The Affordable Care Act Bill ( Aca ) - 1442 Words

Christmas Eve 2009 marked an important date for the beginning of the Affordable Care Act Bill (ACA). It was on this day that the bill was passed through the Senate where the majority democratic party voted yes on this historically altering bill. While the main provision of the bill is to provide health care benefits for all American citizens the bill is a lot more than just that. With provisions that have nothing to do with health care reform, new taxes that will affect the businesses that have to follow the new regulations, and the questions raising the constitutionality of the bill the ACA is a very intriguing topic. Small businesses account for a large portion of job growth in America and there are fears that the ACA will squander this†¦show more content†¦While reductions can occur those that will see a reduction will only account for 35 percent of small businesses while the remaining 65 percent will see an increase (Harrison). The reason why the reduction percentage is so low compared to the increase is because in the ACA in order to be eligible for a decrease a firm has to have exceptionally sick or at-risk workers. We have already seen a change in these rates and according to the National Small Business Association premiums in 2009 was $590 per employee monthly and now in 2014 they have spiked to $1,121 per employee per month. Now while these are just numbers and the people that wrote these words do not personally own businesses you can assume that there is some bias in the words and that is why using a real time business owner would be the best way to see the impact it has had Tim Graboski has owned Tim Graboski Roofing for over 20 years and has made it through the various economic shifts in America to still be standing today as one of the best roofing companies in South Florida. Graboski spoke on a wide variety of topics on the ACA and tried to determine all aspects negatively and positively on the ACA on small business and the American people. Shortly put he found no positives. Graboski started by mentioning the burden that the ACA would put on the employer

To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Pai Research Paper

Essays on To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Paint That Will Absorb Less Heat from the Sun and Keep the House Cooler Research Paper The paper â€Å"To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Paint That Will Absorb Less Heat from the Sun and Keep the House Cooler † is an engrossing variant of research paper on marketing. The survey indicated that among the people interviewed 53% of the men did the painting themselves whereas the remaining 47% were women. The percentage in men is a bit high due to the fact that most men have acquired the art of painting in their high school education so that they are capable of doing most of the procedures involved in painting such as mixing of the paints, aligning the layers properly and most of them have adequate knowledge concerning the best paints there are in the market. It was also evident that these men whose age ranges between 45-54 preferred doing the painting themselves since they found it a bit intruding for a hired painter to enter private rooms such as the bedrooms. Though the majority of them do not read magazines such as grand design an d location location, they once in a while perusing through the home section of the Sun Herald. A large percentage had much interest in the T.V. shows like â€Å"Better Homes and Gardens† and in many cases, they wanted to put into practice what they read and watched rather than having a professional painter do it for them.The margin between the men and women who painted their houses themselves was rather small with the percentage difference of only 6%. This could be attributed to the fact that most of the women are fond of buying monthly issues of Better Homes and Gardens magazines hence have acquired adequate skills in the art of painting. In many cases, women will invite family and friends at least once in a month to share food and other entertainments and therefore they mind a lot about the appearance of their house. In this case, then, some women will fix peeled off paints inside and outside the house as well as making decorative paintings whenever they are expecting visit ors. Many said that it was extremely important to have a house that looks presentable and they would go to any length in ensuring that their houses were presentable at any given time. Walls that have peeled off paints or covered with mold are not only embarrassing but also look unhygienic, unpleasant and disgusting.About 0.45% of the people who did the painting themselves, were in the age limit of between 45 and 54. These interviewees owned their own houses in comparison with those in the age bracket of 35-44 who mainly live in rental houses. At the age of 45-54, most people are headed towards retirement and are not too tired up in their workplaces. They gave painting the least priority in terms of allocation of their finances since the majority have children in higher institutions of learning which takes away a large proportion of their salaries. The survey indicated that these people would rather do the final touches of the house during a renovation than have it done by a professi onal. This does not only creates a sense of achievement but also shortens the period of finishing renovation since professionals take longer due to the application of many procedures (Smith, 2003).

