Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals - Essay Example It makes me think of my own self and ponder on how much have I been true or sincere in relation to the nature I am. Nevertheless, I could not see how this applies in the way Nietzsche tries to make sense of his position in defining the ‘good’ by detailing where this ‘good’ is coming from and what it is fundamentally composed of. Perhaps there is an enlightening aspect of studying the points raised by Nietzsche in the first essay so as to arrive at learning his theory with appreciation, unfortunately, I am disposed to conclude that his ethics of the ‘good’ is not rooted in deep understanding of intrinsic human values. Human values that are inherent to us, I believe, are those based on humanity or bearing the elements of compassion or empathic virtue, but instead of establishing the foundation for his school of thought on this perspective, Nietzsche seems to choose being racial, external, and superficial in his judgment of the ‘good’. He expresses profound conviction that â€Å"everywhere ‘noble’ or ‘aristocratic’ in a social sense is the fundamental idea out of which ‘good’ in the sense of ‘spiritually noble’, ‘aristocratic’, ‘spiritually high-minded’, ‘spiritually privileged’ necessarily dev elop – a process which always runs in parallel with that other one which finally transforms ‘common’, ‘vulgar’, and ‘low’ into the concept ‘bad’†. Nietzsche is in great belief that those in power or of natural royal descent comprise the real â€Å"good† for their ethic noble is derived from self-affirmation and it is this self-affirmation that provides them the strength to actualize a positive character. Their aristocratic traits enable them to repel or drive away adversaries so that according to Nietzsche, they ought to exemplify the â€Å"good†. However, Nietzsche fails to elaborate from the physical to the inner self of what he considers as ‘noble’ that I feel the need to ask, what if these strong

BUSINESS MODELS AND PLANNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

BUSINESS MODELS AND PLANNING - Essay Example Archetypally, a value chain viewpoint is embraced, and affiliations to dealers and clienteles and other peripheral forces are put into consideration. For instance, corporation ‘fundamentals’, put emphasis on the â€Å"information most pertinent to decision making in the contemporary economic setting concern the enterprise’s value chain (business model, in analysts’ parlance)†. In addition, this technique of theorizing the business model focuses on outlining the company’s manner of undertaking business. On the other hand, a narrow business model entails a business model that bases solitary on in-house aspects in the organization. A business model should not be a depiction of a multifarious social system with entirely its actors, dealings and practices. As a replacement for, they argue that, it ought to designate a company’s significance thus creating logic, the processes that enable this, i.e. the groundwork for generating worth and set up the foundation for hypothesizing the strategy of the business. Occasionally, it propagates in the form of an innovative idea. More often, it encompasses amalgamation of merchandise and service features that offers more quality value. For instance, a cheaper price for the equivalent advantage or supplementary benefit for the equal price. In due course, the aforementioned move achieves its key objective of safeguarding loyal customers along with anticipated sales. Business models incorporate strategies that identify and establishing a significant differentiator. For instance, it comes up with a strategic move to attract attention of the customer or superb performance and customer care. Rationally, these models figure out unique barriers to entry that protect their profit streams. In the long run, this strategy ensures that the business continues to control a desirable market share as well as enjoy healthy profits. The business

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay Example for Free

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay With the objective of â€Å"To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Google, 2012), Google expands its business to strive towards becoming the leader of internet-related provider, in particular in Internet research and advertising technology. The company has expanded nationally and globally, providing its search service in a large number of different languages and countries through its own unique strategy. The report starts with a discussion about the market Google is operating in, how Google smartly manages its internationalisation and globalization strategy according to its own market position in different stage. Followed by the comment on whether its diversification strategy appropriate across the whole international market. The report then will evaluate this strategy mainly focus on the aspect of the potential to damage its own brand, especially based on the case of their failure expansion in the Chinese market. Then the report will look at impact for the market as Google fully enter the Android market, Google’s business model in terms of reating revenue will be described and processed by the critique of whether the model would be sustainable in the long term. The report finally will define the market Google operate in and how it enters into android market will be explained in detail. Additionally, there are some recommendations provided in terms of its sustainable development through the whole report. ? Defining the market which Google Inc’ operates in? The market in which Google operates in is collaborative and interactive; Google has acquired and merged with different companies, which have given it a competitive edge over other firms. It recently acquired Motorola and this brought a lot of speculation as to whether it could handle the hardware business without any prior experience or necessary skills According to the case (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google had no skills in the supply chain, monitoring physical stock or achieving efficiencies. However such acquisitions have benefited Google because it has been able to have more reach as it can now target mobile users with the new hardware business. Other companies it has collaborated with are HTC and T-Mobile on implementing the Android platform. Competition The environment is also quite competitive. Having to face giants like Apple, Microsoft and Facebook means that Google has to be highly adaptable and maintain their market share by being more aggressive in their marketing strategies. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google says that their acquisition of Motorola will be able to intensify the competition. Motorola’s purchase will fully bring Google into the mobile market as they will now have hardware for their operating system Android, Also Motorola will strengthen the patenting of Google as they have more than 17,000 patents in their name. Apple and other mobile providers might feel threatened by this move. (Rusli and Miller, 2011) Diversification More to this, Google has not focused on its core business of being a search engine rather it is diversifying and looking for new opportunities for growth. Google has expanded into other segments such as maps and Google scholar, in the communications section there is Gmail and an enterprise segment where cloud computing and Google docs are involved, social networking among others. This means that Google is not only able to reach a wider audience but that it is able to spread risks. Diversification means that in case one area of their business fails they have an alternative to rely on. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Innovation Google’s survival could be attributed to its highly innovative structure. It has a culture of being innovative and an atmosphere that encourages employees to bring new ideas and creativity. However, Google must keep on innovating in order to outdo their competitors and to keep at pace with the changes in the highly volatile global environment (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Infrastructure Together with all the companies that Google has acquired, they also have data centers and servers which it uses to create its web presence and to store information. These infrastructures increase reliability and make information access faster. Google Inc’ had a total of 90,000 servers by 2010 and they invested heavily on technology this gives Google a good platform. Pg. 4 Some of it is virtual for example cloud computing. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) ? What’s internationalization and globalization strategy? In which way Google is going? Internationalization strategy is a development strategy that enterprises want to offer their products and services outside their home country, it usually reflected in the form of greater existence in different locations around the world. That is why internationalization also refers as international expansion (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Internationalization strategy is a development planning during the process of internationalized operation and management, which is designed to give the assistance of improving company’s competitiveness and environment adaptability. Corporations have adopted this strategy view overseas market separately. They treat the markets differently due to various markets’ features. Globalization strategy refers to the procedures of global integration, which incorporate the international operations and markets into a united strategic entity (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Corporations that use this strategy are generally powerful multinational enterprises, they attempt to monopolize markets in their own industries. However, if using this strategy inappropriately, it is more likely to have a detrimental effect on the whole company. The merit of globalization strategy is that companies can concentrate their efforts in building competitive advantages by leveraging capabilities and coordinating activities through boundaries. Which like a double-edged sword, the demerit is that it is hard to coordinate between each subsidiary as well as between headquarter and subsidiaries, because each host country has their own business characteristics. According to the collected evidences Google tends to be relying on the globalization strategy. To begin with, as mentioned above, one reason for companies adopting a globalization strategy is that they want to monopolize the market in their own industry. Definitely, Google achieved this goal. In October 2011, Google accounts for 82. 4% of the worldwide desktop search engine market share. Furthermore, in 2008, Google shifts its international marketing structure form representation offices to Research and Development center, and then to partnerships with other enterprises, which reflected that Google gradually integrated the competitive advantages from the alliance partnership and improved its own capabilities (Ronen, 2009). In addition, Google has many RD centers worldwide. For instance, if the software was RD in Israel, this software is not only specialized in Israel market, but also launched globally by using different languages. Therefore it is clear that Google did not focus on localizing their products or services for different markets nowadays. Finally, globalization is focusing on building united competitive advantage. In order to keep its competitive edges, Google transfers and share outcomes of technology innovations within various RD centers, and with alliance partnerships to connect the operation nd management activities from different counties and locations. Google’s retrieval from china, impacts upon globalization plan. According to the list of info-facts (2012), China is the second most powerful country in the world. And in Fleming’s (2010) report, â€Å"U. S. , China, and India will be the three most powerful countries in 2025†. These illustrate that China is a hugely influential nation around the world. Moreover, China has more than 500 million internet users (Efrati Chao 2012), and the number is still increasing. China is a market which cannot be ignored. Google’s retreat from the Chinese market has definitely impacted upon Google’s overall global expansion strategy. Most of the Asian countries have strong regional relationship and China has a widely impact on them. As we all know, eastern countries are in high context cultures, but, Google is from a low context culture which is totally different from high context culture. Their ways of running a business are quite different. It seems that if Google cannot operate successfully in China, it cannot operate well in other Asian countries either, such as Japan and Korea. And this will deeply impact its global expansion strategy. As the picture (adapted from Chardonneau’s slides) shown in appendix 1, Asia owns the biggest internet market, and Google’s coverage in Asia is so weak. If Google still wants to achieve its global expansion strategy, it has to come into the Asian market and first of all, Google needs to solve the problem in China. In fact, Google’s quit in China offers its competitors a good opportunity to enter into the Chinese market. After all, not all the international companies are unable to handle the operation problems in China. Since Google announced its retreat, its market share has declined 5% and its biggest competitor in China, Baidu has increased by 50% (Powell 2010). Other internet companies like Microsoft, Sohu and Tencent where all benefit from this great opportunity which offered by Google (Powell 2010). Cultivating your competitors will obviously diminish your own benefits. More and more powerful competitors will absolutely hamper Google’s global