Heart of Darkness in the Light of Psychoanalytic Theories Essay

Psychoanalytic criticism originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. Freud developed a language that described, a model that explained, and a theory that encompassed human psychology. His theories are directly and indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind. Through his multiple case studies, Freud managed to find convincing evidence that most of our actions are motivated by psychological forces over which we have very limited control (Guerin 127). One of Freud’s most important contributions to the study of the psyche is his theory of repression: the unconscious mind is a repository of repressed desires, feelings, memories, wishes and instinctual drives; many of which have to do with sexuality and violence. These unconscious wishes, according to Freud, can find expression in dreams because dreams distort the unconscious material and make it appear different from itself and more acceptable to consciousness. They may also appear in other disguised forms, like in language (sometimes called the Freudian slips), in creative art and in neurotic behavior. One of the unconscious desires Freud believed that all human beings supposedly suppress is the childhood desire to displace the parent of the same sex and to take his or her place in the affections of the parent of the opposite sex. This so-called â€Å"Oedipus Complex,† which all children experience as a rite of passage to adult gender identity, lies at the core of Freud’s sexual theory (Murfin 114-5). A principal element in Freud’s theory is his assignment of the mental processes to three psychic zones: the id, the ego and the superego. The id is the passional, irrational, and unconscious part of the psyche. It is the site of the energy of the mind, energy that Freud characterized as a combination of sexual libido and other instincts, such as aggression, that propel the human organism through life, moving it to grow, develop and eventually to die. That primary process of life is completely irrational, and it cannot distinguish reasonable objects and unreasonable or socially unacceptable ones. Here comes the secondary processes of the mind, lodged in the ego and the superego. The ego, or â€Å"I,† was Freud’s term for the predominantly rational, logical, orderly and conscious part of the psyche; it works on repressing and inhibiting the drives of the id so that they may be released in sane behavioral patterns. And though a large part of the ego is unconscious, it nevertheless includes what we think of as the conscious mind. The superego is a projection of the ego. It is the moral censoring agency; the part that makes moral judgments and the repository of conscience and pride. It brings reason, order and social acceptability to the otherwise uncontrolled and potentially harmful realm of biological impulses (Guerin 128-31). Freud’s theories have launched what is now known as the psychoanalytic approach to literature. Freud was interested in writers, especially those who depended largely on symbols. Such writers tend to tinge their ideas and figures with mystery or ambiguity that only make sense once interpreted, just as the analyst tries to figure out the dreams and bizarre actions that the unconscious mind of a neurotic releases out of repression. A work of literature is thus treated as a fantasy or a dream that Freudian analysis comes to explain the nature of the mind that produced it. The purpose of a work of art is what psychoanalysis has found to be the purpose of the dream: the secret gratification of an infantile and forbidden wish that has been repressed into the unconscious (Wright 765). The literal surface of a work of literature is sometimes called the â€Å"manifest content† and treated as â€Å"manifest dream† or â€Å"dream story. † The psychoanalytic literary critic tries to analyze the latent, underlying content of the work, or the â€Å"dream thought† hidden in the dream story. Freud used the terms â€Å"condensation† and â€Å"displacement† to explain the mental processes that result in the disguise of the wishes and fears in dream stories. In condensation, several wishes, anxieties or persons may be condensed into a single manifestation or image in dream story; in displacement, a thought or a person may be displaced onto the image of another with which or whom there is an extremely loose and arbitrary association that only an analyst can decode. Psychoanalytic critics treat metaphors as if they were dream condensations; they treat metonyms- figures of speech based on weak connections- as if they were dream displacements. Thus, figures of speech in general are treated as aspects that see the light when the writer’s conscious mind resists what the unconscious asks it to depict or describe. Psychoanalytic criticism written before 1950 tended to study the psyche of the individual author. Poems, novels and plays were treated as fantasies that allowed authors to release curbed desires, or to protect themselves  from deep- rooted fears, or both. Later, psychoanalytic critics stopped assuming that artists are borderline neurotics or that the characters they fabricate and the figurative language they use can be analyzed to figure out the dark, hidden fancies in the authors’ minds. So they moved their focus toward the psychology of the reader, and came to understand that artists are skilled creators of works that appeal to the readers’ repressed wishes. As such, psychoanalytic criticism typically attempts to do at least one of the following tasks: study the psychological traits of a writer; provide an analysis of the creative process; or explore the psychological impacts of literature on its readers (Murfin 115-20). Not all psychoanalytic critics, however, are Freudian. Many of them are persuaded by the writings of Carl Gustav Jung whose â€Å"analytical psychology† is different from Freud’s psychoanalysis. Jung had broken with Freud’s emphasis on libidinal drives and had developed a theory of the collective unconscious; although, like Freud, he believed in a personal unconscious as a repository of repressed feelings (Wright 767). The processes of the unconscious psyche, according to Jung, produce images, symbols and myths that belong to the large human culture. He refers to the manifestations of the â€Å"myth-forming† elements as â€Å"motifs,† â€Å"primordial images,† or â€Å"archetypes. † Jung indicated further that the dreams, myths and art all serve as media through which archetypes become accessible to the consciousness. One major contribution is Jung’s theory of individuation which is the process of discovering those aspects of one’s self that make one an individual different from other people. It is, according to Jung, an absolutely essential process if one is to become a balanced individual; he detected an intimate relationship between neurosis and the person’s failure to accept some archetypal features of his unconscious. Individuation is related to three archetypes designated as shadow, persona and anima. These are structural components that human beings have inherited. We encounter their symbolic projections throughout the myths and literatures of humankind. The shadow is the darker side of our unconscious self, the inferior and less pleasing aspects of the personality. The anima is the â€Å"soul-image;† the source of a man’s life force. Jung gives it a feminine designation in the man’s psyche; it is the contra-sexual part that a man carries in his personal and collective unconscious. The persona is the opposite of the anima; it is our social personality and the mediator  between our ego and the external world. A balanced man has a flexible persona that is in harmony with the other components of his psychic makeup (Guerin 178-83). Through the lenses of Jungian psychoanalysis, the literary text is no longer seen as a site where the quelled impulses get through in disguise. Instead, Jung maintains that â€Å"both the individual in dreams and the artist at work will produce archetypal images to compensate for any psychic impoverishment in man and society. â€Å" He untangles texts of literature by a method he calls ?amplification’: the images of the collective unconscious are derived from those of the personal (Wright 767). Despite its monotonous rehearsing of a number of themes, psychoanalytic theory has led to a better understanding of the complexities of the relation between the human being and the artistic creativity. Heart of Darkness in the light of Psychoanalytic theories. Heart of Darkness explores something truer, more fundamental, and distinctly less material than just a personal narrative. It is a night journey into the unconscious, and a confrontation of an entity within the self. Certain circumstances of Marlow’s voyage, looked at in these terms, take on a new importance. The true night journey can occur only in sleep or in a walking dream of a profoundly intuitive mind. Marlow insists on the dreamlike quality of his narrative. â€Å"It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream – making a vein attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation† (Conrad 38). Even before leaving Brussels, Marlow felt as though he â€Å"was about to set off for center of the earth,† not the center of a continent (16). The introspective voyager leaves his familiar rational world, is â€Å"cut off from the comprehension† of his surroundings, his steamer toils â€Å"along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy† (52). As the crisis approaches, the dreamer and his ship moves through a silence that â€Å"seemed unnatural, like a state of trance; then enter a deep fog† (57). The novel penetrates to those areas of darkness and dream – indeed nightmare ? with which Conrad tried to define the substance of the world. It asks questions, destabilizes orthodox assumptions, and sketches an existentially absurd experience. It involves us in dramatic, crucially difficult moral decisions which parallel those of the two central characters, Marlow and Kurtz. Although it was a coincidence that Freud and Conrad were contemporaries, coincidence is reduced when we perceive the â€Å"extraordinary parallelism of their achievements† (Karl 785). At the time when Conrad was developing his concepts about the Congo and political, personal and universal involvement in a nightmarish existence, Freud was fermenting his theories on dreams and the unconscious. Conrad’s novel appeared in 1900, only months before Freud’s book Interpretation of Dreams which formed the manifesto of the psychoanalytic assumptions. Both Conrad and Freud were pioneers in their emphasis over the irrational aspects of man’s behavioral conduct which questioned the traditional analyses. Conrad insightfully stressed the irrationality of politics and its nightmarish character which rests on the neurotic symptoms of the leader, as well as on the collective neurosis of the masses. He also believed in a human behavior that answers the call of inner desires, while justifying itself with accuracy. Both he and Freud dived into the darkness: the darkness enters the human soul when his conscience sleeps or when he is free to yield to the unconscious desires and needs, whether through dreams, as Freud argues, or in actuality through the character of Kurtz and his likes. Dreams become the wish-fulfillments of the masked self. This applies to Marlow; the very qualities in Kurtz that horrify him are those he finds hidden in himself. Kurtz’s insatiable, Nietzchean fascination with power mirrors Marlow’s as well. Kurtz’s ruthless career is every man’s wish-fulfillment (Karl 785-6). In the novel, Conrad draws an image of Africa as the â€Å"other world,† the antithesis of a civilized Europe, a site where man’s accumulated years of education and sophistication are confronted by a striking savagery. The story opens on the River Thames, calm and peaceful. It then moves to the very opposite of the Thames, and takes place on the River Congo. However, It’s not the flagrant difference between the two that perplexes Conrad but the underlying allusion of intimate relationship, of â€Å"common ancestry,† since the Thames was itself a dark place, but one that has managed to civilize, to enlighten itself and the world, and is now living in the light. The peaceful Thames, however, runs the terrible risk of being stirred by its encounter with its â€Å"primordial relative, the Congo;† it would witness the reflection of its own forsaken darkness and would hear the sounds that echo its remote gloomy history. The Thames would fall victim to the ghastly reminiscences of the irrational frenzy of the primitive times (Achebe 262-3). It would be very helpful to quote one of the most interesting and most revealing passages in Heart of Darkness when representatives of Europe in a steamer going down the Congo encounter the denizens of Africa: We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth. [? ] We glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. [? ] They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity ?like yours ? the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. [? ] but if you were man enough you would admit that there was in you just the faintest trace of response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you ? you so remote from the night of first ages ? could comprehend (51-2). Here in lies the meaning of Heart of Darkness that takes us on a journey into the unconscious world of the human beings through the psychoanalytic features inherent in the novel’s â€Å"dream story. † Marlow, a man of discipline and justice, was expecting such values to exist elsewhere. They became a kind of psychological expectations. His great revelation takes place when he discovers that not all men share his belief in an orderly, fundamentally good society. His journey from Brussels to the Congo is full of elements of the absurd, elements that hint at a world that is suddenly irrational and out of focus. In the Congo, the jungle is surrounded by a dangerous feminine aura; the