Origins of the Arab Spring Free Essays

Abstract This report presents an in-depth analysis of the Arab Spring that recently erupted in several Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa. It provides an overview of events that took place during the uprising, specifically in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. This report also highlights some of the demographic characteristics about Arab countries that make them prone to revolutions by their citizens. We will write a custom essay sample on Origins of the Arab Spring or any similar topic only for you Order Now The impacts of the Arab Spring on the local regional and global scale are also mentioned in the report. 1.Introduction The ‘Arab Spring’ is a term that refers to the recent politically charged uprisings that took place in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Several country leaders were ousted from power as the Arab spring unfolded. This is because one of its key objectives was to get rid of regimes that were characterized by dictatorship, high unemployment rates, nepotism and general oppression of common citizens. As it was stated by Ajami (2012), the Middle East was run by tyrants who had taken up ownership of their countries. Many Arabs had a feeling that they had been cursed and that the running of affairs in their countries was a source of moral embarrassment. All the events in the Arab Spring originated from an act of protest by Bouazizi, a 26-year-old man from Tunisia on 17th December, 2010. He set himself on fire after a brush with police forces. As reported by The Telegraph (2011), â€Å"his cart was confiscated by a policewoman who slapped him and spat in his f ace†. This adds police brutality to the perils that Arabs were going through in regimes prior to the spring. This report aims to present an in-depth look into events before, during and after the recent Arab spring. 2.Events During the Arab Spring Bouazizi succumbed to injuries sustained after torching himself in protest. However, the events that followed transformed Tunisia’s political landscape. Mass protests were organized over oppression, unemployment and the wide gap in income between the rich and the poor. The ultimate goal of the protests was to ensure that Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the then president of the country, is removed from office. Slightly less than a month after the protests started, Ben Ali fled Tunisia on 14th January, 2011 after ruling for twenty four years (Willis, 2012). This victory of Tunisian reformists inspired protestors in neighbouring Egypt, who believed that they had to end Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year reign of the country. Egypt protests were brutally resisted by security forces. In February 2011, the persistent protestors succeeded in making Mubarak to leave office (Abou-El-Fadl, 2012). The third casualty was Libya, whose protests were triggered by the arrests of human rights lawyer s in February, 2011. These protests took a violent turn, with the opposition being assisted by NATO in destabilizing the Libyan army. In October 2011, after eight months of fierce exchanges between the army and protestors, Gaddafi’s rule was brutally ended when he was captured executed (Prashad, 2012). In the Middle East, countries that experienced Arab spring protests were Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Just like it was experienced in North Africa, protests in these countries were violent and received brutal resistance from police and other security forces. After surviving an execution attempt, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been Yemen’s president for over 30 years, resigned in 2012. However, Bashar Al-Assad, Syria’s president managed to cling to his presidency amidst criticism from the international community (Weyland, 2012). 3.Characteristics of Arab Countries that triggered the Arab Spring Springborg (2011) argues that the economic conditions in Arab countries are not conducive for democratic leadership. There is a high dominance of governments in the private sector, a fact that limits the sources from which autonomous organizations can draw capital. As a result, these countries score negatively in terms of employment and other aspects that contribute to economical stability. Dominance of businesses by the government gives it an economic advantage over its opposition. Unless reforms are made to reduce the economic power of governments, attainment of democracy is difficult (Campante Chor, 2012; Stepan Linz, 2013). With no financial power to match that of the government and minimal avenues through which grievances can be made, mass protests were the only viable options for the oppressed. Thus, the majority of the population collaborated against the few who were in power. However, there is no assurance that ousting one person from power and transferring it to another ca n bring instant economic transformations to a country. According to Springborg (2011), the attainment of democracy in the Middle East is challenged by the fact the economies are too young, poor and rural. For a democratic transition to effectively take place in a country, Cincotta and Doces (2011) established that the median age of the country’s population has to be approximately thirty. However, Arab countries have the second lowest median ages in the world. Tunisia is the oldest, with a median age of 29. Such youthful ages, according to Springborg (2011), are associated with volatility, a characteristic that was displayed in the Arab