Saturday, May 16, 2020

African Americans in the Civil War Essay - 1161 Words

African Americans in the Civil War About 180,000 African American people comprised 163 units that served in the Union Army, during the time of the Civil War, and many more African American people had served in the Union Navy. Both the free African-Americans and the runaway slaves had joined the fight. On the date of July 17, in the year of 1862, the U. S. Congress had passed two very important acts that would allow the enlistment of many African Americans, but the official enrollment had occurred only after the September, 1862, issuance of the, Emancipation Proclamation. In general, most white soldiers and officers, had believed that most of the black men, who had served in the Civil War, lacked the courage, and the will to fight†¦show more content†¦The 1st Kansas Coloreds, which had held the center of the Union line, were able to advance their status, to within around fifty paces from the Confederate line, and they had exchanged gunfire for around twenty minutes, until the Confederates, had finally broke a nd ran. General James Blunt, of the Union, had wrote after the battle, I had never seen such fighting as was done by the Negro regiment. The only question that the Negroes, will be able fight has been settled, and besides they make better soldiers in every other respect, than any of the troops, that I have ever had under my own command. The most widely known battle which was fought by many African American soldiers, was the assault on Fort Wagner, in the southern state of South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusetts, on the date of July 18, 1863. The 54th Massachusetts had volunteered to lead the assault, on the strongly-fortified Confederate grounds. The soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts, had been able to scale Fort Wagners, parapet, or military barricade, and then they were only driven back, after the brutal hand-to-hand combat. Although many of the Negro soldiers had proved themselves as very reputable soldiers, the discrimination in pay, and in many other areas, had remained very widespread. According to the notable Militia Act of 1862, all soldiers of any African descent, were to only receive $10.00 a month, plusShow MoreRelatedAfrican Americans And The Civil War1076 Words   |  5 Pages Throughout history African Americans have had is bad in the United States. First they went through slavery which lasted about two hundred year and was ended around the Civil War which was in the 1860s-1870s. Next after they went through slavery they went through the law of Jim Crow that started after the Civil War which stated, â€Å"Separate but Equal†, and that was not the case because African Americans were still treated as second class citizens. After about ninety years around the 1960s Dr. MartinRead MoreAfrican Americans and the Civil War774 Words   |  4 PagesEssay African Americans and the Civil War Slavery affected many of the political reasons that contributed to causing the Civil War in 1961. Most in the Northern states including President Lincoln were more concerned with preserving the Union rather than fighting for the freedom of all. On the other hand the South fought to preserve what they believed to be absolute state rights. However the overall goals of the war were altered significantly by the willingness of African Americans during war. ThisRead MoreAfrican Americans And The Civil War1449 Words   |  6 PagesWhen the Civil War began, they wanted to take part in fighting to free all slaves. At the end of the civil war passed the civil rights act that gave citizenship to people that are born in the united states, years later African American men were given the right to vote. This might give equal rights but African Americans are still being discriminated. Almost century later, African Americans are still being discriminated. They got jobs and their kids go to school, but more notice that it wasn t rightRead MoreThe Civil War On African Americans Essay1421 Words   |  6 PagesThe years preceding the Civil War were monstrous for African Americans located in the South of the country. Northerners and Southerners would argue that their visions of how society is structured is the right way and should be expanded throughout the nation. Southerners claimed that slavery is okay, and it’s a positive labor system. On the contrary, Northerners claim that laborers should be paid by wage, men should have equal opportunities, and slaves should gain freedom. The four most significantRead MoreAfrican American And The Civil War876 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1865, when the civil war ended in America and slavery was abolished, the African American population in the South faced many challenges related to their new found freedom. Following the pos t-Civil War Reconstruction period, white supremacy resurfaced in the South (AE Television, 2015). Beginning in the early 1900s through 1970 there was a mass exodus of African American s from South to North America. Although some African American s were known to have moved from the South as early as 1850Read MoreThe Civil War Of African Americans1010 Words   |  5 Pagescentury. For an African American, the word â€Å"life† evolved from a word that meant absolutely nothing, to a word that stood for an individual’s highest commodity. After the civil war, emancipation for slaves transformed from a dream to a reality. Although the civil war finally ended in 1865 after four years of fighting, certain citizens and groups across the nation still remained in a state if disagreement with the freedom granted to African Americans. The years after the civil war revolutionizedRead