expansion. In addition, they need to keep putting efforts to the beta test before they aunch any new products into new market, especially in the Asian market. It needs to customize it according to different market to satisfy local consumers. As discussed above, one of the main reasons why Google failed in the Chinese market was because it did not use ICP, which is a compulsory for all websites operating in China (Zhou, 2009). ? Diversification strategy working in the international market The multi-diversification strategy is generally appropriate a cross the whole international market. This strategy is being used in different markets, while the only difference is whether it more focus on direct-diversification or indirect-diversification that depends on the intensity of competition on the core products. Briefly, since 2004 Google’s endeavor mainly focuses on encouraging innovation by bottom-up through the whole company. It acquires innovative companies to diversify into new areas or to add value to existing technologies and services (Kotelnikov, 2012). From â€Å"personalized web†, â€Å"Google News†, â€Å"Website Optimizer† to acquire technology to put up online display and banner advertisements by buying out â€Å"DoubleClick†. Followed by the direct diversification, Google, starts to expand its new product line through indirect diversification strategy. For instance, Google enters the social networking space through launching â€Å"Orkut†, â€Å"Google Checkout† then was launched as a payment gateway for online buyers and â€Å"Google Chrome† which is a representor of a desktop browser, see appendix one. Firstly, in the current global market, Google’s diversification strategy take the development of its core products as a priority. It makes a great contribution on perfecting its core competencysearch engine, which is the most profitable product. Additionally, it also increases the reputation of â€Å"innovation† for Google all over the world. Multi-products line adds more values for the consumers will become the main competitive advantages for Google in the long-term in the international market. Therefore, the benefit of diversification strategy is to protect current market share and attract potential customers by World of Mouth. Particularly, Google launches early nd often in small beta tests before releasing new products into the market, with many markets becoming more and more competitive as a result of new competitors from global or deregulated markets, those who innovate best will win in the future (Kotelnikov, 2012). Secondly, while even through the company put great efforts to add more value on its core products, the competitors also come up with substitute products, for example, â€Å"Powerset† from Microsoft and â€Å"Search Monkey† just launched by Yahoo attack the weakness of Google, providing a much flexible search engine. Google needs to add up more new product lines to create and exploit economies scope. In particular, â€Å"Baidu† whose market share in China is up to 78. 3%, while only 16. 7% of â€Å"Google’s Hong Kong Site†(Baidu, 2012). Google can use its direct-diversification strategy, which pays attention on internal growth of search engine to increase its market share in the market, which doesn’t have a strong competition, such as Australia. The indirect diversification strategy should be used in the market that already has some strong competitors such as China, Korea. It is certain that the risk of this diversification strategy is there is a huge investment in the new businesses and the majority of the new businesses haven’t started making profit for Google. However, take current global market trend into consideration, the strategy will work in the long term in the international market. If we look closely at year 2009, revenue from ads on their sites accounted for 83% of the total. Compared to 2008, this item represented 90% of Google’s total income. Nevertheless, the growth rate of these â€Å"windfall† is, so far, relatively modest (Sebastian, 2010). Thinking of Google, what product stands out? But are there too many? Is Google too ubiquitous now is an arguable question in recent years? â€Å"I think that, ultimately, we do have too many products and we need to condense them,† Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Search, said Friday at the SXSWi conference in Austin (Matt McGee, 2011). According to the map of Google’s product in the appendix, Google products now covered in many different fields such as search engine, social network, music, mobile system etc. But there is people say As Google Becomes More Ubiquitous, They Get More Sloppy (Jeff Y, 2012) Google is taking information from almost all of your Google services (Tsukayama, 2012). It was very serious privacy issue and been intensely discussed. Google makes its money by selling yourself; by knowing where you live, what videos you like watching, and your entire search and surfing history, Google sells targeted advertising to the tune of tens of billions of dollars per year. Selling you is 96% of Google’s revenue stream. ( Anthony, 2011). Google was not obligated to pay a fine for doing so but the brand was damaged to some extent. Google also faces the risk from failed product or services. It comes down to having too many things going on at once. At Google, quality control is slipping. (Jeff Y, 2012). For example, Google lunched Google Buzz in February 2010, it was considered a threat to Facebook and twitter but its been shut down very soon in November 2011 by Google because of the lack of users and the late show in the market compare with twitter. The failure of Google buzz damaged not only the real money but also the trust and confidence of consumers toward the brand. (Rob, 2010) Besides, with too many successful products, customers may lose what the brand Google really represents which is also a risk of brand damage. Were very aware that our business is based on the trust of users and if damaged then thats the worst thing we could do. The new privacy director said. (Google, 2010) But will all these factors really hurt Google? The answer is uncertain. As we can see from the Googleland map in appendix , Googles main product is always the search engine and they use all the other products to support it. Today, with approximately 70 percent domination of the global search market, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous and ubiquitous Google keeps upping the ante to stay on top of the search engine game. (Callari, 2012) Therefore some people argued that as long as people still use and trust the Google search engine, the Google brand will not be hurts seriously. Google’s foray into Android market, all around impact. In this section, we will focus more on Google’s capability after it has bought Motorola and gain access to becoming one of mobile phone providers with its own Android OS. After Google has bought Motorola, there are a few