spring. For democracy to be effectively sustained, the per capita annual income for citizens was approximated in 1997 to be $6,000 (Przeworski Limongi, 1997). Given that this was 15 years ago, the current figure is $12, 000. Apart from Tunisia, the per capita GDPs of Arab countries are currently less than $6,000. The attainment of democracy is also closely related to how urbanized regions are (Davis Henderson, 2003). Even though there are varying degrees of urbanization in the Arab world, the overall level of urbanization is lower than expected. This is even worsened by the fact that Egypt has been in the process of de-urbanizing since 1986 (Springborg, 2011). Other factors that pose a challenge to democracy in the Arab world include shrunken middle classes, high illiteracy levels among populations, insecurity and overdependence on governments. Arabians from the poor, rich and middle class heavily rely on their governments for their wellbeing. This has increased the governments’ budgets on subsidies of energy and food (Springborg, 2011). For these reasons, governments are largely authoritarian. This leaves those in power at liberty to do whatever they please with the resources of their countries, regardless of what effects it shall have on other citizens. This also contributed to the rage among protestors who complained about the ineffective distribution of resources. 4.Impacts of the Arab Spring There are several impacts that resulted from the Arab Spring on both local and international levels. For countries that actively took part and ousted their leaders, the vacancies had to be filled. This led to the competition of leadership among several groups, each considering itself the right heir of leadership (Brom, 2012). These included groups fighting for democracy, Islamic organizations, military groups and groups allied to previous regimes. However, the current reality in these countries is that the potential of Islamic organizations getting power is higher than that of the other groups. In the entire Middle East, the Arab Spring brought about a shift in the interests of each country. Prior to the spring, countries in the Middle East had segmented themselves into groups, each contesting to attain regional leadership. The two main groups into which these countries were divided were the anti-western camp and pro western camp. The anti-western camp was against the ideologies of countries from the west and posed certain challenges for the international community. On the other hand, the pro-western camp was moderate and supported some ideals of the west. After the spring, countries quit contesting for supremacy and concentrated on their own domestic issues. Relationships between these countries have considerably reduced to a minimum (Yadlin, 2012). Vacuums that were left after the revolution are being filled and measures are being taken to prevent such uprisings from taking place in countries that did not experience them. On a global scale, countries are competing for a chance to participate in reshaping the Middle Eastern countries in the aftermath of the revolution. The Russians and Chinese are competing with western countries to support these countries, each pursuing its own interests in these countries. Several countries from the European region have also shown interest in assisting these nations to undergo a successful democratic transformation (Perthers, 2011). Businesses have also seen an opportunity in investing in these countries. Just like the Spring of Nations, the Eastern European Spring and the Prague Spring in 1848, 1980s and 1968, respectively (Susser, 2012), attaining an equilibrium state after the Arab spring is expected to take quite some time. Whether the regimes that shall take over leadership shall overcome all challenges and embrace democracy is a fact that is unknown at present. 5.Conclusion The Arab Spring was triggered by political and social problems that are synonymous with most of the Arab countries. As it has been indicated in this report, most of these problems have occurred because of the lack of democracy. The key cause of this revolution was the utter dissatisfaction of the people with their rulers, whose leadership had been characterized by huge gaps between the rich and the poor, violations of the rights of their citizens, dictatorial rules, high levels of unemployment and poverty. It is also argued by some researchers that the spring might have been inspired by the Kyrgyz revolution that took place in 2010. Impacts of the Arab Spring have been felt across the globe, with countries competing to participate in the transition of these countries while at the same time pursuing their personal interests. However, addressing the challenges that face Arab countries needs a lot of resources and time. 6.Bibliography Abou-El-Fadl, R., 2012. The Road to Jerusalem through Tahrir Square: Anti-Zionism and Palestine in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Journal of Palestine Studies, 41(2), pp.6-26. Ajami, F., 2012. The Arab Spring at One. Foreign Affairs, 91(2). Brom, S., 2012. Regional Implications of the Arab Spring. In Guzansky, Y., Heller, M.A. (ed) One Year of the Arab Spring: Global and Regional Implications. Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies. pp.39-43. Campante, F.R. Chor, D., 2012. Why was the Arab World Poised for RevolutionSchooling, Economic Opportunities, and the Arab Spring. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), pp.167-87. Cincotta, R. Doces, J., 2011. The Age-structural Maturity Thesis: the Youth Bulge’s Influence on the Advent and Stability of Liberal Democracy. In Goldstone, J.A., Kaufmann, E. Toft, M.D. Political Demography: identity, conflict and institutions. New-York, Palgrave-MacMillan. Davis, J.C. Henderson, J.V., 2003. Evidence on the political economy of the urbanization process. Journal of Urban Economics, 53(1), pp.98-125. Perthers, V., 2011. Europe and the Arab Spring. Survival, 53(6), pp.73-84. Prashad, V., 2012. Arab spring, Libyan winter. New York: AK Press Pub. Przeworski, A. Limongi, F., 1997. Modernization: Theories and Facts. World Politics, 49(2), pp.155-83. Springborg, R., 2011. The Precarious Economics of Arab Springs. Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 53(6), pp.85-104. Stepan, A. Linz, J.J., 2013. Democratization Theory and the â€Å"Arab Spring†. Journal of Democracy , 24(2), pp.15-30. Susser, A., 2012. The â€Å"Arab Spring†: The Origins of a Misnomer. Tel Aviv Notes, 6(6). The Telegraph, 2011. Arab Spring: timeline for the African and Middle East rebellion. The Telegraph, 25 October. Weyland, K., 2012. The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848Perspectives on Politics, 10(4), pp.917-34. Willis, M.J., 2012. Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to the Arab Spring. London: C. Hurst Co. Yadlin, A., 2012. The Arab Uprising One Year On. In Guzansky, Y., Heller, M.A. (ed) One Year of the Arab Spring: Global and Regional Implications. Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies. pp.11-20. How to cite Origins of the Arab Spring, Essay examples

I Am a Lifeguard free essay sample

In the writing titled I Am a Lifeguard written by Jonah F., I felt worried for him. His writing about saving a little girls life left me feeling almost speechless because of the impact I know that mustve had on him. This article was written so well and makes you realize how important some jobs are. Yes, it seems true that lifeguarding could be considered a boreing or perhaps easy job because it is mostly a lot of sitting, waiting and watching. However, some people dont always think about the experiences that some lifeguards may have had. The comparison, She was flailing her arms as if she was fighting off a pack of bees, uses great imagery, making it easier to picture the scene. I also love how the article ended with a strong conclusion.Sometimes even lifeguards forget this, but that day I will never forget. To me, this quote shows how much of an impact that moment obviously made on his life and how you can not take anything for granted. We will write a custom essay sample on I Am a Lifeguard or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism

Introduction With the ever increasing cost of living, everyone would be thrilled with the idea of buying quality and readily available goods for less. Similarly, as the wave of neoliberalism sweeps across the globe, profits are amplified and economies stabilized. That is the ultimate embodiment of neoliberalism; passing the market test.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Challenges have been encountered but paramount attention has only been on immediate effects of structural changes and of other policies especially in the developing countries. The socio cultural implication of neoliberalism, more so ethical implications on a majority of seemingly invisible workforce, has since been ignored. This paper seeks to provide an in depth scrutiny of global reestablishment by drawing attention on what it means for the workers. It seeks to analyze the current global labor policies and their impacts on the labor market with special attention to its effects on the working conditions of the cleaners. Neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a term used to describe an attempt by governments to restructure and stabilize their economies through decentralization, increasingly involving the private sector in the economic and political affairs and regularizing the market. This approach was adopted by a number of nations in their quest for economical policies that would reduce inflation and foster economic growth. It involves a combination of economic policies which institutionalize sectors through reforming or changing whole political and economic setups. Its ultimate goals involve handing over the control of the economy to the private industry with the hope that it will improve governance and boost the economy.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Ideally, neoliberalism is expected to harness and transform into operations the strategies that employ the language of the market, the competence, consumer preference, self independence and conventional thinking to move the risk from states and institutions to individuals or groups and spread out the concept to the social spheres. However, these attempts have on the other hand culminated into a platform where markets are no longer regulated; workers are being exploited by their employers, environmental degeneration and impunity at almost all levels of governance. The invisible worker While it has managed to spearhead economic growth across nations, neoliberalism has degraded the working and living conditions of the workers and promoted deception on the part of employers in this industry. The shifting of risk from the government corporations to the private sector has created a situation where individuals and groups which have monopolized the cleaning industry have tur ned deceptive. They are keen to look into their own interests and take care of their business empires at the expense of employees. In