Agricultural Development

Agricultural development can be defined as; an improvement in all aspects or practices of agriculture that can lead to better yields or output. Green revolution also refers to the introduction of modern farming practices such as improve seeds, tractors, pesticides, weedicides among others into agriculture Institutional bottlenecks on the other hand refer to a set of long standing factors that militates against the development of agriculture overtime. It therefore clearly indicates that the development of agriculture is green revolutionary dependant; the institutional factors that hinder the total implementation of the green revolution agenda of agricultural development include the following; Cultural belief system and ideological orientation; the cultural practices, values, norms, and views of most Ghanaian communities are anti-modern and difficult to change. It is in this sense that most beliefs system is so rigid that any other practices seen contrary to them are mostly rejected. The Ghanaian beliefs such as constructions of mounds as a method of farming is seen as the best as against the use of tractors for ploughing the lands, to an extent that, though others can afford the services of tractors to plough their land, they rather claim that the use of tractor for ploughing distract the soil profile, hence reject it which could have led to higher yields. They therefore stick to the old methods of farming. Besides that, there is low technological development in less developed nations like Ghana which also affect green revolution of agriculture in the sense that most agricultural inputs are imported into these nations hence there is persistent low productivity. Low level of education is one of the impediments to green revolution of agriculture in Ghana in particular. The educational level of most farmers is so low that, it becomes difficult to teach the peasant farmers modern farming practices, the few extension officers who are trained to educate farmers on better farming practices finds it difficult to do so as dissemination of information to local people becomes difficult due to language barrier. English language as the common medium of communication is not understood by the local people and if an extension officer does no understand the native language of the people his work is affected, the roblem of inadequate trained agricultural workers and appropriate logistics is yet another challenge to green revolution in Ghana, informal education that is being organized to educate farmers, also lacks the commitment of the local farmers and mostly fails. The nature of agricultural institutions in Ghana is also one of the outstanding factors that militated against the development of agricultural in Ghana. Most agricultural institutions are located out of reach of the peasant farmers.  Most of these institutions are located in urban areas whereas most farmers in the country live and work in the rural areas, these institutions are also filled with people with little or no knowledge in modern farming practices and the few available personnel have to battle with a large population size of farmers as it is noted in Ghana that the extension officer to farmer ratio is one officer is to one hundred and forty thousands farmers (1: 140000). This clearly indicates that it is impossible for the few extension officers to carry out their work effectively with this large farming population. Moreover the few officers are not motivated enough to give up their best. Furthermore, government policies in Ghana towards agricultural development are nothing to write home about. Agriculture as the mainstay of the economy, which should have been given the highest attention on yearly budgetary allocation most at times receives the least attention of government in resource allocation. This has inevitably led to the inability of agricultural institutions to supply farmers with inputs in order to boost their production levels. The little funds that are allocated to agriculture are also face with the problem of poor distribution as the target areas are not reached. The poor agricultural nature is also faced with unfavorable competition in the international markets with the advance nations like U. S. due to trade liberalization; which makes it possible for countries to be able to export its agricultural goods or produces to other countries. This has led to unhealthy competition and to the killing of the local agricultural industries in most less developed nations. The advance nations with better agricultural inputs couple with high level of technology and quality agricultural produces simply take over the market and display our local farmers. This has led to l0ow productivity as they are faced with strong competition in the market and at most times they are the hard-hit. These advance nations brings into the less developed countries their cheap and subsidized agricultural products, hence get better patronage than their local competitors. This is evident in Ghana, as imported rice is better patronized than the locally produced rice. Hence trade liberalization among nations has affected agricultural development among less developed nations like Ghana. Lastly, the poorly organized nature of our farmers is also another problem militating against the green revolution of agriculture. The farmers are not united to be able to access financial support for large scale farming; in other words they do not form co-operative societies which could give them a well developed foundation to ask for financial assistance from financial institutions and corporate bodies to embark on commercial farming activities this imply that these peasant farmers can not increase productivity and continue to remain in the peasant cycle. The above are some of the institutional factors that have militated against the smooth green revolution of agriculture in Ghana; hence the reforming of such institutional bottlenecks forms the main path to well green revolution of agriculture in Ghana

More Machine Now Than Man

