Utopian Society in Shakespeares The Tempest :: essays research papers

The study of Shakespeare’s The Tempest raises many questions as to its interpretation. Many believe that this play shows Shakespeare’s views on the colonization of the new world whereas others believe that this is a play about the ever elusive â€Å"Utopian Society†. I believe that this is a play about the European views of society and savagery at that time. I also believe that, if this is true, the play doesn’t portray a â€Å"conventional† view of native peoples. Shakespeare shows this by having Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan and Usurping ruler of the island, call Caliban, â€Å"A devil, a born devil on whose nature nurture can never stick† but then having Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, say â€Å"I pitied thee, took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour one thing or another.† Prospero is saying that Caliban is a â€Å"savage† who can not be educated, yet we hear that Miranda has taught him to speak, amongst other things. This gives a conflicting view over the character of Caliban. Is he an â€Å"uncivilised savage† or is he a â€Å"normal† human being? The treatment of Caliban could be seen as a representation of the colonisation of the new world, (The Americas) and the treatment of the native Americans. However, the critic Meradith Anne Skura believes the opposite, â€Å"We have no external evidence that seventeenth century audiences thought the play referred to the new world.† This interpretation of the play places more emphasis upon the character of the spirit Ariel, who could also be considered as a native of the island. Prospero frees Ariel from a tree and then enslaves the spirit to do his bidding under the promise of total freedom. Caliban’s main speech (1.2.331-344) reveals the nature of his enslavement and treatment, â€Å"Here you sty me in this hard rock, whiles you do keep me from the rest o’th’island.† Though it is not clear, it seems to me as though Prospero has imprisoned Caliban in a cave and is keeping him from the rest of the island. The reason for this treatment is much clearer , as Prospero tells us, â€Å"I have used thee, filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee in mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child.† This tells us that Caliban has tried to rape Miranda at some point and that Prospero treated Caliban much better before the attempted rape occurred.

Emancipation Proclamation and Discrimination :: American America History

Emancipation Proclamation and Discrimination As the glowing sun set over the bloody fields of Antietem, the Civil War became a different War. Five days after the battle at Antietem was won, armed with pen and paper, Abraham Lincoln changed the war when he issued, one of the most important and controversial documents in America history, the Emancipation Proclamation. Congress was urging emancipation. Escaped slaves were fleeing to the Union army as it advanced in the South, complicating military operations.Issued on September 22, 1862, Lincoln's preliminary proclamation declared that on New Year's, 1863, slaves in areas then "in rebellion against the United States shall be then, henceforward, and foreverfree." The final Emancipation Proclamation, issued January 1, 1863, authorized the recruitment of blacks into the Union Army, which abolitionist leaders such as Frederick Douglass had been urging since the beginning of armed conflict. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and fr eedom.The Emancipation Proclamation opposed discrimination. It allowed black slaves to serve in the army and get other jobs, or continue to work on plantations, as employees making money. However it was limited in many ways. It did not apply to slaves in border states fighting on the Union Side. It didn't even affect slaves in southern areas already under Union control. Without a doubt, the states in rebellion did not act on Lincoln's order. But the proclamation did show Americans that the Civil War was now being fought to end slavery.This great document helped shatter the issue of slavery. Slavery was completly crushed with the 13TH Amendment. Black soldiers lead a celebration among South Carolina slaves for the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. For decades after the Civil War, African-Americans made it a folkway to celebrate Emancipation Day.The decision to use the blacks as soldiers was by no means universally popular and was also selfishly motivated. During the war, many whites believed that blacks would make poor soldiers. Some whites stated that they would run at the first sign of danger! The blacks were not allowed to fight until needed. They were offered the same rights as the white soldiers, but discrimination always interfered.Most black soldiers did not receive equal pay and benefits. Even whites who supported the idea of blacks in army were harassed. The Confederacy objected strongly to the North's use of black soldiers because they grew fearful of losing slaves to the Union armies. Emancipation Proclamation and Discrimination :: American America History Emancipation Proclamation and Discrimination As the glowing sun set over the bloody fields of Antietem, the Civil War became a different War. Five days after the battle at Antietem was won, armed with pen and paper, Abraham Lincoln changed the war when he issued, one of the most important and controversial documents in America history, the Emancipation Proclamation. Congress was urging emancipation. Escaped slaves were fleeing to the Union army as it advanced in the South, complicating military operations.Issued on September 22, 1862, Lincoln's preliminary proclamation declared that on New Year's, 1863, slaves in areas then "in rebellion against the United States shall be then, henceforward, and foreverfree." The final Emancipation Proclamation, issued January 1, 1863, authorized the recruitment of blacks into the Union Army, which abolitionist leaders such as Frederick Douglass had been urging since the beginning of armed conflict. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and fr eedom.The Emancipation Proclamation opposed discrimination. It allowed black slaves to serve in the army and get other jobs, or continue to work on plantations, as employees making money. However it was limited in many ways. It did not apply to slaves in border states fighting on the Union Side. It didn't even affect slaves in southern areas already under Union control. Without a doubt, the states in rebellion did not act on Lincoln's order. But the proclamation did show Americans that the Civil War was now being fought to end slavery.This great document helped shatter the issue of slavery. Slavery was completly crushed with the 13TH Amendment. Black soldiers lead a celebration among South Carolina slaves for the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. For decades after the Civil War, African-Americans made it a folkway to celebrate Emancipation Day.The decision to use the blacks as soldiers was by no means universally popular and was also selfishly motivated. During the war, many whites believed that blacks would make poor soldiers. Some whites stated that they would run at the first sign of danger! The blacks were not allowed to fight until needed. They were offered the same rights as the white soldiers, but discrimination always interfered.Most black soldiers did not receive equal pay and benefits. Even whites who supported the idea of blacks in army were harassed. The Confederacy objected strongly to the North's use of black soldiers because they grew fearful of losing slaves to the Union armies.