the contracts that bind their employees to them, their conditions are provisional and the workers are engaged on equally provisional basis and not considered as real employees. This leaves them in a vulnerable situation since they are stripped off employee rights such as insurance, paid holidays among others. This was a common phenomenon in London during the 1970s. A similar situation was observed recently in Santiago where a bathroom attendant not only single handedly takes charge of the washroom but he is also expected to take care of collecting the charging fee and provide the bathroom toiletries (Aguiar and Andrew, 89). This is the situation especially in the cleaning industry all over the world. Cleaners maintain upscale shopping places, modern offices and hotels yet this group of workers has never been paid much attention. More often than not th ey are looked down upon.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Majority of the cleaners are not valued and are often subjected to mistreatment. Owing to their low wages and status, they happen to live in the most adverse conditions in the worst shanties in big cities. The cleaner is actually in a modern world, yet has an outsider relation with. Lack of government policies that describe fair employment and working conditions such as the required working hours, standard wages and working conditions only serves to expose workers to further vulnerability, worsening their deplorable conditions. The bonding of the worker’s legal rights with the employers undermines their rights and gives absolute control of the worker to the employer creating an unbalanced power relationship. Wal-Mart for instance succeeds by capitalizing on the low wage low benefit premise of employment. Their employment policies are wanting. The success of the company is at the expense of workers who endure the lowest wages, substandard working conditions, lacking healthcare, security among other disturbing issues. Workers at Wal-Mart have unspecified working hours and their wages are comparatively lower than those of a normal retail employee. Many workers are compelled to work long hours, denied breaks and in many cases are denied overtime wages. It is not a new phenomenon for Wal-Mart to give lower wages when sales go down. Discrimination still remains an issue despite most governments’ attempts at reforming the cleaning industry. Contracting out in apartheid South Africa and its subsequent neoliberal post apartheid institutions has led to increased workload and diminished pay and benefits to a large number of workers in the cleaning sector. Just like it was in the apartheid labor system, neoliberalism has redirected the burden to the homes a nd communities of the poor workers through policies such as â€Å"rational† effecting of change in public institutions. There still exists segregation in places such as universities and other institutions of higher learning.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Attempts have been made by the â€Å"invisible† workers to restore and defend their pride as workers. This is all done with the understanding that theirs is an equally important work which the top echelons of management cannot do by themselves. The Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s in Britain was such an attempt to organize night janitors. The subsequent strikes brought to light the plight of this disregarded type of workers. However, the prevailing economic and political situation and the effects of privatization made unionization difficult as they increased discrepancies in the society. Wal-Mart company Private corporations’ policies have not only wiped out small businesses but also disregarded the employees’ rights and caused serious harm to the environment. By exploiting technology and the rising global economy (a product of neoliberalism), corporations like Wal-Mart have completely altered the American economy and greatly influenced the global economic balance. The seller has become more powerful than the producer. Consequently, retailers are coercing the manufacturers to shift production overseas. This quest has led to the joint undertakings between Wal-Mart, a prominent US retailer of most consumer goods and China. While the company rummages the world for less costly suppliers that benefit the American buyer, just how do the workers in the supplying nations fare? Wal-Mart is the epitome of neoliberals ideal; the best thing to have ever happened to the American and world economy as it happens to not only produce what the consumer needs but also deliver a variety of goods at very affordable prices. However, what are the implications of low priced products to the people who work for these companies? It is not only increasing the number of jobless people in the streets but is also responsible for the ever increasing low standards of living not just for the American people but also for those working in the diaspora. While t hese products are achievable for the American consumer, the â€Å"everyday low prices† is an issue of concern not just for the consumer but more so for the worker. The enterprising spirit that is responsible for these lower prices in Wal-Mart outlets and similar places happen to impinge on the ability of large numbers of workers to reap satisfactory wages and respectable benefits that would enable them lead a steady life. The flippant attitude from the governments towards this group of workers exposes them to maltreatment and exploitation. In an attempt to boost economic growth and development, companies