Improving A Small Set Of Targeted Skills - 1036 Words

Personal development is an active, circular process that one pursues in order to improve on a small set of targeted skills or competencies. Most people are interested in developing competencies associated with your interpersonal skills/style and general managerial skills: The term competencies is meant to be an overarching term that includes behaviors, skills, and styles. The development process is generally segmented into four interrelated phases or steps (2016, May 7) Retrieved from http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0078029546/973099/Guidelines_for_Creating_Your_Personal_Development_Plan.doc †¢ Assessing competencies to identify strengths and weaknesses †¢ Identifying developmental activities to build on strengths and†¦show more content†¦Ideas and concepts I am very strong in creation and reforming ideas and concepts. I can use brainstorm and sketching techniques to enforce my concept development process on an effective and clear way. Integrating technology During my former experiences I have worked a lot in the competency of integrating technology. Where I was integrating few mechanics into programing languages. My weaknesses: English In the past I have worked on my English by I have to maintain this development because my English is still not on the level it used to be. I will work on my English for the rest of my bachelor and I hope to reach the proper level at the end of my bachelor. Descriptive and mathematical modeling I have a very weak insight into advanced mathematical structures. I need to work on this because I want to develop myself further in design- ing intelligent systems and obtaining the proper level of mathematical skills is necessary to reach that goal. Believe in strangers I feel free to talk to strangers get connected with them. However, sometimes it brings good for you and sometimes it may not. I have keep myself restricted from strangers and have little chat with instead of more drama. A development plan will often be part of your leadership life. This will help you track achievements, areas for improvement, long-term objectives and training plans. In order to be effective, you must consider the following. †¢ Success criteria must be realistic – if they

Essay on International Humanitarian Law - 1949 Words

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is seen as the law in which provides basic human rights in time of armed conflict. The use of IHL in a modern scenario is needed now more then ever with the increase of entities that wish to disrupt the peace by ignoring basic human rights. Organisations and treaties have been created to help govern the IHL; which will need to be analysed to provide insight into IHLs. This essay aims to critically analyse IHL and outline how it can be improved. To gain an understanding IHL will first be defined. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) defines IHL as â€Å"a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict.† It can be seen as protection for those who no†¦show more content†¦After seeing the suffering of thousands who were abandoned in the warzone, Dunant recruited nearby residents to help treat the wounded and provide relief. After experiencing such a tragic event Dunant went on to write A Memory of Solferino, which proposed the organising of a volunteer relief corps that would provide treatment for the injured (ICRC, 2006: 6). It was written that: â€Å"Would it not be possible, in time of peace and quiet, to form relief societies for the purpose of having care given to the wounded in wartime by zealous, devoted, and thoroughly qualified volunteers?† However, it wasn’t until 1863 until his vision was realised in Geneva, Switzerland when a â€Å"Committee of Five† was formed (ICRC, 2006: 7). This group went on to call themselves the International Committee of the Red Cross; which a few months later in 1864 first adopted the Geneva Convention Treaty. The first Geneva Convention had 10 articles outlining items such as people who help the wounded, medical facilities and ambulances are to be recognised as neutral and should be protected (ICRC, 2006: 7). 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The My Lai Massacre makes me wonder if this was only oneRead MoreA Brief Note On Lebano n War Of 20061819 Words   |  8 Pagesto avoid civilians and this let them away from act of terrorism in order to protect the citizens which were found in areas that Israel has attacked. Then let me here explain briefly what the war crime is; it is the serious violation of the international law. And a war crime has two main ideologies. First the ideology of distinction and the second is the ideology of proportionality. The ideology of distinction means that armed forces must distinguish between civilian populations or targets and military

Low comedy and high ideals Essay Example For Students

Low comedy and high ideals Essay Hes an extraordinary playwright because he tends to handle very large issuestheres such admirable, courageous ambition in his work. He also has an extremely courageous theatrical sense. Some of the effects he calls for in his plays simply cant be realized. With this animated rush of words, Jeff Steitzer talks about Peter Barnes, the English playwright he has championed in this country since 1987and whose most recent play, Sunsets and Glories, has its American premiere under Steitzers direction at Seattles A Contemporary Theatre through Nov. 15. What can I say? he allows. I get sort of blithery when I talk about him. If Steitzer, like other Barnes enthusiasts, has trouble communicating the spine-tingling pleasure induced by the playwrights workswhich range from such plays as The Ruling Class, The Bewitched and his most savage work, Laughter! (which begins in the time of Ivan the Terrible then leaps forward to Nazi Germany and Auschwitz); numerous adaptations of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama; and the the screenplay of the recent film Enchanted Aprilit may be because Barnes is something of a rarified taste. (One English critic began his review of Barnes adaptation of Jonsons The Alchemist with the question, Will no one drop Peter Barnes down a deep well, and a couple of tons of earth after him?) Epic in scope, propelled by scorching wit and bawdy humor, Barness comedies arent merely black; theyre lined with pitch. A heady mixture of low comedy and high ideas, the plays are pungent critiques of religious power, class and authority (ecclesiastical and political) that unfold through a fairground framework of jokes, puns and tap-dancing. Outline1 Two sides of a coin2 Twisted manuscripts3 Ferocious anger and clownish laughter Two sides of a coin Barnes is best known in America for Red Noses, an exuberant song-and-dance extravaganza set in the 14th century, in which a band of monks tour plague-stricken France offering comedy as a salve against the Black Death. In essential Barnesian style, the troupe grows to include a blind juggler, a stand-up comic with a stutter and a pair of tap-dancing brothers who share one good leg. Written in 1978 and first produced by Englands Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985 (an instance of delayed gratification typical for first productions of Barness work), Red Noses has been mounted in this country by a number of resident theatres, including such highly physical, actor-centered ensembles as the Minneapolis-based Theatre de la Jeune Lune and the DellArte Players Company of Blue Lake, Calif. Steitzer himself has directed the play on two different occasions: its U.S. premiere at Chicagos Goodman Theatre in 1987, and (with David Ira Goldstein) the following year at ACT, during his second season as artistic director. His current production of Sunsets and Glories, featuring Red Noses veterans and longtime collaborators Laurence Ballard and Peter Silbert (the pair have appeared in 40 shows together over 17 years), draws contextually upon the earlier play. In a way its like looking at two sides of one coin, Steitzer explains. Red Noses is about people from the bottom of the heap. In this play, we begin at the top and wander down the corridors of the highest power imaginable at that time, papal power. Set in late 13th-century Italy during a time of papal transition, Sunsets and Glories examines the grimly comic struggles between Church and State as both bastions of power engage in a desperate effort to maintain the status quo. Barnes casts a scathing eye on three popes in succession: Nicholas IV, who appears only briefly before (as Barness stage direction puts it) Gods massive foot stamps down from the flies squashing him flat with a loud squelch; Peter de Morrone, later Pope Celestine V (Peter Silbert), a pure and saintly man; and Cardinal Benedict Gaetani, later Pope Boniface VIII (Laurence Ballard), who engineers Morrones destruction because the Holy Father is good but he isnt feared and who knows what hellish chain of events will result from just one act of unconsidered goodness? .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .postImageUrl , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:hover , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:visited , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:active { border:0!important; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:active , .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u13da36e5d535a942c06cee80f0a85f8d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Defining the Essence of a Scene EssayBasically, says Steitzer, Barnes has written the same play over and over and over again. What happens in a world gone bad when a good person is injected into it, when a saint walks into our lives? Obviously, this play has a very pessimistic conclusion: We cant tolerate the complete revolution that these people inevitably represent. Twisted manuscripts The three popesMorrone, Gaetani and Nicholasall made a mess of it, Barnes once noted to his loyal Boswell, critic Bernard Dukore. One of them did it through love, one did it through power, and the other did it through a bit of both. In an unpredictable election year in which more than one candidate has flaunted power under the guise of love, the resonances of the play are almost too good to be true. Neither Steitzer nor his collaborators, howeverparticularly the productions designersare anxious to draw any overt parallels between the power machinations of medieval Italy and contemporary America. (The assumption is that people will be able to sniff it out for themselves, the director asserts. There was power in the 1300s and theres power now.) They emphasize instead a design that transcends the boundaries of historical research without becoming, as Steitzer says, stupidly anachronistic. When I first read the play, I felt it was about decay, observes set designer Charlene Hall, whose research led her to a study of Romanesque architecture and the ecclesiastical history of illuminated manuscripts. The style of the manuscriptsnaive and simple, but at the same time twistedeventually became a basis for the corroded, aged look of the set, which Hall describes as a combination of the corrupt and the pious, architecturally realistic but not descriptive of the period in any specific way. Ferocious anger and clownish laughter For composer and sound designer Todd Barton, already an expert on Renaissance and medieval music, Sunsets and Glories posed a somewhat different challenge. Bartons score combines use of the Dies Irae and other music specified by Barnes, original songs and what the composer describes as music and sounds, both abstract and theatrical, that people havent heard before. The play demands the flavor of the Middle Ages with a 20th-century spin. Steitzer describes the ideal actors for a Barnes play as people who can handle the emotional content of the play, who can handle the remarkable language that he creates that reminds you of the Jacobeans but is also contemporary, and at the same time are clowns. A spin on the century, fueled at once by a ferocious anger and a clowns laughter, is precisely what the epic ambitions of Peter Barnes are meant to achieve.