long river is described in â€Å"treacherous, serpentine terms;† everything about the nature conveys a sense of a mysterious and terrifying reality (Karl 786). Marlow is fascinated by the jungle woman – Kurtz’s savage mistress – and her demanding display of sex, by her provocative measured walk. He is also drawn by her surprising sense of reality and her full acceptance of Kurtz with all the savagery he embodies. Her image contradicts with his ideal of womanhood he had known all his life: the girl back in Brussels, his aunt, the naive woman who believed in the Europeans’ grand mission in Africa. Marlow tries to resist the seductive aspect of the nature, much as he shies away from the attraction of power. Sex lies heavily on the story, although Marlow never directly talks about it. The temptation is clear in his fears, in the jungle that conceals the terrors and the calls for orgiastic, uncontrollable sex. In the novel, Kurtz represents Europe; maneuvering for power, searching for advantages; he chose the route of ivory looting. His unquenchable hunger for possession is overwhelming. In Africa, he is free of all human barriers; civilized taboos are down. He is able to gratify all his forbidden desires and dwells on ultimate corruption, debarred of all restraints. This lies at the heart of Marlow’s secret attraction to Kurtz; the latter’s will to brutal, superhuman power. Kurtz has â€Å"risen above the masses ? of natives, station managers, even of directors back in Brussels. He must continue to assert himself, a megalomaniac in search of further power. Marlow has never met anyone like him, [? ]† (Karl 787). One telling part in the novel comes with Kurtz’s death and his double scream â€Å"The horror! The horror! † (Conrad 105). Marlow, out of his deep fascination with Kurtz and his need to believe in a good human nature, attributes a â€Å"Christian† reading to these words. He understands the shriek as a moral victory: at the time of his death, Kurtz has reviewed his life and the corrupt part of him has repented. It’s arguable, though, that Kurtz’s cry might be one of anguish and despair, because he has to die with his work incomplete. In other words, he laments a fate which frustrates his plans. However, Marlow has explained the horror of this experience in human terms necessary to guarantee the flow of life. He protects the lie of Kurtz’s existence in order to preserve his own illusions (Karl 788-9). Hence, we notice that Marlow, throughout his journey, has concealed from himself the reality of his own as well as others’ needs. The jungle is the mask that bars the light of sun and sky. The landscape becomes the repository of our anxieties and the vast protective camouflage that hides our inner fears. It bars the light of our conscience and rational capacities and becomes â€Å"part of the psychological as well as physical landscape† (Karl 788). It runs parallel to our unconscious mind where our repressed desires are hidden. The â€Å"prehistoric earth,† that is still untouched by the hands of civilization, is but our rudimentary soul, in its raw, savage nature, unrefined and free of the conscious disguises. The â€Å"lurking hint of kinship† that the Europeans have felt at their encounter with the Africans is but a hint of deep connection existing between the rational and the irrational, the conscious and the unconscious. The â€Å"black and incomprehensible frenzy† of the strange bodies is a reminder of the uncontrollable libido. This â€Å"wild and passionate uproar† is â€Å"ugly† because the wilderness and passion that nurture our disguised depths are a mass of animalistic drives, and our id that hosts all unfulfilled wishes carries the wildest of motivations. Yet, one cannot but heed â€Å"the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise† for one cannot fully resist the temptation to gratify his impulses and instinctual needs. In Freudian terms, our superego sometimes fails to have full control over its antithesis, the id. The boundaries that separate the unconscious from the conscious are blurred. This terrible â€Å"frenzy† holds a meaning that, even the man who is â€Å"so remote from the night of first ages ? could comprehend†: the refined man is able to understand the noise because it communicates with an inherent ? although masked ? part of his soul. Thus, Africa has become a topology of the mind ? its location, its shape, its cultures, its textures, its rhythms, it hues, its wildness ? all calling forth something lost in the psychology of the white European. The darkness of the African continent, of its instinctual, shadowed, primeval underworld establishes a revealing context for an examination of the Jungian concepts in the novel. Marlow’s journey, in Jungian terms, becomes a journey of individuation: a salvation realized through bringing the unconscious urges to consciousness ? a journey which can be contrasted to that of his diabolic double, Kurtz, who undergoes a psychological disintegration into his savage self and slips into â€Å"The horror! The horror! † The shadow in Heart of Darkness is thus personified by Kurtz. Richard Hughs argues that Kurtz’s last words sum up the Jungian insight that â€Å"from the same root that produces wild, untamed, blind instinct there grow up the natural laws and cultural forms that tame and break its pristine power. But when the animal in us is split off from consciousness by being repressed, it may easily burst out in full force, quite unregulated and uncontrolled. An outburst of this sort always ends in catastrophe ? the animal destroys itself† (21). Hughs adds that the novel is composed of two journeys into the hidden self, one is â€Å"horrifying, ending in personality destruction and death;† the other is â€Å"restorative, wisdom-producing, a gateway to wholeness [? ] Conrad has seized on the paradoxical quality of the descent into the unconscious [? ]† (58). For Jung, the integration of the personality is not possible without a full descent into the unconscious and clearly the novel is about the descent into the depths, the underworld, into the very heart of darkness. â€Å"Jung’s awareness that the darkness is part of himself, that to deny the darkness would be self-mutilation, and the awareness is not erased but heightened by a recognition of that dark self: this is Marlow’s discovery† (Hughs 66). Marlow’s journey toward individuation and his encounter with the darkness of his own shadow are set against a backdrop of the personal and collective unconscious. Kurtz is not only the personal shadow of Marlow, but the collective shadow of all Europe and of European imperialism. Throughout the novel there is a dense undergrowth of Congo unconsciousness, as Marlow succinctly states, â€Å"All of Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz† (73). In the midst of this journey of individuation, we encounter Jung’s concept of the anima personified by Kurtz’s wild mistress. She is a reflection of the soul of the wilderness, â€Å"she stood looking at us with a stir, and like the wilderness itself, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose† (Conrad 92). She is the savagely magnificent consort of the underworld and the feminine part of every man’s psyche. Hughs calls her â€Å"the grand archetype of the unconscious, consort of the mad Kurtz and the goal of the inner search† (268-9). Conrad’s novel descends into the unknowable darkness at the heart of Africa, taking its narrator, Marlow, on an underworld journey of individuation, a modern Odyssey toward the center of the Self and the center of the Earth. Interestingly, the narrative technique and the inherent symbolism in Heart of Darkness all contribute to the overall dream-like and nightmarish mood of the story. The use of first person narrative was essential so that Conrad could distance himself from the lived experience and for the reader could identify with a common man thrown into a bizarre situation. Lacking Marlow as the narrator, the story would lose its credibility and would appear too distant from the real experience. Through repetition, difference of tone, analogy, duplicating images, doubling of scenes and characters, Conrad could form a shape for the story. He â€Å"used heightening and foreshortening, contrast and comparison to give the novella form;† from the opening scene, when the ancient Romans on the Thames are contrasted with the modern Europeans in the Congo (Karl 789). Marlow’s calm setting on the Nellie contrasts with the alarming Congo riverboat setting. Kurtz’s two fiancees represents two different sets of values, two contradictory cultures. The jungle, as death, is in conflict with the river, as possible relief. The natives’ savagery is set off against the backdrop of the apparently civilized Europeans. The contrast reaches the two central characters as well; Kurtz’s humanitarianism contradicts his own barbarism, Marlow’s middle class sense of English justice is contrasted with the Congo reality. It is also clear in their fluctuating love-hate relationship that pervades the story. The abundance of mechanical and metallic images suggests a sense of human waste and indicates that tough objects have gone beyond flexibility and softness in order to resist the passing of time, so humanity itself must become an object in order to survive. This strong sense of an absurd existence is best represented by the ivory itself. Ivory, the purest demonstration of the color white, stands in stark juxtaposition to the darkness of the jungle. It draws the white men to Africa then turns their minds from building commerce and civilization, to exploitation and madness. Wherever ivory is present, white men plunder, kill, and turn on each other. Conrad uses symbolism to suggest meanings rather than spelling them out directly. The technicalities of his style include a frequent use of alliteration, a reliance on adjectives which emphasize the unfamiliar aspects of Marlow’s experience. Words like â€Å"inscrutable,† â€Å"inconceivable,† â€Å"unspeakable† that describe the oppressive mysteriousness of the Congo are recurrent throughout the novel. The same vocabulary is used to evoke the human depths and the unspeakable potentialities of the man’s soul and to magnify the sense of spiritual horrors (Leavis 246-7). The words and adjectives Conrad applies â€Å"beat upon us, creating drum-like rhythms, entirely appropriate to the thick texture of the jungle† (Karl 789). The darkness of the jungle goes hand in hand with darkness everywhere, alluding at â€Å"the blackness of Conrad’s humor, the despair of his irony† (Karl 789). It is the nightmare’s color: the darkness surrounding Kurtz’s death, his last words, the report by the manager’s boy, the delirious escape from the jungle, the encounter with Kurtz’s fiancee; all such incidents constitute the elements of a nightmarish dream. Even the Russian follower of Kurtz who is dressed in motley seems as a figure from another world. In his ridiculous appearance, he is a perfect symbol of Marlow’s Congo experience (Karl 788-9). In this passage, F. R. Leavis argues that Conrad makes almost every aspect of his novel contribute to its overwhelming impression, one of a strangely insane world and a nightmarish existence: [? ] in terms of things seen and incidents experienced by a main agent in the narrative, and particular contacts and exchanges with other human agents, the overwhelming sinister and fantastic ? atmosphere’ is engendered. Ordinary greed, stupidity, and moral squalor are made to look like behaviour in a lunatic asylum against the vast and oppressive mystery of the surroundings, rendered potently in terms of sensation. This means lunacy, which we are made to feel as at the same time normal and insane, is brought out by contrast with the fantastically secure innocence of the young harlequin-costumed Russian [? ] (246) Using his renowned artistic and literary craftsmanship, Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness that has become, since its publication in 1899, one of the most widely read books written in English. It has also been one of the most analyzed: scores of literary critics, ranging from feminists to Marxists to New Critics, have all tried to construct their own meanings from the pages of the book. The novel does seem to invite a wide variety of interpretations. Looking at it through the lenses of psychoanalytic theories, Heart of Darkness has proven to be a â€Å"masterpiece of concealment† and a metaphor for the theory of the unconscious as a repository of all irrational and repressed wishes. (Karl 788). The journey into the heart of the continent can also be seen as Marlow’s own journey of individuation, self-discovery and self-enlightenment. Bibiography Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. † A Practical Reader in Contemporary Literary Theory. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1996. 262-4 Conrad, Joseph. Heart Of Darkness. Beirut: Librairie Du Liban Publishers SAL, 1994. Guerin, Wilfred L. , et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Hewitt, Douglas. â€Å"Conrad: A Reassessment. † World Literature Criticism. Ed. Polly Vedder. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1992. 789-92. Hughs, Richard E. The Lively Image: Four Myths in Literature. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishers, 1975. Karl, Frederick R. â€Å"A Reader’s Guide To Joseph Conrad. † World Literature Criticism. Ed. Polly Vedder. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1992. 785-9. Leavis, F. R. â€Å"From The Great Tradition. † A Practical Reader in Contemporary Literary Theory. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1996. 246-7 Mudrick, Marvin. â€Å"The Originality of Conrad. † World Literature Criticism. Ed. PollyVedder. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1992. 782-5. Murfin, Ross C. Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989. Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Knopf, 1979. Wright, Elizabeth. â€Å"Psychoanalytic Criticism. † Encyclopedia Of Literature And Criticism. 1991 ed. 765-7.