MoreAfrican Americans And The Civil War1309 Words   |  6 PagesIn the summer of 1619, the fir st Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia not to live as free settlers but as subordinate slaves. They worked strenuously for Whites, who considered themselves superior to Africans, without much benefit. Racism is not just the belief that one race is superior to others, but the act of negatively identifying individuals based on the color of their skin. Attributing race to individual character has proven to have negative implications that are difficult to mend.Read MoreAfrican Americans And The Civil War1540 Words   |  7 Pageshistorical backdrop of the United States, African Americans have dependable been victimized. When Africans first came to America, they had no choice but to be slaves. The progressed toward becoming slaves to the rich, covetous, lethargic Americans. African Americans had given no compensation and regularly whipped and beaten. They battled for their opportunity, yet when the Civil War came African Americans had this logic that if they were to join the Ci vil War they could liberate all slaves. HoweverRead MoreAfrican Americans And The Civil War859 Words   |  4 Pagesslavery, predominately in the American South, African-Americans were finally set free from bondage. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments quickly followed, granting citizenship to â€Å"all persons born or naturalized in the United States† and granting African American men the right to vote, respectively. Naturally, Americans denoted these momentous legislative feats, collectively packaged as the Reconstruction Amendments, as a means of celebration for African-Americans. However, in order to rectifyRead MoreAfrican Americans in the Civil War1971 Words   |  8 PagesAnderson HIST 3060 February 25, 13 African Americans and the Civil War The role African Americans played in the outcome, and the road to the outcome of the Civil War was immense. The fact that the south had slaves and the north did not played an enormous role in the issues. The north wanted to abolish slavery, and the south did not and after the war started this became one of the main reasons for the Civil War. Since most African Americans could not read or write, this made them an easy

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Although Eichendorff’s story displays religious elements,...

Although Eichendorff’s story displays religious elements, the pious facets take on a different form than in Psyche. In â€Å"The Marble Statue†, Sunday remains a holy day where evil subsides. God and Satan manifest into the metaphysical through characters, settings, and motifs. Fortunato is a pure character directing Florio towards the path of the righteous man while Donati is a sinister man leading the boy into temptation. The seductress is the embodiment of evil while Bianca is the good. The aspect of religion is demonstrated in a more direct manner in Psyche. The artist abandons a life of art to become a brethren of the covenant where it is proclaimed the Goddess of Art is â€Å"a witch who carries towards vanity, towards earthly pleasure†. The†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, Florio’s lack of self-control leads him to the guilt of a sinful lust. With the thought of his seductress plaguing his mind, he is never satisfied with the real wo man in his life. Consumed by lust and desire, he constantly longs for more in his earthly life. The sins reveal the weakness of the protagonists and provokes their course to redemption. â€Å"The Marble Statue† and â€Å"The Psyche† are both narrated in 3rd person. However, the teller of Florio’s story is a homodiegetic narrator lending an outside perspective on the world being described, but does not play a part in it. The Psyche’s is a heterodiegetic narrator as the bright morning star living in the story, yet revealing the history of another. The morning star plays a role that can be seen as a biblical reference and even Jesus himself. Jesus identifies Himself as ‘the bright morning star’ in Revelation 22:16. The irony of the morning star as Jesus is the young artist abandoned his talent to directly seek and satisfy God in a holy life with the church. However, he did not need to seek Jesus for he was already watching over him the entire span of his life and even thereafter. An element present among both stories in the role of nature and the gates, gardens and fountains within them. Within mythology and symbolism, gardens are seen as a motif of an untouched, primal state where nothing is lacking including companionship, food, and drink. The garden

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Effect of Monetary Benefits in Organizations

Question: Discuss about theEffect of Monetary Benefits in Organizations. Answer: A Critical Analysis on the Role of Money and other Financial Rewards in Motivating Employees Motivation acts like a force, which guides the action of employees in organizations (Grandey, Chi and Diamond 2013). It is important for all human beings but it bears a comparatively broader importance to the employees working in organizations. Nevertheless, it influences the organizational behaviours. A motivated employee is a precious asset for the concerned Company. Further, a motivated employee is extremely helpful for the organizational success (Cerasoli, Nicklin and Ford 2014). An organization runs through a collective workforce of employees. Moreover, a half-hearted dedication from employees may incur a significant loss to the organization. To serve the goal of a company, the utter dedication of its employees is of utmost importance. Motivated and skilled employees collectively construct the way