The best idea of regulating guns in the United States is restricting the purchase of bullets

Reason # 1: Tracking the buyers of bullets makes it easier to regulate guns in the United StatesAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on The best idea of regulating guns in the United States is restricting the purchase of bullets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Guns are nothing but empty vessels without ammunition and so it would help a great deal if the authorities regulate the acquisition of bullets. Anyone who should not own a gun should also not own a bullet, but because guns last longer, outlawed criminals can possess them without suspicion. On the other hand, the lifespan of a bullet is just one shot which makes it easier to link the shooter and the purchaser. Currently, New York has a limit of seven rounds of ammunition per magazine. In addition to this, ammo dealers who register with the state, have purchasers’ records and this enables the police to get alerts in case an individual is stocking on bullets (Henderson and Trotta 1). Tracing the link between the shooter and the buyer requires the cooperation of the dealer. This is the path trodden by Sacramento officials who require ammunition sellers to take the fingerprints and names of their customers. They transfer this information to the police who double check it with the criminal database of the FBI. Greg Halstead, a police detective in Sacramento, says that this practice is helping them to retrieve illegal guns from homes that he would not normally bother searching through. We can also deduce that it prevents shooting crimes from occurring because the police are able to point out illegal buyers and trace them from the fingerprints. Captain Bill Hart of the Los Angeles Police Department seconds Greg Halstead’s argument. He says that Los Angeles has become a safer place because of the records sent by ammunition dealers, which they look through to chaff out the illegal owners. Other states therefore need to follow suit and r equire sellers to log their sales so that illegal buyers find no place to shop for bullets (Henderson and Trotta 1). Reason # 2: Engraving serial numbers on ammunition boxes can help regulate gunsAdvertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A study by Glenn Pierce of Northeastern University states that a significant number of ammunition purchases are by illegal possessors. He goes on to add that engraving serial numbers on ammunition boxes would be a significant step towards the realization of gun control in the United States. This is because serial numbers allow the police to easily trace the link between a bullet and a buyer. Moreover, he considers it as a move that would sharply reduce the bullet supply of the illegal market (Pierce 309). A 2005 California bill seeking to put this idea into law was shot down because the ammunition industry argues that it would lead them into bankruptcy. Other than that, they also think that the serial numbers are not always legible. These arguments do not hold water because people’s lives are still at risk and there is a need for the Ammunition Coding System and the ammunition industry to come to an agreement that favors both sides and protects the general population (Koper, Woods and Roth 18). Reason # 3: Restricting the purchase of bullets reinforces the ban on bulk buying to effectively regulate guns in the United States Some authorities in the United States are already making steps towards regulating guns by prohibiting the purchase of bullets in bulk. This is a good idea but not as effective as it should be. New Jersey, for example, places a ban on bulk buying of ammunition in the hopes that it can help curb the menace of gun violence and generally regulate guns in the United States. However, a 2004 study in Jersey City concludes that the ban on large capacity magazines has a very small impact in regulating guns because crim inal shootings tend to use less than five rounds. Therefore, this ban only serves to irk the members of the National Shooting Sports Foundation who argue that they need more that 1,000 rounds of ammunition during a typical weekend trip of range shooting (Murphy 1). We need to realize that placing restrictions on bulk buying only does not prevent criminals from laying their hands on bullets.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The best idea of regulating guns in the United States is restricting the purchase of bullets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a matter of fact, the state should concentrate on restricting all forms of ammunition ownership if they want to zero in on the criminals and achieve gun control in the United States. By restricting the purchase of bullets, the authorities reinforce the ban on bulk buying and manage to get effective results in achieving gun control (Pierce 310). Reason # 4: Banning sal es of ammunition via mail-order can help regulate guns in the United States In 1968, The Gun Control Act placed a ban on the sale of bullets through mail-order and even had dealers log their sales. This was however shot down in 1986 by the implementation of The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act which generally led to the loosening of gun control (Spitzer 27). Eliminating controls on transfers of ammunition is definitely a bad move because today we have high capacity magazines that are easily accessible over the internet. This platform allows the buyer to remain anonymous even to the seller because he does not conduct a background check of any sort (Reedy 1). Once a criminal shooting occurs, it would be hard for the police to link the bullet to the buyer because the seller is not able to provide any substantive information about his client. It is therefore necessary to reinstate the ban on the sales of bullets via mail order to put an end to the ghost clientele and regulate guns in the United States (Lioncourt 1). Works Cited Henderson, Peter and Trotta, Daniel. What’s missing in U.S. gun control scramble? Bullets. 2013. Web. Koper, Christopher, Woods, Daniel and Roth, Jeffrey. An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and. Philadelphia: Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, 2004. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lioncourt, Nicholas De. 11 Facts About Guns. 2012. Web. Murphy, Tim. Gun Enthusiasts’ Hot New Idea: You Can’t Regulate Guns We Make In-State. 2013. Web. Pierce, Glenn. â€Å"The Criminal Purchase of Firearm Ammunition.† Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (2006): 308-310. Print. Reedy, Daniel. Impact of handgun types on gun assault outcomes: a comparison of gun assaults involving semiautomatic pistols and revolvers. 2003. Web. Spitzer, Robert. The Politics of Gun Control. New York: Chatham House Publishers, 1995. Print. This essay on The best idea of regulating guns in the United States is restricting the purchase of bullets was written and submitted by user Deanna E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Communication Revolution essays

Communication Revolution essays One way in which the world has changed in the last 20 years is the global issue of the worldwide communication revolution, which allows instantaneous communication across the globe, especially via the Internet. Telephones, mobile phones, and Internet service providers have developed allowing a new and convenient gateway for social interaction, business and even political matters to be carried out virtually across the globe. E-mails have replaced the traditional letter or fax, web cams allow you to see each other while talking over the Internet and microphones allow you to have a conversation through your I.S.P. The communication revolution has brought around many positive effects. One example is easing political tension around the world. Important political figures can now resolve their differences or make important decisions without having to travels hundreds of miles or meet face to face. The business world has evolved, companies can now communicate faster, more efficiently, and therefore turn more profits. More businesses can make themselves seen through the internet, which allows a large diversity of companies to emerge. Communication companies like Microsoft and BT are turning an enormous profit, allowing them to make technological advances and offer and develop more services for the public. It also increases employment and therefore decreases poverty in more developed countries. It breaks down social and worldwide barriers, allowing people to interact across the globe; different races, cultures, backgrounds and statuses interact. However, many negative aspects have resulted in this revolution as well. Wealthier, more developed countries (in particular America), are dominating the communication culture. Therefore they are in a way exerting more control over the rest of the countries and as they are so advanced there is nobody to regulate them. Taking in consideration the rate and expansion of communication relati ...