Case Study of Market for Tuna Company :: Business Analysis

PRICING To be able to understand how the four types of market affect pricing decisions we must first look at the factors considered when setting prices. As per discussion in class, competitors; consumer perception of price and values; market and demand all together contribute to the pricing decisions. According to the study of Economics these factors are present in the four types of market: Monopoly, Oligopoly, Perfect competition and Monopolistic competition. In monopoly, where there is only one provider of a product or service, the company controls the pricing decision. Seeing that there is none, if not limited, existing competition in the market proves that the company is not dependent on the pricing decision of other electricity service suppliers. A common local example would be Meralco, although there are other electricity providers outside Mega Manila, Meralco is still considered the largest and the most income generating electricity supplier in the country. Being the largest assumes a big bulk of the population demanding and relying on the services it provides, there is not much choice left for the consumers but to patronize Meralco, in effect the charges that the company asserts (under the government’s approval) will always be assimilated by the consumers. The unavailability of other options gave them the position to take control of the pricing of charges. In oligopoly the market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers. Since it is dominated by a small number of sellers, each one is mindful on the act of the other and decisions of each other firms influence one another. There is a concern on the reactions or responses of the other sellers in the markets thus the pricing decision is thought of carefully against the competitor’s pricing decisions, it now becomes dependent on the other participants in the market. The local examples are the prominent landline telecommunication service suppliers such as PLDT, Bayantel, Digitel and Globelines. Based from observations on ads and promotions every time one seller initiates a call charge reduction the other sellers automatically follows the trend. The whole idea in this kind of market is that firms are actually after price decrease, with the hope of gaining a bigger share of the market. Either pricing decision indicates a decrease or increase all actions will create a price wa r response with other sellers. A perfect competition market describes a market setting wherein the buyers and sellers are so numerous that the market price of commodity is no longer in control of either the buyers or the sellers.

