Political Stupidity

Amanda Ortiz, Swetaben Ahir, Nga Le, and Shantel Palmer Professor McDade English 1302 October 15, 2012 Political Stupidity, U. S. Style In E . J. Dionne’s essay, â€Å"Political Stupidity, U. S. Style† he wants to address the political stupidity that the government is making. To start his argument, he raises an emotional question, â€Å"Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid? † The author is saying are we letting politics, irrational ideas on fiscal policy and an antiquated political structure undermine our power.He divides political stupidity into three parts: stupid tax policies, irrational ideas on fiscal policy and antiquated political structure. In his essay, â€Å"Political Stupidity, U. S Style,† Dionne employs ethos, connotation and an emotional appeal. In paragraph sixteen, Dionne uses ethos. He writes, â€Å"I’m a chronic optimist about America. † E. J. Dionne is confident about the future to get better but we need well intentioned republicans who care about the nation interest to realize something has gone fundamentally wrong with their party and work to help bring it back.To get rid of political stupidity, he wants to form a senate, a new conservatism that is worthy of our name, liberals willing to speak out on the threat our daft politics poses to our influence in the world, and moderates. However the readers might have complete trust of the government of the United States and so they might not like someone questioning their credibility. In paragraph number seventeen, Dionne uses connotation saying â€Å"We need moderates who do more than stick their fingers in the wind to calculate the halfway point between two political poles. Dionne is hoping to make people aware of the political stupidity and the need to bring change in the system of politics. Sticking their fingers in the wind, means a person putting his finger in the wind is unlikely to come up with original solutions, and decisions are made without backing evidence. It says that the politicians are making blind decisions without even thinking about its consequences. It also makes them look like fools running the country. However, if some people think that the politicians were fools, the United States would not have been a super power.In paragraph seven, Dionne uses a strict emotional appeal as a mean to persuade his audience. He writes, â€Å"The simple truth is that the wealthy in the United States- the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years- are under taxed compared with everyone else. † Consider two reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. One, issued last month, highlighted findings from the Congressional Budget Office showing that, â€Å"The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007. The other, from February, used Int ernal Revenue Service data to show that the effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes declined by nearly half in just over a decade, even as their pre-tax incomes have grown five times larger. He writes this, hoping that by using the reports from the Congressional Budget Office, he would be able to prove his point that the United States is politically stupid. It seems as if he is trying to bring awareness among the people of the United States about the decisions made by politicians.Although he has demonstrated his evidence very convincingly and it seems that he would get his readers attention and they would listen to his concerns but some of his readers think that he is being blunt and through his essay he is making direct acquisitions on the politicians of the United States. The United States is falling behind and the public seems not to notice. In paragraph number fourteen, Dionne talks about the structure of our government. He talks abo ut how the ratio between the largest and smallest state was 13 to 1. Now it’s 68 to 1.He writes,† because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the national population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population. And you wonder why it’s hard to get anything done in Washington? ’’ Dionne gives convincing evidence to support his claim which is the politics of the United States is stupid. He uses ethos and shows his concerns by saying he is a chronic optimist about America. He also uses reports to prove his point and persuade the audience. However he seems blunt and tells it like it is without any fear.

Service Organization

One gets good friends and a good wife by the grace of God! Friendship to sprout and grow properly needs certain favorable situations. However my friendship with my guests of the day for this special brunch happened and developed under strange circumstances. God brought them together and united them in prison; in the barracks; in the common ward! How indeed does destiny work, when it decides to do something for the welfare of an individual! They were all young – more or less of equal age. Like any youngster, they too wished to get rich quickly. Is it possible to become so by doing sundry jobs or working in road-side eateries?No, not at all! So they had the holy beginning of their career by taking to pick-pocketing; then they switched over to chain-snatching; but all efforts proved futile–even house-breaking proved to be of no avail, for they could not attain the reasonable standard of living. They wished to do something fruitful and result-oriented – definitely, f or that, they picked up the latest in the line–stealing cars! Indeed they did brisk business and promptly landed in jail – for identical crimes! Destiny chased them again! Coming and going out of the jail became their routine, and their friendship deepened.But they were waiting for the rare opportunity, when they all would be out of the jail at the same time. Destiny obliged them again! When all of them were out of the jail, they decided, â€Å"The time has arrived for us to strike big! Enough of local cars! † Their eyes fell on a Mercedes car, but their patch of bad luck had just commenced – call it their inexperience or the reverse gear for their luck! The first Mercedes they stole belonged to the Chief Secretary of Home Department.. The police — If they will, they have the ability to recover a stolen needle also.Within four hours of the theft, the Chief Secretary was comfortably seated in the air-conditional comfort of his own car – and o ur friends in the jail-cell, badly beaten and bruised! They went through a quick trial and were promptly awarded three years rigorous imprisonment! It was during this period that I got an opportunity to interact with them. I was the volunteer with a Service Organization, that looked after the mental health of the prison inmates and somehow I took instant liking for these four friends. I am good at teaching spirituality to others, and listening to my counseling, they got an opportunity to think deep!. â€Å"On release from the prison, we should also live like any other citizen of the country by giving up the path of crime†. Of late, they had heard of many such stories of ‘transformation’– A gold-smuggler of international repute in that line for two decades after completing his five year jail sentence, bought a plot of land at Mumbai, and started the legitimate profession of building, buying, and selling residential/commercial flats. He then earned so much m oney within two years that he deeply regretted, â€Å"Why I wasted decades of my life in gold- smuggling! This line is more lucrative than gold-smuggling†, he emphatically opined!Each of the four friends had some ‘hard-earned’ savings securely deposited in a foreign bank, notorious for maintaining the secrecy of its important clientele. They all decided to be businessmen by buying shops in a row in a shopping centre, and engage in different trades! Grocery, Electrical Appliances, Photo Studio and Bakery– the plans to open these four shops were finalized. After establishing the businesses, all of them would marry and lead the respectable life of house-holders. They would lead an ideal life, remain good friends, excellent neighbors, and live like members of one family.They discussed and agreed on several such high ideals of life and living. But they imposed a strict condition on themselves. They will never enter into a day-to- day discussion about business m atters. Exactly after one year, they will review the matter – whether they should continue in business or revert to the old profession! They would pursue that vocation which would be more profit-giving and more happiness-providing! Presently what they decided was: They should live with mutual co-operation. They should remain honest among themselves. But, nobody should interfere in the other’s business dealings!â€Å"How soon would you come again? † the Jail Superintendent asked them good-humouredly, on the day of their release from the jail. â€Å"Respected Sir, let this be our last meeting behind the bars. Thank you for your co-operation. Please bless us,† said the friends in unison. On the day of their release, I had a heart to heart talk with them. I will invite them for a treat, exactly after one year to know about their moral ascendancy, and today’s brunch was the result of that gentleman promise! They walked out to their freedom. They bought four shops in a row, in a suburb of Mumbai.On an auspicious day, Grocery shop of Rex, Electrical Appliances shop of Alex, Photo Studio of Tom and Bakery of Sam were opened. From day one, they did reasonable business. But sometimes, when they recalled the adventures of their past-lives, they felt tempted by their old profession. But, according to the mutual understanding, they had to carry on and push the business-cart, at least for one year. After about a month, Rex thought that Alex was doing brisk business. â€Å"If I continue to live with honest dealings for one year, what if I forget my past expertise! † he feared.â€Å"I must do something to at least maintain the level of that expertise,† he surmised! But, suddenly he remembered about the promise he made to his friends to remain honest for one year! But Rex failed to control his mind! â€Å"I must do something. This is the question of my future† – Rex had arrived at a decision! When Alex was not in h is shop, bidding his time, Rex was on his action plan. A copper wire connected Alex’s electrical meter with that of Rex. He had to drill a small hole through the thick wall separating their shops. He did it so efficiently and the concealed wiring was done so nicely that nobody could notice it.From that instant, Alex owned electrical bill of Rex. â€Å"I now save about fifty dollars a month,† he surmised. He was overjoyed! In the third month, when Sam purchased a second-hand car, it set Alex thinking! He too didn’t want to forget his past skills for his secure future! Sam used to park his car at a particular place. Alex dug a tunnel in his shop and the mouth of the subterraneous passage he created, opened right below the petrol tank of the car. He drilled a hole to the petrol tank and fixed a rubber pipe that brought the petrol directly into the waiting container at his shop.He made perfect arrangements for opening and closing the petrol-donating hole of the tank . As soon as Sam parked his car, Alex profited by a liter of petrol daily – gain of about 75 dollars a month. Alex was happy thus! In the fourth month, when Tom got his new telephone connection, Sam thought on similar lines. He lost no time to react. Keenly intelligent as he was, he quickly fixed the ‘pair’ for his newly acquired ‘instrument’, only through Tom’s authorized telephone connection. Since he had the telephone facility now, he renewed his contacts with some of his old friends at distant cities.Of course, he kept his instrument at a secret and a sound-proof corner that he specially created in his shop for the purpose. In the sixth month, Tom was restless. He felt a sense of insecurity even in his dreams! He felt, â€Å"All my friends are progressing and I am left far behind! † He knew the habit of his gluttonous friend Rex. He used to drink a liter of milk and lots of curd daily. A milkman brought milk for him very early in th e morning at 5†² O clock in a special can. He would keep the can on an elevated stand, press the door bell, and disappear into the darkness. Tom purchased an identical can.Everyday, he used to keep his can ready and one liter of water. He replaced this can with the original can of the milkman by pouring one liter of milk in his can. This he did in seconds! There was visible glow on the countenance of Tom—of course, by drinking 30 liters of fresh milk a month, at the cost his dear friend Rex! A year rolled by! The time had now arrived for their annual meeting at my house. I had made excellent reparations for the brunch at their request. All of them had made the joint request that I must serve them that tasteless dal and hard wheat cakes, which they used to eat in the jail!They had eaten so much of it, their internal organs could never forget the taste of that prison stuff! I had to make special arrangements by requesting another jail-bird(since released) who was in the co oking department in the prison I initiated their discussion. Who would give the account of his honest living for the last one year? Then, thus spoke Rex, â€Å"Tom is the youngest amongst us. We are all like his elder brothers. Let us hear his honest thoughts. His views– Tom dear, please speak first. † Tom was overwhelmed to hear the loving words of Rex for the trust he enjoyed with his friends! â€Å"Did I cheat such divine friends?† thought Tom, and he could control himself no more! Tears gushed down from his eyes. In an instant, Tom lay prostrate at the feet of Rex. He gave a detailed account of his misdeed, sobbing intermittently. He gave a solemn promise that he would remain honest at all times and at all costs. Looking at the never ending torrent of tears, Rex, Alex, and Sam–all of them confessed to their crimes and unleashed an uncontrollable crying session! Competition in rhythmic crying! Then Tom owned the difficult responsibility of controlling them! I too lent a helping hand to Tom, to console them! Thereafter, they ate the jail-like stuff, like gluttons!From that day onwards, they really commenced living an honest life–The telephone wire was cut; the meter wire was pulled out; the tunnel was filled with sand; the milk remained unadulterated! â€Å"What is there in the life of crime? If you wish to earn money and become prosperous, enter into business activity†, they used to advise their former prison-inmates since released. Yes, Rex, Alex, Tom & Sam are leading an honest life. They are counted amongst the rich businessmen now. They don’t brag about their rags to riches story. They don’t discuss money matters with anyone at all! For, none of them is paying income tax!

