Third World History Essays - Famine, Population, Poverty, Rau

Third World History When someone mentions the state of Africa the first thoughts that enter your mind is poverty, poor government structure, and hungry people. But that has not always been the case. This was a rich, resourceful and beautiful country. The picture of pre-colonial Africa is much different than our ideals of it today. We see it as a land stricken with poverty. The colonists saw it as a land with unlimited resources full of people that did not take, what they thought was full advantage of its treasures. Europeans used agricultural and religious differences to create a gulf between them and the Africans. Using such differences Europe colonized Africa for the ever growing European market. The depletion of the African resources forced the people into a food crises. The only hope exists is the organization from within the rural class. Such organizations are fighting for basic human rights and others are coming together to make labor sharing possible. Pre-colonial Africa was full of resourceful and time honored farmers that knew the land that their ancestors have given them. They had the ability to know exactly which seeds and what soil to use under various planting conditions to produce not just enough food to keep their tribes alive, but produce a substantial surplus in event of a natural caused or political drought. Bill Rau states The ability of African people to feed themselves was based on a intimate knowledge of the resources needed for agricultural production. (p 22) He is trying to say that these people knew their land. A land that has its uncertainty. Weather that has an ability to wipe out tribes, and unpredictable political structure were all hurdles that these gifted farmers has to endure. As Europe was going through an industrial boom, their markets started to expand. Capitalists saw that it became harder maintain the profit at the current level. Outside resources and raw materials that were used for production were needed. Africa was the answer. Bill Rau writes The increasing demand and competition for both resources and markets among Europes capitalist economies led them to carve out territories in Africa that offered the prospect of vast mineral and agricultural wealth.(p 29) What Bill Rau is saying is that, for the capitalist to survive he must maintain a high profit. In order for him to achieve that goal he must expand his resource market at all cost. This is one of the first contributing factors to the colonization of Africa. Colonialism was the tool for the European market demand being met. Once the decision to colonize Africa was made, the colonist had to establish an explanation for the colonial takeover of Africa. Two main differences between the cultures were found and exploited. The first is the production of food. Africa was an agricultural country, depending on every person to accomplish its share of the work. Weather it may be making tools to picking crops, every person was a contributing factor towards the production of valuable resources. Europe on the other hand was a industrial society depending on division of labor as a production of their needs. Labor was central to production, which was overwhelmingly agricultural, while in Europe labor became subordinate to machines and the value of labor and machines was redirected to the owners of capital(p 29) Rau states. He is stating that every African had an important role in the production of resources for the well-being of the community. Europe on the other hand was geared on private profit. The second difference between the cultures is their religious views. Europeans felt that they were blessed with god giving them Christianity. Africans prayed to pagan gods. This created a big gap between the two cultures. Bill Rau stated that The economic forces of imperialism were integrated with perceived moral issues - saving African pagans from their idolatry for Christianity (p 30) Christians felt that they were so right about everything, including religion that must not just teach, but force their ideology on the Africans. The fact that the African people used old methods of production, and different form of religion, doesnt mean that they are wrong. These are the reasons that the colonist

Free Essays on Viktor E. Frankl---“Mans Search 4 Meaning“

â€Å"Prisoners with a vision beyond the torture had a mission to survive†. What is the meaning to one’s life? Viktor Frankl tries to answer this question that has overwhelmed mankind for centuries. Frankls book is divided into three sections that begins with his own experiences of the concentration camps and the relative stories of lost hope or gained hope. The last two sections cover logotherapy, the way it works and the many cases that he thinks logotherapy provides success. The first stage of the book people were treated in a manner that was cruel, senseless and for which there was no frame of reference. All their choices were taken away. They were treated as a sub-human, much like objects or worthless vermin. Ther... Free Essays on Viktor E. Frankl---â€Å"Man's Search 4 Meaningâ€Å" Free Essays on Viktor E. Frankl-â€Å"Man's Search 4 Meaningâ€Å" â€Å"Man’s Search for Meaning† While reading Viktor E. Frankls, â€Å"Man’s Search for Meaning†, I discovered many thesis’s. I’m only going to share the few that I thought really caught my eye. â€Å"(Of the inmates) it can be said that they were worthy of their sufferings; the way they bore their sufferings was genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom-which cannot be taken awaythat makes life meaningful and purposeful† (Frankl, pg 87). â€Å"The prisoner who had lost faith in the future-his futurewas doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay† (Frankl, pg 95). â€Å"It was a question of getting them to realize that life was still expecting something from them; something in the future was expected of them. This uniqueness and singleness which distinguishes each individual and gives a meaning to his existence has a bearing on creative work as much as it does on human love† (Frankl, pgs 100-101). I think that Frankl was trying to tell his reads, if you would give up in the concentration camps that there was no reason to even try to live. In Frankls words â€Å"Prisoners with a vision beyond the torture had a mission to survive†. What is the meaning to one’s life? Viktor Frankl tries to answer this question that has overwhelmed mankind for centuries. Frankls book is divided into three sections that begins with his own experiences of the concentration camps and the relative stories of lost hope or gained hope. The last two sections cover logotherapy, the way it works and the many cases that he thinks logotherapy provides success. The first stage of the book people were treated in a manner that was cruel, senseless and for which there was no frame of reference. All their choices were taken away. They were treated as a sub-human, much like objects or worthless vermin. Ther...