Development of M1 Garand - World War II Rifles

Development of M1 Garand - World War II Rifles The M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle to be issued to an entire army. Developed in the 1920s and 1930s, the M1 was designed by John Garand. Firing a .30-06 round, the M1 Garand was the main infantry weapon employed by US forces during World War II and the Korean War. Development The US Army first began its interest in semi-automatic rifles in 1901. This was furthered in 1911, when testing was held using the Bang and Murphy-Manning. Experiments continued during World War I and trials were held in 1916-1918. Development of a semi-automatic rifle began in earnest in 1919, when the US Army concluded that the cartridge for its current service rifle, the Springfield M1903, was far more powerful than needed for typical combat ranges. That same year, the gifted designer John C. Garand was hired at the Springfield Armory. Serving as the chief civilian engineer, Garand began work on a new rifle. His first design, the M1922, was ready for testing in 1924. This possessed a caliber of .30-06 and featured a primer-operated breech. After inconclusive testing against other semi-automatic rifles, Garand improved the design, producing the M1924. Further trials in 1927 produced an indifferent outcome, though Garand did design a .276 caliber, gas-operated model based on the results. In the spring of 1928, the Infantry and Cavalry boards ran trials which resulted in the .30-06 M1924 Garand being dropped in favor of the .276 model. One of two finalists, Garands rifle competed with the T1 Pedersen in the spring of 1931. In addition, a single .30-06 Garand was tested but was withdrawn when its bolt cracked. Easily defeating the Pedersen, the .276 Garand was recommended for production on January 4, 1932. Shortly thereafter, Garand successfully retested the .30-06 model. Upon hearing the results, the Secretary of War and Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur, who did not favor reducing calibers, ordered work to stop on the .276 and that all resources be directed to improving the .30-06 model. On August 3, 1933, Garands rifle was re-designated Semi-Automatic Rifle, Caliber 30, M1. In May of the following year, 75 of the new rifles were issued for testing. Though numerous problems were reported with the  new weapon, Garand was able to correct them and the rifle was able to be standardized on January 9, 1936, with the first production model cleared on July 21, 1937. Specifications Cartridge: .30-06 Springfield (7.62 x 63mm), 7.62 x 51mm NATOCapacity: 8-round en bloc clip inserted into an internal magazineMuzzle Velocity: 2750-2800 ft./sec.Effective Range: 500 yds.Rate of Fire: 16-24 rounds/minuteWeight: 9.5 lbs.Length: 43.6 in.Barrel Length: 24 in.Sights: Aperture rear sight, barleycorn-type front sightAction: Gas-operated w/ rotating boltNumber Built: approx. 5.4 millionAccessories: M1905 or M1942 bayonet, grenade launcher Magazine Action While Garand was designing the M1, Army Ordnance demanded that the new rifle possess a fixed, non-protruding magazine. It was their fear that a detachable magazine would be quickly lost by US soldiers in the field and would make the weapon more susceptible to jamming due to dirt and debris. With this requirement in mind, John Pedersen created an en bloc clip system that permitted the ammunition to be loaded into the rifles fixed magazine. Originally the magazine was meant to hold ten .276 rounds, however, when the change was made to .30-06, the capacity was reduced to eight. The M1 utilized a gas-operated action that used expanding gases from a fired cartridge to chamber the next round. When the rifle was fired, the gases acted upon a piston which, in turn, pushed the operating rod. The rod engaged a rotating bolt which turned and moved the next round into place. When the magazine was emptied, the clip would be expelled with a distinctive ping sound and the bolt locked open, ready to receive the next clip. Contrary to popular belief, the M1 could be reloaded before a clip was fully expended. It was also possible to load single cartridges into a partially loaded clip. Operational History When first introduced, the M1 was plagued by production problems which delayed initial deliveries until September 1937. Though Springfield was able to build 100 per day two years later, production was slow due to changes in the rifles barrel and gas cylinder. By January 1941, many of the problems were resolved and production increased to 600 per day. This increase led to the US Army being fully equipped with the M1 by the end of the year. The weapon was also adopted by the US Marine Corps, but with some initial reservations. It was not until midway through World War II that USMC was completely changed over. In the field, the M1 gave American infantry a tremendous firepower advantage over Axis troops who still carried bolt-action rifles such as the Karabiner 98k. With its semi-automatic operation, the M1 allowed US forces to maintain substantially higher rates of fire. In addition, the M1s heavy .30-06 cartridge offered superior penetrating power. The rifle proved so effective that leaders, such as General George S. Patton, praised it as the greatest implement of battle ever devised. Following the war, M1s in the US arsenal were refurbished and later saw action in the Korean War. Replacement The M1 Garand remained the principal service rifle of the US Army until the introduction of the M-14 in 1957. Despite this, it was not until 1965, that the changeover from the M1 was completed. Outside of the US Army, the M1 remained in service with reserve forces into the 1970s. Overseas, surplus M1s were given to nations such as Germany, Italy, and Japan to aid in rebuilding their militaries after World War II. Though retired from combat use, the M1 is still popular with drill teams and civilian collectors.

History And Political Science Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History And Political Science - Article Example When she appeared in both her Senate and House, she emphasized policy continuity with Ben Bernanke, her predecessor who stepped down after leading the central bank for eight years. Just like Bernanke, she believes that the economy is getting stronger enough for the Fed to gradually reduce its purchase of monthly bonds. The cut in bond purchases had reduced from the original monthly pace of $85 billion in December 2013 to currently $ 65 million. The intention is to cut the purchases by $10 million. The Federal Reserve plans to keep short-term rates low or near zero in the coming times for an extended period with economists speculating that the first hike in rate will occur probably in 2015 even though some policymakers feel that it may be appropriate to raise short-term rates sooner. Even though the inflation remains below 2 percent, many of the Fed officials including Yellen say that the economy needs support from the Reserve until the job market, as well as the economic growth, impr oves. The Fed is progressively cutting its monthly bond purchases with the intention of keeping long-term loans low rates so as to boost spending and growth. She confirmed that the Federal Reserve has soft data for over the last six weeks and is alert on the upcoming data that will help ascertain the effect of the severe winter weather.  These comments are encouraging as they offer investors a hint that the Federal Reserve might suspend or slow a pullback in economic stimulus in the event that the US economy weakened.

Critical Creative Geographies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Creative Geographies - Essay Example In the beginning there were shops built onto residential houses, and then came the small cafes, the caravan cafes followed these, afterwards there were the Victorian style windows, and then the early plate glass shop windows, the British then adopted canvas awnings, cast iron awnings, ornate shops detailing and the ladies’ underwear shops. Each presiding type of shop gave more space for window-shopping. Hence, more complicated types of arts for the same. Currently the architecture used in window shopping is far much complicated with use of colours, shapes, themes to suit certain occasions, and ornaments. The technology used in such designs is unimaginable. This has been modified to give shoppers and on lookers the best layout for the products. (Hollein, M 2002, 21). It shows how the human race is eager to venture into new methods of living, what were the fantasies of the past have been made true by the critical mind the current man. Visual merchandising is a way of producing t hree-dimensional displays of products to make it more appealing to the eye. This is always done to attract the customers and improve on the sales of products in retail shops. The mind creates that it has a three-dimension view of a structure. The art of visual merchandising dates back to the nineteenth century, when the major products establishments changed their business from wholesale to retail. There was need to attract more customers since the establishments were now opened to a wider range of consumers, big business establishments like Marshal Field and CO. Designed their new stores in more attractive ways to give the customers a good impression to the eye. With the changing time, most of the design was moved from not being just on the outside but also in the interior of business premises to become part of the interior decorations. As this extended too, in many regions of the world the use of big windows for display of goods faded. The demand for window displays triggered some artists to design other methods of window designs in the twentieth century, hence the beginning of a series of developments and additions in the window display sector. In visual merchandising, many methods are used in order to meet the required standards of advertising a certain product, these include, the lightings, colours, the smell, and information on the product. This is made possible by the use of modern technology to bring about digital displays of the different colour schemes to match the products. The technology equips business establishments that want to use the modern windows display methods with abilities to give the same order of display of their products in different establishments, this is done digitally by the use of a device called a planogram. At the end, the windows displays should be able to show the prize, quality and content of the product. Certain themes are included in the display to match different occasions. Like one would display a flaky or snow background to enhance the view of clothes worn during winter season. When someone looks at this picture, in his mind he is given the imagination that the climate inside the window display

