her pursuit in telling the truth is evident in the lines, In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held fast, and did hold fast, through all extremity save when thy good--the life--they fame--were put in question! But a lie is never good, even though death threaten the other side! Even though Hester’s sin is the one the book is titled after and centered around, it is not nearly the worst sin committed.

J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature:

An Inspector Calls’ is a play about ideas, it contains thought provoking material the aim of which is social reform. But the Whole Thing’s Different Now ----------------------------------- ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play about ideas, it contains thought provoking material the aim of which is social reform. At the start of the play this rich, middle class family think themselves â€Å"a nice, well behaved family†, â€Å"respectable citizens† but some of their views are changed by a mysterious inspector who uncovers some disturbing truths about their lives. The inspector shows how each member of the household has contributed to the suicide of a young working class girl. This play highlights the problems and flaws in attitudes just after the turn of the century and that people can be wrong about many things including the future, themselves and their beliefs and prejudices. By doing so this play promotes the utopian ideals of liberty and equality and follows in the footsteps of the French and Russian revolutions. Set in between these two events it reminds us that people will always strive for a better quality of life and that history will repeat itself until we live in a perfect society. This play has a timeless quality about it and the problems of society that it raises are still present in today’s society. It seems we as nation, or as a species for that matter, have still not learnt from our mistakes. We continue to ignore mistakes, fail to concede we are wrong and pretend it is not our fault or responsibility. We are a too alike to Mrs Birling and can not accept change easily. It is still the younger generation who lead the drive for social reform and changes in attitude, eco-warriors for example. This is a very socialist play but is not directly insulting of the richer classes, just critical of their ignorance. The play was first performed in Stalin’s Communist Russia by the Kamery and Leningrad theatre companies in Moscow, August 1945. World War Two had just been ended by the atom bomb and throughout allied Europe soldiers began to come back home to a hero’s welcome for the second time in half a century. They had saved the world and did not want to return to a life of virtual slave labour. Workers and unions were demanding more rights and the years of war had weakened the class system. A change was required. Though not as violent as the Bolshevik revolution people were fighting old ideas and embracing new ones. They did not want another war. National patriotism had brought communities closer together. The Blitz and rationing had put everybody in the same boat and people looked out J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature: An Inspector Calls’ is a play about ideas, it contains thought provoking material the aim of which is social reform. But the Whole Thing’s Different Now ----------------------------------- ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play about ideas, it contains thought provoking material the aim of which is social reform. At the start of the play this rich, middle class family think themselves â€Å"a nice, well behaved family†, â€Å"respectable citizens† but some of their views are changed by a mysterious inspector who uncovers some disturbing truths about their lives. The inspector shows how each member of the household has contributed to the suicide of a young working class girl. This play highlights the problems and flaws in attitudes just after the turn of the century and that people can be wrong about many things including the future, themselves and their beliefs and prejudices. By doing so this play promotes the utopian ideals of liberty and equality and follows in the footsteps of the French and Russian revolutions. Set in between these two events it reminds us that people will always strive for a better quality of life and that history will repeat itself until we live in a perfect society. This play has a timeless quality about it and the problems of society that it raises are still present in today’s society. It seems we as nation, or as a species for that matter, have still not learnt from our mistakes. We continue to ignore mistakes, fail to concede we are wrong and pretend it is not our fault or responsibility. We are a too alike to Mrs Birling and can not accept change easily. It is still the younger generation who lead the drive for social reform and changes in attitude, eco-warriors for example. This is a very socialist play but is not directly insulting of the richer classes, just critical of their ignorance. The play was first performed in Stalin’s Communist Russia by the Kamery and Leningrad theatre companies in Moscow, August 1945. World War Two had just been ended by the atom bomb and throughout allied Europe soldiers began to come back home to a hero’s welcome for the second time in half a century. They had saved the world and did not want to return to a life of virtual slave labour. Workers and unions were demanding more rights and the years of war had weakened the class system. A change was required. Though not as violent as the Bolshevik revolution people were fighting old ideas and embracing new ones. They did not want another war. National patriotism had brought communities closer together. The Blitz and rationing had put everybody in the same boat and people looked out