Cases in global marketing strategies Essay

If you call yourself a movie fanatic, then 21 August, 2009 was a day you will always have to remember. Movie lovers and anyone who love going to cinemas were defiantly in a rush that day to be in any near IMAX Theater. In more than a hundred IMAX 3-D cinemas all over the world watched just 16 minutes preview of the footage from the new James Cameron movie the Avatar. Just on the same day, Ubisoft debuted a preview on a video game based on the movie, and Mattel unveiled action toys based on the movie characters. On the other hand, a day earlier, the teaser made for this movie broke records on Apple.com, this was after the teaser was streamed more than four million times during the first day. On that day August 21, it was a celebration for all movie lovers and movie productions and for that it was a holiday and till now it is remembered as â€Å"Avatar Day.† Today it is remembered as the dawn of the most planned and successful digital marketing campaign ever created to support a movie (Evan, 2011). In this movie James Cameroon and his crew went to all limits and for sure they deserved what the movie gave them in return. For Avatar to stand out above the rest of the movies as it did, there are a lot of strategies and plans which were put in motion for all this to happen. Below are some of the details of key components of how the marketing campaign of the movie became such a success, in some I will illustrate with a character and creature within â€Å"Avatar.† The Home tree: Avatar’s Website The clarity and visual perfection of the home tree on Pandora portrays what has been cultivated on the movies official website. On the websites visitors have more than they can get on a standard trailer, this is by images and all background materials. In the website, you will find 14 side scrolling square boxes that will show a lot of digital products that make this movie different from the rest. On top of this the fans have the capability of accessing the story, character information, music, and picture downloads. And to make the website more interesting the fans can also be able to share their views and showcase their personal interests on the movie. In the movie just about when humans destroyed the home tree for wealth and pursuit of personal interests, the movies website home page had its own destructions in mid-August when the movie fans crushed the site in the process of trying to get free tickets for â€Å"Avatar Day.† The Banshee: The AIR Interactive Trailer The movies interactive trailer comes before other previous movie trailers, and this is all because of integration of social media feeds, and eleven points of interaction that gives viewers the opportunity for one click access to each character. This means that the fans can choose the characters they want to view in a trailer and by this they unlock additional contents. The creation of this trailer was made possible by the use of adobe AIR software, which creates a flexible platform for developers. The outcome of this achievement is that the fans get to enjoy more exciting experience like never before, which more of less the same as to the one is offered in Banshee skipping in the movie. The preview is a motion and frequently refreshed gateway to the movie, which appears to be real and capture the moment it begins. The other advantage is that the preview comes with three options to purchase tickets. The Tree of Souls: Social Media: In the movie the character Na’vi believes that in the tree of souls, which a resting place for the souls of ancestors, was the main link of what connected them to one another. Through this idea, there is a connection to social media that is always connected to our past in one way or the other. Social media being one of the fastest ways to pass information around all over the world, film movie makers had to use the advantage when marketing Avatar. The movies unbelievably got the attention it required on social sites for example it got about 1.5 million fans on Facebook alone, in Myspace the fans were about 800,000 and on twitter I gained about 26,000 followers. According to one of Americas social media analytic firm, they said that Avatar was the most talked about movie in the year 2010 in twitter. However, some tweets resulted to tweet and listen promotion that required the fans to send messages via twitter and after doing that then they will be able to listen to music used in the movie as soundtracks. The social media strategy Avatar used also extended to YouTube that gained over 12 million views, on flicker it got 1.5million people viewing the photos and a type pad blogging community of about 5000 people. Hallelujah Mountains: Augmented Reality In the movie, the gravity opposing Hallelujah Mountains appears to be challenging the ability to hear or see, which is also what had been made greater and reality pushes to do by tabling an interesting experience that floats in front of the viewer’s eyes. The creation of â€Å"Avatar† toys which could be activated and brought to life through the help of webcams and special product tags. While on the other side Coke zero introduced soda cans that opened up a world of Pandora. The final result is that â€Å"Avatar† is so far the biggest movie ever made in the box office of all times. This movie sold over $2 billion in tickets sales which was mostly influenced by 3-D taxes and international interests. Through â€Å"Avatar† James Cameron became one of the greatest movie makers of all time having two of the top-grossing movie topping on the box office at the same time. The question remains to be what lead to the success of this movie? The primary objective of any marketing strategy in the movie industry is to make sure that the fans get the product you are marketing. While at the same time gets to theaters to watch the movies that they have to pay about $10 to $15 and have to watch the movie for several hours. After the campaign made by the advertisers, millions of people all went out to theatres just to enjoy the movie and 3-D glasses, and the fans also got to bring a phrase from the movie to life which was used by Na’vi: Oel ngati kameie meaning â€Å"I see you.† This is the processes in which the improvements in the movie made it unique as compared to other films. However, they are not just the only methods James Cameron used to make â€Å"Avatar† a success in the digital movie era. The introduction of 3-D camera and stimulcam were not just the technology’s that turned James Cameron’s sci-fi unique and a success. Many other small movies have also turned to social media to spread the word guerrilla-style, but so far no other blockbuster movie has turned to social media marketing like Avatar did. After using this method to market its film, the results they got from the first opening weekend Avatar made $232 million and ranked the movie on #2 highest grossing movie of all times. Cameron’s $500million act of hubris finally bared fruits. Reinventing the Movie Trailer Online Knowing that Avatar was never the first film to make a trailer in a different manner online. Then it means that it was never the first to try out most of this things required for online advertising. But using an expensive strategy, and at the same time combine it with several existing ideas was what made this movie’s social media campaign go big. In the beginning it started with ideas which many movies use now: a preview debut from Apple, which was announced on twitter and the anxiety was too high from the fans to such an extent that the servers had to get the trailer out to the people who wanted it. Afterward, about a month later the movie released the second trailer, this became a success since many fans were eagerly waiting to see the trailer for a whole month and with that the fans made their own mash-up trailers which involved Avatar and other movies. However, after making the second preview they did not stop there and they went forth and made the third trailer and to their surprise the preview was the best they had achieved so far, and to an extend it blew everyone away beyond their expectation. An interactive preview was introduced using Adobe Air software and therefore in required one to download that is a bit hectic, but to all Avatar fans the download was worth it. The download had special features such as featured contend, and the fans could read all updated social media updates on the movie from the trailer. This move was the biggest move that Avatar had taken since it got press coverage and buzz (Dave, 2011). The Facebook and MTV Webcast On 3 December, Facebook joined forces with MTV.com and were sponsored by LG webcast known as â€Å"Avatar Live.† An interview was made to get word from the great minds behind the creation and success of the movie and this were people like James Cameron the Director, the producers Jon Landau, the Actors Zoe Saldana and Sam Washington. In this interview, the fans also got to ask them any questions they wanted to about the movie. Even though the interview can be said to have been short and brief, it is still considered to be one of the amazing webcast to have been seen up to date (Mitchell_A_Zucker) . This is because it is not always that simple to see big Hollywood names all sitting at the same place answering questions from their fans all at the same time. Even though having the community come to interact with a director of such caliber is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it made us remember of director Peter Jackson’s daily updates from the famous set of The Lord of th e Rings. What was experienced in both cases is the fact that people who did not know much about the movies also turned out for the sale and learn more about the film while on the other hand the fans also showed up in large numbers to also get to know all what they did not know yet and get new words to spread around to friends and other people they interact with. Broadcasting the Premiere Live On UstreamOne of the most respected way for any celebrity or movie to go down is by using the red carpet. Avatar was premiered at the red carpet and broadcasted live to the audience on a video streaming site Ustream. Besides the technology media coverage this pulled, this idea was not a new stunt since movies like twilight saga New moon had already put it on trial, however, we can say it made many people happy that day. The point is a movie should use all ways possible it gets to get the awareness of the movie out. This broadcast made at the red carpet was sponsored by Myspace, and with this it means that the move reached fans who got to miss the presentation in Facebook or any other social media site. The fans of Avatar had the opportunity to watch the preview and the video in bot Myspace web page in addition to Ustream website. The fact that the red carpet was one week before the movie was released and aired in cinemas was another way to get the awareness of the movie to the fans during the final days of marketing before the final release date of the eagerly awaited movie. Avatar is one of the most thrilling Sci-fi, fantasy, adventure movie ever made. The story line is with no doubt captivating to the audience. Due to these features it was made easy for Cameron and his crew to market the movie since all the fans were thrilled and eager to see the movie after watching the trailers offered on the movie. However, in marketing Avatar the movie had to also come up with action figures which would symbolize the characters and through this they got to attract more children fans to get to buy the toys and also want to watch the movie (Dave, 2011). Coming up with unique posters of the movie was also another marvelous move Avatar came up with, since everyone who was a fan wanted to at least have a poster of the movie in the house or even in their bedrooms and through that all the friend of people with the posters would end up being drawn slowly into liking the movie. According to (Mesa, 2009). another reason many people ended up liking the movie is the fact that we were all amazed by the work made by the make-up artist in the movie, actually they made the characters look so real in such a way that has never been seen before. The details on the characters and the make-up were just out of this world. Conclusion From this essay, it is evident that James Camron went to all measures to make Avatar such a success. However, many movies might have tried using the same marketing strategies but the little details and changes that James Cameron brought to the production and marketing of the movie are what actually made the difference and ended up make this movie the greatest movie of all times. However, this made it everyone’s business to play the marketing roles which were to be played by everyone during the movie sale and we even see how the fans got the chance to market the movie and also comment on live updates about the movie. This time it is with no doubt that James Cameron overdid himself in this movie. Having such a big movie is not something people see every day it takes practice and experience to be what James Cameron is, but we cannot be so surprised about this since James Cameron had another blockbuster â€Å"Titanic† which was also top of the box office before he broke his own record with Avatar. This movie â€Å"Avatar† did not just be successful it changed the movie industry as we knew it and for that I have doubt that Avatar will be a movie that will be remembered for several decades to come or even a century. Reference Jeannet, J. (2004). Cases in global marketing strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Evan, S. (2011). Avatar. Pittsburgh, PA: Six Gallery Press. Mesa, A. (2009). Brand Avatar: translating virtual world branding into real world success. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kautonen, T. (2008). Trust and new technologies marketing and management on the Internet and mobile media. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Dave, D. (2011). Think before you engage 100 questions to ask before starting a social media marketing campaign. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. Paul, A. (2009). Digital strategies for powerful corporate communications. New York: McGraw-Hill. Mattias, B. (2011). How Cool Brands Stay Hot. Kogan Page Matthew, S. (2011). Handbook of research on digital media and advertising: user generated content consumption. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Roger, A. (2009). Marketing. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Article Source: Mitchell_A_Zucker. http://teammaz.wordpress.com/about/oliveborden.blogspot.com/†¦/identify-your-target-market-with-this.html Marketing Strategies of movies —-Avatar. http://blogs.ubc.ca/daisydong/2013/02/24/marketing-strategies-of-movies-avatar/ Source document