implications to mention here. First of all Google will be the owner of all patents from and therefore will be of a great support for Google when their mobile phone enters the market where Apple is a dominant player (Reisinger, 2011). During the launch of a new phone company is most likely to be sued by their competitor arguing over the originality of the phone. Therefore after having Motorola as a patent support Google may save a lot of money in this aspect. Secondly is that Google now has a capacity to create and manufacture their own mobile phone and tablet PC. The benefits of buying Motorola also extends to the field of hardware that Motorola has been in for sometimes, what Google has bought to it self is the hardware manufacturing ability, ranging from TV top box, internet TV to internet router and live stream (Bryant, 2011). Therefore again apple will have to be careful since now Google has a potential to fight Apple not just in the field of mobile phone but also as a TV top box provider i. . Google TV (Purdy, 2011). Thirdly it is not clear that when the new Motorola, Google phone is released, it will come with the newest Android OS or not. But move to buy motorolla to gain access to manufacturing capability can really affect Google’s android mobile partner. One clue to this argument is current news about Samsung, which has been Google’s main Android phone provider, has announced that its mobile phone in a short future will also feature the windows operating system (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2012). Although the news said it was all about Samsung providing more variety to the consumer, but it can also be thought of an uncertainty avoidance move by Samsung who might feel an aggressive move by Google coming into the hardware market. Perhaps besides Google and Motorola as the two winners from the incident, Microsoft surprisingly might gain benefit from this incident (Wortham, 2012). This move from Google is actually what Microsoft is hoping for because besides Google, the only well know non-phone maker operating system is the â€Å"windows 8† from Microsoft. The moment of changes to watch out for is the time that Google’s partners feel that they are indeed competing against Google instead of having Google as their partner (Wortham, 2012). Microsoft windows 8 here will then act as a preferable alternative operating system for those ex-Google’s partners to adopt. So what will happen in short-long run for the market? In the short run it will not change much because the majority of the mobile phone relies on Android OS. Breaking off partnership with the OS they rely on is really not a good idea in the short run. Also since by law after closing the deal that Android will still remain free for another five years (Waugh, 2011). In the long run the story may be entirely different. It is expected that mobile phone manufacturers may start thinking about an alternative plan according to Google’s moves. If Google still keeps its promise that buying Motorola is just for its own defense, then it is still a great idea to have such a big company as your support (Wortham, 2012). How does Google create revenue? To scrutinize the business model of Google Inc, one impressive feature in this model is that Google offers free resource to the end user. Analyzing the reasons behind it, Google’s philosophy is to share information universally and make it accessible globally (Google, 2012). Thus, the characteristic of free is a necessary catalyst which accelerates Google to become the largest search engine company around the world. By doing this, advertisers have become the main income rather than the end users.

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change How are Changes in Knowledge Connected to Social Change? Introduction Knowledge and society have a reciprocal relationship. Religious and scientific ideas bring changes to the social order, likewise changes in society help to shape knowledge. This has been most evident since the time of the Enlightenment. From earliest times philosophers had concerned themselves with questions about God and about the human condition, what are sometimes called timeless truths. Sociology, on the other hand was more contextual and historical in that theorists were concerned with the historical emergence of all aspects of human social life. Sociology emerged through the conditions of modernity, which began in Europe in the 17th Century but later spread to become worldwide. The new scientific view questioned previously held ways of knowing and thinking about the world. Religious doctrine and teachings that had been seen as authoritative and objective truths which dictated the way most people lived their lives were called into question by advances in science. At the same time modernity engendered huge technological and social change that led to a break with what had gone before. The French revolution, and in England, the Industrial revolution, which dramatically changed the face of the social world, were decisive elements in the emergence of a theory of society that was distinct from other branches of philosophy (Giddens, 2001). The revolution was based on notions of individual freedom and human rights; it shook the social and political foundations of France and had repercussions across Europe. It also contained within it economic consequences that destroyed the foundations of feudal society. It questioned the idealized and inward looking existence of philosophy (see Morrison, 1995). Historical development’s impact on philosophy was most evident in Hegel’s work which had profound implications for the development of social theory. Hegel took the view that the revolution had not just influenced the way philosophy saw itself; it fundamentally changed the way philosophers dealt with reality and history. History and the social order had been seen as fixed, the revolution changed that and Hegel observed that as one form of social and political existence ended so another took its place.. Hegel viewed the individual as a subject within history and history as developmental and thus liberative. This was the first time that history and humanity’s role within it had been recognised as an ongoing and changing process. Other 19th century thinkers sought to understand the changing world in which they lived. Knowledge and Social Science Auguste Comte is sometimes called the founder of sociology as he coined the term. Comte was influenced by the way scientists investigated the physical world and he sought to create a science of society which would explain the social world in a similar manner. He believed that the scientific method allowed us to uncover universal laws. Comte’s thinking developed into what is known as positivism. This holds that science should be concerned with observable facts thus knowledge about society had to be based on empirical evidence i.e. observation and experiment (Callincos). Comte