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay

1. Determine at least three different internal and external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis at the hospital. Stakeholders are individuals who are involved in, have a vested interest in, or a â€Å"stake† in the success of an organization (Merriam-Webster, 2011), such as a hospital. Dr. DoRight is an influential decision maker as the President of the Universal Human Care Hospital and it is important for him to consider how his decisions and actions affect the stakeholders of the hospital. In the course of his daily activities Dr. Do Right will interact and impact many of the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are be committed to an organization’s success. Often internal stakeholders will participate in the strategic development of coordinating resources to fund and sustain an operation. Examples of internal stakeholders which Dr. DoRight might engage daily would be: Director of Public Health, Head of Health Intelligence and Information, Director of Nursing, Public Health Strategists, Vice President of Human Relations or Members of the Board of Trustees (Markwell, 2010). External stakeholders are not directly connected to the organization; however, they are vested in the hospital’s success as clients, business or community partners. These stakeholders have influence over organizational activities by contributing their views and experiences related to issues which are important to them. Medical providers or suppliers, Patient Advocacy Groups, Quality Assessors, the Media, and Heads of Local Community and Special Interest Groups are examples of external stakeholders Dr. DoRight may deal with on a daily basis (Markwell, 2010). 2. Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders. Conflicts of interest exist between the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Medical providers such as, staffed research doctors or pharmaceutical manufactures want to provide the ‘best’ wellness plan by providing cutting-edge tests, treatments and medications which are likely to be more expensive to the payer or patients. Payers, such as insurance providers and private paying patients, would prefer a more cost effective approach to wellness with accurate diagnosis and treatments with fewer visits and tests (Wiseman, 2005). Although internal and external stakeholders may have different priorities, they will share common objectives. All stakeholders will share common ambitions for Universal Human Care Hospital to provide quality medical services to its patients. Additionally, all stakeholders will appreciate the hospitals efforts to improve the quality of life for the community it directly serves. (Markwell, 2010). 3. Discuss whether Dr. DoRight has fulfilled his ethical duty by reporting the illegal procedures. Dr. DoRight has reported the illegal procedures and patents dying due to negligent supervision and oversight to his Regional Director, Compliance Manager, as well as an Executive Committee in January 2009, but he has not fulfilled his ethical duty. As a doctor it is his responsibility to protect all patients from criminal acts including the illegal procedures and negligent supervision which has been reported at Universal Human Care Hospital. As there has been no result from the investigation after two years he has a responsibility to take further action to preserve the lives of patients. His ethical duty should include reporting the illegal procedures, as well as, the negligent supervision and oversight to higher ranking internal authorities. If the appropriate investigation and corrective actions do not occur he has a further ethical obligation to report the incidents to external authorities. As a doctor he is legally bound to take reasonable action. The law recognizes several exceptions the â€Å"no duty to rescue† rule and several apply to Dr. Do Right’s ethical dilemma (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Continued deaths due to negligence and illegal procedures should be reported beyond the Regional Director, Complianc e Manager and the Executive Committee as the failure to do so may result in his dismissal or even criminal prosecution. As a doctor he assumes contractual responsibilities to medically help others, and prevent them from being harmed. Patients in the hospital in which he is President may be lulled into a false sense of security, believing they will be helped, only to be neglected when lifesaving assistance is needed. Doctors and nurses employed in the medial facility which he oversees are endangering their patients and he is currently participating in creating a dangerous situation for several patients. Finally, there is a â€Å"special relationship† between Dr. DoRight’s medical facility and their patients. This relationship has a degree of dependency from the patient to the hospital and those whom govern the medical facility. As the President of Universal Human Care Hospital he is required to reasonably protect all patients from harm including the protection from the illegal procedures performed by the medical staff, and neglect or oversight of the supervising staff (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). 4. Describe the deontology principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case. The deontology principle â€Å"is marked by steadfastness to universal principles †¦[of] respect for life, fairness, telling the truth, keeping promises – no matter what the consequences† (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Immanuel Kant, the most famous deontological thinker, believed humans could rationally develop an absolute set of rules to govern behavior, and these rules should be applied in all situations without consideration of the consequences. For example, Immanuel Kant believed there is a never good time to lie, even if it could produce a favorable outcome, such as lying saving someone’s life (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Under the deontology principle, moral and ethical behavior â€Å"is a matter of holding, without exception, to certain principles† or categorical imperatives (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). The first of these principles is that people should act under the assumption that the same action they chose should be repeated if roles were reversed and they ended up on the receiving end of those actions. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma a deontological approach would require him to make his decisions in the frame of reference of being a patient whose death resulted from the hospital’s negligence or oversight. If Dr. DoRight made decisions in this frame of reference it is doubtful two years would pass without any definitive findings from the internal investigation into patient deaths (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Another categorical imperative of the deontology principle is that it is unethical for people to use others for their own gain. A mutually beneficial relationship should exist where all stakeholders gain something they want. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma, the relationship could be mutually beneficial if the patient receives suitable medial services and attention in exchange for monetary compensation. Dr. DoRight’s decisions can be considered unethical as the relationship is not mutually beneficial. Patients within his hospital to continue to die as a result of a variety of illegal procedures, while Dr. DoRight continues to win awards for his leadership and meeting his business goals (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Patients have a right to make a fully informed decision when selecting their medical providers. Making fully informed decision for oneself is â€Å"of great ethical value in deontology† (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). In the last two years, Dr. DoRight has told his Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee about the patient deaths due; however, disclosures are not provided to patients. With the insight of increased mortality rates due to the illegal procedures coupled with negligence and oversight it less likely patients will chose his medical facility for their health care needs. It is unethical according to the deontology principles to keep this information from patients. An infringement is being placed on some of the patients most basic rights; the right to life and health. Within the deontology principle this is never acceptable. Dr. DoRight falls short of several deontological principles, and is unethically infringing on the rights of his patients who are dying as a result of his decisions (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). 5. Describe the utilitarianism principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case The utilitarianism principle guides individuals, like Dr, DoRight, to ethically â€Å"behave in a given situation †¦ to choose an alternative that is likely to produce the greatest overall outcome.† This principle evaluates the advantages and costs of an individual’s actions not only for the decision maker, but for all stakeholders who will be impacted by the decision. Within the utilitarianism principle the long and short term consequences to the stakeholders are analyzed when evaluating a dilemma, while weighing the size of the group and the effects of the decision upon the stakeholders (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). In Dr. DoRight’s dilemma some consequences may be shared by numerous stakeholders, both internal and external. For example, the media could tarnish the reputation of the hospital and several of its staff by publicizing the deaths as pre ventable. This consequence could result in an increase of livelihood for external stakeholders such as the media, medical malpractice attorneys, or the extended family member of deceased patients. At the same time, it could result in the loss of livelihood amongst internal stakeholders such as; doctors, nurses and other members of as the hospital’s 5,000 employed staff (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Smaller external stakeholders carry the burden of the greatest negative consequences. Most costly would be the loss of life to patients who died as a result of illegal procedures and negligent supervision. Although this group of stakeholders may be small in comparison to the 20,000 patients treated at the hospital, â€Å"losses of life and health weigh heavily on the scale† when assessing the consequences of a decision within the utilitarianism principle (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). The causes of deaths have not been revealed after two years of internal investigation. If an outside organization investigated the details of the illegal practices and neglect it could negatively impact some internal stakeholders. An external investigation could have a negative impact on hospital finances, the Executive committee, and the livelihood of the Regional Director, Compliance Manager or their direct staff. On the other hand, patients, doctors and other stakeholders could benefit from this same decision in the form of additional staffing, proper training and technology to provide accurate diagnosis. Ultimately, the short-term costs a few internal stakeholders of the hospital would be outweighed by the long-term benefits to several stakeholders if Dr. DoRight made this decision (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). References Halbert, T. & Ingulli, E. (2012). Law, Ethics, Business. In Law & Ethics in the Business Environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Markwell, S. (2010). Health knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-ofs/managing-internal-external-stakeholders Merriam-Webster. (2011). Stakeholder. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stakeholder Wiseman, B. (2005). Who are the stakeholders in healthcare?. Retrieved from http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_a/introduction/stakeholders.html

