Brave New World: Utopia or Dystopia Essay

The novel Brave New World has often been characterized as dystopia rather than utopia. Nevertheless, the superficial overview of the novel implies a utopian society, especially if judging by what the Controller said to John, the Savage: People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get. They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there’s soma. (Huxley, 2002: 151) Enjoying themselves in feelies, electromagnetic golf and in soma they are never worried, sad, nor solitary. The most frequent sentence pronounced in the novel which describes the people’s emo tional state of mind is „Everybody’s happy nowadays.â€Å" People spend time at work, spending money on new things, having fun and sex which does not involve any deep feelings or love relationship. The moment we take a deeper insight into this society, ideal perfection, or utopia, immediately disappears. The human kind is artificially generated, people are conditioned to suit their social roles in the Community, they are unconscious that their lives are carefully planned, manipulated and controlled by a few leaders. This picture does not imply a Brave New World to be a utopian society. Opposite to utopia stands dystopia, defined by dictionaries as „an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful livesâ€Å" (Hornby, 1995: 362). A little bit softer tone of this definition can be applied to Huxley’s society. People do not live in a fear, they do the job they are predestined to and therefore comfortable with, they lead the life they are made for, without making any arguments, and the most of all they are satisfied and happy with the way the things are. „All the people who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life. All the people who aren’t satisfied with orthodoxy, who’ve got independent ideas of their own.† (Huxley, 1995: 155) are punished. But â€Å"Brave New World has its own gentler punishments: for non-conformists, it’s exile to Iceland, where Man’s Final End can be discussed among like-minded intellects, without pestering â€Å"normal† people – in a sort of university, as it were.â€Å" (Atwood, 2007: par. 17). Contrary to this civilized society, there is another smaller society, a Savage Reservation. John, the Savage, raised in the Reservation, has been taken to the Other Place. He was eager to go there as his mother told him beautiful stories about that civilized world. People living in the Reservation are considered not to have been „civilizedâ€Å" and they lead their lives as people did before, in harmonization with nature. They believe in marriage, they are monogamous and religious. Family is important to them. All the aspects of their lives are considered as uncivilized by people from the Other Place who consider them primitive. They still undergo the process of aging and mourn when someone dies. Growing old is artificially stopped in the Other Place, and death is accepted as the usual end. In a Hospital for the Dying eighteen months – old – children get accustomed to death. „All the best toys are kept there, and they get chocolate cream on death days. They learn to take dying as a matter of course.† (Huxley, 1995: 109). This society, the World State, has its motto „Community, Identity, Stabilityâ€Å" which governs its citizens’ lives. The society is arranged so that apart from the division to social classes, everybody is part of one unit, one large community which is controlled by only a few people, called the Controllers. The Controllers created the environment which suits people’s lives in order to benefit the Community. Identity is related to the Bokanovsky process. This process creates identical people, twins of the same qualities. They can hatch out up to 96 twins from only one ovary and a gamete. These armies, or sets of identical people with same abilities serve the Community. Therefore „Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!† (Huxley, 1995: 7). Community has to be stable in order to survive. They strive for stability, â€Å"the primal and ultimate need.† (Huxley, 1995: 31). For this reason, apart from bokanovskification, controllers do their best to satisfy people’s impulses and vices, so they arranged â€Å"no strain on the mind or the muscles. Seven and a half hours of mild, unexhausting labour, and then the soma ration and games and unrestricted copulation and the feelies.† (Huxley, 1995: 153). Unrestricted copulation and the proverb â€Å"everyone belongs to everyone else†, repeated for so many times during hypnopaedic lessons, complete one another together. They can copulate with anyone they like whenever and wherever they want. Moreover, it is quite impolite not to do so. Having been raised in this manner it was so strange for Lenina when the Savage rejected to be intimate with her. Unlike Lenina, he relies on monogamy and romance, which in the World State are considered as „a narrow channelling of impulse and energy.† (Huxle y, 1995: 29). Even though they are not burdened with problems, people in the Brave New World are deprived of most human qualities. They cannot think for themselves as they have literally built-in instincts, aspirations and abilities. They are ufamiliar with what the term family connotes. What used to be the base of a prosperous and a healthy society is now regarded as something unnecessary, impure and offensive to talk about. When the Controller talked to students about family and relations in family „one of the boys, more sensitive than the rest, turned pale at the mere description and was on the point of being sick.† (Huxley, 1995: 27) since the negative attitude and feelings towards family and family life are embedded from their early childhood. The Controller once more reminds them: â€Å"And home was as squalid psychically as physically. Psychically, it was a rabbit hole, a midden, hot with the frictions of tightly packed life, reeking with emotion. What suffocating intimacies, what dangerous, insane, obscene relationships between the members of the family group!† (Huxley, 1995: 28). According to Atwood „The word â€Å"mother† – so thoroughly worshipped by the Victorians – has become a shocking obscenity.â€Å" (Atwood, 2007: par. 18). Wherever in the novel characters mention mother it drew impure connotation, like „that smutty word againâ€Å" (Huxley, 1995: 27) „full of mothers–therefore of every kind of perversion from sadism to chastity† (28) or â€Å"the word made Lenina look uncomfortable† (79) and finally â€Å"To say one was a mother–that was past a joke: it was an obscenity.† (103). One of the main characters Bernard, an Alpha plus, an intellectual, occasionally shows independent opinion. When he and Lenina were in a visit to a Savage Reservation and saw two mothers breastfeeding, Bernard noted: â€Å"What a wonderfully intimate relationship,† he said, deliberately outrageous. â€Å"And what an intensity of feeling it must generate! I often think one may have missed something in not having had a mother. And perhaps you’ve missed something in not being a mother, Lenina. Imagine yourself sitting there with a little baby of your own. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Huxley, 1995: 76) Such an observation was not something somebody would notice in that way, nor say out loud. Lenina is shocked. She looks for soma to calm her down. Her reaction is not unusual, most of the people coming from the World State would react this way for they reproduce artificially and do not take care of the children. The controllers developed many ways to manipulate people’s lives. Reproduction, which used to be the primary goal for all species, including the humankind, is now artificially carried out in laboratories. There are the so called „hatcheriesâ€Å" where human babies are hatched out of bottles and conditioned to fit their anticipated social position. The positions are occupied according to the level of their intelligence. Huxley used the Greek alphabet to name positions, starting from Alpha, the most intelligent people, and ending with Epsilons, morons who are capable for manual work. Different components are given to them while they are in bottles, as well as the amount of the oxygen. This manipulation with lives and deciding upon the role in the society in the Brave New World is a dehumanizing act. Mustapha Mond, one of the controllers, proudly explains to the Savage, who is getting more and more disappointed with what he has seen, the great biotechnology of people mani pulation „his conditioning has laid down rails along which he’s got to run. He can’t help himself; he’s foredoomed.† (Huxley, 1995: 152). Another element of manipulation is soma. It is a kind of a drug, distributed by the State, which brings about pleasant feelings, makes people happy and easygoing, with no side effects. â€Å"Soma promotes a superficial hedonism and causes alienation from the kind of â€Å"real human life† that we know. Furthermore, soma is used to keep the social order as it is.† (Schermer, 2007: 121). When his mother dies in the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying, the Savage encounters Deltas who are about to get their portions of soma. Thinking of his mother, Linda, who died as a slave he decides to free the others. He cries out â€Å"poison to soul as well as body.† (Huxley, 1995: 145) and asks them if they would rather be slaves and puppets, than to experience manhood and freedom. He creates chaos among Deltas when he starts to throw the soma pills out of the window. Deltas panic and attack him. In the end policemen spray the soma cloud into the air and play the Voice of Reason and the Voice of Good Feelings. â€Å"Two minutes later the Voice and the soma vapour had produced their effect. In tears, the Deltas were kissing and hugging one another–half a dozen twins at a time in a comprehensive embrace.† (Huxley, 1995:147). Peace and social stability were restored. World State controllers apply the so called hypnopaedic lessons to manipulate people’s psychology. Hypnopaedic proverbs, rhymes, prejudices and wisdoms are played to children while they sleep. The hypnopaedia turned out to be â€Å"the greatest moralizing and socializing force of all time.† (Huxley, 1995: 21). Moreover, hypnopaedic lessons are not the same for all social classes. For example, when Lenina, the Alpha, saw Deltas she noted â€Å"what hideous colour khaki is.† (Huxley, 1995:42) the hypnopà ¦dic prejudices of her caste. Among many of the themes hypnopaedia covers, some of them are about â€Å"hygiene, sociability, class-consciousness and toddler’s love life† (Huxley, 1995: 99). They also use the hypnopaedic rhyme â€Å"Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches.† ( Huxley, 1995:35) to encourage people to get rid of old things and constantly buy new ones. In this way they created a society accustomed to get rid of the old things and immediately replace them with the new ones. „The novel provides a prophecy of a world of test tube babies, genetic engineering, and social control.â€Å" (Carter and McRae, 2001: 433). This prophecy turned out to be in practice nowadays. Test tube babies are for those who cannot have children in natural way and genetic engineering is used to improve organisms. Ordinary people know almost nothing if those are used for manipulation and creating lives or organisms to compromise humankind. Huxley saw the beginnings of consumer society and therefore incorporated it into the novel. „There was the conscription of consumption. Every man, woman and child compelled to consume so much a year. In the interests of industry.† (Huxley, 1995:35). Nowadays there are numerous shopping malls in cities attracting consumers. Buildings and roads are full of billboards as well as mass media with advertisements which hypnotize masses and make them anxious to spend money. „Brave New World eliminated all problems, sense of loyalty or compassion, love for art and philosophy, as well as any other activities which can lead to individual thinking or even more dangerous to induce passion or feelings.† (Koljević, 2002: 133). In this way Huxley tried to warn the society of his time what can to happen to humankind if people are deprived of activities which can induce individuality, like philosophy, art, religion, family, and above all freedom, to be free to make their own choice and think for themselves. Likewise the existence of one community in the novel, the contemporary world is under the process of globalization, erasing borders between countries, and turning into one global village, one state, offering the same products worldwide and promptly delivering information. The present world is a mixture of the futuristic elements which Huxley mentioned, but it retains all activities which enable people to show their skills, their individuality. In the end the Savage dies. â€Å"The Savage seeks the admittedly narrow freedom to be unhappy rather than to escape into an induced, tidy and controlled soma dream.† (Sanders, 1994: 556). Despite his eagerness to live in the World State with all amenities it offers, he realized that he would rather feel pain if it meant to be free, than to be happy and at the same time to be someone’s slave. Brave New World developed technology to manipulate people. Its dystopian environment eventually killed the Savage, a representative of true moral values which raised the question: Will the true moral values resist as technology and science move forward? Nobody cannot stop their development, but can make use of them for proper purposes. Hopefully the humankind will be smart enough to take out the best of its history, develop science and technology to benefit people, and prevent creating uniformity and sameness to preserve the diversity of human souls. Bibliography 1. Atwood, Margaret. (2007). Everybody is happy now. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/nov/17/classics.margaretatwood 2. Carter. R. & J. McRae (2001). The Routledge History of literature in English: Britain and Ireland. New York: Routledge 3. GaÃ… ¡parić, Velimir. (2011). Vrli novi svijet – Novi Svjetski Poredak. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from http://2012-transformacijasvijesti.com/novi-svjetski-poredak/vrli-novi-svijet-novi-svjetski-poredak 4. Hornby. A.S. (1995). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press 5. Huxley, Aldous. (2002, May 18). Brave New World. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www.idph.com.br/conteudos/ebooks/BraveNewWorld.pdf 6. Koljević, Svetozar. (2002). Engleski romansijeri XX veka. Beograd: Zavod za udÃ… ¾benike i nastavna sredstva 7. Sanders, Andrew. (1994). The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press 8. Schermer, M. H. N. (2007). Brave New World versus Island – Utopian and Dystopian Views on Psychophar macology, Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 10:119 –128

