Exam I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exam I - Essay Example The Mexican civilization decided to learn from the ancient Toltec. For Aztec, the Toltec were the origins of all cultures. There were several mythologies for Aztec because they had combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions. This resulted in the formation of diverse culture in Mexico. The Ixtlilxochitl’s legend is one of the most important and complete creation in Mexican mythology. According to the myth Lord is the one who created the universe, stars, animals, mountains and humans. The mythological stories created by the Mixtecs are also important in the origin of Mexican mythology. It mainly describes about the isolation of people of the Southern part of Mexico. Apart from them the Mexican Noah and the Sacrificed Princess are some other important mythologies of Mexican origins. The Mexican Noah describes about the destruction of the world due to evil nature of humans. On the other hand the sacrificed princess describes about the ritual of sacrifice. The Fugitive Prince is another Mexican mythology that describes about the greed and self-survival nature of humans. The political advancements are clearly visible from this mythology. There are several other mythologies that have built up the Mexican beliefs. The most important part of the Mexican mythology i s unity in diversity. Despite the existence of several civilizations and cultures the pattern of worship is almost similar. The Huitzilopochtli is the best example of Mexican mythology that proves the common patterns of the Mexican beliefs. It is about the rising up of the skies of the South and it is surrounded by trees, divination symbols, temples and patterns. The Aztec mythology is the collection of myths of Central Mexico and Aztec civilization. Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl are the two Gods worshipped by the Mexican people as the God of

Managing Financial Resources in the health and Social Care Essay

Managing Financial Resources in the health and Social Care - Essay Example They will also provide residential support, transition program, visual therapy, special needs education etc for young people and children. This organization also has to manage its financial resources to provide such kind of services consistently. There are few principles of costing which significantly exist in the financial management. Care Tech Holdings PLC has to follow and apply such principles in their costing activities. If they are unable to reduce the cost or to control the cost then they never will face the financially healthy situation within the organization. For this reason they cannot take better initiatives in their activities and cannot help more adults and children. These principles are generally helping any organization to plan their activities in a systematic way. Break even analysis is one of the important principles among the costing method (Brayley and McLean, 2008). By applying this method the organization can get information that at which level the company meet all its costs and expenditure and started to earn profit for further investment or expansion of business. This is generally indicating a point at which the company can recover all its fixed and variable expenses. Minimum cost analysis is another principle to control the business activities. It is generally based on the assumption and prediction before starting a business or before starting any new financial year or before taking any kind of new initiative by the organization. What will be the minimum fixed and variable cost that has to be analyzed and how much revenue can be generated from those particular business activities that also have to be analyzed. If the revenue will be higher than the anticipated cost then the initiative will be granted. This method is generally used as a guideline to operate activities in an efficient way. If the mentioned company will follow these principles then it will never face any kind losses and always can maintain

The Childhood section of Dubliners Essay Example for Free

The Childhood section of Dubliners Essay From your reading of the two stories in the Childhood section of Dubliners how is the encounter between different generations portrayed and what do you think is its role? The stories An Encounter and Sisters contain objective viewpoints about the older generation, and are told from the perspective of a young boy. There is the implication in both stories that the older generation is associated with religion which plays a paralysing role in the society of Dublin. The role of the encounter between the different age groups demonstrates the conflict of belief that occurs between young children growing up, forming their own opinions and beliefs, and their elders, who are trying to impress attitudes and traditions on them that seem unnatural to them. There is a suggestion that its role is also representative of the turmoil which Catholic Ireland found itself in during this period. The young boy, from whose perspective we see the elder generation, does not appear to hold the respect he ought to for his elders. In Sisters, the child feels bored by Old Cotter due to his endless talk about the distillery. The presence of Old Cotter and also that of the strange man in An Encounter are seen as equally undesirable by the narrator, and both are referred to in derogatory terms: Old Cotter as a tiresome old fool, and the nameless man by Mahony as a queer old josser. The children feel that they have no need for these men in their lives and it is significant that the word josser is slang meaning priest, exemplifying the disregard the boys feel towards a religion that has been imposed upon them. In addition to these two characters, in An Encounter Father Butler is a primary reason for the desire the boys feel for escape from the rebuke during the sober hours. Father Butler clearly has close connection with religion and their dislike of him once more is representative of the hostility the boys feel towards Catholicism and its effect on Dublin. The character of Father Flynn possesses a didactic role over the young boy, and we are told he taught [him] a great deal. Whether this teaching was desired by or imposed upon the narrator is not made clear but it is apparent that the priest instilled a certain amount of trepidation and awe, as well as admiration, in the boy, due to the adjectives used to describe his appearance, ancient, truculent, grey and massive, with black cavernous nostrils. The priests description is symbolic of the way in which the narrator feels about religion; one of the main roles that the encounter with the elder generation plays. The colours described are dark and intimidating, the atmosphere in his room was smoke-filled and one of lethargy, just as religion would have seemed harsh, restrictive and uninspiring. The man in An Encounter, also representing religion does not give a good impression of this central aspect of Irish society, he is perverted and contradictory in his words, he seemed to have forgotten his recent liberalismhe would whip a boy he would love that. One role of this encounter is to demonstrate the