A History of the Issue of the Gender Wage Gap in America

A History of the Issue of the Gender Wage Gap in America The gender wage gap has been around since women began having jobs and careers in the economy. In the beginning of the wage gap was purely doing to discrimination as well as social stereotypes, now it has become more complicated than that. The issue today has evolved into a complex issue which combines our American culture, business economics politics and social culture. As a result, some are skeptical of the issue and some are very adamant in their mind set. The Equal Pay Act was initiated during the Kennedy administration. Since then, the gender wage gap has been narrowing every year, but it still does exist in the United States. The gender wage gap is the difference between what women get paid and what men get paid for doing the same job. Each year and pay quota women are paid 59 cents more than before which may be a good thing, more or less they the pay roll are not equal for working women and working men in the field. People have been trying to prove whether the gender wage gap i s institute, or unimportant since before the first act was passed. In the 1963 the gender wage gap was a huge issue; women made only 63% of what men made in the same positions. As time has progressed, women now make on average 77% of what men make in the same position. Every second a baby is born in the United States, according to the U.S. Census, and with a baby comes big responsibility. Whether it’s fair or not, the social norm is the woman stays at home, while the man goes to work to pay the bills. Since many women feel the pressures of family obligations more than the men do, they often are forced to choose between their family and their careers. Accordingly women statistically don’t put in as many overtime hours as men, says April Kelly-Woessner, a political science professor at Elizabethtown College. Employers complain that women regularly choose family obligations over their jobs. In politics men believe that women should not be in the field because they are women; though can have the same education women in the feature will eventually have families and have kids to take care of. With that comes multiple respponicbities. Thus women would have to retire and quit their current job to take care of their growing family. Many companies believe that men can do a better job than women because men do nessecarrly need to be worried about their running the household since its mainly the women’s job as the â€Å"House Keeper†. When many companies say this it sparks a debate, riot, and protest on the working pay roll of working women. To this day, there is still no definitive reason why, but the gap seems to close little by little each year. Can we contribute that to women standing up for themselves more, working harder to prove their worth, or even challenging the system? T.J. Billitteri wrote the article entitled Gender pay gap touching base on the important fact which is women working and sharing the same career title as a man are making far less money (March 14, 2008).CQ Researcher, 18, 241-264.Billitteri begins his article touching base on a large lawsuit of Ledbetter vs. Goodyear tire. Ledbetter, one of few females in her supervisory position, realized she was making $559.00 a month less than the males in the same position. She received around $3 million in back pay and damages. That case stirred up a lit of press on the pay gap issue and put emphasis on bills such as the Fair Pay Act. Recognized female state officials are pushing the enforcement of Fair Pay Acts and Equal Pay Acts more and more on Congress and the Senate still to this day. Billitteri (2008) states with those in effect men and women would have equal compensation when working in the same field. A prime example is a women working as a Chief Executive makes on average 22 percent of what a male Chief Executive makes. Looking at the 2006 U.S. Census statistics it showed â€Å"the pay gap at about 77 percent of the men’s median full-time, year-round earnings.† (Billitteri 2008). In Billitteris’ article he discusses how when hiring a female the company takes into account the possibilities for maternity leave, higher insurance needs, time off to care for children, and a raised risk for sexual harassment claims. It has become apparent that women are intimidated to seek out executive or other high paying positions In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates. The idea that the majority of women are working the same types of jobs, and same amount of hours but still being paid much less than men is causing much concern. In recent history the gender gap is slowly decreasing. Young women are shrinking the education gay and earning degrees such as a masters degree and bachelors degree. In fact, women are earning more bachelor and masters degrees than men. In addition, women are also finding careers in law, business and medical schools. Women are starting to over come the limits of gender in the labor market. They are no longer settling for nurses, secretaries or salesclerks. Women are overcoming the great gender gap. Over the years studies have taken place in order to try and resolve this problem concerning the gender gap. According to the tables on pages thirty nine through forty the studies that presented show that women earn seventy seven percent of what men make during an average of fifteen years, but the studies which show the true incomes pay between the two different sexes shows us that the gap is much greater. Women are actually only making sixty two percent of what men are earning. The figure is summed up when the mens average earnings were at $49,068 and womens were far below the mens income at $ 29,507 for the fifteen year average

Public Health Preparedness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Public Health Preparedness - Research Paper Example On the other hand, practical acts of violence like terror bombardments results in physical injuries and death. Health and security are related since employees within a healthcare institution cannot deliver their services with utter peace of mind when there is an impending threat of violence. On the other hand, anxiety in the society resulting from terror threats cannot enable individuals to hold their physical and mental components in good health. In this regard, healthcare institutions should ensure preparedness of their systems to handle emergency situations caused by insecurity incidences. Prior to examining the essential preparedness measures, it is worth acknowledging the actual effects of insecurity to healthcare delivery. Firstly, terrorists and any perpetrators of insecurity do not apply discrimination while selecting their battlegrounds. Suicide bombers can even walk into a hospital’s sickbay full of patients and detonate an explosive device. This means that violence and terrorism renders a healthcare facility insecure. According to Gilliam and Yates (2012), fears prevailing within a healthcare environment with insecurity undermine the level of competence demonstrated by doctors and nurses while treating patients. Apart from insecure healthcare environment, violence and terrorism causes massive casualties, some of which may be in critical conditions. Normally, a healthcare facility with 600-bed capacity does not have an emergency department to host 300 patients in critical condition. This means that incidences of insecurity like terror bombardments may co mpromise on effectiveness of a healthcare facility in terms of capacity. Therefore, it is advisable for healthcare facility managers to make hay while the sun shines; by ensuring thorough preparedness for imminent emergency situations. In healthcare service delivery, emergency situations require employment of corresponding response procedures. During preparation for imminent emergency situations,