Meaning of Life and Success Essay

The United States has no more important foreign relation ship than that of which it enjoys with Mexico, and vice versa. These two countries share interwoven societies and economies. Although there have been disagreements and turbulence between the two countries, which partnership is without these? The Strength of each country’s democracy is fundamental to the other’s. This relationship that the two countries share directly affects that lives of millions of Mexican and United States citizens everyday. Recently these two countries have become even more unified than ever before. Tackling issues such as Border Control, Countering Narcotics, Dealing with multiple Law enforcement agencies, Human Rights laws, trade and development, etc. There are many issues that they are mutually interested in and must deal with. Yet, there are some vast differences in which these two countries are run. There are also many similarities, which we must take into account. Both Democratic Governments have similar structures, containing a legislative, judicial, and executive branch. Yet, these structures are very different internally, containing specific duties that the other country’s branch may not have. The Executive Branch refers to the Presidential seat in both governments. The Presidency is a paramount institution, not only of the Mexican Government but of the US Government as well. The Countries entire political system is positioned around the presidency. In the United States the President also serves as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President appoints the cabinet and oversees the various agencies and departments of the Federal Government. The Executive Branch is checked by Congress which would be the Legislative Branch. In order for someone to become President, he or she must be a natural -born citizen of the United States. He or she must be at least 35 years of age and must have resided in the US for at least fourteen years. Once elected, the President must serve a term of four years, and may be re-elected only once. Now, the Executive Branch of the Mexican government is very similar to that of its neighbors, but there are some pivotal differences in the institution. Presidents are elected by a majority of registered voters in the thirty-one states and the Federal District. The President holds the formal titles of chief of state, head of government, and commander in chief of armed forces. The candidates must also be at least thirty-five years of age by election day. And they must not only be Mexican citizens by birth but must also be the offspring of Mexican Citizens by birth. Unlike the US, the candidate cannot have held cabinet post or a governorship, nor have been on active military duty during the six months prior to the election. Critics have labeled the presidency the â€Å"six year monarchy† due to the length of the term being six years, and because of the seemingly unchecked power that has resided in the office. Much of the presidential power is derived from the presidents direct and unchallenged control over both the state and the ruling party, the PRI. One of the Unique features of the Mexican Presidency that has caused a great uproar since the 1930’s is the process of presidential succession. Mexicos PRI presidents have enjoyed the right to personally name their successor. This privilege is known as the dedazo, which means the Tap. Also, one huge difference in the executive branch between the two governments is the issue of Vice Presidency. Mexico simply has no Vice President. Further reinforcing the presidents unchallenged power. Meanwhile the United States does have a Vice Presidential position . A position that is voted on in the same campaign as the President. They are looked at as more of a team, a two for the price of one deal. Legislative powers consist of the congress, which is divided into two chambers, the senate and the House of Representatives. Each member of the congress is elected by the people of his or her state. The Senate holds 100 seats, two seats per state. The House of Representatives seats are based on the poplation of each state, holding about 435 seats. The difference between these two is that a representatives term is for two years, while senators are elected for six year terms. In Mexico the legislative branch of government consists of a bicameral congress, El Congreso de la Union. This congress, like the US’s, is divided into an upper chamber, the senate, and a lower chamber, chamber of deputies. Just like the US, both chambers are responsible for the discussion and approval of legislation and the ratification of high-level presidential appointments. The senate consisted of sixty-four members, two members for each state and two representing the Federal District elected by a direct vote from the population for a six year term. In later years, as part of electoral reforms the size of the senate doubled in size and now holds 128 members. Since 1986 the house of deputies consisted of 500 seats. 200 of these seats are elected by a proportional representation from among large districts. Members of the Chamber of Deputies serve three year terms, All members are not allowed to run for re-election, but they may serve non-consecutive terms.

