Liberal Arts and the Advantages of Being Useless Essay Example For Students

Liberal Arts and the Advantages of Being Useless Essay The oil in the lamp burns itself, The cinnamon tree is edible, so it is cut down The varnish tree is useful so it is cut apart, All know the advantage of being useful, but no one knows the advantage of being useless. (364-230 BCC), Gazing, Transactions in the World of Men When we are young, its easy to figure out vat to do next. At least, that Vass my experience. In high school, knew what was going to do after each school day: sports practice (I was a sock), then eat, then watch some TV, then sleep. And I knew what was going to do after high school graduation: go to college. And I knew What was going to do after each school day again: go to work (I was poor), then eat, then watch some TV, then sleep. Even knew what I was going to do after college graduation: go to graduate school. Of course, ended my undergraduate schooling with a philosophy degree. So it wasnt much of a surprise to anyone that went to graduate school. After all, what else was I going o do with a philosophy degree? Law school, maybe. But anyone who knew me also knew I didnt have a penchant for layering. And everyone knew I also had no desire to flip burgers or deliver pizzas, It seems my hand was pretty much forced: graduate school or bust. Liberal Arts, and the Advantages to Being Useless 2 Lucky for me got admitted to a graduate program. Thinness, who knows might still be unemployed, or stuck flipping burgers like all the other philosophy majors who dont go to graduate school. I mean, if theres any college major thats totally useless, its got to be Philosophy! Of course, I dont mean to be biased toward Philosophy. There are lots of useless college majors: History, English, Music, Sociology pretty much the entire repertoire of Liberal Arts bet there are some of you who disagree, who think Liberal Arts degrees arent useless. Youre wrong. Also bet that, among those Of you who agree, who think Liberal Arts degrees are useless, youre prong about why they are useless. One Of my goals, accordingly, is to explain Why Liberal Arts degrees really are useless and why people are right to say so. But dont want to BEA Negative Ned. Want to give you something positive. o I have two Other goals. Im going to tell you what the Liberal Arts are whats so liberal about them, and why theyre arts. This is going to support my explanation of why Liberal Arts degrees are useless: and its also going to help with a third goal Because Im going to convince you that the uselessness of Liberal Arts degrees is advantageous. Im going to argue that people who major or minor in a liberal arts discipline are better off than people who dont. And Im going to argue that these people are better off precisely because Liberal Arts degrees are useless. 2 What Are YOU Going TO DO With That Degree? Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good. seems different in different actions and arts; it is different in medicine, in strategy, and in the other arts likewise. What then is the good Of each? Surely that for Whose sake everything else is done. In medicine this is health, in strategy victory, in architecture a house, and in any other sphere something else, and in every action and pursuit the end. [Aristotle) (384-332 BCC), Mechanical Ethics Book I Probably one of the most useless people in the history of the world is an ancient Greek guy by the name of Aristotle. Even though he initiated many of our modern scientific disciplines biology, zoology, psychology, and 50 on he sucked at being a scientist. Pretty much every theory he ever proposed has turned out to be false, bla me Aristotle teacher, Plato, getter yet, I blame Plats teacher, Socrates. Socrates is the only philosopher to make a guest appearance in Bill Tees Excellent Adventure. He earned a reputation among Athenians for asking people all sorts of annoying questions Socrates was so annoying that he was nicknamed the gadfly of Athens, and he was 50 good at being an annoying daffy that he got himself executed for annoying everyone. Aristotle was no different well, he didnt quite get himself executed (he wasnt that annoying); but he was very fond of asking people questions. Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being useless 3 Among his many intellectual pursuits, Aristotle liked to ask people whether they were doing anything useful With their lives. This is pretty ironic, since Aristotle was doing philosophy with his life and philosophy, many people tell me, is more useless than just about anything else. Taut lets set aside the irony. Aristotle had a method. He thought that a good way to figure out whether an activity was useful was to ask people why they were doing it: if the goal of the activity was worthwhile, and the activity really was a way to achieve that goal, this would be good evidence that the activity itself was useful. Heres an example. Want to know whether furniture-making is useful? Ask people what the goal of furniture- making is. Obviously, to make furniture. Dont care about having furniture? Well, then, furniture-making is pretty useless. Heres another, Want to know whether medicine is useful? Ask people what the goal to medicine is. Most will say, to make people healthy, Care about health? Think that medicine really is a way to make people healthy? If so, medicine is pretty useful. If not, I guess you may as well do philosophy. This is all pretty abstract to some people. When I teach Aristotle in my Introduction to Philosophy course, like to have them apply Aristotle method to their lives as college students (This is called making the course relevant to students. ) So ask them whether their college education is useful in any way, I start with their Introduction to Philosophy class. Ask, Why are you in this class? They typically answer, Because it satisfies a General Education requirement for my degree. Since not every class satisfies a General Education requirement, I ask something more general. I ask, Why do you want a college degree? The standard answer is: TO get a good job. And since have serious doubts that students are in college just to be able to work, ask: Why do you want a good job? The standard answer is economic: Because I want to make good money. Now were getting somewhere. This is an incredibly popular reason people give for pursuing a college degree. In 201 1, a poll by Gallup found hat 50% of people want a college degree in order to earn more money. The poll also found that want a degree in order to get a good job. Few, very reasonably, assume that good jobs are jobs that pay well, it seems that about of people in college agree: the goal of a college education is making good money. Supposing that my students are pursuing their college degree for the sake of making good money, I ask them how their degree is going to help them achieve this goal, If their major is something in Business Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Marketing, Management the ans wer is pretty easy: Im owing to get a job in , Good answer; these jobs (CPA Money Market Manager) make good money. Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being useless 4 If their major is Nursing, the answer is also pretty easy: Im going to get a job in Nursing Another good answer; nursing jobs (Pediatrics Nurse, nurse in Huntsville Hospital ERR) make good money. If their major is something in Engineering - Chemical Material, Civil Environmental, Electrical Computer, Industrial Systems, Mechanical Aerospace the answer is, once again, easy: Im going to get a job in Yet another good answer; engineering jobs (at NASA, s Product Designer at an RD company) are some of the highest paying jobs there are. If their major is something in Science Atmospheric Science, Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry. Computer Science, Earth Systems, Materials Science, Mathematics, Modeling Simulation, Optics, Physics, Software Engineering the answer is a bit more complex, but still relatively easy: Im going to get a science- related job. The job area might be harder to name, but the students are pretty confident that the jobs exist nonetheless. And, whatever these jobs are, certainly they pay good money. Every once in a while, of course, a few students will be pursuing a major in Liberal Arts Art Art History, Classics, Communications, Education, English, Foreign Languages, History, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Compared to majors in other Colleges, far more Liberal Arts degrees lack an obvious answer regarding how possessing that degree will help one make good money. I mean, what jobs are there in History, or English, or Philosophy, or Sociology? There are teaching jobs, sure. After all, teaching is what I did with my degree. But nobody seriously thinks that teaching is a way to earn good money. If anything, teaching is for people who cant make good money Whence the adage: those who can, do; those who cant, teach. In some rare cases, like Communications or Art, people can answer: Im going to get a job in But doubt anyone really thinks that these jobs (Journalist, Web Designer) are Vass to make good money. This is a serious problem for Liberal Arts majors. When someone asks, What are you going to do with a Liberal Arts degree? , seems that the answer has to be either Im going to teach or l have no idea. Neither answer inspires very much confidence that the Liberal Arts degree is a way to make good money. Whence the joke: The Science major asks, Why does it work? The Engineering major asks, HOW does it work? The Business major asks, How much does it cost? The Liberal Arts major asks, Would you like fries With that? Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless 5 If a degree doesnt make a person good money, then, if were following Aristotle method, it follows that a Liberal Arts degree is pretty useless. 3 Why Liberal Arts Degrees are Useless A Lame Explanation The thought experiment for applying Aristotle method to the life of a typical college student is pretty fun. Bradstreet Feminism EssayCadenced, CAPE CHIC, LESS (De. ), Captivity: The Extreme Circumstance (United States Navy: 2001) People means lots Of different things When they characterize something as liberal: leafleting politically, as in liberal Democrat: free or generous in giving, as in liberal philanthropist; a large or copious amount, as in liberal dinner serving. But the Liberal Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being useless 9 Arts arent liberal in any of these senses. Instead, theyre liberal in a sense that dates back to the fourth century Algerian philosopher Augustine: liberal: worthy of or suitable for a free person, An art is liberal, in this sense, when it prepares a person to be an active and responsible citizen, capable to participating articulately and reasonably in civic and political activities, In a pluralistic democracy like ours, where a multiplicity of cultures and beliefs sustains deep and persistent disagreements, active and responsible citizenship demands: proficiency and patience for hearing others on their own terms, wisdom and compassion for fairly weighing and critically evaluating competing priorities, clarity and gracefulness for communicating and reasoning with those who do not share ones beliefs and values, as bevel as creativity and imagination in searches for compromise. People who study the Liberal Arts acquire these capacities Consider, for example, five disciplines in Shahs College of Liberal Arts (my home institution), and some information about those disciplines Ive taken from departmental homepages. Art Art History. The goal of studying Art Art History is the ability to understand the forms, concepts, methods, and records Of human visual expression. Achieving this goal fosters creativity, confidence, self-discipline, and individuality. Language Literature. The goal Of studying Language Literature is the ability to understand, conceptualize, interpret, and create literature. Achieving this goal fosters intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and eating, linguistic proficiency, awareness of alternative ways of life, as well as clear, graceful, persuasive writing and speaking. History. The goal of studying History is the ability to understand past cultures as well as social and political developments through time. Achieving this goal fosters skills for crafting narratives, weighing conflicting interpretations, explaining and identifying trends, and discerning between the important and the inconsequential. Music. The goal of studying Music is the ability to understand, appreciate, and enact the artistic and communicative values to music. Achieving this goal fosters an integration f physical capacities (such as instrument technique), emotional expression (such as musical performance), and intellectual abstraction (such as reading the structure and notation of musical language). Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless 10 Philosophy. The goal of studying Philosophy is the ability to understand and evaluate assumptions that structure the range of human experiences. Achieving this goal fosters skills for articulating assumptions, evaluating assumptions and reasoning, proposing and defending alternatives, and explaining ideas and principles to Others. The goals one aims to achieve in pursuing a Liberal Arts degree transcend the particular content of those degrees; they are goals Which ought to be achieved by any active and responsible citizen. For example, understanding records of human visual expression is relevant not only to appreciating works of art but also to engaging critically with visual methods of political communication. Likewise, interpreting and conceptualizing literature is relevant not only to reading books but also to engaging critically with written forms of political communication and people with diverse cultural backgrounds; understanding coloratura dynamics is relevant not only to knowing our past UT also to assessing proposals about how to move forward as a society; and understanding and evaluating assumptions is relevant not only to reading and writing about esoteric philosophical texts but also to assessing critically political ideologies. Furthermore, the skills one develops while pursuing a Liberal Arts degree are skills worthy of and appropriate to free citizens. They foster development of ones personal identity as well as development of ones identity within a political community, Exposure to people and traditions with different beliefs and value priorities enhances awareness of the assumptions, priorities, ND possibilities accepted by oneself and ones culture. Such exposure also encourages a sense of wonder and amazement; it enables one to think clearly, comprehensively, and compassionately about public goods and the relation of ones political community to the wider world; and it develops capacities for succeeding in leadership roles. Am reminded off Winnie the Pooh-inspired poem about making ones way in life: How can you get very far, If you dont know Who You Are? How can you do what you ought, layoff dont know What Youve Got? And if you dont know Which TO DO Of all the things in front Of you, Then what youll have when you are through Is just a mess without a clue Of all the best that can come true If you know What and Which and Who. Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh, Costless Pie (1982) These consequences of pursuing a Liberal Arts degree do not occur, except by accident, in the pursuit of more technical or vocational degrees. For example, the goal of Engineering is to understand an array of engineering principles and methods, and pursuing this goal fosters specialized skills for engineering applications and, perhaps, Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless 11 for improving the world in planned ways. The goal of Nursing is to understand an array to nursing principles and methods, and pursuing this goal fosters skills for therapeutic interventions, disease prevention, and health promotion - and, perhaps, for caring about others. The goal of Business is to acquire knowledge of various business theories and practices, and pursuing this goal fosters skills specialized skills for business applications and, perhaps, for making money. Yet, despite the value of these goals and skills, achieving the goals is not necessary for being an active and responsible citizen, and the skills do not foster the placement Of, or insight into, ones personal or political identity. Why Liberal Arts Majors/Minors Are Better Off You have noticed, hope, that man is only an amateur animal; all the others are professionals. They have no leisure and do not desire it. When the cow has finished eating she chews the cud; when she has finished chewing she sleeps; when she has finished sleeping she eats again. She is a machine for turning grass into calves and milk in other words, for producing more cows. C. S. Lewis, Our English Syllabus, Rehabilitations and Other Essays (1939) Technical and vocational disciplines Engineering Nursing, Business make people useful to others for specialized purposes; but they do not make people better citizens. Nor should they. When ones primary aim is to acquire a specialized knowledge-base and skill-set, abilities associated with active and responsible citizenship are at best accidental side effects, at worst irrelevant distractions, For example, an engineering student might, as a result of working on a project about how to improve the living conditions of impoverished citizens, acquire some insight into and compassion towards the lives of poor people; UT this insight and compassion is largely irrelevant to completing the project. A business student might, as a result of studying penal incentives in a game theoretic framework, acquire a critical attitude toward the ways in which public laws adversely and disproportionately affect minorities; but this attitude is largely irrelevant to developing a good game theoretic model. And a nursing student might, as a result of interning at a local hospital, acquire compassion for others and respect for people from different backgrounds; but these outcomes are largely irrelevant to competence in administering health care. Liberal Arts disciplines, in contrast, make people better citizens: but they do not make people useful to Others for any particular purpose. Nor should they. When ones primary aim is to think clearly, comprehensively, and compassionately about ones self and ones community, knowledge and skills associated With particular vocations or professions are at best one means among many others for understanding society, at worst irrelevant distractions. It should come as no surprise, then, that Liberal Arts degrees are useless. Their names do not readily suggest what one is able to do with them, because the ultimate aim of a Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless 12 Liberal Arts degree is not to make its holder useful to others tort some particular purpose, That said, there is a sense in which people with a Liberal Arts degree, or at least some background in Liberal Arts, are better off than people without. People with a Liberal Arts degree have extensive and focused training for reading with comprehension, reasoning properly, communicating creatively and effectively, exploring possibilities, interpreting and assessing, incorporating and weighing different perspectives, and sustaining intellectual curiosity. They evolve these skills while completing their course work. There is also good evidence that employers especially in the business sector find these skills to be valuable, so much so that employers often express a preference for people with these skills rather than more specialized skills the thought being, I assume, that a short training program Will suffice to impart the more specialized skills. Consider this anecdote from Tom Gillis, writing for Forbes magazine: In the coming decades, success Will be defined by the ability to understand the complex problems that customers face, and the ability to solve these problems elegantly. Technology development is important, as is finance, manufacturing, and distribution. But these areas are not core competencies for the industry leaders. The next billion-dollar company will be run by history majors who are skilled in wading through a massive jumble of facts and who have the ability to distill these facts down to a clear set of objectives that a global team can fulfill.

Political Consequences of Globalization

Introduction While there is little consensus on a precise definition, globalization usually refers to a multidimensional process whereby markets, firms, production, and national financial systems are integrated on a global scale (Brawley 2008, p. 12). This definition, however, emphasizes the economic aspects of globalization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Consequences of Globalization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Globalization in other areas of life such as communication, has ramifications in non-economic too, as in cultural affairs, and these can have subsequent political consequences. According to MÃ ¼ller (2003, p. 7), globalization may be described as a new social architecture of cross border human interactions. It breaks down the old international division of labor and the associated hierarchy of rich and poor countries. Through the process of globalization, the integrity of the national ter ritorial state as a more or less coherent political economy is eroded, and the functions of the state become reorganized to adjust domestic economic and social policies to fit the exigencies of the global market and global capitalist accumulation. Foundations of Globalization Although theoretical concepts offer useful insights and directions for inquiry, specific social arrangements are always historical. That is to say, in inquiring into the issues of that have been resolved in the building of globalization; it is important to remember that what exists today has emanated from previous experience. Among the conditions that have supported the concept of globalization include power, institutions, authority, and democracy. As the fundamental concept of politics, power has been thought of in many ways. One prominent conceptualization stresses the domination of one person or entity over others, whereas another emphasizes the construction of power through interactive speech that leads to acting together. A favorite of political scientists focuses on the specific acts by which one individual or group induces another to do things that the other would not otherwise do. In addition to power and identification of interests in a global context, different nations have desired to lead the way and gain the cooperation of other states through institutional arrangements that make the coordination of policies easier and steadier. According to Prechel (2007, p. 35), institutionalization has followed a practical and quite diverse course. In the late nineteenth century, the United States helped to found the Pan American Union as a means of gaining the cooperation of western hemisphere states. At the same time, the United States retained its discretion to intervene in those same states when its interests led it to at unilaterally. Authority has also been considered a key pillar of globalization.