Laura Frost, in her essay â€Å"Huxley's Feelies: The Cinema of Sensation in Brave New World,† states that â€Å"Brave New World has typically been read as â€Å"the classic denunciation of mass culture in the interwar years†Ã¢â‚¬  (Frost 448). This is true to an extent, as Frost points out. The novel explores the effects of mass culture and the implementation of eugenics and mass education to serve an industrialized society of consumption. Aspects of culture, such as the arts, have been reduced to pleasure seeking, and the population as a whole is kept within the machine of culture by means of pharmaceuticals.Much of this vision is drawn from Huxley’s experiences during the interwar period and for that reason, an exploration of his reactions to mass culture and his philosophy of culture prove useful in understanding the novel. This essay will be exploring Brave New World according to Huxley’s reactions to the culture of the 1920s and the early 1930s, es pecially to aspects of mass culture, consumerism and scientific and technological approaches to human growth and reproduction.Huxley wrote a number of essays in the late 1920s and early 1930s that deal with these issues and several of these serve as the primary focus of this essay. â€Å"Prophecies of the future,† writes Huxley in a 1927 essay, â€Å"if they are to be intelligent, not merely fantastic, must be based on a study of the present. The future is the present projected† (â€Å"The Outlook for American Culture† 187). This sentiment must be taken to heart if one is then to read a prophetic book by the author of the quote.Aldous Huxley was living and writing during the so-called â€Å"Jazz Age,† an age of increasing commercialism, consumerism and mechanization. The age saw a massive boost in the production of consumer goods and technologies, idealized in the streamlined assembly lines of Henry Ford, which provided goods for consumption, but demanded a larger worker class to fuel the boom. The further development of mass culture, thanks to the growth of music and film industries, was spurned by this growth in the working classes. Aldous Huxley’s novel is, at least to a degree, a product of this present.Consumerism and materialism are central to Brave New World; any work that features Henry Ford as a god figure would surely have to be. Huxley writes in 1931: The God of Industry supplies his worshipers with objects and can only exist on condition that his gifts are gratefully accepted. In the eyes of an Industriolater, the first duty of man is to collect as many objects as he can (â€Å"On the Charms of History† 131). Huxley acknowledges that capitalists and industrialists need people to want the stuff produced.He argues that Ford, to whom Huxley refers rather sarcastically as â€Å"the saint of the new dispensation,† and other industrialists have no choice but to hate history, literature, the arts and others because all these â€Å"mental activities†¦ distract mankind from an acquisitive interest in objects† (131-132). The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning in the opening section of the novel speaks of how mental activities in the lower classes, in this case a Romantic notion of nature, are discouraged in the hyper-consumerist society in Brave New World: A love of Nature keeps no factories busy.It was decided to abolish the love of nature, at any rate among the lower classes; to abolish the love of nature but not the tendency to consume transport†¦ We condition the masses to hate the country†¦ but simultaneously we condition them to love all country sports. At the same time we see to it that all country sports shall entail the use of elaborate apparatus. So that they consume manufactured articles as well as transport (23). The goal in the society of the novel is to adhere to what Huxley argues is the first duty of man to industrialists, owning and using the g oods produced by industry.Every aspect of the World State is crafted to maintain production and/or to encourage consumption. Those aspects of culture that occupy surplus time, the time spent not producing, have two functions: the consumption of material or the sedation or comforting of the producer so that he or she will continue to produce. The latter function is expressed by the Twentieth-Century theorist, Theodore Adorno. Shane Gunster, in his book Capitalizing on Culture: Critical Theory  for Cultural Studies, summarizes Adorno’s theory involving this idea of â€Å"free-time† Bored by the endless repetition of the assembly line or sales counter, people want novelty in their leisure time†¦ While leisure masquerades as ‘free-time,’ it is an open secret that its true purpose is to replenish one’s working energies†¦Work and leisure are bound together in an unholy alliance: the culture industry openly celebrates its independence from prod uction, selling its products as ‘freedom’ from the drudgery of the everyday, all the while secretly delivering its consumers ever-deeper into the clutches of a world from which they so anxiously desire to escape (Gunster 42-43). This theory of the â€Å"culture industry,† feeding the consumer with entertainment during free-time so that the work will not suffer, is the driving force behind the Fordian culture that Huxley writes about in the 1920s and 30s and satirizes in Brave New World .Adorno, whose major works were not written until the Second World War, is analyzing a reality of mechanized society and mass culture that Huxley wrote of years before. As a writer during the â€Å"Jazz Age,† Huxley would bear witness to the rise of commercial music as the record industry created a popular music that Huxley viewed in a negative light.In a 1925 essay on music, Huxley describes a piece of popular music: There is a certain jovial, bouncing, hoppety little tune with which any one who has spent even a few weeks in Germany†¦ must be familiar. Its name is â€Å"Ach, du lieber Augustin. † It is a merry little affair in three-four time; in rhythm and melody so simple, that the village idiot could sing it after a first hearing; in sentiment so innocent that the heart of the most susceptible maiden would not quicken by a beat a minute at the sound of it. Rum-tiddle, Um tum tum, Um tum tum†¦ By the very frankness of its cheerful imbecility the thing disarms all criticism. (Collected Essays 173) Huxley finds this example of popular music simplistic and moronic, not even worth a real critique.He continues on the subject by comparing the tune to an eighteenth-century waltz of the same name and to all music prior to the mid-Nineteenth century: The difference between â€Å"Ach, du lieber Augustin† and any waltz composed at any date from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, is