was followed by Durkheim who also took the view that social life should be studied in the same way that scientists studied the physical world. He and other positivists believed that social facts about the world could be established through the collection of statistical data. In this way sociologists could study cause and effect in society. For Durkheim sociology was about the discovery of social facts, sociologists should study aspects of life that shape individuals such as religion and economics. Because social change is so rapid the modern world presents us with difficulties that affect our lifestyles and cause human beings to feel unsettled. Durkheim described this process as anomie, a feeling of despair that was a result of modern life. The ideas of Karl Marx contrast with those of Comte and Durkheim who were interested in the structure of society.He also sought to explain the changes that were taking place in society. Marx said that the philosophers had only interpreted the world when it needed to be changed. Drawing on Hegel’s idea of the development of history Marx developed what he called a materialist conception of history (Morris, 1995). Social change, he argued is not the result of ideas, but of economic processes. Historical development is the result of class conflict. Religion was a false ideology that upheld the interests of the ruling class and kept the working classes in submission. Max Weber also wanted to understand social change but was critical of some of Marx’s views. Weber believed that ideas and values were just as important as economic processes and he felt that sociology should focus on action not structure (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000). Weber maintained that capitalism was not si mply the result of class conflict, what he termed the ‘spirit;’ of capitalism was the result of a particular view of the world. He maintained that capitalism was the direct result of a particular religious view of the world, that of Calvinism. They worked hard[1]because that was what God wanted and this resulted in the accumulation of capital. Their success was, for them, a sign of God’s grace. Thus, for Weber, rather than study society as a set of social facts, we need to try to understand the meanings that human beings give to their actions. This brought about a continuing divide in sociology between positivism and interpretavism, social structure versus human action. Those who follow an interpretative view of studying society argue that no causal explanation of human behaviour is possible without some understanding of the meanings that individuals give to their actions (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000).[2] Weber believed that human action was creative whereas Dur kheim believed that our actions were limited by social structures. Later Developments Marx, Durkheim and Weber, are known as the founding fathers of sociology who although divided in their accounts of society all sought to make sense of the changing societies that they lived in (Morrison, 1995). Their thought influenced later sociologists. Functionalism developed out of Durkheim’s thinking. Its most prominent thinkers are the American sociologists Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons. Functionalism holds that society is a system whose various parts work together and this produces social solidarity and cohesion (Giddens, 2001).[3] Thus functionalists examined the institutions of society, the family and education to show how they worked in the development of society and promoted social cohesion. Marx’s thinking developed largely through conflict theories. Inherent in Marx’s thought was the idea that one set of people in society were in conflict with another (the class divide) this has been most obvious in the development of feminist theories. Feminists such as Walby (1990) have used Marx’s analysis of class in the analysis of the rise of patriarchy and the struggle between the sexes. These relationships are characterised by the fact that one group has power and authority while another does not. Weber’s thought has been seen as important to the development of symbolic interactionism as found in the work of George Herbert Mead an American anthropologist. This view holds that individuals have an image of themselves that is reinforced by their interactions with others. Phenomenology is a further development of interactionism but it goes further than interactionists in that they focus solely on the subjective aspects of social life. The ideas of the founding fathers have been termed ‘grand theories’ but with the demise of modernity the idea that history is progressive has been called into question. Society is not a seamless whole but plural and diverse, it has thus been described as post-modern (Lyotard, 1989). Postmodernists argue that objective knowledge of the world is not possible because knowledge reflects the interests of its producers. Michel Foucault (1975) was a French sociologist who argued that knowledge was a result of the power relations that exist in society. Power works through discourse[4] and shapes our attitudes towards sexuality, crime and criminals and madness. Foucault, through his ‘archeology’ of knowledge[5] Foucault argued that what we understand of say mental illness or sexuality is a result of social development. Conclusion Clearly knowledge and social change are very closely linked. The immense changes in society over the past three hundred years have resulted in philosophers and social scientists attempting to understand the world, why things happen the way they do, why we do what we do. They also look at the development of social institutions, and in Foucault’s case[6] the development of knowledge itself through discourse. The emergence of sociology is directly related to social change and sociologists attempts to understand such changes have resulted in the production of knowledge. At the same time new knowledge about the world we live in helps to facilitate social change, e.g. feminist perspectives have resulted in huge changes in women’s status in today’s society. Bibliography Callinicos, A 1999 Social Theory New York, New York University Press Foucault, M 1991 (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Harmondsworth, Penguin Giddens, 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Haralambos and Holborn 2000 Sociology: Themes and Perspectives Collins, London Morrison, K 1995 Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought 1 Footnotes [1] What Weber termed the Protestant work ethic [2] See page 972 [3] See page 17 [4] The way we talk and think about a subject An approach which tries to make sense of what we know and how we know it by digging into the past [5] [6] And also Khun’s with his ideas about paradigms or models of acceptable knowledge which change over time. Thus changing views about mental health, childbirth and parenting.