confusion that the boy feels about religion, before his eyes he sees contradiction in a religious figure, perverted and unnerving contradiction at that, which can only serve to add yet more doubt to his wavering faith. In both scenarios the narrator feels relieved when he escapes his elders whom he finds unnerving, indeed the epiphany in Sisters is the moment where he realises that he feels a sensation of freedomby his death. In the same way in An Encounter the boy seizes the first available moment to escape from the strange man, I stood up abruptlysaying that I was obliged to go. There is an urgency to get away from these mysterious characters although this is not apparent to the boy in the context of Father Flynn until he is involuntarily released by his death. Strangely, in the two stories the child feels an affinity to the elder generation and thus there is a sense of guilt due to the relief he experiences when they are absent. In Sisters the boy definitely admires the priest and despite feeling entrapped and paralysed by the religious implications attached to his role in society, there is also a certain empathy he feels towards him. The duties of the priesthood were too much for [Father Flynn] and smothered him, just as the requirements the boy must conform to in terms of religion are too demanding on his confused and inquisitive mind. In An Encounter the sense of empathy appears at the epiphany of the story, where the narrator realises that, like the man, he had always despised [Mahony] a little. This sudden, unexpected revelation that has been brought about by the unsettling words of the man demonstrates that the role of the older generation in this scenario has been to help the boy be true to himself and admit his own beliefs, which may inadvertently help him to accept his true religious feelings. The language and sentence structure used in Sisters helps to emphasise the generation gap perceived by the reader, words such as endless which imply the length of Old Cotters life as well as his boring talk, the threatening words that indicate the unapproachable appearance of Father Flynn due to his age and social significance, blackened, solemn and copious. Where the narrator describes how Father Flynn impressed his knowledge upon him, he lists the topics that he was taught, which shows not only the amount of subjects the two covered, but also symbolises the sheer length and content of the priests long life. The encounters used by Joyce in these two stories play conflicting roles, and contradiction is evident even within the same story; the boy describes a sense of anxiety to escape from his elders, yet expresses guilt at these feelings. He feels trapped by religion, yet sympathises with a priest about the constraints it makes on society, surprising as such a figure should be the embodiment of the restriction he finds it hard to abide by. The distance expressed both in terms of age and in opinion shows how the boy feels controlled by a generation he cannot relate to. This conveys a sense of paralysis affecting the younger generation of Ireland, a generation controlled by its elders and their religion, a religion which controls rather than directs its pupils. The encounters that make up such an important part of the two stories serve to demonstrate the alienation the children of Ireland feel towards their elders and their social situation: there simply is not the same strength of feeling towards religion in their lives, an empowering force on their lives and in Dublin.

Engineers Without Borders: Water Supply Work in Thailand

Engineers Without Borders: Water Supply Work in Thailand Jeremy Frisone Background Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to support community-driven development programs worldwide through partnerships that design and implement sustainable engineering projects. EWB-USA was founded in April 2000 when a representative of the Belize Ministry of Agriculture invited Dr. Bernard Amadei, Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, to visit a community in San Pablo, Belize, to assess the communitys water supply. When Dr. Amadei visited the community, he learned that they lacked clean water and sanitation infrastructure. Though the community had the resources to fix the problem, they lacked the engineering expertise to complete the work and Amadei decided to send his engineering students there to create a mutually beneficial partnership within the community (Engineers Without Borders USA, 2015). Today, there are over 12,000 members of EWB-USA, and the members are mainly composed of professional and student engineers. They work with local communities and NGOs in 47 countries and 5 continents around the world on water supply, sanitation, civil works, structures, energy, agriculture, and information system projects that comprehensively address the needs of a given community (Engineers Without Borders USA, 2015). Engineers Without Borders USA follows ten principles of development when completing international projects. These principles require that the projects be engineering-related, safety and quality-oriented, and performed within the scope of the engineers’ expertise. Also, the principles place a high focus on the importance of the community in which the project takes place. Since all EWB-USA projects are community-based, each project must be evaluated for appropriateness in the region and must develop a partnership with the impacted community that lasts at least five years. EWB also works closely with in-country partners (usually other in-country NGOs) to acquire the cultural experience that is required for the completion of the project. Finally, the EWB maintains that education of the partnering community and education of the active members is key to the success of the project infrastructure (Principles of Development, 2013). These principles of development show that EWB-USA main tains a high level of cultural awareness and works to develop projects which are specific to the needs, resources, and constraints of the region in which the projects are occurring. Mapping Engineers Without Borders USA has a highly specific method of mapping out regions to plan projects that places a substantial amount of focus on collaborating with the region’s community to improve quality of life. EWB begins the process of mapping out a region when they receive applications from villages for help on solving engineering problems. Once an application goes into the review process, the community receives a decision in four to six weeks. If the application is approved, the program will be posted on the EWB website, where it becomes available for acceptance by one of the student or professional chapters. According to the EWB website, â€Å"after a program is officially adopted, the community and chapter will coordinate the first assessment trip, which can occur anywhere between three months to one year after the date of adoption. The purpose of the first assessment trip is for the chapter to acquaint themselves with the community and to gather sufficient informatio n to assess the economic, social, environmental and technical viability and sustainability of the project. The