the difference between one piece of music al most completely empty of emotional content and another, densely saturated with amorous sentiment, languor and voluptuousness. (173) Huxley then expands his critique to criticize all contemporary popular music as lacking the meaningful emotional content that was, he feels, characteristic of all pre-mid-nineteenth-century popular music.In his essay â€Å"The Music Industry,† published in 1933, the year after Brave New World’s publication, Huxley writes about the short life-span of popular music and declares his era as â€Å"an age of rapid technical progress, and the desire for incessant novelty is a natural product of environmental change† and adds that the tendency for novelty increases consumption and is therefore, â€Å"encouraged by manufacturers† (â€Å"The Music Industry† 101). The music show that Lenina and Henry attend towards the beginning of the novel echoes Huxley’s fears from â€Å"The Music Industry† regarding the need for novelty in popular culture. The advertisements for the show â€Å"invitingly† declare it, in all-capital letters, â€Å"LONDON’S FINEST SCENT AND COLOR ORGAN. ALL THE LATEST SYNTHETIC MUSIC† (BNW 76).There is an emphasis placed on the â€Å"latest,† favoring that novelty which fuels consumption. Again there is an echo in Adorno.Gunster looks at an essay Adorno published titled â€Å"On Popular Music†: On the one hand, he argues, the ‘fundamental’ property of popular music is that it is unremittingly standardized: ‘every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine’†¦ On the other hand, marketability demands that repetition be hidden beneath the illusion of individuality, difference, and novelty (Gunster 24). Adorno’s â€Å"culture industry† is again reflected in the popular music. His descriptions of popular music are very similar to way Huxley describes popular music as si mplistic and standardized. Likewise, both acknowledge that the culture industry markets its goods to consumers based on supposed novelty.Within Brave New World, Huxley’s critique of popular music comes through in his descriptions of the music of the World State. The music, like the example song Huxley described from Germany in 1925, is cheerful, with simple, formulaic, verses and chorus reeling with meaningless phrases and clichà ©. An excellent example of this is the Solidarity Hymn of â€Å"Orgy-porgy† Orgy porgy, Ford and fun, Kiss the girls and make them One. Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release. (BNW 84) This song not only contains little real meaning, a critique that Huxley aims at all popular music, but also contains, as most music in the novel does, strong sexuality.In that same essay on popular music, Huxley is critical of what he calls a â€Å"certain vibrant sexuality† of popular music describing it as â€Å"vulgar,† †Å"savage† and â€Å"barbaric† (Collected Essays 174-175) and maintains that the sexuality and barbarism are pervasive: Whether, having grown inured to such violent and purely physiological stimuli as the clashing and drumming, the rhythmic throbbing and wailing glissandos of modern jazz music can supply, the world will ever revert to something less crudely direct, is a matter about which one cannot prophesy. (175)This description of the clashing drums and glissandos certainly is echoed in the scene wherein Lenina and Henry watch â€Å"Calvin Stopes and His Sixteen Sexaphonists† with the sexaphones (clearly a play on one of staples of jazz music, the saxophone) â€Å"wail[ing] like melodious cats† with moaning tenors and altos â€Å"as though the little death were upon them. † (BNW 76). The implication is that of sex and orgasm in music form: Aldous Huxley’s vision of jazz music taken to the extreme of â€Å"purely physiological. † This critique of mass music is also repeated in a supposed alternative to mass culture, the â€Å"Savage Reservation.†Huxley, at the time of writing the novel, had never been to New Mexico, in spite of the fact that his friend D. H. Lawrence owned a ranch there beginning in 1924. Peter Firchow, in his essay â€Å"Wells and Lawrence in Brave New World† writes that the fact troubled Huxley, but quotes the author as having done â€Å"’an enormous [amount] of reading up on New Mexico’† since he had not yet been there (Firchow 272). Huxley relied on Lawrence’s writings about the Pueblo Indians as well as Smithsonian reports of the place (Firchow 272-273). In spite of of his relative inexperience with historical New Mexican native cultures, Huxley creates a culture for the Pueblo and, in doing so, creates one that is at times incredibly similar to World State.Lenina draws comparison between the drums of the Pueblo religious dancing to the music of the Solidarity Service hymns in the World States â€Å"religion† of Fordism. Lenina liked the drums. Shutting her eyes she abandoned herself to their soft repeated thunder, allowed it to invade her consciousness more and more completely, till at last there was nothing left in the world but that one deep pulse of sound. It reminded her reassuringly of the synthetic noises made at Solidarity Services and Ford’s Day celebrations. â€Å"Orgy-porgy,† she whispered to herself. The drums beat out just the same rhythms (BNW 113). Here we have a sexual response to music as Lenina abandons herself and allows the music to take her, in spite of it coming from a foreign place and culture.The drums here are strikingly reminiscent of the way that Huxley describes the Jazz and popular music of the 1920s. He talks about how popular culture has â€Å"grown inured to such violent and purely physiological stimuli as the clashing and drumming† and this he attributes to the influ ence of â€Å"barbarous people† (Collected Essays 175). By supplying the Indians and the mass culture of the world state with similar music, music that Huxley himself finds void of real emotion, he is equating the two cultures intellectually. The Reservation within Huxley’s novel becomes a mirror to the World State culture, an echo of Huxley’s fear of growing barbarism in popular culture. There are some points of contrast between the two.For instance, materials in the reservation are made by the individuals and are valued enough to be repaired rather than replaced as is the expectation in the World State when, say, an article of clothing becomes worn out. There is a passage on labor wherein John is working clay and through this action he becomes â€Å"filled with an intense, absorbing happiness† (BNW 134). However, these differences are superficial. There is still a value placed on productivity just as in the World State.John is made happier and feels mor e a part of his culture when he is allowed to work the clay. Just as the World State has the Community sings to promote â€Å"Community, Identity and Stability†, religion of the pueblo serves a function for productivity. John explains the whippings that Lenina and Bernard witness as being â€Å"For the sake of the pueblo – to make rain come and corn grow.