for an organization to dream for a goal. There are several theories, which support the importance of motivation in employees as an integral part of an organizational behaviour. Of all those theories, Maslows Needs Hierarchy Theory holds the supreme importance for its universal appeal (Aguinis, Joo and Gottfredson 2013). As per the theory, there are different stages for an employee, which finds its inception ever since the employee has made his conjuncture with the Company. These stages are physical needs, security needs, self-respect and self-actualization. These are the four requirements that an employee seek for in organizations. Fulfilment of all these stages brings their life to a never before experience. However, in an atmosphere of diverse culture in organizations across the globe, meeting with all the stages hardly happens. There are hardly few companies, which are working with extreme care in all of these four stages. Nonetheless, they are successful entrepreneurs. All these four stages have their separate significa nce for an employee. However, all have separate values and all carries motivational credentials with them. A collective fulfilment of all these stages is extremely helpful for an employee but even a partial fulfilment do also hold the probable of bringing the motivation into the employee (Pilz and Gewald 2013). Development of motivation goes through different process through the candidature of employees in organizations. Ever since the inception, the first and the foremost requirement for an employee is their salary. The nature of work and the assigned task pressure may vary but the need for having a healthy salary package is of inseparable importance in employees (Cawley and Price 2013). The expected salary is not a result of workload but rather it is their requirement to fulfil their basic needs. However, the fact is also contradicting in its justification for a factual behaviour of few employees in the organization. There are employees who understand their responsibilities and try to fulfil their responsibilities even under a lesser payment. Moreover, some never realizes the importance of their contribution in organizations even if their payments have satisfied their needs. Nevertheless, salary structures do keep a significant place in an organizational performance but it does not posses s the guarantee of imparting the supreme work performance (Terera and Ngirande 2014). After the salary part, the safety of an employee in organizations also holds a significant importance in constructing the motivational thoughts in them. The places, which are always at threats of meeting with accidents such as bomb explosion, civilian attacks, and the fear of losing the life, encourages employees to develop a half-hearted commitment for their work (DuBrin 2013). The fear of losing the lives acts as a retarding force for the development of motivational force into them. However, even if the circumstances are favourable, it does not hold any guarantee of producing the desired result. Nonetheless, the case of failure in the motivational practising in such organization is also common there (Glasziou et al. 2012). The next most important point, which an employee look for in organizations are their self-respect. To some it matters a lot whereas some are there who do not possess any regard for this. Providing self-esteem to employees presents a transparent image of organizations towards their employees (Young, Beckman and Baker 2012). It is helpful in structuring a belief of self-satisfaction into employees, which helps them further in showing their utmost dedication towards their roles and responsibilities. Nevertheless, the utmost dedication then achieved, shows its reflection in the performance of the organization. However, there are some, to whom self-respect is just a matter of dignity, which enhances the image of an individual in the organization. Moreover, self-respect never influences their thoughts as they have more concerns for other parameters such as Salary and the Service Condition (Parke et al. 2013). Self-actualization in the Maslows Needs Hierarchy Theory holds the most important characteristic of an organizational behaviour (Chng et al. 2012). Self-actualization is the one, which gives way to the motivational thoughts in employees. It happens in some cases that employees are often not aware of the consequences, which their contributions can bring to the organizational performance. In those cases, it evolves as the necessity to bring and inherit the instinct of self-actualization into such employees. Nevertheless, it arises as the necessity of incepting entrepreneurship skills in such organizations. Entrepreneurship skills by nature of it compels the management in successfully handling its employees with all the necessary elements required for incepting motivational thoughts in them. However, incepting entrepreneurship skills in an organization is not an easy task. It requires additional processing through which the inception of entrepreneurship skills happens. Moreover, foundat ion of entrepreneurship skills in an organization requires a huge investment for this. It put additional pressure on the financial resource of the Company. Further, this forms a boundary limit for those organizations, which are financially inefficient to cope with the changed requirement. Nonetheless, those organizations, which are financially inefficient, may fail in inheriting the self-actualization feeling into its employees (Altman, Valenzi and Hodgetts 2013). Organizational commitment is something, which dictates the right path to the desired goal. An organizational commitment is a colection of motivations, which never die (Thompson 