Dawsons Creek Value :: essays research papers

A seminal one-hour drama series, â€Å"Dawson’s Creek† chronicles with wry humor the undeniably intense period of awakening known as the teenage years. A startlingly fresh and realistic approach to adolescence, bringing an edgy, keen perception to the turmoil of that time in life, â€Å"Dawson’s Creek† in its first two seasons ranked as one of the highest-rated shows among female teen viewers. Set in a picture-postcard Boston suburb, just off of the Atlantic Ocean, this coming-of-age series explores the blooming self-awareness and growing pains that go hand-in-hand with the triumphs of growing up. Wisely intelligent and yet naively open, four teens are at the heart of this drama as they unknowingly embark on the road less traveled, going against the norm in the paths they choose. Together in this passage from adolescence to young adulthood, the series stars James Van Der Beek (â€Å"Varsity Blues†), Katie Holmes (â€Å"GO!,† â€Å"Disturbing Behavior,† â€Å"Teaching Mrs. Tingle†), Joshua Jackson (â€Å"The Skulls,† â€Å"Urban Legend†) and Michelle Williams (â€Å"Dick,† â€Å"Halloween: H20†). John Wesley Shipp (â€Å"Sisters†), Mary-Margaret Humes (â€Å"History of the World, Part I†), Nina Repeta (â€Å"Radioland Murders†), Mary Beth Peil (â€Å"The King and I† on Broadway), Meredith Monroe (â€Å"Dangerous Minds† the series) and Kerr Smith (â€Å"Flight 180†) also star. Oblivious to how well he is growing into his good looks, Dawson Leery (Van Der Beek) is a teenaged Steven Spielberg fanatic who is charmingly obsessive and passionate about his love of movies. As he returns to Capeside for his junior year of high school after spending the entire summer in Philadelphia with his mom (Humes), Dawson must face the rift with his longtime best friend. Joey Potter (Holmes), the tomboy and emerging beauty who lives down the creek with her sister Bessie (Repeta), is still reeling from her break-up with Dawson and what she perceives as his ultimate betrayal in turning in her father for dealing drugs. While Dawson tries to embrace a newfound devil-may-care lease on life, the ever-sarcastic Pacey Witter (Jackson) has been grounded somewhat by his tumultuous relationship last year with Rhode Island transplant Andie McPhee (Monroe). Next door to Dawson, Jen Lindley (Williams) has moved back home with her Grams (Peil), along with Andie’s brother Jack (Smith). On the home front, Dawson’s dad (Shipp) starts a new position as Capeside High School’s new varsity football coach. Together, these friends learn that growing up is never as easy as it seems in the movies. Blindly testing the waters towards young adulthood, the astute teens shed their childlike innocence and endure the compromise of morality that accompanies so-called maturity.

Fashion History Essay

A fancy handbag, stylish footwear, shimmering jewellery and a designer dress of substandard quality sell at fantastic prices. Now beauty salons and slimming centers the landmarks of fashionable world are frequented by a large clientele at great expenses even in smaller towns. It seems the inbred urge of the man to appear graceful is awakening from the slumber. But the craze for fashion has also opened new avenues for expansion of small scale industries product fancy articles for beauty aids are now growing and shaping up as big industries. They provide employment to thousands of youth directly or indirectly. Courses based on fashion designing and decoration have now become a popular and recognized commercial education in the country. Ever changing fashion is welcome features but living in fashion and style is a symbol of lively society. Fashions breaking the barriers of decency and decoration are full risks and lead to moral chaos. We must be aware of that fashion adds only to our external beauty which is skin deep and transient whereas moral beauty is lasting and sublime. True beauty lies in cleaning ourselves from within and is attained by practicing truth and piety love and sacrifice in our lives but in the avalanche of ever changing fashions, all that matters is ostentatious show with the aid of modem cosmetics and beauty aids, latest dresses etc. And this is eating into our great noble values. True, beauty needs no ornaments or fashion aids. My lord I may be beautiful from within in this age of fashion.