†Adherence to religion provides Stability and Community for the Indians. To further the comparison between the Savage culture and the World State, Huxley gives the Indians their own drug, mescal, to help cope with life just as soma does the job for the World State citizens. Similarly, John’s position within, or rather without, the Pueblo society is similar to Bernard’s position within the World State culture. Both are outcasts for their appearances and therefore both seem more alone than the others; â€Å"If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely. They’re beastly to oneâ₠¬  (137). This mentality mirrors the values of Community and Identity contained within the World State’s motto.Identify as an individual and you are hurting the community; â€Å"when the individual feels, the community reels† is what Lenina recites, which is most likely some hypnopaedic verse (94). These characteristics, exemplified most clearly by the music of the two cultures, show that the reservation society is not a true alternative to the degradation of culture prevalent in the World State; it is just many of the same processes in a different form and to a different extent. A second form of mass culture within the World State is the â€Å"feelies. † Laura asserts that â€Å"[t]he ‘feelies’, a cinema of titillating, pansensual stimulation, are clearly a response to the ‘talkies,’† and that Huxley is extending the inclusion of sound in film to the rest of the senses (Frost 447).Huxley’s reaction to the â€Å"talkies, † specifically to the first â€Å"talkie† The Jazz Singer, expressed in an essay titled â€Å"Silence is Golden† is, as Frost points out, one of â€Å"scorn and fury† (Frost 443). He is absolutely disgusted by the film as he writes: Oh, those mammy-songs, those love-longings, those loud hilarities! How was it possible that human emotions intrinsically decent could be so ignobly parodied? I felt like a man who, having asked for wine, is offered a brimming bowl of hog wash. And not even fresh hog wash. Rancid hog wash, decaying hog wash. (â€Å"Silence is Golden† 21) He sees in film the same degeneration of human emotion and integrity that he sees in popular music.That the first â€Å"talkie† he saw was about a singer of popular music only solidified his dislike and in the end he feels â€Å"ashamed for [himself] for listening to such things, for even being a member of the species to which these things are addressed† (â€Å"Silence is G olden 23). The feelies in Brave New World are described in similar fashion as Huxley’s description of The Jazz Singer. The film that John and Lenina see, â€Å"Three Weeks in a Helicopter,† is described as having an â€Å"extremely simple† plot, with the real focus placed on the effects of the movie, as with the â€Å"famous bearskin†¦ every hair of which could be separately and distinctly felt† (168).The images and effects come off as â€Å"more solid-looking than they would have seemed in actual flesh and blood, far more real than reality† just as Huxley, whose vision had worsened following an eye infection during his teenage years, described the images in the â€Å"talkie† A beneficent providence has dimmed my powers of sight, so that, at a distance of more than four or five yards, I am blissfully unaware of the average human countenance. At the cinema, however, there is no escape†¦ Nothing short of total blindness can preserve one from the spectacle. The jazzers were forced on me; I regarded them with fascinated horror. (â€Å"Silence is Golden† 21) â€Å"More solid-looking† than real life is exactly the reaction Huxley had to seeing the film, since the real world was not that solid to him because of his impaired vision.Frost accepts that Huxley is at least â€Å"half feigning† his reactions to the films (Frost 443) but she points to a moment in Huxley’s â€Å"Silence is Golden† when he condemns film as â€Å"the latest and most frightful creation-saving device for the production of standardized amusement† (â€Å"Silence† 20). The standardization of amusement is what frightens Huxley, be it in music or film or in literature. In his fictionalized culture, these devices for amusement standardization are taken to the extremes. They are â€Å"more than human,† more real than reality at the same time that they are void of substance. The subject of substan ce within art is brought to the foreground in the conversation between John and Mustafa Mond in the later parts of Brave New World. The Controller argues, â€Å"You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art,† and he concludes â€Å"We’ve sacrificed the high arts.We have the feelies and the scent organ instead† (BNW 220). There is a hierarchy wherein pleasure replaces the need for aesthetics. John responds by stating that the â€Å"feelies† and the other elements of mass culture in the World State do not mean anything. Mond then replies that these things â€Å"mean a lot of agreeable sensations to the audience† (221). The feelies are horrifying to John because the end result is not knowledge of the human condition, but rather pleasure seeking. And in the world of hyper-pleasure, it is difficult to find anything on which to base meaningful art. That is the problem Helmholtz Watson struggles with: â€Å"writing w hen there’s nothing to say† (221).In an essay from 1923, Huxley writes â€Å"The poetry of pure sensation, of sounds and bright colors, is common enough nowadays; but amusing as we may find it for the moment, it cannot hold the interest for long† (Collected Essays 93). One can easily draw comparison to the â€Å"feelies† and the music of the World State here as something that amuses but that fails to, as John or even Mustafa Mond might say, mean anything beyond itself. The inclusion of Helmholtz Watson brings up another issue of mass culture, namely the place, if there