The Use Of Dialectic To Define Justice Essays -

The Use Of Dialectic To Define Justice Through the use of Socratic dialogue, Plato has an advantage at obtaining answers by refuting other philosophers. Plato is able to achieve an answer to the question, what is justice. He derives this answer through an analogy of the ideal city. The ideal city parallels the concept of the ideal person as Plato uncovers with the aid of dialectic. Plato defines justice as a function of harmony, which must first be achieved in an individual before being extended to the city. Speaking through Socrates Plato defines justice as a philosophical understanding of excellence in the organization of society and human soul. In book IV Socrates refutes the notion that justice is visible, while using the Socratic method of dialogue. He questions that justice is the virtue that has no physical representative. Through the state, Socrates inferred that justice can be understood as opposed to being seen. In order to grasp the concept of the ideal city or the happy state one must first analyze its components. Plato does this with dialectic. Then he questions that each individual is a member of one of three groups: Rulers, Guardians, and the Producer class. Each one of the specifications of labor 2 within the kallipolis accompany a chief characteristic. The rulers were considered to have wisdom as their virtue. People chosen to be a ruler exhibited a special knowledge for leading the state. In the kallipolis rulers make their judgment for the happiness of the state as opposed to their own individual happiness. Is there some knowledge possessed by some of the citizens in the city?that does not judge about any particular matter but the city as a whole and the maintenance of good relations both internally and with other cities?(pg.104,428d) The next virtue, Plato discovers through the Socratic method, was courage. This power to preserve through everything correct and law-inculcated belief about what is to be feared and what isn't is what I call courage.(105,430b) This virtue resided mainly in the guardians. Each soldier was trained from their childhood about what to fear and what not to fear. Courage was apparent in the soldier? beliefs in the state laws as well as doing whatever was necessary to protect the state. Through the Socratic method, Plato makes an analogy of the soldiers to poorly dyed wool, stating that a soldier will never present a ridiculous and washed out appearance. The next virtue, moderation, Plato discovered through the Socratic method was needed in every member of the kallipolis, but he divulged that it was the attribute of the 3 producer class. Unlike courage and wisdom... Making the city brave and wise respectively, moderation spreads throughout the whole.(pg.107,431e) Moderation was necessary for each class, especially this one since the craftsmen are considered the appetites of kallipolis. Through dialogue with Glaucon, Plato concludes that producers were moderate; guardians were moderate and courageous; and the rulers were moderate, courageous, and wise. After Socrates has found the other three virtues in the kallipolis, he then moves on to justice. Socrates felt that justice was the virtue that was left over. Justice was an understanding in the kallipolis of each individual performing their job without interfering with that of another. Socrates placed the other three virtues first and as a result he arrived with the conclusion that justice or morality is achieved through a harmony of the others. Therefore Socrates defined justice as a function of wisdom, courage, and moderation all working together to produce the best for the state. Justice was considered as the harmony of the city as well as an individual. Socrates felt that through examining the state and its parts he could discover justice in the individual. Each individual was as the state, with three different parts: 4 mind, body, and spirit. The mind acted in each individual as a ruler. The virtue of the mind was wisdom just as the ruler of the state. Courage is also found in the soul of the individual in the form of the spirit. The spirit acts as the guardian of the soul just as the soldier does for the city. And isn't in the individual courageous in the same way and in the same part of himself

Challenges Versus Constants Weighing Workplace Opportunities

Challenges Versus Constants Weighing Workplace Opportunities While author and business journalist Suzy Welch warns against complacency in what she calls a professional â€Å"Velvet Coffin,† arguing instead for the importance of taking risks in search of new challenges, writer and employment branding professional John Feldman responds with a more pragmatic point of view. According to Feldman, who describes himself as â€Å"neither an optimist nor a pessimist, but rather a realist,† before taking a plunge into a new career just for the sake of avoiding the ennui of the everyday, you should take stock of the variables and constants of your current position. If you don’t know for sure that another opportunity would provide a better salary, more convivial coworkers, and more challenging work, are you still willing to take the risk, or might it make more sense to trust the constants of the workplace you know? He suggests instead waiting out the inevitable fallow periods where work becomes predictable, or even making your own cha llenges by taking on more responsibilities, earning a new certification, or opening a conversation with your manager about pursuing other opportunities closer to home.Nobody should stay mired in a job that they find unsafe or unsatisfying, but there may be choices besides starting over from scratch that are right for you and your career. Good luck as you consider and pursue them!