Reflect on the assessment process you use in your own teaching, Essay

Reflect on the assessment process you use in your own teaching, explain using approprite assessment terminology and theories - Essay Example There are about 30-35 adult learners from a mixed diverse group. This group is quite interactive although some have been out of education for a very long time. They require simple and clear explanation. There is a mixture of male and female. During the session learner may require explanation repeatedly. They are quite responsive and have to keep them focus to the lesson. I will also focus on applying learning theories to encourage learners and promote their understanding by modelling and reinforcement of existing knowledge that they have. This session relate to the module by having an understanding of my role and responsibilities as a lecturer. It gives an opportunity to apply learning theories to enhance teaching and learning. It is also related in terms of my lesson planning; structuring my session by recognising learner’s needs and apply relevant learning theories to promote learner’s understanding and learning through observation and modelling. To introduce the four models of working in Partnership in Health and Social Care. Make learners understand the relationships and significance between the four models of working in partnership. Ensure learners understand local strategic partnership and local area agreement. Delivery of lecture and explanation, assessing their knowledge through formal assessment, question and answers and group discussion. With my group of learners I make sure my power point presentation is very clear, ask questions throughout the lecture, group discussion in order to keep them interactive, get all learners involve and concentrate. I will use examples in order to make them reflect on their practice and previous lecture. I also give them more explanation and definition of key words used in the text. This is because some of my learners are non native speakers. I will build learner’s confidence by praising them and encourage them to interact in class activities. I will also

Introduction to Computer Networks TCPIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to Computer Networks TCPIP - Essay Example If IP works so well, why a need is felt to change The primary motivation for change arises from the limited address space. When IP was defined, only a few compute networks existed. The designers decided to use 32 bits for an IP address because doing so allowed the Internet to include over a million networks. However, with a rapid exponential growth in the global Internet, the primary motivation for defining a new version of IP arose from the address space limitation, as larger addresses are necessary to accommodate continued growth of the Internet. Besides addressing, the most common problems faced by the TCP/IP were routing and connectivity issues. Secondary motivations for changes in IP have risen from new Internet applications. For example, applications that deliver audio and video need to deliver data at regular intervals. To keep such information flowing through the Internet without disruption, IP must avoid changing routes frequently. Although the current IP datagram header includes a field that can be used to request a type of service, the protocol did not define a type of service that can be used for real-time delivery of audio and video. New applications are being developed that require more complex addressing and routing capabilities. Thus, a new version of IP needs to include mechanisms that make addressing and routing possible. (Douglas) The current version of IP, which possesses the main drawback of address space, routing and connectivity, is version 4 so it is referred to as Ipv4. Ipv6 is the official name of IPng (Internet Protocol next generation) Features of Ipv4 and Ipv6 1. Connectionless - each datagram contains a destination address, and each datagram is routed independently. 2. The header in a datagram contains a maximum number of hops the datagram can take before being discarded. 3. Ipv4 places key information in fixed fields of the header and only appends variable-length options for less important information while Ipv6 header is always of variable size. (Douglas) Reasons for changing Ipv4 to Ipv6 Larger and better Network management of Address Space: The most considerable reason for the decision of changing from Ipv4 to Ipv6 is the smooth management of the IPv6 network. As the answer to the lack of address space, IPv6 holds a potential for a network the size of which has never been seen before. The manner in which the network is managed will to a great extent determine whether this huge network will function. The main objectives, which are visualized in network management, would be: 1. Display the distinct hierarchy embedded in the IPv6 address architecture, 2. Show topographical data simultaneously to the hierarchy, 3. Make peripheral data easily available, and 4. In doing so, aid in the process of network management. Ipv6 research and ideology basically revolves around network management. This is because most of the problems in IPv4, which IPv6 is created to

Thematic analysis on dante's inferno Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thematic analysis on dante's inferno - Essay Example The poem illustrates that human wisdom is vain in the face of spirituality. The poem guides the audience through the circles of hell that contain people that would be otherwise virtuous according to the perception of human beings. Numerous individuals, who were virtuous atheists, appear in the Limbo section of hell. These virtuous individuals did not welcome the Jesus Christ’s spirituality into their lives. They had chosen to live in life by relying on their distinct wisdom. Without baptism, these individuals had lacked the insight and hope for an ideal that was beyond human comprehension. This castle has the wisest men who professed considerable intelligence while living on earth. For instance, the Castle includes Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato. In addition, it includes the poet, Virgil, and polymaths such as Avicenna. In spite of their wisdom and righteous lives, they still share the same fate, as other human beings, if they do not accept the divine life of Christ. The poem also illustrates the inevitability of God’s justice. God is notable as an entity that enacts its justice in a perfect sense such that every individual attains punishment according to the nature and amount of sin that one commits. For instance, while the wrathful eat the excrement of one another, the gluttonous fight among themselves. As Virgil and Dante enter the gates of Hell, there is the encryption â€Å"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here (Alighieri 24).† This denotes the inevitability of God’s punishment. In the end, individuals recive punishment for any amount of sin that one committed while living. It is essential to highlight of the special caste of the uncommitted individuals who still face regrettable punishment for their ambivalence in life. These people are neither in hell nor in heaven. In turn, Dante expresses the notion of divine punishment with respective moral messages by restructuring hell into different parts. In close relation to this concept , it is essential to highlight that poem illustrates the gradual human journey towards gaining righteousness. On the other hand, God is a merciful being who recognizes the inherent faults in the makeup of a human being. In addition, he recognizes the ambitions, such as lust, which compels human beings in sin. Before Dante begins his journey, he notes, â€Å"the fear in me subsided (Alighieri 17).† This statement comes after Dante had noted that he was in a dark forest that had triggered fear in him. In spite of his hopelessness, the light that shines in front of him grants hope. Dante appears as a sinful man who had resided in an earthly wisdom and love that blinds him into believing in his own willpower. God, however, is a merciful being who sends Virgil to guide trough a path of restoration. Dnate’s experience in hell should serve as a foundation for beginning a new life. The poem also entails the theme of God’s will on human lives. Inferno gives taxonomy of s in that the audience should explore and judge in independent parts. There is an underlying organizing principle that classifies human evil. For instance, the acceptance of bribe is manifested as worse than murder. It is critical to highlight that this organization follows the Christina’s doctrine. Fraud, thus, is a greater disrespect to God’s will than murder. According to the Biblical principle on love, fraud considerably flouts God’s expectation of how human beings should treat each other. It is discernible that

The Bahai Faith and an Excerpt by Bahaullah Essay

The Bahai Faith and an Excerpt by Bahaullah - Essay Example The Baha'i Faith originated more than 150 years ago and expanded around the world. Affiliates of the Baha'i Faith reside in more than 100,000 sections of the globe and derive from practically every civilization, occupation, nationality, and monetary environment. Baha'i Faith strives to find a unification of vision in seeking a purpose in life through true religion. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Baha'u'llah. (The Baha'i Faith / The International Web site of the Baha'is of the world). One of his writings, "The Moral Guidance in Ornate Prose", will be analyzed in this paper. Baha'u'llah begins his Moral Guidance piece with similar parallels to the eight Beatitudes taught by Jesus Christ. The Beatitudes are simply written but very profound statements that guide, teach and show values of Jesus' message, similar to Baha'u'llah's Moral Guidance excerpt. "Be generous in prosperity", "worthy of trust of thy neighbor", "treasure to the poor", "an answerer to the cry of the needy", "Be unjust to no man", "show all meekness to all men" (Tradition).These teachings from the beginning of Baha'u'llah's Moral Guidance passage, emphasize that a firm sense of unity between all of us is essential to human progression and that all prejudice - racial, religious, national or economic - is destructive and must be overcome.

Class and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Essay

Class and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Essay Example Gordon Ramsay’s Ramsay’s Kitchen has already transcended beyond cooking and good taste. Gordon Ramsay’s success became a gauge and to a certain extent a barometer of the desirable values that society should emulate. Ramsay’s values for example such as hard work and neoliberal individualism was idealized that even his less than ideal characteristics became part of the acceptable culinary identity. As a show, Ramsay’s Kitchen has to provide entertainment value to its audience for the show to remain relevant but the manner it provides entertainment triggers extreme reactions due to Ramsay’s unorthodox and outrageous approach to entertain its audience. The jokes employed by the show may have served its purpose to elicit emotional response from its audience but it also creates class distinction as those who are not able to contend with the swagger of the jokes of Ramsay are often relegated to as low class. Even the structure of the show where apprentices are supposed to be students became a symbol of class distinction as they became subservient to the chef and therefore are subjected to classist derision affirming the power and superiority of Ramsay in culinary world not only in terms of culinary competence but also in employing power in the totem pole of chefs. This extends to language where power seems to provide license to the Ramsay show where swear words did not only become an expression of disgust but also an expression of superiority and power. Class differences also extended to gender as Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares represents the value of male dominated society as the show embodies the middle-class male dominated masculinity. But this may be necessary as most of its audience are composed of middle class where it derives not only its ratings but also its significance as its values are reflective of the middle

Life Without Plastics Essay Example for Free

Life Without Plastics Essay The product, webcam 7 (in whole or in part, including all files, data, and documentation, from here on referred to as Software) is  © Copyright 2012 Moonware Studios, all rights reserved, and is protected by Switzerland copyright laws, international treaties and all other applicable national or international laws. The sole owner of this product is Moonware Studios. License Agreement. Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in and to the content accessed through the Software is the property of the applicable content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other law. This License gives you no rights to such content. The Software is provided on an AS IS basis, without warranty of any kind, including without limitation the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Software is borne by you. This disclaimer of warranty constitutes an essential part of the agreement.   Either party may terminate this Agreement immediately in the event of default by the other party. Upon any termination of this Agreement, you shall immediately discontinue the use of the Software and shall within ten (10) days uninstall the software and delete all copies of the Software and Documentation. You may also terminate this Agreement at any time by destroying the Software and Documentation and all copies thereof. Your obligations to pay accrued charges and fees shall survive any termination of this Agreement. This Agreement represents the complete and exclusive statement of the agreements concerning this license between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements and representations between them. It may be amended only by a writing executed by both parties. Headings shall not be considered in interpreting this Agreement. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed under Switzerland law. This Agreement will not be governed by the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is hereby expressly excluded. Restrictions You may not use, copy, modify, translate, or transfer the product or any copy except as expressly defined in this agreement. You may not attempt to unlock or bypass any copy-protection or authentication algorithm utilized by this product.

