Friday, December 27, 2019

Harry Benjamin About Transgender Individuals - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1730 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Society Essay Level High school Topics: Transgender Essay Did you like this example? Early Life and Education Harry Benjamin was born in Berlin, Germany on January 12, 1885 to a German mother and Jewish father. He was the oldest of three siblings. His father converted to Lutheranism shortly before Dr. Benjamins birth. Dr. Benjamin enjoyed opera from a young age, and was enamored with singer Geraldine Farrar, who sang at the Royal Opera. In his frequenting of opera houses, he became acquainted with a house physician, and began to learn his trade from him. He served in the Prussian Guards prior to his medical studies. Dr. Benjamin met Magnus Hirschfeld in his early twenties, and subsequently read Die sexuelle Frage. Eine naturwissenschaftliche, psychologische, hygeinische und soziologische Stude fur Gebildete (The sexual question. A scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study for educated people) by Auguste Forel, which piqued his interest in human sexuality. He and Dr. Hirschfeld frequented gay bars to observe their drag shows, as their shared interest was in human sexuality, and what Dr. Hirschfeld called transvestitesa very outdated term that he coined during his study in 1910, used to describe individuals who dress as the opposite sex, usually males dressing as female, for sexual or other kinds of satisfaction. This was the first major study on transgender individuals, and Dr. Hirschfeld founded the Institute of Sex (translated from German), which was later destroyed by Hitler at the start of the Holocaust. These outings were Dr. Benjamins introduction to the field of sexology. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Harry Benjamin About Transgender Individuals" essay for you Create order Education and Early Career Dr. Benjamin studied medicine at T? ±bingen in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He finished his academic program in 1912, and wrote his final dissertation on tuberculosis. During his post-graduate years, he worked with several different doctors in various field. One of these doctors had finally cured tuberculosis of the joints, which was a huge development in 1913. A wealthy banker paid a large amount of money for Dr. Benjamin to travel to New York to cure his son. The press had reported that the cure worked better than it did, and when Dr. Benjamin was unable to cure his son, the banker refused to pay for his trip back to Germany. Dr. Benjamin attempted to return home in 1914, but was on a ship that was heading for an area that France had hostile control over, and the ships captain opted to turn back, and Dr. Benjamin was left with his last dollar. Upon realizing that he was stuck in New York indefinitely, Dr. Benjamin found a job at a New York hospital. In 1925, Dr. Benjamin married his wife Gretchen, and soon after his mother came to live with him after his father died. Dr. Benjamin also met Sigmund Freud in 1925, who was not fond of him because of a joke that he made: disharmony of the emotions may be the dishormony of the endocrines. Of course Freuds assumption was that Dr. Benjamin was a latent homosexual. Sexology and Transsexual (Transgender) Research In 1930, Dr. Benjamin and his wife brought Dr. Hirschfeld to the United States, and they worked together on private lectures. In 1945, he was introduced to Alfred Kinsey, the creator of the well-known Kinsey Scale, a gradient scale to describe ones sexuality (table 1). Three years later, he encountered his first patient that he recognized to be different than a transvestite, as the patient genuinely felt that she was a woman (she was born male), and he prescribed her estrogen. In the next twenty or so years he would see numerous patients with similar ailments, counsel them, and aid in their transition. He called these patients transsexuals. Dr. Benjamin studied not only the physical effects of the transitional process, but also the emotional, mental, and behavioral issues. In 1966, he released The Transsexual Phenomenon, which documented his studies on hundreds of patients, about half of which were diagnosed transsexual (as opposed to transvestite). He came up with the Benjamin Scale, which scored patients between transvestite and transsexual, judging them on items such as gender feeling, dressing habits, the infamous Kinsey Scale, conversion operation, hormone medication, and psychotherapy (table 2). In his studies, he found that with physical changes, such as those brought on by hormone injections, his patients started to feel more emotional and mental congruency with their bodies. This gave them comfort, and they were finally able to excel as human beings and citizens. In 1966, Dr. Benjamin gave a lecture in Los Angeles about his first contact with transsexuals. He treated a trans woman (he called them transsexual males), who later was in an accident. In the medical documentation, he was disappointed to find that the medical examiner documented this patient as a male degenerate; she was wearing male clothing over female clothing. Because of this bias, the patient was allowed to decline physically and pass away, where they would otherwise be fine, given proper treatment. He went on to talk about the taboo around sex change, stating sarcastically, surgical manipulation of the genitals are off limits, but we can do anything else, like lobotomies. This remark was followed by laughter by his listeners. In this same lecture, Dr. Benjamin stated that through his research, he found that something happened during fetal life to cause transsexualism, and something may have happened in their early childhood that further conditioned, but in the end it was a matter of a predispositionthat is, they did not have a choice. He later went on to talk about plans to do minor animal testing at Stanford University. Dr. Benjamin called the psychological condition of being transgender gender dysphoriaa term that is still used today, but will be phased out and replaced with gender incongruence in the 2025 revision of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. Legacy Dr. Benjamin retired at age ninety. He had seen hundreds of transgender patients, and changed their lives. He pioneered treatment of transgender individuals, and began the destigmatization of these patients. While Dr. Benjamin was primarily an endocrinologist, he was also a sexologist and spent significant amounts of time researching the behaviors and motivations of what we know today as transgender individuals. In 1978, Dr. Benjamin founded the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIBDA), which is still the worlds leading resource on transgender treatment, and known today as World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). HBIBDA released the first rendition of the Standards of Care for transgender individuals, and WPATH releases periodic revisions, based on research and societal language changes. Examples of this are transsexual now being transgender, the addition of nonbinary individuals (those who do not fit into any gender stereotype, thus are between or outside of the gender spectrum), and changing gender dysphoria to gender incongruence. The latter change is due to the implication that every trans person must suffer from gender dysphoria, which is known to be a horrendous affliction, causing profound depression and often suicidatlity. This has been found to not be a consistent truthI myself have never suffered from gender dysphoria; incongruence re sonates much more soundly with me: I only felt content after transitioning. Dr. Benjamin died at 101 years old, in 1986. He left behind a legacy that has affected and improved the lives of thousand upon thousands of transgender individuals. WPATH continues to be the leader in transgender healthcare, and has provided many with resources for therapy, hormone therapy, and surgical intervention. His work as undoubtedly saved an overwhelming amount of livesthe rate of suicide attempts of transgender individuals is 41% prior to transitioning. Without his work, we wouldnt have the amount of knowledge or destigmatization that we have today. Effects on my Personal Life and Psyche Dr. Benjamins research has had very real effects on my personal life and psyche. I lived the first twenty eight years of my life feeling a profound incongruence with my assigned gender (the gender one is assigned at birth, including intersex individuals who present with characteristics of both genders). This led to a plethora of psychological, familial, social, and occupational obstacles because I was conflicted about how to relate to the people around me. I was a tom boy from a very early age, and dressed masculine for my entire lifeexcept when forced to do otherwise by my unknowing parents. I finally came out and began my transition with testosterone therapy at age 28, in 2014. Physical and emotional changes came on quickly, and I had two surgeries within eight months of beginning hormone therapywith my court-ordered name and gender change in the mix. I finally began to feel at peace with my perception of myself and havent looked back since. Im calmer and happier than Id been durin g any other era of my life, and I have had some seriously dark times. I was not a complete person prior to transtioning. None of this would have been possible without Dr. Benjamins research and advocacy. He opened doors for an extremely disenfranchised group of people to realize who they are and get closer to being able to achieve self-actualization. I mentioned earlier that the documented attempted suicide rate among transgender individuals is 41%. This number is pre-transition individuals; after being able to transition, this number drops close to the same level as cisgender (non-trangender) individuals. Dr. Benjamin also founded the organization now known as WPATH. This organization has historically created the guidelines for the safest and most thorough care plans for transgender individuals. The classic path to transition begins with extensive psychotherapy and living as your intended gender for a period of time prior to beginning medical intervention. Recently, some impatient individuals have pushed practitioners to implement informed consent, which is a watered down set of requirements to transi tion: see a therapist once or twice, address any hypertension or hyperlipidemia that could be dangerous, sign a paper stating youve been informed of the risks. This undereducation has led to patients panicking because they dont understand whats happening to their body, and a rise in regret to the point of detransitioning (stopping transition and taking steps to transition back). While the language he used is now very outdated, Dr. Benjamin developed a process in order to keep his patients safe and healthy while they undergo a very taxing, however lifechanging process. He helped fight the stigma during a time where being transgender was not understoodeven using humor during lectures to get his point across. Transgender therapy and medicine was not understood by any means. Dr. Benjamin left behind a legacy that has changed many lives, and opened the doors for a greater societal acceptance and normalization of transgender individuals.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Brain Structure and Post Traumatic Brain Injury Essay...