Charles darwin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Charles darwin - Essay Example This governmental body has set safety standards which are to be followed by all the companies and the safety and health professionals have to ensure that these standards are being followed and obeyed by every company. The article â€Å"Importance of safety consideration in site layout and organization† is written by Anumba and Bishop. The article was published in the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering in the year 1997. The article discusses the facts that generally at the time of laying out the site plan are ignored and it has been mentioned that these facts are very important to be considered in the practical implementation. It has been discussed that in general no company focusses much on safety methods that must be adopted. Here it has been mentioned that occupational safety and health professionals must keep a proper check on such companies and proper action must be taken against such companies (Anumba & Bishop, 1997). Safety and health professionals are responsible for planning out and formulating the rules and standards that are to be set for the employees. They have to first plan out a team of highly professional and experienced professionals which would work together as a team to formulate the points and rules and finalize them, then a team must be developed which would ensure that the rules and standards set by the agency are being implemented or not. While planning and formulating the rules it must be made sure that the rules that are being designed must be practically applicable and can be applied to all organizations and firms (Bailey, 2008). Each and every aspect regarding health care issues must be kept under consideration and all sorts of companies and firms must be kept in view while designing the rules and points of the act. It is the responsibility and duty of the health and safety professionals to design such rules and set such standards that each and every employee feels safe and secure while working in the workplace environment. Safety

Surgical and Rehabilitation Intervention of an open mid shaft tibia Essay

Surgical and Rehabilitation Intervention of an open mid shaft tibia and fibula fracture - Essay Example Fractures of the lower leg involve fractures of tibia and fibula, of which tibia is the only weight bearing bone. Tibia is the most commonly fractured long bone in the body (Konowalchuk, 2005). These fractures occur due to direct or indirect trauma. Tibial diaphyseal fracture due to foot ball injury is mainly due to high energy (Chang et al, 2007). The most common fracture pattern is transverse AO Type 42A3 (Chang et al, 2007) (table-2). Most of the times, fracture of tibia is associated with fibula fracture also, because; the force from tibia is transmitted along the interosseous membrane to the fibula (Norvell, 2006). In about 60% to 90% of football injuries, both tibia and fibula are fractured (Chang et al, 2007; Cattermole et al, 1996). These fractures can be open or closed. Tibial fracture is open in many cases because of thin soft tissue over tibia. Hence the chances of delayed non-union and infected non-union are common in tibial fractures (Patel, 2004). The fibula is however, covered well with soft tissues (Norvell, 2006). Immediately after fracture, there is hematoma formation due to rupture of blood vessels. This hematoma fills the fracture gap and surrounds the area of bone injury (Rosenberg, 2007). A fibrin mesh is provided by the clotted blood which helps seal off the fracture site and creates a frame work for inflammation and repair. There is influx of inflammatory cells, ingrowth of fibroblasts and development of new capillary vessels. There is also release of some cytokines by the degranulated platelets and migrated inflammatory cells (Rosenberg, 2007). Time for fracture healing and extent of changes in markers of bone metabolism are mainly dependent on fracture size (Stoffel, 2007). The cytokines activate the osteoprogenitor cells in the periosteum, medullary cavity, and surrounding soft tissues and stimulate

Religion and Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion and Politics - Essay Example Firstly, with regard to Judaism, the oldest of the three, it can and should be noted that this has been a religion that has traditionally be restricted to a particular ethnicity; namely individuals of Jewish decent/ancestry (Hartnell 61). Within such a manner, it is quite obvious to note the political nature of such a religion in that it provides a level of cohesion between a given race and helps to define that which is â€Å"other† within the external environment. By means of contrast and comparison, the next religion, within the chronological time-scale is that of Christianity. Due to the fact that Christianity is by its very nature a religion that encourages a degree of evangelism, the level to which the religion has been co-opted by many as a political tool to spread power and influence has been immense. Looking back into history, the first example of this that can be noted is with respect to Constantine and the manner through which he enlarged the Roman Empire of the time by de facto baptizing his legions and creating a forced conversion that drastically changed the nature of the way in which Christianity was defined. Further, when one considers Islam, the directives of Mohammed were clear that this religion should serve as a growing and all encompassing religion; one that prophecy dictated the entire world would convert to before the end of times. As Muslim traders journeyed around the Middle East and into parts of North Africa and the Indian subcontinent, they brought their religion with them; partly as a means of encouraging a degree of cohesion amongst the newly conquered peoples and partly as a means of fulfilling the need and requisite command to bring further individuals to the faith. Although each of these religions is no doubt quite different from its counterparts, they are nonetheless all similar with respect to

Biographical approach to antheap Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Biographical approach to antheap - Essay Example The main theme of the story focuses on how the two boys are able to sustain their friendship despite the tribulations that occur. According to Lessing (13), Macintosh who is a goldmine owner oppresses the Africans who work in their mines. The eviroment in which the Africans work are deplorable and the state of the mine continues to get dangerous (Lessing 20). Tommy, who is white, plays with black children despite the refutation from his mother. Tommy’s parents who are immediate neighbors to Macintosh refrain their sin from engaging with the black children ( Lessing 25). â€Å"New Historicism† is a technique that critics utilize to examine skeptically the writers content. Critics tend to associate the books content to the authors character, which is not a concrete basis. The writer’s mannerisms can be autonomous of the information of his work. The happenings of an autobiographical subject, for example, Doris Lessing describes of the racial experience of black peop le in Zimbabwe through the troubles of small boys, while this is not reflective of the experiences of the author. She is of British descent and has spent a large fraction o her life in Europe away from the impediments that exist in Africa particularly Zimbabwe. This further emphasizes that the expression of the author cannot determine his character since she may utilize expressive language to sweeten the story. This approach of critics is speculative and no concrete authentication to the views the critic proposes can be verified. The language of a writer is not credible enough to warrant the biography as prejudicial. The biographical details should not be an estimation of the writer’s opinions on the written issues. In addition, some critics utilize less credible sources to disregard the information put forth by the author. Doris has written numerous fictional articles

WEEK 3 DQ PART 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

WEEK 3 DQ PART 3 - Assignment Example The offeror in this case who is the guardian must also have a serious intent to be bound by the offer. The child however has the option of changing the conditions of the contract when they turn eighteen (Mau, 2010). The child has a better position to win the case against his father. First, the father had an aim when making the offer. Secondly, the contract was negotiable and according to the child the terms agreed are not satisfactory therefore she can negotiate for change of terms of the contract (Mau, 2010). Chapter 7 requires managers to act ethically in good faith performance. Third parties are accountable for their actions in this chapter and are expected to act in the best interest of the persons they represent. Breach of contract is a legal offence which holds the party liable for the crime and is chargeable in court. What events result from a breach of contract? Do third parties have rights in a contract? (Rose,

ART HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ART HISTORY - Essay Example This construction is often used in bazaars in some of the Arab markets today. Pei and Parteners.The Bank of China, 1989 was constructed as beautiful architectural masterpiece with geometrical perfection of the mathematical design of each piece of glass. This was the precursor of his constructing the pyramids of the Louvre. Architecture in the commercial world has been transformed into art in itself. The design of Pei, the US Pavillon of Budminister Fuller and the beautiful buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright are just a small indication of how architechure has changed since the early 1950's. Art is to be beautiful to the eye visible at 180Â ° and promote social cohesion. Chapter 10: MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY Man was deified and made immortal through art. 3000 BCE were the Pyramids in Egypt or the Chichen Itza in Mexico. Because of many social changes including the overcrowding of cities, graveyards became the responsibility of civil authorities. This can be seen in the Romanticism era wi th Pere LaChaise in 1804. (p265). As more controls were established less ornaments were allowed on gravestones. In some graveyards, stones were discontinued all together as in Memorial Lawn outside of Los Angeles. It is significant to bring up the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square (p 266) for the architecture of the building and for the statue outside. A similar edifice can be seen in North Korea and in Moscow. There are two photos in this section which the writer feels should go in Chapter 12. Chapter 12: SOCIAL PROTEST AND AFFIRMATION The following two photos were in the last chapter for the number of people who have died. It is important to look at the date of publication of this book and the six years that have past and the importance of social affirmation. "Modern commemorative art serves a psychological need of loss" and of closure. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a commemorative work which promotes cohesion. Other commemorative works in Chapter 11: USA MARINE CORPS WAR ( p 297) and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (p 1982) No other time in history have people been able to congregate in masses to mourn their losses. The most significant piece of architecture today is the computer designed Liberty Tower or 7TC. Land has been broken and it is scheduled to be finished in 2013. This site represents a corporate structure built will a shape that has never been used before which has no national or cultural significance. It will be used a memorial for the thousands who have died and who have died in war. In building one of the highest buildings in the world, it will be a social protest and a social affirmation that terrorism can be won. The context might be considered subjective to those who were not part of September 11 2001. Context therefore is depended on the person's culture. An American reading this report will not have the same perspective as someone from an Eastern

Law and ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law and ethics - Essay Example There are instances when the paramedics are faced with extreme pressure, especially when there are patients who refuse to be treated and withhold their consent. This is the exact situation in the case at bar, where the patient Jack refuses any medical treatment and does not want to be taken to the hospital. Hence, the paramedic attending to Jack should be able to practice the â€Å"doctrine of necessity†. â€Å"The Medical Treatment Act of 1988 provides a provision for the competent adult to refuse medical treatment even if the refusal may place their life at risk† (Steer, 2007). In the case of Malette V. Shulman, [1991] 2 Med LR 162, Donnelly J., pointed out that â€Å"the right to refuse treatment was an inherent  component of the supremacy of the patient's right over his own body not  premised on the risks of refusal. He further where a competent adult rejects and medical treatment, â€Å"the courts cannot be dictated by its view of what would be in the best  interests of the patient, but must look to the validity of the refusal in  terms of the capacity of the patient to give such refusal and to determine whether it  must be respected†.