EU Commission on Auditor Liabilities

EU Commission on Auditor Liabilities Auditors are increasingly finding that they are being targeted by those who feel that they have been wronged by the quality of the financial accounts. Auditors are required to consider the financial accounts that are prepared by the company and to establish whether they believe that they give a true and fair representation of the underlying financial position. By ‘true’ they are looking for whether the transaction actually occurred and by ‘fair’ they are looking to ascertain whether the value of the transaction has been accurately recorded. In the UK, there is a rule that liability for misstatement is joint and several between wrongdoers. This often results in auditors taking a much greater portion of the liability than would seem just. Auditors are often seen to have deep pockets due to their insurance policies and, as such, make more promising targets for those who believe that they have lost out financially due to the inaccuracy of the accounts[1]. Background to the EU Consultation on Auditor Liability There have been widespread concerns over this practice, with many countries operating a more proportional approach where the extent of the blame dictates the extent of the liability. The European Union has shown particular concern over the potential reduction in competition that this lack of capped liability leads to. With the limit level of professional insurance policies playing a huge role in the company’s decision as to which auditor to appoint, this is thought to favour the larger auditors and exclude the smaller players from some of the larger lucrative contracts. It is also thought that this requirement presents such a great barrier to entry for auditor firms that there is a real danger that the audit market is not operating competitively. The EU consultation undertook a study based on four possible options that were available to produce a cap for auditor liability. Firstly, they considered a monetary cap on a Europe wide basis. Secondly, they considered a monetary cap based on the size of the auditor firm. Thirdly, there was an option to produce a monetary cap based on a multiple of the audit fee and finally, they considered the option of member states entering into a policy of proportionate liability, which would require the courts to split the liability based on the level of responsibility for the breach and on a proportional basis. This could either be achieved through statutory provisions or through the contractual provision between the company and the auditor. Upon consultation, the commissioners found that there was overwhelming support for the concept of having a cap on auditor liability, both from inside and outside the auditing profession. The Commission noted that the issue of auditor liability was not a new one, with consideration having been given, in 2001, to whether the extent of the differences between the countries in relation to auditor liability would prevent a single market across Europe. Although, at this stage, the substantial differences across jurisdictions were recognised, they were not thought to be so large that anything had to be done to rectify the position. However, since 2002, the large scale collapse of Arthur Andersen has occurred, bringing the issue of potential liability caps back into the forefront. The Commission initially identified the potential problems that the current auditing regime causes in terms of market stability and competition within the auditing function. Considerable attention was paid to the issue of public interest and the need to have a stable auditing function which can be relied upon to be accurate. For an auditing function to be efficient, the company must be able to select an appropriate auditor for its business needs but still allow it to maintain the independence of the function so that the stakeholders can rely on the statements. It is accepted that auditors will not always be 100% accurate; however, they should be able to be relied upon as this is critical to the overall efficiency of the European capital markets. Concentration of the Audit Market The central importance of the auditing profession is not disputed, with investors relying on the financial statements in order to make investment decisions. However, the magnitude of the risk that auditors are exposed to is becoming increasingly worrying both for the auditors and for the general competitive landscape. Due to the nature of internationally listed companies, there are only four companies that are capable of providing the necessary auditing services. These are refereed to as the ‘Big Four’: Deloitte, KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Ernst Young. It is not necessarily the expertise that prevents others entering the market, but rather the high level of professional indemnity that is required which is simply not cost effective for smaller firms entering the market. It is recognised that there is little or no chance of a new entrant into the market, yet there is a danger that any one of the four could be forced out of the market, at any point, thus further re ducing the competition in large scale auditing. In reality, international auditing firms are not actually one large firm but are a network of smaller firms that recognise they are not able to manage the level of risk that is required for international auditing. With strict rules relating to auditing firms, it is unlikely that another network will emerge, making the international audit market particularly fragile[2]. Auditors often become the target in cases of insolvency as they are the ones with the resources available to deal with any financial losses due to misstatement. It is this potential redress that offers investors a degree of confidence in the market and, therefore, it is seen as desirable that auditors are held to be liable in situations where they get it wrong. However, it is recognised that the current joint and several approach is simply inefficient and consideration should be given to alternatives. For the auditing profession to be truly efficient, it is necessary for there to be a substantial degree of choice. This is not currently the case and effort should be made to ensure that the auditing options are widened so as to become accessible to other medium sized firms. One of the recognised ways of doing this is to have a liability cap or a proportionate regime so that the deep pocket syndrome does not restrict the choice of auditor to the hands of the big four[3]. Extent of Risk for an Auditor The major barriers for mid sized auditor firms are recognised as being the lack of available indemnity insurance and the large amount of potential risk that is involved when auditing large international firms. Clearly, an auditor has a duty towards the company itself, based on either contract or tort when it has behaved negligently or with wilful misconduct. The vast majority of cases are related to negligence and it is this area of liability that has generated the most interest from the European Commission[4]. Liability is clearly owed to the client itself; however, this has also extended to be liability towards third parties, causing further barriers to entry for mid sized auditing firms. For a third party to bring a claim, it is necessary for there to be a causation link between the act of negligence and the damages suffered by the third party which, although difficult to prove, has resulted in some high profile payouts further jeopardising the chances of mid tier firms entering the international auditing market[5]. At the heart of this widespread liability is the concept of joint and several liability. Under this process, a third party who has a claim against a director can also bring a claim against an auditor who has given an unqualified opinion as to the accuracy of the accounts. In a case of corporate insolvency, the directors rarely have any finances available to pay out third party losses, therefore, encouraging actions against the auditors who are seen to have ample financial backing. It is this high level of risk that the cap on liability is aiming to address. Oppositions to an Auditors’ Liability Cap Despite the overall acceptance of the need to do something to alter the balance of power within the international auditing market, one of the main objections was that placing a limit on liability would give the auditing profession a privileged position in comparison to other professions. A main aim of establishing a cap was to encourage mid sized firms to enter into the market and it is feared that a liability simply would not achieve this aim. Much of the exposure faced is outside of the EU (i.e. in the US)[6] and, therefore, the cap would make little or no difference. Equally, the insurance requirements would remain high. A cap would not make the insurance requirement less; it would simply make it more ascertainable. There are also concerns that the cap would encourage poor performances and weaker audits. From a competitive point of view, those in opposition to the cap were concerned that such a move would reduce the competitive position of European companies in comparison to other international jurisdictions where no such cap exists. Concerns were also raised that a cap on auditors’ liability would be contrary to the overall proposition of better regulation that the EU has been working towards, in recent years[7]. Alternative Options As it is accepted that the main reason for imposing such a cap would be to open up the international auditing market to other mid sized auditing firms; alternatives to a cap on liability were also considered by the EU because of the potentially negative competitive impact of such caps. One of the possible options is to impose a compulsory insurance on audit firms. There is currently an insurance gap where the amount that an insurer is prepared to insure an auditor for is substantially less than the potential liability. Forcing the auditor to take out insurance to cover all losses would not be practicable due to the high level of potential risk. Therefore, the premiums would be prohibitively expensive, particularly for the smaller firms. Alternatives to funding this additional insurance would have to come from investors or the companies themselves. Another approach would be to reduce the potential risk faced by auditors by introducing safe harbours. This would involve carving out certain areas from the potential liability of the auditor such as any external reviewers’ comments on the company or any future plans which have happened after the end of the financial accounting year. However, in doing this, there are fears that the underlying principle of professional judgment would be eroded in favour of formalised approaches to ensuring that as much of the safe harbour carve out could be enjoyed. EU Recommendations On considering all of these factors and a widespread discussion of the pros and cons of the possibility of a cap on auditors’ liability, the EU commission has established a proposal that aims to achieve the middle ground[8]. When considering the four options as stated above (cap for all European audits, cap based on size of audit firm, cap based on the fee and a proportionate regime), the EU Commission concluded that a combination of a proportionate liability and an auditors’ cap on liability would make the foundations of their recommendations. The report advised member states to require a limitation to auditors’ liability to be established either through a statutory cap, a limitation based on proportionality or limitation of liability through the contract between the audit company and the auditor. Proportional liability gained considerable support from the non-auditing respondents to the proposals as it was felt that this would deal with the issue of reliance on auditors’ deep pockets, but would also ensure that the quality of the audit would be maintained. The commission recommended that any member state implementing this approach should not set a specific proportion and should simply set the principle in place to be applied through the judicial processes, where necessary. Unsurprisingly, the auditing profession preferred the concept of a cap on liability, arguing that it would have no long term impact on the quality of the audit and would allow mid sized firms to enter the market. This was not entirely followed by the EU Commission who preferred to suggest a principle of proportionate liability. Based on all arguments, the EU Commission has advised a regime of proportionate liability across all member states. Conclusions The issue of auditors’ liability and how risk is apportioned has been raising concerns on an international level and has, therefore, become the subject of an EU Commission report. Currently, the international auditing market is heavily dominated by the big four accounting firms and several barriers of entry exist to prevent mid sized firms entering the market. Many of the barriers result directly from the fact that auditors are jointly and severally liable for misstatements in the financial accounts. Therefore, due to their deep pockets, auditors are often the main target for those taking actions against struggling companies[9]. Based on this position, the EU Commission looked into the option of establishing a cap on liability (either statutorily or through contractual provisions). After careful consideration of all of the options, it was felt that a principle of proportionality would be the best approach, given all of the issues raised. It was concluded that proportionality would reduce the deep pockets issue, yet would still ensure that the level of quality of auditing work is maintained. This level of proportionality should not be cast in stone and should be established on a case by case basis. It is anticipated that this will provide sufficient security for the smaller auditors to compete on a level playing field with the domain that has traditionally been that of the big four firms. Bibliography Allen, Robert D., Hermanson, Dana R., Kozloski, Thomas M., Ramsay, Robert J., Auditor Risk Assessment: Insights from the Academic Literature, Accounting Horizons, 20, 2006 Clarke, Frank L., Dean, G.W., Oliver, Kyle Gaius, Corporate Collapse: Accounting, Regulatory and Ethical Failure, Cambridge University Press, 2003 Garner, Don E., McKee, David L., McKee, Yosra AbuAmara, Accounting and the Global Economy After Sarbanes-Oxley, M.E. Sharpe, 2008 Hay, David, Davis, David, The Voluntary Choice of an Auditor of Any Level of Quality, Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory, 23, 2004 Hillison, William, Pacini, Carl, Auditor Reputation and the Insurance Hypothesis: The Information Content of Disclosures of Financial Distress of a Major Accounting Firm, Journal of Managerial Issues, 16, 2004 Pacini, Carl, Hillison, William, Sinason, David, Auditor liability to third parties: an international focus, Managerial Auditing Journal, 15, 8, 2000 Pong, C.K.M., Burnett, S., The implications of merger for market share, audit pricing and non-audit fee income: The case of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Managerial Auditing Journal, 21, 1, 2006 Smith, Roy C., Walter, Ingo, Governing the Modern Corporation: Capital Markets, Corporate Control, and Economic Performance, Oxford University Press US, 2006 Soltani, Bahram, Auditing: An International Approach, Pearson Education, 2007 Footnotes [1] Pong, C.K.M., Burnett, S., The implications of merger for market share, audit pricing and non-audit fee income: The case of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Managerial Auditing Journal, 21, 1, 2006 [2] Clarke, Frank L., Dean, G. W., Oliver, Kyle Gaius, Corporate Collapse: Accounting, Regulatory and Ethical Failure, Cambridge University Press, 2003 [3] Soltani, Bahram Auditing, An International Approach, Pearson Education, 2007 [4] Hillison, William, Pacini, Carl, Auditor Reputation and the Insurance Hypothesis: The Information Content of Disclosures of Financial Distress of a Major Accounting Firm, Journal of Managerial Issues, 16, 2004 [5] Pacini, Carl, Hillison, William, Sinason, David, Auditor liability to third parties: an international focus, Managerial Auditing Journal, 15, 8, 2000 [6] Garner, Don E., McKee, David L., McKee, Yosra AbuAmara, Accounting and the Global Economy After Sarbanes-Oxley, M.E. Sharpe, 2008 [7] Hay, David, Davis, David, The Voluntary Choice of an Auditor of Any Level of Quality, Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory, 23, 2004 [8] Smith, Roy C., Walter, Ingo, Governing the Modern Corporation: Capital Markets, Corporate Control, and Economic Performance, Oxford University Press US, 2006 [9] Allen, Robert D., Hermanson, Thomas, Dana R., Kozloski, M., Ramsay, Robert J., Auditor Risk Assessment: Insights from the Academic Literature, Accounting Horizons, 20, 2006