is one, for the intellectual or the artist within mass culture.Towards the end of the novel, Bernard and Helmholtz are to be sent to an island. Mustafa Mond speaks of Bernard’s fate He’s being sent to an island. That’s to say, he’s being sent to a place where he’ll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere in the world.All the peop le who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life. All the people who aren’t satisfied with orthodoxy, who’ve got independent ideas of their own. Every one, in a word, who’s any one (BNW 227). This is a clear separation between the intellectual free-thinkers and the mass population. As Mond points out, there is no room in the World State for individuality and the search for truth and meaning since â€Å"truth’s a menace. † He concludes by adding that Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t (228).In the movement towards mass culture, artists and intellectuals, like the aspiring poet Helmholtz Watson, and individualists have no place. In a 1929 essay Huxley raises this question of the possibility for the individual in a mechanized state Is it possible for a human being to be both a man and a citizen of a mechanized state? Is it possible to combine the material advantages which accrue to those living in a mechanized world with the psychological advantages enjoyed by those who live in pre-mechanical surroundings? Such are the questions which future politicians will have to ask and effectively answer in terms of laws and regulations. What sort of answers will they give? Who knows? Not I at any rate.I am even a little doubtful whether the questions are answerable (â€Å"Machinery, Psychology, and Politics† 221). Huxley sees the war between individual and the industrialized state but provides no solutions to this issue and even has doubts whether the issue will ever be resolved. In his novel he has the rulers simply separate those that become too individualistic from the mass-minded because they are dangerous to the sedated, pleasure-driven masses. Furthermore, Huxley fears that through mass educ ation, those intellectuals might be eliminated. In a 1927 essay titled â€Å"Education† Huxley writes on the defects of Mass education Under the present system of mass education by classes too much stress is laid on the teaching and too little on active learning.The child is not encouraged to discover things on his own account. He learns to rely on outside help, not on his own powers, thus losing intellectual independence and all the capacity to judge for himself. The over-taught child is the father of newspaper-reading, advertisement-believing, propaganda-swallowing, demagogue-led man†¦ (â€Å"Education† 205-206) This analysis of mass education makes the learner dependent upon the system, which Huxley sees as fueling advertising and propaganda. Huxley wrote in 1929 on the effects of mass education on society We have had universal education for about fifty years; the supply of [Isaac] Newtons, however, has not perceptibly increased.Everybody, it is true, can now r ead – with the result that newspapers of an unbelievable stupidity and baseness have circulations of millions. Everybody can read – so it pays rich men to print lies wholesale. Everybody can read so men make fortunes by inventing specious reasons why people should buy things they don’t really want (â€Å"The New Salvation† 212-213). Huxley’s view on mass education is that it does not better society. No more geniuses are to be found in a wholly educated society as in a partially educated one. The effect in his mind is that capitalists have more means through which they can influence people into desiring and buying the goods they produce.His obvious prejudices and elitism aside, the note about separate newspapers that target certain intellectual class levels of society is reflected in the various periodicals aimed at the classes of the World State like The Delta Mirror or The Gamma Gazette. The process is taken one step further in Brave New World by having the education system emphasize the value of consumption of goods, rather than that consumption value being pushed by the writers of the newspapers as Huxley wrote about in 1929. Consumerism is more standardized. Education is not the only means of control of the masses employed to maintain production, the population itself is in the management of the state.The populous is bred systematically in a process much like that of a Fordian assembly line: using bottles and genetic manipulation instead of the natural process of human reproduction. With the bottling, the creation of the sterile â€Å"free-martins† and the rigid implementation of contraceptives like the â€Å"Malthusian belts,† the population of the world is entirely in control of the industrialized state. This culture also employs scientific methods such as â€Å"Bokanovsky’s Process† and Pavlovian conditioning to carefully craft a society of rigid castes. The function of education is to teach the members of those castes their respective roles and the roles of others and the necessity of these roles in the greater context.This process of industrialized reproduction makes raising and educating citizens much easier for the World State since they can begin that conditioning during the embryonic stage of production. Additionally, the levels of society, the castes alpha through gamma, can be predetermined and separated strictly. Education is begun at the fetal level, thanks to hypnopaedia, saving time. Since reproduction is standardized and contained wholly within a factory, the leaders of the mechanized society do not have to wait until a semblance of character starts to show in people to condition them towards a certain way of life; the genetics do that for them. This process reflects Huxley’s views of the potential of science from his 1930 predictive essay â€Å"Babies – State Property.