Democratic and socialist approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Democratic and socialist approaches - Essay Example Democracy should inevitably lead to ever more local forms of government, and appears to work best when shareholders or stakeholders have some true value or worth accorded to their participation in governance. By this standard, the voting for a President every four years is merely a symbolic action, and in nation states with a huge population such as the United States, it is clear that the individual vote is often lost, viewed as inconsequential, or easily disposed of with by politicians. However, on the local level, the importance of the vote is much more valuable for those who are actively participating in their own governance. The Greek city-state can be seen as a classic example of small-scale governance where the individual voice is truly valued and participation can make a real impact. When power is decentralized to ever smaller and more local organizations of government, democracy works best, as it is under these situations when the people whose lives are actually affected by t he decision-making process are actually given the opportunity to discuss and vote on the issues which concern them. This is the principle behind Federalism, and there is significant evidence that the Founding Fathers of America intended or hoped that the Federal government would be an extremely limited organization, lacking the power of income tax initially for example or restricted in its ability to raise debt or standing armies. What has become known as the modern democratic State is in fact little different from what is called an oligarchy?

Case study for MGMT306 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For MGMT306 - Case Study Example nclude hamburgers, milkshakes, cheeseburgers, various types of desserts, chicken, different soft drinks, breakfast items, seasoned fries and French fries. One of the key problems of McDonald is the issue of cultural differences. Being a global company, McDonald focuses on recruiting competent and talented individuals who have the potential and ability of improving on their sales volume. However, the company faces such challenges of cultural differences since its employees come from different cultural backgrounds. Thus, providing an equal training for such employees on how to execute their job roles is challenging for the company. Nevertheless, the company has allocated adequate resources to ensure that it manages the issue of cultural shift effectively. In this, McDonald ensures that it hires labor that is characterized of cultural background of its business environment. Cultural differences among nations also influence how McDonald applies is strategic approaches of attaining business success. Thus, cultural values, which include eating habits, gender perspectives, communication modes, dress codes and religion, dictate how business operations have to be conducted in a given country. McDonald has realized the need of taking into consideration of the cultural values of each business location in order to overcome the issue of cultural shock. As such, the company ensures that it aligns its business strategies with cultural values and practices of the community in which it has to conduct its business activities. Inflation is factor that influences business activities of all international companies. McDonald is one of these companies, which incurs challenges of changing currency rates and inflation in some of its countries where it has established branches. Thus, the company experiences problems in management of its revenues since they shift based on the currency variation among countries. To address this, McDonald ensures that it aligns its pricing strategy with