Applied Business Research and Motivation

According to the context, here the topic concerned is demands of the customers of Swaraj Tractor and their employee motivation. Swaraj tractor is based in Punjab, which is the state having highest density of tractors i.e. 100 tractors with in 1000 hectors of land. It is the most popular brand of tractor in Mohali, Punjab. It is famous to the farmers for their reliability and stability factor of machineries used in the tractors. In 2009 the company merged with Mahindra and Mahindra Limited and named as â€Å"Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, Swaraj Division†. According to the report published in the business magazine in 2007, it was confirmed that the company was losing their vision. So at this point of time, employee motivation and analyzing the demands of the customer of the Swaraj Tractor is very important (Lăzăroiu, 2015).   India is the largest tractor manufacturing country in the world. The problem Swaraj Tractor facing according to the report published in the business magazines in 2007 is that the employees are complaining that, the company is losing their missions which is resulting into their bad production and the demands of the customers is not getting fulfilled. Swaraj Tractors was the best brand in Punjab while considering meeting the demands of the customers. Due to some internal problems within the company, the company was losing their interest from their missions and getting diverted to a degradation of the company according to the quality of production. So in this case providing motivation to the employees and understanding the demands of the customers are very important (Skudiene & Auruskeviciene, 2012). According to the competitive market, it is very important to understand the customer demands and motivate the employees for competing with the developing trends. So globally this issue is v ery crucial for any company or industry. In Punjab Swaraj tractor is the best supplier of tractor according to the customer demands, but due to some problematic situation the organization is not meeting their missions and goals (Chaudhary & Sharma, 2012). In addition to this, the mentioned approach helps the organization to build good relationship between the higher authority of the organization and the employees. If the customer demands are considered, it can only be fulfilled by chasing the ongoing trends in the market. The researcher shows here the demographic study of the cause behind the lower production of Swaraj Tractors. Each and every employee of any company conveys the figure of the organizational goal and objectives they have set for their betterment in their path way of improvement and achieving competitive position in the marketplace. Research aim is there in the research to understand the importance of the issue mentioned in the topic. Researcher focuses on the framework required for solving the issues regarding the topic. The important aim of this research is that, to understand the demands of the customer and analyze the motivational factors to be developed and empowered by the organization of the employees (Asim, 2013). This aspect will leads to the development of the Swaraj Tractors and they can easily retrieve their position in the competitive market (Prosser, 2014). According to the research aim, the researcher tries to build some research objectives to make sure the realization of the research aim. The research objectives are discussed as follows: In this chapter the researcher mainly focuses on the problematic situations raised with in the Swaraj Tractors Limited. In order to remove these problematic situations the entrepreneur requires taking some steps with respect to the developmental aspect of the organization. This chapter mainly focuses on the motivational aspect and customer demands of this organization as the problematic situation is raised due to the lack of motivational factors among the organizational members. Here the researcher shows various recommendations for restoring strengthening elements of the employees. Motivational impact matters in the sector of the production of any organization (Manzoor, 2012). Conceptual framework helps the researcher to understand the topic of the research and also introduces the identification of the theories and models to analyze the topic in a standardized manner. Various models and theories help the researcher to relate different variables of the topic. The tractors are mainly used for harvesting operation, pulling loads, and farming. In case of the farmers, they have lands for harvesting, so they wants long lasting tractor with good quality of parts. If the company provides duplicate spare parts to their customers, then the customer demands will not be satisfied. The capacities of the tractors are measured according to the Horse Power ratings of the tractors. Initially the Swaraj Tractors sale the tractors of ratings 30 HP. In the present scenario, their competitors have invented new 50 HP tractors, which is motivating the customer demands. So the company have to now build 50 HP or more than that tractors to compete with the changeable market. The harvesting time also matters to the farmers as this determines the capability of the tractor that how efficient is that one in comparison with the other manufacturers in the market (Shahin et al., 2013). According to the research findings Swaraj Tractors follows the Kano analysis for unde rstanding the demands of their customers according to the ongoing trends in the market (Jin & Oriaku, 2013). This analysis mainly deals with the providing satisfaction to basic needs of the customer, performance needs of the customer, excitement needs of the customers (Bey et al., 2013).    According to the context, the problematic situation was due to lack of motivation among the employee. The organization should use some models for generating motivation among the employees. These models are explained bellow: This aspect deals with the providence of incentives to the employees in an acquired time. These are considered as the part of the encouraging element towards the employee. Activation of these policies motivates the employees for giving their best at their work and sometimes they achieve more than the set limit (Mackey & Gass, 2015). This is also an important aspect while considering the developing motivational impact on the employees of any organization. The organization should make concerned training programs and rules for the employees for making good relationship with the customers. This aspect helps the organization to develop the image of the organization in the view point of the customers. The drive to Comprehend and challenged: One organization should always for and motivate the employees for taking risks at the field of work. This aspect introduces new scenarios to them which build new experiences on them to handle the situation properly. There may be various situations in the organization but the management should introduce some persons who will guide the employees and protect them from the circumstantial situation. The problem needs to be solved for the betterment of the Swaraj Tractor. The company contains large, small, heavy and standard room with assembly shop; all these centers should be controlled by the organization (Flick, 2015). According to the context, if the employees of the organization are motivated in a proper way, then the authority can assure that their production will be good, because the employees are crucial part of any organization. Proper training program and mutual cooperation of the members of the organization can build good relationship among the employees (Gelman et al., 2014). The above mentioned theory of motivational perspective of the employees helps the organization to understand their employees. In addition to this, understanding the demands of the customer helps the organization for coping up with the evolving trends in the market (Thomson & Emery, 2014). In the time of conducting this research, the researcher faced many issues, which are considered as the Gap of this literature. This portion of the research focuses on the analysis of the missing factors which might help the organization to build a strong mission for their organization. According to the research, the Swaraj Tractors have used mainly two models for developing their situation: Kano analysis for understanding the customer demands and 5 drive models for bringing the motivational aspect among the employees. These models also have draw backs according to the demands of the critical situation faced by the organization. The Kano analysis fall under traditional demand analysis models, but in case of Swaraj Tractors they needs to follow advanced demand Analysis model. 5 drive models though does not have any back log or drawback, still there could be some better option to motivate the employees of the Swaraj Tractors. The above mentioned gaps helps the entrepreneur to understand the drawbacks and they can easily find the strategies to reduce these (Shyu et al., 2013). The conclusion drawn from this research is that, the employee motivation and understanding the customer demands are two crucial factors for the improving the quality of service and maintaining the competitive position in the market. The factor employee motivation strongly influences the aspect of customer motivation. According to the research findings, all the drivers of involved into motivating employees are shifting their impact to the customer satisfaction. So the customer satisfaction has become the indicator for judging the stability of any company. Most importantly the customer satisfaction is meeting by fulfilling the demands of the customer. There are several sectors, where the employees are directly contacted by the employees of the organization for any kind of clarification they needed for the product they are using or any kind of problem they are facing in the process of using that particular product or services.   The employees get terminated if they are incompatible wh ile solving the demands of their customers. The fundamental approaches behind these behaviors are the employees are treated in the same way as they treat with their customers. Each and every employee of any company conveys the figure of the organizational goal and objectives they have set for their betterment in their path way of improvement and achieving competitive position in the marketplace. The motivating elements for the employee motivation are: monetary benefits, overall strategic vision of the company, proper training providence etc. if these factors are not maintained properly then it is totally a difficult situation for a company to survive in the competitive market.   According to the context of this report, Swaraj Tractor is facing some problem due to lack of employee motivation, which is affecting their overall productivity and position in the market. They are getting backward in comparison with their competitors, as their quality of product is getting reduced. This research paper discussed about the models by w hich the organization can motivate their employee from different perspective and get their position back with the same quality that they had previously. These interconnected models and also the recommendation provided for Swaraj Transport can help their owner to improvise the strategies for achieving their organizational goals and making their employee happy. These approaches create a good atmosphere where the collaboration between the employee and customer gets healthier atmosphere to grow. In addition to this, the mentioned approach helps the organization to build good relationship between the higher authority of the organization and the employees. If the customer demands are considered, it can only be fulfilled by chasing the ongoing trends in the market. The researcher shows here the demographic study of the cause behind the lower production of Swaraj Tractors. Each and every employee of any company conveys the figure of the organizational goal and objectives they have set for t heir betterment in their path way of improvement and achieving competitive position in the marketplace. The employees are getting demoralized and not finding their goals clear, this report will help the entrepreneurs of Swaraj Tractors to motivate their employees well and understand the demands of their customer. Asim, M. (2013). Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance with effect of training: Specific to Education Sector of Pakistan.  International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications,  3(9), 1-9. Bey, N., Hauschild, M. Z., & McAloone, T. C. (2013). Drivers and barriers for implementation of environmental strategies in manufacturing companies.CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology,  62(1), 43-46. Chaudhary, N., & Sharma, B. (2012). Impact of employee motivation on performance (productivity) in private organization.  International Journal of Business Trends and Technology,  2(4), 29-35. Flick, U. (2015).  Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage. Gelman, A., Carlin, J. B., Stern, H. S., & Rubin, D. B. (2014).  Bayesian data analysis  (Vol. 2). Boca Raton, FL, USA: Chapman & Hall/CRC. Jin, Y., & Oriaku, N. (2013). E-service flexibility: meeting new customer demands online.  Management Research Review,  36(11), 1123-1136. Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance.  Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, (14), 97-102. Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015).  Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge. Manzoor, Q. A. (2012). Impact of employees motivation on organizational effectiveness.  Business management and strategy,  3(1), 1. Pfaff, D. W. (Ed.). (2012).  The physiological mechanisms of motivation. Springer Science & Business Media. Prosser, R. (2014).  An Exploratory Investigation of Employee Motivation in the Private Sector: A Study of Dow Corling  (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University). Shahin, A., Pourhamidi, M., Antony, J., & Hyun Park, S. (2013). Typology of Kano models: a critical review of literature and proposition of a revised model.  International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management,  30(3), 341-358. Shyu, J. C., Chang, W., & Ko, H. T. (2013). Comparative analysis of experience-oriented customer needs and manufacturer supplies based on the Kano model.  Total Quality Management & Business Excellence,  24(11-12), 1272-1287. Skudiene, V., & Auruskeviciene, V. (2012). The contribution of corporate social responsibility to internal employee motivation.  Baltic Journal of Management,  7(1), 49-67. Thomson, R. E., & Emery, W. J. (2014).  Data analysis methods in physical oceanography. Newnes. Watling, C. N., Armstrong, K. A., Obst, P. L., & Smith, S. S. (2014). Continuing to drive while sleepy: The influence of sleepiness countermeasures, motivation for driving sleepy, and risk perception.Accident Analysis & Prevention,  73, 262-268. Looking for an answer 'who will do my essay for cheap',