Using the Adjective Lackadaisical

Using the Adjective Lackadaisical Using the Adjective Lackadaisical Using the Adjective Lackadaisical By Maeve Maddox One of my mothers favorite words was lackadaisical. Example: Dont vote for her to head the committee. Shes too lackadaisical to get anything done. Some people use lackadaisical as a synonym for lazy, but thats not quite what the word means. This headline indicates the difference: FCC: Lazy Or Just Lackadaisical? Lazy implies the deliberate avoidance of work in order to spare oneself effort. Lackadaisical implies lack of purpose. The lazy person has a purpose. The lackadaisical person is content to let things happen. The adjective lackadaisical derives ultimately from the word lack in the Middle English sense of loss, failure, reproach, shame. When people were overcome by the sadness, unfairness, or futility of life, they would put the back of their hands to their foreheads and exclaim Ah, lack! Ah, lack became the word alack. Then came the expression Alack the day! On a day, alack the day! †¨Love, whose month was ever May,†¨ Spied a blossom passing fair,†¨ Playing in the wanton air†¦ Shakespeare, Loves Perjuries Alack the day contracted to the interjection lackaday: Ah, lack-a-day! its a troublesome world! Lack-a-day became lack-a-daisy: The carpenter..said ‘lack-a-daisy!’ when he saw that the old theatre was pulled down. The whimsical adjective lackadaisical derives from the exclamation lackadaisy. The OED gives this definition of lackadaisical: Resembling one who is given to crying ‘Lackaday!’; full of vapid feeling or sentiment; affectedly languishing. Said of persons, their behaviour, manners, and utterances. Merriam-Webster defines lackadaisical this way: lacking life, spirit, or zest : devoid of energy or purpose These examples from the web indicate that lackadaisical is now used most often to mean lack of energy or purpose: Having a lackadaisical selling effort is nothing to be proud of Cleveland police remain too lackadaisical in handling sex crimes Lackadaisical play irks White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen Giuliani: Obama has lackadaisical attitude toward war, Gulf oil crisis Why are todays teenagers so careless and lackadaisical? Are Christian churches today lackadaisical on discipline? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Social vs. SocietalPreposition Mistakes #1: Accused and Excited

Freedom of Speech and a Free Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Freedom of Speech and a Free Government - Essay Example One of the areas that free speech is universally held as sacred is the freedom of religion or even the freedom from religion. (Matthew D. Bunker, 2001).One of the interesting facts of life is that the Supreme Court has never decided what free speech is. The court has allowed that free speech is associated with the search for truth. Even unpopular opinions are allowed the right of free speech. Freedom of speech is very important in the development of political stances that individuals might take.   Through freedom of speech various ideas can be developed and debated in order to establish a defensible position. It has been said that the right to express ourselves and the right of others to hear us contributes to the ordinary happiness of human beings, in general. With that being said, there are things not protected by freedom of speech. One cannot obstruct the recruiting or enlistment for people to serve in the military. Libelous talk or press and false advertising are also restricte d.   In general it is not permissible to wear gang colors to school or to wear anything that promotes hatred. Also not covered by free speech are personal threats of violence made against a government worker or an educator. The First Amendment of the American Constitution is perhaps one of the best known governmental documents of all time. The government as created by the representatives would be composed of three branches. The executive would be the leader of the entire union supported by a two house legislature.

E-cigaretee Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

E-cigaretee - Research Paper Example The smoking cessation industry is led by the USA in terms of the market size, which is the followed by UK, Germany and then Russia. However, almost in all the developed countries and even in many other countries globally, the smoke cessation industry has been growing rapidly. While the most known method for helping in smoking cessation traditionally has been nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), new methods products are now rising, which targets the smoking cessation industry (Wikinvest, n.p.). The market is segmented into two broad categories of the cessation therapy consumer segment and the smoking cessation products/pills consumers segment. The therapy market segment consumer segment constitutes the consumers who are seeking the services of medical professionals to assist them in the cessation of their smoking habits, with such consumers having access to 17 different smoking cessation therapies, but one of the therapies, the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), remains the most predominant therapy that many smokers are seeking (Wikinvest, n.p.). The smoking cessation products/pills consumers segment comprises of the consumer segment that is purchasing the products manufactured by the smoking cessation industry, such as the smoking cessation pills, which are widely applied towards helping the smokers quit their habits. The use of the smoking cessation pills is highly adopted in the UK markets, with the product generating  £720m in revenue in the year 2011 alone (Steele, n.p.). The smoking cessation industry is relatively small in size, considering that it is an industry that is relatively new in the market, and its products are yet to be known very well. However, the industry is poised to grow in the near future to a substantial market. While the current market share of the smoking cessation industry is estimated at between 3 and 4% of the overall, the growth rate of the industry is

The United States economy Essay Example for Free

The United States economy Essay The economic problems that are plaguing the United States economy at the present are numerous to say the least. Since the collapse of the Housing market, the United States has experienced what some have come to call an economic recession. While it remains to be seen if the United States economy is really undergoing a recession at this point in time, this situation can be used as a great opportunity to point out the current struggles of the American economy. The much touted and highly publicized US $700 billion bailout plan is argued to be good for the economy as a â€Å"quick fix† to the problem yet there are a number of economists who feel that the real solution to the problem lies in establishing more solid fiscal policies as opposed to monetary policies. As several economists have pointed out, the monetary solution of providing an economic stimulus package without addressing the fundamental problems is only a â€Å"quick fix. † The world is beginning to realize that all of the credit and financial problems that the world is facing right now cannot be solved by throwing money at it. The problem, as pointed out, is not simply that the world is experiencing a slow down but that there are fundamental flaws with several of the world’s largest economies and as such these problems have to be addressed. Any monetary policy will simply result in concealing the glaring holes in the economic systems and will not provide the needed answers to the problem. There seems to be no end in sight for this economic problem as governments all over the world announce new economic stimulus packages. There also seems to be a dearth in fiscal policies that are designed to solve this problem. In order to arrive at a more effective solution to the problem, it is important to accompany these monetary policies with sound fiscal policies in order to create solid economic fundamentals that may prevent the occurrence of financial crises such as these in the future. References: Davidson, Scott. (2003). Economics: Perfect Competition and Monopolistic Competition. 2nd Series. Bantham Books: 103-105. Davis, K. (2003). The costs and consequences of being uninsured. Retrieved February 4, 2008, from http://www. cmwf. org. Stone, Diane. (2007) â€Å"Market Principles, Philanthropic Ideals and Public Service Values: The Public Policy Program at the Central European University†, PS: Political Science and Politics, July: 545—551