Is Use Of Language Restricted To Humans English Language Essay

Is Use Of Language Restricted To Humans English Language Essay Chomsky (1968) claimed that language in specific to humans as only humans possess a language acquisition device to acquire language the universal grammar. It is a hard matter to define what language really is. According to the layman definition by Cambridge University Press (2008), language is a system of communication that consists of sounds, words and grammar. In the past literature, there have been claims that non-human primates like chimpanzees and bonobos are capable of comprehending human language (Benson et al., 2002; Brakke and Savagerumbaugh, 1995). However it is doubtful whether comprehension constitutes a comprehensive use of language. In this essay, we would discuss whether non-human animals are capable of commanding the comprehensive use of language by critically evaluating whether they show some of the design-features of human spoken language in their speech documented in Hockett (1960) and whether they are able to acquire syntax and morphology (Laidrem, 2008). The first design-feature is the vocal-auditory channel, where communication occurs whenever the producer speaks and the receiver hears (Harley, 2001). There are communication systems using other channels, for instance gestures, bee dancing (De Marco, Gurevitz and Menzel, 2008) or the courtship ritual of sticklebacks. Having a vocal-auditory channel enables primates to free up much of their bodies to carry out activities other than communicating language simultaneously. Primate calls and the singing of a western meadowlark possess this design-feature. The second one is arbitrariness, where abstract symbols do not necessarily resemble what they stand for, for instance salt may neither mean salty nor granular (Hockett, 1960; Harley, 2001), except a few onomatopoeic exceptions. It has a shortcoming of being arbitrary, but advantageous in the way that what can be communicated about is limitless. In a semantic communicative system, ties between meaningful message-elements and their meanings can either be arbitrary or non-arbitrary (e.g. salt would mean salt instead of sugar or pepper) there are relatively fixed associations between elements in messages, like words, and recurrent features of our world. The western meadowlark song holds semantic arbitrariness whereas gibbon calls hold a general arbitrariness design-feature. The third one is discreteness, where vocabulary comprises of discrete units and contrasts with the use of sound effects by the vocal gestural way (Harley, 2001). Human vocal organs produce an array of sounds, but in all languages only a relatively small set of ranges of sound is sound, and differences between these ranges are functionally absolute, e.g. pin and bin are different to the ear only at one point. The hearer can either compensate based on context, or fails to understand. However, in some systems there may be effectively continuous scale of degrees to which one may raise his voice as in anger or lower it to signal confidentiality bee-dancing is continuous rather than discrete. Grylliade (e.g. crickets) and tettigoniidae (e.g. bush-crickets) and primate calls carry discreteness. There are a dozen or so distinct gibbon calls, each appropriate vocal response, or vocal part of the whole response, to a recurrent and biologically important type of situation, for instance discove ry of food, detection of predator, etc. The fourth one displacement design-feature is very evident in humans, where we are able to talk about things remote spatially and temporally from where the conversation begins. It seems lacking in vocal signaling of primates, however it does occur in bee-dancing bee dances convey information about how far the food source is (De Marco, Gurevitz and Menzel, 2008). A parrot is unable to demonstrate displacement (Pepperberg, 1987). Monkeys are also limited to chattering and squeaking about immediate threats like snakes in the grass and eagles overhead (Muncer, Malone and Ettlinger, 1982), therefore they also fail the displacement criterion. Concerning traditional transmission design-feature, it refers to the fact language can be taught and learned. In humans, imitation and teaching occur together smoothly. A chimpanzee mother could not teach her infant anything because, although the infant watches her problem-solving skills intentionally, she never returns the infants observation. Similarly, if a vervet monkey gives a leopard call and its recipient, say its offspring, takes countermeasures for python, there is no evidence that monkeys correct errant listeners or that their communication is intentional (Premark, 2004). It was noted that Washoe, another chimpanzee, adopted a younger chimpanzee Loulis as his son. He spontaneously acquired signs from Washoe and was also seen to be taught by Washoe. Although this is a clear indication of what is known as cultural transmission, it is unclear whether it is a language that has been transmitted, or just a sophisticated communication system (Premark, 2004). At first sight Washoe appears to have acquired the use of words and their meanings, and at least some rudimentary syntax-that is, being sensitive to word order in both production and comprehension. However, Washoe did not show learning of functional words like prepositions and inflections, neither was he able to differentiate between different parts of speech like conjunctions, nouns and verbs. Productivity is one of the most important design-features of human spoken language, which refers to the capacity to say things that have never been said or heard before and yet to be understood by other speakers of the same language (Hockett, 1960). One would be able to coin new utterances by incorporating pieces familiar from old utterances and assembling them by patterns of arrangement also familiar in old utterances. In human speech where blending exists, a speaker would hesitate between two words or phrases, both reasonably appropriate to context, a combination of parts of each. It is also involved in slips of tongue which would assist infants in switching from a closed to an open system productivity also known as openness, the ability to invent new messages, where syntax, the grammatical arrangement of sentences, plays an enormous rule (Shostak, 2009). It can be demonstrated using syntax, where in humans, there is a finite number of grammatical rules and a finite number