The Anti Slavery Movement In Britain in Birmingham Coursework

The Anti Slavery Movement In Britain in Birmingham - Coursework Example This is because of the fact that though Britain was one of the most influential and prosperous nations in this regard, other nations were no les behind. The practice of slave trade was rather a tricky affair and the basis of such trade was 'need'. Ships from ports such as Liverpool and Bristol used to head towards the backward African mainland laden with small goods such as spices, fabrics, arms and knives etc. things were by far petty and simple for the white man, but something that was of extreme value and demand to the African people. This is because these were some of the many things that the African were deprived of in those days given their backwardness. More often, such goods used to be of very cheap quality, for which Africa proved to be a lucrative 'dump'. As the topic of the essay ges to say, the anti slavery movement has an important association with Britain, and among these, the city of Birmingham has come to hold an important place. Most of these low quality and sub-standard goods were made in Birmingham and were popularly referred to as 'Brummagem ware'. In return for these goods, the African people had to pay the heaviest price they could have ever thought of-'themselves'. Goods were exchanged for large number of African people, who were then brought back or taken to other territories, where they were either sold of slaves or made to do hard work in the form of slaves in those territories. Many of them were captured in armed conflicts with the Europeans winning all of them given the kind of firearms they possessed in comparison to the bows and arrows, wherein the former outclassed the latter.After having been captured or being brought in as part of the trade, these people were then packed like sardines into these slave ships and were brought home to Britain in such inhuman and inhospitable conditions that many of them would perish midway. The conditions were so worse that they would not have the opportunity t o do even the commonest of other daily activities (as they were jam-packed), which resulted in the outbreak of disease. By the turn of the eighteenth century, the trade of slaves had risen to such terrific proportions that ships from Britain were now bringing back as many as 50,000 slaves every year. Those slaves who managed to survive through all the above-mentioned hardships were then sold for transportation to places such as the windies or the America to work in plantations, factories, mills etc1. The goods produced by the slaves within those regions would then come back to Britain, where they were then sold or sold in the colonies for exorbitant prices. Thu, it can be understood that the practice of slave trade profited Britain in particular, and the countries of Europe in general have benefited in huge ways by making huge profits on many trade-related fronts. On the other hand, the slaves who labored hard were made to live and work in inhospitable conditions ridden with poverty and disease. Thus, their fruits of labor were enjoyed by the people back in Britain (and Europe). Moreover, there was no sense of knowledge within the British public largely about the conditions that existed in these plantations and factories, while many just did not bother to know any2.But, as time passed by and decades rolled past, a sense of consciousness began to emerge

Lab report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Lab Report Example However, severe malfunction of the heart and the nervous system can be caused by significant excess of the elements in the body. Abnormally high or low levels of sodium or potassium can be caused by excess use of diuretic drugs, poor diet or impaired kidney function. These conditions may lead to nausea, seizures, lethargy, irregular heartbeat, coma and even death in severe cases. Although cases of deliberate poisoning using sodium and potassium, they are readily and widely available in a salt form. Potassium chloride solution can be administered through intravenous injection and have been used in euthanasia and political assassinations. Sodium and potassium levels can be monitored using flame photometry. The analytical technique is a simple form of atomic spectroscopy that depends on the atomic emission process. The solution of the sample is drawn into a flame which is sufficiently hot to cause atomization and electronic excitation of certain elements. They emit visible radiation at wavelengths that are specific to that element as the atoms return to their ground state. The radiation is isolated by an appropriate filter and converted to an electrical current that is proportional to the intensity of the emitted radiation therefore determining the concentration of the element. Flame photometers are relatively cheap and portable but can only determine alkaline and alkaline earth metals such as sodium, potassium, lithium barium and lithium (Chawla, 2003). This experiment is aimed to measure the concentrations of sodium and potassium by use of flame photometry in a range of samples in connection to fictitious criminal investigation. An 18 month old infant, Master Nathaniel Carbuncle, was admitted to a hospital intensive care unit suffering from nausea and fatigue, a slow heartbeat and weak pulse. The child was found to have an abnormal blood electrolyte