Anorexia Essay -- essays research papers fc

"Anorexia Nervosa" Bizarre, devastating, and baffling are three words that describe the anorexia nervosa disease. By definition, anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continue to starve themselves. The term "anorexia nervosa" literally means nervous lose of appetite. People with the disorder are suppressing a strong desire to eat, because they are afraid of becoming fat. Anorexia is characterized by extreme starvation that leads to a disastrous loss of weight. Anorexia nervosa affects a large number of people today in the world, and does not discriminate against anybody. Its victims can be overweight, thin, young, old, or either sex although, its primary victims are young girls between the age of thirteen and nineteen. This disorder has become more and more common around the world today. It has populated many college campuses, and it is spreading. Recent studies show that almost 20% of c ollege women suffer from anorexia or bulimia (bulimia is a eating disorder similar to anorexia), and the statistic increases to about 50% when so called "fad" bulimics and anorexics are included (Baker 9). This disease takes ordinary, often very beautiful people and drives them to starvation for no apparent reason whatsoever. They do not even seem to realize the extreme danger that comes with not eating a balanced diet. These young people lose so much weight that it makes them extremely fragile and sometimes causes death. Death was very near to a girl named Patti, who suffered through anorexia for more than two years. She ate nothing but two cream-filled cookies a day for more than seven weeks. The first cookie was breakfast and lunch, and the second was for her main meal. When she decided that these two cookies had too much fat in them, she proceeded to scrape off the cream filling from both of the cookies to decrease her fat intake. But still that was too much fat, so she cut down to one cookie without the filling. She now gets fed intravenously in her arm to get nourishment in the hospital. She is being fed against her will to save her life. But of course not all cases of this disorder are quite as severe or dramatic as this, yet all cases should be helped, because they can take a... ... is also accompanied by the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). These groups are paving the way to make these disorders easier to cure. They provide family therapy, psychotherapy, and hypnosis. Since there are so many philosophies about treating anorexia nervosa, exploring for a suitable therapist is suggested. This terrible, bizarre disorder has became more popular in the past few decades, but there are newer and better ways of treating it. There are no general answers to why people become anorexic and why when on the brink of death they continue to starve themselves, but they need to know that there is help out there and they are wanted. With the continued investigation of anorexia, we will undoubtedly come up with better and better ways to treat it. Bibliography Baker, C. The Perfect Trap: College-age Women and Eating Disorders. Copyright Catherine Baker. Pirke, K.M., and Ploog,D. eds.(1984) The Psychobiology of Anorexia Nervosa. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo.

History †Western Civilization Essay

Darwin’s view on natural selection is that man incessantly presents individual differences in all parts of his body and in his mental faculties. These differences or variations seem to be induced by the same general causes, and to obey the same laws as with the lower animals. In both cases similar laws of inheritance prevail. Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence; consequently he is occasionally subjected to a severe struggle for existence, and natural selection will have effected whatever lies within its scope. A succession of strongly-marked variations of a similar nature is by no means requisite; slight fluctuating differences in the individual suffice for the work of natural selection; not for any reason to suppose that in the same species, all parts of the organization tend to vary to the same degree. It may be assuring that the inherited effects of the long-continued use or disuse of parts will have done much in the same direction with natural selection. Modifications formerly of importance, though no longer of any special use, are long-inherited. When one part is modified, other parts change through the principle of correlation, of which we have instances in many curious cases of correlated monstrosities. Something may be attributed to the direct and definite action of the surrounding conditions of life, such as abundant food, heat or moisture; and lastly, many characters of slight physiological importance, some indeed of considerable importance, have been gained through sexual selection. The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest, but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is however impossible to maintain that this belief is innate or instinctive in man. On the other hand a belief in all-pervading spiritual agencies seems to be universal; and apparently follows from a considerable advance in man’s reason, and from a still greater advance in his faculties of imagination, curiosity and wonder. Darwin’s aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for His existence. But this is a rash argument, as one thus is compelled to believe in the existence of many cruel and malignant spirits, only a little more powerful than man; for the belief in them is far more general than in a beneficent Deity. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until one has been elevated by long-continued culture. Darwin’s view on race talks about modifications acquired independently of selection, and due to variations arising from the nature of the organism and the action of the surrounding conditions, or from changed habits of life, no single pair will have been modified much more than the other pairs inhabiting the same country, for all will have been continually blended through free intercrossing. Since man attained to the rank of manhood, he has diverged into distinct races, or as they may be more fitly called, sub-species. Some of these, such as the Negro and European, are so distinct that, if specimens had been brought to a naturalist without any further information, they would undoubtedly have been considered by him as good and true species. Nevertheless all the races agree in so many unimportant details of structure and in so many mental peculiarities that these can be accounted for only by inheritance from a common progenitor; and a progenitor thus characterized would probably deserve to rank as man. But it must not be supposed that the divergence of each race from the other races, and of all from a common stock, can be traced back to any one pair of progenitors. REFERENCE Darwin, C. (1874). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. New York: A. L. Burt. Hart, M. (1992). The descent of man; the origin of species. Retrieved August 15, 2006, from the Great Literature Book-Worm org Web site:http://www. book-worm. org/darwin-charles/the-descent-of-man/chapter-21. html