Changinng Life Style Essay Example for Free

Changinng Life Style Essay Indian Culture is time tested and represented the progressively refined way of life, that had unfortunately suffered a set back, a sub culture process as it were, drifting from its salutary ways of living. Did not Lord Mecaulay say in the UK parliament how the Indians had such a perfect social harmony and faith in their way of life, that they can not be subdued unless they were weaned from their prestige and made to adore the alien way of life, to feel subordinated to a superior culture, wherefore they could be easily subdued and dominated for the best advantage of the colonial rule! That was perfectly achieved and Indians forgot their own merits in a strange infatuation with alien culture! Foreign culture was best for them, unique to them, deserved respect, but not fit for absorption into our own way of life! Apart from an initiation into new unfolding findings of secular science and technology which was absent in our nation under colonial subjugation we had gained least in other spheres, particularly in the social and ethical qualities. We became divided, in the names of religion and castes losing the force of harmony that united us under the princely states! The increasing divorce culture, night clubs and pub culture, promiscuity and desertions etc among youth, the divide and rule policy among the politicians, the aggressive conversions (against more benign missionary activities a century ago) are the only major impacts in the social domain. So except the technological inputs, even economic exploitations under free trade or repressive regimentation under socialist govts that came from the west, have least served the society to achieve equality. Social impacts have been worse. The break down of joint family system due to new life styles, uncontrolled deviancies in the name of liberty etc have made youth defy control of society and family in a big way. In a chapter on Consequences of Innovations in the book by Rogers and Shoemaker entitled, Diffusion and  Adoption of Innovations, it is discussed how any change made in any aspect of social sphere agriculture or medicine or arts or whatever may end up in unexpected side effects as well. The chaos in the aborigins of Australia after replacement of traditional stone tool etc make interesting reading! In India itself, the introduction of rural TV programme for education of people in modern agricultre, health care etc was studied in UP state when Indiraji was Minister of Broadcasting, in 100 villages. The study revealed significant increase in knowledge and attitude of people in modern techniques and the project was cleared for large scale introdcution across the country. After govt project was ended, many behavioural scientists took up studies in change of life pattern in the villages. They came across many critical adverse changes traceable to exposure of untreated entertainment programmes given by TV apart from the educatinal inputs! Like that our adoration for the modern knowledge gained from the west, had made us adopt their other life styles as well to the detriment of society. So the demerits have been devastating as we see from the increase of family courts to deal with increasing divorce cases, the skewed development of trade and industy at the cost of other primary enterprises, policy of social divide by politicians for vote bank advantage etc! In my opinion, we had paid a heavy price for all the technological good we received from the west, by our own unwise emulation of their social perceptions and political strategies as well! have a good day! TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND MODERNIZATION R. BALASUBRAMANIAN BACKGROUND This paper focuses upon three issues. First, I want to show that the perennial elements in traditional cultures like those of India and China are  relevant even today as they play an important role in the achievement, on the one hand, of harmony between the individual and society at the social level, and, on the other hand, of harmony of spirit, mind, and body at the individual level. Second, we should not lose sight of the distinction between knowledge and information, between wisdom and knowledge, and more importantly between life and living. The perennial elements in the traditional culture have helped us to care for life, knowledge, and wisdom, which are essential for spiritual development. Third, modernization as interpreted by the West has a narrow connotation and is, therefore, a distorted concept. Through science, it brings in the colonial attitude, the imperialism of the West. It is possible for one to be modern without accepting all that is implied by modernization. Culture, which comprises philosophy and religion, art and literature, science and technology, social organization and political administration, is the mirror of the theory and practice of a people. It is originated, developed and sustained by the people over a period of time. In turn, the perennial elements which constitute its core inspire and sustain the posterity to whom it is transmitted from time to time. Traditional cultures like those of China and India are undoubtedly ancient, but not antiquated; their ideals and practices, which are relevant in any situation, help the people to meet the new challenges which surface from time to time. As a result they not only survive, but are admired, adored, and accepted by the people. There cannot be a better explanation of the way a culture is able to hold the people and sustain them than the one given by Sri Aurobindo: The culture of a people may be roughly described as the expression of a consciousness of life which formulates itself in three aspects. There is a side of thought, of ideal, of upward will and the soul’s aspiration; there is a side of creative self-expression and appreciative aesthesis, intelligence, and imagination; and there is a side of practical and outward formulation. A people’s philosophy and higher thinking give us its mind’s purest, largest, and most general formulation of its consciousness of life and its dynamic view of existence. Its religion formulates the most intense form of its upward will and the soul’s aspirations towards the fulfillment of its highest ideal and impulse. Its art, poetry, literature provide for us the creative expression and impression of its intuition, imagination, vital turn and creative  intelligence. Its society and politics provide in their forms an outward frame in which the more external life works out what it can of its inspiring ideal and of its special character and nature under the difficulties of the environment. We can see how much it has taken of the crude material of living, what it has done with it, how it has shaped as much of it as possible into some reflection of its guarding consciousness and deeper spirit. None of them express the whole spirit behind, but they derive from it their main ideas and their cultural character. Together they make up its soul, mind, and body.1 Of the various components of culture the role of philosophy and religion is significant. Philosophy and religion can never be separated though they can be distinguished. It may be that in a particular culture, philosophy is in the forefront and religion in the background. It can also be the other way with religion at the surface and philosophy in the background. The point to be noted here is that philosophy and religion interact with, and influence each other. Philosophy is made dynamic by religion, and religion is enlightened by philosophy. If it is admitted that there is the need for a unity of theory and practice, p hilosophy cannot remain merely as a view of life; it must also be a way of life. In other words, philosophy has to become religious if it is to mold, organize and regulate life. Religion is not an untouchable; its need for life can neither be ignored nor underestimated. It will be helpful to contrast the pursuit of philosophy in Europe with that in India and China. Unlike the Europe of the Enlightenment where philosophy did not touch life at all, there was a tremendous impact of philosophy on life both in India and China. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: Philosophy has been pursued in Europe with great and noble intellectual results by the highest minds, but very much as a pursuit apart from life, a thing high and splendid, but ineffective. It is remarkable that, while in India and China philosophy has seized hold on life, has had an enormous practical effect on the civilization and got into the very bones of current thought and action, it has never at all succeeded in achieving this importance in Europe. In the days of the Stoics and Epicureans it got a grip, but only among the highly cultured; at the present day, too, we have some renewed tendency of the kind. Nietzsche has had his influence, certain French thinkers also in France, the philosophies of James and Bergson have attracted some amount of public interest; but it is a mere  nothing compared with the effective power of Asiatic philosophy.2 There is no doubt that the average European who draws his guidance not from the philosophic, but from positive and practical reason, puts the philosophical treatises on the highest shelf in the library of civilization. The situation is entirely different in India. Sri Aurobindo says: The Indian mind holds . . . that the Rishi, the thinker, the seer of spiritual truth is the best guide not only of the religious and moral, but [also of] the practical life. The seer, the Rishi is the natural director of society; to the Rishis he attributes the ideals and guiding intuitions of his civilizati on. Even today he is very ready to give the name to anyone who can give a spiritual truth which helps his life or a formative idea and inspiration which influences religion, ethics, society, even politics.3 The phenomenon known as modernization is a product of the one-sided pursuit of both philosophy and science — philosophy purely as an intellectual affair without any bearing on life and science as the most effective instrument for the possession of unlimited power, eliminating the sacred. I shall take up the problem of modernization later. It may be added here that what is said about the Indian mind is equally true of the Chinese mind. Confucius, Mencius, and others are the great Rishis of China, the seers who exhibited the most uncommon insight into men and matters, into the moral and social problems of human beings. Drawing a distinction between two kinds of philosophers, systematic and edifying, Richard Rorty characterizes Wittgenstein as an edifying philosopher, like Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and others. In a brief analysis of the spirit of Western civilization which is fully manifest in the industry, architecture, and music of our time, in its fascism and socialism, Wittgenstein openly admits that he has no sympathy for the current of European civilization, that he does not understand its goals, if it has any, and that it is alien and uncongenial to him.4 He goes on to say: A culture is like a big organization which assigns each of its members a place where he can work in the spirit of the whole; and it is perfectly fair for his power to be measured by the contribution he succeeds in making to the whole enterprise.5 Wittgenstein’s brief explanation of culture requires some elucidation. He says that culture is a whole, that every individual has a place in it, that every individual has to function as a member of the whole, and that what he does is significant socially as well  as morally. The two traditional cultures, Chinese and Indian, have recognized the importance of the ideas embedded in Wittgenstein’s explanation of culture. While the Indian culture appears to be predominantly spiritual and religious, the Chinese culture seems to be basically humanistic, with a clear emphasis on the moral and social dimensions of life. It must be pointed out in this connection that the difference between these two traditional cultures is only at the surface. Since the traditional culture comprehends the total life of a person, it provides a place for the different dimensions of life — spiritual, religious, moral, and social — which can be distinguished, but not separated. The spiritual and religious dimension of life presupposes the moral and social realm ; and the moral and social sphere of life points to the religious and spiritual goals. That the two realms, ethico-social and religio-spiritual, are complementary, has been recognized by both these cultures, even though the Indian culture lays emphasis on the spiritual and religious side of man while the Chinese culture focusses on the ethical and social side of man. The motif of the two cultures is the harmony of spirit, mind, and body; and it is to achieve this harmony that they take care of both realms of life. Once again what Sri Aurobindo says in this connection is worth quoting: A true happiness in this world is the right terrestrial aim of man, and true happiness lies in the finding and maintenance of a natural harmony of spirit, mind, and body. A culture is to be valued to the extent to which it has discovered the right key of this harmony and organized its expressive motives and movements. And a civilization must be judged by the manner in which all its principles, ideas, forms, ways of living work to bring that harmony out, manage its rhythmic play, and secure its continuance or the development of its motives.6 There is need to harmonize the eternal and the temporal, for the spirit works through mind and body, which belong to the temporal; and this is what every great culture has aimed at. There are four components in the traditional culture associated with India and China. They are: (1) the primal Spirit which is the source and support of the universe may be viewed both as transcendent to, and as immanent in, the universe; (2) this Spirit which is immanent in all human beings can be realized by every human being; (3) it lays down a discipline which is both moral and spiritual for realizing the Spirit; and (4) it has provided an organization of the  individual and collective life not only for the sake of the harmony between the individual and society, but also for the sake of the harmony of spirit, mind, and body. Each one of these components needs some explanation in the context of these two cultures. INDIAN CULTURE Though Indian culture as it is today is composite in character, comprising Hindu, Jaina, Buddha, Islamic, and Christian elements, it can be characterized as Vedic culture since not only Hinduism, which is predominant, but also Jainism and Buddhism, which originated in protest against Vedic ritualism, have been influenced by the Vedas, the basic and oldest scriptural text in the world. Islam and Christianity entered the Indian soil consequent on the invasion of India by the foreigners — by the Moghuls in the former case, and by the English, French, and Portuguese in the latter case. Though they try to retain their identity, the followers of these two religious traditions have been influenced by the Vedic culture. Kabir (1398-1518 AD), for example, who is a greatly respected personality in the religious history of India, is a product of both Hinduism and Islam. In recent times, Indian Christians talk about and practice inculturization, which is a new and growing phenomenon. The predominant Hindu culture which has a long and continuous history is the Vedic culture; and the Vedic culture, which has its beginning round about 2500 BC, may be characterized as primal culture, since it traces everything in the universe to the primal Spirit, which is variously called Brahman, Ä€tman, Being, and so on. Spirit or Being is the primal reality. It is that from which all beings arise; being supported by it, they exist; and all of them move towards it as their destination. In the language of T.S. Eliot, the beginning is the end. The Upanisad says: That, verily, from which these beings are born, that by which, when born, they live, that into which, when departing, they enter. That, seek to know. That is Brahman.7 Spirit or Brahman is primal in the sense that it is foundational. It is the sole reality; it is one and non-dual; and there is nothing else beside it. It is spoken of as the First Cause, Unmoved Mover, of the entire manifest universe. With a view to bring o ut the independent nature of the primal Spirit on which the manifest universe is