are putting up measures to modernize and civilize this workforce by employing austere rules which end up restricting their freedom of movement and dictating their codes of conduct while at the work place. For instance Wal-Mart’s store policy of locking in nighttime workers not only inconveniences the employees but also possesses a great security hazard in times of emer gencies. Recompense for workers Organizing workers of this group has proved to be quite a challenge. Among the major challenges is the fact that they are among the lowest paid. This means that most cannot manage to meet some of the demands of the unions like union dues. More often than not, their working places are small and scattered geographically. This proves an obstacle in mobilizing workers. At the same time, they are among the most watched of all employees. These are among the challenges that prompted the cleaners’ strikes in the 1970s in London and the Justice for Janitors Movement in the USA in the 1990s (Aguiar and Andrew 214). Unionization of these workers is low in many countries. This calls for establishment of new forms of workers organization. These should take the bottom up approach; from the grassroots levels to the highest echelons and high mobilization and participation of workers. A perfect example of such an approach is The Justice for Janitors crusade whi ch has been quite successful. It is a more decentralized perspective to workers unionization owing to its awareness of the local labor market situation. It bases its membership on locality and not the work place. It is the kind of approach through which unnoticed workers can come together to confront a mutual enemy: larger companies. Local unions are strengthened through the skillful organizational attempts by trained organizers from the national union. Other models like the Service Employees’ International Union advocate for de- concentration of power to a variety of national union apparatus. Though there are geographical issues at play in the movement, it becomes necessary to come up with ploys that would harmonize the movements and strategies that are not only sensitive to the local needs but also able to challenge these private corporations be they local, national or global. Through this, workers are able to battle for varying rights and at the same time apply the benefit s of their struggle to all employees in that field. How labor policies can be reformed to serve the cleaners and domestic workers better Labor policies ought to influence laws and regulations that would assist in strengthening organizations of informal employees through facilitating policy discourse and procedures that involve representatives of these organizations. Policy makers, economic strategists and the global community should recognize, understand and give support to the lower working classes in their organizations. Concerning institutional discrimination, international labor assemblies ought to put into consideration the incomparable work delineation of this workforce and design or reconcile their policies in a manner that will ensure fairness. Government policies should also take into consideration the needs of the workers and the demands for the workers and come up with laws and regulations that would provide for quality care of their needs and their families’ even as they fill those positions. It is also necessary for the international community to establish global standards for domestic workers. This will ensure that their human rights are not violated and their legal rights are protected. It will also ensure that the workers are accorded the recognition and equal protection just like other workers similar fields of work. Conclusion Whether in the developed or developing world, whether large or small, the operations, wages and working conditions of private corporations bear resemblance to each other. While it is good for consumers to access products at a lower price, the workers need also earn decent wages for their labor. The cleaning sector is one of its kinds. Therefore, there is need for adjustments in the labor policies and the immigration policies so as to eradicate the possibility of misuse and mistreatment of workers. Works cited Aguiar, Luis and Herod Andrew (eds). The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism: Cleaners in  the Global Economy. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2006. Print. Wal-Mart video-‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America‘. Web. This critical writing on The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism was written and submitted by user Houston Hendricks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

On Earth As It Is In Hell Essays - The Great Gatsby, God