Diesel Business Plan

[BUSINESS PLAN ASSIGNMENT]| | Creating your own brand jeans We are going to introduce a business where we with the help of recognized jeans brands all over the world will give ordinary people a chance of creating their own pair of jeans, but still maintaining the quality and the status that the specific brand maintain for their customers. We will basically be a jeans selling store but with a niche that we introduce our customers to â€Å"custom made† jeans instead of the regular ones. We will use the existing bran with its cut, bootleg and design but we will give our customers the opportunity to choose some of the details themselves. For people who for example want to have a wear on jeans which don’t have any wear from the original reseller we offer the possibility that at an expert level giving a pair of jeans the wear that the customer wants. Also we will be able to give the jeans another wash if the customer is interested in a light tone of the fabric but there isn’t any available from the Label/Brand/maker. If someone wants to have any other color or size on the main buttons we are able to provide that, if one wants any other kind of back pockets we are also able to provide that. Someone might want some additional motives or fabrics on their jeans. We will always try to be as flexible as possible and serve our clients in any way that we best can. Why work with Diesel We have chosen to work with the brand Diesel, because of many factors. We will work with an established brand that has a solid customer base here in Sweden. Regarding to the survey done by ISI Wissing, Diesel is the number 3 popular jeans brand in Sweden, also it qualifies for the 3rd place when it comes to customer satisfaction. When it comes to using the brand, regarding this survey, it ends on 4th place. And that for us shows that there are opportunities to take this even further. Also there is a mentality among younger people that they are attractive to the Diesel brand. One of the reasons why, are their outstanding and peculiar commercials. They try to show the brand as very attractive and cool and also with all their different products they want to make a valid point that Diesel is something else then all the other brands. It’s more attractive and aggressive and it’s there for the people who know what they want. One of their later commercial campaign are the â€Å"Be Stupid† commercial where they address their clothes and products to specific people that want to be something else. An example of their commercial is the following quotes: â€Å"Smart may have the brains, but stupid has the balls. †, â€Å"Stupid might fail. Smart doesn’t even try. †, â€Å"Smart may have the answers, but stupid has all the interesting questions†, â€Å"Smart has the plans, stupid has the stories†. So these are examples that they really try to have their own approach and make something amusing and attractive to their customer base. And we think this is one of the things that make Diesel stand out and be an attractive and popular brand to work with. (Willebrand, P, 2007), (Habitat. se, 2009) This type of product we offer is focused on a relatively young, between 18 and 35 years as a textile style, young, dynamic, unique and with character. Our target is to focus sales in a single product with its own identity, a trend and a reference in the textile market, developing products for a demanding consumer sector, where each product can be distinguished from the rest. This product is so expensive, it’s focused on one type of consumer with a high economic level, but that is why our service is striking, since it is an affordable way to get what the customer as to the characteristics mentioned, looking at the market. We don’t think that the segment with low paying jobs will be that particular interested in our business because we think it will be too much money for them to spend on clothes. So our business is rather directed to people who are at the average salary and more. Preferably we find this customer base in larger urban cities where there are enough to offer for people being interested in specific branding clothes. What we can see a connection to might be an independent employee or an entrepreneur that already are going their own path and following their own lifestyle, not bounded to any specific rules or dress code at their jobs. We also think that people with a specific identity can benefit from this of business venture, if you work at some place where you have a dress code that is suits or jackets for example, you are not able to wear your average blue jeans, but you still might be a jeans guy. We then offer the possibility to change the color on your jeans to make them look as much as suit pants as possible and so they not stand out and look really different and inappropriate from what expected. An attractive base product Our service is not unique since there are companies like Indicustom and Somconceptshop that gives the costumer the chance to customize their own jeans. But our service offers the customer a new feature in the market of customizing jeans. We want to use an â€Å"attractive† base product and let the customer personalize it. We looked at the other companies that were operating in the same market as us. We understood that we needed to concentrate on points of difference the benefits that set our