assessment trip also allows the chapter to collect important data for both future project designs and the monitoring and evaluation phase. The highly participatory assessment trip typically lasts one to four weeks and allows the chapter and community to discuss whether or not the project should move forward† (Engineers Without Borders USA, 2015). Once the decision is made that the project should move forward, EWB enters a pre-specified partnership agreement with the community and a local partner organization such as a local NGO, municipality, or city government. Each of these entities has its own set of responsibilities that allows for the engineering experts to involve the community and organization leaders during each step of the project. For example, the community members and community based organizations are responsible for contributing to the project design, handling permits, permissions, and feedback, and helping to select and implement the final design (Project Partners Roles and Responsibilities, 2012). This involvement of the community members ensures that the project is completed in a way that suits the region’s specific needs and best improves the current situation. When the partnership is established with the impacted community, EWB-USA follows its specified framework that they refer to as â€Å"Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning† or PMEL. According to the official terms of reference, the PMEL framework â€Å"helps EWB -USA to better understand and account for the extent to which our efforts are going in the right direction, whether progress and success can be claimed, whether we are making the changes we hoped to make, and how future efforts might be improved† (Martindale, 2014). The first phase of the PMEL framework, â€Å"Planning,† is essentially EWB-USA’s method of mapping out the region of interest. It includes â€Å"conducting a situation analysis in the community, identifying program and project goals and strategies, collaborating with partner organizations and developing a plan for monitoring and evaluation† (Martindale, 2014). It is clear that in this phase EWB places a strong emphasis on working closely with the region’s community through situation analysis and cooperation with partner organizations. EWB relies on collaboration with the community members and partner organizations in every step of the â€Å"Planning† phase, including the project design, data collection, and preparing the site for work (Project Partners Roles and Responsibilities, 2012). By including the community members and local stakeholders in every step of the planning and implementation process, EWB-USA creates an exceptional level of communication that allows the project to adequately suit the needs of the specific region. The last three phases of the PMEL process are used in the actual application of the engineering project. In the â€Å"Monitoring† phase, EWB places focus on making sure that the project is going according to plan and noticing if adjustments need to be made. The â€Å"Monitoring† phase also works as a â€Å"communication system designed to improve management and policy decisions for different stakeholders† (Martindale, 2014). This emphasis on improving decisions for the â€Å"stakeholders,† or members of the impacted community, shows EWB’s commitment to involving the community members in every step of the project. Similarly, the â€Å"Evaluation† phase â€Å"measures progress the program or project has made, not only in completing activities but also in achieving its objectives and overall goal† within the community (Martindale, 2014). Finally, the â€Å"Learning† or â€Å"Impact Reviews and Assessment† phase is â€Å"des igned to determine if the completed program work did or did not have any direct influence on the changes experienced by the community members† by analyzing the significant and lasting change that has occurred in the lives of the target group (Martindale, 2014). Like the first three phases, the â€Å"Learning† phase also clearly places its focus on improving the lives of community members through collaboration. Region The focus of this paper lies in the region of Thailand and will look specifically at a case study that shows how Engineers Without Borders USA implemented its mapping and action strategies to complete an extensive water supply project in the village of Nong Bua. Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia that was first established in the mid-fourteenth century and is the only Southeast Asian country to never have been colonized by a European power. A constitutional monarchy has been in place in Thailand since 1932, and in 1954 Thailand became a U.S. treaty ally after sending troops to Korea and fighting alongside the U.S.in the war against Vietnam. Since then, Thailand’s political history has suffered through turmoil, political uprisings, and coups. In May of 2014, the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the government and placed the head of the Royal Thai Army in charge as the prime minister. The government has since created temporary drafts of constitutional reforms that will be voted on in 2016 elections (East and Southeast Asia: Thailand, 2014). Currently Thailand is divided into 76 provinces and one municipality. Each province varies slightly in religion, average income, industry, and cultural norms depending on the location within the country, but the majority of the population speaks Thai and practices the Buddhist religion (East and Southeast Asia: Thailand, 2014). The geography of the country plays a strong role in shaping the economy and the culture of Thailand. The climate is tropical, warm, and rainy, and the most prevalent natural resources are tin, rubber, natural gas, and tungsten. The recent increase in industrial practices and combined with the naturally tropical climate has caused an increase in both air and water pollution (East and Southeast Asia: Thailand, 2014). In fact, water pollution is one of the most serious concerns facing Thailand today. There is a high level of pollution due to substances that include household chemicals, such as surfactants, pharmaceuticals and insect repellents, agricultural chemi cals, such as pesticides as well as industrial chemicals, inorganics and heavy metals. Since these substances have a high level of tenacity, â€Å"these pollutants can cause contamination of surface water and groundwater which are the main water resources for drinking water production in Thailand† (Kruawal, et. al, 2004). This is a major issue for the health and safety of the residents of Thailand. This is particularly because â€Å"a considerable part of the Thai population lacks an access to health insurance, with the poor disproportionately unprotected† (Suraratdecha, et. al, 2004). Being that the water supply contamination is a major concern for the provinces of Thailand, Engineers Without Borders USA has been asked multiple times to assist in the development of clean water harvesting methods. Case Study The EWB-USA case study focuses on a water supply project that Engineers Without Borders USA Rutgers University Student Chapter completed in the Thai village of Nong Bua in 2009. The project formulated