Airline Industry Problems and Suggested Solutions Essay -- Business Ma

Airline Industry Problems and Suggested Solutions The airline industry has over the past few months gradually been going into recession. This has been due to a number of factors, all affecting the industry in a negative manner at the same time. This has resulted in low profits and poor performance. The decline in the industry sharply increased after the terrorist attacks on the United States, increasing the urgency to clearly identify the causes of the problems faced and to find any solutions available to overcome them. One of the factors contributing to the poor performance has been the global economic slowdown whose effect has not been limited to the airline industry but has extended to many other industries. The effect of this economic slowdown on airlines has been to cause a slowdown in air travel. The terrorist attacks on America have also done a great deal in causing a further decline in air travel, as consumers lose confidence in the airline industry, after fears of low security and becoming targets of terrorists. However, airlines have also been suffering from a number internal conflicts. The most important of these has been the recent bad relations they have had with pilots. Pilots of several companies have gone on strikes and threatened further strikes in demand of higher pay. These strikes have resulted in delays for passengers and congestion in airports. Such actions have lead to huge falls in the level of revenue expected by many airline companies....

How to Train your Dragon Essay -- Film Review, Vikings

In the film, How to Train Your Dragon, the Vikings are at war, fighting for their institutions and peace from their existential threat, the Dragons. The Vikings are in a society in which the institutions reflect their historical struggles and have shaped them to be close-minded to any peaceful interaction with Dragons. Thus, in How to Train Your Dragon, the institutions that the Vikings had, represented what Rousseau saw as being a society with a self-interest social contract of the majority. This causes estrangement between their civilization and the Dragons. The Vikings eventually form a new social contract, in which the Vikings and Dragons represent Rousseau's general will of equality as rationally as possible given the Dragons are not on the same intellect level. The Vikings formed a society that’s institutions caused a loss in compassion and was focused on self-interest. Institutions being: â€Å"The organizational structure through which political power is exercised† (116). Rousseau believed â€Å"that all of society, not just political society, is corrupt† (58). This moral corruption that exists is caused by the formation of institutions that set the basis for a group identity and beliefs, the Vikings. Group identity is, â€Å"the degree to which members identify with a group† (56). This identity leads to an estrangement among those who are outsiders. The institutions promote the use of collective action: â€Å"A coordinated group activity designed to achieve a common goal that individuals acting on their own could not otherwise attain† (42). This collective action is the Vikings pursue to destroy the Dragon population. The Vikings view the Dragons as â€Å"pest† who steal their food and destroy t heir land (How to Train Your Dragon). So, the i... ...tutions it creates â€Å"makes people focus on their individual desires, robs them of the compassion, and promotes inequality† (58). The estrangement that grew between the Dragons and Vikings is proved to be caused by the formation of the society’s institutions because they destroyed the image of the Dragons, and set the social expectations that one must do to be part of the Viking’s cultural identity. The friendship that grew between Hiccup and Toothless destroyed the beliefs and practices of the Vikings institutions, which believed dragons were only evil and must be destroyed. This destruction of the institutions creditability led to the new social contract between the Dragons and Vikings. This represented what Rousseau believed to be a â€Å"perfect world† of which the general will is the sovereign and is â€Å"a government that rules for everyone at nobody’s expense† (58).

Contracting Essay examples -- essays research papers

Entering and contracting Entering and contracting are the initial steps taken in the OD process, and is considered by many as one the most important steps of the process. The entering and contracting step will be utilized to set the pace and lay the foundation for the practitioner client relationship. They involve a preliminary evaluation of the organization’s opportunities for development, while establishing a collaborative relationship between the OD practitioner and the members of the client system. A major component of entering and contracting is to make a good decision about how to carry out the OD process. The contract allows the parties involved to explicitly set the direction of the project and how the process will take place. The OD contract will generally address three key areas: setting mutual expectation or what each party expects to gain from the OD process; the time and resources that will be devoted to it; and the ground rules for working together and the stating of what are the proper roles of all the parties involved including the practitioner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this process, a mutual agreement is established between the OD practitioner and the members of the client system in how the OD consultant will work on the problems within the organization. Hence, during entering and contracting, the organization’s problems and opportunities for growth and improvement are discussed between these two parties. During this process, the limitations are set on how the consultant can execute the different phases of the OD process. The entering and contracting step is extremely significant because it constitutes the initial activities of the OD process. It sets the parameters for the phases of planned changed that follow: diagnosing, planning and implementing change and evaluating and institutionalizing it. Developing the OD contract focuses on making sound decisions that establish the groundwork for the future success of the project. Data collection Data Collection is the process of collecting information that will be utilized in the diagnostic process and eventually used to make business recommendation. In this data collection process, it is critical to ensure the highest quality of data possible. In the data collection component, the information is gathered on the specific department or organization such as inputs, design components, an... ....m. instead of 5.00 p.m.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Output went up  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They were dismissed at 4.00 p.m.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Output remained the same  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, all the improvements were taken away, and the girls went back to the physical conditions of the beginning of the experiment: work on Saturday, 48 hour week, no rest pauses, no piece work and no free meal. This state of affairs lasted for a period of 12 weeks.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Output was the highest ever recorded averaging 3000 relays a week. What happened was that six individuals became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to co-operation in the experiment. The consequence was that they felt themselves to be participating freely and without afterthought and were happy in the knowledge that they were working without coercion from above or limitation from below. They were themselves satisfied at the consequence for they felt that they were working under less pressure than ever before. In fact regular medical checks showed no signs of cumulative fatigue and absence from work declined by 80 per cent.