How the news affects stock prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How the news affects stock prices - Essay Example Research suggests that there is a positive correlation between the political news and the stock prices. Asset prices and returns are determined by the changes in the economic as well as political variables and since the stock returns are expected values therefore the arrival of any news changes these expectations. (Elmendorf, Hirschfield and Weil). The event of 9/11 virtually forced the stock markets of the world to close for couple of days to accommodate the stock prices to adjust to this event and most of the companies especially in airline sector witness complete erosion of their market capitalization within the matter of days after the incident. The Efficient Market Hypothesis suggest that all the news are being discounted into the stock prices as market expect them however with the news like the death of US President through a terrorist attack, this sudden and strong news will cause the major shake up in the stock market and the stock prices of Coke and Microsoft will certainly drop in order to account for the increase uncertainty and risk involved due to the death of US President. EMH suggest that only the unexpected part of the news has the power to shake the market therefore with the news of the murder of the US President market will respond to it in negative way. Previous research conducted on the correlation between the stock prices and the news suggested that there is hardly a correlation between the both however after allowing for different stages of the business cycles, the news has a very positive correlation to the stock prices. (McQueen and Roley). This is particularly true in the news event of the murder of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan who was assassinated in the last week of Dec 2007. Though her death caused million of dollars loss to the government of Pakistan as there were widespread riots all over the country but stock prices did not reflected that political event in that much amount as the

The Future of Nursing Essay Example for Free

The Future of Nursing Essay With the current trends and changes that are eminent in the healthcare delivery system in the United States of America and due to the additional needs required for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) many alterations in nursing will be required in order to meet the needs of the patients. According to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, changes in the education, practice, and leadership of nurses will be required to make available accessible, high quality, high value care for patients in the health care system (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2011, p. 85). Although these changes will affect all registered nurses the greatest volume of these modifications will be in the policies, restrictions, and regulations regarding scope of practice for advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). With the diploma, ADN, and BSN avenues to becoming a registered nurse there are many different options for those desiring to enter the nursing field. However, there are many barriers as well including cost, availability and location of nursing schools (IOM, 2011, p. 166). With the recommendations for nursing detailed in the IOM report many changes will need to be implemented in the education of nurses and also to ease the transition of the graduate nurse into practice (IOM, 2011). In order for nurses to fulfill the full scope of their capabilities in will be essential for them to achieve higher levels of education both before and after licensure. The need for baccalaureate educated nurses will rise significantly as a result of the increasing demand placed on nurses due to the implementation of the ACA. With an increased number of patients entering a health care system that is already exhibiting a shortage of nurses and physicians in many areas of the country it will be necessary for nurses to expand their practice and encompass more tasks and skills to provide the needed high quality care each patient deserves. These changes will require additional education and an evolution to lifelong learning on the part of both the up and coming nurses as well as those already in practice. The educational system for nursing needs to make modifications to provide for an easier and seamless transition to allow for academic advancement. According to the IOM nursing care is linked to higher quality care and increased patient safety. The reliance on nurses to assist in the transformation of the health care system is of the utmost importance  however there are many barriers that impact this ability. The fragmented health care system also makes the nursing practice difficult with regards to completing tasks such as discharge planning and implementation of home health. Regulatory policies are so diverse across the country that it will be critical to revise and standardize nursing scope of practice across the states. It is particularly imperative for APRNs to be allowed to practice independently to the full scope of their education and a capability to provide care for those living in states with vast rural areas that are severely underserved in primary care (IOM, 2011, p. 107 ). The advancement of APRNs scope of practice has also been met with much resistance from physicians and the American Medical Association (AMA). In addition there is also opposition in relation to prescriptive privileges for APRNs; however the contention that APRNs are less able than physicians to deliver care that is safe, effective, and efficient is not supported by research (IOM, 2011, p. 111). It is also very difficult to determine the actual value that nurses can bring to the health care system as, â€Å"The accounting systems of most hospitals and health care organizations are not designed to capture or differentiate the economic value provided by nurses.† (IOM, 2011, p. 115). With the execution of the ACA it will be vital for nurses to be knowledgeable about cultural and ethnic diversity to implement the patient centered medical home model of healthcare. I believe the patient centered medical home model will be the most plausible tool to accomplish the evolution of the hea lth care system. It has been put into practice within the Military and Veteran’s Administration hospitals and clinics and has been very successful thus far. To make the essential changes in the United States healthcare system however a change in the leadership roles nurses play will be of utmost importance to bring about the necessary restructuring required. Leadership roles which in the past have been those in upper level position handing down commands will need to be reformed into a form of â€Å"leadership which flows in all directions and levels† (IOM, 2011, p. 223). The competencies and expertise of those nurses in practice will be imperative in leading the regulatory policies to contribute to the care and safety of the patients (IOM, 2011). Although nurses have never been viewed in a leadership role, and are more commonly viewed as the doers rather than the leaders a change in these views will be required not only in a  collaborative situation with other members of the health ca re team but on all levels. It is therefore crucial that current nurses and those of the future are equipped with the competencies not only to give high value, high quality and safe care to the patient population but also an intimate knowledge of health care delivery, ethics, and innovative ideas with the ability to provide effective patient advocacy (IOM, 2011, p. 224). Mentorship, leadership programs, and fellowship programs are the key in preparing nurses to answer the call to collaborate and lead not only the committees, and established boards but also our country in the innovation and reformation of the healthcare system (IOM, 2011). In conclusion the role of nurses will be forced to undergo radical changes in the areas of education, practice and leadership in the transformation of our health care system. Higher education will be required to produce individuals that are better prepared to practice at the full scope of their ability and will continue to promote lifelong learning. The action of nurses in the field both in the patient centered home model as well as assuming a role of leadership in the patient care environment and in the board room will be fundamental in the future of nursing in the United States. References Institute of Medicine. (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956page=R2