Cycle of Knowledge Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cycle of Knowledge Management - Assignment Example The management of a knowledge based organisation counters an important challenge in regards to management of the human resources engaged who manage the organisational knowledge systems. People working in a knowledge based organisation share the large volumes of explicit knowledge between each other. The explicit knowledge is gained by the individuals from the external business environment and the potential of gaining effective knowledge from outside sources also depends on the absorptive capacity of the persons (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990, p.128-129). This explicit knowledge is transmitted among the organisational people through effective training programs thus helping in effective decision making activities regarding modification of products and the processes (Choo and Johnston, 2004, p.78-79). Such information is shared between the human resource team in the form of informal conversations and is stored in the form of personal archives in notebooks and personal files maintained in th e concern. This practice of the archiving the personal knowledge databases of the people working in the business organisation saves both time and energy in times of need. It is because the people in the form of informal relationships tend to share potential knowledge resources unknowingly. These recorded in the archives helps the people in retrieving and gaining access to them in an easy manner. Thus through the above system the knowledge base of the workers can be rightly managed and enhanced.... These recorded in the archives helps the people in retrieving and gaining access to them in an easy manner. Thus through the above system the knowledge base of the workers can be rightly managed and enhanced to help enhance organisational productivity. Encouraging the persons to share their personal level knowledge excites them to think and work in a more creative and innovative fashion. The knowledge base of the employees enhanced on the basis of explicit knowledge can be used further to enhance the knowledge base of the other employees in the organisation. Thus the explicit knowledge gained by one group of employees becomes implicit or tacit in case of others who endeavour to gain such from the archives (Jain, 2011, p.1-5, 11-12). Role of Human Resource Management in Knowledge Organisation From the above discussion it becomes clear that the process of sharing of knowledge resources within the premises of an organization greatly depends on the activities of the internal people. Henc eforth human resources play an integrated role in the knowledge sharing activity within an organization based on certain value, systems and structures. The process of sharing of knowledge inside an organization can be understood mainly in three ways. Firstly the organisation serves as a large knowledge structure which can be used by the employees in disseminating potential information along the different layers. Similarly in the second case the knowledge base can be shared among the individuals through an interpersonal approach (Bhatnagar, 2006, p.419-420). In here the knowledge gained by one group based on experiences is shared amongst the others or the new comers in the organisational process.

Advanced Nursing Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Advanced Nursing Role - Essay Example elly (2012) front line managers are responsible for patient care delivery, planning and monitoring resources, maintaining codes and standards and developing and evaluating staff. Middle-level managers facilitate cooperating in the organization by serving as a link between front line and upper-level managers. Upper-level managers are specialized in management and administration of the healthcare organization; by establishing goals and strategizing plans (p. 401). I agree that nurse managers and nurse administrators have supervisory tasks in an organization. Even though individuals sometimes regard a nurse administrator and nurse manager as one administration role, it should be noted that these two roles differ in responsibility and payment. Nurse Managers are responsible for a single unit within a medical facility, while a nurse administrator is responsible for more than one unit all units in a medical facility. Additionally, nurse managers fall under the category of middle management, while nurse administrators fall under executive level management (Crowther, 2008). In regard to educational level; nevertheless, they can possess a graduate degree as an added advantage; while nurse administrators require a graduate degree as well as clinical experience. Nurse Managers work directly with nurses who offer primary care to patients, giving guidance on the appropriate medical care, whereas nurse administrators work with middle-level managers and other senior staff, thereby providing indirect care to patients (Parker & Smith,

Recruitment in Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Recruitment in Human Resource Management - Essay Example According to the study, when recruiting, it is of critical importance for an organization to avoid any form of discrimination because employment laws protect individuals against such treatment. Here, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 has taken care of any discrimination issues that may arise due to pregnancy, childbirth or any other related medical conditions. Specifically, this Act protects individuals against issues related to employment such as promotion, layoffs, training, hiring, and leaves among other conditions related to employment. When discriminations take place, the employee or employees can file lawsuits for unfair treatment. However, it is important to understand that some instances that may pass as discrimination are allowed by the law and include jobs such as those that require members of a certain religion. At times, pregnancy discrimination may be viewed as discrimination based on gender. In the case of Jenny and Melbourne Finance, Jenny has a right to take le gal action against the organization because of how it conducted her previous application for an opportunity. It is clear that she was discriminated because she was pregnant. Although the organization may have had genuine reasons for denying her the opportunity such as that she may have to undertake constant visits to the doctor for pregnancy check-ups, they still violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This is one of the main mistakes that the organization did during the recruitment. It is appropriate to conclude that she was discriminated because of several reasons that include that she was more aware of how the organization ran implying that she was more qualified than an external individual would be and that the position that she was awarded later was senior to the one that she was denied.

The Theme of Politics in Detective Fiction Essay

The Theme of Politics in Detective Fiction - Essay Example The Theme of Politics in Detective Fiction First, Politics has influence on detectives morals since they are also human beings expected to abide by the societal moral codes. The society expects investigators to portray excellent morals when handling criminal matters because people’s lives depend on the outcome. Whereas morals may differ from one culture to another, there is single moral that binds all the happenings of society; that is, the goal of doing well to another person. However, political influence on detective characters may alter the moral thinking with which they execute their duties. In fact, Dey brings forward, through the tales, the moral, political, and epistemological queries through the rationalistic and surveillance interpretations of detectives (97-20). According to him, bad politics hampers detective work. Secondly, the credibility of Detective findings depends on the political atmosphere at a specific time of the event. Harpham says that politicians get mad at each other, only when seasons changes (122). He adds that detective work involves rubbing shoulders with the politicians in some instances (127). Depending on the nature of favors that politicians may call from the detectives, some investigation findings risk being biased. In fact, the aspect is well portrayed in Dey’s articles when the author shows influence of political authority on the lives of various people such as Robbe-Grillet, and Agatha Christie murdered using political power (Dey 20).