2014). It rather compels its possessor for the utmost meeting with the set target. However, an organizational commitment is very rare in practice. Organizational commitment solely relies on the motivational thoughts of its employees, which suffers a serious loss in the otherwise situation. To make employees committed to their responsibilities, bringing the motivation in them is of supreme importance. Money and other financial awards given to employees can encourage them for the motivational thoughts, which is extremely decisive in incepting the organizational commitment. However, motivation is a broader concept, which is a collection of distinct characteristic of an organizational behaviour. Moreover, avoidance of any character may not result in as per the desire (Manzoor 2012). It is an undeniable fact that motivational thoughts influence the organizational characteristic of behaviours (Sageer, Rafat and Agarwal 2012). However, it is hard to find out a single characteristic that has with it a solid proof measures for the inception of motivational thoughts into employees. All the important aspects of the Maslows Needs Hierarchy Theory can produce wonder as a collective workforce but it is very difficult for an organization to posses all these aspects. Nevertheless, different organizations have different work approach, which varies distinctively from one organization to other (Dalal et al. 2012). The adherence of all the aspects of the Maslows theory is not realistic. However, a partial adherence of these aspects are possible but still, it becomes difficult to analyse a single potential aspect out of all those, which can produce notable productivity. This is where the problem arises for those organizations, which have chosen a partial portion of those aspects . The chosen strategy based on any of the established theories in specific the Maslows Theory, might not produce the expected outcome to the organization. There are some arguments regarding the fact that money really motivates. Some have made this argument that intrinsic motivation is comparatively superior predictor of performance than the extrinsic motivation (Pinder 2014). It is very much feasible that focussing more on the monetary benefits keeps away a significant attention of one from its actual role in the organization. The actual role for an employee in the organization is way above the monetary and other physical rewards. It rather forms the backbone of an organization as it involves pleasing their rational curiosity, having enjoyment, learning fresh skills. These all are the core elements of an employee, which motivates it for the fundamental character of organizational behaviour. Some may argue that money is the most powerful weapon of all the battles of life but it does not establishes the fact that money satisfaction can bring all joy to the organization. An organization runs on the wheel of collective efforts of all its e mployees and the management (Adzei and Atinga 2012). Moreover, an organization cannot efficiently walk on its way without the collective contributions of all these fundamental elements of organizational behaviour. A more contemporary explanation of an organization suggests that the fundamentals of organizational behaviour are a collection of group efforts, working in the same direction to achieve the desired goal (Chiang and Birtch 2012). It is clear from the explanation that the absence of any of the necessary fundamental elements can cause significant loss to the organization. Organizational management and the motivation inception in employees have a very crucial link in between them, which are tying them in a crucial bonding that needs a serious care of established facts of organizational behaviour. However, this is not the scenario in most of the organizations in the contemporary world. In most of the cases, employees have no attachment with the organizational requirement, which can be because of their negligence due to irrespective of the reason. Money and other physical rewards do satisfy few employees but it carries with it a less probability of incepting the motivational thoughts in su ch employees (Garbers and Konradt 2014). Even a high salary payment does not possess any assurance of imparting the pure organizational fundamentals into employees. Moreover, the high salary payment does produce excitement but rarely encourages for fulfilling the desire of the Company. Indeed the entrepreneurship skills help in incepting the motivational thoughts into the employees. Money is the utmost requirement of an employee or of an organization but it requires certain processing for this to generate. For an employee, it requires their honest dedication towards the requirement of the organization. Further, to an organization, it requires utmost caring of them towards their employees with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Both move on the same wheel but with different directions. The first and the foremost aspect of the inception of an employee is the salary part, all the things then come later. It is hard to survive without money but again the same goes to everyone. Performance of employees dictates the path to the Company, which further creates the monetary benefits to the Company by achieving the set goals (Chiang and Birtch 2012). Moreover, an organization depends heavily on its employees as they form the workforce for the organization. Nonetheless, an organization can never move without its collective workforce. The performance of an organization caters home to many of the common people who are working there. In case of underperforming of an organization for any reason, it can leave its impact on its employees. They might lose