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More When power is exercised by some people over others in circumstances in which both sides agree that there is an obligation to obey, one party has a right to act with authority (Cohen 2001, p. 21). In states with established governments and ordered societies based on justice, authority tends to be recognized to such an extent that citizens obey laws even when they disagree with them, and violators of law recognize that they are doing wrong in the face of legitimate authority. The basis upon which those running a political system claim authority to rule and those subject to it find an obligation to obey forms one important line of inquiry in political philosophy as well as an important practical issue for political leaders and followers. Finally, there is democracy. In an ideal democratic society, power rests with the people. As a result, governments are often pushed to act in a way that takes public interest into consideration. Glo balization and Politics The politics of globalization includes two dimensions. The first embodies the efficient distribution of power and the constraints imposed by existing arrangements. Ordinarily, these constraints flow from choices that have established and now manage existing structures and processes. The second dimension embraces a more visionary quest for alternative arrangements in the future. As is true of all politics, both cooperation and struggle are involved, domination and resistance are evident, and contestation abounds. To a large extent, globalization is most commonly presented as an inexorable process that consists in bringing the world together through technology. Although the fundamental processes bringing human beings into contact with one another have been at work for millennia, high-speed transport and especially the computer have speeded up the process in the last quarter-century or so (Lindquist Handelman 2012). Travel, trade, and financial flows now charac teristically flow across the globe in voluminous amounts and at rapid rates. Although the developments resulting from globalization are commonly regarded as transforming the world in which we live, there are four basic assertions about globalization that either restate or modify received ideas about open-minded thought. Foremost among the claims is that the state is losing power to the market and has been or will be changed in fundamental ways. This contention restates the Lockean position that society and market relations precede the state. Another claim holds that communities are breaking down and that individuals are becoming increasing isolated. Traditional liberalism is founded on the notion that rational individuals formed contracts and constituted civil society, which Locke equated with the state. With the increase of the market and other contractual relations, traditional communities and societies faded before free thought in which different ideas of morality and reason emer ged, and individuals were no longer constrained by social conventions and traditions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Consequences of Globalization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another assertion promotes the formation of new identities and novel social and political formations, indeed the creation of a transnational civil society. Given both the absence of constraints and the individualistic origins of society and government, aspirations for universal freedom of association, identity, and contractual relations have always been implicit in the liberal consensus, and aspects of the globalization debate claim that these aspirations are now being brought to fruition. Still another assertion foresees the development of a broad human project of global governance that includes a universal legal system and intervention nearly everywhere on behalf of human rights or humanitarian principles. Although consist ent with the universalizing tendencies of traditional liberalism, in some ways this last claim flies I the face of others, for governance requires state power both for its formulation and its enforcement. Whatever diversity exists among those regarding globalization as inexorable, the primary argument tends to treat politics mostly with an outlook geared to the future. However, two implications flow from this treatment (Lentner 2004, p. 2). Analysis tends to have an ideological or at least normative orientation, and analysts tend to assume that politics in the future will less and less resemble what has gone before. Furthermore, as the very term globalization itself suggests, many analysts assume that a politics of the globe, however fragmented, has already emerged and that the world can be treated, at least to some extent, as a unit in which some sort of new form of politics is already being practiced. In my view, developments in the world are not inevitable. Without denying that t echnology has an impact on the lives of people all over the world, I argue that the arrangements for channeling and using resources are chosen by people who act within political and social contexts, all of which exist within conditions structured by power. That means that people, using their material resources and ideas, have conflicted and cooperated with others to establish existing arrangements. Moreover, they continue to contend to preserve, modify, or drastically alter the arrangements. Thus, to understand the conditions of globalization, one needs to examine the array of power underlying them, the agents who propel and contend over them, and the values and aspirations at work in contentions over managing the arrangements. The fundamental problem of politics stems from the simultaneous existence of human striving for autonomy and community. Aristotle’s assertion that man is by nature a political animal includes the notion that individuals seek to lead a good life, but th ey are enabled to do so only within a good state.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Such a state requires institutions, the rule of law, citizenship in which recognition is accorded individuals, justice which in the first place entails equality, and some purpose or end. Although ultimately the purposes of the individual are served by the political community, the purposes are not merely matters of human needs for food, clothing, shelter, and so forth, but encompass something larger. Conclusion The view of globalization and politics presented in this paper has tried to illuminate the conditions and choices that underlie current arrangements and to provide a glimpse into the political consequences of globalization. Current circumstances prevail because of the dominant, unchallenged power position of some powerful countries in the world, such as the United States. Although not everyone may agree, the discourse on globalization is quite varied. Reference List Brawley, MR 2008, The Politics of Globalization: Gaining Perspective, Assessing Consequences, University of Toro nto Press, Ontario, Canada. Cohen, ES 2001, The politics of globalization in the United States, Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. Lentner, HH 2004, Power and Politics in Globalization: The Indispensible State, Routledge, New York, NY. Lindquist, G Handelman, D 2012, Religion, Politics, and Globalization: Anthropological Approaches, Berghahn Books, Oxford, NY. MÃ ¼ller, PS 2003, Unearthing the politics of globalization, LIT Verlag MÃ ¼nster, Piscataway, NJ. Prechel, H 2007, Politics and Globalization, Elsevier, Amsterdam. This essay on Political Consequences of Globalization was written and submitted by user Kathleen V. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The North Korean economy Essays