Cyberspace and Human Relationships Essay

There was a time when people were divided into 2 groups: those with social skills that help them in interacting with others, and those without the needed social skills to interact thus causing them to retreat into a shell or their own little vacuum of a world. These groups no longer exist in today’s world because of that technological marvel that has been bridging social gaps in the 21st century, the Internet. The Internet has introduced both the socially adept and inept people to new forms of communication that do not cause them to get tongue tied nor have muddled thoughts when trying to relate to others. Using chat room, email, forums, blogging, and other forms of electronic communication has allowed people, as a collective society to redefine human relationships in relation to the existence of cyberspace. Cyberspace, more popularly known as the Internet has allowed people to discover the full extent of their social skills within the safe confines of their unknown locations and aliases. According to Norman N. Holland in his paper entitled The Internet Regression: Current estimates say 23 million people communicate on the Internet from most of the nations on the globe, and that number is increasing at 12% a month. One would normally say that these statistics are a good sign. People are finally communicating with each other regardless of nationality, ethnicity, and race. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Holland’s research has indicated that: Talking on the Internet, people regress. It’s that simple. It can be one-to-one talk on e-mail or many-to-many talk on one of the LISTs or newsgroups. People regress, expressing sex and aggression as they never would face to face. He proceeds to explain that these regressions can be seen in 3 aspects that he terms as Internet primitivism. These acts of primitivism are flaming, sexual aggression, strangely enough, extraordinary generosity over the Internet. He defines flaming as Flying into a typewritten rage at some perceived slight or blunder and is the most common form of Internet primitivism usually found in forums, blogs, newsgroups, and emails. Sexual harassment is a: Crude invitations to people about whom one knows no more than their online signatures (which may well be â€Å"gender-benders† that hide the sex of the speaker). Just like in the physical world, this kind of attack is aimed towards women and can happen even in the most professional and intellectual of forums. Although, due to the anonymity that cyberspace offers, males also get their fair share or indecent proposals. Finally, you are probably wondering as to how extraordinary generosity can be considered a type of regression influenced by the use of the Internet. Mr. Holland explains that The one comment you hear over and over again about online communication is the openness, the sense of sharing and, mostly, tolerance. Total strangers will give up hours of their time to send one another research data. Even goods. This is because of the aura of safety and comfort that Internet relationships provide. Mr. Holland tells his readers that Kristina Ross coined the term â€Å"Identity play† to define this sort of openness. The idea being that People try out new ways of being, often in very playful ways: different professions, the opposite gender, altered self-descriptions. There is a sense that ‘it doesn’t matter,’ a feeling of invulnerability. Summing up his belief about Internet relationships, he indicates that Communication on the Internet has its plusses and minuses. The plusses are the generosity and openness. The minuses are aggressive flaming, sexual attack, and increased vulnerability. I think they are two sides of the same coin: sex and aggression in positive and negative, active and passive, forms. Both begin because of a lack of inhibition–a regression. Therefore, he believes that the relationships built over the Internet allow man to give in to his most basic animal desires without anyone to answer to simple because the Internet cannot be controlled nor censored. The main problem I see with Internet based interaction is that the human aspect of socialization has disappeared. Cyberspace gives us a false sense of security and does not provide any boundaries that teach the users how to treat our cyber neighbor. Inhibition does not exist when one does not physically interact with others and this offers a different kind of freedom that allows one to express himself too freely at times in ways and means that one would not even dare to try when face to face with another person. MIT professor Sherry Turk whose article â€Å"Who Am We? † was published by Wire Magazine has found that: Computer screens are the new location for our fantasies, both erotic and intellectual. We are using life on computer screens to become comfortable with new ways of thinking about evolution, relationships, sexuality, politics, and identity. Due to the ease of creating an Internet identity, man has developed the ability to become the Internet character version of a chameleon. It is not uncommon for a person to have more than one online identity depending upon the type of site being frequented. Each identity also has an accompanying character and background that could either be based on the actual personality of the person or totally made up in order to serve a certain purpose for the individual. Now, according to a 2004 survey done by the Elan University / Pew Internet Project: By 2014, use of the Internet will increase the size of peoples’ social networks far beyond what has traditionally been the case. This will enhance trust in society, as people have a wider range of sources from which to discover and verify information about job opportunities, personal services, common interests and products. Cyberspace has bridged a communication gap worldwide. It allows us to have a tremendously extensive social network using community websites like Friendster, My Space, and other similar websites. Using these avenues, we have developed virtual worlds where we can become comfortable with other people and decide if it would be worth it for us to meet them face to face, or if it will be worth it to speak to them over the phone. Due to the ease of creating an Internet identity, man has developed the ability to become the Internet character version of a chameleon. It is not uncommon for a person to have more than one online identity depending upon the type of site being frequented. Each identity also has an accompanying character and background that could either be based on the actual personality of the person or totally made up in order to serve a certain purpose for the individual. The existence of cyberspace has redefined one of the most basic social and human relationships. I am talking about the Dating relationship. Gone are the days of worrying and embarrassment over wanting to talk to a person you have a crush on or talking to a person you really want to ask out and fearing being rebuffed. Dating services such as match. com proliferate the Internet and, for low monthly fees, the company wants you to believe that they can find you that perfect partner all through the use of technology supported match making. Millions of people worldwide are signed up for similar services in their home countries. The questions are (1. ) Does it really work? (2. ) Is there a more dominant sex in this kind of dating set-up? (3) Have the gender roles been reversed because of this new form of finding and going on a date? (4. ) Dating a matter of trust. Can you trust someone you just met online? Since cyberspace allows us to communicate from great distances, personal and romantic relationships that are based on this arena centers mostly around trusting the other person. Somehow, people who interact online seem to be more comfortable talking about them and use the anonymity of the Internet as confidence boost towards becoming more intimate. Online dating allows both participants to find someone they have a lot in common with before actually going on a physical date. This helps lessen or eliminate the uncertainty of the physical date because they assume that they already know each other and already know they