due to the lack of clean drinking water in the village of Nong Bua. Although the people in the community had made numerous attempts to drill wells to provide clean, inexpensive water, their efforts failed and the impoverished residents were forced to purchase bottled water. Luckily, Carole Ketnourath, D. Michael Shafer and Chatree Saokaew from the NGO Warm Heart heard about the situation and decided to act by contacting the Rutgers chapter of EWB-USA to help solve the problem. (Silagi, et. al, 2012). Since the Rutgers chapter of EWB was specifically asked to take on the project, the village was able to bypass the typical application process. Once the Rutgers chapter reviewed the information and decided to accept the project, they began the process of mapping out the region. EWB started the mapping process by conducting a situation analysis in the community and collecting general information on the specific region. They found that Nong Bua, a village in the sub-district of Phraro, is predominantly a farming village with 143 households. They found that the income per household is ~40,000 Baht (US$ 1,270) per year, with 68% of their income spent on purchasing sources of clean water. More importantly, it was discovered that the government constructed a water filtration and distribution system for an 88m well. However, the continuing poor water quality forced the community to purchase costly bottled water for drinking, or dig personal, shallow wells that do not provide clean water (Silagi, et. al, 2012). Once the EWB team had sufficient general knowledge on the situation, they conducted actual testing on the chemical composition of the water wells in the village and found that the water had a high level of contamination including unsafe levels of iron and ma nganese. They used this information to establish the general goal of improving the accessibility and affordability of clean drinking water in the village. The team then continued the mapping or â€Å"Planning† phase of the project by collaborating with Warm Heart, a local partner organization. Warm Heart is a grassroots organization that helps villagers in mountainous rural northern Thailand. They organize community projects that improve access to education and basic health services, create jobs and sustainable incomes for the poorest in the community, and restore the environment to sustain future generations (Warm Heart Worldwide, 2015). With the help of Warm Heart, the EWB Rutgers students were able to collaborate closely with the community members and local university students to assess the baseline health of the community and to brainstorm possible effective solutions to the water supply problem. After extensive planning that involved the engineers and the community members, the team began installation of a water system that had backwashing capabilities and a maintenance schedule that was designed to reduce the amount of iron and manganese to acceptable levels. Following the aforementioned PMEL framework, the team monitored and evaluated the project by continuously testing the system and relying on the community members for constructive feedback. Using this information, the EWB team â€Å"implemented various changes to combat the remaining fecal coliform contamination, the entire system was shock- chlorinated, and a hypo-chlorinator was installed to deliver a constant chlorine injection to the water system† in order to ensure that the water remained clean and safe for drinking (Silagi, et. al, 2012). After the project was completed, the EWB team began the â€Å"Learning† or â€Å"Impact Reviews and Assessment† phase of the project. They created a communication plan with the lead partner organization, Warm Heart, and agreed to stay in close contact to address problems in the future. They also made sure that the community was equipped with the proper coliform testing kits and operations and maintenance manuals so that they could ensure the future upkeep of the system. According to the official document, â€Å"the EWB-USA Rutgers team is confident about the future of Nong Bua after the final implementation trip during which educational programs were conducted and multiple meetings were held with the communities and local government to ensure that the project will be sustainable† (Silagi, et. al, 2012). Since the EWB Rutgers team made such a strong effort to educate and work with the local community members, government, and partner organization, it is clear that they highly valued collaboration with the affected region of interest. Throughout the mapping and completion phases of the project, the EWB team continually placed emphasis on the needs and feedback of the community in order to best achieve their goal of improving the water quality and access in the region. Conclusion Engineers Without Borders USA is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that uses a highly specific planning process to â€Å"map out† and complete engineering projects in over 47 countries around the world. One region in which EWB-USA has completed quality of life improvement projects is Thailand. Due to recent growth of industry, one of the biggest issues that is facing Thailand today is the abundance of pollution specifically water pollution that causes negative health effects for the general population. As a result of this issue, Engineers Without Borders USA has been asked to help mitigate the water supply issues in multiple villages across Thailand. One of the most prominent examples of EWB’s work in Thailand was the water supply project that the Rutgers chapter of EWB completed in the village of Nong Bua in 2009. To complete the project, the EWB team began their process of â€Å"mapping† the region by conducting site visits, gathering village-specific infor mation, and communicating with the members of the community and a local partner organization. They maintained this high level of communication with the community members throughout the project implementation by including the residents in the planning, designing, and upkeep of the new water supply system. As shown in the Nong Bua case study, it is clear that EWB-USA places a very high amount of focus on collaboration with the community during the mapping of a region and completion of a project within that region in order to ensure that the solution best fits the needs of the community. References East and Southeast Asia: Thailand. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html Engineers Without Borders USA. (2012). Project Partner Roles and Responsibilities [Brochure]. Author. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/ewbgeneral/511 Project Partner Roles and Responsibilities.pdf Engineers Without Borders USA. (2013). Principles of Development [Brochure]. Author. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/ewbgeneral/EWB-USA_Principles-of-Development.pdf Engineers WIthout Borders USA. (2015, April 30). Retrieved May 01, 2015, from http://ewb-usa.org/ Kruawal, K., Sacher, F., Werner, A. (2004). Chemical water quality in Thailand and its impacts on the drinking water production in Thailand. Retrieved from http%3A%2F%2Fac.els-cdn.com%2FS004896970400614X%2F1-s2.0-S004896970400614X-main.pdf%3F_tid%3D8162c9a2-f367-11e4-a079-00000aacb362%26acdnat%3D1430858840_a616e75e376e38244de835b5426bfe6e Martindale, T., P.E. (2014). Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Program Program Description. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/ewbgeneral/COMPILED PMEL Program Description.pdf Silagi, E., Kretch, J. (2012). Thailand Project (Issue brief). Retrieved http://ewb.rutgers.edu/projects/thailand.html Suraratdecha, C., Saithanu, S., Tangcharoensathien, V. (2004). Is universal coverage a solution for disparities in health care? Findings from three low-income provinces of Thailand. Retrieved from http%3A%2F%2Fac.els-cdn.com%2FS0168851004002672%2F1-s2.0-S0168851004002672-main.pdf%3F_tid%3D716c58c4-f4f2-11e4-b27d-00000aab0f6c%26acdnat%3D1431028465_6547fe9d9e83439cb473ec48c34fc224 Warm Heart Worldwide. (2015). Retrieved from http://warmheartworldwide.org/ Chartism: A Failed Success Chartism: A Failed Success British children born into farming families in the early nineteenth century stood little chance of remaining in agriculture their entire life. The society in which they lived was changing in large ways. Industrialization was slowly creeping into the countryside as men implemented new technology alongside the old. The domestic market grew markedly as income per head of population expanded and a consumer revolution percolated down from the richer classes to the middle ranks and artisans. People began moving to the city. It remains debatable as to whether individuals and families were compelled to move searching for work or if they were compelled to move due to enclosure. Villages such as Styal and Cromford were constructed to house some of the workers moving to factory towns. A quick journey down these village streets today provides some glimpse of the crowded conditions people endured. The rear alleyway below bedroom windows reserved for swine and human refuse reminds visitors of the intimacy working class people had with their animals and waste. Today birds singing from the chimneys are a far cry from the high volume of soot once produced by the coal burning within. No matter the motivation for moving, migrants found life in the industrial English city or town in the 1800s quite grim. Westminster played little role in the regulation of cities. England was still a country with very little government from the center, and almost all the local responsibilities, health, housing, education, police, that are now subject to strict inspection and control, were left to the unchecked discretion and pleasure of magistrates and borough rulers. Unfortunately for members of the working class many of the magistrates and rulers were sympathetic to factory owners or were owners themselves. It was an incredibly unjust system of governance presided over by men such as Cromford industrialist Joseph Arkwright. Therefore the Chartist movement was likely to fail. This is a vital reminder that those with power rarely surrender it to those without unless they feel compelled by the threat of physical harm or superior moral authority. Chartists arose from Britains working class determined to gain a voice in their destiny through democratic participation. Their goals were admirable but their strategy weak. The working class lived in squalid conditions and was used repeatedly as political leverage by the merchant class. The Reform Bill of 1832 was one such example. Harold Faulkner wrote of the event: When the smoke of the struggle cleared away, the great class disfranchised discovered that not only had they reaped no benefit from the reform they had so largely helped to win, but that their lot under a reformed Parliament dominated by the doctrines of the Manchester School seemed to be worse than ever. Economic thought of Manchester School politicians was that of laissez faire capitalism. Clearly their policies were not designed to aid the abused workers of Britain. However, determined Chartists planned to overcome the lockout workingmen had long endured in the political arena. Unfortunately, time would prove they were not the well-organized army the working class so desperately needed. The movement functioned far better as a social, emotional, and even religious agent than one of political change. Chartists failed to achieve their stated goals due to their nature as an emotionally fuelled reactionary coalition bound only by their six simple objectives articulated in the Peoples Charter of 1838. Life was absolutely miserable for the working class. The idea of the town as a focus for civilization, a center where the emancipating and enlightening influence of the time can act rapidly and with effect, the school of social arts, the nursery of social enterprise, the witness to the beauty and order and freedom that men can bring into their lives, had vanished from all minds. Industrial change allowed powerful capitalists to dominate life in small towns across England. Discontent was not unique to Chartism. Social angst in the period existed in several forms. Eric Hobsbawm identifies unhappy segments of the population including: Luddite and Radical, trade unionist and utopian-socialist, Democratic and Chartist. The largest class of people was unhappy with life and increasingly conscious of their group identity. It could have been caused by the changes slowly eliminating traditional trades, shift in power from landed nobility to the capitalist class, or movement of people from the soil to the city. Nevertheless the sheer number of protest movements demonstrates a clear unhappiness in nineteenth century Britain. All that was needed to turn consciousness into conflict was an economic or political crisis. For the working class that outrage first occurred on the moors at St. Peters Fields and combined with the knowledge of revolutionary France. The so-called 1819 massacre at Peterloo in which eleven were killed struck an emotional chord among the working class. They had rehearsed the event repeatedly. Men, women, and children donned their Sunday best and marched in columns to show their non-violent nature. The working class intended to prove it too could be an orderly component of society. However the government feared anarchic results akin to those in France at the Bastille. The local military contingent was intimidated by the workers discipline and a magistrate became alarmed and ordered the march on the field outside Manchester be stopped. The event turned bloody! The cartoon in Appendix A reveals the attitude often attributed to the middle class of the day. Hefty cavalry members sit atop sturdy steeds with swords raised to mutilate men, women, and even children. The caption reads, in part: remember the more you kill the less poor rates youll have to payà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The viewer cannot help but sympathize with the skinny-likely hungry-mother whose baby clings to her breast as she stares at a sword raised to strike them by a man who has had far too much for dinner. The cartoonist does an excellent job portraying wealth and power through weight and garb. State-condoned murder on St. Peters Fields near Manchester by those in positions of authority contributed