Reigning In Hermits: The Conflict Between Individualism and Participation :: Essays Papers

Reigning In Hermits: The Conflict Between Individualism and Participation In the wake of Enlightenment thinkers like Hobbes and Locke, who asserted the primacy of the individual as the possessor of rights and emphasized the resulting legal equality of all men, the question arose of how an individual who originates in a state of nature interacts with society. Early 19th Century writers had an advantage in answering this question over the original thinkers in the form of a grand experiment in Enlightenment theory currently being conducted in America. Here, for the first time, was a democracy run by consent of the governed, all of whom were equal individuals before the law and, according to the dominant religious tradition, before God. The more thorough this leveling, Alexis de Tocqueville argued in Democracy in America, â€Å"the less [men] are inclined to believe blindly in any man or any class†¦all having the same means of knowledge, truth will be found on the side of the majority† (Tocqueville, 435). At the same time that the power of self-sty led authorities fades in both public and religious life and people are more apt to simply tow the line, he sees the ties that once created interdependence in aristocracies—economic dependency and social hierarchy—weaken, resulting in the isolation of the individual from public life, or, â€Å"individualism† (Tocqueville, 506-7). Tocqueville’s apprehension towards individualism was not merely a passing worry—he saw in its extreme form the potential for despotism to replace democracy. â€Å"Despotism, by its very nature suspicious, sees isolation of men as the best guarantee of its own permanence† (Tocqueville, 509). This tension between personal isolation and participation in civic life surfaced in other contemporary works as well, including Charles Finney’s â€Å"Lectures on Revival of Religion† and Ralph Emerson’s â€Å"On Self Reliance,† in which the former argued in a vein similar to Tocqueville’s that the nature of democracy will always create this conflict, and the latter disposed of democracy in favor of the individual. Tocqueville’s own reconciliation of the individual’s natural inclination toward isolation is found in his analysis of the nature of knowledge in democratic societies. On a purely practical political level, there must, he argued, be certain beliefs held in common by all citizens in order for common action to be taken to administer government (Tocqueville, 433). Local government is the individual’s closest connection to the public sphere, and the same selfish impulse that leads to individualism will make it necessary for him to form political associations to secure his interests.

Lincolns Beliefs Against Racism and Slavery :: American History Abraham Lincoln

* What were Lincoln's beliefs concerning race and slavery? How did they change over time, and in what ways did they remain the same? How were they evident in the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, and the history of emancipation? On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act at Peoria, Illinois. He stated that it was too modified and it was a repeal to the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36Â °30'N lat. The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the territories popular sovereignty which was the direct opposite of the previous decision. "This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself (Johnson 45)." In a fragment that Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1854 about slavery, he protested that both blacks and whites had the same right to enslave each other and neither had more superiority. He used a theory to prove all of the whites' reasons for slavery were incorrect and could be turned around to enslave them. "You say A. is white, and B is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own." He also went on to use the same reasoning towards disproving the arguments that whites are intellectually superior to blacks (Johnson 49). On June 26, 1857 Lincoln gave a speech on the Dred Scott case. He expressed his disapproval of their decision but maintained that he offered no resistance to it. The point that the court had over-ruled its own decisions before was brought up and he said, "We shall try to do what we can to have to over-rule this (Johnson 56)." Lincoln realized the necessity to respect and abide by the law, but he also recognized the ability, through legislative power, to change the law. In the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, Lincoln stated that he had no lawful right to interfere with the institution of slavery. Lincoln also goes on further to say that he doesn't believe in full political or social equality for blacks, but he says that whites and blacks share the inalienable rights that are listed in the Declaration of Independence.