Relationship Between Freedom And Authority

Relationship Between Freedom And Authority In this essay I will discuss the relationship between freedom and authority in Jean-Jacques Rousseaus essay The Social Contract, and John Stuart Mills essay On Liberty. I will argue through my comparison of each philosopher that Mills conception of liberty is the richer and more persuasive of the two. Rousseaus conception of freedom in The Social Contract is that people attain their freedom through a transformation from a state of nature to civil society. We give up our natural freedom in exchange for civilized freedom. His contention is that we can be both free and subject to political authority; Rousseau thinks its possible to be autonomous and subject to law, when we obey those laws of which we are the author. He justifies this model of political authority by saying that government and laws are the will of the sovereign we give our consent for them to exist. That consent is guided by what Rousseau calls the general will. The general will is an idea that signifies the wishes or welfares of society as a whole. The purpose of the general will is to guide society to a common good, to advise society in its creation of laws and express what is best for all individuals. The problem with the general will, Mill claims, is that it seems to reject individual diversity. Mill is worried that minorities may be oppressed if they think differently to the majority. Considering all individuals revoked their natural liberty through the change from a state of nature to civil society, Rousseau thinks that society must force individuals to conform to the general will, or as he puts it, society must force them to be free. He thinks that by associating ourselves with the general will we acquire morality, and actually become freer than we were before. To Rousseau, freedom is attained when one follows the general will. Mills essay On Liberty is a strong counter argument to Rousseaus conception of freedom, especially regarding the general will. Contrasting Rousseau, Mills idea is not a social contract theory. According to Mill, in order for a society to be free it must avoid interfering with the lives of its people wherever possible. The threat, as Mill sees it, is that if we subscribe to the concept of the general will then society risks becoming paternalistic, or a tyranny of the majority where minority views are supressed if they do not conform to those of the majority. Mill thinks that society constrains the individual, and that society should be limited in the power it can exert over individuals; he enumerates three conditions upon which society must follow in order to be free: freedom of thought and feeling, freedom of tastes and pursuits and the freedom to unite with other consenting individuals for any reason providing it does no harm to others. He says that if a society does not follow these conditions it is not free. Mill wants to avoid principles and laws as much as possible because he sees them as unnecessary constraints. The only principle that Mill does want to establish is the harm principle what he calls the object of his essay. The harm principle says that the only time one can interfere with the liberty of another person, individually or collectively, is for self-protection. This principle claims that if an individual is not doing any harm to anyone in their actions, then society has no right to interfere. Over himself says Mill, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign it is the individual, and not society, who should decide how best to live. Mills conception of freedom appears to be a version of negative liberty, a type of freedom that allows one to do what they want free from restrictions. His freedom is the absence of obstacles, barriers or constraints. Rousseaus social contract theory is a type of positive liberty, that allows citizens to act in such a way as to take control of ones life and realise ones fundamental purposes. Rousseau characterises two types of freedom in The Social Contract: the natural liberty, which is limited only by the strength of the individual and civil liberty, which is limited by the general will. Natural liberty is the freedom to follow ones own desires. Civil liberty is the freedom one attains when they follow the general will. Like Rousseau, Mill talks about a type of civil or social freedom; however, unlike Rousseau he doesnt speculate about a state of nature. Rather, Mill states that his theory is justified by utilitarianism, he isnt making a comparison between a state of nature and civil society. I think this makes Mills argument more persuasive because he isnt making an assumption that we have natural rights. Mill doesnt seem to think we have natural rights, and even if we do, Rousseau doesnt tell us how we can actually know what they are. Rousseau appears to think that we have an intrinsic freedom that exists in the state of nature, and he wants to merge the individual liberty one supposedly has in the state of nature, with civil society. He thinks the way to do this is by following the general will. I think the biggest problem at the heart of Rousseaus social contract theory is the way he deals with individuals who disagree with the general will. He states that if anyone refuses to obey the general will he will be compelled to do so by the whole body; which means nothing else than that he will be forced to be free. His social contract declares that if an individual disagrees with the general will, then they must be wrong, and for their own good they must be forced to conform to the general will. Mill would undoubtedly consider such forced conformity a tyranny of the majority because of his strong belief that individuality is something that should be cherished and valued. Mill would disagree with Rousseaus notion that people should be forced to be free since he thinks its detrimental to both the individual and the majority when an alternative opinion is oppressed. Rousseau on the other hand, thinks that taking up the general perspective of the community is always the right thing to do. Contrary to Rousseau, Mill doesnt think that the majority gain their power because they are infallible, but simply because they are the most numerous or the most active part of the people. Mill states that silencing the expression of an opinion deprives the human race. Firstly, reasons Mill, if a majority silences an opinion that is different or less popular than their own, and that alternative opinion turns out to be right, then they are depriving themselves of what is right. Almost as great a benefit to society is listening to an alternative opinion even if it turns out to be wrong, because challenging dominant opinion prevents stagnation. Stifling opinion is always a bad thing; Mill says that Absolute princes, or others who are accustomed to unlimited deference, usually feel this complete confidence in their own opinions on nearly all subjects because their opinion is never tested. It is through this collision with error that the truth becomes stronger. Mill thinks that this proc ess of listening to a whole variety of thought and feeling leads to a healthier cultural climate and a place of greater freedom and liberty. Rousseau might object to Mills importance of minority opinion by saying that emphasis on individuality undermines social and political obligations. That its somehow an unrealistic idea to consider everyones opinion. He says in the social contract that citizens must be forced to follow the general will, because it means society will not depend on any one person for change to occur. Rousseau says of the general will that this condition is the device that ensures the operation of the political machine. He thinks its naÃÆ'Â ¯ve to listen to a minority not only because he assumes they must be wrong, but because they prevent the political system from making any progress. Rousseau thinks that without the general will, a political system would be absurd and tyrannical, and subject to the most terrible abuses. However, Mill would still disagree and respond by saying that if all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. I think where they really differ here is that Mill doesnt think anyone can be free if theyre forced to conform to the majority, whereas Rousseau thinks conformity is necessary for liberty and best for the community- he says that every authentic act of the general will, obligates or favours all the citizens equally. He knows that its unrealistic that all citizens will agree to the general will, and so he says minorities must be forced to follow it (forced to be free). Perhaps its painfully obvious here that Rousseau has left himself in a vulnerable position he doesnt really explain to us how one must be forced to follow the general will. Thus, theres possibly an element of compatibility between Rousseaus and Mills conceptions of freedom. If its the case that the process of being forced to be free includes Mills notion that people should be free to debate and discuss, and providing everyones opinion is treated with respect and they are convinced, through discussion, to change their vi ews, then its certainly possible that eventually all citizens will individually come the same conclusions about the common good of their community. Its certainly conceivable, but it seems unlikely. Even if this compatibility were to exist, Mill would object by saying that we still need a variety of opinion even if its wrong to prevent social stagnation and to challenge popular views. He would say that providing an individual is doing what they please by means of the harm principle, then society has no right to demand such an active citizenship from them. Rousseau may take issue with Mills harm principle but asking what actually constitutes harm. Its obvious that physical harm is detrimental and people shouldnt be free to harm others but there are forms of consequentialism that can piece together seemingly harmonious actions, and prove that they actually have damaging effects. For instance, universal consequentialism focuses on the consequences for all people rather than the individual agent. Rousseau might say that a person may not seem to be harming another individual in their actions, but an ingenious person could find harmful consequences for almost anything a person does. One might find themselves aroused by conflicting emotions if made to choose between the philosophies of Rousseau and Mill, depending on how they feel about an issue. It seems especially difficult to feel one has to conform to the majority when they disagree with it, but of course when one is on the side of the majority it can be hard to understand why anyone wouldnt be. The majority of climate scientists support global warming, and if one believes in global warming it seems hard to understand why anyone would reject it. If you want gay marriage but the majority doesnt, it seems crazy to think you have to conform to the general will. I think this is what makes Rousseaus and Mills conceptions of freedom so attractive to us. I find Mills argument to be more persuasive than Rousseaus because even with modifications to Rousseaus social contract, the general will seems unable to avoid a tyranny of the majority. The general will seems too abstract to utilise without thinking of it as simply the sum of all private interests; Rousseau makes it hard for us to recognize what the general will is or how to determine it, and he offers no reassurance that the majority knows what is best. He seems to be making a huge assumption that we have natural rights in the first place, but he provides no evidence for them. Works Cited Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and The Subjection of Women. London: Penguin Group, 2006. Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract, A new translation by Christopher Betts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Airline Lufthansa Companies