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have been shown to have a great impact on several specific structures in the brain of both immediate and long-term damage. Often preoccupation can be focused into the immediate outcomes. The immediate concerns of TBI are without doubt important but this often creates ignorance in terms of the long-term consequences that may follow an individual impacted by TBI into subsequent years. As one will come to recognize, this is of particular concern in terms of children who survive TBI. It was once believed that due to development, children were less vulnerable to TBI in comparison to mature, adult brains but research of childhood TBI has found this conjecture to be false (Beauchamp et al., 2011). As discussed in†¦show more content†¦At a time when brain development is crucial, it can be argued that, based on reported damage to developing structures of the pediatric brain, disruptions of development and long-term cognitive, psychological and social im plications could arise as a consequence of TBI. Nonetheless, prior to an intricate look at the impact on specific brain structures, it is important to understand a TBI, the levels of severity and the immediate implications on a neurological level. The most typical TBI is that of a closed head injury in which no penetration of the skull or brain occurs (Roberts, 2009). Still, impact to the head results in the skull usually hitting a surface as a result of incidents such as falls, accident, sports, assault or abuse (Roberts, 2009). Once a TBI has occurred, a classification of the injuries severity is assessed based on the immediate presentation of symptoms (Roberts, 2009). Mild, moderate and severe classifications are determined based on the presentation (or lack their of) of symptoms such as consciousness and functioning of mental and or sensory process (Roberts, 2009). At the level of the neuron, TBI can cause critical problems. In cases where brain tissue stretches or is sheared, t he axon of a neuron becomes weakened due to the stretching, which can result in theShow MoreRelatedMedical Imaging Of Traumatic Brain Injuries Essay1520 Words   |  7 PagesMedical Imaging of Traumatic Brain Injuries INTRODUCTION Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) consist of pathological intracranial features of alteration in brain function cause by an outside force. TBI’s have plagued emergency rooms in recent years. TBI’s are the number one cause for death and disability in American youth and young adults. The drastic increase in TBI prognosis has been credited to reasons such as; increased competitiveness in sports, increased speeds of automobiles and/or speed limitsRead MoreSymptoms And Injuries Of A Traumatic Brain Injury841 Words   |  4 Pages Nearly two million people experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. The degree of severity from the incident may range from no underlying brain injury to severe compression of brain tissue. Irregular interior surface of skull can damage fragile tissues of brain during acceleration, deceleration, or shearing forces. Direct mechanical trauma can injure cortical tissue. Traumatic hematomas can damage subcortical structures and lead to vasosp asm and ischemia. Sudden movement of skull onRead MoreImaging Of Traumatic Brain Injuries Essay1585 Words   |  7 PagesImaging of Traumatic Brain Injuries: An Investigative Report INTRODUCTION Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) consist of pathological intracranial characteristics of altered brain function cause by an outside force. TBI’s have plagued emergency rooms in recent years. TBI’s are the number one cause for death and disability in American youth and young adults. The drastic increase in TBI prognosis has been credited for reasons such as; increased competitiveness in sports, increased speeds of automobilesRead MoreTraumatic Brain Injury Essay1284 Words   |  6 Pages Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the result of an external force against the head that causes displacement of the cranial structures, either through impact with an object or through acceleration and deceleration. TBI is not isolated to a single ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or region (Berquist et al., 2009; Jang et al., 2013). In 2002, the United States had the highest incidence of reported TBI cases of any developed country. The incidence of hospital admissions due to closed head injuriesRead MoreA Traumatic Brain Injury 1708 Words   |  7 PagesA traumatic brain injury (â€Å"TBI†) occurs when the brain is somehow injured, rattled, or wounded from an external source of force. The means of acquisition and the severity of TBIs are unique to each patient; therefore, symptoms and rehabilitation can vary greatly depending on the patient’s condition following the incident and how they sustained the injury. The severity of a TBI is generally classified into one of three categories: mild, moderate, or severe, and this type of diagnostic criteria influencesRead MoreRecent Epidemiological Studies Have Linked Mild Traumatic1509 Words   |  7 Pageslinked mild traumatic brain injury as a risk factor for dementia. Estimated that 100 to 300 per 100,000 people seek medical attention for mTBI annually worldwide. Due to not all persons with mTBI seeking medical attention it is estimated that 600 per 100,000 have a mTBI annually. Epidemiological evidence suggests that moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases such as: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Chronic Traumatic EncephalopathyRead MoreThe Reality Of Brain Damage From Football1387 Words   |  6 Pages The Reality of Brain Damage from Football Introduction to Psychology Northcentral Technical College Stacy Schmidt Football brain injuries are somewhat common and people are more aware of the types of damage it can cause to the brain. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury. It can occur after an impact to the head or after a whiplash-type injury that causes the head and brain to shake quickly back and forth. Concussions are usually not life-threateningRead MoreThe Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injuries On Our Society1574 Words   |  7 PagesThe human brain is an enormously complex and intricate structure; however, it is incredibly susceptible to injury and irreversible damage. Traumatic brain injuries can affect any member of the population at any given moment, damaging vital areas of the brain responsible for an entire spectrum of tasks, most of which are often taken for granted. Numerous medical professionals are involved in the rehabilitation of patients that sustain traumatic brain injuries. Because traumatic brain injuries have suchRead MoreAdvance Assessment Of Concussion Diagnosis 1542 Words   |  7 Pageseffects of concussion on the brain. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a task-based neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow using blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) contrast.19 Researchers have used fMRI to assess brain function following a concussive injury. Overall, researchers have found an increase in brain activation patterns in concussed patients following injury.14 12,15 Lovell et al14 usedRead MoreThe Between Ptsd And Tbi992 Words   |  4 Pageseffects of brain damage and the consequences or effects of PTSD, the level of damage and mitigative roles to combat the situation. Findings The effects of war are often very lessen, some factions wanting to downplay those effects in order to support your efforts and others wanting to inflate them in order to support peace. There is a disagreement in terms of persistent post concussive symptoms that are reported by Iraq combat veteran who have had repeated episodes of mild traumatic brain injury from being

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Eastern Europe Igcse free essay sample