to the sense of class-consciousness Kenneth Morgan identifies in The Birth of Industrial Britain. The Peterloo tragedy further energized by the pang of unhappiness deep within the workingmans gut finally pushed a number of radical groups to join forces as the Chartists. They offered a simple-albeit difficult to enact-political solution to mend Englands social and political ills. They rallied around a platform of six reforms, which they published as the Peoples Charter on 8 May 1838. The resolution called for: universal suffrage, no property qualifications for the electorate, annual parliaments, equal representation, salary for MPs, and implementation of the secret ballot. A number of historians argue that this was a major peak of the movement. D.G. Wright argued that the movement was not unilinear but had three peaks, one being 1839-40, the others included 1842 and 1848. Coincidentally, each of the identified peaks in the movement closely mirrors low points economically for Britain when poverty was greatest. The unmistakable correlation reminds us that Chartism was fuelled by passions of the impoverished. Most participants of Chartist events were neither intellectual nor bourgeois. Politically the movement never firmly gelled; it remained a movement of regional organizations guided by a single unifying document and no clear agreement among leaders. The Chartist paper called The Northern Star published accounts from numerous leaders. The best known was Feargus OConnor. The Chartist movement required leadership. Vocal leaders traveling throughout England took turns masking and exacerbating the divisions within Chartism. The leading men did not always concur on political issues, social goals, or Chartist strategy. Leader George Julian Harney exemplified this in a mid-1840s letter to his friend Friedrich Engels. Harney a national leader of Chartism thrice imprisoned for disobeying the stamp laws wrote: As to what OC [onnor] has been saying lately about physical force, I think nothing of it. The English people will not adopt [Thomas] Coopers slavish notions about peace and non-resistance but neither would they act upon the opposite doctrine. They applaud it at public meetings, but that is all. The absence of unified strategy allowed politicians to employ a divide and conquer strategy. This proved fatal to the underdog movement. Feargus OConnor was the most virulent of Chartist leaders. He was quite self-absorbed, a pompous self-promoter. His charisma captivated the working classes in a way few other movement leaders could. What OConnor did do was to link the various aspects of Chartism, and while dividing the leadership he united the movement. The unstable nature of the working class coalition united behind the Peoples Charter needed strong leadership in order to be successful. OConnor derived authority from his physical appearance and charismatic character. Historian R.G. Gammage described OConnor in his 1854 account of Chartism. There he wrote: Upwards of six feet in height, stout and athletic, and in spite of his opinions invested with a sort of aristocratic bearing, the sight of his person was calculated to inspire the masses with a solemn awe. So true is it that despite the march of civilization, and the increase of respect for mental superiority, men are generally impressed with a veneration for superior physical power. The Irishmans physical presence alone demanded some confidence from the crowd. Unfortunately for Chartism physical dominance of one charismatic man could not carry the agenda of an entire class of people. The average working class individual did not spend every waking hour attempting to make Chartism successful. Nor did the workingman await every word or message spewed from the fractured leadership. Chartist rallies were spectacles during which the working class nodded and applauded. That was the strongest action most Chartist men and women took! One imagines tired men and women attending a great open-air speech by OConnor much like those of Methodisms John Wesley. It was an uplifting experience, but there was limited ongoing dedication to the crusade. It was a periodic commitment with robust bursts of energy during times of severe hunger and unemployment. Many of the regional units-such as London Working Mens Association and the Birmingham Political Union-associated with Chartism sought to satisfy peoples needs for community, especially through entertainment. There was a need to engage the imagination in order to raise important questions of the day. Men and women were engaged socially through events sponsored by working class groups. The camaraderie built by the work environment and common belief that they were fundamentally mistreated went a long way in maintaining the loose confederation of regional movements that had differing interests outside the Chartist platform. Religion also found its place as an energy source for the Chartist movement. The established Church of England was of little use to the working class. High church was not the place for the working class. After all, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the typical Chartist was a horny-handed son of toil. Anglicanism made no attempt to appeal to men with fustian jackets, unshorn chins, and blistered hands. The Wesleyan Methodists were more accommodating than the established church. However, during the nineteenth century Methodism was dominated by a forbidding clerical autocracy-Chartists wanted democracy! Therefore many Chartists made their Christianity personal. The favorite scriptural teaching of Chartist Christians is found in the Gospel of Matthew. The verses are quite elementary and committed to memory by Christians worldwide: Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments. Jesus conveys basic teachings in only a few lines, which the workers could easily interpret. By this Biblical standard they knew they were being wrongly treated. On this issue Chartists could claim the moral high ground. The religious experience was part of a much larger Chartist movement. Chartist branches at the local level, like those of the Owenites, provided a substantial menu of recreational, educational, and religious activities which amounted to an alternative culture, within which members could move freely during their leisure hours. This further reinforced the ideas promoted by the Peoples Charter. And, it gave the middling class supporters a place of refuge. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Being a Chartist was a risky business that invited abuse and threatened career, reputation, and liberty. However the support offered by the working class to members of the intelligentsia or bourgeoisie supporting Chartism on moral grounds was minimal given the non-existent social influence of the laborin g class. The six-point Peoples Charter faced an intense battle from its inception. The platform would have been difficult to enact even if all conditions were stellar. Had Chartists been the ideal protest movement of outraged, politically astute, impoverished masses, guided by unified leadership and common interests across regions, motivated by a deep sense of moral justice, supported by the middle class, and determined at all costs their demands-or should we say requests-would have had a better chance of parliamentary ratification. In addition, the failure of the 1832 Reform Act to address working class needs was a demoralizing shock to its labor advocates. The Whigs used labor to gain a greater say in British government my using, then marginalizing, the working class. Hindsight reveals the situation was far from ideal for Chartists. The 1849 Punch cartoon by John Leech found in Appendix B is far more indicative of reality. The cartoonist is likely poking fun at the Chartist failures of 1848 which included London riots, a Day of Protest, a failed Irish rising, and a planned British uprising all in the month of June. Not to mention the failed petition submitted to Westminster in April 1848, which a parliamentary committee found rife with fraudulent signatures. Leech drew an unidentified Chartist leader with before and after frames juxtaposed. When confronted by a constable, the ragged leader who had called for a march on the palace suddenly cowers changing his tune to God Save the Queen. This is an accurate depiction of Chartist fervor. It was lukewarm at best! Chartists failed to achieve their six goals due to their nature as an emotionally fuelled reactionary coalition of regional labor groups dedicated to different social agendas. Divided and sometimes self-absorbed leaders who failed to meld the various labor organizations of the north and south into a truly unified movement compounded the difficulty of their task. The issues for laborers in the various regions of England remained quite diverse due to varying stages of industrialization. It is unlikely they could have ever formed a strong unified bloc. Chartism was forced to remain an uneasy coalition of regional interests with a leadership of diverse opinion advocating peaceful and militant tactics simultaneously. The movement further lacked the motivation to sustain itself consistently. There was little talk of reform when the economy was doing well. The masses were mollified when there was plenty of bread in their bellies and a stable government at Britannias helm. Chartism began in the 1830s, an era that experienced no fewer than five national elections. And Wright reminds readers that the movement peaked with public disorder and petitioning on three occasions when the economy ebbed. Workers were motivated by the desperate situation in which they and their families were stuck. Contemporary scholars should resist temptation and refrain from being overly critical of Chartists. There is a need to overlook the megalomania of OConnor and the mediocre dedication to the charter by the exhausted working class. The Peoples Charter articulated six issues on which its adherents could agree. As it turned out those were the only six items about which they could agree. James Epstein and Dorothy Thompson expressed this perfectly in The Chartist Experience. According to these authors: For all its failings, the mass platform [Peoples Charter] had given shape and protection to working-class radicalism rendering it impervious to any diluting. Following the abandonment of the mass platform, Chartism was permeated by a miscellany of reform groups all of whom repudiated confrontation, intimidation, and exclusive nature of working-class protest. The charter established a common cause for the working class. However the movement stood little chance no matter how unified it became. Chartists faced a powerful national government of aristocrats and capitalists with a well-equipped military at its command. The Chartist movement had ceased to exist by 1858. But its ideas live on in various splinter reform groups. Universal suffrage, no property qualifications for the electorate, annual parliaments, equal representation, pay for MPs, and the secret ballot all exist in todays Britain and most of its former possessions. The historian of Chartism might dwell on the dark side, and select those aspects of working-class life which prompted political concern and social protest, but these need to be set against the broader canvas of what urban life could be. Chartists successfully shaped the political conversation of their day. Try as they might, leading politicians in the government could not eradicate the ideas of Chartism. The legacy of beliefs enshrined in the Peoples Charter lived long after Chartism ceased to exist. Appendix A Cartoon. Text in upper right: Down with em! Chop em down my brave boys: give them no quarter they want to take our Beef Pudding from us! - remember the more you kill the less poor rates youll have to pay so go at it Lads show your courage your Loyalty Available at: 31 Jul 2006. Appendix B John Leech. Great Chartist Demonstration 9 from Punch, 1849. Available at: 31 Jul 2006.

Upton Sinclairs The Jungle - Socialism :: Upton Sinclair The Jungle

The Jungle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socialism      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the late 1800's and early 1900's hundreds of thousands of European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American Dream.   The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but happiness.   Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future and economic stability to these naive and hopeful people.   Jobs with excellent wages and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits seemed like a chance in a lifetime to these struggling foreigners.   Little did these people know that what they would confront would be the complete antithesis of what they dreamed of.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The enormous rush of European immigrants encountered a lack of jobs. Those who were lucky enough to find employment wound up in factories, steel mills, or in the meat packing industry.   Jurgis Rudkus was one of these disappointed immigrants. A sweeper in slaughter house, he experienced the horrendous conditions which laborers encountered. Along with these nightmarish working conditions, they worked for nominal wages, inflexible and long hours, in an atmosphere where worker safety had no persuasion.   Early on, there was no one for these immigrants to turn to, so many suffered immensely.   Jurgis would later learn of worker unions and other groups to support the labor force, but the early years of his Americanized life were filled, with sliced fingers, unemployment and overall a depressing and painful   "new start."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sinclair, has shown in a dramatic style the hardships and obstacles which Jurgis and fellow workers had to endure.   He made the workers sound so helpless and the conditions so gruesome, that the reader almost wants a way out for Jurgis.   Sinclair's The Jungle is a "subliminal" form of propaganda for   Socialism.   At a time in our nations history where the rich were very wealthy, and the poor were penniless, Sinclair's portrayal of socialism in regards to the laborer is very appealing to a jobless, hungry, indigent man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sinclair's vision of socialism, wasn't as flawless and beneficial as it seemed.