of word s, but humans are able to combine them to produce an infinite number of sentences once they associate the words with particular meanings or concepts, and put them into different orders (Chomsky, 1957; Marshall, 1970). Primate calls constitute a small finite repertory of familiar calls, therefore they are considered having a closed call system and do not demonstrate productivity. According to Hockett (1960), bee dancing shows productivity. However, this is questionable as types of dancing bees do may barely be repertoires. There is a belief that whales and dolphins possess language. However, there is no current evidence suggesting that dolphins employ sequences of sub-units conveying particular messages, which is in the same way we combine words to form sentences to convey messages (Pearce, 2008). In early research by Evans and Bastian (1969), dolphins carried on making sounds even when other dolphins were absent, where communication with each other in carrying out cooperative tasks to obtain fish seems to be explicable by conditioning (Holder, Herman and Kuczaj, 1989). There is no evidence that dolphins can produce even the simplest sentence in language (Pearce, 2008). By now, there is no animal communication system that can satisfy the four properties of syntax identified by Kako (1999) and iteration and recursion properties of language (Hauser et al., 2002). Herman, Richards, and Wolz (1984) taught two bottle-nosed dolphins, Phoenix and Akeakamai, artificial languages. One artificial language was visually based using gestures of the trainers arms and legs, and the other was acoustically based using computer-generated sounds transmitted through underwater speakers. However, this research tested only the animals comprehension of the artificial language, not their ability to produce it. From the point of view of answering our questions on language and animals, it is clearly important to examine both comprehension and production. Even just testing their comprehension, the dolphins syntactic ability was limited, and they showed no evidence of being able to use function words (Kako, 1999). Although others have claimed that chimpanzees could comprehend spoken English, they have failed to present adequate data to substantiate such assertions (Pearce, 2008). In repeated tests since 1977, Sherman and Austin, two chimpanzees, consistently failed comprehension tests of spoken English though they have constantly been exposed to it from infancy. Kanzi, however, was displaying a remarkable comprehension of spoken English, where Kanzi was not being reinforced nor trained to do the experimental task (E. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, et al., 1985). Kanzi is a pygmy chimpanzee, and it is claimed he has made a vital step in spontaneously acquiring the understanding that symbols refer to things in the world. He first acquired symbols by observing the training of his mother on lexigrams devices that produce word sounds when pressed. He was sensitive to word order, and understood verb meanings- he could distinguish between get the rock and take the rock, and between put the hat on your ball and put the ball on your hat. He also formed spontaneous utterances. Petitto (1987, cited in Pearce, 2008) argued that Kanzis understanding of names is not like that of humans. Kako (1999) argued that Kanzi shows no signs of possessing any function words, nor any indication of being able to use morphology: he does not modify his language according to number, as we do when we form plurals. Pepperberg (1987) embarked on an elaborate formal programme of training of her African grey parrot called Alex. After 13 years of training, Alex developed a vocabulary of 80 words including object names, adjectives, and verbs. He could even produce and understand short sequences of words understand concepts of same and different. Alex showed evidence of being able to combine discrete categories and use syntactic categories appropriately, but was unable to relate objects to verbs, and knew very few function words (Kako, 1999). Therefore, Alex had limited linguistic abilities. The last design-feature to be mentioned, the duality of patterning, means that only combinations of meaningless units are meaningful, and this is applicable to both the sound and word level, and word and sentence level (Hockett, 1960). It provides much efficiency and flexibility to human language. When a vocal-auditory system carries a larger and larger number of distinct meaningful elements, they become more similar to one another in sound, where there is a limit for any species to how many distinct stimuli they are capable of distinguishing between, in particular they have to be made under noisy conditions. This design-feature is illustrated by English words tack, cat and act, which are composed of only three basic meaningless sounds in different permutations, yet totally distinct in meaning. Very few animal communicative systems share this design-feature of language none among other hominoids (e.g. apes, monkeys), or maybe humans are the only one (Harley, 2001). To conclude, none of the animals mentioned seemed to be capable of possessing the above mentioned design-features of human spoken language (Hockett, 1960). They were also unable to command the complicated syntax and lexical competences that humans possess. This may be due to humans having large and convoluted brains acting as better storage units for conventions of a complex communicative system as language (Pinker, 1994). Though many animals possess rich symbolic communication systems enabling them to convey messages to other members of the species which would influence behaviour and possess many of Hocketts (1960) design features, they all lack the richness of human language, which is manifested in our ability to limitlessly talk about anything and using syntax. The failure to teach apes to speak is partly due to the fact that their vocal tracts are incapable of producing all sounds of human speech, where according to Duchin (1990, cited in Pearce, 2008), a major constraint on the ability of the chimp to produce sounds of human speech is its tongue which is unable to move to correct positions for creating sounds that are necessary. It is possible that by reducing methodological flaws in language learning paradigms and more investigations of different animals, we would be more informed about whether animals are able to use language comprehensively in the humans do.