product apart from the competition. Such points of differentiation are, in many cases, what consumers remember about a product. No one of the existing companies that we studied used brand/labeled jeans as the product that you could personalize. So we thought that if we use a well-known brand like Diesel as a base product that the customers could customize the way they personally want them to look but still have the quality that Diesel provides. It would unquestioningly set our product apart from the competition. About Diesel Diesel is an international brand, present on the clothing industry market in over 80 countries with 5500 points of sale, throughout all 5 continents. In terms of projected-in the population interested in buying clothes and brand accessories is more and more important that’s why the companies of the clothing industry have to offer varied products to boost their sells and their fame. The brand sells almost 3000 products from the basic pair of jeans, to the bags, belts and the house furniture. Diesel also owns 200 companies and having partnership with 100 local distributors, such as L’Oreal, Ford or Adidas. The main goal is to be everywhere geographically, in different strategic areas, expanding, in that way, their international presence. Concerning the sales and profits, the company realized a revenue of 1,2 billionsâ‚ ¬ en 2008, 80 millions in France. But even with these good results the revenue global of the group doesn’t really know a huge growth and on the contrary decrease of 3. 5% in 2009, whereas there was a rise of 3% in 2008. Then, even if the company has a healthy financial position as its campaigns, its results and its growth shows there is no extra revenue since 5 years. That’s why we decided to create this personalize service. (Pavarini, M, 2010) Tailored e-commerce in Sweden Tailored e-commerce is on the rise if you ask the CEO of Tailor store. He expects an annual growth of 30 percent because the distance trade is on the rise and growing faster than the regular store trade. Tailor Store had a sales report of 40 million last year and reported a profit of 5 million after net financial items. He thinks the reason of the success is because consumers have benefited greatly by including the ability to investigate and compare the products of a larger range of products and services that can be purchased at any time and from anywhere and a greater opportunity to get more customized products to satisfy personal needs. And e-commerce is getting popular in the whole of Sweden; 28 billion in turnover was from distance trade, e-commerce and mail order, in 2010. If you look at the numbers you can see that it has been a doubling in sales in the last five years and today it represents 4. percent of the total retail sales. (Melkersson, E, 2011) Competitors When we look at the biggest competitors it’s hard to say who will be the biggest competitor for our business. Obviously every brand will be a competitor since we will only work with Diesel, also other stores who sell Jeans will also be a competitor to us and in Sweden especially Brothers & Sisters, JC and H&M are big competitor s. Also companies who sell other brand that are big will be a competitor for us, such as resellers for Lee who is number one in Sweden and Levis which is number two. But if we focus specifically on our distinction from the other resellers, the custom made part, we think that companies like Tailor Store will be a big competitor for us. A company that already made themselves a name on the market of custom made clothes, even though they are not only limited to specific brands. If we look in to the sector with custom made clothes a lot of them are not resellers and dealing with bigger worldwide brands. It’s often some smaller brand which they import and give people the opportunity to make changes to. Here is where we have a problem identifying any specific company that are selling luxury brand jeans, designer jeans, with the opportunity for the customer to have the jeans custom made after their wishes. If we look at the jeans market here in Sweden it has suffered from a little fallback. About 15 million pair of jeans is sold in Sweden every year. And the competition from companies like H&M, Kappahl and Lindex are getting bigger at the cost of specialized jeans resellers revenue. (Willebrand, P, 2007), (Habitat. se, 2009) External Factors Affecting A Business There are a couple of external factors we are looking into when it comes to how they can affect our business: 1. GENERAL ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY CONDITIONS Any general economic, business or industry conditions that cause customers or potential customers to reduce or delay their investments in the jeans industry could have a negative effect on the company's strength and profitability. Currently, the world economic conditions had a bad and considerable impact on every commercial fields of the society, and the jean’s industry couldn’t escape from that either. Trying to launch this custom made project can be profitable for us, of course, but with that we will also try to help in a way the Diesel company. 2. COMPETITION The jeans industry is highly competitive. The intense competition inherent in the industry could result in the loss of customers or pricing pressures. 