Eliminating The Capital Gains Tax :: essays research papers

Eliminating The Capital Gains Tax One of the major obstacles facing all entrepreneurs in the United States when starting a new business or expanding an existing one is raising capital. Here capital refers to money that people invest in a business. Investment and entrepreneurship are the heart and soul of a lively economy. There is no other economic task more important than investing one's capital into new ideas and new enterprises. Therefore capital raised from one person or a group of professional investors remains a crucial source of funding for these type of enterprises. In the type of economic world which is present today the opportunity for good returns on a person's money must be in abundance to allure investments in such ventures. Capital gains taxes significantly diminish these returns, therefore reducing the incentives to invest. Eliminating the capital gains tax will spark entrepreneurship and new investments in the economy, which in turn will elevate economic growth and increase the number of jobs. In order to stimulate economic growth in the United States, taxes on capital gains should be eliminated. Members of Congress once considered a reduction in the capital gains tax rate from 28% to 19.8%. Combined with indexation, which is , reducing the capital gains tax by any amount would be a vital pro-growth step taken by Congress. However, given the fickle and high risk nature of investments and entrepreneurships, and the importance of maintaining a competitive economy in a global environment, capital gains should be exempt from taxation altogether. A zero percent capital gains tax would attract entrepreneurial risk taking, which is very important to economic growth. It would entice wealthy investors to invest in a certain enterprise, which in small numbers would immensely increase the economic growth in the United States. In the Wall Street Journal the U.S. Commission on civil rights said, "Reducing the tax on capital gains effectively increases the flow of financial 'seed corn' to budding entrepreneurs." Also, from a global perspective, the United States has one of the biggest capital gains tax rate. Depending on inflation, sometimes the United States has the largest capital gains tax rate in the world. In a competitive global economy a zero percent capital gains tax rate would make the United States a haven for capital, which in the long run will spark economic growth in the United States. Eliminating the capital gains tax altogether would not only promote a "boom" economy in the United States but will give the United States an edge that it needs to compete in the global world, not to mention create new jobs. The potential benefits for eliminating the capital gains tax are clear.

Mobile telecommunication

Mobile phones are now seen as necessities rather than luxuries and market penetration (the percentage of the population owning mobile phones) Is very high and growing. A recent report put market penetration In the western E as a whole at 90 per cent In 2004 and predicted that this will rise to 100 per cent by 2007. In some European countries (including the ELK) penetration is in excess of 100 per cent as individuals have more than one mobile phone.This high level of market penetration in the developed world does not mean that the racket is saturated as the advent of 36 technology has opened up the market and will lead to people trading up to more expensive phones. In addition there is an explosion of demand In the developing world. Current competition It Is necessary to look at two aspects of the market as they are Inextricably linked together – the market for mobile handsets and the market for network operators. In both cases the market is oligopolies, as Tables 13. 13 and 13 . 4 show. The market leader for handsets is Monika. However, its position is under threat -its market share in the UK in 2002 was 52 per cent. Ionians main problem was the failure to recognize and meet the increased demand for camera flip-phones. It responded to this criticism by launching a new range of seven handsets in April 2005. The percentages shares of the other manufacturers remained fairly constant between 2002 and 2004, although LOG is a new entrant and the ‘others' group increased Its market share from 10 per cent to 18 per cent.The market for mobile phone handsets in the UK Manufacturer Monika Siemens Sony Ericson Samsung Motorola Others % share of the I-J market, 2004 36 10 18 Table 13. 3 The market for network operators in the UK Network Avoidance Orange 02 T-Mobile Virgin Mobile 3 Tests % share of the UK market, 2004 25 17 01 source: Minute, 2004 There are three large providers of mobile networks in the I-J, with very little between them in terms of market share . In 2002 Orange was the market leader with 27 per cent of the market while Avoidance accounted for 26 per cent of the market; 3 and Tests are new entrants to the market.The market for pay-as-you-go mobile phones is approximately twice the size of the contract market. Power of buyers Mobile phones are mainly for personal use (by 65. 2 per cent of adults) rather than business use (4. 8 per cent of adults). Statistically, the user of a mobile phone is most likely to be single, young and female. Figure 13. 3 shows the ownership of mobile phones in the I-J by age. Ownership is lowest in the 55 years and over age group and the handset manufacturers and network operators recognize this. 2 is working with Saga (the insurance group for the over ass) to launch a deal for the over-ass and Avoidance launched a new handset called Simply in May 2005 which is aimed at the older racket – it has an easy-to-read screen and larger buttons and does not carry many of the more complex features. F igure 13. 3 Source: Keynote, 2005 Although buyers cannot exert a great deal of market power, the high level of competition and easy availability of information on handset prices and network operators means that it is easy to shop around for the best deal.Threat of new entry The barriers to entry in this industry were very high and included access to networks, the cost of license purchase and the cost of brand building. In recent years these barriers have fallen dramatically. The advent of virtual networks has reduced the necessity for access to a network. Virgin is a mobile virtual network operator (NOVO) as it buys spare capacity from T-Mobile and sells it on to consumers. Tests and 02 have a similar relationship.At one time the handset manufacturers also had to manufacture the base stations (used to provide mobile phone coverage) which were very expensive to produce. This was a very effective cost barrier to entry for smaller handset producers. This is no longer necessary as radio chips and other software can increasingly be bought ‘off the shelf. Manufacture of handsets is being subcontracted by some of the larger handset manufacturers and these subcontractors themselves are starting to sell handsets under their own name.Been is an example of such a company. If this starts to happen on a large scale, there will be a threat to the position and market share of the incumbent market leaders. In Table 13. 13 the category of ‘others' grew from 10 per cent in 2002 to the 18 per cent shown in the table for 2004. A further threat to the position of handset manufacturers is the manufacture of handsets by the mobile operators themselves – Orange, for example, sells own brand handsets. This has the effect of tying the handset user into the operating network.In the ELK, there is evidence that there is room for new entrants – Sends for example, claims a 5 per cent market share in the I-J in 2005. Sends was founded in the UK in 1999 and initially supplied handsets to the network operators. It now supplies handsets under its own name through Internet sales and also through the giant retail supermarket Tests. Another barrier to entry which has fallen in recent years is the ‘switching cost' uncured by users when they change between networks.Although users of pay-as you- go still have to pay a fee for ‘unlocking the phone which can amount to as much as EYE. O, operators will provide handsets free to customers who take out a contract for 12 months. In addition, a major obstacle to changing networks – having to change your telephone number – now no longer exists. Although there are no obvious substitutes for the mobile phone, there a number of developments in this area. The advent of 36 technology which was launched in 2004 mainly for business customers will be extended to personal users by the end of 2005.This will offer better features like AD effects and faster access to the Internet and games. New pr oducts will offer the ability to watch films and sporting events as they happen. BIT has developed a hybrid phone – called BIT Fusion – which was launched in June 2005. Fusion operates as a mobile phone when outside the home but switches to the cheaper broadband line when the phone is inside the home. This reduces the cost of usage. Mobile email is seen as a growth area as Microsoft launched a new version of theWindows operating system designed specifically for mobile phones in May 2005. This is mainly used by business but could easily be extended into personal use. Power of suppliers The large manufacturers now subcontract much of their manufacturing to smaller subcontractors like Sends (mentioned above). On the one hand, this gives them increased flexibility in production but, on the other, it allows the subcontractors to enter the market and eventually to compete in their own right – what is there to stop the operators bypassing the handset manufacturers comp letely?It is likely that this development will change the power relations between the handset manufacturers and their suppliers and could possibly result in co-production and co-marketing of the handsets in the longer term. In the race for market share, manufacturers and operators have to offer maximum quality and range of services. The content becomes crucial. The exploitation of the G market requires the best range of content and handset manufacturers are negotiating deals with content suppliers; Avoidance has teamed up with Disney and Sony to provide content for their phones.These large organizations will undoubtedly have some degree of market power over the handset manufacturers simply because of their size and already established market power. From this analysis it can be seen that, although this market is one with very high market penetration, it is not a saturated market. There is scope for new entry to the market and for the development of new products and new markets. The m arket conditions which gave rise to domination by the large vertically integrated giants like Monika and Motorola have largely disappeared and smaller manufacturers are entering the market.