Leadership in Ambulance Services Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 5

Leadership in Ambulance Services - Term Paper Example It needs to exercise discretion when transferring patients to primary trusts or hospitals across the City of London because it is one of the parties responsible for overcrowding in health institutions. It is a known fact that demand for LAS service fluctuates between seasons. Sometimes the institution may be overwhelmed with calls from various parts of the City. It is tempting for employees to simply follow the usual routine when dealing with rising demand. This creates a backlog in corresponding hospitals. Workers need to think of new ways to deal with overwhelming demand. Additionally, funding for acute services from the NHS has been reducing dramatically over the past few years. Therefore, the LAS cannot respond to this issue by using resource-intensive approaches. It is only possible to minimize patient waiting times at hospitals and other partner institutions through alternative methods of response. One such strategy is the Clinical Telephone Advice method, which will be the focus of this change management process (Snooks et. al., 2004). In order to ensure that members of the ambulance service understand the implications of this problem, they will be told about it by their respective supervisors. Each leader will be responsible for ensuring that employees understand why the status quo cannot prevail. They are likely to understand the implications of this when they realize that they are doing too much already. Workers will welcome the opportunity to reduce the backlog in corresponding health institutions through this approach. Furthermore, senior leaders will also be expected to demonstrate the same urgency by pointing out the need for alternate methods of response.   It is not possible to lead this change process alone. As a leader, one cannot develop the vision for change single-handedly.

Developing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Developing Professional Practice - Essay Example The new large scale retailers took three forms: department stores, co-operative societies and multiple chains (Jenkins, Johnson and Watson, 1997, p.1). It is estimated to boost in size by 15% in the next five years. UK retail industry contributes towards the 8% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which involves mounting success of UK retailers overseas and the growth of e-commerce which accomplishes far beyond borders of United Kingdom. It also accounted for 4.5 million part-time and full-time equivalent jobs (Hillingdon, 2012, p.1). Hypermarkets like Asda and Tesco are proficient to capture wide customer base due to their diversified offerings. Along with Asda and Tesco, Morrison and Sainsbury’s also accounted for a market share of more than 80% of retail food sales in the United Kingdom. Travis Perkins Plc operates as a builder’s merchant and home improvement retailer in the United Kingdom. It is a leading company in the builders’ merchant and home improvement markets and is the largest supplier of building materials in the United Kingdom. ... This report will focus on the core structural elements of the retail industry and the main challenges currently facing by the retail industry in the United Kingdom. Core Structural Elements The core structural element of the Retail industry in the United Kingdom comprises of the key players who have captured a broad customer base because of their diversified offerings. To name a few, these were Tesco, Asda, Travis Perkins plc, J Sainsbury plc, Co-operative Group Ltd, Marks & Spencer Group plc and HMV Group plc. There are also recent developments experienced in the retail industry and because of such developments the UK retailers are considered to be the largest retailers in the world. Key Stakeholders In United Kingdom, the key players in the retail sector were Tesco plc, Asda, Travis Perkins plc, J Sainsbury plc, Co-operative Group Ltd, Marks & Spencer Group plc and HMV Group plc. Tesco plc is an international supermarket chain based in United Kingdom. It has acquired first position in UK retail market. The core purpose of the company is to create value for the customers in order to receive their lifetime loyalty. It is the largest British retailer by both domestic market share and global sales. The main product of the company includes financial services, groceries, life insurance and telecom. Their strategies involve looking after employees of the company so that they can serve the customers in a better way. It accounts for 42.8 billion pounds in terms of revenue and 2,480 million pound in terms of trading profit (Annual Report, 2012, p.1). Travis Perkins plc operates as a builder’s merchant and home improvement retailer in the United Kingdom. The purpose for the existence of Travis Perkins is to create wealth for the