Estern Europe and the Cold War 1948-1989 How secure was Soviet control of Europe 1948-1968? * How did Stalin control Eastern Europe? * After the war political vacuum in many countries of Eastern Europe. Stalin helped the communist parties in them to win power Cominform â€Å"communist information bureau† organization to co-ordinate the communist government in Eastern Europe. Made meetings and sent out instructions to communist government about what the USSR wanted them to do. * Need to restore law and order. This provided an excuse to station Soviet troops in each country. Economies in Eastern Europe where devastated USSR took over all industry and told farmers and workers what to produce. Comecon: â€Å"council for mutual economic assistance† Coordinates the industries and trade of the Eastern Europe countries. Favoured the USSR as it provided a market and guaranteed a cheap supply of raw materials. It set up a bank for socialist countries. * What did people in east Europe think of the USSR control? * Brought hope. * USSR had achieve great industrial growth before the WW2 people thought they could do the same. Soviet- style communist also offered stable government and security because they were backed by one of the world? s superpowers. * However, reality was different of what people hoped for lost the right to criticize the government, newspapers where censored, one-party permitted, people where forbidden to travel to countries in western Europe†¦ * Between 1945 and 1955 economy did recover, but factories did not produce what people wanted. They produced what soviet wanted. * Wages fell. * Were forbidden to apply for marshal aid (economic help from the USA) * Shortages of raw products (milk, clothes, coal, meat) Little chance to protest lived oppressed. * The rise of Khrushchev * Stalin was a hero to millions of people in the USSR: defeated Hitler, given the USSR and empire in Eastern Europe and made a nuclear superpower. * Died in 1953: Nikita Khrushchev He was very different from Stalin. He ended the USSR? s long feuds with China and with Yugoslavia. He talked of peaceful co-existence with the west. Made plans to reduce arm production. Attended the first post-war summit between the USSR, the USA, France and Britain. And said he wanted to improve the living standards of ordinary Soviet citizens and those of eastern Europe. He closed down Cominform and released thousands of political prisoners. Basically he gave more freedom and independence to the Eastern Europe countries. * De-stalinisation Attack to Stalin. Dredged the evidence of Stalin’s purges and denounced him as a wicked tyrant who was an enemy of people and kept all power to himself. * Released political prisoners * Closed down cominform as policy to reconciliate with Yugoslavia. * Invited Marshal Tito to Moscow. * Dismissed Stalin’s former Foreign Minister. * People saw hopeful times ahead. * The Warsaw pact Easter Europe barrier against attack from West. * Military alliance similar to NATO. Members would defend each other if one is attacked. Included all communist countries in easter Europe but Yugoslavia. * How did the USSR deal with opposition in eastern Europe? * Attack to Polish police 1956 government had increased food prices but not wages. Krushchev moved troops to the Polish border. agreement between krushchev and Wladyslaw Gomulka (Poland leader): communist would stop persecuting members of the catholic church. CASE 1: Hungary, 1956 Why was there opposition in Hungary? * Hard-line communist Rakosi many restriction and Hungarians hated them. * Peopled lived in fear. * Areas of Hungary had Russian street signs, schools and shops. AND had to pay for soviet forces to be in Hungary. * June 1956 group of rebels opposed Rakosi. He appealed to Moscow for help denied help. New leader huge student demonstration: giant statue of Stalin in Budapest was pulled down. New government formed: Imre Nagy. Several thousands of Hungarian soldiers deflected from the army to the rebel cause, taking their weapons with them. Nagys government began to plan free elections, create impartial courts, restore farmland to private ownership and total withdrawal of the s oviet army from Hungary. Also p * Planned to leave the warsaw and declare Hungary neutral. Einsenhower (US president) support the new independent Hungary. * How did the USSR respond? * At first accept some of the reforms. He couldn’t accept Hungary leaving the Warsaw pact. In November soviet troops moved to Budapest Hungarians did not give Nagy and fellow leaders were executed. * Resistance was crushed in 2 weeks. CASE 2: Czechoslovakia and the Prague Spring, 1968 Why was there opposition? * Alexander Dubcek become leader proposed a policy of â€Å"socialism with a human face†: less censorship, more freedom of speech and a reduction in the activities of secret police. He didn? t want to leave the Warsaw pact or Comecon. * Censorship had been eased, they were able to launch attacks on the communist leadership, pointing out how corrupt and useless they were. Period known as â€Å"Prague Spring†: all new ideas seemed to be appearing everywhere. * How did the USSR respond? * Czechoslovakia was very i mportant in the Warsaw pact. It was centrally placed and had the strongest industry. USSR was worried ideas might spread to other countries. * Tried to slow Dubcek down USSR, polish and eastern German troops performed public training exercises in Czech border. Also thought about imposing economic sanction, but didn’t because though Czechs would ask help from West. * July the USSR had a summit conference with the Czechs. Dubcek insisted on keeping most of his reforms. * August, conference of all the other Warsaw Pact countries produced a vague declaration calling the Czechs to maintain political stability. * 20 August 1968 soviet tanks moved into Czechoslovakia. Little violent resistance, although Czechs refused to co-operate with the USSR troops. Dubcek was removed from power * Brezhnev Doctrine: * One-party system * Remain a member of the Warsaw pact. Before soviet invasion, Czechoslovakia’s mood had been optimist. After, it was despair. Become resentful of the soviet connection. 20 years later Gorbachev, questioned the invasion and was himself spreadi ng ideas of the Prague Spring. Why was the Berlin wall? * Some people wished to leave eastern Europe (economic or political reasons). Standard living was way better in West Europe. Contrast was particularly great in the divided city of Berlin. East Germans could watch West television. * It was very tempting to leave East Germany highly skilled workers. Communist government could not lose these high-quality people. * Wall built to prevent people leaving. Families were divided, chaos and confusion followed. The west reaction to the Berlin wall†¦ * For a while, the wall created a major crisis * Kennedy: â€Å"its not a very nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than war† * Wall was a symbol o division, of Germany, Europe and the world. The communist presented the wall as a protective shell around Berlin. The West presented it as a prison wall. Why did soviet control of Eastern Europe collapse in 1989? Why did the Cold War thaw in the 1970s? 1) Worries about the arm race, nuclear testing damaged the environment, cost a fortune and was seen by many as immoral. Anti-nuclear movement in the west that support the detente. 2) End of Vietnam war: improved relations between the USA, USSR and China. 3) High hand shake: American astronauts and soviets cosmonauts met up and shook hands in space. This was quite literally the high point of detente. 4) Helsinki conference, august 1975: All countries recognised the borders set out after the WW2, including division of Germany. Agreed to respect human rights- eg: freedom of speech, freedom of movement from countries. 5) Worries about arm race, leader held summit meetings: Brezhnev visit Washington and Nixon went to Moscow. Nuclear arms limitation treaty, SALT1 and SALT2. 6) Worries about arm race, space programmes of USA and the USSR: had helped to develop complex missiles. Arms race was very costly, both superpowers saw this as money that could be spent more wisely on foreign aid to poor countries or improving the conditions. Why did the cold war freeze again in the 1980s? 1) Revolution in Iran: Shah of Iran was overthrown. USA had supported the Shah because it needed the oil. The new government was strongly anti-American but also strong anti-communist. Wanted society based on Islamic values. Increased tension between superpowers. 2) Civil wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador and in Angola: communist rebels tried to overthrow the government. The USA funded the governments against rebels. ) Human rights: Jimmy Carter (us president) openly criticised the USSR suppression of dissidents. 4) Collapse of SALT 2: 1979 signed, but as relations where so deteriorated that the US congress refused to approve SALT2. 5) Afghanistan: pro-soviet regime was under serious threat from its Muslim opponents, the Mujahideen. To protect the regime, soviet forces entered Afghani stan. Western Europe powers were worried that the USA could get to close to the West oil supplies In the middle East. USA secretly began to send money, arms and equipment to Pakistan and from there to Mujahideen. This becomes the USSR equivalent of Vietnam War. It was a nightmare campaign. 6) Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics: in protest at soviet involvement in the Afghan War, USA boycotted the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow. In retaliation, The USSR boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics (4 years later) 7) Ronald Reagan: called the USSR an â€Å"evil empire† and supported anti-communist forces in Afghanistan and Nicaragua. How significant was Solidarity? * Regular protests in Poland. About wages or food prices. Wanted to improve the standard of living. * Seemed happy during the 1970s industries performed well. 1976 economic crisis. Government didn’t know how to solve the problems – just propaganda. * Late 1970s Polish workers become involved in setting small independent trade unions. * 1980 strikes broke all over the country. Over the next 6 months a new trade union: solidarity, went from strength to strength. * Workers (Lecha Walesa) put forward 21 demands to the government, i ncluding the free trade unions and right to strike. government agreed all demands solidarity grows. * Why did the polish government agreed to Solidarity’s demands in 1980? Union was strongest in those industries that were most important for the government- membership particularly high among skilled workers and foremen. A strike would have destroy the economy. * Was not seen as an alternative to communist party. * Union very popular. Lech Walesa was a kind of folk hero, and movement was very trustworthy. * Had support of catholic church. Almost all poles where catholic, so church wasn’t crush by communists. Catholicism was part of the glue that gets Poland together. The communist government and church had agreed that the church wouldn’t interfere in the government. The government dared not confront the church. * Government was playing for time. Hoped solidarity would split into factions. then its jobs would be easy. * USSR had half eye on the west. Solidarity had won support in the West, Lech was constantly interviewed and photographed. The scale of the movement ensured that the USST treated the Polish crisis cautiously. * Clampdown: civilian Prime Minister resigned and the leader of the army, general Jaruzelski, took over. * After negotiation with Jaruzelki, Walesa called off a strike at bydgoscz. * â€Å"rural solidarity† was set up as a farmers? rade union. * Lech Walesa was elected chairman of solidarity. sent a letter to workers of eastern Europe campaigning for all workers rights in communist bloc. * Negotiation broke between Walesa and Jarzelski poland was at the edge of chaos. Government was unestable. * Brezhnev ordered the Red Army to carry out â€Å"training manoeuvers† on the polish borders. * Jaruzelsky suspended Sol idarity. little resistance. People from solidarity were taken for â€Å"preventive and cautionary talks† * Why did the polish government clamp down on solidarity in December 1981? Solidarity was acting as a political party government said it had secret tapes of solidarity setting a new provisional government. Was a challenge to communist authority. * Poland was sinking into chaos. Food shortages. National income had fallen as well as the industrial production. Unemployment was common and strikes continued long after it was order to stop. * Solidarity itself was also in chaos. Some felt they needed to push the communist harder to progress. * Attitude of soviet union. thought the situation had gone to far. If Poland’s leaders couldn’t restore communist control, they would. This was something Poland leaders wanted to avoid. * Poles no longer trusted communists. Supporting solidarity was the best way to show that they didn’t support the leadership of the communists. They respected solidarity and the church and would rather trust them with their future. * Force was the only thing that kept communists in power. If military force was not used, then communist control seemed very unstable. * Aftermath * Tried to normalise the situation declared solidarity illegal. Pushed people to join the patriotic movement for national regeneration (were under threat) * Leaders of solidarity and priests were murdered and pursued. * USA impose trade sanctions on Poland. Economic chaos followed inflation. * Time later solidarity was open again, but never become a mass organization again. It frighten with call a nationwide strike against price rises and cooperate with the church. 1988 organized a boycott in the elections. * In 1986 international attention turned to a new problem of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. * President Walesa * Solidarity demanded open elections solidarity won. Lech Walesa became the first non-communist president of Poland since before the 2WW. How did Gorbachev try to change the USSR? * USSR economy was in crisis. spending to much money in arms. It was locked in the Afghanistan war. , * Gorbachev was concern on peoples attitude to work. government didn’t incentive people to work harder. In the days of stalin people worked hard for fear, bur those days were gone, replaced by pessimism. There was no loyalty to the government, no trust and people who didn’t even care. * Problem: alcoholism life expectancy had decreased. * Goods weren’t working properly. Policy: glasnost (openness: free say, stop censuring books and TV, no fear to say something inappropriate) and perestroika (restructuring: market forces, no longer illegal to buy and sell profit. ) * Cut spending on defense, red army decreased and cut armament expenditure. Also withdrew people from Afghanistan and talked about international trust and cooperation. Why did s oviet control of eastern Europe collapse? * Not successful policies. economy couldn’t modernize as quickly as people wanted. * 1989 neither Gorbachev new what he was doing and he couldn’t go back.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Transgenders in the Workplace Essay Sample free essay sample

Much of the favoritism that is faced by the transgender people comes from the same topographic point that anti-gay favoritism stems from. LGBT ( Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. and Transgender ) people challenge the â€Å"norms† that society has placed. in the workplace and in life. on how work forces and adult females should move. â€Å"Transgenders face many hardships non merely in life. but in the workplace every bit good. † Since everyone is funny as to what a transgender individual is. let me to cast some visible radiation on this. A transgender individual is a individual who sees themself as another sex that they were non biologically born to. While it was thought at one point in clip to be a gender upset. it has been proven non to be but some psychologists still use this as a clinical term. Transgender people have been around since the morning of adult male and the earliest records indicate that in 1530 BC an Egyptian queen named Hatsheput took the throne and was the 2nd queen to govern Egypt until 1482 BC. We will write a custom essay sample on Transgenders in the Workplace Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hatsheput learned of a disapproval from a predecessor so she started dressing in work forces vesture. and besides wore a false face fungus which signified kingship to Egyptian people. Surveies have reported that the transgender community lives under utmost psychological force per unit areas that active military do non exudate. Some 55 % of transgender people live with a really high instance of societal anxiousness. The normal degree of societal anxiousness that is faced by the American population is merely 6. 8 % . and active armed forces is at 8. 2 % as shown on the graph below ( Cristian. 2013 ) . Figure 1. Insidious: Extreme Pressures Faced by Trans People. ( Cristan. 2013 ) . Most Acts of the Apostless of favoritism experienced by transgender individuals originate from rigorous traditional beliefs placed around a misinterpretation of sexual constructs of a society. Societies founded on spiritual philosophy have strict ethical motives. which involve persons under the umbrella label of the LGBT ( Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. and Transgender ) who fail to conform to these rigorous ethical motives and guidelines. and in bend are shunned upon. Transgender people today still fight for equal rights merely as cheery people fight for the equality of matrimony. One of the hardest hit topographic points in this battle is in the workplace. Presently there are no Torahs that prohibit an employer from firing a individual merely because they are transgender or homosexual. and nine out of 10 Americans think that there is. believe it or non this type of favoritism is legal in most provinces. The sad portion is one time a transgender individual is fired from a place. there is nil that they can make lawfully. yes they can pick up a lookout mark and throw some words around. but it still will non assist their cause. The National Center for Transgender People states that â€Å"Transgender people face utmost conditions with happening occupations. and transgender people besides experience unemployment at twice the national rate. † ( Crosby. 2011 ) . A recent study that transgender people participated in stated that â€Å"90 % have ex perienced some type of torment or mistreatment on-the-job â€Å" ( Davis. 2009 ) pg. 1. The transgender population faces significantly higher rates of lodging. unemployment. colza and assaults. Discrimination with lodging adds to the homeless rate. Unemployment rates drive an nonvoluntary forced engagement in such economic systems like sex work which yields a higher rate of distributing or undertaking HIV. AIDS. and other assorted sexually transmitted diseases. While force and favoritism narrows the life anticipation. it besides produces other psychological upsets. With the deficiency of equal rights and favoritism faced by the transgender people it is damaging to their well-being. Gender-based favoritism and victimization were found to be independently associated with suicide efforts. A population made up of 41 % transgender people had a history of seeking to kill themselves ( American Psychological Association. 