dependent, it is referred to as the Ground. That which is independent is real; what is dependent is an appearance. The ground-grounded  relation brings out the reality of Spirit and the appearance of the universe. Ordinarily we distinguish the material cause from the efficient cause; the one is different from the other. The wood from which a table is made is the material cause; and the carpenter who works on the wood and makes a table according to a certain design is the efficient cause. The carpenter is different from the wood. What makes the primal Spirit unique is that it is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, because it alone existed in the beginning and nothing else beside it. Like wood, it is the material cause of the world; and like a carpenter, it is the efficient cause of the world. So, the Vedic culture traces all beings, living as well as non-living, to one source, viz. Spirit or Being. It may be pointed out here that in recent times quantum physics attempts to trace everything in the manifest universe to one source which is non-material or spiritual. Einstein declared: Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the Laws of the Universe — a Spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we, with our modest powers, must feel humble.8 That Spirit or Brahman is the source, support, and end of everything in the universe, is the major premise of the Vedic culture. Derived from the major premise are two minor premises, one relating to living beings called jÄ «va and the other, to non-living beings called jagat. Since Spirit or Brahman is immanent in jÄ «va and jagat, neither jÄ «va nor jagat is isolated from the primal Spirit. It means that all living beings, whatever the y may be — humans, animals, birds, reptiles, and so on — are spiritual or divine. Non-living beings which are material constitute the physical universe. They are the products of the five elements — ether, air, fire, water and earth — which are material. The divine principle is present not only in living beings, but also in non-living beings, and so they are also divine. Characterizing Brahman as the indwelling Spirit (antaryÄ min), the BrhadÄ nrayaka Upanisad says that Brahman is present in all beings — the sun, the moon, and the stars, the elements which constitute the physical universe, and the organs of the jÄ «vas. Just as our body does not know the Spirit inside it, even so the beings, whatever they may be, do not know Brahman, the indwelling Spirit in them. The following text is relevant here: He [Brahman or Spirit] who dwells in all beings, yet is within all beings, whom no beings know, whose body is  all beings, who controls all beings from within, he is your Self, the inner controller, the immortal.9 That which dwells in material objects and controls them also dwells in all living beings and contr ols them. Just as all living beings are essentially divine, even so the entire physical universe is essentially divine. Whatever may be the differences among the species and within the individual members of a species, all are essentially one, because one and the same divine Spirit is present in all of them. The message conveyed by these two minor premises of the traditional culture deserves careful consideration. First of all, if the land and the water and the sky of the physical universe are divine, then we should take care of them in the same way as we take care of our body. The claim that human beings are rational, that they are superior to the physical world, and that they are, in the words of Descartes, the masters and possessors of nature resulted in the unscrupulous, cruel, and destructive despoliation of nature in the name of the quest for knowledge, scientific development, and technological progress. It is not nature that is red in tooth and claw, but the human being who is unabashedl y selfish and blatantly aggressive and makes nature bleed and scorch. Fortunately for us, there is a global awakening to the significance of the earth and the water and the sky as sources of sustenance and nourishment. Secondly, the application of this principle of the oneness to the human realm is of great consequence. The understanding that all human beings are essentially one and that differences of color and caste, of gender and race, of sharpness and dullness of mind, and so on are due to the mind-sense-body adjunct by which the Spirit is enclosed will help us to tackle the universally rampant problem of discrimination of all kinds — social, religious, economic, and political. VedÄ ntic philosophy, which is an important component of culture, tells us what a human being is, does, and should do in order to achieve the harmony of spirit, mind, and body. A human being (jÄ «va) is a complex entity consisting of Spirit and matter. The term used in VedÄ nta for Spirit is the Self or Ä€tman. Matter which is totally different from the Self i s referred to as not-Self, as other-than-the-Self. According to VedÄ nta, the not-Self, which is the material outfit of the human being, is made up of the mind, the senses, and the body. The Self in the human being requires a physical medium for its involvement in the day-to-day life as the subject of knowledge, the  agent of action, and the enjoyer of the consequences of action. The mind and the senses are the cognitive instruments. With the help of the mind, the five senses give us knowledge of the things of the external world. The work of the mind does not stop with the cognitive support it gives to the senses. As the internal organ (antahkaraa), the mind generates the knowledge of the subjective states such as pleasure and pain. It also does something more, which is very important from the moral and spiritual perspectives. It gives us knowledge of the right and the wrong, dharma and adharma as they are called. When chastened by the moral and spiritual discipline, it is the mind which helps us to realize the primal Spirit or Brahman. So the work of the mind is manifold. The mind is the most marvelous instrument that a human being possesses. The emergence of the mind has not only accelerated the evolutionary process in its upward movement, but also has given enormous powers to the human being, making him/her the crown of creation, unique among all living beings. In the course of his commentary on the scriptural account of the creation of the world, Sankara raises the question about the preeminence of the human being among all creatures and answers it by saying that the human being is preeminent because he alone is qualified for knowledge and the performance of prescribed duties (jnÄ na-karma-adhikÄ rah).10 Why is it that he alone has this competence? Sankara justifies the supremacy of the human on three grounds. First, he has the ability for acquiring knowledge not only of the things of the world, but also of the supreme Being, the primal reality. This is because he is equipped with the mind which, being inspired by the Self or Spirit in him is capable of comprehending everything including the highest reality. Secondly, he has the distinctive quality of desiring certain ends as a result of discrimination, deliberation, and choice. Thirdly, when he has consciously chosen an end, he is earnest about it, finds the right means for achieving the end, and persists in it till he reaches the goal. A scriptural text which is quoted by Sankara in this connection says: In man alone is the Self most manifest for he is the best endowed with knowledge. He speaks what he knows; he sees what he knows; he knows what will happen tomorrow; he knows the higher and the lower worlds; he aspires to achieve immortality through perishable things. He is thus endowed (with discrimination) while other beings have consc iousness of hunger and thirst only.11 According to  VedÄ nta, the Self in the human being is eternal, whereas his material outfit, the mind-sense-body complex, is temporal. The birth and death of a human being are connected with, and because of, the body. They are illicitly transferred to the Self with the result that we think of it as perishable and finite. The human being is caught in the cycle of birth and death because of ignorance (avidyÄ ) whose beginning is not known. The empirical journey of the Self through its association with the material adjunct is due to avidyÄ . It is avidyÄ  that pulls down the trans-empirical Self into the empirical realm, superimposes on it, which is non-relational, a relation with matter, and is thus responsible for the fall of the Self. What is above categorization is now categorized and made an object of knowledge; what transcends relation is now explained through the logic of relation; and what is beyond the scope of language is now brought within the grammar of language. Thus, just as a tree and a table are known through perception and other means of knowledge, even so Brahman or the Self, we claim, is known through the scriptural text called Sruti. The trans-relational reality is viewed as characterized by omniscience and other qualities and also as the cause of the world. What is trans-linguistic is now spoken of as real, knowledge, infinite, and so on. In other words, we employ the categories of substance and attribute, cause and effect, whole and parts for the purpose of understanding the highest reality. It will be of interest in this connection to refer to the views of two influential thinkers from the West — one belonging to the pre-sixth century and the other our own contemporary. Pseudo-Dionysius, who occupies an important place in the history of Western spirituality, observes: [The supreme reality] is neither perceived nor is it perceptible. It suffers neither disorder nor disturbance and is overwhelmed by no earthly passion. . . . It endures no deprivation of light. It passes through no change, decay, division, loss, no ebb and flow, nothing of which the senses may be aware. None of all this can either be identified with it nor attributed to it.12 Again, he says: It falls neither within the predicate of non-being nor of being. Existing beings do not know it as it actually is and it does not know them as they are. There is no speaking of it, nor name, nor knowledge of it. Darkness and light, error and truth — it is none of these. It is beyond assertion and  denial. We make assertions and denials of what is next to it, but never of it, for it is both beyond every assertion, being the perfect and unique cause of all things, and, by virtue of its preeminently simple and absolute nature, free of every limitation, beyond every limitation; it is also beyond every denial.13 Pseudo-Dionysius conveys in the most unambiguous terms the VedÄ ntic conception of Brahman or the Self. Instead of terms such as Brahman or the Self used by the VedÄ ntin, Wittgenstein uses terms such as the metaphysical subject, the I, the philosophical ‘I’ and contrasts it with the body. The human body, he says, is a part of the world among other parts , but the Self or the philosophical I is not a part of the world; it is outside the space-time-cause world. In the words of Wittgenstein: The subject does not belong to the world, but is a border of the world.14 The philosophical I is not the human being, not the human body, or the human soul of which psychology treats, but the metaphysical subject, the border — not a part — of the world.15 What is obvious from the foregoing account is that we have to make a distinction between two concepts, Brahman-in-itself and Brahman-in-relation-to-the-world, for the purpose of analysis. The latter concept is meaningful only on the presupposition of the fall of Brahman or the Self. When did this fall take place? No one knows, and no one can answer. Once there is the fall, the empirical journey of the Self goes on in different forms, conditioned by the space-time-cause framework. However, the promise of VedÄ nta is that the empirical journey of the lÄ «va can be put an end to, that the vicious cycle of birth and death can be broken by destroying avidyÄ  through knowledge of oneâ€℠¢s Self. That is why there is the scriptural instruction of Know thy Self. Not only does scripture say that the Self should be realized or seen, but it also suggests the means for realizing it. It will be difficult to understand the full significance of the distinction between Brahman-in-itself and Brahman-in-relation-to-the-world without a reference to the principle of standpoints which is enshrined in Indian culture. There are two sets of features, perennial and temporal, in Indian culture which contribute to its continuity as well as its change. While the basic doctrines constitute its perennial dimension, religious practices covering a wide range are temporal and transitory. Decadence sets in when the temporal and transitory features gain importance almost to the point of ignoring or sidetracking the  perennial features. Historical, social, and political changes call for modification, sometimes radical, sometimes minor, in the religious practices and social norms of the people, while the basic doctrinal side remains intact. Continuity of the essentials amidst the changing flow of life helps to preserve the cultural tradition. The essential structure which has endured through the vicissitudes of time contains the basic doctrines as stated in the major premise and the two minor premises to which reference was made earlier. The three basic doctrines are: primal Being or Spirit is the source, support, and end of everything, sentient as well as non-sentient; all living beings are divine; also, the physical universe which has originated from the primal Spirit is spiritual. The monistic vision, which is pervasive in the Vedic corpus, is a notable feature of Indian culture. The doctrine of levels or standpoints skillfully adopted by Indian culture helps to reconcile monism and polytheism as well as monism and pluralism. Though each pair contains two extremes in the religio-philosophical thinking, they have been accommodated as different standpoints at different levels. They are irreconcilable only when they are placed together at the same level. For example, one of the oft-quoted hymns of the Rg-veda provides a clue for reconciling the problem of one Godhead and many gods and goddesses. It says: What is but one, wise people call by different names — as Agni, Yama, MÄ tarisvan.16 Reference to gods, such as, Agni and Yama may be replaced by the well known gods of the Hindu pantheon such as Siva, Visnu, Sakti, and so on. Sankara explains the distinction between the supreme Godhead and its various forms such as Siva, Visnu, and so on, as the distinction between the unconditioned reality, what we referred to as Brahman-in-itself, and its conditioned forms such as Siva and Visnu, all of which can be brought under Brahman-in-relation-to-the-world. _iva, Viu, and other gods are conditioned beings endowed with a name and a form and other qualities, whereas the One is unconditioned, devoid of name and form, specifications and qualities and is, therefore, trans-empirical, trans-relational, and trans-linguistic. This mode of drawing the distinction between the supreme Godhead and its many forms for the purpose of worship and other religious practices of the devotees, which is unheard of in other religious traditions of other cultures, is of great consequence in the religious practice of the people.  Since it is the one reality that is worshipped in many forms such as Agni, Siva, and so on, one who worships Agni or Siva, should not quarrel with one who worships Yama or Visnu, because Agni, Yama, Siva, and Visnu are the conditioned aspects of the same reality. This significant idea of the Rg-Vedic hymn was accepted, fully elaborated, and further deepened by the Upanisads. It provides a theoretical framework for religious harmony, which is one of the characteristic features of primal culture and which has received special emphasis right from the beginning till this day. What makes primal culture valid for all times and in all places is its inclusiveness. It includes everything by providing a place for it in the whole. Religious, social, economic, scientific, and political activities are necessary and meaningful; but they must be made subservient to, and must be viewed and judged in the context of the spiritual goal of life. A culture which is mainly concerned with the bare economic necessities of life, social institutions, and political organization will be neither enduring nor elevating; it may look energetic and enterprising, but it is not worth the name, if it is not geared up to the spiritual side of life. Once again, what Sri Aurobindo says is worth quoting here: A mere intellectual, ethical, and aesthetic culture does not go back to the inmost truth of the spirit; it is still an ignorance, an incomplete, outward, and superficial knowledge. To have made the discovery of our deepest being and hidden spiritual nature is the first necessity and to have erected the living of an inmost spiritual life into the aim of existence is the characteristic sign of a spiritual culture. 