Iodex Case Essay

Ads appeals help convey the brand positioning to its target markets. Brand managers have a choice between two broad appeals-Hard & Soft. While they use both according to the market dynamics, thematic campaigns need soft appeals. Within Soft appeals most frequently used are Humor, Slice of Life and Testimonial. Fear, Agony, Subliminal, sex and abrasive are less utilized locally. Looking at the most advertised category-Telecom-spending nearly Rs.7 b in 2009-10, we notice Ufone using humor right from the beginning. They have attained no.3 posItion after Telenor and Mobilink with a long battle.. Brand has created a strong identity through its consistent characters and popular persona in the last few years. With the highest SOS in its category-Rs.1.9 b in 2010-the brand has not changed its appeal and seemingly following the Law of Consistency brilliantly. Mobilink and Telenor have stuck mostly with Slice of Life appeals. Wand has lately been re-activated changing its agency to O&M with greater focus on re-branding, Glow.lising youth as its core target, the brand is adhering to Metaphoric marketing with inspirational appeal to its segmentiong is sticking to Slice of Life emotional appeals in most of its thematic campaigns targeting the lower pre-paid segment. Its latest Mini bus Karachi campaign has created significant visibility with matching BTL activities. The personal care market is dominated by Testimonial appeal and is the most frequently used phenomenon in this sector. Mega brands-Lux,Veet,Paritene & H&S-aII showing glamorous Indian Icons with great fanfare Katrina, Kareena and Shilpa zooming with their magic helping the brands attain market leadership.Sunsilk while trying to imbibe the brand with an international look, is using some foreign experts but with little sparkle Lately,Clear has also joined the race with ShahidKapoor. Locally Iman Ali is being very successfully exploited for Jofa lawns and eclipsed Vanieeza Ahmed V9 and Kareena in Firdous Textile campaigns. In the detergent market, we again notice abundance of Slice of life across the board by Surf, Ariel and Brite. Very recently advertisers are also experimenting wth subliminal appeals using Iman Ali in Kashmir banaspati and QMobile.Prevoisly Magnum did it gorgeously in their TVCs. Interestingly pharma OTC brands-Strepsils &Dispirin from RB and Panadol of GSK have mostly resorted to Slice of life instead of agony appeal alone or a combination. lodex is now contemplating to push the market for its new white gel in tube after daunting campaigns from Moove and Volteren using a Slice of Life and agony mix. Brand manager is aware of the fact that lodex used humor successfully in the lndian market few years back.