are mentally compatible. Hence, a different level of comfort and trust. According to Tiberius Brastaviceanu, author of The Future of Online Dating: Technology-mediated communication provides a less stressful environment where dating people can better control their self-presentation, and better strategize. Some manifestations of this difference are: Misrepresentation: for various reasons people tend to portray a persona that is unrealistic to a greater degree. End of conversation: exchanges can be ended abruptly, as this action bears insignificant consequences. Intimacy: people tend to disclose more intimate information, as this action bears less-significant consequences. Rudeness: extreme behaviors, normally inhibited in a real social environment, are common in computer-mediated communication. Indeed, dating these days is now a far cry from when our parents were dating. Maybe because dating people met online is more exciting. It provides and element of surprise and according to Brastaviceanu: The ultimate cause is that it makes the dating game more interesting, by providing huge payoffs: intimacy, each independent rejection is less harmful (go here for more in-depth), putting an end to a stillborn relation is less complicated, access to a larger pool of potential matches, etc. Online dating is a type of dating service that relies mostly on technology, and offers daters the possibility to meet and to communicate online. Although, just like anything too good to be true, it has some grave downsides that are considered just as dangerous as speed dating and blind dating. According to Brastaviceanu, these complications are quite similar to real life dating woes. As an example, he states: Misrepresentation Security A torrent of unpleasant messages from non-serious daters As some of the dangers posed by online dating. Yet people still seem to enjoy using the online dating services or going out with people they meet online. Some would say, â€Å"the payoff exceeds the nuisance† that according to Brastaviceanu has provided the single people with a highly modified dating model that has left us with one certainty: The dating game has been greatly modified, but on a background of continuity. It still holds important elements form its traditional version. And that is because the players (daters) are still real beings manifesting real needs, and the aim of the game (relational goals) is something that has to be cherished in real-life. It is true that online dating has made everything easier for people who are painfully shy or do to have the first idea as to how to get or ask for a date with a person they like. But online dating will never replace actual dating. There are certain elements of physical dating that cannot be erased because of the importance it carries in terms of a long-term physical, or even cyberspace based relationship. One of these more important factors is the role each person plays in the relationship. Even in cyberspace, there can be no role reversal, as one will always prove to be the more dominant sex. But, because these people met and discovered each other similarities and differences in cyberspace, they may find it easier to meet halfway and come to an agreement regarding the role each person will play in the date or relationship. In terms of sexuality though, theorists such as Sherry Turkel advocate the belief that: Interaction in cyberspace to be liberating in that anonymous users can put on and take off gender identities at will. According to some of those who shared their beliefs in the 1999 article Gender and the Internet: Sex, Sexism, and Sexuality, theorists such as Alan Ryan believe otherwise indicating that: If I pass myself off as a Chinese drag queen of uncertain age, I do not become any such thing, any more than I would do so if I played some part in a play. From the same article, Don Slater further reaffirms the notion that sexual roles are not reversed once meeting people online by explaining that: While one would expect the construction of new kinds of bodies, identities and connections between them, a liberation, an experimentalism or at least a diminished conventionality, his study of sexpics trade on IRC found that participants reaffirmed heterosexual, male norms. Cyberspace has influenced more than just the dating game played by society. It has also managed to alter the face of human relationships due to the vast communities online dedicated to social interaction among its members. Entire communities are built solely for the purpose of meeting new people who share the same interests or simply staying in touch with friends who now live miles away from each other. Lisa R. Hoffman, author of the article Gender and the Internet: Sex, Sexism, and Sexuality explains who human relationships have evolved with the emergence of cyberspace as a social tool and gathering place for individuals and groups as: Rather than representing a dichotomy between good and evil, oppression and resistance, the Internet and its use reflects society’s complexity. Theoretically speaking, it therefore reflects the epistemological insights of feminist, postmodernist, and cultural studies scholars, who posit a multiple versus dualistic conception of society and social change. Moreover, it appears that the Internet and gender represents just one more case of how the more things change, the more they stay the same. The virtual world of cyberspace mimics the real world situations and problems on sites such as Friendster, Facebook, and MySpace. These cyber communities share the same real world problems of envy, lying, pretending, and bullying. The big difference in the problems lies in the way the cyberspace user chooses to handle the situation because, unlike in real life, in a cyber community, you can unsubscribe, block emails and private messages, or quite simply, just turn off the computer. These are options not available to us in the real world. I believe that the best explanation as to how cyberspace has helped human relationships evolved into a higher degree comes from the article by Margot Morse entitled The Chaos of Cyberspace Brought to Order: Social Networking Sites. She successfully explains that: One undeniable fact is that sites such a these ones allow individuals to remain connected through various outlets and areas of interest. Relationships between friends and family can be more in touch with each other close to â€Å"real time† through messaging. The sites also makes connections and can show how people know each other through the degrees of separation- thus creating a smaller and more connected world and reinforcing our personal relationships. All of these theories, analysis, surveys say the same thing about our society and the effect of cyberspace on the relationships in the virtual and real world. Anything done in excess will have severe consequences. Cyberspace or the Internet was originally developed as a military tool to help aid in warfare program and development. It has come a long way from being a tool of mass chaos, to a tool aimed at developing relationships and fostering goodwill. The actual effect that cyberspace will have on dating and human relationship is solely based in the hands of man. Cyberspace can easily be used in bad ways as it can be used for good. It is up to man to make sure that the right decisions are made and that cyberspace remains a tool of peace and an avenue meant to keep the peace and foster understanding, love and friendship among mankind. Work Cited â€Å"Gender and the Internet: Sex, Sexism, and Sexuality†. ProQuest CSA. May 1999. April 10, 2007 < http://www. csa. com/discoveryguides/archives/gender. php> â€Å"Prediction on Social Networks†. Imagining the Internet. 2004. April 12, 2007 < http://www. elon. edu/e-web/predictions/expertsurveys/2004_socialnetworks. xhtml â€Å"The Chaos of Cyberspace Brought to Order: Social Networking Sites†. ConNetion : The Cultural Phenomenon of the World Wide Web. April 2007. April 10. 2007 â€Å"The Future of the Dating Industry†. Dating Industry. March 19, 2007. April 11, 2007 < http://tiberius-dating-industry. blogspot. com/search/label/online%20dating> â€Å"The Internet Regression†. The Psychology of Cyberspace. January 1996. April 12, 2007