Systematic and Unsystematic Risks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Systematic and Unsystematic Risks - Essay Example This makes multi-national corporations safer compared to their domestic counterparts. Normally, systematic risk assessment are important for listed companies to effectively price the equities, determining the cost of capital and effective evaluation of projects. However, internationalization also poses some distinct systematic risks to multi-national corporations. Some of these distinct risks are - exposure to currency fluctuations in multiple countries, exposure to political risks pertaining to multiple governments, exposure to reduction in ability of monitoring managers in multiple countries, increased chances of asymmetric & inaccurate localized information thus resulting in wrong investment decisions, etc. Internationalizing investment portfolios also increases the exposure to unsystematic risks - like competitor activity in a foreign country, manager's foul play in another country where the company's monitoring system is weak, etc. Hence, it is important for the organization to have sound global knowledge base & threat database for risk management. Organization structures with distributed power often increases the exposure to both systematic and non-systematic risks. This is the reason that Chatterjee and Lubatkin et al (1992. pp155) felt that vertical mergers reduces the exposure to both systematic and non-systematic risks. They also observed that vertically integrated companies are able to manage lower cost of capitals thus enabling the integrated company to participate in a wider set of opportunities. Hence, multi-national companies with centralized corporate governance and risk management possess lesser exposure to both systematic and unsystematic risks compared to companies having distributed (country specific) risk management & power structures. Cornell (1999. pp198-199) presented a correlation between risk duration and capital budgeting stating that long term projects may be having higher risks if the variations in cash flow is stochastic in nature. Such projects make estimations of discounted cash flow quite difficult and hence the author recommended discounting of long term projects at higher rates. This is the reason that investors normally prefer to invest in short term projects guaranteeing quick returns. Discussions on Risk Management in Deloitte The above analysis of risk exposures of multi-national corporations has been carried out to build analogy with Deloitte in which the author works as partner in Croatia. Deloitte is the largest and oldest multi-national corporation in risk advisory and audit services. Deloitte operates in multiple countries across the world through a tightly controlled "Franchisee" model in which local entrepreneurs are allowed to manage local business based on local market strategies but the risk management, code of conduct and operating methodology is largely governed globally by centralized power centers. The organization possesses a global knowledge base for risk management and allows diversification of portfolios in multiple coun

Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant The Development and Evolution of Gregorian Chant For centuries, Gregorian chant was considered the official music of the Catholic Church. Naturally, this degree of importance placed on the genre gives it considerable significance, both religious and cultural. Its exact beginnings, however, are not absolutely known. Also, chant has changed over time due to it being based on practices of the Church, which have also changed over time due to decrees by various popes, agendas of monastic orders, and the influences of and intermingling of cultures, such as the Franks, Romans, and Byzantines. Although the name of Gregorian chant is derived from Pope Gregory I â€Å"The Great†, it has its roots much earlier in history, predating Christianity. In fact, Christian chant is believed to have been originally derived from Judaism, as there was a considerable amount of common ground between Jewish and early Christian liturgies (Werner 20). This is seen through writings of the early church which show that the early Christian church was heavily influenced by Hebrew worship (Barton). However, there is little information available from chants of early centuries compared to Gregorian chant and other chants of later centuries (Hiley 478). One reason for this is that musical notation for chants of this time did not exist, for at this time chants were an entirely oral rather than written tradition. Also contributing to this lack of information is that early Christians were persecuted, forcing private worship until the Edict of Milan of 313, which gave Christians the right of freed om of worship in Rome (484). Due to this freedom, Christianity could afford to become more formalized and organized, its music included. There is further ambiguity surrounding the specific origins of Gregorian chant in considering Pope Gregory himself. What Gregorys influence was on Gregorian chant is debatable, as there is limited evidence supporting that he either had a great deal of influence on the genre, such as directly composing chants, or virtually none (513). However, two pieces of evidence support a common theory of his involvement in the creation of Gregorian chant that was known throughout the Middle Ages, which are two books written by Pope Gregory. These two books, entitled Antiphonarium and Graduale Romanum, are compilations of already existing chants that Pope Gregory designated for specific parts of Catholic mass which supports the theory that his involvement was limited to such compilations (D‘Silva). An example of Gregorys ordering to use specific music in liturgy is him mandating that the Allelulia be used during mass for an entire year (Apel 41). Despite the lack of specific information concerning the beginnings of chant that would later evolve to become Gregorian chant, the origins of Gregorian chant as it was known throughout the Middle Ages are more clear, as music books, although they still were not musically notated, of the genre were created by the Franks at around the 9th century, making the genre easier to trace through history to that point (Hiley 514). Note that it was not until the 10th century that sources were created containing musical notation, namely being musically annotated Graduals and Antiphonals from the Codex 359 (Apel 52). Also, it was not until the 11th century that music was annotated in a way so that tunes could be read (53). In addition to these musical books, various manuscripts were written that outlined liturgical proceedings, allowing for further clarification of the specifics of Gregorian chant (53). The peoples who ruled the area that is roughly present-day France played a large role in forming Gregorian chant to what it is, from the Franks to the Carolingians (Hiley 512). This started under the rule of the Frank king Pepin, who lead the Franks to control much of Europe through military conquest, spreading the culture of chant to the Franks, and also causing reforms to Gregorian chant by the Franks and their successors (513). In addition to causing chant to be more widespread, the intervention of the Franks also caused Gregorian chant to evolve from further influences (513). Not only did the influence of the Franks allow the beginnings of Gregorian chant to be seen more easily, as was described previously, but their musical texts also show the original motives behind its development, the main motive being to help control how the liturgy was run by assigning specific chants to certain parts of the liturgy, as was done by Pope Gregory (515). In the case of the Franks (namely Pepin and also Charlemagne), the reasoning behind trying to control the specifics of the liturgy was so that it would become standardized since many members of the church were influenced by their own local traditions in structuring the liturgy, which Frank leadership was trying to suppress (Barbon). Of course, due to the amount of time between Pope Gregorys writings and the adoption of chant by the Frankish church (300 years), it can be safely assumed that the liturgical assignments of the Franks were different than those of Pope Gregory. More changes were made as well in Gregorian chant, including the style of singing, such as the combining of both Roman and Frankish singers, although eventually a return to a more Roman styled liturgy and type of singing occurred among the Franks (Hiley 517). Since writing texts for the chants was still not common practice and musical notation for them did not yet exist, it follows that the Franks had to learn Roman liturgy and chants by memory when this shift back to strictly Roman liturgy occurred. This also denotes that the number of chants that were used and popular were not too numerous at this point in time, as they could still be all memorized. Despite the shift back to a Roman style liturgy, over the years and into the 9th century to the start of the rule of the Carolingians, who succeeded the Franks, Gregorian chant continued to evolve as new musical elements were added to the genre by the Franks and more compositions were created (Hiley 517). Some of these changes were brought on by outside influences on Gregorian chant, such as by the Byzantines, who developed the eight mode system (529). The fact that the amount of compositions of Gregorian chant were increasing can be tied in with the development of written musical texts around this time period, causing Gregorian chant to shift away from a strictly oral tradition, for it would no longer be possible to memorize all of the chants necessary as their numbers grew. As the popularity of Gregorian chant grew, it underwent several more reforms and evolutions, mostly during the 12th and 13th centuries (Hiley 608). An example of such a reform was more specific notation being used in writing chant, which included specifying pitch, among other specific musical elements (608). Another reform was the tendency to drift away from previous melodies of the Middle Ages, creating a type of chant called â€Å"Neo-Gallican† chant (609). Many of these changes made to Gregorian chant were initiated by various orders, two major ones being the Cistercians, who believed in performing the liturgy as it was done originally, and the Dominicans, whose reforms, like the efforts of many before it, were aimed at standardizing the liturgy (612). Gregorian chant did not enjoy constant growth and popularity, however. After the 12th century, the popularity and growth of Gregorian chant started to wane, presumably due to a period of reduced popularity of the Catholic Church (DSilva). Also, around the 16th century the Catholic Church was threatened by Protestantism, which also played a part in decreasing the popularity of the church, thus affecting the popularity of traditional monastic liturgies and music (Hiley 615). Another such period of decadence for the church and for Gregorian chant was during the age of Enlightenment, as less emphasis was placed on the church and God and instead more on the individual and reason. As a result of this new ideology, the power and influence of the church began to decline. In addition to the general ideology of the time, another reason for the decline of the Church was the political struggle caused by the French Revolution, which caused a reform in the French church so that it no longer observed previous monastic traditions (Bergeron xii). Due to Gregorian chants close association with the church, its popularity began to decline as well (Barton). This causes yet another obstacle in acquiring information about Gregorian chant and thus makes it more difficult to interpret today as the knowledge of how to interpret various medieval musical notations was lost (Barton). A large factor of why Gregorian chant did not die out completely is the involvement of monks at the French monastery at Solesmes, and other such monasteries, who during the 19th century were commissioned by Pope St. Pius X to modernize Gregorian chant (DSilva). They achieved this by removing the strict association that Gregorian chant had with the church, secularizing it and adding a meditative, â€Å"trancelike appeal† (DSilva). In the end, Gregorian chant was changed to be more akin to classical Roman chant than the Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages. As a result, the chant that is known today as Gregorian chant is more similar to early plainchant rather than what was originally dubbed as â€Å"Gregorian chant† (DSilva). As a result of this change of the style of Gregorian chant, along with the declining power of the Catholic Church and thus the popularity of Gregorian chant, it is difficult to know what Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages exactly sounded like (Barton). Another factor that contributes to this is the lack of musical notation with text in the Middle Ages, and that some of the notation that does exist from the time period cannot be interpreted due to these periods of decrease in popularity. Overall, the fact that chant was originally a purely oral tradition that consisted of few enough chants that could be memorized, along with Gregorian chants affiliation with a religion that was originally persecuted and later declining in popularity, contributes to the murkiness of the origins of Gregorian chant. Also, the fact that Christianity underwent significant changes from the time of its conception to modern times results in equally significant changes occurring in the style of music that was so closely affiliated with its prominent church, even causing Gregorian chant to nearly die out on several occasions in history. However, despite the several bouts of decrease in popularity that Gregorian chant experienced, it is currently one of the oldest forms of music that is actively listened to today (DSilva). Also, the many changes that Gregorian chant underwent throughout history makes it very unique, as it cannot be entirely attributed to any specific event, person, or even nation or empire. Instead, as David Hiley states, â€Å"†¦Gregorian chant is neither of one specific time, nor wholly Roman, nor wholly anything else† (Hiley 513). Works Cited Apel, Willi. Gregorian Chant. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. Print. Barton, Louis W. G.. The Culture of Medieval Music Calligraphy: Historical Background of Neume Notation / The Neume Notation Project.. scribeserver.com. N.p., 8 Dec. 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Bergeron, Katherine. Decadent Enchantments: The Revival of Gregorian Chant at Solesmes (California Studies in 19th Century Music). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Print. DSilva, Neil Valentine. The History Of Gregorian Chant. Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Hiley, David. Western Plainchant: A Handbook. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1995. Print. Werner, Eric. The Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy Music in Synagogue and Church During the First Millenium. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1960. Print.