Journal on Poems Essay

The poem portrays the definitions of sanity and madness. However, these definitions vary from the perspective of people and the surroundings as pointed out in the second line. In other words, the poem points out that for certain people, something normal is considered insane and vice versa. 2. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Basically, for me, the poem depicted a common experience in life wherein one makes a choice between two things and then wonders what could’ve happened had he or she took the other option. The situation shown in the poem reflects a reality that everyone faces in life which is making a choice and standing by that decision. However, as illustrated in the poem, despite the choices people make regarding, for example, careers and business ventures, there will also be times that one doubts whether he or she made the right decision or not. 3. Design by Robert Frost The poem basically illustrates that most of the time the world’s beauty can be appreciated through observing the natural things such as the spider and the moth. In addition, as the title suggests, life is basically a design. It is natural for a spider to eat the moth as it was designed to do so. However, since the spider killed the moth, the author also wonders why the â€Å"designer† allows such a thing to happen. In short, while the author acknowledges the beauty natural order of things, he also questions why horrible events, such as death, happen. 4. Mending Wall by Robert Frost Initially, the poem suggests that there are no need for walls between neighbors as this suggests division. However, at the end, although the speaker in the poem still did not favor the construction of a wall between him and his neighbor, he acknowledged the fact that walls are important as these set boundaries and limitations. Basically, the poem also illustrates that in real life, â€Å"walls† or boundaries, which are best exemplified by laws and rules, are necessary to maintain order. 5. Cross by Langston Hughes The poem clearly depicts the speaker’s confusion about his identity. As the title of the poem says, the speaker is a â€Å"cross† between a white man and a black woman and is confused about his true identity. He also wonders if he would share the same fate of his mother and father and yearns to know where he really belongs to. The poem also depicts two realities in life which are discrimination and racism. Basically, the poem suggests that if these two did not exist, the speaker would not have to long for acceptance and would not have to search for his identity.