Gender determination Essay

When an individual is born, he or she has male or female sexual organs and this determines the sex of that individual and consequently how the society expects that person to behave. Gender is different however, in that it transcends the simple biological explanation of why one is a boy and another is a girl. This paper will focus on what makes one a girl putting aside the fact that one was born one. It will also look at the possibility of an individual being born a girl but changing to become a boy. How and why this is done is also part of the discussion. Gender is described as â€Å"the socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women† (http://www. who. int). This means that to be masculine or feminine depends on a society and not only on the sexual organs that one is born with. Once an individual is born, the society teaches him or her how to behave according to the expectations that specific society has for an individual belonging to his or her particular sex. Every society has some roles that are assigned to male and female members of the society and this determines whether one is male or female. The question then becomes whether one is born with his or her gender or this is learned from the society that one grows in. In my own case, attending a girl’s school determined my becoming feminine and thus becoming a girl despite the fact that I was born a girl. In the school, only girls were around and thus were the only role models that I had. This meant that I only had other girls to emulate in my behaviour and my peers were also girls so together we all aspired to be better girls. The teachers we had were also keen on ensuring that we were trained on how girls should behave in certain occasions and also which aspects were to be admired in a girl and which were abhorrent in a female. This shows that one can be trained to become feminine or masculine but it is important to note that it is not always so. This can be demonstrated by the number of girls who would get into trouble with the teachers for playing truant yet this was supposed to be an undesirable trait for girls and hence was dissuaded. These girls were given the same training as all their peers yet tended to behave differently causing one to question whether gender is completely determined by the society (Morrow 1991). Despite the question that is posed above, it is clear that girls who are educated in girl’s only schools are usually more feminine than those who attend mixed schools. This is because those in mixed schools are not controlled as much as those in girls only schools. The environment they are reared in leans more towards femininity and thus tends to discourage any behaviour that is seen to be masculine. The lack of an alternative form of behaviour leads to their feminine behaviour although some will try deviate by doing what they think others are doing elsewhere (Askew & Davey 2005). This then leads to the question whether or not one can change from being a girl into a boy? Apart from the biological way, culture has two different ways of changing an individual’s gender. This can either be done by changing the culture one has been brought up in or by being brought up in an environment that emphasises the behaviour of the opposite sex (Watney 1994). Since gender is determined by the roles that a society assigns to each sex, ones gender can change depending on the culture one finds him or herself in at a particular time. Roles assigned to the sexes by different cultures differs and are interchanged whereby roles assigned to women in one culture may be assigned to men in another culture. In this way a male in one culture may be seen to be feminine in another thus changing a male into a female or vice versa. Another way that one can change ones gender is by rearing a girl in a male environment. The girl tends to adopt the masculine behaviours exhibited by her male counter parts as has been witnessed by the women who venture into fields assumed to be the male domain. This is in politics and business where women who succeed in these environments are seen to be more masculine than feminine thus changing their gender to becoming more male than female (Miller, Lewy & Peckham1997). In conclusion, it is correct to say that an individual’s gender is not only determined by his or her sex but also by the culture that they have grown in. the roles that a culture assigns to an individual are used to determine femininity and masculinity of members of the society. It is possible for ones gender to be changed depending on which community one is in. Roles assigned depending on an individuals sex change according to the society. Furthermore, the environment one is in influences the behaviour one has thus influencing the gender that one belongs to. Reference 1. Askew J. & Davey M. 2005, Sex Acts: Practices of Femininity and Masculinity, Archives of Sexual Behaviour Vol. 34, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks 2. Gender, World health organization retrieved on 13th April 2009 from http://www. who. int/topics/gender/en 3. Miller J. B. , Lewy J. & Peckham E. 1997, Context Effects on Self-Perceptions of Feminine and Masculine Quantities, Sex: A Journal of Research Vol. 37 4. Morrow F. 1991, Unleashing Our Unknown Selves: An Inquiry into the Future of Femininity and Masculinity, Praeger Publishers 5. Watney S. 1994, Aphrodite of the Future, Artforum International Vol. 32

A Critical Analysis of the Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which contained all of the ideas and assumptions by Marx. The Communist Manifesto was able to inspire a number of philosophers and theorists.And as it was published at the height of the political turmoil in Europe, it also served as an engine for many revolutions that took place within the past century. Hence, following the publication of the Communist Manifesto, it inspired a number of revolutions to overturn the rise of Capitalism, particularly in Russia and China (â€Å"The Communist Manifesto,† n.p).The writings by Marx and Engels which composed the main tenets in the Communist Manifesto influenced revolutions not by just mere agitation through writing; rather they fueled revolutionary groups by confronting the capitalist forces through the forces of the proletariats. They discovered the special role of the proletariats, who they believed were capable of overthrowing the capitalist class (â€Å"The Comm unist Manifesto,† n.p).The Communist Manifesto is centered on the idea of class struggle and continuing antagonisms in the society. This according to the Manifesto, class struggle revolves between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians – the oppressor and the oppressed; the few and many. Hence, the Manifesto predicts the probable ways of eliminating oppression by abolishing the basic factors that instigate oppression – example: private property – which shall eventually lead towards overthrowing the bourgeosie (â€Å"The Communist Manifesto,† n.p).In accordance with this pursuit, Marx drafted the Communist Manifesto guided by Historical Dialectical Materialism in order to point out the problems that had been consuming the society. Using this guide, he predicted the changes that could happen in the society as the mode of production changes gradually.And these changes shall become the engine for a revolutionary overthrow of the current dominating class. And as capitalism will reach its peak, it will become saturated and will eventually meet its demise under the leadership of the proletariats.The Pursuit of a Stateless SocietyConsequently, Marx noted predictions on several factors that will help build a stateless society. This includes: (1) enforcement of progressive taxation. (2) abolition of inheritance, (3) equalization of wages and (4) the communal appropriation of lands. With these things in mind, Marx pictured a stateless society wherein antagonisms among classes can be eliminated.However, there are various sides that are to be looked upon if the society should be changed. There are specific levels wherein a country should cope with in order to effectively carry out these kinds of changes which can prove to be beneficial for the citizens.Different countries may react on certain circumstances if things are to be imposed on them. And there should be clarity of the possible outcomes that it may bring. In particular, communist cou ntries had deteriorated and has broken down in the last decades.None of the communist countries have sustained its staying power, in particular, China and Russia. And for the case of Cuba, their existence in the communist realm has served as an example to no one.For the Communists, especially for Marx, a stateless society meant the establishment of a classless society and rendering common ownership of all the means of productions. It also entails equitable distribution of income among the citizens. However, it requires a number of processes and cycles that are to be undertaken in order to achieve it. Consequently, the factors mentioned above are the firsts on the list in attaining a classless society.As such, though these factors that Marx mentioned in the Manifesto may contribute greatly towards the attainment of a stateless society, they may have negative implications in the society.There are still downsides that are attributable with these steps that may have direct effect in the growth and development of the society, and also lies the possibility that it may serve detrimental outcomes for them. Thus, these policies should be analyzed to assess their reasonability and soundness if they can be beneficial to the people in general.Thesis and ArgumentThe purpose of this paper would be to carefully analyze the contents of the Manifesto, in particular, the four measures that Marx proposed towards attaining a stateless society. Thus, the thesis of this paper is to prove that there are adversaries that may be caused if those measures will be employed. And that the reasonability of each measure depends on the possible outcomes that may be derived from it.Hence, the arguments revolve on three parallel ideas: (1) these measures if employed, though may speed up the process of attaining a stateless society, may also impede social, political and economic growth; (2) ironically, though a stateless society aims towards eliminating class antagonisms, these four measures men tioned.Considerably increases the gap between the proletariats and the bourgeosie by the intentional disregard of the bourgeosie class; and (3) given the altruistic desire from the Manifesto to eradicate poverty, the ideals presented through these measures were really idealistic and utopian, hence may render these inappropriate and not feasible for most of the countries.Progressive TaxationProgressive taxation is one of the twelve measures that Communism intended to enforce. Progressive taxation is a system wherein tax rates are imposed based on the economic status and well-being of the person to be taxed. The tax rates are identified according to the ability of an individual to pay. In essence, if a person earns big, then he will be subjected to higher tax rates; the same way that a person who earns little will be taxed according to his capacity to pay (Lakoff and Budner, n.p).For the advocates of Communism, progresive taxation can provide redistribution of capital, which they beli eve can further hasten the process of eliminating class struggle. Through this, it is believed that redistributing the tax burden towards the people who can afford to pay can stabilize the flow of capital, and the economy in return. In addition, progresive taxation also serves as a monitoring device to limit acquisition of private property.Furthermore, progresive taxation eases the burden for those who cannot pay enabling them to allot a larger portion of their income for their family's basic needs. Thus, progressive taxation for the Communists render individuals to have a more equitable outcome so that they can make the most out of the fruits of their labor (â€Å"Capitalism, Socialism & Communism,† n.p).Although there are certain benefits that are attainable through progressive taxation, likewise there are downsides of it. There are individuals who consider this kind of tax policy as discriminatory and inefficient.Progressive taxation is discriminatory in such away that the people who work harder gets more compelled on paying higher taxes; while those who do not work and strive enough are being subjected to receive government subsidies and privileges.In addition, it caters inefficiency in the way taxes are being imposed on individuals, while tolerating income misappropriation bundled by the State's   deliberate interference which is then translated in the citizen's fear of crossing the edges between democracy and dictatorship. (â€Å"Few Words on the Nature of Taxation.† n.p).Thus, as progressive taxation can indeed eliminate class struggle and enhance the ability to create a stateless society through equitable sharing of tax obligations, it also harnesses the biased nature of the Communist government in their inclination towards the poor.   Though it is rational and reasonable to impose taxes on individuals who have higher capacity to pay, certain considerations are also ought to be given.