Cinema as Intertext in Midnight’s Children Essay -- Essays Papers

Cinema as Intertext in Midnight’s Children Saleem in Midnight’s Children makes an accurate evaluation of India when he states, â€Å"Nobody from Bombay should be without a basic film vocabulary† (Rushdie 33). Bollywood, the capital of the film industry in India, is the largest manufacturer of motion pictures in the world. A large percentage of the films are either mythical romances or musicals and often they last longer than three hours in length. While watching Indian cinema would be a painful ordeal for Western audiences, Indians embrace the industry and are very proud of their cinema heritage. Indians would argue that it is the distinct differences in Bollywood filmmaking that sets India apart from the Western world. It is the desire to separate themselves from Western culture that makes the Bollywood film industry so successful and accounts for India’s obsession with film. However, while film is a major part of Indian society, cinema does have its origins in the Western world. Salman Ru shdie uses intertextuality to portray how Indian society changes the Western influence of cinema to express Eastern culture and how cinema depicts the narrator Saleem as unreliable. Intertextuality is the process of deriving meaning from the ways in which texts stand in relation to each other. This is the theory that all authors imitate styles, themes, and ideas from previous writers and, therefore, no text is entirely original. Thais Morgan asserts in his article â€Å"The Space of Intertextuality† that there are two different levels of intertextuality: â€Å"influence† and â€Å"inspiration†. Morgan says, â€Å"Text A influences text B when the critic can demonstrate that B has ‘borrowed’ structure(s), theme(s), and/or image(s) from A ... ...ollywood films help strengthen motivations of characters and demonstrate the unreliable narration of Saleem. Lastly, the usage of cinematic language sets a tone of both romance and disbelief in the words of Saleem as he struggles with remembering a traumatic event from the past. In all three examples of cinema as intertext, Rushdie transgresses conventional uses of cinema and crafts new and unique ways for it to appear in the text. This establishes Midnight’s Children as an original contemporary work, relinquishing it from any claims of prior influence from previous texts. Works Cited Morgan, Thais. â€Å"The Space of Intertextuality.† Intertextuality and Contemporary American Fiction. Ed. Patrick O’Donnell and Robert Con Davis. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1989. 239-279. Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. London: Picador, 1982.