17 The VedÄ nta philosophy solves the problem of monism versus pluralism on the basis of the distinction between two levels or standpoints called pÄ ramÄ rthika and vyÄ vahÄ rika, or absolute and relative respectively. The Upanisads make use of this distinction in the explanation of the epistemological, metaphysical, axiological, and soteriological problems. What is true at one level may not be so at another level. A dream-lion which is accepted as real in dream experience loses its reality at the waking level. What is accepted as a value at one time may turn out to be a disvalue at another time. The pluralistic universe which is accepted as real may cease to exist in the state of liberation following the spiritual ascent. The pÄ ramÄ rthika or absolute standpoint is higher, whereas the vyÄ vahÄ rika or the relative standpoint is lower. It must be borne in mind that the  higher standpoint which transcends the lower does not invalidate it. One who has moved from th e relative to the absolute standpoint knows the truth of the former; but one who is tied to the relative standpoint cannot understand the truth of the absolute standpoint. Consider the case of two persons who attempt to climb up a mountain in order to reach the highest peak. While one of them reaches the top, the other, due to some disability, is not able to proceed beyond the foothill. The person who has reached the summit knows what kind of experience is available to one at the foothill; but one who is at the foothill does not understand the kind of experience one has at the top. We have to apply this logic to the different kinds of experience without subverting the pÄ ramÄ rthika-vyÄ vahÄ rika hierarchy. The Upanisads describe the two levels as signifying higher wisdom and lower knowledge. Experience of plurality is quite common; it is quite natural; we have it in our daily life. No special effort or discipline is required for such an experience. But experience of oneness is uncommon. One does not get it without special effort or appropriate discipline. The transition is from the common to the uncommon. A text of the BrhadÄ rayaka Upanisad describes the two levels of experience as follows: For, where there is duality as it were, there one sees the other, one smells the other, one knows the other. . . . But, where everything has become just one’s own self, by what and whom should one smell, by what and whom should one know?18 Without disregarding the pragmatic value of day-to-day empirical knowledge, primal culture emphasizes the importance of higher wisdom. It will be of interest to quote Wittgenstein in this connection. He says: In religion every level of devoutness must have its appropriate form of expression which has no sense at a lower level. This doctrine, which means something at a higher level, is null and void for someone who is still at the lower level; he can only understand it wrongly and so these words are not valid for such a person. For instance, at my level the Pauline doctrine of predestination is ugly, nonsense, irreligiousness. Hence it is not suitable for me, since the only use I could make of the picture I am offered would be a wrong one. If it is a good and godly picture, then it is so for someone at a quite different level, who must use it in his life in a way completely different from anything that would be possible for me.19 The teaching of the VedÄ nta philosophy is positive. According to it, life in this world is meaningful  and purposive — meaningful for the reason that it serves as the training ground for one’s spiritual uplifting through the proper use of the objects of the world by the mind-sense-body equipment of which one is in possession, and purposive as one has to achieve freedom or liberation by overcoming the existential predicament. Freedom or liberation which is projected as the goal must be understood in the spiritual sense. It is true that human life is made difficult by economic constraints, political oppression, social hierarchy, and religious discrimination; and a situation of this kind points to, and calls for, freedom of different kinds so that a person can exist and function as a moral agent enjoying economic, political, social and religious freedom. However, the goal of life remains unfulfilled in spite of these different kinds of freedom. Though they are necessary, they are not sufficient. The highest freedom which is eternal and totally satisfying is spiritual freedom, which is called moksa in Indian culture. A socio-political system may ensure political freedom, social justice, economic satisfaction, and unrestricted religious practice; but still there is no guarantee of harmony of spirit, mind, and body which one can achieve only through the teaching of philosophy and religion. The socio-political machinery cannot be a substitute for religion and philosophy, though it can and should maintain a system of rights and obligations in which alone a human being can lead a moral life as formulated in religion and can pursue the goal of liberation as projected by philosophy. Sri Aurobindo says: The whole aim of a great culture is to lift man up to something which at first he is not, to lead him to knowledge though he starts from an unfathomable ignorance, to teach him to live by reason, though actually he lives much more by his unreason, by the law of good and unity, though he is now full of evil and discord, by a law of beauty and harmony, though his actual life is a repulsive muddle of ugliness and jarring barbarisms, by some law of his spirit, though at present he is egoistic, material, unspiritual, engrossed by the needs and desires of his physical being. If a civilization has not any of these aims, it can hardly at all be said to have a culture and certainly in no sense a great and noble culture. But the last of these aims, as conceived by ancient India, is the highest of all because it includes and surpasses all the others. To have made this attempt is to have ennobled the life of the race; to have failed in it is better than if it had never at all   been attempted; to have achieved even a partial success is a great contribution to the future possibilities of the human being.20 Excepting the CÄ rvÄ ka, which advocates a thoroughgoing materialism, all other philosophical systems in India accept the ideal of moksa. The Indian mind, right from the beginning, has accepted a hierarchy of values, ranging from the bodily and economic values at the bottom to the spiritual values of which liberation is at the top. The human being leads his life at two levels — organic and hyper-organic. Bodily and economic values which he pursues belong to the organic level. In so far as the pursuit of the organic values is concerned — values which are necessary for life preservation — his life and activities are in no way different from those of animals; at this level, hunger and sleep, shelter and sex are common to man and animals. Endowed as he is not only with the body, but also with the mind, he also lives at another level, pursuing higher values such as truth, beauty, goodness. The life-activity of man which is fully reflective of his cognition, desire, deliberation, and choice cannot stop short of the highest value called moksa. It is not necessary here to discuss the broad scheme of values accepted in the Indian tradition. Suffice it to say that, though artha and kÄ ma, which emphasize the importance of the material and hedonistic side of life, have been accommodated in the scheme of values, the moral and spiritual side of life has received special attention in Indian culture. That is why it has accepted two higher values, dharma and moksa, the former functioning as a moral guide, and also as a regulative principle of artha and kÄ ma pursued in our secular life, for the realization of the latter. All the philosophical systems, Vedic as well as non-Vedic, hold the view that moksa as the highest value is both ultimate and all-satisfying — ultimate since there is nothing else to which it can be the means, and all-satisfying since it comprehends all the higher values. Sankara says that one gets the feeling of the fulfillment of all values when one attains moksa.21 There are three questions that we have to consider in connection with the ultimate value. The first one is whether it can be realized at all. There is the view that the ultimate value is only an ideal to inspire and regulate our conduct and that it can never be attained. We can regulate our life so as to come nearer to it from time to time, from stage to stage; but we can never reach it. Suc h a view is untenable. Also, it goes against the spirit of Indian  culture. Realization of one’s true nature is liberation. We have already pointed out that the human being is a complex entity consisting of Spirit and matter. Spirit by its very nature is ever free and never bound. But it appears to be bound because of the material adjunct with which it is associated in the empirical life. Overwhelmed by ignorance, the human being does not realize that he is essentially Spirit and therefore free. When he attains the right knowledge and knows his real nature, he is no more under the limitation or bondage of the psycho-physical material outfit, because ignorance which conceals his real nature is removed by knowledge. It means that the ideal of moksa has a basis in the very constitution of the human being; also, the human being, not being satisfied with the material achievements, what the Upanisad calls preyas, longs for spiritual freedom, which is called Sreyas. The Upanisad says: Both the good and the pleasant approach a man. The wise man, pondering over them, discriminates. The wise chooses the good in preference to the pleasant. The simple-minded, for the sake of worldly well-being, prefers the pleasant.22 One cannot have both Sreyas and preyas. The pursuit of the former requires the renunciation of the latter. Spiritual illumination follows purgation. Speaking about the importance of the ideal and its close relation to human nature, Hiriyanna observes: Ideals are rooted in needs inherent in human nature. It is their reality that constitutes their true charm. Take this charm from them, and they reduce themselves but to pleasant fantasy. The reality of such a value may not be vouched for by common reasoning. But we should remember that neither is there any adequate proof for denying it. Not to admit the ideal would therefore be to be dogmatic in the sense that we deny it without adequate proof for the denial.23 The second question is wheth er the ideal of moksa can be realized by all. Here also the great philosophical traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, are unanimous in their affirmative answer. There is nothing in human nature which either disqualifies or incapacitates him from attaining this ideal. Whatever may be the differences among human beings at the bodily, vital, and mental levels, everyone has the right and duty to aspire for the highest value by virtue of what he/she is. As every human being is endowed with the mind, the most precious and unequalled instrument through which one can look before and after, know the things given to him, and choose from them after  discrimination and deliberation, he is not in any way incapacitated from pursuing the ultimate value. Indian culture looks down on the doctrine of the chosen few. Since ignorance is the obstacle that stands in the way of realizing one’s divine nature, realizing one’s Spirit, which is liberation, it can be removed by knowledge which anyone can acquire through moral and spi ritual discipline. The philosophy of VedÄ nta, according to which every human being is divine, is opposed to the theory of privilege — of birth, intellect, spirituality, etc. It is anti-hierarchical. In everyone there is a sleeping Buddha, a hidden Brahman, to which everyone can have access. That the doors to the spiritual realm do not remain closed to anyone is conveyed in a forthright manner by Sri Aurobindo: A wider spiritual culture must recognize that the Spirit is not only the highest and inmost thing, but all is manifestation and creation of the Spirit. It must have a wider outlook, a more embracing range of applicability and, even, a more aspiring and ambitious aim of its endeavor. Its aim must be not only to raise to inaccessible heights the few elect, but to draw all men and all life and the whole human being upward, to spiritualize life and in the end to divinize human nature. Not only must it be able to lay hold on his deepest individual being, but to inspire, too, his communal existence. It must turn, by a spiritual change, all the members of his ignorance into members of the knowledge; it must transmute all the instruments of the human into instruments of a divine living. The total movement of Indian spirituality is towards this aim. 24 The third question, whether the ultimate value can be realized here in this life or only hereafter, is answered in two different ways. Some philosophical systems maintain that the proper preparation that a person undertakes for achieving this end will help him to realize it only after death, whereas some other systems hold the view that it can be realized in this life itself, if one follows the prescribed moral and spiritual discipline. The former view is called the eschatological conception of moksa while the latter is known as lÄ «van-mukti. LÄ «van-mukti means liberation-in-life. The person who has attained enlightenment or wisdom is free even while he is in the embodied condition. It is not necessary to discuss these two views of moksa in detail. It may be pointed out here that the view that it is possible to overcome bondage and attain liberation here and now deepens the significance of the present life. A  lÄ «van-mukta does not run away from society. He lives in societ y for the benefit of others; when he is engaged in activities, he has no sense of I and mine; his activities, that is to say, are impersonal. Also, he imparts spiritual instruction to others, for, having realized the truth, he alone is competent to do this. The life of a lÄ «van-mukta, as portrayed in the Hindu tradition, is comparable to that of a Bodhi-sattva as explained in the MahÄ yÄ na tradition. The ideal of life goes beyond self-perfection; it also includes work for the universal good. According to the Indian tradition, knowledge is different from information, and wisdom is different from knowledge. We may say that information, knowledge, and wisdom constitute a hierarchy. To know a thing is to know it in a determinate way, as such-and-such — as a substance possessing qualities, as a whole consisting of parts, as the cause or effect of something, and so on. Every object has two kinds of relations, internal and external. A lump of clay, for example, is internally related to its color, its parts of which it is made. It is also externally related to the ground on which it is placed, its immediate surroundings, and so on. No object remains isolated from other things; on the contrary, it has a network of relations with other things in such a way that it is what it is because of other things. When the poet says that, to know a flower seen in a crannied wall, one must know the plant, root and all, and also the wall, its location, and so on, he draws our attention to the fact that every object is an integral part of the cosmic system and that, to get an insight into the nature of a thing, one must know the whole of which it is an integral part. Bits of information do not constitute knowledge. Piecemeal information about the roots, the trunk, and the branches of a tree cannot be viewed as the knowledge of a tree. Just as knowledge is different from information, even so wisdom is different from knowledge. Though knowledge is superior to information, it cannot be a substitute for wisdom. The Vedic tradition draws a distinction between two kinds of knowledge, higher (parÄ ) and lower (aparÄ ).