†He writes Psychologists having shown the enormous importance in ev ery human existence of the first years of childhood, the state will obviously try to get hold of its victims as soon as possible. The process of standardization will begin at the very moment of birth – that is to say, if it does not begin before birth! (231). He goes on to predict that this process of standardization at or before birth will be destructive to the family. But, unlike in his novel, he predicts that the family â€Å"will emerge again when the danger is past† (231). This careful selection of genetic material is the idea of eugenics, a term that is hard to separate from the fascists of the 1930s and 1940s, especially the National Socialists in Germany. Prior to that period though, Huxley often expounded on the ideas of eugenics.In a 1927 essay called â€Å"A Note on Eugenics† Huxley expresses a common fear of the time period that scientific and technological processes were preserving â€Å"physically and mentally defective individuals† and that the quality of human reproduction was diminishing (â€Å"A Note on Eugenics† 281) In her essay â€Å"Designing a Brave New World: Eugenics, Politics and Fiction,† Joanne Woiak addresses this subject by writing â€Å"[Huxley’s] ongoing support for so-called race betterment was typical of left-leaning British intellectuals in the inter-war period† (Woiak 106).Huxley’s own feelings on the subject seem mixed. Also in 1927, Huxley wrote an essay dealing with the subject of equality and democracy We no longer believe in equality and perfectibility. We know that nurture cannot alter nature and that no amount of education or good government will make men completely virtuous and reasonable, or abolish their animal instincts. In the Future that we envisage, eugenics will be practiced in order to improve the human breed and the instincts will not be ruthlessly repressed but, as far as possible, sublimated so as to express themselves in socially harmless ways (â€Å"The Future of the Past† 93).He continues to predict that education will not be the same for everyone and that this education system will teach â€Å"the members of the lower castes only that which is profitable for the members of the upper castes that they should know† (93). Huxley is arguing that the nineteenth-century ideals of democracy and universal equality are not a reality and predicts a future of selective reproduction and a defined caste system based on genetic stock. Brave New World certainly reflects this prediction; eugenics policies have been implemented but there are certainly instinctual processes, like violent passions, that have to be expressed in â€Å"socially harmless ways† – the Violent Passion Surrogates.But that sort of hope-filled view of the possible benefits of eugenics is not wholly what is at work in Huxley’s Brave New World. In that 1927 prediction, the intellectuals control the selective processes for determini ng the caste system. However, in 1932, the year of Brave New World’s publication, Huxley returns to the issue of eugenics by writing that â€Å"The humanist would see in eugenics an instrument for giving to an ever-widening circle of men and women those heritable qualities of mind and body which are, by his highest standards, the most desirable† (â€Å"Science and Civilization† 153). This is in line with his earlier views on the possible benefits of eugenics.But Huxley acknowledges that it might not be the humanist that is in charge of the process. But what of the economist-ruler? Would he necessarily be anxious to improve the race? By no means necessarily. He might actually wish to deteriorate it. His ideal, we must remember, is not the perfect all-around human being, but the perfect mass-producer and mass-consumer. Now perfect human beings probably make very bad mass-producers. It is quite in the cards that industrialists will find, as machinery is made more f oolproof, that the great majority of jobs can be better performed by stupid people than by intelligent ones (154). This is the society of Brave New World.As Mustafa Mond puts it, â€Å"The optimum population†¦ is modelled [sic] on the iceberg – eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above† (BNW 223). The population, as mentioned earlier, is conditioned to consume and to produce, and the eugenics policy helps create the society can perform the necessary tasks. Taken that way, the novel seems to be a satire and condemnation not of eugenics, but of eugenics run by the industrialist to create masses of dumber humans to buy and consume stuff. This then returns the mind to Huxley’s 1927 prediction of eugenics and those instincts that have to be expressed in â€Å"socially harmless ways† (â€Å"The Future of the Past† 93).Realizing the necessity for emotion, they employ â€Å"Violent Passion Surrogates† to â€Å"flood the whole system w ith adrenin† in order to satisfy what Mustapha Mond calls â€Å"one of the conditions of perfect health† (Brave New World 239). In short they are simulating the dangers of life in a safe and systematic way. Freedom of sex covers the sexual instincts and has the benefit also of providing pleasure during free-time. One of the greatest forces of keeping the workers producing is through the drug soma. â€Å"The perfect drug†¦ Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant†¦ All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of the defects† (BNW 53-54). Soma is the release and the reward for the obedient mechanized worker of the world state.Combined with the â€Å"feelies† and all the other aspects of mass culture in the World State, soma helps keep the society in order by keeping the workers pleased. â€Å"Industrial civilization,† as Mustafa Mond puts it, â€Å"is only possible when there’s no self-denial. Self indulgence up to the very limits of imposed hygiene and economics. Otherwise the wheels stop turning. † (BNW 237). As with eugenics, Huxley’s writings on drug use varied, especially following the Second World War with his explorations into psychedelic drugs in The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. But even around the time of Brave New World’s publication he often was writing on drug use.In 1931 he addressed the issue of drug as an escape in a brief essay titled â€Å"Treatise on Drugs† Everywhere and at all times, men and women have sought, and duly found, the means of taking a holiday from the reality of their dull and often acutely unpleasant existence. A holiday out of space, out of time, in the eternity of sleep or ecstasy (â€Å"A Treatise on Drugs† 304). For Huxley, drug use seems inevitable. This holiday is certainly mirrored in Brave New World. â€Å"The cause of drunkenness and drug-taking is to be found in the general dissatisfaction with reality,† h e writes in a 1932 essay titled â€Å"Poppy Juice,† an essay talking about the effects of drug policing. But Huxley continues by including