Airline Lufthansa Companies Strategic Change and Strategic Challenge for Lufthansa Introduction The biggest airline in Germany- Lufthansa is one of the leading airline companies in the world, but it suffered from the danger of bankruptcy in 1991. However, the flexible strategic change programs made it survive. Thus, the implementation and effects of those programs are obviously attractive and deserve further study. Moreover, current business environment is full of opportunities and challenges, which poses Lufthansa to identify relative challenges and adopt some reaction to respond. Therefore, this report will discuss two parts: one is strategic change programs and the other is current strategic challenges for Lufthansa. In the first part, it will evaluate the strategic change programs which Lufthansa applied and also cover the effects of leadership and politics. The second part of this report will analyse the strategic challenges for Lufthansa based on current and future business environment. I. Strategic changes for Lufthansa Strategy is argued to be a useful tool for an organization to achieve its target in the long term, and its contribution to development of the organization is evident. However, it is impossible to use one strategy to respond the changeable demand due to the dynamic external environment, so the organization should change their strategies to adapt the market. 1. Strategic change program According to Balogun and Hailey (1999), reconstruction is one of strategic changes for organizations, and it â€Å"may be rapid and could involve a good deal of upheaval in an organization† (Johnson and Kevan, 2002:537). Lufthansa utilized this way of reconstruction from functional structure to multidivisional structure to adapt the changing market condition (Bruch, 2000). Functional structure is based on the operational activities such as production, finance, marketing, human resources and information management. However, this structure is primarily suitable for smaller companies. It becomes inadaptable with the expansion of organization, because it neglects strategic issues which are very important for the development of an organization. It is also difficult for departments to co-ordinate and to cope with diversity. Lufthansa is persistent with the idea of multidivisional structure to break up integrated operations into smaller, self-contained units with autonomous governanc e and management. The multidivisional structure enhances strategy focus of each business unit and facilitates measurement of unit performance. Furthermore, it encourages general management development. Nevertheless, the structure has its disadvantages. First of all, it could be costlyï ¼â€º Additionally, the divisions grow too large to manage. What is more, too many divisions make cooperation complex and difficult (Johnson and Kevan, 2002:425). Apart from restructuring of organization in the case of Lufthansa, they also exploited the approach of combination of the human resources management and business strategy to implement â€Å"Strategic Cost Saving Programme†- programme 15, of which the goal was to â€Å"reduce cost ,and make staff at every level highly cost -conscious and cost effective† (Bruch, 2001:315). In the process of implementation, Lufthansa respected individual opinion, considered their willing of contribution to achieve the organizational goal. For instances, Dr. Jansen, the General manager of Programme15 considered that one of the characteristic feature of the ‘Lufthansa style was the specific combination of consensus orientation and persistence†, and also applied better channel to motivate line managers to dedicate through open and honest discussion (ibid, 2001:316). Because middle managers is seen to act as many kinds of roles in the process of carrying out strategic change progra m .e.g. role model, project manager role, mentor or coach and translator. Each role undertaken by middle managers has great influence on the behaviours and attitudes of people to adjust to change (Floyd and Wooldridge, 1994). In addition, continual control is also crucial to implement this programme 15. Lufthansa used a tight monitoring and weekly report to ensure its implementation. Control is important to identify the problems blocking the implementation of strategy through assessing the variances or deviations between actual results and budgeted outcomes. What is more, strategy alliance is a more and more popular method of the development of new strategy. It is defined that two or more organizations share resources and activities to pursue a strategy (Lorange and Roos, 1992).With the increasing complexity of external environment, individual organization may be unable to face those problems within its own internal resources and capabilities, thus they could obtain more resources, skills, information and innovation through cooperating and collaborating with other organizations. Strategic alliance has a variety of forms, like joint ventures, consortia, networks, and opportunistic alliances. Lufthansa adopted strategic network alliance-Star Alliance. It changed their strategy, from â€Å"growth through own strength† to â€Å"growth through partnership† (Johnson and Kevan, 2002:381). Network is thought to be arrangements whereby two or more organizations work in collaboration without formal relationships, but through a mechan ism mutual advantage and trust (ibid, 2002). In the case of Lufthansa, this kind of alliance demanded more coordination and communication within all partners, and required an integrated management structure for overall alliance as well as systematic process for co-coordinating the internal strategic activities of all the partners (Bruch, 2001). 2. Role of leadership Leadership has enormous influence on performance in organizations, and it is â€Å"the process of influencing others to work willingly and to the best of their capabilities towards the goals of the leader† (Kevin and Bob, 1997:527). Leader would expect or request subordinates to do certain things. According to followers behaviours, leader would reward or punish them in order to motivate them to do their best to achieve the goals. Therefore, whether to achieve the goal of the organization or not mainly depends on the decisions of the leader. Firstly, the leader, whose main job is to formulate mission, is on behalf of the organization, so leaders must have strategic vision to provide mission which will provide guidance and direction (Senior and Fleming, 2006:281). The leaders must be able to work under the pressures of a competitive environment. Therefore, leaders should use business strategic judgment by objectively and professionally to investigate each component of the organizations internal and working environment so that organizations can make the most of resources they own. The leadership of Lufthansa was very successful due to the following reasons: At first, the leader of Lufthansa recognized the need to change strategies, structures and styles. When the crisis arose, the leaders of Lufthansa faced it positively by changing the strategic program; they carried out several strategies to achieve the turnaround. Secondly, good new products and services were developed, for example, Lufthansa provided a series of servic es including technical services, catering and so on. Finally, new values were added to the organization through the change, Lufthansa had a â€Å"Changed Soul†. Furthermore, the leaders should know how to motivate the employees to do their best to achieve the goals, which is because motivation is one of the main factors determining the level of individual performance at work. If they are motivated, there is a willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organizational goals (Robbins and Coulter, 1999:482). Lufthansa learnt to count on people when the crisis arose, it made this by spending some time in communicating with the subordinates, through this, leaders can share the information with people and leaders can get feedback on plans and strategies. The way they communicate with subordinates would influence employees performance. When employees involve in the communication, employers would understand more about the employees thinking, then gaps and misunderstanding in activities among individuals and organizations will be reduced. During the turnaround Lufthansa, leaders developed a certain style of involving people in strategic busin ess processes and networks, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO Lufthansa Technik AG and former member of the OPS Team said: â€Å"We learned to count on people and we got to know that the same people can behave very differently in different situations.† (Bruch, 2001:321) 3. Role of politics The role of politics is as important as that of leadership, and it is very necessary to examine the effects of politics on the business performance. First of all, politics may be required to stimulate necessary change that is blocked by the more legitimate systems. Different from culture, politics promote necessary change, which is rooted in the past and hard to change (Mintzberg et al., 1998:244). Additionally, many decisions are typically affected by political environment, although the importance will vary in different firms, most organizations attempt to maintain good relations with government. Some senior managers may view political factors beyond their control and do little more than adjusting the companys strategies to accommodate changes in those factors, but Lufthansa took more proactive steps, at the outset of the turnaround, Lufthansa forwardly negotiated with the government to privatize the airline, and it became fully privatised in 1997. What is more, according to micro power, organizations have to deal with external environment (ibid,1998:248), the faster pace of environmental change and the greater degree of environmental uncertainty are two issues which link all types and sizes of organizationï ¼Ë†Robbins and Coulter, 1999:62ï ¼â€°. Therefore, an organization should always match its capabilities with the demands of the environment. Here, it will analyze how the leaders of Lufthansa took steps to adopt the environment from two aspects: First of all, in the majority of markets, competitors play very important roles in an organizations task environment. The decisions of the competitors usually influence the firms success and failure that is because products in one industry are usually closely related to those in other industries. Moreover, the relationship between an organization and its competitors tends to change from time to time (Wilson and Gilligan, 2005:241). In addition, buyers change enormously over time, b ut customers are a critical part of all organizations, without them no company can survive, so leaders should change the developing strategy and innovate to catch the customers values, tastes, and needs in order to gain an advantage over other companies (ibid: 174). The managers of Lufthansa formulated lots of strategies to improve customer service, such as Passenger Service. II Strategic challenges for Lufthansa These days, the worlds airline industry is full of opportunities and challenges that pose airline companies to face a number of strategic challenges. Admittedly, some unexpected factors and fierce challenges may affect policies and strategies of companies. At the same time, companies will also benefit themselves from handling those challenges effectively. The following discussion will focus on the main strategic challenges for Lufthansa from four aspects: strategic alliance, customer service, global environment protection, and economic impact and emergencies. 1. Challenges from Management of Strategic Alliances The airline industry has already come into the alliance times. Strategic alliances which always used to develop global markets play an important role in the current global airline business which can affect the airlines in different aspects (Blythe and Zimmerman, 2005:113). Strategic alliance can occur not only in the single industry just like airlines cooperating with each other, but also exist among different industries such as airline and IT, airline and logistics service and so on. Strategic alliances are the key factors of the market which will reduce the cost and risk for their members. a. Airline alliance Airline alliance growing rapidly in popularity belongs to the network alliance and thus it was the result of the development and severe competition of global airline industry (Johnson and Scholes, 2002:381). These days, the three largest airline alliances of the world are Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld which were established in the late of 1990s (Airline alliance survey, 2007). Nowadays, the airline alliances bring more convenience for travellers during the international fights because it can help them save money and time by using single ticket to fly on different frequent flight programs, and provide them with more departure times and destinations. Airline alliances can also reduce the cost and get more profit for the alliance members. However, that how to manage the airline alliance is still the strategic challenges for the members of the alliance. First of all, as the informal alliances, the members of airline alliance do not need to joint management and they just need to make technology, RD capability and so on together informally(Aaker and Mcloughlin, 2007:218). Moreover, any members still remain independent after establishing the alliance and therefore all the members are comparatively easy to separate from the airline alliance without any harm(Blythe and Zimmerman, 2005:113) (Johnson and Scholes, 2002:382). In 2007, the three largest airline alliances have already controlled 70% of world market. As the largest airline alliance, Star Alliance takes the 28% of the world market. (Xiong, 2007) How to keep the advantage is the main task in the future work. Under these circumstances, the members of Star Alliance should communicate well among members at all levels of organization, negotiate the agreement carefully a nd cooperate with other members to institute the suitable strategy for the Star alliance (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2004). All airline alliances hope to enlarge themselves and control more market share. In order to enhance capacity of competition, Star alliance should attract some new partners. But at the same time, the more important factor is that Star alliance needs to develop the good working environment for the original members to keep them having the expectation of continuous cooperation and keep them making sure that they work with reliance from others. Otherwise, some of them may quit from the Star alliance and join the other alliance which will bring potential risk for the Star Alliance (Blythe and Zimmerman, 2005:114). From Lufthansas side, it needs to show its â€Å"trust and respect† to other members of this service network alliance (Johnson and Scholes, 2002:455). Without trust, no alliances will be successful.As the key point of success, trust is consisted of two elements: one is â€Å"competence based†, and the other is â€Å"character based† (ibid, 2002:383).The Lufthansa Aviation Group has already been one of the excellent airlines in the world especially in the year of 2007. Though Lufthansa places the leading role in the whole airline industry, which has more advantages in technology and service, it still needs to trust other members who have the capability to fulfil their task in the alliance and respect their decision making and approaches to motivation (Lufthansa, 2007). Moreover, Lufthansa should also trust and respect others attitudes and behaviours and keep good long-standing social relationships with others in order to develop the alliance and give itself the bright future. b. The alliance between airline industry and other industries As what mentioned above shows, the competition and development bring â€Å"airline alliance† to airline industry. It still leads the airline companies to find other co-operators to help them benefit from the competition. Lufthansa needs to consider the current status to face the challenge to improve itself and increase the capability of competition and development due to the impossibility in existence of individual company with its own ability. Sometimes, they will agree to local help in some particular markets. Lufthansa may enhance itself from cooperating with some firms which have already established a dominant position in particular market (Blythe and Zimmerman, 2005:114). Making a strategic alliance with other industry firms may enable Lufthansa to involve in new technologies and gain more innovation (Johnson and Scholes, 2002:382). For Lufthansa, it has already cooperated with other industries such as logistic/technical/Catering/Ground Services industries. How to find th e new business area is the critical issue for Lufthansa. For example, Lufthansa can cooperate with the toy industry which uses the brand of Lufthansa. Providing the free toy for children, it can not only win lots of customers who like this kind of service especially the parents and but also let more people familiar with the brand of Lufthansa. 2. Challenges from Customer Service According to the World Trade Organization, commercial services place a more and more higher percentage in the world business and they are becoming a more important component of every business (Blythe and Zimmerman, 2005:155). Compared with US$1.46 billion in 2001, commercial services have increased to US$ 2.71billiion in 2006 (Diao, 2007). For airline industry, service is the main product of every firm. Service contributes the main profit for the airline industry, so how to provide the high quality service and how to innovate service are full of challenges for the Lufthansa. In 2007, many airline companies find â€Å"a good service is just a little bit more than customers expectation† (VLEBA: British airline, 2007) In order to provide the excellent service, we must understand our customers. Customers are served by the company and they can decide which company to be chosen. If a company wants to get profit from customers and provide the suitable service to the customers, they m ust satisfy customers requirement. (Aaker and Mcloughlin, 2007:39-45) For airline industry, providing the convenient, comfortable and personal individual services are becoming more and more important for developing the quality of service. In order to improve the service, Lufthansa tried their best in 2007. The acquisition of 19% of the equity of JetBlue Airways is the big event of Lufthansa in the year of 2007 which â€Å"links two airlines with international reputations for quality, innovation and a service culture.† (ATW Daily News, 2007) Jet Blue airways is the way for Lufthansa to enter the US market in order to provide more convenient and more powerful service for America in Logistics which will save more money and more time for the customers. According to Lufthansas customer research of 2007, more passengers complain that they are boring to take the long distance fighting because they feel quite tied in the economy class just using one fixed seating position( Wei, 2007) . Because of serious competition among airline companies, providing the comfortable service is a key to gain more customers. If Lufthansa can make good use of A380s space, we wish it can design the new service that it can provide the three layer bed in the economy class (see the picture below). Though the price may be high, the new service will still bring the new challenge in the future because it is suitable for the customer requirement and bring more benefit for the Lufthansa. The economy class with bed (Wei, 2007) 3. Challenges from Global Environment Protection Recently, airline companies have been confronted with enormous environmental challenges such as carbon emissions, greenhouse effects and pollution prevention. According to the latest statistic data, international aircraft are responsible for 3% global carbon dioxide emissions but the figure is still increasing fast (Scheelhaase and Grimme, 2007). At the same time, though the environmental challenge have changed during the last decades and may be different among countries and companies, necessity of environmental awareness has aroused by a number of environmental pressures from governments, stakeholders and costumers and thus those factors will possibly affect the corporate strategies (Schot and Fischer, 1993). For worlds airline industry, with regard to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the implementation of internationally coordinated instruments seems not to be ignored and carbon dioxide trading regulatory which airline firms should subject to has already recommended by the Eu ropean Commission (BBC, 2005).Thus, the environmental programmes and policies of airline firms should be established due to both external pressures and intrinsic responsibility and awareness for global environment. According to the different characteristics and various stages of development, Petulla (1987) classified environmental management into three categories: crisis-oriented, cost-oriented, and enlightened, and he also argued that strong environmental responsibility may contribute to companys sustainability and long-term profit. For Lufthansa, substantial management is one of their corporate objectives and they carry out their integrated global concept based on a four-pillar model for climate protection including technical progress, improvements in infrastructure, operational measures and complementary economic measures such as global emissions trading scheme (Lufthansa, 2006). However, though those policies can be implemented by introducing new technologies and optimising orga nisational structure and operation (e.g. Lufthansa start operation with new aircraft A380 to renew their first class concept), the performance of environmental management is still arguable due to the first three pillars technical progress, improvements in infrastructure, and operational measures have priority in any cases at Lufthansa. Therefore, the most important factors that result in â€Å"enlightened† environmental management are: the CEO of Lufthansa has strong commitment with environmental compliance, and the firm should realise the fact that expenditure for environmental responsibility can be minimized in some level (Gupta, 1995). 4. Challenges from global economic environment and unpredicted incidents The further strategic challenge is associated with the global turbulent economic environment. Some strong impact and low probability event, which are characterised by ambiguity of cause, effect and means of resolution, may influence polices and strategies of companies (Pearson and Clair, 1998:60). For worlds airline industry, the gradually increase in oil prices have also forced the airline industry to face strategic challenges. It is forecast that high oil prices may slash global profit for 2008 by nearly $3bn (Milmo, 2007). According to the International Air Transport Association, the fuel price, which has hovered near $100 a barrel during 2007, is predicted to increase $14bn to the industry fuel cost (ibid, 2007). Obviously, high fuel expenditure may seriously impact on the profits of airline industry and slow down the growth rate of annual revenue. At the same time, some unpredictable disasters such as bird flu and terrorism attack (e.g. the event of 11th September 2001) will als o strongly impact the operation of firms. Thus, with regard to confront with this issue, global aviation will probably adopt relevant crisis consciousness and reaction plan which is associated with strategic management to avoid major disruption. Crisis management is considered as a multi-disciplinary process that not only be subjected to the place where the impact exists but also the actual management of a specific crisis for organisation (Sheaffer and Mano-Negrin, 2003). Hence, the participation of a group of managers is required by crisis management rather than being seen as the task of individual independent department (Pollard and Hotho, 2006). Moreover, that will not only highlight the commitment of senior management but also strong leadership to identify and handle the threat with the ideal of crisis management (Mitroff, 2001). For Lufthansa, they should make use of their â€Å"changed soul† and adopt flexible strategies based on teamwork to maintain competitive and cos t effective. For example, In September 2001, they performed the D-Check project which enabled the management to take quick and effective decisions to cope with the emergency incident (Haetty and Hollmeier, 2003). However, those crisis management based on teamwork is challenged. If the absence of individuals happened during the design process of crisis management, it may lead to the disruption to daily business and the costs linked with that disruption (Pollard and Hotho, 2006).Furthermore, the management of company still faces more challenges from external communication. Severe time pressures, inadequate or distorted information will also pose management of company to face problems such as stress at work (Shrivastava et al., 1988). Conclusion In a word, this report initially assesses the method of strategic change programme which Lufthansa applied in four aspects: reconstruction from functional structure to multidivisional structure, combination of human resources management and business strategy, control in the implementation of strategy, and new network alliance. Secondly, it analysed the importance and influence of leadership on organizational decision-making and employees motivation. The report also covers the effects of politics of Lufthansa on negotiation with the government and external environment. Following, we examine the current business environment and point out four crucial challenges for Lufthansa in the future: It firstly highlights the management of strategic alliance through the difficulties in cooperation with alliance members and exploration in the new market; the second point mainly contributes to how to improve excellent service to satisfy with customers requirement; thirdly, deterioration in global e nvironment may make Lufthansa carry out some environmental programmes; the further challenge for Lufthansa is that they should be conscious of economic environment change and some emergent events and draw out the reaction plan to respond. Bibliographies References Aaker, D.A. and Mcloughlin, D.(2007) Strategic Market Management, John Wiley Sons. Airline alliance survey (2007 ) Airline Business 02687615 September Vol. 23 Issue 9 ATW Daily News (14/12/2007) Lufthansa sets sights on evolving US market, buys 19% of JetBlue, ATW, Powering airline industry information, http://www.atwonline.com/channels/newAirlineBusinessModels/story.html?storyID=11147 viewed 29/12/2007 Balogun, J. and Hailey, V. (1999) Exploring Strategic Change, Prentice Hall BBC (27/09/2005) EU plans airline CO2 reductions http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4287048.stm viewed 29/12/2007 Blythe, J and Zimmerman, A. (2005) Business to Business: Marketing Management: a Global Perspective, Thomson. Bruch. H. (2001) Lufthansa 2000: Maintaining the Change Momentum, C-23, pp:311-333 Czinkota, M and Ronkainen, I.A. (2004) Interational Marketing, New York: Harcourt, Inc. Diao, H.Y (17/04/2007) The new international trade report, source: WTO web, China Industry Security Guide, http://www.acs.gov.cn/cms/www/news/2353412934829.cgp viewed 29/12/2007 Floyd, S. and Wooldridge, B.(1994) â€Å"Dinosaurs or dynamos: recognizing middle managements strategic role† Academy of Management Executive , vol.8, no. 4, pp:47-57 Gupta, M. (1995) â€Å"Environmental management and its impact on the operations function† International Journal of Operations Production Management Vol.15 No.8 pp:34-51 Haetty, H and Hollmeier, S (2003) Journal of Air Transport Management 9 pp:51-55 Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases, Financial Times, Prentice Hall Lorange, P. and Roos, J. (1992) Strategic Alliance: Formation, implementation and evolution, Blackwell. Lufthansa (2006) We are committed to striking a balance http://www.lufthansa-financials.com/servlet/PB/menu/1020308_l2/index.html viewed 30/12/3007 Kevin, G, and Bob M (1997), People in organisations : an active learning approach , Oxford : Blackwell Business Milmo, D. (13/12/2007) Airline industry slashes profit forecasts in face of high oil prices http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/13/oil.theairlineindustry viewed 29/12/2007 Mintzberg H. at el.(1998) â€Å"Strategy Safari†, Prentice Hall Europe, Hempstead UK Mitroff, I. (2001) â€Å"Crisis leadership† Executive Excellence, Vol. 18 pp: 19-20. Pearson, C and Clair, J. (1998), Reframing crisis management, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No.1, pp.59-76. Petulla, J. (1987 ) â€Å"Environmental management in industry† Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Vol. 113 pp:167-83 Pollard, D and Hotho, S (2006) â€Å"Crises, scenarios and the strategic management process† Management Decision Vol.44 No.6 pp: 721-736 Robbins, S. and Coulters. M. (1999) Management international edition, Prentice Hall International, Inc. Scheelhaase, J and Grimme, W (2007) â€Å"Emissions trading for international aviation—an estimation of the economic impact on selected European airlines† Journal of Air Transport Management Vol.13 pp:253-263 Schot, J. and Fischer, K. (1993) â€Å"Introduction: the greening of the industrial firm† Environmental Strategies for Industry, Island Press, Washington.DC, pp: 3-36 Senior, B. and Fleming, J.(2006) Organizaitonal Change, Prentice Hall Sheaffer, Z. and Mano-Negrin, R. (2003) â€Å"Executives orientations as indicators of crisis management policies and practices† Journal of Management Studies Vol. 40 No.2 pp: 573-606. Shrivastava, P. et al. (1988) â€Å"Understanding industrial crises† Journal of Management Studies Vol. 25 No.4 pp.285-303 Star alliance, Lufthansa (2007) information provided by member airline, http://www.staralliance.com/cn/meta/airlines/LH.html viewed 29/12/2007 VLEBA (2007) British airline, surpass the expectation of customers, online source: http://www.vleba.com/article/pinpaichuanbo/pinpaiguancha/20070905/9236.html viewed 29/12/2007 Wei, J. (08/08/2007), Lufthansa: lying fight in the economy class , CRInline, http://gb.cri.cn/14558/2007/08/08/[emailprotected] viewed 29/12/2007 Wilson, R. and Gilligan, C.(2005) Strategic Marketing Management: Planning, implementation control, Elsevier, Butterworth-Henemann. Xiong,Q.(2007) 3 airline alliances take 70% of market, source: cctv.com, 13/12/2007, http://www.cctv.com/program/bizchina/20071213/103576.shtml viewed 29/12/2007