2012 ) . It has been really ill-defined if transgender people are protected under the Title VII commissariats that harbor favoritism against people based on their sex. It has left 700. 000 transgender people in legal oblivion which has forced them to trust on their landlords. employers. rules. and assorted others Stationss to populate. eat. and map like the remainder of the state ( Gates. 2011 ) . In December 2011. the 11th circuit tribunal which covers the provinces of Georgia. Mississippi. and Florida ruled that Title VII does criminalize favoritism against transgender workers. Besides in April 2012. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission declared that transgender federal employees will be protected from favoritism under the Title VII. While this determination merely applies to federal workers. the judicial system uses this as a guideline for other transgender favoritism instances. Since 1994. militants have worked to go through the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. or ENDA. which wou ld censor favoritism in the workplace based on gender individuality which in bend would protect transgender people. However. acquiring these measures passed at a province judicial degree are fighting to derive support by local conservative politicians. In the graph below are the current provinces that have favoritism protection to the Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. and Transgender population. It besides shows which provinces presently have none. Figure 2. State Landscaping. Less Than One-half of US workers Are Protected From Anti-Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. and Transgender Discrimination Under State Laws. Note. Crosby Burns. October. 2011. There have been Acts of the Apostless that have been passed that protect transgender individuals. In the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act of 2003 the intent of this act is to battle favoritism based on any of the undermentioned evidences: gender. cultural beginning. faith or other beliefs. and sexual orientation. A asset for the transgender population has been by the agencies of the Health and Human Service Department that has stated that â€Å"The Affordable Care Act ( besides known as Obama attention ) has put a prohibition on sex-based favoritism that includes transgender Americans â€Å" ( Flock. 2012 ) . In a missive from the National Center on Transgender Equality it states that â€Å"Sex favoritism prohibition extends to claims of favoritism based on gender individuality or failure to conform to stereotyped impressions of maleness and femininity† ( Flock. 2012 ) . Obama attention is to be implemented by January 2014 and its exclusive intent is to forbid insurance companies from sing favoritism against or bear downing higher rates for any individual based on their gender ( Http: //www. obamacarefacts. com ) . Another country that transgender people have issues with is insurance. Be it life or employer-based wellness insurance there are obstructions and challenges that will be i n the manner. Medically necessary interventions and processs required by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders should be included in the employer provided wellness attention and short term disablement coverage. In order for this to go on. employers need to join forces with their insurance suppliers and decision makers to take clauses that involve transgender prohibitions and concentrate on supplying inclusive transgender insurance coverage. Because the deficiency of research informations about transgender people it has led to a deficiency of support for transgender wellness coverage. Coverage and demands are a small different than a regular individual who is non faced with a gender individuality upset. Hormone therapy. guidance Sessionss. gender reassignment surgery. and fictile surgery are merely a few insurance points that a transgender individual might/will face along their journey. These points can be really expensive and can run anyplace from $ 7- $ 24. 000 for a male to female reassignment. and $ 50. 000+ for a female to male reassignment. Copays vary from insurance to insurance and in most instances consequences in a transgender individual paying for their surgeries. There is a high degree of psychological guidance demands that have to be undertaken before surgery can be achieved. Some reassignment instances have lasted anyplace from a twelvemonth to one survey that lasted about 29 old ages. It depends on the person and their degree of dedication to the reassignment. If they are in the really first phases of the passage. so it will be a longer route than person that has already determined what type of individual they want to be. Transgenders will halt at nil to get the life that they want to populate. and will travel through all the problems and trials on that way of success. Another issue faced amongst the transgender people is the societal credence degree amongst equals. coworkers. and household. Transgender people face the same favoritism that homosexual and bisexual people face. It is difficult for them in a universe where they merely want to be accepted for whom they are and scorned by society for seeking to accomplish this. . They are invariably ridiculed for how they choose to populate their life. told what they can and can non make. and where they can and can non work. Not being able to get a occupation one time they go through a passage. or losing their occupation once they come out to their foreman. Evidence suggests that transsexual people are hardworking people who tend to plunge themselves into their work to run off from their inner mayhem ( Davis. 2009 ) . Transgender individuals are often really intelligent and originative people who can lend a great trade to a company ( Walworth. 2003 ) . It would be in the best involvement of a company to get and keep on to such a gifted employee. Walworth ( 2003 ) stated that â€Å"In a extremely completive concern environment companies can non afford to throw away some of their best workers. † The factors that go into assisting assist transgender individuals follow through with a passage vary in the workplace but could dwell of: the office make-up. the type of work that is being done. the sum of clip that is spent with sellers and other employees. Every state of affairs must be a custom tantrum for each transgender individual doing a passage in the workplace. Bing able to sit down with the human resources section at their occupation will assist ease this procedure along. Another issue that has been developing and necessitating more attending is the job with transgender individuals and public bathrooms. There was an incident at a local Baltimore restaurant where a transgender adult female tries to come in a woman’s bathroom but was confronted by two adult females that were already indoors. They proceeded to assail this adult female repeatedly until the transgender adult female went into a ictus ; all the while an employee of this restaurant was entering the onslaught and laughing. The older attacker received a 5 twelvemonth prison sentence. and the younger attacker was sent to a juvenile detainment centre ( Valcourt. 2013 ) . It is circumstance like this incident that harbor the frights that transgender individuals have when seeking to make a simple undertaking like traveling to the public toilet. Something that a non- transgender individual takes for granted. In decision. to genuinely extinguish favoritism in life and in the workplace depends on extinguishing stereotypes placed on genders by society. To larn to accept people for who they are. and to larn to see them as any other individual. until these things happen at that place will ever be a negative attitude toward transgender people. Mentions Cadraian. D. ( August 2004 ) Diverseness: Transgender Issues In the Workplace. HR wire. Volume. 8 figure 6. Gates. Gary. ( April. 2011 ) . How Many Peoples are Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. and Transgender. The Williams Institute. Morris. Duane. ( May. 2012 ) . EEOC Ruling Provides Guidance on Applying Title VII’s Discrimination Prohibition to Transgender Employees. Dietert. Michelle ; Dentice. Dianne. ( 2009 ) Gender Identity Issues and Workplace Discrimination: The Transgender Experience. ( Journal of Workplace Rights ) . Volume 14 Issue 1. Davis. Debra. ( January. 2009 ) . Transgender in The Workplace: Human Resource Developments Newest Challenge/Oppourtunity. Barclay. J. M. ; Scott. L. J. ( 2006 ) . Transexuas and Workplace Diversity. Herold. Eve ; Connors. Erin. ( August. 2012 ) . American Psychological Association Official Positions Supporting Access to Care and the rights of Transgender and Gender Variant Persons. Cristan. ( January. 2013 ) . Insidious: Extreme Pressures Face d by Trans People. Flock. Elizabeth. ( August. 2012 ) . Human Health Services: Affordable Care Act Will Protect Transgender People. Valcourt. Derek. ( September. 2013 ) . Woman Sentenced To 5 Old ages in McDonald’s Transgender Attack. hypertext transfer protocol: //baltimore. cbslocal. com/2011/09/13/woman-sentenced-to-5-years-in-rosedale-transgender-attack/ Walworth. Janis. ( August. 2003 ) . Pull offing Transexual Passage in the Workplace. Center for Gender Sanity. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. gendersanity. org. ) Creed. Douglas. ( December. 2004 ) . Particular Issue on Gay. Lesbian. and Transgender Workplace. Volume 29. Issue 6. Pg. 704-706