The North Korean economy Essays The North Korean economy Paper The North Korean economy Paper One must start with the 2003 announcement that North Korea has a nuclear deterrent. But this is of no surprise, the intelligence community judged in the mid-1990s that North Korea had produced one, possibly two, nuclear weapons. 1 These weapons although not numerous can still cause substantial damage towards an intended target. Nevertheless North Koreas nuclear program is still in its early stages, as it has an inaccurate delivery system for any nuclear warheads, it also has to be noted that any weapons that they do have would be of similar size and payload of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Therefore these would be far less powerful than weapons that are possessed by Russia and China. What concerns the US is that development of the North Korean ballistic missile program and their willingness to supply to countries which are hostile to the US and its allays. The Norths advances in technology as seen by The Taepo Dong-2 in a two-stage ballistic missile configuration could deliver a several-hundred-kg payload up to 10,000km [And] If the North uses a third-stage similar to the one used on the Taepo Dong-1 [It] could deliver a several-hundred-kg payload up to 15,000km. 2 These advances in ballistic technology mean that in the next 15 years, North Korea would have joined the nuclear club. This although worrying is not expected to radically alter our foreign policy in the region. The US is most concerned with North Koreas willingness to sell this technology to nations, which continue a hostile stance towards the US, and in the worst case scenario to individual terrorist organisations. As this (ballistic missile sale) is the major source of income for North Korea and has allowed the regimes existence after the cold war. Due to these exports of missiles, which are mainly short and medium ranged consisting of Scud and No Dong classes, North Korea has altered the balance of power in the Middle East and in Asia. With exports of technology to Iran, Syria, Libya (formally) and Sudan. And also assistance with the Iranian nuclear program (although Russia has played a bigger part in this). This will all mean that the US will take a more hostile stance and continue with sanctions to warn North Korea. As these missile sales will mean that future conflict will be more difficult as more planing will have to be conducted. Even with sanctions North Korea continues to trade with its major trading partner China, who has a very strong and rapidly growing economy and even more worryingly China also wishes to establish itself as a Strong military power. With its military spending in 2004 being more than $25 billion, while it is believed that this announced figure accounts for less than half of their actual spending. China is also predicted to rise to superpower status in the next 15-20 years. This is expected to affect our foreign policy objective is the region as it would have serious implications to countries such as Japan and South Korea and also the island of Taiwan. A strong China would hopefully become a key US ally in the region, especially with the pacification of the Korean peninsular. Although there is still the issue of Taiwan to consider. Concerning this it is believed as china becomes more open and follows a more capitalist economy that with international influence and the greater spread of democracy, there will be some peaceful solution to the situation. Although a time scale to this cannot be estimated due to Chinas continual hostile stance towards Taiwan and its increasing military presence in the region. What is of major concern is also the weakness of the North Korean economy. The regimes militarised, Soviet-style command economy is failing to meet the populations food and economic needs.

How to Cite a Poem Like a Pro, Using MLA Formatting Style

How to Cite a Poem Like a Pro, Using MLA Formatting Style MLA Formatted Poem: The Most Comprehensive Guide You probably know that formatting makes up almost half of your success when it comes to a college paper. You may have outstanding ideas or research results but they won’t mean anything if you fail to meet professor’s requirements. There are many different formatting styles and MLA is undoubtedly one of the most popular ones. It may seem very simple at first but you should still master its peculiarities if you don’t want your work to get a low grade. Especially when it is about a poem and not prose. In this article we will give you all the necessary information on all of the MLA formatting requirements. Just use them and you will never have to wonder how to cite a poem properly! Poem citing: why it is important First of all, you need to understand why it is necessary to cite a poem according to all of the guidelines. While being in a literature, English or art class, you will surely need to deliver multiple essays, including: Compare and contrast; Descriptive; Critical; Reflective; Classification; Argumentative, etc. Once you complete such essays or other works, you will achieve outstanding results in citing not only books but also poems. Here is what you must know about poem citing: Every time you want to include a phrase or an idea of the author from the source text, you must use citations. In other cases, it will be considered plagiarism and you will get yourself into big troubles; Explain why borrowed ideas are important for the goals of your paper; In case you paraphrase the author’s ideas there is no need to use quotation marks but you should always use in-text citing at the end of the paraphrased part; Every time you mention the title of the poem, put it into quotation marks; In case you need to delete a line or even more from the analyzed poem, you need to use ellipses. There is nothing wrong in deleting certain sections but you should indicate it in your text. Peculiarities of MLA Style MLA formatting style is an abbreviation for a Modern Language Association and is considered the most popular one, used for writing all sorts of papers, including poems reviews. Mainly MLA Style is used for liberal arts and humanities, and considered quite simple to master. However, it contains a range of requirements, which you need to master. Unfortunately, learning MLA formatting peculiarities is quite boring and time consuming, because it consists of many rules and requirements. It has a separate list of regulations when it comes to poem citing and if you don’t follow all of them, your text may be considered plagiarism and you may have to rewrite everything anew. However, if you are reading this article, you already know why formatting is so important and you just need to remember all the rules. We have collected all of them and you can get back to our text any time you are asked to use MLA formatting style. Citing quotes: MLA formatting peculiarities Once in a while, when you refer to a poem you may need to insert quotes to support your point of view and show that you have read the given piece. Citing means that you put exact parts of the source text into your own. MLA formatting style offers several ways of adding direct and indirect quotations to the text. Everything depends on the length of the piece. Short quotes, which are shorter than 3 lines; Long quotes that are longer than 3 lines and consist of several paragraphs. From time to time, you will also have to insert built-in citations to give an explanation to your thoughts or to explain parts, which have no meaning. However, never insert parts that are unnecessary or can be avoided. Some students think that it is very easy to find a quote and simply copy-paste parts to show that they have read the whole poem. However, choosing the best citing part is quite difficult, because you need to find an example, which renders the meaning of the poem in the best way. You won’t be able to select such a part without excellent research skills. Citing