the sort of people that might not be dissatisfied with life and the possibility of drug use among them.Alcohol and drugs offer means of escape from the prison of the world and the personality. Better and securer conditions of life, better health, better upbringing, resulting in more harmoniously balanced character, would do much to make reality seem generally tolerable and even delightful. But it may be doubted whether, even in Utopia, reality would be universally satisfying all the time. Even in Utopia people would pine for an occasional escape, if only from the radiant monotony of happiness (â€Å"Poppy juice† 317). This idea of people using drugs to escape monotonous Utopia seems one of the probable reasons for soma’s pervasiveness in the World State.The hypnopaedic chorus â€Å"A gramme is better than a damn† refle cts those moments when reality might not wholly satisfy; rather than cursing the situation, just take soma to escape on holiday. But escapism is not the only use of soma. Or rather, the effect of escapism soma has is not just beneficial for the individual. John Hickman, in his essay â€Å"When Science Fiction Writers Used Fictional Drugs: Rise and Fall of the Twentieth-Century Drug Dystopia,† writes that â€Å"[The] use of the recreational drug soma is one of several aspects of dehumanization made possible by the scientific expertise wielded by amoral elites† (Hickman 144). Whether or not the industrialists of Brave New World are â€Å"amoral† is beyond the scope of this essay.Nonetheless, Hickman’s point about the dehumanizing effects of soma remains true. The drug is used by the World State to keep the masses in check. One of the hypnopaedic lessons Lenina recites is â€Å"Was and will make me ill†¦ I take a gramme and only am† (BNW 104). Th e sentiment here is that thinking of past occurrences or having ambitions or fear does not help, and that soma can help keep you in the present. There is no need for rebellion or trying to better one’s position if soma can take the individual out of the negative moments. The lack of downside and the steady stream of governmental supply of soma ensure that the citizens are kept in a pleasure-filled world so that they might continue to produce and consume more.Hickman concludes, based on those later novels by Huxley and on the comparison with the mescal used in Pueblo society, that Huxley is not against drug use â€Å"as a more direct route to spiritual development, but was instead opposed to recreational drug taking that would render a population docile† (Hickman 145). In the 1931 â€Å"Treatise on Drugs†, Huxley was dreaming of a super soma-like drug when writing about the history of drugs and how all of the drugs present in the world are â€Å"treacherous and harmful†: The way to prevent people from drinking too much alcohol, or to becoming addicts to morphia or cocaine, is to give them an efficient but wholesome substitute for these delicious and (in the present imperfect world) necessary poisons†¦ The man who invents such a substance will be counted among the greatest benefactors of suffering humanity (â€Å"Treatise on Drugs† 304-305).Huxley’s perfect drug was achieved in the fictional soma. But as was the case with eugenics policies, this too fell into the hands of the industrialists who used it to benefit the mechanized society by keeping the mass culture satiated with pleasure and escapist trappings. The drug, as Hickman points out, is used to keep the masses producing and consuming, just as all other aspects of the culture had those goals in mind. Brave New World is a vision of a future that is based on Huxley’s reactions and interpretations of the 1920s. His strong favoring of an intellectual cultu re over a mass-produced comfort driven culture is abundantly made clear in the novel.In a different 1931 essay titled â€Å"To The Puritan,† Huxley pushes the idea that Fordism as a philosophy could prove destructive to humanity if pursued fully. There is no place in the factory, or in that larger factory which is the modern industrialized world, for animals on the one hand, or for artists, mystics, or even, finally, individuals on the other. Of all the ascetic religions Fordism is that which demands the cruellest [sic] mutilations of the human psyche – demands the cruellest [sic] mutilations and offers the smallest spiritual returns. Rigorously practiced for a few generations, this dreadful religion of the machine will end by destroying the human race (â€Å"To the Puritan† 238-239).

A Synopis of The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe's short story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† takes place in the protagonist's house. It is told through a first-person narration given by the protagonist.It is unclear where the protagonist is or who the person being spoken to at the beginning of the story is. The protagonist's sex isn't specified but for ease of discussion â€Å"he† will be used to refer to the same.There were only two occupants of the house wherein the story unfolds: the protagonist and an old man. The relationship between them is not clearly established but it is clear that the protagonist is irked by the old man.The latter's most distinctive characteristic is his blue vulture-like eye.   There are few other characters introduced in the story: a neighbor who calls the police complaining of noises from within the house and policemen who investigate the said complaint.The story is moved by the protagonist's obsessive desire to murder the old man because of his frustration with the old man 's eye. He attempts to commit the deed several times but is disappointed. On the eighth attempt he enters the old man's room again and this time the   latter awakens and sits up. The light from the protagonist's lamp hits the blue eye.He imagines that he hears the old man's heart beating louder and smothers the old man to death. He chops the body to pieces and buries the pieces under the floorboards to hide his crime.However, when the policemen come to investigate the scream heard by the neighbor he imagines that he still hears the beating heart from underneath the floorboards.Fearing that the policemen hear the beating as well, he confesses to his crime and begs them to unfasten the boards and dig up the body.Works CitedPoe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Illustrated Stories and Poems. UK: Bounty Books, 1994.