Determination of Interest Rates Essay

Interest rates are the payments one makes to another as the cost of borrowing funds. Interest rates should be equal to different borrowers under the same prevailing economic conditions. Various factors come into play to determine the interest rate to be paid by a borrower. This paper explores the factors used in determining the prevailing interest rates. Among the factors used to determine interest rates are credit quality, local and world economic and political conditions (Lando 143). In addition, the demand and supply of funds also determine the interest rates set on borrowings. The borrower always has a feeling that the interests charged are the best deal and that better returns will accrue from the funds borrowed. In the same manner, the lender should also feel the interest charged would have the best returns. Credit quality refers to the capability of investors to pay under a given economic situation. Interest rates are charged in direct proportionality to credit quality (Singleton et al 56). Big businesses and government can easily pay for the loans borrowed plus the interests charged. An investor may also compare the opportunity cost of money over a given period. The economic condition may be in a state of either inflation or deflation, forcing the lender to consider the opportunity cost of funds over a given period. An increase in inflation rate results in an increased rate since the expected inflation rate is also accounted for in the rates set (Sullivan et al 505-506). For instance, if in a situation without inflation, the interest rate is 4%, then this becomes 7% if the inflation rate is 3%. The declining value of collateral due to inflation may affect a borrower’s ability to pay. This will increase the risks associated with the repayment ability of the borrower. The higher risks are therefore included in the interest rate charged. Political subsidies by governments also influence interest rates. Governments can lower the interest rates on borrowers by subsidizing certain loans such as college student loans, public housing loans, and other public work program loans. Conclusion Interest rates, the excess on a borrowed money paid to the lender by the borrower, is determined by many factors. The main factor is the prevailing economic conditions. These could be inflation or deflation. The government may also subsidize certain type of borrowers to motivate them to borrow. The ability of the borrower to pay, the credit quality, is also a vital determinant of interest rates.