their job, which has served them as their financial resource. These cases are very common today, which are creating a sense of fear among employees. In case of no projects to an organization, it generally keep those workforce with them who have proved their worthy in past with their organizational fundamentals. Rest who could not prove their worthiness rather their focus was more on salaries, organization generally ask them to leave, as there is no project. All the established facts and the contemporary thoughts arrive to the same conclusion that fundamental characteristic of an organization is way above the monetary benefits and the other physical rewards. For a long-term partnership in between the employees and the organizations they represent, there is an utter urgency of the motivated employees. Nevertheless, intrinsic rewards not the extrinsic rewards are the vital factor for incepting motivational thoughts into employees (Chiang and Birtch 2012). Money and the other physical rewards are a fundamental part of an organizational behaviour but it cannot effectively construct the motivational thoughts into employees. It rather can take them away from their prime role, which is to serve the organizations with full dedication. Focussing on the salary part most of the time distract the concentration of employees from the organizational values, which is extremely danger for the organization and for them also. Having desire for a good salary is not any sin but destroying anything, just for the sake of salary is not acceptable. The core values of an organizational fundamental are extremely important for both the organization and the employees. This brings the relation of harmony in between the employees and the organization, which they represent. Nevertheless, fulfilling the single desire and leaving rest apart, is not advisable for a peaceful run of an organization. However, the entire core values of organizational fundamentals under t he light of Maslows Theory do not find a foot hold in the organizational behaviour. Moreover, a collective inclusion of the entire fundamental characteristic can do wonder in favour of both the organization and its employees. It rather has the potential to turn things in favour of such organization, which have failed in catching the worldly attention. However, organizations in contemporary world are comparatively more attracted towards the extrinsic form of motivation. They believe in making employees satisfied as long as feasible in the organization. However, these are not the characteristic of an entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur rather possesses all the necessary elements of fundamental behaviours for the organization it represent. Extrinsic motivation such as money and other physical rewards are important but not effective as much as the intrinsic form of motivation. References: Adzei, F.A. and Atinga, R.A., 2012. Motivation and retention of health workers in Ghana's district hospitals: addressing the critical issues.Journal of Health Organization and Management,26(4), pp.467-485. Aguinis, H., Joo, H. and Gottfredson, R.K., 2013. What monetary rewards can and cannot do: How to show employees the money.Business Horizons,56(2), pp.241-249. Altman, S., Valenzi, E. and Hodgetts, R.M., 2013.Organizational behavior: Theory and practice. Elsevier. Cawley, J. and Price, J.A., 2013. A case study of a workplace wellness program that offers financial incentives for weight loss.Journal of health economics,32(5), pp.794-803. Cerasoli, C.P., Nicklin, J.M. and Ford, M.T., 2014. Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis.Psychological Bulletin,140(4), p.980. Chiang, F.F. and Birtch, T.A., 2012. The performance implications of financial and non?financial rewards: an Asian nordic comparison.Journal of Management Studies,49(3), pp.538-570. Chng, D.H.M., Rodgers, M.S., Shih, E. and Song, X.B., 2012. When does incentive compensation motivate managerial behaviors? An experimental investigation of the fit between incentive compensation, executive core self?evaluation, and firm performance.Strategic Management Journal,33(12), pp.1343-1362. Dalal, R.S., Baysinger, M., Brummel, B.J. and LeBreton, J.M., 2012. The relative importance of employee engagement, other job attitudes, and trait affect as predictors of job performance.Journal of Applied Social Psychology,42(S1), pp.E295-E325. DuBrin, A.J., 2013.Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier. Garbers, Y. and Konradt, U., 2014. The effect of financial incentives on performance: A quantitative review of individual and team?based financial incentives.Journal of occupational and organizational psychology,87(1), pp.102-137. Glasziou, P., Buchan, H., Mar, C.D., Doust, J., Harris, M., Knight, R., Scott, A., Scott, I.A. and Stockwell, A., 2012. When financial incentives do more good than harm: a checklist.Bmj,5047, pp.345-350. Grandey, A.A., Chi, N.W. and Diamond, J.A., 2013. Show me the money! Do financial rewards for performance enhance or undermine the satisfaction from emotional labor?.Personnel Psychology,66(3), pp.569-612. Manzoor, Q.A., 2012. Impact of employees motivation on organizational effectiveness.Business management and strategy,3(1), p.1. Parke, H., Ashcroft, R., Brown, R., Marteau, T.M. and Seale, C., 2013. Financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviour: an analysis of UK media coverage.Health Expectations,16(3), pp.292-304. Pilz, D. and Gewald, H., 2013. Does Money Matter? Motivational Factors for Participation in Paid-and Non-Profit-Crowdsourcing Communities. InWirtschaftsinformatik(p. 37). Pinder, C.C., 2014.Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press. Sageer, A., Rafat, S. and Agarwal, P., 2012. Identification of variables affecting employee satisfaction and their impact on the organization.IOSR Journal of business and management,5(1), pp.32-39. Terera, S.R. and Ngirande, H., 2014. The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and employee retention.Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences,5(1), p.481. Thompson, N.C., 2014.Investigating talent attraction: percieved attractiveness of non-financial reward elements by means of an experimental design(Doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Town). Young, G.J., Beckman, H. and Baker, E., 2012. Financial incentives, professional values and performance: A study of pay?for?performance in a professional organization.Journal of Organizational Behavior,33(7), pp.964-983.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Russian History Essays - Russian Nationalism,

Russian History Russian History Russia has always played a major roll in global politics, economics and thought. However, in the past two centuries, Russia has had probably the greatest influence on the international world in modern times, surpassed only by the United States. The Russia that we've known this century though, has its roots in last centuries Russian. At the end of the nineteenth century, Russia experienced great changes internally, politically, socially and spiritually. The half century leading up to the Communist revolution in 1917 was a time filled with sweeping changes, literary triumphs and military defeat. All of these factors played in the eventual revolution and not only affected politics and thought in Russia, but in every nation on earth. After the defeat of the Russian army in the Crimean War, Russian realized that it needed to modernize its country, socially and militarily. Alexander II realized that to modernize mean that Russia needed to westernize. So in 1861 he emancipated the serfs from bondage. The emancipation was mean to bridge the gap between the elite and the general population, but was not the first of such liberal western type reforms. Catherine and Peter the Great had also made western type reforms during their respective reigns. All of their reforms, and especially Alexander's, were influenced by western thought. These thought were introduced into Russia by its Western European educated ruling class. Under Alexander II, the ruling class began to see serfdom as an immoral part of society. This moral problem was accompanied by the economics of the day, and the ethical conclusion was that serfdom must be dismantled. The abolition of serfdom was Alexander II greatest contribution to history. However, the 'Liberating Czar' enacted a whole series of fundamental changes including; comprehensive reform of the judicial system that finally introduced the unheard of idea of equality, trial by jury, public proceedings in legal matters and the impartiality of the courts. In the end though, none of these reforms really solved any of Russia's social or economic problems, eventually called the 'accursed questions'. These were taken up by the various political groups and writers of the time. The writers however were the most important. To Russians, the writer is not only looked upon as an artist of the word, but also as a guide and teacher in a deeper sense. The writer is supposed to understand life better than ordinary mortals, so it's his duty to impart this knowledge to others in appropriate shape and form. The reign of Alexander II was an age of great literary achievement, the 'Golden Age' of the Russian novel. Almost all of the great works of Russian fiction were produced during this time. The best minds were attracted to the novel, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Asakov all produced some of the greatest literary works of all time during this period. All of the writers during this time belonged to a political school of thought, and while some of the schools worked for similar aims, they were all different and each one possessed its own unique ideals. The Slavophiles were probably the oldest of the political schools at the time. The Slavophiles during the reign of Alexander II were of the second generation, and they were the ones to turn the Slavophile myth of old into a real modern political program. This program included the endorsement of the Orthodox religion and a patrimonial monarchy. The Slavophiles believed in the inherent virtue and goodness of the Russian people and culture. A main part of this culture was the ideal of 'sobornost', that is, the communal spirit. The Slavophiles saw this in action in the peasant communes, and believed that communalism in conjunction with Christian communal worship would become the source of Russia's sorely needed moral and cultural regeneration. In accordance with Russia's regeneration, Slavophiles saw the west as corrupt and immoral. They saw Russia's destiny as one in which it would save the west from spiritual decay. Fyodor Dostoevsky was Slavophilisms more down-to-earth and democratic member. He was also the movements' most effective proponent. In his book "Discourse on Pushkin", Dostoevsky describes the Slavophile position. The major opponents of the Slavophile position were the western influenced Nihilists. These leftist radicals rejected religion, the authority of the state, the family, social conventions and aesthetic values as irrelevant. They were highly influenced by Western Europe in their atheism and material positivism. They flaunted the social rules and conventions of the day, they wore dark sunglasses, men wore their hair long and the women short. They were also socialists, but unlike their Slavophile counterparts, they did not believe in a utopia. The nihilists had many sympathizers in