eHarmony Promotion and Price :: essays research papers

eHarmony.com is a subscription-based, relationship-building service that provides a unique solution for serious single men and women seeking fulfilling, long-term relationships. It is the only service, on- or offline, that utilizes empirical research, clinical study and a patent-pending predictive technology to effectively match singles. (www.netplusmarketing.com) The company’s focus is matching people together who eventually want to be married or at least have a long-term, committed relationship. Their company’s founder, Dr. Neil Clark Warren, is an older, distinguished gentleman, whose focus is to put people together, and keep them together. eHarmony’s member count is at about five and a half million, with more than 9000 marriages that they can confirm. Their clients tend to be college-educated, many with some secondary education. From a psychographic standpoint these are people who are looking for a long-term relationship; to find the love of their lives; and somebody with whom they can get married. It caters to people who want to be matched on deep dimensions of compatibility. As a result of more than 35 years of experience in counseling married couples, Dr. Neil Clark Warren determined that there were 29 key drivers or dimensions of long-term relationship-success like character, values, intellect, and emotional make-up. The company has designed a compatibility quiz to determine these areas and match people accordingly. The ‘29 Dimensions of Compatibility,’ are lumped into four major categories -- Character & Constitution; Personality; Emotional Makeup & Skills; and Family & Values. The company has even patented the concept, known as the Compatibility Matching Systemâ„ ¢. (www.eHarmony.com) Their spokesman is Dr. Warren himself, and he appears in all of their TV spots, is the voice in their radio ads, and appears in print advertisements as well. He is the unifying message for the company. It is his model, and he explains it well. He keeps the terms simple and straightforward – targeting those single adults who are looking for committed relationships. In the TV ads, Dr. Warren speaks first and tells a bit about the service eHarmony offers. The shot then breaks to focus on actual couples who have had success using eHarmony. The radio ads feature Dr. Warren’s voice, and go along the same lines as the TV ads – it is his calm and mature voice, extolling the virtues of his company and how the compatibility test will help you find your soul-mate. The print ads, running in USAToday are prominent quarter-page ads featuring eHarmony’s simple message – if you’re looking for deep, long-lasting, committed love, this is the place for you.