Absence Of Populism In Colombia Essay Example for Free

Absence Of Populism In Colombia Essay The term populism refers to a political system where the leaders appeal directly to the people and seek the support of social sectors that are not adequately represented in the political arrangements that exist. In a populist system, the leaders tend to enjoy the support of the mass as a result of mass mobilization. In many Latin American nations such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Peru and Mexico, one or more administrations have adopted populist policies (Dornbusch and Edwards, pg. 7). However, populism has failed to emerge in Colombia raising the question of why populism is not part of the Colombian society. Although populism in Colombian was promoted by the political leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan who was assassinated in 1948, populism failed to emerge after his death. Gaitan assassinated ended populist leadership in Columbia . Up to date, Colombia has managed to adopt a non-populist political system. Although the current Colombian President Alvaro Uribe leadership is considered to have some elements common with many populists, he is not a populist. The issue of absence of populism in Colombia in a continent dominated by populism and the reasons behind the absence needs to be examined. President Alvaro Uribe non-populist leadership has been attributed to his lack of interest in mobilizing masses and activating supporters. These factors are important elements in populism. This paper will explore the reasons behind absence of populism in Colombia by tracing historical events in the country. The paper will first present a belief history of Colombia and important events during the leadership of Jorge Gaitan. His emergence as a political leader and the peoples’ reaction to his emergence will be explored as well as the reasons behind lack of populism emergence after his death . Finally, the paper will evaluate President Uribe non-populist policies and why/how he has made great efforts to make Colombia prosper in absence of populism and left tendencies. Discussion A Brief overview of populism Populism embraces political representation that challenges the democratic political society where a highly polarized concept of society exists. Populist regimes like the ones that have been witnessed in Latin American emphasize on the social divide between the privileged who have benefited from the existing political practices and the underprivileged who account for the excluded majority (Coniff, pg. 22). Populist leaders claim to represent this underprivileged group that comprises of the poor and promise social justice. As a result, the leaders tend to reject any political intermediation that aim at limiting and checking their political power. Some political analysts consider populism to be nationalistic, authoritarian and depend on social mobilization for support. Many populist regimes often destroy traditional parties. The populist manifestation indicates that the traditional market reforms in a populist regime are unable to sustain economic growth, reduce poverty, generate employment opportunities and reduce inequality. Although populist leaders use democratic means to assume into political power, they are involved in undermining democratic institutions once they get into office. History of Colombia and events at the time of populist Jorge Eliecier Gaitan The collapse of the Gran Colombia 1830 led to the emergence of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Colombia became a republic in 1886. Two major political parties, the Liberal and Conservative parties emerged in Colombia due to the differences between the followers of two leaders Paula Santander and Simon Bolivar These two parties dominated the Colombian politics for a long time. Gaitan became achieved national prestige through his efforts of addressing the issues of concern of the peasants. For instance, he was involved in a Congressional investigation of worker’s revolt and strike in 1929 in Santa Marta and also wrote on the excesses of management and repressive intervention of the army in Colombia. This made Gaitan win great popular prestige and become a hero among the peasants. He joined the left wing of the Liberal party after 1930s and managed to win Congressional elections in March 1947. He continued to strengthen his position and increase his popularity by trying to reach the masses and giving them hope The Colombian society comprised of the privileged who held political offices and the poor who considered Gaitan to fight for their rights. Peasant populism and rural protests were witnessed since the 1930s. Gaitan became a charismatic leader of the Liberal party (Sharpless, pg,36). His popularity and claims to fight for the welfare of the masses attracted hundreds of thousands of low income Colombians and Union members in his political meetings. He was admired for denouncing moral, social and economic events that oppressed the masses which he promised to eliminate with cooperation and support from the people . His claim to champion the cause of the masses increased populism. The people, most of whom were peasants and low income earners were attracted by Gaitans leadership. For instance, the issue of land reforms which he seemed to address was of great concern to the people. For example, by mobilizing the masses to protest through the streets of Bogota in February 1948, Gaitan gained the support of the masses . He was assassinated two months later, an event that triggered the â€Å"La violencia†. This was characterized by confrontation between the Conservative and Liberal parties’ supporters and hostilities between classes. The Colombian society experienced violence and instability. Non-populism in Colombia after Gaitan’s death .The absence of populist regimes in Colombia in the 1930s and 1940s as well as the political instability that was witnessed in Colombia (Dix, pg. 342). After Gaitan’s assassination made it impossible for the political leaders to put into place populist regime in Colombia. Uncontrolled human confrontation in Bogota spread to the country side where bands were organized to create terror. La Violencia is estimated to have led to the deaths of more than 200,000 people over duration of eighteen years, the 1948 – 1958 periods was bloodiest . One of the most powerful guerilla group in Colombia, and known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was the product of this conflict. The period after Gaitan’s death was marked by lack of hope in the masses and the political society. Armed confrontation was characterized by rebellions and riots between 1948 and 1966(Hylton, pg. 40). Because populism requires leaders to mobilize the masses, violence drove Colombia into a politically unstable nation. The political instability that was experienced in the country made it impossible for the political leaders to secure leadership through populism. There was mass social frustration due to the killings and displacement of a large number of people. Those who had believed that Jorge Gaitan was the only hope for improving the lives of the masses were disappointed. In Bogota and the Mariano Ospina’s government struggled to restore order in Colombia. However, the rural violence that was witnessed triggered a state of undeclared civil war and violence spread throughout the country. Only the southernmost parts of Marino and Caribbean coastal area were spared. The violence phenomenon became complex and was characterized by sheer rural banditry as well as partisan political rivalry (Roldan, pg. 93). The political rivalry undermined the emergence of populism because this period of internal disorder led to the refusal by successive Colombian governments to give in to the peoples’ demand for social economic change. The repressive nature of the Ospina government undermined efforts of political leadership to participate in political meetings or engage in efforts that could increase one’s popularity but undermine the government. Violence and instability continued (Palacios, pg. 72). For example, the government on March 1949 banned all public meetings and had all Liberal governors leave their positions. These measures were being taken to restore order in the country. Furthermore, the government in 1949 ordered the closure of Congress. This meant that the political system in Colombia could no longer function as usual. The rural police forces intensified efforts to fight the Liberals and the belligerents. As a result, the liberals protest led to the liberals’ eventual resignation form their positions and as a result, protests by the Liberals continued. The failure by the Liberal party to contest during the presidential elections had Laureano Gomez, a Conservative candidate take over office in 1950. Gomez was the leader of a reactionary faction and preferred authority and order. The constitution that was drafted under Gomez’s’ guidance in 1953 was expected to expand the powers of departmental governors and enhance presidential autonomy. In order to contain the mounting violence and to prevent the regaining of power by the liberals, Gomez tried to curtail avail liberties and to acquire broad powers. In addition, the independent labor unions were removed and the congressional elections were held without any opposition. Other measures that the Gomez administration put into place included the control of courts by the executive, censoring of the press. Gomez also directed his repression against the Liberal opposition. There was relative economic prosperity during this time due to the expansion of the export markets and foreign investment increase. However, Gomez lost support due to military establishment, attacks on moderate conservatives. Gomez illness in 1951 had Roberto Urdaneta become the acting president. General Gustavo Rojas took over power in 1953 and military leadership that was witnessed in the country continued to undermine political participation and democracy in the country. In the 1960s, armed conflicts whereby left-wing insurgents, government forces and right-wing paramilitaries were witnessed in Colombia. There was lack of civil authority and public order and intense military operations were undertaken to counter the opposition. Rojas was however removed from power in 1957 leading to the restoration of civilian rule after some moderate Liberals and Conservatives formed a bipartisan coalition known as the National Front. Alberto Lleras Camargo served as Colombia’s president upto 1962. All these events made it difficult for populist regimes to emerge again in Colombia and up to date, Colombian leadership is still non-populist. Alvaro Uribe’s policies and non-populism The absence of populism in Colombia is unique in a continent where populist politics are still evident today . The current Colombian President Alvaro Uribe policies are not populist despite having some elements of populism. President Uribes is now in his second term in office. His policies have not aimed at increasing mass support for his government. In populist regimes, government policies tend to be implemented in a manner that tries to win the support of the masses. Since Uribe assumed into power, he has not advocated for policies that aim at addressing the needs of all the citizens. Instead, he has focused on improving economic development and improving security in the country. The main reason why Uribe is not populist can therefore be attributed to the fact that he has not made efforts to mobilize masses and cultivate supporters. Rather than focusing on efforts to uplift the poor in order to gain the support of the masses, President Uribe policies emphasize on improving