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Prehistoric Saber-Toothed Cats

Prehistoric Saber-Toothed Cats Despite the way theyve been portrayed in movies, saber-toothed cats werent just big felines with enormous front teeth. The whole lifestyle of saber-toothed cats (and their close cousins, the scimitar-tooths, dirk-tooths and false saber tooths) revolved around using their canines to wound and kill prey, most often giant herbivorous mammals, but also early hominids and other big cats that are now extinct. Now we need to dispense with a couple of other misconceptions. First, the most famous prehistoric cat, Smilodon, is often referred to as the Saber-Toothed Tiger, but the word tiger actually refers to a specific, modern genus of big cat. More properly, Smilodon should be called a saber-toothed cat, just like its large-fanged contemporaries of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. And second, as so often happens in nature, the saber-tooth head plan evolved more than onceand not just in cats, as well see below. Saber-Toothed Cats - True or False? The first carnivores that could reasonably be described as saber-toothed were the nimravids, primitive, vaguely cat-like mammals that lived about 35 million years ago, during the late Eocene epoch. As closely related to early hyenas as they were also early cats, nimravids werent technically felines, but genera like Nimravus and Hoplophoneus (Greek for armed murderer) still boasted some impressive canines. For technical reasons (mostly involving the shapes of their inner ears), paleontologists refer to nimravids as false saber tooths, a distinction that makes less sense when you take a gander at the skull of Eusmilus. The two front canines of this leopard-sized nimravid were almost as long as its entire skull, but their thin, dagger-like structure places this carnivore firmly in the dirk-toothed cat family (dirk being the ancient Scottish word for dagger). Confusingly, even some primitive felines are categorized as false saber-tooths. A good example is the aptly named Dinofelis (terrible cat), whose somewhat short, blunt canines, though bigger than those of any large cat alive today, dont merit its inclusion in the true saber-tooth camp. Even so, Dinofelis was a continuing menace to other mammals of its time, including the early hominid Australopithecus (which may have figured on this cats dinner menu). Exclusion from the true saber-toothed cats makes more sense in the case of Thylacosmilus. This was a marsupial that raised its young in pouches, kangaroo-style, rather than a placental mammal-like its true saber-toothed cousins. Ironically, Thylacosmilus went extinct about two million years ago when its South American habitat was colonized by true saber-tooths migrating down from the North American plains. (A similar-sounding predatory mammal from Australia, Thylacoleo, wasnt technically a cat at all, but it was every bit as dangerous.) Smilodon and Homotherium - Kings of the Saber-Toothed Smilodon (and no, its Greek name has nothing to do with the word smile) is the creature that people have in mind when they say saber-toothed tiger. This long-fanged carnivore was shorter, stockier and heavier than a typical modern-day lion, and it owes its fame to the fact that thousands of Smilodon skeletons have been fished out of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles (its no wonder that Hollywood has immortalized saber-toothed tigers in countless caveman flicks). Although Smilodon probably snacked on the occasional hominid, the bulk of its diet consisted of the large, slow herbivores crowding the plains of North and South America. Smilodon enjoyed a long time in the prehistoric sun, persisting from the Pliocene epoch to about 10,000 B.C., when early humans hunted the dwindling population to extinction (or, possibly, rendered Smilodon extinct by hunting its prey to extinction!). The only other prehistoric cat to match Smilodons success was Homotherium, which spread across wider swathes of territory (Eurasia and Africa, as well as North and South America) and was perhaps even more dangerous. Homotheriums canines were sleeker and sharper than those of Smilodon (which is why paleontologists call it a scimitar-toothed cat), and it had a hunched, hyena-like posture. (Homotherium may have resembled hyenas in another respect: theres evidence that it hunted in packs, a good strategy for bringing down multi-ton Woolly Mammoths.) The Lifestyles of Saber-Toothed Cats As mentioned above, the gigantic canines of saber-toothed cats (true, false, or marsupial) existed for more than strictly ornamental reasons. Whenever nature evolves a specific feature multiple times, you can be sure that it has a definite purposeso the convergent evolution of saber teeth in various types of carnivores points to a more functional explanation. Based on current research, it seems that the largest saber-toothed cats (such as Smilodon, Homotherium, and Thylocasmilus) pounced suddenly on their prey and dug in their canines - then withdrew to a safe distance as the unfortunate animal wandered in circles and bled to death. Some of the evidence for this behavior is strictly circumstantial (for example, paleontologists rarely find broken-off saber teeth, a hint that these canines were a crucial part of the cats armament). While some evidence is more direct - skeletons of various animals have been found bearing Smilodon or Homotherium-sized puncture wounds. Scientists have also found that Smilodon had unusually powerful arms - which it used to hold down wriggling prey, thus minimizing the possibility of breaking off those all-important saber teeth. Perhaps the most surprising fact about saber-toothed cats is that they werent exactly speed-demons. Whereas modern cheetahs can hit top speeds of 50 miles per hour or so (at least for short bursts), the relatively stubby, muscular legs and thick builds of the bigger saber-toothed cats indicates that they were opportunistic hunters, jumping on prey from the low branches of trees or executing short, daring leaps from the underbrush to dig in their deadly fangs.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Is Whistle Blowing Ethical or not Research Paper