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Ps and Qs of Proofreading

THE PS AND QS OF PROOFREADING Proofreaders don’t get enough credit – and a lot of people don’t spend enough time proofreading their own work. Proofreading is about more than just making sure to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. I’ve put together a list of helpful proofreading tips to make sure that your documents come out as close to perfect as possible – every time. Keep your spell checking software, but don’t get too comfortable. Spell check is a beautiful thing, and a lot of times it can save people’s you-know-whats, especially if they don’t have a lot of time to proof their work. However, spell checking isn’t magic, it’s not always correct, and it won’t pick up on words that are misused. How many times have you typed â€Å"Through you may think†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"You schedules are attached†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , or something similar, only to have your spell check fail you? Print it out. You can’t read properly on a screen. Your mind will make little leaps in logic, automatically filling in missed or misused words. Working from a hard copy makes a proofreader’s job easier. Feel free to get out a pen and just go to town if you feel like it. Read it out loud. That’s right, you may look a little crazy if you happen to do this in a public place. Reading it out loud (or at least whispering to yourself) will force you to slow your pace and get into the rhythm of the language – and that, in turn, will illuminate any mistakes. If you stumble as you read to yourself, that’s a good indication that you should work on the syntax of that line. Get a fresh pair of eyes. There’s no room to be shy – having a friend or colleague look it over and give you feedback is a valuable source of information. Friends can normally pick up on inconsistencies that you may overlook. Double check things you don’t think need to be double checked. This includes very fine print and standard forms like addresses, boilerplate introductions, dates, contact information, and even company letterhead. It’s easy to gloss over these items because they’re often used – but a good proofreader knows that sometimes mistakes happen in the strangest of places. A misspelled name on company letterhead is embarrassing, and an incorrect phone number won’t land any sales. Pay attention to the extras. This means charts, graphs, pictures, titles, page numbers, and even numbered lists. Make sure the numbered bullets are sequential, that you haven’t gone from A. to C. in your outline, and that all of the graphics are right side up and properly labeled. Proof proper names and headlines or titles separately. It’s easy to make mistakes in headings because proofers are usually so focused on the body of the copy, so go back and proof these in a new round. Proper names go in this category too because it can be easy to skip over the spelling. I’ve seen â€Å"Michelle† turned into â€Å"Michael† or â€Å"Mitchell† too many times – and believe me, it doesn’t make your audience think very generous things about your intelligence. Clear your mind. Having a hard time focusing? Editing and proofreading require a keen eye and major amounts of concentration, but it’s also a pretty monotonous job. If you can, refresh yourself by putting a little distance between you and whatever you’re proofreading. Read something else, or try sleeping on what you just wrote before proofing. Do you have any tips that you find useful when proofreading your work? Let us know!

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The novel Good Faith and the movie Glengarry Glen Ross

The novel Good Faith and the movie Glengarry Glen Ross Nowadays, it became a commonplace practice among conservative politicians to suggest that the key to America’s greatness is the citizens’ endowment with the sense of a commercial industriousness. Nevertheless, even though that there is a certain rationale to this suggestion, there are also a number of good reasons to believe that it is due to the American citizens’ earlier mentioned psychological trait that their country periodically finds itself standing on the threshold of an economic collapse.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The novel Good Faith and the movie Glengarry Glen Ross specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The analysis of what caused the outbreak of the Great Depression, during the course of the thirties, and what triggered the financial crisis of 2008-2009, confirms the validity of this statement. Apparently, contrary to what the proponents of neo-liberalism strive to make us to believe, people’s preoccupation with trying to generate a commercial profit, as the main point of their lives, cannot be regarded as such that represents the value of a ‘thing in itself’. This is because the notion of people’s ‘commercial industriousness’ is synonymous to the notion of a blind moneymaking greed, which in turn is synonymous with the notion of immorality. In my paper, I will explore the legitimacy of this suggestion at length, in regards to what account for the morally dubious ethics of many characters in the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross by James Foley and in the Jane Smiley’s 2003 novel Good Faith. As of today, the majority of ‘progressive’ political scientists in America never ceases pointing out to the fact that the biggest problem, faced by the American society, is racism. However, it is not racism, which accounts for the country’s ‘little dirty secret’, but rather classism. That is, the meas ure of just about every citizen’s worthiness is being accessed in regards to the sum of money that she or he happened to have in the bank – regardless of the actual source of this money. There is a memorable scene in Glengarry Glen Ross, where the character of Blake (Alec Baldwin) delivers a speech in front of real-estate agents, while insisting that it is namely the volume of one’s monetary assets that reflects the concerned individual’s true worth, and that there simply cannot be a good enough excuse for these agents to justify their professional unsuccessfulness: â€Å"I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see pal, thats who I am, and youre nothing. Nice guy? I dont give a shit. Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids. You want to work here close!† (00.11.56). Apparently, Blake firmly believed that, in the field of a real-estate business, there could only be two categories of professionals winners and losers. Everyth ing else is irrelevant. It is needless to mention, of course, that the Blake’s suggestion, in this respect, implies that contrary to the assumption that the American economy’s functioning has very little to do with the principles of a ‘wild capitalism’, this is far from being the actual case.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Just as it used to be the situation even as far back, as a hundred years ago, the extent of just about every American entrepreneur’s successfulness reflects the measure of his or her emotional comfortableness with the ‘law of jungle’, based upon the Darwinian principle of the ‘survival of the fittest’. However; whereas, in the animal kingdom the practical manifestations of this principle being at work are concerned with the process of carnivorous predators catching and eating herbivores, in human so cieties they are concerned with the process of cynically minded individuals taking away money from those who happened to be little too trustworthy. This provides us with an insight into the discursive significance of Blake’s ‘commandment’: â€Å"They are (buyers) sitting out there, waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?