China Essays -- essays research papers

â€Å"Government in China: three perspectives† In the Ming period of government in China, it is evident that the characteristics and learning of the emperor are essential to the essence of good government. Under the Confucian system, it was vital to conform to the strict hierarchical structure of the social and political codes which formed the foundation of the system: therefore, the basis of good government was something which permeated all levels of society but was ultimately inspired by, and dictated by, the higher levels of the power structure and ultimately the emperor. Within the hierarchy, there were certain aspects of rights and responsibilities which could not be transcended and which ensured that each member of society retained their appropriate place within the overall structure. There would invariably be those above, to whom one owed deference and respect, and those below, to whom one owed protection. No-one was isolated, but rather seen as an integral part of a network which could only function successfully if everyone played exactly the role which was allotted to them, and did not attempt to transcend their designated status. The concept of government, therefore, was something which was dictated from the top of the power structure but permeated to all its levels. Government of the country, of a province, of a household, were all aspects of the same strictly enforced social order and each level could be seen as reflecting the pattern of the one above. However, according to Confucian practices it was not sufficient to understand good practice and to put it into effect, it was also essential to demonstrate to others that the individual was aware of their particular place in the social and political hierarchy. There was therefore a heavy reliance on custom and ritual, which affected every aspect of everyday life and acted as a constant reiteration of the dictates of the hierarchy. To carry out these rituals not only reinforced one’s social standing, both to oneself and to others, but also showed that the lower orders of the social structure maintained their faith in, and obedience to, the higher orders. In this way not only could the government be maintained, its efficiency could be seen to be exemplified at all levels of the social and cultural hierarchy. This strictly codified and rigidly enforced system, however, was at least to some extent de... ...hose who are at the top of the hierarchy and disseminate their virtues to those below. If this system breaks down, becomes corrupt or deteriorates into a faà §ade, then only the outward trappings of order remain, in the practices of ritual: there is no inner core of wisdom and sagacity of which these practices should be the outward representation. Government may continue to function, but it is no longer motivated by the virtues and philosophies which originally motivated it, and the continuation of custom and ritual loses its meaning and significance. We see this in ‘Woman Wang’, for example, in the way that marriage is perceived: the Confucian ideal in which the man is superior, but has a responsibility to respect and protect the woman, has gone and in its place is an abusive relationship where the power remains, but the impetus to protect is gone. Wang is still confined by custom to her marriage, but it is no longer the enlightened hierarchy of Confucianism but the darker control relationship of a patriarchy. References Huang, R. (1986) 1587: a year of no significance. Yale University Press. Kuhn, P. (1990) Soulstealers. Harvard. Spence, J. (1978) Death of Woman Wang. Penguin.

Growing Up Jewish

My name is Asher Lev is a novel written by Chaim Potok, an American rabbi who narrates Asher's early life, the challenges he faces when attempting to pursue his passion and career-drawing and painting. His father disapproves of his art of drawing. Because of his concentration on the art, he becomes averse to education, which makes his community members to feel ashamed of him. Potok remained an active artist/writer until his death in 2002.The Hasidism religion does not consider the second commandment against graphic arts because art â€Å"belongs to the other side.† As Asher grows older, he learns to control his emotions in relation to his paintings and concentrate more on his art that he becomes successful. The book ends when Asher is twenty-two years old. The plot against America is a political novel written by Philip Roth. The book explains how America has become fascist post-1935 era and Hitler's allies are in control of the white house. There is total chaos in America because of national politics and hatred. Gangs go around harassing people. The lower-middle-class Jews of Weequahic, in Newark, try to learn how to use a gun to defend themselves in an apartment. America and the rest of Europe are taken over by fascist movements and imitators of Adolf Hitler and Mussolini.Both Asher and Phillip face challenges that are mainly unrelated to their lives. Their geographical location and the surrounding community determines the challenges each one of them faces. Asher and Philip face challenges that are to a certain extent unrelated. For instance, Asher is born in a conservative religious community-all the members surrounding him expects him to adhere to the Jewish religion and customs. His father is opposed to his art terming it anti-religious while Philip grows up in a quite liberal community that does not put much emphasis on religion and culture. His major challenges stem from outside his community. In My Name is Asher Levi, â€Å"During Asher's childhood, his artistic inclination brings him into conflict with the members of his Jewish community, considers art unrelated to religious expression to be at best a waste of time and possibly a sacrilege. It brings him into particularly strong conflict with his father, a man who has devoted his life to serving their leader, the Rebbe, by traveling around the world bringing the teachings and practice of their sect to other Jews, and who is by nature incapable of understanding or appreciating art† (Knopf, 2003). While in The Plot against America, â€Å"Hitler's allies rule the White House. Anti-Semitic mobs roam the streets. The lower-middle-class Jews of Weequahic, in Newark, N.J., cower in a second-floor apartment, trying to figure out how to use a gun to defend themselves. (â€Å"You pulla the trig,† a kindly neighbor explains)† (Berman Web). In My Name Is Asher, Asher has to deal with a religion that is imposed on him. His graphic art is not in line with his community's expectations. He faces the challenge of proving to his community that his art is not detrimental to his religion. As he grows older the conflict between him and his community increases. As he matures, he learns control his emotions. Though he sometimes identified himself as religious, he took on a more secular path. He had to make a choice between his art and the Jewish religion. He chose the art over his Jewish religion. As Asher grew older, he resolved to portray his challenges through paintings. He portrays his mother's suffering through Christian art. Asher shows in his book that a balance can be struck between religion and art. Religion help emphasize art. Religious figures can be depicted through art. For Philip political challenges affect him unlike Lev's that are religious; Philip has to deal with the issue of fascists taking control of his country. It encourages people to worship.Philip Roth finds his father powerless in dealing with the dominion of his country by fascists. His community members are disgruntled about his career, but he has no way of helping them. Philip has to deal with anti-Semitism that was propagated by the fascists,† America has gone fascist and ordinary life has been flattened under a steamroller of national politics and mass hatreds. Hitler's allies rule the White House. Anti-Semitic mobs roam the streets† (Davenport Web).Religious affiliation does not hinder one from achieving their goal. They must focus on achieving and perfecting what they aspire. Levi does not allow his Jewish religion and culture to hinder him from pursuing his career of art. Lev learns to do things that he loves most. He pursues a career in painting at the expense of education and religion. As he grows older, he succeeds in art. Success comes after much struggle and endurance. Lev became successful after practicing for a long time. He also was patient and enduring of his community's opposition towards his career in painting. Lev also learnt that it is a mistake to separate religion from freethinking, humanism, and development. Development has always been practiced alongside religion. In other words, religion does encourage development of the community. In â€Å"The Plot against America,† Philip learns that the need for glory makes fascists to invade other countries. They use the army, police, and gangs to achieve their goals.Fascist leaders control all aspects of the people under their control. They control economic life, religious life, social life, and economic life of the citizens. Fascists use intimidation, threats, arrests, and killings to control and subdue the people they lead. They do not allow any dissenting views from the people under their control.In Asher Lev's book â€Å"My Name Is Asher Lev,† he speaks on discrimination based on religion, culture, and secularism. His community discriminates him because of his passion on graphical art. The community tells him that art is against the Jewish religion and culture. However, on holding on onto his talent and career of painting, he succeeds. He did not allow the disagreement of his community deter him from doing what he wanted most-art.Philip Roth, on the other hand, faces the challenge of a fascist leader imposing his political beliefs on to his country- America. He too is discriminated against based on his skin color and religion. His Jewish community in America begins to train themselves how to use a gun so they can defend themselves. The fascist leader unleashes the gang to terrorize them the Jews in America. Hitler's men introduce fascism in the white house and the whole country-America.Works CitedBerman, Paul. â€Å"‘The Plot Against America'.† The New York Times, 3 Oct. 2004.Davenport, Guy.†Collision with the outside world.† The New York Times, 16 April 1972. Potok, Chaim. My Name Is Asher Lev. Knopf; 2003.