3. LOCAL ACTIVITIES The company's future growth rates and success are in-part dependent on continued growth and success in local market at first, as we’ll try to open the custom made project worldwide after studying the results in Sweden. (Essays. cc, u. d. ). The Swedish economy emerged from the financial crisis as one of the strongest in Europe. A high-tech local economy and a comprehensive system of welfare benefits allow Sweden to enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Sweden has one of the most globalized and competitive economies today. GDP is expected to increase by 4% in 2010 and by 3. 7% in 2011. The welfare has been able to be maintained because of the high tax levels, even if they recently have begun to decrease. Also, concerning government regulations, Sweden’s economic freedom score is 71. ; it appears that the overall regulatory and legal environment, transparent and efficient, encourages robust entrepreneurial activity. (Traveldocs. com, u. d. ). 4. SOCIAL FACTORS The profit margins realized by the company vary somewhat among its products and its customer business units. Like we said before this custom made opportunity that we are going to submit to Diesel is a product to a narrow customers base (1 8-35 years), and they maybe don’t have the possibility to pay this kind of services. That’s why we are trying to make an arrangement with a company like Diesel who stay affordable. . TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES AND PRODUCT TRANSITIONS The jeans industry is characterized by continuing improvements in fashion and design which result in frequent introduction of new products, short product life cycles and continual improvement in product price/design characteristics. 6. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT/SUPPLIES The company's ability to manage its inventory has been enhanced by favorable supply conditions in the industry. The company's manufacturing process requires a high volume of quality components that are procured from third party suppliers. The six external factors highlighted in this paper are identified as primary factors in this industry (Essays. cc, u. d. ) Enterprise resource planning and organization First of all we have to have our wholesale to buy the jeans from, we obviously by our jeans from a supplier since it’s a specific brand that we will be using. We need a workstation where we do our tweaks on the jeans, since we will do the tailoring in-house and not outsourced. Meaning we will have a department changing buttons, sawing on new pockets on the back of the jeans, wearing them and washing them. We will buy the raw jeans models from Diesel and all the tailoring we do will be done in-house. This way we get a overview over the whole process and we will be able to overlook it and see what works and what does not to be able to make changes and develop our working process and expand. In long term we possibly would like our tailoring to be outsourced as well but then we have to get a lot of bigger volumes and sales. Our company needs to be of a local medium proportion, after asking prices we have chosen an office in the center of Linkoping, over 90m2 warehouse 100m2. The rental price â‚ ¬ 1000 per month. Costs of production / initiation of the company: Machines and Computer products| Manufacturer| Units| Euros| Sewing Machine| | 2| 1000| Washing machine| | 1| 1000| Mac Pro| Apple| 1| 1200| Jet color laser multifunctional printer | Hp| 2| 750| Textil Studio 8| Macromedia| 1| 480| Quark Xpress 6. 1 Passport Diseno| Quark| 1| 2. 200| Norton Internet Security 2007 Antivirus | Symantec| 1| 60| | Total| 6. 990| Furniture Product| manufacturer| Units| Euros| Computer table ERISTER| IKEA| 4| 520| Chair STEFANO| IKEA| 4| 320| shelf FJUS| IKEA| 4| 400| Chairs| IKEA| 4| 80| filings| IKEA| 4| 180| Ceiling fluorescent bars| IKEA| 6| 180| | Total| 1. 680| Total computer equipment and furniture company| Computer equipment| 6. 990| Furniture company| 1. 680| | Total| 8. 670| Telephone rental and adsl| Local callsADSL Internet 10MG | 40Per month| Production process of our company First Phase In the first instance, we take care of developing the product design, according to the specifications and style that the customer provided to us. We need the measurements of the client to make the program design Textile Studio 8. Second Phase Then perform the design by computer program, the design is sent to our textile machinery in the warehouse where the design is recreated in the pants, is embroidered, sewn and glued, additional accessories or tweaks that you must do the product. Third Phase. In third phase, the products pass an exhaustive examination of tissue and finishes, in order to verify that the product is done with the selected design and has no damage. Distribution Our field is nationwide, with an eye to expanding our international infrastructure over the medium term. As our company turnover grow fence on the market performance will be broader. The distribution is provided by our company is an outsourced process by which we have a freight agreement with the company MRW light which provides an optimum distribution at a reasonable price, short and medium term by increasing our relationships grow if our trade with other countries. The cost of distribution affects the final price, so that the customer pays, revenue is recorded in the product itself. Marketing (advertising) In the field of marketing, the company will open a website with a catalog of examples, price list, contact, and an application through which you can perform orders. We have thought hiring advertising space in newspapers to national newspapers, the expenses are high, we will follow up weekly to see the number of people responding to advertising, if it is positive we will find these services. Also we will do advertising in social networks, starting a group of our company, our website advertising, adding to people that this profile for potential buyers to our profile social. So as included in online media websites such as www. undoanuncio. com. Regarding marketing we will also try to use SEO(Search engine optimization) as much as possible to get more hits when our possible customer base browse the web and search for companies that does custom made clothes. Implementation Plan We need to contact Diesel / a Wholesale to be able to secure our purchases of the Jeans. We need to establish a workplace where we change the Jeans into the customer’s wishes. Since our main sales channel will be via the internet we need to establish a homepage with the possibility to tailor your jeans and also a web store on the homepage so our customers can buy the jeans they want. We have to get some it-system that will be able to trace our orders and the specific changes the customer wants so we can make them and then ship them out to our customer. Activity| COMPLETED OR UNDERTAKEN in RELEVANT Quarter OF 2011-12| Development| | Finding investor interested in investing in the business. | 2011 – Q1| Attaining the site for thebusiness and making any needed physical developments| 2011Q1- Q2| Proof-of-concept development. Need to develop a prototype for the investors to see. | 2011Q1- Q4| Marketing| | Choose our target market, the group of customers we want to target| 2011 – Q3| Plan how to reach and address your customers, with specific measures coveringproduct design, pricing, distribution and communication| 2011 Q3 – Q4| Promote the service to potential investors and buyers. | 2011 – Q42012 – Q2| Management| | Recruit personal for the development of the service. | 2011Q1- Q4| Training of personnel| 2011Q1 – Q3| Forming a team| 2011 – Q32012 – Q2| Financial plan First of all our initial cost for our company is the cost for starting it up and register it as a incorporated company and for that cost we calculate 7  000 euro. Next up is our warehouse and office with its equipment needed. For the first month we need the capital for investing in our equipment that we estimate to 8  700 euro. After that we will have cost for our rent and staff, also for our purchases and a onetime fee to our web developer and a cost for every time we need to update our website. We estimate that the web developers onetime charge would be about 10  000 euro. Our rent will be 1  000 euro with a down payment for 3 months. Also we have a OTC for the officer and warehouse for 500 euro. That would mean that our total initial cost would be 29  200 â‚ ¬ and we count with a big miscalculation so we would say 30  000 â‚ ¬ as initial cost. Our monthly cost will be: Rent : 1000 â‚ ¬Telecome: 40 â‚ ¬Salary: 3000â‚ ¬ for 1. 5 fulltime employee Utilities: 500 â‚ ¬Distribution: 500 â‚ ¬Raw Material: 50â‚ ¬/jeans +5-15â‚ ¬depending on what customer choos to add to the jeans Promotion : 2000 â‚ ¬Other expenses: 400 â‚ ¬ That would be a total of 7  500 â‚ ¬ in monthly expenses but also a additional part depending on how many jeans we manufacture Sales forecast: We think that we can start with selling 75 pair of jeans the first month, meaning 2,5 jeans per day. And then we count with an increase of 10 % per month. Our price range on the jeans will be 120 – 200 â‚ ¬ and we have counted with an average price on 140 â‚ ¬ per pair of jeans We count with an increase in sales as soon as our website is up and running and getting some regular visitors and that they spread the word. Also it will take some time for our promotion and marketing to get effective What we would like to offer our investors are 20% of the shares in our company for the price of 15  000 â‚ ¬, the rest we would make up as a loan from the bank with a low mortgage and try to pay only the interest. Bibliography Melkersson, Erik (01-04-2011). Skraddarsydd e-handel pa frammarsch, www. hd. se. Avaible at: http://hd. se/ekonomi/2011/04/02/skraddarsydd-e-handel-pa/ [13-10-2011] Willebrand, Peter (16-08-2007). Jeansjattarna haller greppet om svenskarna, www. resume. se. Avaible at: http://www. resume. se/nyheter/2007/08/16/jeansjattarna-haller-grepp/index. xml [10-10-2011] Habit. se (17-12-2009). Jeansmarknaden tappar fart, Habit. se. Avaible at: http://www. habit. se/iuware. aspx? pageid=1780&ssoid=112504[12-10-2011] Pavarini, Maria (07-05-2010). DIESEL NAMES NEW CEO, RESTRUCTURES ONLY THE BRAVE, www. sportswearnet. com. Avaible at: http://www. sportswearnet. com/businessnews/pages/protected/DIESEL- ­? NAMES- ­? NEW- ­? CEO- ­? RESTRUCTURES- ­? ONLY- ­? THE- ­? BRAVE_2503. html [12-10-2011] Essays. cc (u. d). External Factors Affecting A Business, www. essays. cc. Avaible at: http://www. essays. cc/free_essays/b2/utv218. shtml [09-10-2011] Traveldocs. com (u. d). The Swedish economy, www. traveldocs. com. Avaible at: http://www. essays. cc/free_essays/b2/utv218. shtm [07-10-2011]