† (00.12.27). Being deprived of any illusions, as to the fact that it is possible for people to conduct an ‘ethical business’, this character knew perfectly well that it is specifically the entrepreneurs’ willingness to deceive their business-partners, which creates objective preconditions for them to be able to succeed in commerce. As Geva noted: â€Å"Business is expected to do whatever is necessary in order to succeed, and is not expected to be concerned with abstract morality. Business is a one-dimensional, purely profit-seeking enterprise. Profit is not just prioritize d; it is elevated to the exclusion of all other interests† (585). It will not be much of an exaggeration, on our part, to suggest that in the world of a corporate business, the main ‘ethical’ rule is – if you have not been caught doing anything illegal, you are considered an upstanding citizen, even if everybody knows that you are in fact a con-master. The soundness of this statement can be well illustrated in relation to the psychological inclinations of one of the Smiley novel’s main characters – a land-developer Marcus Burns. The first thing we learn about him is that he used to work for the IRS. The second thing that we learn is that Burns used to take pride in the fact that, while working for the IRS, he figured out how to steal money without facing the consequences: â€Å"The tax code is transforming before your very eyes, and everyone is perfectly happy to see it happen†¦ Accountants are in the business of making sure the books ba lance. That’s all. You could steal a company blind, but if the books balanced, the accountant would have done his job† (Smiley 101). What is especially ironic about this character is that, as it appears from the novel, Burns never ceased considering himself a thoroughly moral individual.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The novel Good Faith and the movie Glengarry Glen Ross specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, just as it happened to be the case with many of the novel’s characters, involved in real-estate trading, Burns was raised in the family of Protestant Bible-thumpers. As such, he was naturally inclined to consider speculative moneymaking to be the noblest pursuit of all according to the Protestant doctrine, one’s financial well-being is the foremost proof that he or she is in favor with law-imposing (rather than with mercy-granting) God . As opposed to what it is being the case with Catholics, Protestants consider the Old Testament being just as valid as the New One. Yet, the foremost idea that it is being promoted throughout the course of the Old Testament’s entirety, is that there are God’s ‘chosen people’, on the one hand, and ‘infidels’, on the other, and that it is fully permissible for ‘chosen people’ to deceive the latter, when it comes to making money. Partially, this explains why Burns used to make a point in maintaining the observable respectability of its physical appearance: â€Å"He (Marcus Burns) was very neat, almost formal. Even though the weather was hot, he was wearing a light blue shirt, a navy blue tie, and a sport coat. The shirt collar had a starchy sheen and lay smoothly against his neck. The cuffs emerged a half inch from the sleeve of his jacket† (58). Apparently, this was nothing but the extrapolation of Burns’ deep-seated irrational belief in his own infallibility, as someone who enjoyed the privilege of being able to steal and extort money from others, without sustaining any harm to its reputation, as a result The full soundness of suggestion can also be shown, in regards to a Burn’s genuine conviction that is indeed possible to enjoy a nice living, while paying for all the expenses with essentially non-existing money: â€Å"The simplest legal way that takes no cheating and no creative bookkeeping and passes every audit†¦ You live on borrowed money. You sell the property piece by piece to pay the interest and you keep borrowing more† (153). Formally speaking, this Burn’s idea does make a certain sense. After all, why does one need to be required to apply an effort into producing any factual products and services, when he or she can invest into some real-estate property, wait for a year or two, and to resell it for twice as much – hence, having made money out of the thin air? Burns outlined the philosophy behind this line of reasoning rather frankly: â€Å"More people mean scarcer resources, scarcer resources mean inflation, and inflation means property and interest-bearing capital have a higher value and work has a lower value. It’s as simple as that† (149). Yet, this way of thinking is clearly unethical.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After all, it is a namely people’s willingness to indulge in financial speculations in the real-estate market that create objective prerequisites for the outbreaks of financial crises, such as the one of 2008-2009. Throughout the course of the decade, prior to the outbreak of this crisis, the majority of less than upstanding Americans rushed into applying for easy down-payment loans. Yet, even though these people were clearly incapable of sticking to the terms of the contract, banks were still qualifying them for credits – just as real-estate agents were willing to go as far as to overlook the mental inadequacy of many of potential house-buyers. There is another memorable scene in Glengarry Glen Ross, where after having bragged about selling the $82.000 real-estate unit, Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) is being told by John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) that the buyers were in fact mentally ill: â€Å"They’re (buyers) nuts. They used to call in every week†¦ Theyà ¢â‚¬â„¢re nuts†¦ The people are insane. They just like talking to salesmen† (01.32.12). Despite being a professional real-estate agent, Levene still could not figure it out. The reason for this is simple – he has been trained to only care about accomplishing ‘closures’, regardless of whether these accomplishments were ethical or not. This also explains why, as it is being shown throughout the film, it represents a commonplace practice among real-estate agents to lie to their clients in the most blatant manner, without giving a thought that there could be anything wrong about it. This simply could not be otherwise, because up until comparatively recently, the very functioning of a real-estate business was fueled by the involved parties’ willingness to generate lies and to resell these lies to each other in the form of financial obligations. As Burns noted: â€Å"A big loan is an asset. All those deposits†¦ are the liabilities, and those loa ns are assets. (We need) to transform the savings and loan from a money loser to moneymaker, to make the books look good†¦ (to make) make big loans, which go on the asset side and cover old loans that aren’t making any profit† (152). Again, even though that the above quoted statement seems thoroughly logical, it is highly immoral. Apparently, while referring to loans in terms of an ‘asset’, Burns was promoting the idea that the practice of capitalizing on ‘derivatives’ (financial contracts between two parties, backed by the third party’s financial obligations, which could be bought and sold in the open market) is fully appropriate. However, as we are now well aware of, this practice created a paradoxical situation – while individual risks in the real-estate market were being continuously lowered, the overall risk for the whole financial system to lose its stability kept on growing evermore heightened. Therefore, it was only t he matter of time, before the ‘real-estate bubble’ would blow (which happened in 2008) – hence, instantly impoverishing millions and millions of ordinary Americans. It is needless to mention, of course, that those that are obsessed with making money at any cost are naturally inclined to adopt a positive attitude towards the notion of a so-called ‘victimless crime’, as nothing short of a driving force behind the free-market economy’s proper functioning. This is the reason why, while talking about the prospect of stealing Glengarry leads in the film, the characters of Dave Moss (Ed Harris) and George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) never made any mentioning of the fact that theft is a highly immoral deed. All they seemed to be concerned about was whether their thieving intention could be considered thoroughly safe or not: â€Å"Moss: Robery†¦ is a crime. That’s right. It’s also very safe† (00.43.50). After all, if one assumes that it is fully appropriate to make money out of the thin air, then there could be only a few obstacles on the way of the concerned individual coming to assume that there is nothing unethical about the concept of a robbery, as it fits rather well within the discursive framework of speculative moneymaking. However, it is not only that in both: the novel and the film, the characters’ moral ambivalence is being reflected by their willingness to participate in semi-illegal scheming in the real-estate market, but also by the very essence of their existential attitudes, in general. For example, while expounding on the subject of what should be considered the right way to live, the film’s character Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) states: â€Å"There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so† (00.40.26). Even though that the above-statement appears being of a general nature, th ere can be only a few doubts, as to the fact that the person who uttered it is more than capable of acting anti-socially. Essentially the same can be said about the novel’s narrator Joe Stratford. Even though that Stratford is being represented as a socially established individual who adheres to the provisions of conventional ethics, he nevertheless appears fully comfortable with the idea that, in order for just about