economic growth and security. As a result, since his elections into office in 2002, he has received high approval ratings due to his policies that have promoted sustained economic growth, security and continuous implementation of sound social programs. The domestic security policy that Uribe has adopted plays a critical role in promoting democratic representation in governance. The policy was unveiled in 2003 and the efforts by Uribe’s administration to deepen democracy and strengthen democratic representation have ensured that democratic institutions have not been undermined to create populism. After being elected into office and inaugurated on 7th August 2002, President Uribe introduced radical policies to improve security. Insecurity in Colombia due to violence has for decades undermined economic and social development. President Uribe is a tough conservative whose political life has focused in fighting rebels and illegal armed groups in the country which cause the instability. The landslide victory for the second term provided him with adequate time to address the issue of drug trafficking and armed groups. The democratic security policy seeks to cater for the wellbeing of all Colombians. (The Uribe Administrations Democratic Security and Defense Policy, pg 1). The Colombian government has been working together with the US to fight drug trafficking groups and leftist insurgent groups by consolidating state control so that the country is not a sanctuary of perpetrators of violence, terrorists and drug traffickers (Kirk, pg 52). This has protected the entire population from illegal drug trade and victimization by illegal armed groups. The government social programs have been well planned and coordinated unlike in populist regimes. The programs receive consistent and great financial support from the government in order to increase social and economic development across the country. In other populist regimes in Latin America, social programs are poorly coordinated, fail to reach the targeted beneficiaries and receive huge funds during the election period. This has not been the case for Colombia. Uribe’s social programs to improve the living standards of the people by reducing inequalities has minimized sectoral and class conflicts in Colombia (US Central Intelligence,np) Agency. Populism is established when inequalities are not eliminated hence they create a social divide between the privileged and the underprivileged. In addition, populism is promoted when a large group of people who feel that they very minimal benefits from economic development support populists who promise to improve their welfare. In Colombia, the social divide has been addressed by the economic policy that has been implemented to improve income distribution. The benefits of the social programs reach the expected beneficiaries. The element of clientelism that still exists in Colombia prevents enlarged political participation and mobilization. The political system is supported by faithfulness and loyalty and together with the development of professional class of politicians who are committed to intermediating between the voters and the state has made it difficult for populists to succeed. The government has accepted limits and checks in governance and intermediation between the state and the civil society is possible. Uribe’s leadership has not in any way attempted to mobilize the masses in efforts to overcome inequality and poverty. The efforts to improve leadership and promote democracy in the government oppose the utilization of state resources for personal interests or to maximize political support. This is a clear indication that Uribe is not a populist. However, his efforts to have the constitution amended so that he may run for a third term in office has made him resemble the populist presidents who undermine traditional institutions of democracy. President Uribe has shown great commitment in maintaining democratic institutions and addressing the needs of Colombia as a nation rather than focusing on issues that increase the support of the masses. Why and how President Uribe efforts to make Colombia prosperous President Uribe has been making great efforts to make Colombia a prosperous nation free of populism and leftist tendencies. Populism and leftist tendencies undermine democratic institutions and result to political instability that compromises prosperity of a nation. Political stability is meant to support economic prosperity which improves the living standards of the poor. This narrows the social divide that allows populism to contribute to low economic and social development. For instance, the presence of leftist armed groups for decades has made it impossible for the government and the people to increase economic prosperity. The primary groups that are considered to be a threat to Colombia’s stability and peace are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the ELN guerillas. These groups rely on criminal activities to generate funds. War and drug trade have derailed economic prosperity in Colombia for a long time (Livingstone, pg. 21). This has turned Colombia into one of the world’s largest center for drug trafficking. President Uribe democratic security policy has improved both the national security and economic growth due to stability. In Uribe’s administration government policies, lack of populism is clear . This has been achieved by ensuring that market reforms move towards sustaining economic growth, reduction of poverty and unemployment as well as a reduction in inequality. Uribe’s economic policy has been able to move away from economic populism where emphasis is placed on the risk of deficit finance and inflation, reaction of economic agents on non-market policies and external constraints. Rather than mobilize the masses through the implementation of social programs that never benefit the people, Uribe’s government has developed and implemented sound social programs that distribute resources equally and have the living standards of the underprivileged improved. In other Latin American nations, social programs are implemented by the political leaders to win the support of the masses. Unfortunately, the people never benefit from the programs because a large proportion of the financial resources put aside to support the programs is either wasted or embezzled. The allocation of resources to support government programs has been consistent, an issue that has improved economic growth in Colombia. Transparency and democracy ensure that leaders are responsible and accountable. By improving the living standards of the people across the nation, Uribe’s leadership has made it difficult for political leaders to become populists by claiming to represent the underprivileged. The presence of leftist groups in Colombia has led to blood shed, prosperity of the drug trade and social injustice. These groups have been involved in the drug trade and in the rural areas impose their rules on the people. The domestic security policy has aimed at defeating armed groups such as the ELN and FARC. The president has expressed concern that some of the major security threats in Colombia include narcotics trade and terrorism. He has therefore taken a hard line stance against guerillas. Together with the assistance from its neighbors and the US, the Colombian government has managed to force out rebels from Colombia’s cities and towns. For example, the government has succeeded in fighting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The need to restore peace in the country and invest in improving the welfare of the people has become a priority. For example, the security program that is implemented is expected to increase judicial action against the perpetrators of crimes with high social impact, restore peace, reduce human rights violation as well as the dismantle terrorist or leftist groups. The security policy is expected to demobilize illegal groups, increase intelligence capacity, engage civilians in leadership and increase defense spending. Colombia is engaged in regional economic cooperation as a means of improving regional economic growth, political stability and security. For instance, President Uribe has been able to put aside political differences that Colombia has had with its neighbours such as Venezuela to pursue economic progress. Furthermore, because the neigbouring nations are concerned about the presence of illegal armed groups in Colombia, bilateral relations have made it possible for the nations to fight leftist groups together. Regional economic growth has had positive impact on the Colombian economy. President Uribe has been working hard to strengthen government institutions that increase freedom. For example, in 2004, President Uribe managed to engage citizens throughout the country in governance after he established a government present in about 1,099 municipalities in Colombia. President Alvaro Uribe supports free trade policies and has attempted to fight internal forces that cause political instability which affect the country’s economic and social development for decades. He has strong domestic policies that support government programs that empower people economically. For example, his administration supports economic cooperation with its neigbours. Diplomatic ties with the neighbours in Latin America has been supported, economic development supported and efforts to combat leftist tendencies improved. The Colombian government has been involved in expanding the country’s participation in the international trade, strengthening the rule of law, promoting good governanace, protecting human rights and reducing poverty (US Central Intelligence Agency, np). Conclusion Populism has been a common element in Latin American nations whereby the leaders attempt to win the support of the masses through mobilization. Countries such as Chile, Peru and Brazil have had populist political parties dominate political leadership. However, Colombia is a Latin American country that has managed to maintain non-populism since the death of the populist Jorge Gaitan in 1948. The current Colombian President Alvaro Uribe policies have shown that he is not a populist. In addition, great efforts by Uribe to make Colombia prosperous free of populism and leftist groups have been successful. Works Cited Conniff, Michael. Populism in Latin America. University of Alabama Press, 1999 Dix, Robert. The Varieties of Populism; the case of Colombia. Western. Political Quarterly, 31, 334-351, 1978 Dornbusch, Rudiger and Edwards, Sebastian. Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America, University of Chicago Press, 1991 Hylton, Forrest. Evil Hour in Colombia. New York: Verso Books, 2006 Kirk, Robin . More Terrible Than Death: Drugs, Violence, and Americas War in Colombia. United States: PublicAffairs, 2004 Livingstone, Grace. Inside Colombia: Drugs, Democracy, and War. Rutgers University Press, 2004 Palacios, Marco. Between Legitimacy and Violence: A History of Colombia, 1875– 2002. United States of America: Duke University Press, 2006 Roldan, Mary. Blood and Fire; La Violencia in Antioquia, Colombia, 1946-1953. Duke University Press, 2002 Sharpless, Richard. Gaitan of Colombia: a political biography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1978 The Uribe Administrations Democratic Security and Defense Policy. Embassy of Colombia. Accessed on April, 29 2010from http://www. presidencia. gov. co/sne/visita_bush/documentos/security. pdf Urrutia, Miguel. On the Absence of Economic Populism in Colombia. University of Chicago Press, 1991 US Central Intelligence Agency. Colombia. Accessed on April 29, 2010 from; https://www. cia. gov/library/ /the /co. html