Military Spending Essay

Examine the extent to which expenditure on arms and the armed forces is justifiable in the modern world. With all its wars, terrorist attacks and genocides, history might suggest that the armed forces has a critical and unquestionable role in any nation-state. However, as Steven Pinker puts it â€Å"We believe our world is riddled with terror and war, but we may be living in the most peaceable era in human existence’. Since the peak of the cold war in the 1970s and 80s, organised conflicts of all kinds, such as civil wars, genocides, repression by autocratic governments, terrorist attacks, have declined throughout the world and their death tolls have declined even more precipitously. Despite the trend of the New Peace, world military expenditure in 2013 is estimated to have reach $1.747 trillion and 2012 saw the highest total military spending than in any year since World War 2. Are these military spendings a good return on its national-security â€Å"investment’, for it is clearly an investment intended for peace and security. This essay aims to show that expenditure on arms and armed forces are justifiable in the modern world to a very small extent because it facilitates violence, results in power imbalance and its money can be put to better use. First, expenditure on arms and armed forces is not justifiable as such military spendings facilitate violence and thus violates human rights. Countries without military capability cannot easily undertake â€Å"wars of choice† or wars whose purposes evolve, as in Iraq, from dismantling wars of mass destruction to promoting democracy. The last five major wars that the United States undertook, namely Korea 1950, Vietnam 1955, Kuwait 1990, Afghanistan 2001 and Iraq 2003 were the ones in which the United States attacked countries that had not directly attacked the United States. Furthermore, wars involving powers that have the military and economic capability allows for such conflicts to exist for prolonged periods of time. For example, four out of the five wars mentioned above are still unresolved. The United States possession of military establishment that has a capability far beyond its ability to defend the homeland hence gives it a capability to undertake wars of choice, to the extent that Vietnam and Iraq prove to be miscalculations and strategic blunders. In the UK, the Ministry of Defence redefines the purpose of the armed forces as â€Å"meeting a wider range of expeditionary tasks, at greater range from the UK and with everincreasing strategic, operational and tactical tempo† which â€Å"could only conceivably be undertaken alongside the US†. This means that their ‘defence capability’ is now retained for the purpose of offence. Expenditure on arms and armed forces is hence not justified on the grounds that they facilitate violence in the world as countries claim moral authority to launch attacks on other countries in the name of benign foreign intervention. Second, the disproportionate expenditure on arms and the armed forces is not justifiable because wars are no longer the biggest threat to a nation. A report published by the Oxford Research Group argues that modern defence policies are self-defeating. They concentrate on the wrong threats and respond to them in a manner which is more likely to exacerbate than to defuse them. The real challenges, it contends, are presented by climate change, competition over resources, the marginalisation of the poor and our own military deployments. By displacing people from their homes and exacerbating food shortages, climate change will cause social breakdown and mass migration. Competition for resources means that the regions which possess them – particularly the Middle East – will remain the focus of conflict. As improved education is not matched by better prospects for many of the world’s poor, the resulting sense of marginalisation provides a more hospitable environment for insurrection. Aids leaves a generation of orphaned children vulnerable to recruitment by paramilitary groups and criminal gangs. The war on terror has created the threats it was supposed to defeat, by driving people to avenge the civilians it has killed. By developing new weapons of mass destruction, the rich nations challenge others to try to match them. In 2012, the United States allocated 37% of its budget on military spendings but only 2% on diplomacy, development and war  prevention. This is also more than spendings on healthcare and responses to poverty combined. The budget would contribute far more to security if it was spent on energy efficiency, foreign aid and arms control. Furthermore, the danger and paradox of military spending is that the bigger the budget, the more powerful the lobby because which can fight for its own survival. This leads to loose budget  constraints and poor control over spendings and programmes. In Saudi, the corrupt relations that have been cultivated with the princes result in civil servants defending not the realm but the arms companies. Even in countries with reputable governments such as the UK, some abuses in military activities arise because Congress cannot possibly effectively oversee such a large operation where programs involving $24 billion are enacted as a single line item. Hence, military spendings intention of protecting the state may be compromised by other motivations. Last, the expenditure on arms and armed forces is not justifiable because the disproportionate distribution of military expenditure leads to an unjustifiable imbalance of power. In 2013, nearly four-fifths of all military expenditure was made by 15 states and just 2 states, the United States and China, made nearly half of all military expenditure. American primacy in the global distribution of capabilities is one of the most salient features of the contemporary international system. Their expenditures on arms is more than the next 14 countries combined together. This extraordinary imbalance leads to a unipolar world likely to be built around rules and institutions as desired by the United States. The extent to which the powerful countries can translate its formidable capabilities into meaningful political influence is debatable as the United State’s selective involvement in Vietnam or Iraq but lack thereof in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era seems to reflect that America’s foreign policy , especially after  2001, has been a reflection simply of the idiosyncratic and provocative strategies of the Bush administration itself rather than a manifestation of the deeper structural features of the global system of power. Hence, expenditure on arms and armed forces is justifiable to a small extent as it has allowed for the presence of many ‘bullies’ on the world stage. However, expenditure on armed forces can also be justified as nations do have the sovereignty and right to protect their own nations. Ironically due to the current situation of massive military spendings, the world is still vulnerable to threats, especially from terrorism, in the modern century. The drastic increase in United State’s military spending in the last decade can also be justified by the September 11 terrorist attacks. Hence, it is in the nation’s interests to be as prepared as they possibly can. Since the beginning of civilisations, violence has had an unmistakable role in societies and there is little evidence to indicate its extinction in the near future. Some argue that it is human nature to challenge, oppose and expand. Furthermore, mistakes in history such as when Neville Chamberlain wanted to cut Defence spending in Britain and â€Å"appease Hitler† to achieve â€Å"peace in our time† have resulted in world leaders who are well guarded against making the same mistakes. Military capability is also an important source of legitimacy for governments. For countries like the United States, their formidable military capability is also a source of national identity and pride. From yet another perspective, it is also the responsibility of governments to deliver and ensure that the security of its people is ensured within its means as stated in Rousseau’s social contract. Under these arguments, the expenditure on arms and armed forces still seem to have a justifiable place in a country’s budget. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that there are means other than a larger military force to ensure these security needs are met. Despite the initial failures of League of Nations, defence treaties such as NATO founded in 1949  are encouraging initiatives that have successfully reduced military spendings. The organisation constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. Such institutions allow smaller nations to rely on the more powerful ones so that their budget can be more efficiently allocated to build their economies and such is the case in countries like Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. History shows that countries can reduce spendings quickly if they so desire. In the United states, military spendings declined by 74 percent in the first year after World War II and 23 percent in the first two years after the Korean War ended. Today’s slow decline in spending on obsolete systems arises not because of the increasing threat of war but because there are weak budgetary and virtually non-existent political pressures on military spendings. Given that expenditures on arms and armed forces facilitate violence, leads to inefficient allocation of budgets and global power imbalances, it is justified to a very small extent.