Honor and Dueling :: European Europe History

Honor and Dueling A duel was a prearranged combat with lethal weapons between two people, usually taking place under formal arrangements. Each side had a witness, called seconds. The usual cause of a duel is an insult given by one person to the other or over a question of honor. The challenged person has the right to set the place, time, and weapons. Duels have generally been fought early in the morning in secluded places. (Encarta "Duel") Dueling to avenge one's honor has never been legal, dueling has been marked by laws opposing it. The practice became popular in Europe after the famous challenge between King Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France. When war was declared on Spain in 1528 by Francis, he annulled the treaty between the two countries, Francis was challenged to a duel after being accused of ungentlemanly conduct by the Spanish ruler. The duel never did take place because making arrangements was to difficult, but this incident influenced the manners of Europeans so that gentlemen everywhere thought they were entitled to avenge slights on their honor by having similar challenges. (Encarta "Duel") Duels involving honor were so prevalent in France that Charles IX issued an ordinance in 1566 that was death to anyone participating in a duel. This became a model for later edicts against dueling. Dueling however did survive longer than monarchy in France. Dueling became a technique for resolving political disputes. (Britannica "Duel) The duel was intensely popular in England, during Restoration. Legislation during the 17th century had little effect on suppressing the practice. The English Common Law declares that killing in a duel to be held as murder, but juries rarely convicted in cases of dueling until the custom had ceased to be popular during the reign of Queen Victoria. (Encarta "Duel") The earliest form of dueling was the judicial duel or trial by battle. The judicial duel was established because solemn affirmation, or swearing of oaths, in legal arguments had led to extensive perjury and the ordeal has too much of a chance of being manipulated by the priests. If one man declares before a judge that his opponent was guilty of a crime and the accused said that his accuser is lying, the judge would order the two to meet in a duel. The judge then stipulated the conditions as to the place, time, and weapons. The combatants had to guarantee their participation by throwing down a gauntlet and his opponent accepted by picking it up.