Essay on Legalize Marijuana Teen Esaay

Essay on Legalize Marijuana Teen Esaay Essay on Legalize Marijuana Teen Esaay Esthela Obregon Per 3 Legalize Marijuana The use of marijuana is a very controversial issue today because many people only see it as a way to get â€Å"high†. It is true that marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a huge recreational drug but it is also a very big help to people with medical problems. It is a great remedy for anxiety issues, stomach pains, and sleeping problems as well. There are many drugs used for what marijuana implements to. It has been legalized in Colorado and Washington recently and seems to be a big hit as far as the amount of people consuming it so far. Marijuana is an all-natural plant that grows without any person making and producing it. It is a plant that is dried and consumed, it is not some pill you take that is produced and created that you have no idea what it is made up by. Marijuana can help cure many problems around the world such as insomnia, stomach pains and headaches. There are many more small problems that can be solved by a natural plant that is considered illegal. It c an be said that marijuana is abused but there are many legal drugs that are abused just s much if not more. I don’t believe that saying marijuana is abused is a good argument for it to be illegal. Vicodin, Tylenol with Codeine, OxyContin and Percoset and many more are all drugs that are highly abused and legal. These drugs are highly abused and much more dangerous than marijuana. These other drugs that are abused are also on the market to cure one issue of the body and cannot be used for other illnesses while marijuana can help to take out many issues at once with one â€Å"medication†. Glaucoma is one condition that can be relieved by marijuana. It is a condition in which pressure on the eyeball increases over time causing blurred vision, pain and could possibly lead to loss of vision. Cannabis has active chemical compounds called cannabinoids that aid in limiting pressure in the eyes. Limiting the pressure in the eyes limits the damage being done to the eye. This is just one example of marijuana helping medical conditions. THC is the substance that naturally occurs on the marijuana plant that is responsible for the cannabis high. Marijuana is illegal because the government believes there is not enough research and tests done. The affects of marijuana could be a reason most people believe it is bad and should be illegal. With a little research, you will find that it is not that bad. The public spends tax dollars on many projects researching hoe much THC it takes to make a person severely ill when it is nearly impossible to make someone virtually ill from THC. My opinion on the affects of marijuana is that it does not affect the brain, or as