Human Resource Mangement in Solvay Essay -- Personnel Management

Human Resource Mangement in Solvay In the last decades, small national companies have grown in amazing scale all around the world. Companies that once were family owned have become huge multinational corporations. Corporations, which by the side of globalization, have expanded all around the world. International business has become one of the most important areas of business due to the need for companies to expand to markets outside their borders. Companies have had the need to adapt to another cultures and business systems. At the same time the way human resource management works has changed. Multinational corporations have had to adapt to new human resource requirements in order to be more effective and efficient. The business melting pot that surged in the last decades has forced corporations to develop a diverse workforce with the ability to expand their businesses. Solvay is one of the companies that was able to exploit globalization as it best. This company has successfully expand itself all around the world and has become one of the biggest multinational companies in the world due to its effective business and H.R. management performance. The story of Solvay starts in 1861, in Belgium. During this year the Ernest brothers started working on a new revolutionary ammonia-soda process for the production of sodium carbonate. Later on in 1863 the Solvay Group was founded. During the first years they had constant economic problems. Because of the problems that they had trying to developed and perfect the production process of their products, their performance during the first ten years was not successful. The first ten years they went on bankruptcy several times. However soon everything changes for the company. After 1870 Solvay started focusing on global expansion. Soon, factories were opened in Belgium, France, England, Germany, Russia and the United States. (Solvay s.a.) Nowadays Solvay is a global group of pharmaceutical and chemical companies specialized in different sectors. It has around 400 entities in 50 different countries, and it provides jobs for 32,000 people from different countries of the world. (solvay s.a.)Headcount By Sector Persons employed as of 1/1/2000 Pharmaceuticals 6 694 Chemicals 11 497 Plastics ... ...gium and the other countries where their factories are based. Solvay is a company that understands business and that has everything a company needs to achieve global dominance in its field of work. Belgium’s stability and prosperity gives Solvay a perfect environment and conditions (cultural and political) to continue its global expansion. The company’s approach to new markets, the strategies planned for the future and its highly skilled diverse workforce put Solvay in a privilege position for its global development. Works cited -All Internet source from yahoo education directory.http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture. -All Internet source from yahoo education directory.http://www.altavista.com. -Jamieson, David and Julie O’Mara. Managing Workforce 2000: Gaining the Diversity Advantage. Jossey. Bass publishers.1991. -Solvay Investors. â€Å"Increasing competiviness†. http://www.solvay- finance.com/a_report98_human.htm -Solvay people. International pharmaceutical and chemicalgroup.http://www.solvay.com/people/announce/job0002908b. -The Wilson Quarterly. â€Å"In the Belgium chateau: the spirit and culture of an European society in an age of change†. 1995.

Historical experience leader was not trusted Essay

Terry finished from college as an engineer with excellent grades. He got jobs with several companies within the space of two years after graduation. He decided to change job because of harsh environment conditions of the location of the companies. After staying at home for three months, he got another job with a university as an IT assistant, in charge of networking and system repairs. He was enjoying himself in this company: a young university graduate with bright future. He was very dedicated to the discharge of duties. Because of dedication to duty, he was loved by all and sundry. He actually also had good human relationships. During his stay in the company, he had three major plans: settle down for a family with his girl-friend. He wanted to continue his education by bagging a postgraduate degree in Information and communication technology. He also had a business plan to accomplish that would be open the door for his self-employment and own his company. Because of these, he was ready to get as much experience as possible. He was poised to learn as mush as would come his way. And he did. However, he started developing problems with his Unit director who felt he was outshining him in the Unit. They argued on several occasions about they had to do on network problems affecting the University Internet access. At last, he got a sack letter. He left the company. He did not particularly see the sack as a major problem: it was an opportunity for him to actually work on his plans. So, he set forth. He drew up his business plan: got fund from the savings and investments he had made while gainfully employed, from friends and family members. He got a vantage position for his IT Company that provides information and services on Website designs, PC sales and repairs, Internet access and Computer training. He got started with a number of hardworking staff. He made them understand that since the business is new, they had to see themselves as part of a team that must work hard to see that customers are satisfied, their requirements met and services delivered effectively. These workers understood and dedicated their time and energy to the progress of the Company. They trusted his knowledge and managerial skills. They were also ready to make sacrifices for the Company. I got employed into the company as a Customer Service agent in charge of customer relations and keeping a journal of order delivery status. I noticed that Terry had a problem with his girlfriend and he had to break up. This affected his mood and outlook to work in the office. During this time, he lost his vigor and strength. We got talking about many things, including our personal lives. He was articulate and intelligent. But he could not keep to schedule nor meet appointments. A lot of customers and some members of staff complained on this. He promised to change. But he did not. Apart from this, he refused to pay salaries for the first two months. This was not surprise to us as we knew that the Company was getting up and we understood that a lot of money had to go into the running of a new company. After the third month, we met to discuss why salaries had not been paid. The Accounting unit reported that the Company could pay its workers. Against his will, they also told those present that some people have been selectively paid. This got the ‘unpaid’ workers annoyed and seriously vexed. We demanded for an explanation form the Boss. He was ready, as usual to give excuse and sweet-tongued us into this same old story: the Company is just catching up, and soon, all will be well. He supported his point with facts and figures convincing those paid are on special contract. He also used the opportunity to chastise workers who had not been working, especially those he had proposed to and they refused his advances. It later dawned on us that the company leader was making advances to many female workers in the office; those who agreed got paid and those who did not were chastised for their disobedience and were also not paid salaries. I was disappointed to come to this conclusion. I was learning a lot on the job, so I did not want to leave. After five months of endurance, we were paid for three months. I make proposal to opt out of the company because the situation grew worse daily. I called him several times to advise him but he would tell me I was young and had limited experience. Complaints by staff intensified daily. He sacked some, and others opted out willingly . The Situation became embarrassing: virtually everybody in the company knew about the ordeal. After series of threats, all salaries were paid. By then, he had lost a lot of resourceful workers. I also left the Company but not without lessons: little disappointments add up to big distrust. Trust is a major tool that makes communication effective. Anyone that loses this all-important trait is building a castle on sand, it would not last. It’s only a matter of time: it would fall. The company no longer exists. It has now been closed down. Terry had to get a paid job to pay his debts.