A Research on Communication Technologies and their Applications Essay

Videoconferencing The keyword â€Å"videoconferencing† when entered into search engines such as Google would immediately reveal at least two classifications of information. The first is consisted of applications developed and being marketed and sold for use. The second are business enterprises that offer videoconferencing services and facilities for individuals and businesses. For example, there is a company called Cliftons which caters to multinational clientele and provides conferencing service to its staff who are scattered across the globe. This usage may include meetings, trainings and other organizational activities. Cliftons (2012) rightly argue that videoconferencing â€Å"overcomes the problems inherent in communications between regional business centres as well as enabling [the management] to keep in touch with key people whilst away from their office.† It is a matter of in-depth research to determine the exact nature of this technology, explaining the principle behind its oper ation and conferencing process. An excellent resource for videoconferencing as is the case for almost all things, people, places, and so forth is, of course, Wikipedia. This website has detailed information on this technology. However, it is widely recognized that the site is unreliable and is not often recommended by academic institutions as a resource. Nonetheless, the website proved an effective starting ground that informed this researcher’s efforts at investigating videoconferencing technology. The information provided in the website offered insights as to what specific aspects of the technology should be examined and documented. The preliminary research enabled the identification of at least two types of videoconferencing platforms. There is the case... ...he noise results in satellite power failures. Works Cited Cliftons. (2012). Fact sheet. Cliftons. Retrieved from http://www.cliftons.com/video-conferencing-facilities. Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. (n.d.). Geostationary Satellites Frequently Asked Questions. Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. Retrieved from http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/pdusfaq.html. â€Å"Geostationary Satellites.† (2007). Reformation.org. Retrieved from http://www.reformation.org/geostationary-satellites.html. United States Office of Satellite Operations. (2012). Geostationary Satellites. (USOSO). Retrieved from http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/. Videoconference.com. (2012). Start Videoconferencing. Videoconference.com. Retrieved from http://www.videoconference.com/. Webopedia. (2012). Videoconferencing. Webopedia. Retrieved from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/videoconferencing.html.

The ENIAC Project: Its Significance in Computer Science and Society Ess

The ENIAC Project: Its Significance in Computer Science and Society â€Å"†¦With the advent of everyday use of elaborate calculations, speed has become paramount to such a high degree that there is no machine on the market today capable of satisfying the full demand of modern computational methods. The most advanced machines have greatly reduced the time required for arriving at solutions to problems which might have required months or days by older procedures. This advance, however, is not adequate for many problems encountered in modern scientific work and the present invention is intended to reduce to seconds such lengthy computations†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From the ENIAC patent (No. 3,120,606), filed 26 June 1947. When World War II broke out in 1939 the United States was severely technologically disabled. There existed almost nothing in the way of mathematical innovations that had been integrated into military use. Therefore, the government placed great emphasis on the development of electronic technology that could be used in battle. Although it began as a simple computer that would aid the army in computing firing tables for artillery, what eventually was the result was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Before the ENIAC it took over 20 hours for a skilled mathematician to complete a single computation for a firing situation. When the ENIAC was completed and unveiled to the public on Valentine’s Day in 1946 it could complete such a complex problem in 30 seconds. The ENIAC was used quite often by the military but never contributed any spectacular or necessary data. The main significance of the ENIAC was that it was an incredible achievement in the field of comput er science and can be considered the first digital and per... ...) - â€Å"John W. Mauchly and the Development of the ENIAC Computer.† Penn Library Exhibitions. http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/maucly/jwm6.html (7) - Soulliere, Cynthia. The Women of ENIAC. http://www.gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/women/women.htm (8) - Soulliere, Cynthia. The Women of ENIAC. http://www.gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/women/women.htm Other Sources Used: Moye, William T. ENIAC: The Army-Sponsored Revolution. ARL Historian, January 1996 Goldstine, Herman H. "Computers at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School." The Jayne Lecture. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol 136, No.1. January 24, 1991 "Past Notable Women of Computing." http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/past-women-cs.html "WITI Hall of Fame." http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/1997/eniac/php "Why Build Computers?" The Military Role in Computer Research