Immortal Technique: The 4th Branch

Immortal Technique: The 4th Branch This discourse analysis will focus on Immortal Techniques song called the 4th Branch published on his 2003-released CD Revolutionary Vol. 2. This paper will start by portraying the artist, focusing on his inspirations, followed by a brief description of discourse analysis and the definition of content analysis which is used to study the lyrics. Finally, this work will regard the main concepts of the power of discourse, the media and Islamophobia together, by acknowledging the link in between these terms, building a critical approach towards American actions and values. Felipe Andres Coronel is a hip-hop artist known as Immortal Technique as well as a political activist, born in Peru. After immigrating to the United States at a young age due to a civil war in his native country, he was raised in Harlem, New York (viperrecords.com). The artist describes himself as a revolutionary and socialist guerrilla, influenced by historical events and political figures such as Malcolm X, Che Guevara or TÃ ºpac Amaru (immortaltechnique.info). Mainly his raps involve critical issues such as global and local poverty, racism and religion (immortaltechnique.info). Turning down a deal by a major record label, and signing with a smaller label (Viper Records), he expressed his desire to remain in control over his music, avoiding the influence of mass production (immortaltechnique.info). Method In the recent decades, discourse analysis affected social psychology research on not solely textual analysis, but also areas such as films, speeches or policy documents. Accordingly, it introduced new methods in order to explore objectively tendencies and pattern of meanings within documents and focus on the interaction between e.g. the speaker and addressee (Antaki, et al., 2003; Stemler, 2001; Fairclough, 1992, p.3). Researchers often use computer programs known as CAQDAS (Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software) to study qualitative analysis (MacMillan and Koenig, 2004, p.181-182). These computer-based methods for qualitative data analysis, help organizing and coding the data (Fielding and Lee, 1996, p.242). This paper will use content analysis to study the artefact and is characterized as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding (Stemler, 2001). Weber determines category as a group of words with similar meaning or connotations (Stemler, 2001). This study is defined as any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages by Holsti (Stemler, 2001). This evolves an inductive reasoning, in contrast to deductive approaches. Due to observations and measurements, regularities are explored, followed by the proposition of a hypothesis, out of which a theory or a general conclusion can be drawn (Trochim, 2006). The procedure of this analysis allows to describe the centre of individual or groups as well as institutional or social attention (Stemler, 2001). After having coded and categorizing the words or the families of terms into groups, u nderlining topics and issue become clearly visible. If applied properly, content analysis is an influential data reduction technique due to its systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding (Stemler, 2001). Analysis of the artefact 1000 words This discourse analysis focuses on the artefact of a song-text. Quantitative and qualitative key words in text give hint to main terms of soft power, religion and American actions and values. In order to receive the most objective result, this analysis was coded independently three times and the average result is considered. Furthermore, it only regards the first and second verse as well as considering the chorus only one time. Discourse and American values, actions This analysis starts by referencing to the ideas of discourse. Twenty-three times the families of words linked to American actions and values are found. When talking about discourse, Michael Foucault plays an important role. He claims that knowledge is interconnected with power. Discourse as the production of knowledge is linked to variety degrees of power; how some voices get heard whilst others are silenced (Pinkus, 1996). It explains the change of language and its construction, linked to the social and cultural process (Fairclough, 1992, p.1, 6). It uses the principle of othering to establish self-identities, achieved by creating a language of dislike and fear in this case towards non-Americans and terrorists (Jackson, 2005, p.59-61). These binary categorizations are sufficient enough to capture the publics support against terrorists constructed as intolerable threats (Jackson, 2005, p.61, 72; Benjamin and Simon, 2003, p.385). Additionally, the U.S. are portrayed as fighters for j ustice, while the Middle East and its population is defined as uncivilized. Immortal Techniques asks: fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but whats reality?, hence, it is important to acknowledge the standpoint out of which terms are illustrated (Sakamoto, 2003, p.39). In addition, America often acted in disregard to their moral values which partly destroyed their positive image. Iraq was invaded in 2003 after the U.S. failure to receive UN approval; self-interested military actions and its ignorance towards international law portrayed Americas unilateralism (Taylor, 2010, p.313; Sakamoto, 2003, p.35). Human rights violations, we continue the saga is prove of this critique and is e.g. linked to Americas treatment of prisoner in Guantanamo Bay as well as in Abu Ghraib. Media and soft power The following section will develop this idea by looking at the notion of soft power and the use of media. The data refers twenty-two times to the families of words linked to factors such as manipulation, propaganda and representation. Due to the title and line the fourth branch of the government AKA the media, it is essential to explain the other three branches of the American government. The first branch is the executive one, responsible for implying the nations laws, while the second branch is concerned with judicial matters, followed by the third, legislative branch (USA, 2011). The artist refers to the media and its influential power as the forth branch, which eventually leads to soft power. Nye explains his as a method to reach diplomatic solutions and co-operations without coercion, emphasizing on shared political values, communication and understanding (Wagner, 2005; Ilgen, 2006, p.27). Moreover it is a sort of propaganda, capable of influencing and shaping behaviours and perc eptions of others, deriving from the attractiveness of a countrys culture, political ideals and policies (Nye, 2004, p.x; Ilgen, 2006, p.75). This form of power is contrasted to hard power, defined as the employment of threats and coercion, enforcing national interests on to other actors (Nye, 2004, p.2; Wagner 2005). Hence, the media is vital for American politics. Furthermore it plays a crucial role in constructing images and categories and helps to justify and explain American actions. It establishes an everyday and political language into the nations culture due to its role as channel between society and politics, while the average citizen, made to be, blind to the reason through media censorship and manipulation (Jackson, 2005, p.59, 66, 164). Religion and Islamophobia Nine lines are concerned with the topics of religion and difference between Western and Islamic traditions, such as a fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist. This implies a critique of Christianity and refers to the notion of Islamophobia, which is defined as the mostly Western intolerance and fear of Muslims and Islamic otherness; it emphasis on its differences, defined as inferior to the West and unresponsive to change (Islamophobia Watch; Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.2). It is a form of religious discrimination based on prejudice other than race and ethnicity (Sheridan, 2006, p.317, 331). After the events of 11/9, Islam and its followers are seen as violent and threatening, supporting terrorism and military advances towards to West (Islamophobia Watch). Due to the fact that the mainstream media does not inform about the nonviolent Muslim perspectives, this hatred is hardened and alienates Muslims from other communities (Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.2). Muslims appear as executioners of violence, in the name of Islam, hence Americans conclude that all Muslims act out of religious reassignment and define the religion as dangerous (Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.10). Additionally anti-Muslim hostility is justified as normal. Christianity and Judaism are defined as Western religious traditions, alienating themselves from Eastern religious tradition (Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.6). The way Muslim are portrayed in the West, creates tensions leading to anti-Americanism, conflicts, clashes, misunderstandings and injustices; seemingly they to do share any common interests or values (Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.3, 10). After having categorized the lyrics into three main divisions, this analysis builds its theory; the artist seeks to demonstrate the power of propaganda through the media and soft power, and the ideas indoctrinate in American minds about their nations values and actions. Due to discourse, the representation of Islam in the mainstream media and through political actions, hatred against Muslims was triggered, which led to the construction of the War on Terror, as well as anti-Americanism throughout the world. American actions were justified trough lies such as Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction in order to implant fear among their citizens and gain their empathy (Gottschalk and Greenberg, 2008, p.7, 8). The song ends with the artists demand to his listeners, to turn off the news and read; hence to broaden ones horizons, avoiding being influenced by certain (manipulated) ideas or deprived from the whole truth. To conclude, this work uses content analysis to study the lyrics of the artist Immortal Technique. This research method focuses on use of the dominant families of words which in this artefact are discourse, false American values and actions, soft power, media, religion and Islamophobia. In addition, this approach endeavours to find the link between them, which is the power to alter representation and language in everyday life and hence, establishes a critical view towards American society, its politics and its media.