Why I Hate The Mall Essay -- essays research papers

Why I Hate the Mall I hate shopping malls. No, you don't understand. I really hate shopping malls. I think sitting at the Food Court near the Burger King for one hour has served only to heighten my displeasure with these gaudy monstrosities. The only reason I'm here is because nothing else in the town of Poughkeepsie, NY. seems to catch my interest long enough for me to take notice. I got here noon-ish I think. I had to take a taxi since none of my non- pedestrian friends were willing to roll out of bed to give me a ride. "You're waking me up why? The Mall? You insane?" *click*. If there is anything in Poughkeepsie worse than the mall, it would be Poughkeepsie taxi cabs. I never understood why it is that each and every one of them have air freshners which are so putrid smelling, they make one long for the odor of a New York City cabbie's "natural cologne". After enduring ten minutes of the cabbie's "lemme tell ya what's wrong with this country", I finally get to my destination. As soon as I got there, I began to think about how sad it is that the mall has very much become a part of American life. The Chinese have their rice, we have our malls. Does anyone else see a problem with having over one-thousand of these gaudy monstrosities across the country? Despite the fact that the era of eighties-decadence has passed, the malls keep coming, and they keep getting bigger. It's like something out of an Ed Wood flick. I remember reading an article about how bad it's gotten. The largest mall in America has 425 retail shops, 4.2 million square feet of space, over 13 thousand free parking spaces, 44 escalators, and cost $625 million dollars to build. Oh, did I mention that there is a full blown amusement park in the center of it all. It's just sick. When I was in Freeport, I remember hearing a radio show which was running a contest. The prize? A trip to the largest mall in America! Pretty soon, you'll have family vacations to the mall. I can see it now. A room at the Hilton (which will be inside the mall of course). Dad goes Herman's. Mom goes to Ann Taylor. The kids romp at the amusement park. A piece out of Norman Rockwell's Americana. When I went inside, I became dizzy at the sight ... ... anything. It seems like such a tease. The kid is going to want to buy something, whether it's a new Sega game or a Matchbox car. Eventually, the woman relents and buys the sought after item. For the moment, the kid is satiated. Three boys, no more than fifteen years of age, walk into the food court. Their pants are sagging, caps turned backwards. They approach the counter at the Burger King and mull over what they're having. While ordering, they find time to hit on the cashier. She's older, and most likely out of their league, but that doesn't deter their efforts. She gives them an annoyed smile and requests the cash. They oblige and thrown in a last ditch effort to woo her. She smiles politely. The boys walk away, joshing each other about their valiant attempts. As they walk away, I've feel as though I've absorbed enough culture for one afternoon. I feel relieved to be able to go home. Once back on the safer confines of Vassar campus, I breathe a sigh of relief. It's premature though, because deep down I know. Somehow, some way, no matter how much I don't want to, I'll wind up at the Poughkeepsie Galleria soon enough.