poem’s title properly You should always start citing from the first line, i.e. from poem’s title. You can either use italics or quotation marks. The choice depends on the length of the title you are going to cite. If it is a short title, you can put it into quotation marks. For example, ‘Forever young’, ‘My own battle’, etc. When the title is longer, it is better to use italics: A girl with a broken heart, The noble heart of my man. 5 useful tips on citing a poem, using MLA style When you work with an MLA formatting style, there is nothing simpler than citing a poem. It will only require a few minutes of your time and almost no efforts. If you want to save your time and don’t want to read tons of guidelines, you can simply stick to our rules. Every time you need to quote a poetry piece, either it is a single phrase or a big paragraph, you should place it in a citation with quotation marks on both sides. Use parentheses if you want to show what the author said exactly. Don’t forget to put punctuation outside the parenthesis. You can also put a number of a certain line after the quote. Here is an example: According to the author’s lyrics, â€Å"every soul will always find its path† (2). If you want to quote passages, which come one after another, you can type in the virgule to show where the lines divide. Place author’s name in parenthesis, divided with a hyphen; In case you need to insert four or more lines, use a so-called long quotation, which is sometimes named ‘block quote’. Write a signal phrase in the starting of the quote; indent twice and double space. Leave all the punctuation marks, as they appeared in the source text; All other parts of the poem should appear as if you are citing prose, considering all the rights of the author; Not depending what part you are quoting, always proofread quotations and edit them if necessary. How to cite poems in an MLA style Every successful student knows that it is important to master the required formatting style even before writing an essay itself, because it is as important, as https for the website’s address. There are multiple ways how to get started: get familiar with examples online, find an academic source or guideline, which is dedicated to a particular writing style. Don’t forget to read the poem itself, because you won’t be able to detect which parts of the source text you need to quote and where to place them. Before working on a proper citing, you need to estimate the length of the chosen part to identify its type. Short quotes are those, which are smaller than three lines. Don’t forget to follow this rule any time you are citing a poetry part not depending on the type of your assignment. Rules of a correct citing: Always use quotation marks, when you want to add a direct quote of the initial piece; Make sure you mention the title of the poetry, the name of the author and number of the page or line; Don’t forget about punctuation at the end of the quotation in parenthesis; If exclamation or question marks belong to the cited piece, put them inside quotation marks; Put them outside if they are not present in the original quote; All of the quotations should be fully reflected in the Bibliography (the last page of your essay), using MLA formatting style. Example of MLA citing When you insert a quotation to the text, make sure you put ‘/’ instead of breaks with a space on both sides. If you add a parenthetical quotation you can place the line number, not the page. Don’t forget to capitalize lines after the slash. However, this rule doesn’t apply to cite a secondary source. For example, As she claimed, â€Å"Until the rain came pouring / Until the wind surrounded us / We were there for each other† (23-25). You must provide a number of the line only in case if the source also shared them in parentheses. A number of lines is placed after quotation marks, before the punctuation. How to add long quotes, using MLA Format A long quote is a piece of a poem, which is longer than three lines. It has its own formatting peculiarities and here are the main steps how to use an MLA style: You should use a separate block of text; Don’t use quotation marks; Start a quotation from a fresh line; Every first word of a new paragraph should be indented. This rule is applied only if you need to quote more than two paragraphs; Use double-spaced in your quote; Don’t forget to use a parenthetical citation after you place the final punctuation. For example, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, dont deal in lies, Or being hated dont give way to hating, And yet dont look too good, nor talk too wise;(5-8). How to apply APA Formatting style Now, when you know all of the peculiarities of an MLA formatting style, we offer you to get familiar with APA, which is also popular among students and is usually applied in social sciences. Here are the basic APA formatting rules: If you want to quote a piece of poem, which is shorter than 40 words, you need to enter quotation marks; If you need to include two or more lines of one poem, you should show the line breaks, using a slash between them; In case you want to include a big paragraph to your text, use block quotations and start them with a new line. Rules of using APA poetry citing in a proper way Explain why you have chosen a certain part. Provide a comment or feedback and give the reader information on why the quote is important for your essay. Make sure you really choose a piece, which fully reflects your ideas; Built-in quotes. You can not only place quotes separately but also embed them into your sentences, placing anywhere you want: at the beginning, at the end or in the central part of the sentence. Don’t forget to place quotation marks and provide information about the author; Skipping words. If you are using an APA format to quote a poem and want to miss out certain words or phrases, you can use ellipses. For example, ‘there she stood with bare feet† (12). If you want to add any grammar changes, you should type your comments in brackets. Final guidelines It doesn’t matter if the quoted piece is short or long: any time you want to change it in order to adjust to your text, it is necessary to use a three-spaced period to show the omitted part; Skip all the insignificant details. It is more than simple to delete such parts: simply replace them with three-spaced periods; If you want to add your own comments or interpretations to the quoted part, you should indicate them in square brackets; Don’t add too many quotations. You may be tempted to include many quotes from the given piece to show how well you have worked with the source text. However, they may distract the reader and make the text difficult to read. Actually, quotations should occupy only a small part of an essay. In case you can’t do without citing, it is better to rewrite or paraphrase words and sentences, indicating authorship. Conclusion In this article we have discussed how to use MLA formatting style for citing a poem not depending on the size of the quoted piece. While using quotes is the best way to show that you have read the source text and understood author’s ideas, it is important to quote everything properly. If you still find it difficult to add a quote to your essay and examples from our article don’t help, there is another effective solution. You can contact our writing service and get academic assistance with the assignment. Our professional writers, proofreaders and editors know everything about citing and formatting, even if the required style is rare and complicated. We guarantee that you will get only the highest grades and your professor won’t suspect that you weren’t the author. You can always turn to us for assistance or advice and we guarantee outstanding results for a reasonable price. Let us make a step forward to your academic success together!