Moby Dick Essay

Questions 1.The captain, Ahab wants revenge against the great white whale Moby Dick because he lost his leg to the whale. 2.Ishmael is the narrator. The first line is â€Å"Call me Ishmael.† 3.The two allusions are the names of Captain ahab and Ishmael. Referring to Captain Ahab: Ahab is a wicked king who goes against goes against God’s will, Like how captain Ahab goes against the white whale. Referring to Ishmael: Ishmael means â€Å"outcast† or â€Å"wanderer† like how he seams to be the only person who cares anything of the beauty of nature. 4.To Captain Ahab he all that is evil in the universe. To Starbuck, he is just an animal to be killed for oil. To Ishmael, he is nature and all it’s wonder, both beautiful and terrifing. 5.Melville wrote about whaling to create a cosmic allegory to show the unglamorous a whaling, he had a deep respect for nature and wanted to expose it. The industry was significant because it provided oil for lanterns, streetlamps, and machinery and was the main oil used. 6.Melville set sail for the south pacific when he was 21. 7.Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne while writing Moby Dick. 8.The four harpooners represented different races and ethnic groups of the world bringing the Pequod to be like a symbol for the ship of state, a little democracy. 9.The Pequod is attacked by moby dick and is destroyed. Ahab was caught and shot out of the boat and vanished into the sea. Finally, Ishmael becomes the only survivor of the pequod, he floats around until he is rescued and picked up by another ship, The Rachel. 10.He was unemployed, desperately broke, and took a job as a customs inspector. He was forgotten by the public.Interview Questions to Ahab 1. What exactly did you do on the ship other than plot the death of Moby-Dick? 2. How did you keep up hope that you were actually going to encounter Moby-Dick again?3. How did you recognize and tell Moby Dick apart from all the the other whales in the world?4. Have you wanted to be the captain of a whaling ship your entire life? If not what profession did you aspire before?5. Avoiding sailor colloquial verbiage, can you describe the night of the incident with Moby Dick? Also, do you recommend anyone who is good at making ivory legs if this were to happen to anyone in the future?