The History of Roller Coasters Essay -- Roller Coasters Amusement Park

The History of Roller Coasters Everyone remembers their first ride on a roller coaster, an experience of terror, joy and excitement, as you tower over amusement parks going through curves and loops. From wooden wonders and steel coasters to twisters and corkscrews, the great rides began with the Russian ice slides in the 17th century and have developed into the ultimate thrill machines of today. The origins of the roller coaster will probably never be a settled issue, historians and coaster enthusiasts could argue where it all began (Harris). The success and evolution of the roller coaster and white-knuckle ride has inextricably mirrored the growth and changing perception of the amusement park industry over the years. A period of intense innovation and development in roller coaster science have been interrupted by long periods of decline and neglect, but with each era comes a new success for coasters. Many inventors have aided to the progression of roller coasters and what they are today and it is important t o understand what they have done. There are many inventors who have contributed to the advancements of roller coasters and each of them have had a huge impact on what roller coasters are today. The earliest inventor would be August John Mueller, known as John Miller professionally, who was born in Homewood, Illinois in 1874. At the age of 19 Miller started working with a man named LaMarcus Thompson and became his chief engineer. By 1911, Miller was a consultant to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC), where he designed more than a dozen coasters for PTC, including the mammoth Giant Coaster at Paragon Park in Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts. During the late twenties and the Depression years Miller was associate... ...r Coaster Thrills in 3-D. Distributed by Goldhil Video, Thousand Oaks, CA 1994. (ES) Bennett, David (1998). Roller Coaster: Wooden and Steel Coasters, Twisters, and Corkscrews. New Jersey: Cartwell Books, Inc. (SS) Harris, Tom (1998). How Roller Coasters Work. http://howstuffworks.com/roller-coaster.htm [Accessed 9 April 2002]. (PS) Rathe, Andrew. Coaster – World.com. 2001. http://www.coaster-world.com/index.php. [Accessed 15 April 2002]. (ES) Sandy, Adam (1996). Roller Coasters. http://ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/ [Accessed 9 April 2002]. (PS) Silverstein, Herma. Scream Machines: Roller Coasters Past, Present and Future. New York: Walker, 1986. (PS) Throgmorton, Todd H. Roller Coasters of America. Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks International, 1994. (PS) Wiese, Jim. Roller Coaster Science. New York: John Wiley, 1994. (PS)

The main purpose of the National Rifle Association (NRA)

The main purpose of the National Rifle Association (NRA)[1] is to â€Å"promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis†.[2]   Along with this key initiative, the NRA has other promoting sights that harbor the same motto such as the Institute for Legislative Action[3], and the NRA Foundation[4] (Source Watch, December 2005). The goals of the NRA may be considered conservative because it is an organization priding itself on the proper use of gun control, and it repeatedly goes back to the second admendemnt that allows citizenry to bear arms.   The goals tend to be more on the conservative side since the point of the organization is for citizenry to keep and use firearms and hold a militia in case of infringing governemnt control.   The side that counteracts any deceitful government with military action as the second amendment states[5], The Second Amendment guarantees: â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† This guarantees a citizen's right to keep and bear arms for personal defense. The revolutionary experience caused our forebears to address a second concern — the ability of Americans to maintain a citizen militia. The Founding Fathers trusted an armed citizenry as the best safeguard against the possibility of a tyrannical government. The NRA then is a conservative organization.   This is true because the NRA is only for law-abiding citizens having guns while a liberal stance would be for no one having a gun.   That is the main difference.   Conservatives then believe that guns are used for self-defense.   The main base of the NRA is shooting according to a scientific basis, and therefore gun control is not ideal for an NRA member.   They believe that gun control laws are not applicable in today’s society although there are staggering statistics that prove that gun control does work because per capita countries with gun control laws have less gun related incidents and death[6].   In all the NRA is a very conservative organization. One of the main politicians that oppose the gun control issue is former congressman John Thune[7].   The politician that is for gun control is Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.   Their views are very much strictly conservative opposing fundamental liberalism.   In areas such a gun control and the laws arising in the senate for or against these laws both politicians have adamantly stood in contrast to the other, as the NRA website states in Cox’s article, Since 1986, Daschle has cast literally dozens of anti-gun votes in the U.S. Senate. He voted for the Clinton gun ban in 1994 and again earlier this year. He voted for prohibitions that would have shut down gun shows across America†¦ And as the leader of his party in the U.S. Senate, Daschle carries far more clout and control over fellow Democrats than you might think. And time after time, he has chosen to use that raw power against gun owners. In contrast, Daschle’s challenger, former Congressman John Thune, has been a committed defender of Second Amendment freedom since his first vote in Congress. During his tenure in the House, John Thune voted to prohibit the federal government from keeping computerized records of gun purchases and to protect the American tradition of weekend gun shows. These two politicians are polar opposites with issues concerning guns.   Of course on of the biggest debates on gun issues arose in the 2004 elections with John Kerry being obdurately opposed to guns and even wanted to ban them while Bush of course took the other stance and advocated guns and by extension the NRA. In the NRA’s goals of liberty, equality, and democracy hold true to the idea of freedom.   That is why the Second Amendment is so vital to the NRA’s standing infrastructure; it allows citizens to hold onto freedom with militia and guns in case of the inception of an autocratic government or despot scenario.   In this belief the NRA has a foundation dedicated to education about freedom and guns. The goal again of the NRA is to â€Å"promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis†.  Ã‚   The ideal of democracy is a nation for the people and the NRA seeks to uphold that goal.   