Shakespeare in the Bush

What problems did Bohannan encounter as she told the story of Hamlet to the Tiv? The problem she encountered when she was telling the story was the comments of the elders. As she was trying to formulate her thoughts/ analyses on the story, the elders kept on commenting what they thought was right, and what they think as the truth about the story. Therefore, she had a hard time explaining the story in the way she wanted and liked. â€Å"There was a murmur of applause. Hamlet was again a good story to them, but it no longer seemed quite the same story to me. As I thought over the coming complications of plot and motive, I lost courage and decided to skim over dangerous ground quickly.We could say that in this part of the story, she had a hard time explaining the book the way she wanted it. That is why she had to avoid those hard-to-explain parts so she wouldn’t be questioned more. Another problem she encountered while reading and telling the text was her opposing interpretation of the book, as compared to that of the elders. For her, the interpretation of the piece is universal—that there could only be one real and acceptable interpretation for it.But, as she was telling the story, the elders kept on voicing out their opinions, causing the author to take down notes and eventually question her own interpretation of the book. â€Å"I stopped being a storyteller, took out my notebook and demanded to be told more about these two causes of madness. Even while they spoke and I jotted notes, I tried to calculate the effect of this new factor of the plot.†In this part we could see that, because of the bothering comments of the elders, she started to question her knowledge of the book, that is why she took down notes and analyzed those new factors on the plot said by the Tiv. To sum up, she had a hard time explaining the book to the Tiv because of two  reasons: the annoying comments of the elders, and her opposing interpretation of the book.Is the Tiv’s interpretation of Hamlet incorrect? Why or why not? Substantiate your answer with evidence from the text (observe the rules on citation). Include also what you know and have experienced. Should we worry about being correct? Why or why not? The Tiv’s interpretation of Hamlet is neither correct nor incorrect—because no one really does know the correct interpretation of the text, for it is the author (William Shakepeare) who knows what the real interpretation of the novel is.Also, as supposed to what Laura Bohannan had said that the interpretation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is universal, I believe that its interpretation is varying in different types of people, taking the Tiv for example. The Tiv are also known as the Mitshi, Munchi or Munshi. They are also located in the northern provinces of Nigeria, with the majority of them living in the Tiv Division of Benue Province (Bohannan and Bohannan 1953:9). Knowing the life of these people are just or dinary, everyone wouldn’t expect that such people could be able to give their insights/knowledge about the text—yet, they were able to give their own interpretation of it.How? By applying their knowledge and experiences in life. They were able to apply these things so that they will be able to understand the next happenings more accurately, and to comprehend a text which is very hard to understand. â€Å"Listen,† said the elder, â€Å"and I will tell you how it was and how your story will go, then you may tell me if I am right. Polonius knew his son would get into trouble, so he did. He had many fines to pay for fighting, and debts from gambling.But he had only two ways of getting money quickly. One was to marry off to his sister at once, but it is difficult to find a man who will marry a woman desired by the son of the chief. For if the chief’s heir commits adultery with your wife, what can you do? Only a fool calls a case against a man who will someday be his judge. Therefore Laertes had to take the second way: he killed his sister by witchcraft, drowning her so he could secretly sell her body to the witches.†In this part of the story, the Tiv used their knowledge and experiences to interpret the plot accurately and effectively. That is why they were able to predict precisely what Laertes did to his sister Ophelia, and so as the next happenings in the story. â€Å"Sometime,† concluded the old man, gathering his ragged toga about him, â€Å"you must tell us some more stories of your country. We, who are elders, will instruct you in their true meaning, so that when you return to your own land your elders will see that you have not been sitting in the bush, but among those who know things and who have taught you wisdom.†In that part of the story, we could really see that these people, the Tiv, really have experiences that they were able to use in interpreting Hamlet. We could also see in this excerpt from the tex t that, even though they are just people sitting around the bush, they are more knowledgeable than we are, because they have these experiences that helped shape their perspectives in the different aspects of life. And, to answer the question of whether we should worry or not worry if our interpretation of a text is correct or incorrect, I think we shouldn’t. What is important is that we are able to understand the text, and finally, learn something from it.

Machiavelli vs. Thoreau (Compare and Contrast Essay) Essay

The way one should govern and the way for one to be governed will always be an ongoing struggle. How can a government maintain order and the safety of its people yet at the same time preserve its citizens’ natural right to be free? The ideas from Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian aristocrat, who published â€Å"The Prince† in 1513 for a Medici prince as a guideline on how to rule a country, gives a conservative approach to how one should govern. Henry David Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience† published in 1849, offers a liberal approach on how one should be governed. Machiavelli stresses the importance of maintaining order while Thoreau suggests reform. Although their views are different both men approach their positions in an aggressive manner. Machiavelli’s approach for his audience would be through fear and power while Thoreau’s approach for his audience would be through nonviolent acts, such as being a nuisance to the government. Machiavelli’s audience would be any person in a position of power, particularly that of a prince. Machiavelli uses aphorisms and historical references when introducing his argument. Not only would he present his argument but he also presents an opposing point of view and discredits it. Thoreau’s audience would be people who share his views on a less controlling and a moral government. Thoreau appeals to his audience through the use of aphorisms as well as analogies with which people would be able to identify. Machiavelli insists that a ruler must do whatever is in his power to rule his people regardless of whether his actions are moral or immoral and that â€Å"†¦it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking†¦.For one can generally say this about men: that they are ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain, and while you work for their good they are completely yours, offering you their blood, their property, their lives, and their sons†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jacobus 44). These comments support the pessimistic views that Machiavelli has about mankind. He theorizes that man is immoral therefore justifying a ruler being immoral. He states that in return for a ruler’s protection that a man must give his life. Contrary to Machiavelli’s views on morality, Thoreaus states, â€Å"That government is best which governs not at all† (Jacobus 145) and that â€Å"It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a  corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience† (Jacobus 146). Thoreau believes that it is a man’s moral beliefs that would make a moral government. He believes that a man, if left at his own will, will do what is right and in return, if in government, will do what is right for the people. When governing a country, a ruler must have an army. In that aspect, Machiavelli states â€Å"A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take anything as his profession, but war, its institutions, and it’s discipline†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jacobus 37) and that â€Å"†¦between an armed and unarmed man there is no comparison whatsoever, and it is not reasonable for an armed man to obey and unarmed man willingly, nor that an unarmed man should be safe among armed servants† (Jacobus 38). These statements suggest that a ruler must always prepare for war and military strength is more intimidating than any other type of force. In order to maintain a country, a ruler must have a strong army to defend it. Thoreau’s opinion on the military seems to differ in which he describes an army as â€Å"†¦small movable forts and magazines at the service of some unscrupulous man in power† (Jacobus 147). He clearly describes men as machines of a ruler lacking morals, rather than men protecting country. Machiavelli emphasizes a ruler maintaining order and control while Thoreau emphasizes on the citizens ruling or having an impact on their government. For example, Machiavelli’s approach on how this order can be established would be through appearance. When Machiavelli states, â€Å"And men in general judge more by their eyes than their hands; for everyone can see but few can feel. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few perceive what you are, and those few do not dare to contradict the opinion of the many who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jacobus 47), he is stating that what a ruler does that his citizens do not know about should not affect his reputation, as most people will follow the majority if the majority believes that their ruler is just and fair. He then continues to explain how this can be accomplished. Machiavelli continues to explain how a ruler can be deceiving when need be but can also be depicted as â€Å"†¦merciful, faithful, human, forthright, religious†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jacobus 47),  leader yet at the same time, he states, â€Å"†¦in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion† (Jacobus 47). In these statements, Machiavelli is arguing that in order for a leader appear moral he is often subjected to immoral acts. Thoearu’s views seem to disagree with Machiavelli’s reasoning as Thoeau states, â€Å"A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight† (Jacobus 155). Thoreau believes in the good in men and that every man will do what is right for himself and if he believes a government to be immoral then it should be a man’s duty to rebel for what is right. Although one might be a part of the minority, an impact can still be made if the group stands together. The power struggle between government and individual freedom has been and always will be a never-ending battle. Comparing Machiavelli’s standpoint, which would be order and control, and Thoreau’s standpoint, being individual freedom, would give one an idea of this conflict. Even though both men were from different countries and lived during different times in history, their contrasting ideas still live through people in societies today and will echo into the minds of others in societies to follow.