On Earth As It Is In Hell Essays - The Great Gatsby, God On Earth as it is in Hell Many times we hear of society?s affect on people; society influencing the way people think and act. Hardly mentioned is the reverse: peoples? actions and lifestyles affecting society as a whole and how it is characterized. Thus, society is a reflection of its inhabitants and in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is a wasteland described as the "valley of ashes." Since the characters of this novel make up this wasteland, aren?t they the waste? Symbolically, this waste represents the lack of ethics of the 1920?s society and civilization?s decay. In The Great Gatsby, morals deficiencies such as a lack of God, selfishness, and idleness are reflective of a society doomed as "the valley of ashes." The worldliness of the 1920?s society contributes to the image of the wasteland as "hell-like" and deprived of God. The "valley of ashes" symbolizes a society which has forgotten the importance of God, who takes a back seat to profane desires. A lack of seriousness towards God is evident in this corrupt society when Gatsby uses God?s name in a lie, declaring ?"I?ll tell you God?s truth.? His right hand suddenly orders divine retribution to stand by. ?I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle West- all dead now.?" (p.65) During the Puritan era, this would be considered blasphemous in contrast with the moral standards of the 1920?s society. A backwards people have dethroned God, replacing him with false gods of pleasure, greed and money relating to the Latin phrase Deus Absconditus, equivalent of "God has departed." Although the "valley of ashes" is hell- like and without a solid foundation of God, people still cling onto the idea that there is a god. Wilson, questioning his wife?s fidelity, warns her that "God sees everything." (p.167) Though he speaks of God, his god is in the form of a billboard for an oculist named Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. He is unable to distinguish God from false idols. Perhaps the society is so far astray from God that they no longer can rectify their immoral ways. After all, the wasteland is like hell, and there?s no turning back. Selfishness is a vice that contributes to New York?s image as "a valley of ashes." This egocentrism is commonplace in the characters of The Great Gatsby and gives the impression of a society where people have adopted the "me first" rationale and a carelessness for altruism. Gatsby?s relationship with Nick first started out that way. Gatsby became friends with Nick so that "he could ?come over? some afternoon to [ Nick?s ] garden" (p.83) and catch a glimpse of Daisy whom he had waited five years for. Gatsby was using Nick to see her. His friendship with Nick became secondary to his passion for Daisy. Had Gatsby not loved her, he would have never been friends with Nick because he would not have someone to use. This selfish behavior is also present in Klipspringer, Gatsby?s house guest, when he replies to Nick with uncertainty about his presence at Gatsby?s funeral, "?Well, I?ll try.. I?m staying with some people in Greenwich and there?s a picnic or something. What I call! ed up about was a pair of shoes I left [at Gatsby?s house]." (p.177) Klipspringer takes Gatsby?s death with such levity, implying that the funeral is on the same plane of insignificance as that of a leisure picnic. Klipspringer displays more concern for his shoes than for the man who gave him a place to stay. He is like a parasite, taking only and giving back nothing, using Gatsby?s wealth and home as the host. Klipspringer is a selfishly motivated man, and a sad reflection of the 1920?s society. As the wasteland may be a place without morals, the "valley of ashes" is also without a sense of time. The 1920?s society is aimless and idle. Daisy utters "?What?ll we do with ourselves this afternoon, and the day after that, and the next thirty years" (p.125) as Daisy, Tom, Jordan and Nick sit around lazily in the room. F. Scott Fitzgerald?s characters are time wasters. This dawdling shows a lack of concern over their lives and the need for objectivity. Because the

Discussing two examples, analyse the way in which fashion consumption Essay

Discussing two examples, analyse the way in which fashion consumption is changing in relation to new technologies of consumption, and globalisation - Essay Example Due to the changes that come from the new technologies and globalization, the meaning attached to their clothing’s by their consumers has greatly changed. The consumers currently view their dressing styles as a reflection of their beliefs, values and an extension of their personalities. This in turn means that the choice the consumer makes and wants to be associated with enables him to propel himself or herself among her society. As a result of the globalization process their customers’ influences have changed the meaning of several of the company’s brands, values along with their standings in the global market. The demand for the designer wear that the company deals in will decrease in the near future, but the demand for their strong comfort products will continue rising since the populations’ incomes continue rising as technologies advance. The market for their designer clothing is increasing becoming volatile and disorderly due to the changes in customer needs along with desires that require to be satisfied. The volatile nature of the market results from the free flow of information that results from the globalization process. It is also facilitated by the fact that new technologies are increasingly being utilized in the production of several of their commodities. In terms of reaping the benefits of using newer technologies along with globalization, the clothing company has come up with strong and desirable products for their customers. This is all happening because the markets have in turn become more of a challenge to cope with along the high rates of competition. The process of achieving growth is becoming very difficult for the company when it comes to maintaining their uniqueness along with exclusivity as a result of their competitors’ efforts. This is besides the fact that the clothing company has the desire of growing and expanding their influence using newer technologies and their globalization efforts. Through the