National System of Employment Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

National System of Employment Relations - Essay Example Thus employers are subject to a framework of rules and regulations that seek to ensure the obligations of employers to employees. However the recent developments in the sphere of employment relationship have demonstrated that a number of new factors have forced both employers and employees to mutually agree on certain non-extant or poorly defined rules and regulations (Kelly, 1998). For instance when the labor law is ambiguous the employment relationship becomes much more individualistic. In other words when an employment relationship does not exist it is almost impossible to define the legal outcomes such as rights and obligations of the relationship. In such a situation the employer and the employee might develop a vague and individualistic employment relationship (Lindio-McGovern, 2003). The same applies to triangular employment relationship in which the employee might sign the employment contract with the agency rather than with the end-user. In such a situation the employment relationship might become too individualistic. The same principle can be applied to the disguised employment relationship in which the employee is treated by the employer as a non-employee without the rights provided by law and therefore minus the legal obligations cast on the latter by labor legislation (Lee, 1996). In other words it is an individual arrangement between the employer and the employee. Globalization a... The theoretical constructs on globalization have been varied and complex. This diversity has injected a considerable amount of controversy and conjecture into the current discourse on the subject though. While the underlying theoretical constructs basically refer to such parallel concepts as international free trade and financial movements there are other related concepts too. Thus it must be noted globalization has reduced the importance of employee relations in the context of global environment (Kaufman, 2004). The legal relationship between the employer and the employee defines the very essence of the employment relationship. However it has been pointed out by critics that the existing labor legislation and social security provisions do not adequately cover up the requirements of employees. In fact the employment relationship has become more or less an individual arrangement devoid of universal contractual obligations as found in International Labor Organization's (ILO) documents (www.ilo.org). This phenomenon has acquired a new dimension under different disguises and ruses adopted by employers and imposed on unsuspecting employees. The former tends to arrange an individualistic relationship with the latter on the basis of immediate benefits of employment while the latter agrees more or less due to personal compulsions.Employment relationship ensures the availability of a number of rights and obligations to the employee and imposes some obligations on the employer. In the same manner it i mposes some obligations on the employee and grants a right to the employer to obtain the service of labor of the employee.

Knowledge Management in Accenture 1992 - January 2001 Essay

Knowledge Management in Accenture 1992 - January 2001 - Essay Example In the case of Accenture, the various issues related to the daily organizational activity have to be analyzed in order to identify the facts that have caused delays to the firm’s development in the long term. For this reason, the identification of the firm’s key managerial practices is necessary in order to understand the structure and the ethics of the firm’s administration and design the appropriate plans for the development of organizational performance. In order to identify the problems related with a firm’s performance within the international market, it is necessary primarily to describe the organizational environment referring to the key achievements of the firm both in its market and internationally. Accenture is a leading firm in the management consultancy and IT sector with approximately 75,000 employees worldwide. In August 2001 the firm ‘entered’ the New York Stock Exchange. The firm’s knowledge management (KM) department has just a few top executives and follows its own strategic plans. The structure of the operational activities has been proved quite important for the development of the firm up to now. Through the years, the firm’s structure has been reviewed and updated in order to meet the requirements of the market and the demands of customers around the world. For the future, it is necessary the Accenture will review its organizational practices and proceed to any requested change in o rder to meet the challenges set by its competitors within the international market. The current paper focuses on the strategic performance of Accenture (or ACN as it is known within the New York Stock Exchange) from 1992 up to 2001. The firm’s organizational structure for the above period will be examined and analyzed; appropriate recommendations will be then suggested trying to present a framework that could lead to the improvement of the firm’s performance for the above mentioned period.  Ã‚  

The Human Nature Of Christ Essay Example for Free

The Human Nature Of Christ Essay Obvious to all was the need for a saviour. The Gentiles needed a Saviour but the Jews wanted a King that would restore the Kingdom to Israel. Men waited eagerly for divine intervention in the ugly course of human history that has been marred by series of wars and perpetual ‘coups and countercoups’. From the Assyrians, Medo-Persians, the Greek, the Babylonians to the Romans Caesars who laid heavy tax burden on the inhabitants of their territory. Men and women, elders and children earnestly longed for the salvation of man from the shackles of Kingdom leaders and the bondage of sin. Prophecies had being made about this Saviour for the Jews and the whole world: in the synagogues and temples, these were read to them on the Sabbath and many knew that a man would save. (Isaiah 9:6). They went to the Baptism of John with the true assurance and trust in that ministry that announced and prepared the heart and minds of all for the Saviour’s arrival. They knew about Him. They had heard readings about Him in the Scripture and they drew closer to His formal appearing. John the Baptist, made an excellent entrance in the scene preparing their totality to receive their Saviour. (John1: 6-9) But their interpretation of this message was diverse. They asked: When would he arrive? What would He look like? How would He come? How would He save Israel and the world? Soon, the Incarnate Word and Saviour arrived through the Virgin birth. Although born in a manger, He was the Christ, the Messiah. He had a mother Mary and his earthly father, Joseph was a man of integrity with listening hears for God and willing heart to obey. He lived in a family. He even learnt the trade of Joseph: carpentry. He played with the children in the courtyard and so, they knew him as the brother of James and John. Their neighbors in Nazareth saw him a number of times assisting Joseph with orders. He, ate, traveled, and wept, felt hungry, agonized deeply, during his ministry that lasted slightly over three years. Then, he died a shameful death like that of a thief on the Cross. He was also equal with God: He was God himself. He was both Human and divine, but now with a resurrected and unblemished body and seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the Advocate of those who believe in and have confessed His Lordship. He is the Impartial Judge that would judge all men according to the works they have done in the body. (Revelations 22:12) THE NATURE OF MAN Man is a tripartite being with three entities in one: the spirit, soul and body. Different theologians over the years have spent time, engaged in research to fully comprehend the elusive nature of the dichotomy of soul and spirit. Of these, it is important to note that three entities that make a total man are entrenched in His nature. This understanding is important in coming to a reasonable and logical conclusion on the humanity of Christ. Man is a spirit being, he lives in a body and has a soul. The spirit is the quintessence of a man: it is this part that has connection to the spiritual world. It is the core of the living soul. The spirit of a man is the avenue for contact with the spirit of God. A man without this spirit is