In order to do so, and the maintain liberty, and equality the NRA foundation is a modicum that allows for people to exerise their right of bearing arms, as the website states, Established in 1990, The NRA Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductible contributions in support of a wide range of firearm related public interest activities of the National Rifle Association of America and other organizations that defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans. These activities are designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance marksmanship skills of those participating in the shooting sports, and to educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological and artistic context. The Foundation is about protection; protecting freedom through use of guns.   In all, the goals of the NRA in direct accord with their view of liberty, equality and democracy. There are however interest groups that exist that oppose the NRA and their beliefs.   Some of these groups are affiliated with animal protection.   Though the NRA does hunt animals they do so with proper licensure.   The animal rights groups (FETA, National Humane Society of America) oppose the use of trapping, baiting, and hunting with dogs.   The opposition stems from the NRA believing every animal should be hunted without restriction to the animal rights groups wanting to limit hunting on specific species (bear, dove, etc) because of endangerment and other issues. In other instances the NRA helps to control a rising population of animal through hunting, as the website further states, Animal â€Å"rights† extremists from The Humane Society of the United States and other groups came out in strong support of a bill to stop the bear hunt in Maryland. Maryland DNR opposes the legislation and maintains this is needed to properly manage the bear population. The opposition to guns and by extension to the NRA is that they do not regulate their hunting but instead say that hunting a citizen’s right.   On the other hand, the NRA helps to maintain population control by hunting.   If hunters (or NRA active supporters) did not hunt then the population might get out of control and that animal would invading the space of humans, and in the case of the white-tailed deer their numbers would increase steadily and more people would get into wrecks because their population wasn’t checked through the use of fire-arms.   Also, in the view of an NRA member, hunting is a legitimate means by which to supply their family with food; so not only is hunting good for society but it is also good for the family. The NRA also has volunteer positions in its organization.   These positions include duties such as protecting freedom for gun owners.   Volunteers answer calls for the organization, and are called EVC (Election Volunteer Coordinators).   These volunteers as the NRA website states, †¦all EVCs serve on a voluntary basis, and ARE NOT employed by NRA. Rather, like you, they are NRA Members and volunteers who have stepped forward to help organize fellow Second Amendment supporters in an effort to protect our freedoms. If you are able to give ANY time to assist with volunteer activities in support of local pro-gun candidates, please contact the EVC in your area. The point of becoming a volunteer is to be actively involved in the protection of the Second Amendment in one’s own community.   A volunteer makes their surrounding community aware of the NRA and its issues through town-hall meetings, writing letters, writing newspaper articles, and in other ways during election years so that the citizenry is aware of the gun issues at hand are better equipped with gun knowledge.   There are also volunteer organizations involved with promoting the ideas of the NRA, one of which is the Firearms Coalition of Colorado and as the NRA website states, Formed 14 years ago to fight the City of Denver`s attempts to ban numerous semi-auto firearms, the Firearms Coalition of Colorado (FCC) exemplifies just what it means to be a â€Å"volunteer organization.† During the last 14 years, working side-by-side with NRA-ILA, FCC has steadfastly continued its efforts to thwart countless attacks by anti-gun politicians at the local and state levels. These are the ladies and gentlemen that you commonly find working at 3:00 a.m. if that is what it takes to get the job done. The purpose of volunteers and volunteer organizations is to promote gun awareness and to advocate the Second Amendment. The NRA is an organization dedicated to fire arms and the proper use of such firearms.   It is a strong advocate of the Second Amendment and is proud to take control of guns and the rights of the citizenry to use those guns for personal purpose without the interference of the government.   As their website states, and this paper reiterates, the NRA was Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the â€Å"lobbying† arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is committed to preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is therefore an organization priding itself on protecting an individual’s freedom, equality and democracy.   To achieve this, volunteers work during elections to ensure everyone is aware of gun issues and how to ensure that guns are not banned from the country.   The right to bear arms is important to the NRA because it ensures that an autocratic government does not take control of the nation, and guns are an important decipherer in that equation of freedom. Work Cited Friends of NRA.   ;http://www.nrafoundation.org/; NRA Organization.   ;http://www.nraila.org/index.aspx; Source Watch.   (December, 2005).   National Rifle Association.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ;http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Rifle_Association; [1] A foundation founded in 1871 ( [2] This quote can be found on the NRA website at, http://www.nra.org/ [3] This is the NRA’s lobbying arm, which means it is a group of legislatures promoting the cause of the NRA with politicians and other public officials. [4] a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, which provides â€Å"a means to raise millions of dollars to fund gun safety and educational projects of benefit to the general public.† (NRA website). [5] This quote is found on the NRA website and it furthers to explain the cause of the organization in regards to its fundamental motto and the fact that the NRA is trying to protect and legislate a citizens right to weapons in case of a tyrannical government. [6] There is a list of other conservative related issues pertaining to the NRA that are: conservatives believe that background checks are not necessary for owning a gun, it is unlawful to license gun owners, again there is the Second Amendment for the bearing of arms to protect individual rights, the NRA also holds true that it is wrong for individuals to sue gun companies. [7] Of South Dakota