Mulatto: Black People and Son Essay

Race, class and gender have been a topic for most books that have been written. A lot of books talk about these topics because it is something most people face. Whether you’re at work and can’t get a promotion because of your gender, excluded from a place because of your class or hated because of your race. Know matter what you will be faced with one if these topics in your life time. Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina deals with these issues in a very intriguing way. She uses them to keep the story flowing and keep the reader interested. In the novel BOC, Allison uses race, class and gender in a very stereotypical way. The story of Bone takes place in a time where race was a conservational topic. You can say America was split in two groups, the whites and blacks. If you were black life was not easy. Black people were discriminated against. Even though slavery was over the black nation was not accepted by the white people. Racism means Discrimination or prejudice based on race (2). This word was not really used in this book because the narrative was Bone, a white girl. When Bone would visit Aunt Alma’s apartment she would come to face black children. There and then is when the stereotypes of black people started. The grown up’s in Bone had nothing good to say about the niggers that lived by Aunt Alma. â€Å"Running off with a man’s children, living in the dirty place with niggers all around. My little girls having to go up those stairs past those nigger boys. My wife walking the street past those peckerwoods! † (Allison 89). The family really did not approve of Aunt Alma living around black people. They were thought to be dirty and uncivilized people. Black people were also thought to be stupid and worthless. Bone was young at the time and did not know what to think about them. But she did not feel the same as her elders. Instead she made friends with them and learned to like them. I think Allison is trying to show the innocence of a child. Most kids are caring and loving until they are taught to hate. Bone grew up in a poor family. They would be considered in today’s society as trailer trash. The stereotype of poor white folks was present in Bastard out of Carolina. Anne and Glen did not really have money so it was hard to support the kids. They basically lived with very little. They couldn’t settle down at one house so they moved from one run down house to another. A lot of the characters described in this book had a lot of resemblance to what we would consider a red neck. For instance Uncle Travis has a big Chevy. Bone says it was jacked up so high that it easily cradled little kids or pregnant woman (Allison 1). Almost all the boys in the family had trucks. That’s typical for a red neck. Bone describes the Boatwright men as rugged, kind of dirty strong boys. They loved to fight and drink beer. The Boatwright family was big which again stereotyped poor white families. Also poor people are known to have kids out of wedlock. That was the situation Bone was. She was born out of wedlock and she never knew who her father was. That is the significance of the title Bastard out of Carolina. Gender also played a big role in this novel by Dorothy Allison. The male and female gender played a very distinctive role. In the Boatwright family the men are thought to be the physically strong. They take care of the family. They get into fights and are feared by a lot of people in town. Women of that time were supposed to stay at home cook and clean. They were supposed to wait for their husbands and never talk back. But I think Allison reversed the stereotype about women by making the Boatwright women very different. Most of them had jobs and were supporting them self’s. Aunt Raylene and Aunt Alma were some of the girls that lived by themselves. The women were strong too and they stuck together. Another way gender played a role was the relationship between Anne and Glen. From all the Boatwright women Anne was the weakest one. In the relationship Glen basically controlled Anne. Every time he did something bad she would end up forgiving him. Even after she found out he has been beating Bone she forgave him. Glen had all the power and Anne couldn’t do anything because she loved him. Bastard out of Carolina faces issues about race, class and gender. Allison builds a world where all these issues are faced. Through the main character Bone, we see how race, class and gender affect her and her family. Race played a role when Bone meets black people for the first time and instead of judging them she became friend with them. The Boatwright’s social status is not the best but they are feared by the community. They are considered poor and red necks. The last big issue that is seen in BOC is gender. Allison changed things up by making the women in the family stronger and more independent than other women of that time. In the end I think Allison decided to stereotype race, class and gender to show us it makes things worse then they already are. Work Cited 2 entries found for racism. 2003. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 19 Feb. 2006 http://owl. english. purdue. edu/handouts/research/r_mla. html Allison Dorothy. Bastard out of Carolina. New York. Penguin Group. 1993.