anyone to be able to succeed in life, he or she will need to ‘bend’ these provisions, if circumstances call for it. For example, the novel’s context implies that Stratford considered withholding certain information about the real-estate property from clients, as the main precondition for this property to be successfully sold: â€Å"The house was listed for $89.900, a kitchen and two large rooms down, four bedrooms, a bath, and a sleeping porch up†¦ They (buyers) offered $81,000†¦ I was sure the seller would take it because the prop erty was starting to deteriorate† (39). As this excerpt denotes, the real-estate item was sold to buyers, without the latter having been informed about the state of affairs with the item’s actual condition. As it was mentioned earlier, because of their preoccupation with profit-seeking, as the foremost purpose of their lives, the majority of the featured characters in Glengarry Glen Ross and Good Faith were naturally growing to adopt strongly cynical attitudes towards the surrounding societal reality. In its turn, this affected these characters’ private lives, as well. This explains the utterly graphic references to sex in both pieces. For example, while addressing the subject of happiness in his conversation with James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce), Roma states: â€Å"I’m in bed†¦ she brought me cafe au lait, gives me a cigarette, my balls feel like concrete† (00.41.39). As this Roma’s remark implies, it was due to the concerned woman’s behavioral submissiveness that he was becoming sexually aroused. We can well speculate that Roma’s chauvinistic attitude towards women indirectly derived out of his strive to ‘remain in control’, while working with clients. This simply could not be otherwise, because people’s continual successfulness in suppressing others intellectually and emotionally (as real-estate traders act towards their clients) naturally cause them to assume themselves being superior – and, those who believe in their ‘superiority’ strive to be surrounded by ‘servants’. The fact that working in the real-estate sector causes people to overlook the rules of conventional ethics can also be shown in regards to the graphically depicted sexual escapades between Stratford and Felicia in Good Faith, such as the following: â€Å"We kissed and kissed. I could feel the palm of her hand glowing against the back of my neck, her fingers pushed up into my hair. M y hands were somewhere- the small of her back, her cheek. And I could feel my cock pressing against her belly through our clothes, coats and all† (21). Given the Felicia’s status of a married woman, Stratford’s adulterous affair with her can hardly be considered ethical. Yet, even though that in the novel, the narrator positions himself as a mildly religious person, it never occurred to him to think that by pursuing a sexual relationship with Felicia he was acting sinfully. One of the reasons for that is that individuals, involved in speculative trading/selling, are being perfectly aware of the fact that it is specifically people’s animalistic instincts that make them ‘tick’ and not their rationale-based moral predispositions. This also explains the novel’s subtle hints as to the fact that, despite the skin-deep layer of ‘respectability’ that covers real-estate business, this business’ practitioners are driven by the ir utterly irrational sense of greed. Hence, these people’s strong fascination with money, as not only the mean of ensuring the effectiveness of commercial transactions, but as something that represents the metaphysical value of a ‘thing in itself’. The full soundness of this suggestion becomes self-evident in light of how Burns used to talk on the subject of money: â€Å"There’s money everywhere! Money, money, money! Reported income is like cockroaches. For every dollar you see, there are a hundred more in hiding. And it’s looking for a home!† (183). This statement cannot even be discussed within the conceptual framework of ethics, because the person who came up with it seems to have suffered from being not entirely adequate, in the psychological sense of this word. At the same time, however, it did not prevent him from being considered an upstanding citizen, right until the novel’s very end. This again highlights the foremost message , conveyed by this novel – it does not make much of a sense to believe that the considerations of ethics play even a small role, within the context of how real-estate traders go about addressing their professional challenges. All that matters for those who do business in the real-estate market is the prospect of generating a monetary profit – even at the expense of destroying the society’s integrity from within. I believe that the deployed line of argumentation, as to what should be considered the discursive significance of how Glengarry Glenn Ross and Good Faith tackle the subject of ethics, fully correlates with the paper’s initial thesis. Apparently, there can indeed be very little reason to think that, while left on its own, people’s sense of greed is capable of creating ‘economic miracles’. Therefore, there is nothing too surprising about the fact that, as of today, the economic paradigm of Socialism is again becoming ever more ap pealing to people in traditionally capitalist countries. Geva, Aviva. â€Å"Myth and Ethics in Business.† Business Ethics Quarterly 11.4 (2001): 575-597. Print. Glengarry Glenn Ross. Dir. James Foley. Perfs. Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin. New Line Cinema, 1992. Smiley, Jane. Good Faith. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2003.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Global Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Strategic Management - Essay Example This article is a detailed overview of Coca-Cola Company’s global strategy. Doctor John Pemberton, a pharmacist, in Atlanta Georgia in 1886, invented Coca Cola Company. John Pemberton developed and concocted the coca cola formulae in his backyard of his home. He liaised with Frank Robinson, an excellent bookman, who helped to develop the word Coca Cola that is now used globally as a logo to the company. The soft drink was first sold to members of the public at Jacobs’s pharmacy in Atlanta Georgia on May 8, 1886. The brand continued to grow until 1905 when it was sold as a tonic, which contained extracts of cocaine as well as a caffeine rich cola nut. The company began its expansion plan beginning the 1960s when both small and big town dwellers enjoyed carbonated drinks at their local soda fountain counters (Coca Cola (a) Web). This served as a meeting place for all its drinkers. The company then developed a new trade secret and formulae used to manufacture the drink on April 23, 1985. This new secret was code-named new cookie. This strategy has helped the company to penetrate to new, markets where it was not in existence before. The rate of consumption of the drink has greatly increased to a minimum consumption rate of one billion drinks per day (Coca Cola (b) Web). How the Company Global Strategy Operates Vision and Mission Statement In order to achieve the company’s global strategy, the company had to renew their vision and mission statements, as well as their goals, aims, and objectives. The company’s vision statement has been changed to â€Å"To maintain our reputation as the leading Cola Company in the world.† Moreover, the company has developed new mission statements to match with their global strategies. Their enduring mission of achieving their global strategies inspires the company’s mission. Among the company’s mission statement is to refresh the world, in body, mind, and spirit. To inspire moments of o ptimism, and to create value and make a difference everywhere the company is engaged (Coca Cola Web). Responsibilities The company has developed responsibilities, which aims at achieving the global strategic goals of the company. These responsibilities include the following. One of their main responsibilities is to provide its customers with refreshing beverages, which includes soft drinks, water, energy drinks, juices, and tea. The company also aims at seeing that their products can be sold anywhere and are not age restricted which means that their responsibility is to sell their products in any occasion in the day-to-day life (Coca Cola (a) Web). The company has distinguished coke as their signature product and has the most sales of the one billion sales per day. The company is developing other strategies, which aims at boosting the sale of other soft drinks to reach the level of sale attained by coke. Another criteria used by the company is to use the most sophisticated equipment in developing their product in order to beat off competition from other companies such as Pepsi (Peng 7). The company also ensures that they process and make their products to ensure that they consumer is equally satisfied in consuming the last drink as compared to the first drink. The company also strives to ensure that the employees are equally treated and compensated and it practices fair trade in all