Analysis of “Dark Shadows” as a Gothic Masterpiece

Analysis of â€Å"Dark Shadows† as a Gothic Masterpiece To most, when asked to define what Gothic is, they will state that it is similar to any other story, just with more â€Å"darkness. † This is because Gothic stories all have a classic story line. First, there is the main character’s back story, if any is then told. Next, there are events that lead up to a horrible incident that is the climax of the story. Lastly, the character finds some way to fix the situation or free him- or herself from it. They might go insane, commit suicide, run away, or watch other characters perish. However, readers would be greatly mistaken if they thought that this was all that there is to a Gothic story; there is much more to the Gothic than meets the eyes. There are Gothic tropes that define this type of Literature from the rest, such as murder, groans, blood, or even an apparition. Even today, there are video games that have these Gothic tropes. According to Kirkland, games such as Silent Hill have â€Å"gloomy settings with a sense of forthcoming violence, spaces such as a haunted house, tombs and prisons, the contaminating influence of family curses, and revenge-driven ghosts† (107). These tropes have endured across time due to their effect on the human mind. And this can be seen no more than in Burton’s film, the 2012 version, Dark Shadows. Humans have a natural fear of the dark that has existed since the beginning of time. Centuries ago, people feared the dark because that was the time when they were most likely to get attacked by robbers. Some people even went so far as to capture starving, wild dogs and have them fenced in to help protect the house. Even today, people are wary of going outside at night due to the fear of getting robbed and/or killed. In Burton’s film Dark Shadows, it was filmed almost entirely at dusk or at night. Although he didn’t update the use of darkness in this Gothic story, he did use it very wisely. For example, in the film he made sure to have candles low to the ground to illuminate people’s faces from the bottom, causing them to appear ghoulish. He also made particular scenes more dark and dreary than others; while it would be sunny at the fishing docks, it was cloudy at the castle. This affected the audience by making them feel that the castle had something sinister hidden within it. Death is a huge fear for countless, as it has been for centuries. Long before embalming, people had no knowledge of what happened during or after death. At one point in history it was so common for people to be accidently buried alive, that next to every grave they put a bell with a string attached that reached down inside the coffin. If the person was alive and woke up, they would pull the string and someone would come to rescue them. Throughout the ages, death and its meaning has slowly changed. In Aikinari’s story, â€Å"The Chrysanthemum Vow,† death is portrayed as a way to free oneself from the confinements of life. When Akana was captured and imprisoned, he committed suicide in order to be able to travel to Samon as a ghost and fulfill his vow with him. In Dark Shadows, death was modernized by the use of the vampire named Barnabas Collins. Vampires have been a part of our society for generations. When someone dies, it is common for the body to bloat and for blood to leak out of the mouth, due to its decomposition. According to Gee, â€Å"a body decomposes in such a way that human teeth protrude like fangs† (8). Not being able to comprehend this, people would tell horror stories of vampires to try and explain what was going on. In Dark Shadows, Barnabas not only updated vampires, but also death. Unlike the original vampires, Barnabas became this monster not by the bite of another vampire but from the curse of a jealous witch, who also killed his fiance. This changed the view of death because death was something that Barnabas could not attain. Unlike his predecessors, he was immortal and couldn’t die. This caused him great pain since he could never be with his beloved again. Death became that which could free him and end his suffering. This also changed the anatomy of vampires. Classic vampires could be harmed with garlic or the light. While the light hurt him, he was able to merely wear a hat and cloak and not be harmed. However, there is still much more to Gothic Literature. According to Baldick, â€Å"For the Gothic effect to be attained, a tale should combine a fearful sense of inheritance in time with a claustrophobic sense of enclosure in space† (xix). A story can have Gothic tropes but not be Gothic. There are loads of books that have murders and ghosts that aren’t considered Gothic at all, like Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling. His parents were killed and there was a ghost trapped in the girl’s bathroom, but it isn’t Gothic at all. What makes a story Gothic is how it is told or portrayed. Sometimes, the scenes that are used are to make the viewers question what is righteous and what is wicked. Burton shows this with how he introduces his characters and their personalities. For the vampire Barnabas, he is portrayed not as monster but as an unfortunate soul who has a curse that he is trying to rid himself of. Instead of wanting to stay a vampire, he joins up with a local physician to try and find a cure to make him human again. However, he still kills humans and drinks their blood. This makes the audience question whether Barnabas is an evil vampire or a poor man with a curse due to this hidden identity. This is also shown with the witch Angelique. For her character, they portrayed her as being jealous that Barnabas chooses to marry someone else, instead of her. She curses him to become a vampire but later on states that she didn’t kill him because he only wanted his love and attention. Before she dies, she rips out her own heart and offers it to Barnabas. Showing this makes the audience debate on whether she is innocent deep down in her actions, or merely empty and insane. Insanity is another classic trope of the Gothic. Traditionally, insanity was shown as a way to become stronger or to become free. In â€Å"If You Touched My Heart† by Allende, Hortensia is caged by her lover. At first, they are in love and can’t be separated. However, Peralta soon forces her into a cage and keeps her there for several decades. In order to deal with the psychological trauma, Hortensia becomes insane to free herself. This is shown when she was â€Å"surrounded by hallucinatory spirits who lead her to other universes†¦ [traveling] through starry space† (523). By creating these illusions in her mind, she was able to free herself from the pain of growing old and hideous in that cage. In Poe’s story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† the unnamed main character goes insane due to his own thoughts. In the beginning of the story, he states how he is obsessed with this old man, but not insane. He states that, â€Å"it was not the old man that vexed me, but his Evil Eye† (498). This quote shows that the character originally had no aggression towards the old man, only his one pale blue eye. After he kills him and hides the body under the floor, he starts to hear a heartbeat. He concludes that it must be the old man’s heart. This is frightening because the reader is unsure what he is actually hearing. He could simply be hearing his own heartbeat, or imagining it all due to his guilt. In Dark Shadows, insanity is shown in a similar, yet different way. The film actually had two characters that were insane, the witch Angelique and Victoria. Angelique is depicted as going insane after her pure heart was broken by Barnabas. She only turned him into a vampire because she couldn’t stand to see him with another woman. Her insanity allowed her to become strong and have the strength to, in a sense, imprison the man who caused her pain. Victoria, on the other hand, was only considered insane by society. Due to her psychic ability in being able to see spirits, her family feared how others would view them and sent her away to be â€Å"fixed. † This demonstrates how insanity is not simply mental, but also what society deems as insane. However, not everything is clearly stated. Within Gothic Literature, there are hidden messages or symbolisms throughout the entire story. Knowing this allows the reader to think and look more deeply into each action and event that is occurring. For example, in Edgar Allen Poe’s â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† when Roderick dies at the end of the story, the house crumbles to ruins. The house doesn’t crumble because it’s ancient; it symbolizes the end of the Usher’s bloodline. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Stetson, the main female character is moved to a house in the country for â€Å"bed rest. There, she is forbidden to write, think, and sometimes even speak. She starts to see a woman trapped in the wallpaper, shaking it at night and creeping around outside during the day. This symbolizes how the narrator feels trapped and wants to escape. At the end, she â€Å"releases† the woman from the wallpaper and becomes her. The narr ator could only be free by creating an alternate personality. In this story, her insanity helped set her free. Dark Shadows also has some symbolism of its own. When Angelique is dying, they show her breaking as if she is a porcelain doll. This demonstrates how even though she was evil she was also extremely delicate in her true nature. As her face broke, pieces fell and exposed a small hole into oblivion. This signifies how she was truly empty on the inside, nothing more than a doll. Although she was once a human with supernatural powers, her jealousy and obsessive love for Barnabas slowly took over and, over time, left her an empty shell of what she once was. She was unable to truly love Barnabas, because she was literally filled with both darkness and nothingness. At the end of the film, Barnabas finds Victoria standing on the ledge of cliff. She tells him that they are both different, and that she can only be with him if they are the same. He tells her that he can’t turn her into a vampire, so she jumps off the cliff. This symbolizes the difficulty and societal rejection of dating someone who is of a different class or race. For her, she couldn’t see how their relationship could work unless they were both vampires. She also felt that if she couldn’t be with him, then she had no reason to live and must die to free herself from the suffering. Gothic literature is not something that can be defined in a few simple sentences. As Rintoul points out, â€Å"Gothic coincides with an important interrogation of the cannon as a site of power, and with equally important work that links social and political conditions† (701). Gothic literature has tropes that have endured across time and can still be found in modern stories and games. However, these tropes don’t always stay the same; some have been modernized over the centuries. This can easily be seen in Burton’s 2012 film, Dark Shadows. Death was transformed from something terrifying to that which could set one free. The vampire changed from a wicked corpse to a miserable man who was cursed. Insanity also went through some changes. At first, it could set one free from pain. In Dark Shadows, insanity morphed into something that was not only mental, but what society deemed as insane. The symbolism throughout the movie also added depth to seemingly simple scenes. Dark Shadows is a perfect example of how the Gothic has changed through the ages and thrived. Works Cited Allende, Isabel. â€Å"If You Touched My Heart. † The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales. Ed. Chris Baldick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. 519-526. Print. Baldick, Chris. â€Å"Introduction. The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales. Ed. Chris Baldick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. xi-xxii. Print. Gee, Joshua. Encyclopedia Horrifica. Hong Kong: Scholastic, 2007. Print. Kirkland, Ewan. â€Å"Gothic Videogames, Survival Horror, and Silent Hill Series. † Gothic Studies14. 2 (2012): 106-122. Print. Rintoul, Suzanna. â€Å"Gothic Anxieties: Struggling With a Definition. † The Journal of Eighte enth-Century Fiction. 17. 4 (2005): 701-709. Print. Sova, Dawn. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart. † The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Ed. Dawn Sova. New York: Barns Noble, 2006. 498-501. Print.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform - Research Paper Example People had to borrow in order to finance their mortgages. From the periods of 1994, to 2004, the ownership of homes amongst residents of United States of America increased from 64%, to 69.4% (Whalen, 2008, 220). Because of an increase in the demand of the houses, the price of these commodities increased by 124%. These made consumers to refinance their homes, and take on second mortgages resulting to a reduction in their disposable income. By the time 2008 reached, the United States mortgage debts in relation to its GDP increased by 26% reaching a figure of 73%. This is from the periods of the 1990s. The easy availability of credit, and an increase in the house prices led to the building boom, and this further increased the prices of the houses, and eventually to their decline in the periods 2006 (Deminyank and Herbert, 2011, 1851 ). Paying back these mortgages became difficult, because of the fall of the home prices, as compared to the prices in which they initially bought the homes. This had an effect of reducing the value of mortgage backed securities, eroding the financial capability of the banks. This failure led to the emergence of the subprime financial crises. ... Another reason for the emergence of the subprime crises is failure by the government to effectively regulate the financial activities of various banking organizations, and their financial products. This was made possible by the 1982 mortgage transactions parity act. This act allowed credit organizations to readjust their mortgage rates, and its aims was to make it possible for as many people as possible to own homes. This act led to an abuse of the mortgage lending procedures, because credit institutions could offer any amount of interest payments to their loan products. In 1999, the Federal government repelled the Glass Steagal Act, which created an environment of risk consciousness in investment banking (Immerglack, 2011, 247). This act had an effect of regulating the creditors during boom periods, making credit organizations to undertake risk measures while carrying out their duties. Its repeal made banking organizations, to lend freely, without establishing measures that would le ad to the mitigation of risks. The Securities and Exchange Commission also played a role into the emergence of the subprime mortgage crises. The commission changed the rules of calculating its capital reserves, and this enabled credit organizations to increase the percentage of debts they incurred for purposes of financing their operations (Deminyank and Herbert, 2011, 1850 ). The consequences of this action are that it led to the growth of mortgage securities that supported subprime mortgages. This eventually led to the near collapse of the banking system, because of an increase in their debts ratio, and inability to pay. This led to the enactment of the Dodd Frank financial reform act. This act created changes to the