Of Mice and Men & Death of a Salesman by John Steinbeck Essay

John Steinbeck was born in California, Salinas February 1902. In spite of the fact Steinbeck came from a wealthy background he also showed curiousness toward the farm workers and spent his own time working with them. The experience he had gained from working with the farm laborers was then applied as matter for his writing. This certainly adds a sense of realism to his texts. Steinbeck produced numerous novels about poverty-stricken people who have a dream. One of the novels is the well-known ‘Grapes of the Wrath.’ During the late 1920s the Wall Street crash took place, forcing millions of Americans out of work; this then led on to the Great Depression, an era in which people lacked any economic opportunity. The main cultural trends that occurred throughout this period of time were poverty and unemployment. The characters in the novella, â€Å"Of Mice and Men† can relate to this trend as it is set during that era. All the characters in the book are experiencing poverty at the time and are working to continue existence and to vanquish the Great Depression, so that they can obtain the dream. It is shown here – â€Å"Look, if me an’ Lennie work a month an’ don’t spen nothing, we’ll have a hunderd bucks. That’d be four fifty. I bet we could swing her for that.† The American Dream is striving for freedom, status, and success, and as this quote suggests it is often bound up with issues of a financial nature. The American Dream associates with all characters in, â€Å"Of Mice and Men† but mainly with Candy, Crooks, Lennie, George and Curley’s wife, who at one point says, â€Å"He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.† Quotes such as this remind us of the unwavering confidence that American citi zens had in their version of the American Dream, and they often read ironically. This is because, as  readers, we know that the character is disillusioned, and falling for the false promise of prosperity. Racism is posed throughout the novella; in the 1990s segregation laws were approved, whereby the rights of black and white people were divided; black people generally had the things lacking in quality, i.e. Crooks’ inhumane segregation on the ranch. Habitual use of racism, for example flippant use of the word ‘N****r’ are prevalent in this novella. There were also groups of people who were explicity posed against blacks, for example the KKK, who presented violence towards the black minorities, by ambushing them and/or lynching them. They would also strike  any person who dared to associate with blacks. This may stand to elaborate why nobody socializes with Crooks – they’re frightened to step outside of social parameters. For example we learn that, ‘Candy stops at the door and takes a step back.’ The fact that Crooks is black demolishes the possibilities of his dreams actually being accomplished; they are not assigned the same rights, and In turn dreams as the white people. This is ironic because we know that Crooks used to ‘live the dream’, and live amongst â€Å"the white kids;† perhaps this is Steinbeck making a comment on how society has regressed for the worse. The tone Steinbeck creates is mellow and calm especially in the opening paragraph. I know this because Steinbeck uses words such as â€Å"twinkling† and â€Å"golden foothill slopes curve. † creating a dream-like atmosphere. Both these quotes represent colours that indicate summertime, a long season whereby people and animals revel in the tranquillity of the outdoors. In addition to this Steinbeck says that the, â€Å"foothill slopes curve† this gives the impression the walk is effortless trip. However, this calmness is instantly interrupted and starts to show rupture as the George and Lennie near. This may be Steinbeck commenting on how the futile nature of dreaming will always become apparent. Steinbeck states that the two men â€Å"hurried† and â€Å"pounded†Ã‚  down the river; both these verbs are starting to stipulate the start of a battle. By the writer creating such a subtle scene, which is then ruined, could represent the fact that people whose lives come across cheerful and composed, also have holster sadness. I feel that Steinbeck wanted the audience to know that ‘the best laid plans’ didn’t have the outcome that was anticipated; in fact the dream of ‘livin off the fatta the lan’ near enough every time fails, results in relationships vanishing and lives wrecked. Lennie is very broad and heavy handed. On the other hand George is small, so it is also ironic that Lennie’s surname is small. The text readers, â€Å"Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.† The writer says that George has â€Å"restless eyes†Ã‚  meaning that his eyes are defined, whereas Lenni e’s are described as â€Å"pale.† This colour is not vivid nor is it harsh, so it is almost sympathetic and tender. Lennie’s eyes do not suggest strength, so maybe Steinbeck is presenting Lennie as having a monotonous, good-natured personality. Steinbeck is not trying to make George and Lennie seem alike, but completely different; this is to show how dependent two opposites are in needing each other. Without one another George would have been a lonely ranch worker, meanwhile Lennie would of probably contained in a mental institution. Lennie is referred to a bear, straight away this tells the audience that Lennie is physically strong, pretty large and hostile. Despite this, it also shows that Lennie would only fight when he has to, he wouldn’t do it without an intention. Research has shown that bears only attack when they feel in danger, therefore a bear symbolizes Lennie best as he tend to lose control a lot. Lennie is always willing to attack when the dream is compromised, showing how important the vision was to American  citizens. Lennie says, â€Å"I remember about the rabbits, George.† and George responds, †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you can ever remember is them rabbits.† This is the very first time we hear about Lennie dream. Even from the beginning of the novella, the impression is given that Lennie is more enthusiastic than George about the dream. George’s simple eradication of the words â€Å"them rabbits† shows signs that he thinks the whole situation is foolish. This tends to get intricate as we to register that George might just be as animated for the dream as much as Lennie. it comes across that George is extra wary about that excitement, this makes sense as he’s also more aware of his surroundings compared to his other half. The American Dream as whole is impossible of fulfilment, the death of Lennie is figurative of that – concluding that all good things most come to an end. Lennie only wanted to â€Å"tend the rabbits,† nothing more, nothing less – it was George who came up with the entire dream therefore Lennie is not to blame for everything. The dream was presented to Lennie like a story, in a childlike manner. â€Å"†¦God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and  go into town and get whatever I want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  At this point George lashes out at Lennie raging about what the life of a migrant worker would be like without any heavy loads i.e Lennie. From this piece of text it seems that George is imagining a nonchalant existence and that Lennie is just an obstacle in his way.What George had highlighted here is far-seeing because of what happens in the end of â€Å"Of Mice and Men.† George uses the dream so that they both have hope later on life, after  the ranch workers knew about their dream they wanted to have one too. This reveals the value of dreams entirely in the novella, and for those alive during the Great Depression, sitting in the same position as the ranch workers. Once George creates a full account of the farm, its heaven garden-like qualities become even more obvious; Everything thing they want will be in front of their eyes, without any literal effort. Just as Lennie states: â€Å"We could live offa the fatta the lan’.† I think that when George shot Lennie he was right in doing so. One of the reasons I think this is due to the fact that he would have been killed by Curley or the rest of the ranch men anyway. Lennie had unexpectedly killed Curley’s wife; therefore, it would of resolved in death either way. The author lets the reader know that Curley would of killed Lennie when Curley says – â€Å"I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shot gun. I’ll kill the son-of-a-bitch myself.† If Curley killed Lennie, it would of resolved in a slow painful, death. In my opinion, it was better his best friend killing him than his enemy. This killing can be compared to a mercy killing or linked to euthanasia in many ways. George killed Lennie for all the right reasons; the only downfall in this is that George has to go on and live a lonely life, with no companionship. George kills Lennie by Salinas River ‘Salinas’ means lonely, which is what George is now. George and Lennie fail to register that their dream is like thousands of other ranch workers, Crooks summarizes their dream when he quotes: â€Å"Seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come an’ they quit an’ go on, every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never one of them get it.† The men on the ranch have this futile dream about owning their peace of land, but its unachievable because of their circumstances. In a similar manner, from beginning to end Miller depicts the American Dream and how Willy Lowman and his family fail to achieve it. Arthur Miller was born in New York, Harlem October 1915. Miller wrote Death of a Salesman whilst working for his father’s company at the age of seventeen. Miller had said that everything he wrote was based on someone he knew or had seen. After Miller wrote the script he wrote a postscript saying that the real-life salesman, who the play is based on had killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train. Willy has been attempting to achieve the American Dream for such a long period of time that he actually believes it’s achievable. Throughout Willy’s life he has prolonged numerous lies to himself and to his family, this has persuaded him that his dream has become an possibility. He constantly reveals to his family that he’s on the verge of huge success, meanwhile he contemplates to himself as to why he hasn’t reached the dream he knows he is capable of – Willy says that â€Å"There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! The competition is maddening! Smell the stink from that apartment house! And one on the other side†¦ How can they whip cheese?† Willy says this in Act one, this quote suggests that Willy is blaming the over populated country, America, on his lack of success – the truth is that its down to his belief in the assumption of the flawed American Dream. Its seems to me that Willy is just trying to come up with excuses, to cover the fact that he, himself, failed at the American Dream. The fact that Willy is always in need of a scapegoat , shows us that the dream Is, by nature, completely unachievable. The use of explanation marks in this quote express Willy’s feelings about the people and the impact its having on his ability to achieve the American dream. Miller makes an abstract comment on how America is guilty of selling their citizens a dream to failure, but who do we blame? On one hand we should blame the scapegoat, America as a nation, but it seems the  readers can’t help but blame Willy, it’s almost as if the readers have fallen for the same myth – blaming Willy and not American society. Willy convinced his sons that in order to achieve the American Dream you need to be â€Å"well-liked†, not just liked. It seems that Willy is implying that being admired and the quality of arousing interest is the most important thing that will enable you to achieve the American Dream. He puts being â€Å"well liked† first over any other quality. According to Willy, being well liked amounts to the bare matter for reaching the American Dream. Being well liked is a quickened way of achieving something without as much hard work. In act one Willy says to Happy that he’ll be â€Å"Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not liked. He’s liked – but not well liked.† The exclamation mark is to emphasise the fact the he’s going to be bigger than Charley, Charley is prestige and has status. The dash creates the effect of a dramatic pause to make it clear that Charley was not well liked, but at the same time Willy is implying that he, himself, is well liked, when evidently we know this is just a delusion. Willy completely thinks that anyone who works hard in America will become successful without doubt. He says, â€Å"Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such- personal attractiveness gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff – he’s not lazy.† This is another encapsulation of the American Dream fooling the American man, it’s evident that it’s futile and ends up killing Willy. It’s almost like Willy sees the American dream as a given right of an American, Willy’s death is such a horrendous one, as he commits suicide and so this serves to show us how destructive the American dream can be for the average American man. In act one, Willy indicates that Biff can even get let off with purloining a ball because of how popular he is with his coach. This supports the  notion that Willy places upmost importance on being â€Å"well liked† In Act One Willy says to his sons â€Å"Tell you a secret, boys. Don’t breathe it to a soul. Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home anymore† Here Willy is secretive and possessive, just like in of Mice and Men when George let Candy participate in their dream. Willy wants to own a  business just like George and Lennie, although Willy’s dream and George and Lennie’s dreams are completely different, they are similar at the same time, as they both are striving to achieve financial independence, they both have this unwavering image of a dream which they believe to be achievable, but the irony is the reader sees this as unachievable. The difference in these dreams is evident through what is they want to achieve; George and Lennie aims for and simple, agricultural success, whereas Willy is positioned in a contemporary situation in which he seeks to corporate success and material gain. Here it’s worth realizing Biff and Happy endeavour to achieve and reality which is more similar to George and Lennie in terms of its simplicity, however his father’s obsession with corporate wealth means that this is not possible. The above can be seen when Happy says, â€Å"That’s what I dream about Biff. Sometimes I wanna just rip my clothes off in the middle of the store and outbox that goddamned merchandise manager. I mean I can outbox, outlift and outrun anybody in that store, and I to take orders from those petty, common sons of bitches till I can’t stand it anymore.† Here we see Happy rejecting his father’s wishes to follow a corporate lead American dream, in favour of a more primal like competition. However he releases the idea that business competition, similar to the type his father promotes will bring him success; he can’t escape the rat race of American capitalism. This is similar to the inescapable, futile situation that Lennie and George find themselves in; they move from ranch to ranch, with seeming direction, but the irony lies in the fact  that their life is totally directionless. The final bitter blow lies in Lennie’s death. Although culturally, the direction toward which the pursuers of the American Dream changes over time (from dreams of living simply via agriculture, to dreams of achieving corporate success) it is interesting to see that Willy says to his wife, â€Å"You wait, kid, before it’s all over we’re gonna get a little place out in the country, and I’ll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This suggests that the direction of the American Dream has not  changed much, and material/corporate success only serves as a temporary means to fulfil the original view of owning one’s own ranch and living from the land. Here, Willy’s vision is almost identical to George and Lennie’s, which is interesting due to the difference era both are set in/written in. The ellipsis in this quote represents the never ending possibilities of what they can acquire. This aforementioned idea of Willy obsessed with being well liked is something he unfortunately passes down to his children in a typical cyclical way. In a conversation with his parents Biff and Happy reveal they are interested they are looking for work that is simply bearable. Happy says, about his â€Å"business idea† that, â€Å"†¦it wouldn’t be like a business. We’d be out playin’ ball again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Despite this, Willy is completely fixated on ensuring that the boys possess job security in a lucrative profession, which he believes will lead them on this path to greatness, and most importantly, financial security. We may accuse Willy of not being very supportive of his children, as he seems to be prioritising pursuit of the American Dream over his children. This is a true reflection of his blind faith in the idealised dream. Linda’s attitude toward the American dream is contradictive. Linda does this by motivating Willy into believing his dreams are real, even though she recognizes his dream is conclusively futile and bound to stay  incomplete. Linda doesn’t have as many dreams as Willy, but her main one is to live a undemanding, quiet life with her husband. Whereas he would prefer to travel, be recognized and remembered by everybody. Linda would prefer to sit back in her aging jacket with him and to have him employed in the city. This is illustrated when Linda says to Willy ‘can’t continue this way’, and encourages Willy to put himself forward and ask Howard for a job, so that he does not have to travel and so he can pay for the insurance premium. At this stage the audience gather that Linda is very concerned for Willy. Linda never manages to attain her dream since Willy would be more willingly to commit suicide than to surrender his job as a salesman. In addition to this, Linda yearns to safeguard Willy. A case of this is whilst speaking to Ben  she shouts at Ben and says, ‘don’t say those things to him! ‘Afterwards, it is clear that she is shielding him; even though the stage directions interpret Linda as being ‘frightened of Ben’, she becomes assertive for Willy’s benefit. She fails to shade Willy as he objects, resulting in the worst case scenario whilst under her belt. Willy committing suicide. As the play concludes, it’s evident that Willy was lost and didn’t actually know himself. We already knew this, the point being hardly anyone attends his funeral. It is here Biff registers that his dad was lost, entirely and travelled down the wrong road, we know this as he says â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.† It is obvious the Biff will no longer follow the same route as his father. However, Happy, decides to secure his father’s ill-advised visions and takes them on-board himself, he says so himself toward the end of the play â€Å"I’m gonna win it for him.† Comparison of â€Å"Death of a Salesman† and â€Å"Of Mice and Men† The novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the play ‘The Death of a Salesman’ paint a picture of the vanity of dreams, the main one is the American dream. Both authors, Arthur Miller and John Steinbeck use numerous linguistic and literary methods, so that the audience can see how impossible dreams were during that era. Of Mice and Men and Death of a Salesman are set during the 1930s-1940s, the writers permit the context of the literature in order to help them tour the futility of the ‘American Dream’. The American Dream is never achieved. The working-class people -Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, ends up disenchanted and kills himself. The Lomans are alike Lennie and George, They both try to repudiate that they’re just a minority in the world they’re living in, but their American dream is invariably just a step away. At one point, in Of Mice and Men and Death of a Salesman they contrast as Willy wants to be successful and â€Å"well liked† in order to gain status, whereas Lennie and George don’t want status they want to own a piece of land and belong somewhere, I know this as George says ‘it’d be our own, an ‘nobody could can us’. Willy is lost in this delusion about being successful and gaining status that he would rather die than be known to failure of the American dream. When Willy and Ben are speaking Linda yells at him saying, ‘don’t say those things to him!’ Here it is clear the Linda is shielding Willy. The way Linda presented herself to Ben is almost identical to the way Lennie reacts when its things resulting with George. For example, When Crooks expressed the possibility of George being injured, Lennie ‘walked dangerously towards’ him, questioning ‘who hurt George?’ The word ‘dangerously’ is used to narrate Lennie’s negative, forceful charge  toward crooks, this shows how far Lennie will go, having the only intention of making sure George is safe and not thinking about the outcome when doing so. Likewise, when Ben indicates Willy isn’t doing so well at work Linda reacts in a menacing manner toward him. In the stage directions Miller says how Happy was ‘almost ready to fight Biff’ As we know, Happy’s dreams are what his father’s are and when Biff decides to ask what applicability Willy’s dreams are it results in a battle nearly commencing. The reason being as to why Happy was ready to challenge Biff is because as stated above (Happy’s dreams are his fathers). What happened here is similar to what occurred with Lennie and Crooks. In my opinion Steinbeck and Miller, both display how the characters will assert one’s over another in an arrogant way, to make the audience grasp mentally, that no matter how much you try to protect your dream it will always be captured.