Is Whistle Blowing Ethical or not - Research Paper Example The morality comes into question when there is a conflict between the individual’s duty to staying loyal to the firm and the freedom to speak out against what is wrong. The dilemma is severe because of the fact that individuals/employees are legally and morally bound to show their loyalty to their employers as well as ascertain the fact that one does not, directly or indirectly, get involved in any wrongdoing (Beauchamp and Bowie). It has become a common practice to link whistle blowing to loyalty with ones employer, such that several literature surrounds topics such as â€Å"whistle blowing versus organizational loyalty† or â€Å"whistle blowing and loyalty† (Lindblom). In his book, Robert Duska offers an interesting insight- that loyalty to the firm is an impossible event. According to Duska, employees have a contractual obligation to perform their duties responsibly in return for the compensation that they get (Larmer). However, according to him, the concept o f personal responsibility to the company is void and that no loyalty issues should arise when discussing the notion of whistle blowing. According to him, one must engage in whistle blowing only for the collective good of the society (Larmer). The conflict of whistle blowing with loyalty is more intricate than suggested. ... Hence, in this context, loyalty would mean that the individual must show concern towards the potential harm and loss of reputation, goodwill, sales etc. that the organization would suffer as a result of him/her blowing the whistle. However, there is another view by Ronald Duska, which states that organizations should not be recipients of loyalty simply because only â€Å"humans† can be objects of loyalty and not the organization as an entity in itself (Lindblom). Also, according to Bok, whistle blowing almost always pertains to the personal level since it involves unveiling the wrongdoings of someone else. The whistle blower may face tremendous moral and ethical conflict when it comes to the same because of several reasons. One of the reasons is the uncertainty whether or not the act is going to result in the general welfare of the public. Furthermore, the whistle blower is faced with moral dilemma when he/she has to weigh his/her moral responsibility to protect the interests of his co-workers versus his/her responsibility to protect the interests of the public. In any case, the latter is considered more important. A final reason for the dilemma, according to Bok, is the potential threat of loss of job, social circle, reputation, or even violence that could result from blowing the whistle. On the contrary, however, whistle blowers often receive strong support and appreciation from the society since they perform a vital job. The job is indispensable because, if it weren’t for the whistle blower the truth of the moment would lay hidden from the public forever and would result in injustice. Furthermore, Bok has emphasized three main elements that lead to whistle blowing becoming a problem. First

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Language Investigation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Language Investigation - Coursework Example Consideration of the written print in the newspapers about the language used by men and women is substantially credible to be accredited with the status of being spoken aloud. It is spoken aloud because it appeals to as many people that access it as possible. Repetto (2014) noted that it is a psychological issue determined at birth and that would explain the differences in communication styles between boys and girls. This language analysis will therefore focus on analyzing a collection of data between communication in males and female youth. Given that the males and females tend to behave differently, there is need to focus on the cause of the differences that are established. Communication is quite diverse. People communicate for various reasons and the same communication is expressed differently depending on the situations as stated in the introduction2. This research is therefore based on the hypothesis â€Å"the language used to advertise male and female products in magazines is different†. The main aim is to investigate the use of nouns as well as adjectives in advertisements expressed in English. This will be geared towards finding the gender differences in communication in these advertisement media. The main focus is to establish whether the gender differences likely to occur are in conformation with the expectations in behaviour in males and females. The materials for the methodology in this topic consist of magazines for males and others for females. In total, there are twelve adverts that are taken from the male and female magazines. For the magazines meant for the males, there is a collection of six adverts, two from cars and aeroplanes, two from international football and two from music electronics. The female magazines had six magazines too. Two were from ‘Lasting Romance’, two from ‘Breath That Love’ and the last two from ‘Te Amo’ Australian edition. All these are world-wide magazines. The