Effects of H-1B Visa Program on Employment and Wage in the United States Essay

The United States is the most powerful country in the world. Its dominant culture, military, and economy make it the most influential nation across the globe. The power of the US doesn’t only come from its native citizens but also from the foreigners who come to its shores every day to work and live there. These people play a very significant role in driving the US economy. A number of national programs have been developed in order to influence the influx of these people into the US. One of those programs is called the H-1B visa program. The program, which allows foreigners to work in the US, has critical effects on various sectors of American society, but especially the economy. Based on the data that have been so far collected, it is clear that the H-1B visa program, in terms of employment in the technology sector, is important in maintaining the status of the country as a leader in science and technology. However, the H-1B visa program may also have negative effects on the wage of native citizens because they would have to compete with the low wages of foreign workers. Many companies in the US needed temporary workers, so the H1 category of non-immigrants was created under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Unlike immigrants, non-immigrants only stay in the US temporarily to accomplish a specific purpose, for instance, education or work. The current H1-B visa program of the United States was created through the Immigration Act of 1990 and the amendment of the 1952 act. The result of the amendment was a program that allows an employer to temporarily hire a foreigner to work in the US provided that he’s under the category of non-immigrants. Also, the worker must have a specialty occupation or be a fashion model with exceptional ability and merit. The law describes a â€Å"specialty occupation† as something that requires theoretical and practical application of a specialized body of knowledge. The worker must also have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in specialties such as business, biotechnology, education, health care, medicine, and sciences. The H1-B program currently limits the number of foreign nonimmigrant workers in the US to 65,000 per year (Bartik et al. 134). H-1B’s cap has not always remained the same, however. Congress increased it to 115,000 in 1998 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000. Then in 2000, Congress increased it even further to 195,000 for the 2001 fiscal year. It was maintained during 2002 and 2003, and was slashed to 65,000 again from 2004 onward. Not all foreign workers are affected by the cap, however. The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 states that foreign workers employed by institutions of government research organizations, institutions of higher education and NGOs are exempt from the cap. Also, a separate cap of 20,000 exists on petitions that are filed on behalf of foreigners with master’s or higher degrees earned in the US (Bartik et al. 135). Recently, lobbyists composed of universities and members of the technology industry are pushing for a huge increase in the annual cap of H-1B visas. They argue that H-1B visas otherwise known as â€Å"guest worker visas† serve a crucial role in driving the economy, especially in the high technology sector. According to them, there is a systemic shortage of American engineers and scientists in the country. There is a very high demand domestically for these highly skilled workers and the small supply cannot fill that gap. The only way to solve this problem therefore is through the import of foreign workers through the H-1B visa program (Hira et al. 150). These lobbyists argue that they will be forced to resort to outsourcing jobs to foreign engineers and scientists in their home countries if the H-1B cap is not increased. They also claim that the visa program actually serves as a tool for the country to gather the best and the brightest highly skilled workers in the world. This is supposedly a result that is to be expected if the cap on the H-1B visa program is increased (Hira et al. 150). There are many evidences for the advantages brought about by hiring foreign workers in the technology sector. For example, a 2008 study by the National Research Council looked at the effects of hiring H-1B workers by large US companies Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Motorola/Freescale, Intel, and IBM. Of the five companies, IBM employed the most number of H-1B workers, granting almost 4,000 in five years. Most applications in the company stated a range of earnings of about $82,072. This was considerably bigger than the other four companies’ average minimum earnings. The researchers thought that the applications were for jobs that were not chip-related since IBM had become a software company from a hardware company (National Research Council and National Academy of Engineering 152). It is clear from the example above that foreign workers in the technology sector do indeed get attracted to the United States through H-1B visas. IBM was hiring more foreign workers than anybody else in the group, and these people were earning higher. However, there are still many â€Å"experts† that love to criticize the H-1B visa program. John McCain and Edward Kennedy defended the H-1B visa program in 2006. The two senators supported the immigration bill that passed the Senate and insisted that their bill required employers to search for workers in the US first. However, their bill actually didn’t have any of these provisions (Hira et al. 152). Indeed, it’s a common misconception that the current law instructs US companies to look for workers in the US first. Many government officials also have this incorrect belief. Senator Norman Coleman, for example, says that he supports the issuance of H-1B visas as long as a number of conditions are met. One, the employer must show that there is not enough US workers qualified for the position; two, that the employer has not laid off a US worker 90 days before or after hiring a foreign worker; three, the employer must demonstrate that they tried to hire US workers before foreign workers; and finally, that the recruitment of H-1B workers will not have adverse effects on the waves, working conditions, and job opportunities of US workers. Even then Senator Barack Obama thinks that the H-1B policy aims to exhaust all means of recruiting US workers before foreign workers. He believed that hiring H1-B workers should be a last recourse for American employers (Hira et al. 152). The truth is however, that the provisions mentioned by the two people above actually don’t exist for the majority of employers who use the H-1B visa program. Even Obama’s wish that employers should hire foreign workers as a last option is not practiced in the real world (Hira et al. 152). Also, according to market indicators, there is not enough evidence of a systemic shortage of resident engineers and scientists in the US, one of the main arguments of lobbyists for the increase in H-1B cap. Also, earnings and wage growth have been moderate and more or less the same as other professions. The unemployment rate, while it sharply increased during the dot-com bubble, has now fallen. Researchers have also supported the idea that there is little evidence of shortage in high technology jobs. Private surveys and public data are also conflicting when it comes to determining shortages. Trade surveys show there are indeed shortages, but public data indicate the opposite (Bartik et al. 137). Determining shortages in scientists and engineers is a real problem because any increase in the number of H-1B visas issued by employers alone is not indicative of a systemic shortage. Other factors contribute to perceived shortages, for example, the growing significance of foreign students in American institutions. These are foreign students who remain in the United States after they graduate to convert their student visa to a working visa. Other equally important factors include: economic growth, cyclical demand in IT industries, especially during the 1990s, and even backlogs in the application process for permanent visa. Employers today are constantly hiring H-1B workers, but that is clearly not enough reason to increase the cap on H-1B visas. Aside from the effects it will have on the wages and earnings of American workers, the increased cap will create some problems in the permanent residency part of immigration because there are already backlogs there (Bartik et al. 137). The influx of H-1B workers into the United States has been going on vigorously since the 1990s. During that time, about 30 million people were able to stay in America through nonimmigrant admissions. The fastest growing nonimmigrant admissions fall under categories where a foreigner first applies as a temporary foreign worker or student. He then tries to find a US sponsor to able to obtain the immigrant visa. Between 1992 and 1998, the number of foreign students admitted into the country with F1 visas rose from 53% to 565,00. The number of trainers and temporary workers also increased from 128% to 372,000 during that period of time (OECD 35).