dead: He is like the molded man without the breath of God. â€Å"In your soulical parts are at least three dominant areas or ‘worlds’. The first world of the soul is the mind, your thought centre. The Second tremendous element within you is your emotional life. The third world of the soul is the area of decision, your willpower† (Sumrall, 1970) The soul of man is made up of mind, emotions and will. These three are interwoven and work in quick succession and sometimes overlap. The mind avails man the opportunity to think; emotions, the ability to feel; and willpower, the capacity to decide and be true to such choices. The Body includes the anatomy of real human body. This is subject to the outputs of the soul. It includes all the parts of the body: eyes, nose, hands, legs, head, abdomen, thorax and neck etc which are used in fulfilling intended desires. THE FALL OF MAN At the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man experienced a spiritual death: the spirit was cut off from its direct and perpetual contact with the Spirit of God. â€Å"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without from and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters† (Genesis 1: 1, 2) In this vein, man was ‘without form and void’, and darkness was upon his soul. He had lost contact with heaven. He sold his birthright to the devil and was burdened by this darkness. Already within him was already planted a worship tendency. However, God was far from him to worship. As a result, the soul was placed perpetually under the influence of darkness, under the tutelage of the devil and his cohorts. The activities and outputs of the soul antagonized the program of God. Man’s heart was turned against his creator. This necessitated a Saviour to restore man back to his Eden position. PATHWAY OF REDEMPTION Throughout the Old Testament, God sent and used his chosen prophets to teach, warn and instruct the world. A hallmark of the restoration pathway available at that period was the sacrificing of animals as atonement for sins. God has been interested in man’s salvation and his unfailing love made the offering of this sacrifice acceptable as penance for evil acts. It was important to hear God and do his will. In order for this to be achieved, there has to be an entrance into the Presence of God in holies of holies of the temple. Preparations were made so that appearance before God was holy and acceptable. Until this is done, it is difficult to communicate with Heaven. Priests were prepared for this task. Everyone was also involved, having being purged by the blood of the sacrificed animals. THE CLIMAX OF REDEMPTION Man needed more than the blood of goats and ram: God’s love was expressed perpetually through His prophets over the years throughout the days of the New Testament. God shows His Love towards us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for all. To show His love towards us, God sent His Only Begotten in the fullness of time to come and show man the true and only way to live for their Creator and fulfill the Intended Purpose He had for them. (John 3:16) Before the resurrection, Jesus Christ who lived among first with His family and later with His chosen Disciples, demonstrated to man the lifestyle that is truly acceptable to God; He submitted to the father’s will at every and all situations because the Father and Son are one. He did what He heard from the Father . He had embedded in His person the Divine Nature which accomplished supernatural things on Earth. He showed to man the depth and strength of God’s love. THE DUALITY OF CHRIST’S NATURE Let’s start this with the Nicene Creed of 325: ‘We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, and Maker of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and in the Holy Ghost. † Jesus Christ was divine and human; He expressed His Divinity in diverse capacities: He forgave sins; was omnipotent healing the sick and all that were oppressed of the Devil; was asserted as Messiah by His disciples, was omniscient knowing all things including the intents of the Scribes and Pharisees before they uttered statements; was omnipresent both on Earth and in the presence of the father in heaven; walked on water against the Law of Gravity. He was accused of blasphemy because He claimed to have existed before Abraham (Matthew 26:63) This Claim that Jesus Christ is God was affirmed throughout the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1). He was described as the Creator of the Universe, the soon coming king and the Impartial that would judge the whole world, attributes that are totally divine and belong to God. (Hebrews 1). This was not refuted by Him when Thomas addressed Him as ‘My Lord and My God. (John 20:28). This confirmed His Messianic reality and the indwelling Divine nature. HIS HUMAN NATURE â€Å"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold our profession. For we have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. † (Hebrews 4: 14, 15 ) â€Å"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only Begotten of the Father,), full of grace and truth† (John 1: 14) â€Å"Let this mind also be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in the as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the Earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. † (Philippians 2: 5-11). With the two verses sited above, it is sufficient to come to a reasonable conclusion that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the Jews and the Gentiles: that Jesus was and is God, the Word of the Father incarnated in the flesh, made like us, lived like us; that Jesus felt all we felt: He was hungry and the fig tree suffered for lack of fruits to quench the hunger. He wept for His friend, Lazarus (John 10:35). He felt the heavy burden of agony in Gethsemane and Golgotha. He felt rejected and forsaken on the Christ; that Jesus had the form of man: He was man, everything man. Although, it was shame for Him to leave a glorious abode in heaven and take the shape of a fallen man, but He had to do to correct the errors of Adam and birth in all men who believe in Him, a new heart and a living soul. He proved to the Devil that God’s Love is His nature and reigns supreme; that the God is both full of Love yet Just, that He is kind, yet impartial, that He is good, yet fearless. Christ Jesus, the Son, took on the form of man to save him. He humbled himself, yet did not deny His Divinity. He Humbled Him even unto the shameful death of the Cross. And the Cross, His death and ultimately His resurrection confirmed His Purpose on the earth. He died and rose: rose up by the power of the Spirit, and so became a quickening spirit. Christ Jesus rose up proving beyond reasonable doubt that He could save man. The Apostles saw this and were strengthened in faith. The Devil and death could not hold Him down like all others who had gone before Him. He won the battle and rose up, and now is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is seated in the place of power and authority, the angle of the Judge of the World. (Ephesians 1:20-23) Let all who believe in Him and live today say He is God. Let all declare that He was man, but now with a resurrected body, seated as the Head of the Church. Let all man proclaim Him as Lord for He is Lord. No greater evidence exists than the writings of eyewitnesses of this Glory. Let all men declare Jesus Christ as Hosanna, to Him is all the glory, honor, power and Majesty. (Revelations 4:11). Having examined different approaches available both in medieval and contemporary times about the Human nature of Christ, I come to this conclusion: the Apostles knew who they believe; they experienced his power and glory and were convinced about His Divinity and Human Nature. They preached Christ as the risen Lord, and even sacrificed their lives for the cause. The significance of the Waiting at the Upper room can not be overemphasized. They obeyed and received power. (Acts 1:8). They were bold and courageous because He that dwelt in them was greater than all opposing forces in the world. They got an indispensable witness, the Spirit of Light that showed them the Past, led them in their writings and comforted them in their times of distress. He quickened their mortal bodies and conformed them to the glorious Image of the Christ. Having fought a good fight of faith, they won, even at the death post. That victory is evidenced by believers all over the world who now declare that Jesus is Lord, to God’s Glory.