Company fitness program and its benefits.Proposal Essay

Company fitness program and its benefits.Proposal - Essay Example The Company also intends to establish on-site fitness center so that employees could become physically and mentally strong and hence their productivity could be increased (Ichihashi, Muto, and Shibuya, 2007). Therefore, this proposal will highlight the key benefits of on-site fitness center and will also identify the requirements, costs, and time for establishing on-site fitness center. The main objective of on-site fitness center is to reduce health care expenditure of employer. It has been noticed that company spends millions of dollars every year for employee’s health issues. Moreover, employee’s absenteeism and turnover rate have also been the serious problem for productivity and profitability of company. It has been estimated that employee’s health care cost and absenteeism rate would decline. Hence the end-result for the company would be higher productivity and profitability. Many studies have also been conducted to determine the benefits of company fitness programs. ... They are facing stress and other physical problems due to improper diet and lack of physical activities. Today every employee wants to be fit and healthy person not only because of health concerns but also for looking slim and smart. Therefore, company health and fitness programs have now become the necessity of time in order to maintain the balanced and healthy life of employees (Goetzel and Ozminkowski, 2008). Many of the organizations have realized this issue and have started health and fitness programs for their employees. These organizations noted that health and fitness programs lead to improve employees’ performance. They become very active in their jobs and feel happy during their work. The report prepared by the US department of Disease Prevention and Health promotion in 1993 claimed that on-site health fitness programs is the major contribution in improving health of many American employees (Goetzel and Ozminkowski, 2008). There are many other organizations which are facing problems regarding increasing health issues of employees. The cost of spending in worker’s health is increasing due to increasing ratio of health problems in employees. In America, more than one third of the total annual medical bill was paid by employers and the average medical premium for single coverage was $3615 a year in 2006 (Goetzel and Ozminkowski, 2008). Organizations are also worried for increasing employee’s absenteeism and turnover ratio due to health related issues in them (Ichihashi, Muto, and Shibuya, 2007). Therefore, the idea of on-site fitness centers will be beneficial for both the employees and the employer. The fitness

Media writing - Feature Story (media newspaper or magazine) Essay

Media writing - Feature Story (media newspaper or magazine) - Essay Example Modernising the dating domain as we recognise it, these Internet sanctuaries are reconstructing the boundaries of love and the search of love, from all over the world. â€Å"We’re trying to reach the whole world—people of all spiritual orientations, all political philosophies, all racial background,† (Kornblum 2005: para 10) declares Neil Clark Warren, originator of one of the largest on-line dating sites in the world, eHarmony.com. So how does on-line dating works? She met him on the Internet, his screen name was Gizzy. He only knew her by his first name, Sarah. They have not met each other personally. But they immediately knew that they are destined for each other, merely by communicating through the Internet. â€Å"We always have a lively conversation and I miss it every time,† reveals Michael Thompson, 43, a retail store manager who met his soul mate through an on-line chat room. â€Å"I always feel that she is very close to me every time we chat. When I heard her voice for the first time I promised to myself that I will do everything to make her mine.† Seattle supermall saleslady Sarah Martin spent the whole night chatting on-line, from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. They then decided to call each other on their mobile phones. The couple talked throughout the rest of the next morning exchanging funny and embarrassing stories about each other. Sarah decided to give her address to Michael, and the latter was in Sarah’s doorstep the next day. One month later, the couple got married. â€Å"I enjoyed talking to him on the phone, and I really loved his humour,† says Sarah, a 35-year-old who works as a saleslady for a supermall in Seattle. â€Å"It’s funny but we started talking about our future together. Then he asked me if I am ready to settle down. I said ‘Of course, why not!’ Then we finally got married after a month. It was a very solemn wedding†. While it is seldom for a man and a woman who have not met each other face-to-face, and who are not aware of each

WWII Uboat campaign Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

WWII Uboat campaign - Term Paper Example German boats were equipped with 5 torpedoes and one main gun (Russell 122). U- Boats were mainly constructed for intelligence gathering of enemy movement and for launching special operations. German war planners very efficiently used U-boats to threaten and ultimately target the royal and merchant navy. U-boats sunk Royal navy and merchant ships sunk in huge numbers in different occasions. Restrictions of â€Å"treaty of Versailles† could not compel German navy to do away with submarine tactics during the Second World War (Gannon 47). Besides sinking battleships, boats also sunk an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic waters. U-boats almost compelled Britain war planners to consider surrender in the war. After the completion of German campaign in Western Europe, Hitler’s navy employed all the u-boats in Atlantic for patrolling the waters. This posed great threat to British merchant fleet as very less escort was available to guard the ships against German u-boat attacks. Sub marines had already proved the metal in the First World War but after passing about 20 years the U-boat tactics played havoc in Atlantic waters (Russell 119). U-boats played an important part in world war two, Winston Churchill claimed that U-boat war in Atlantic was so impressive and result oriented that Britain was forced to consider surrender during the Second World War.... German navy decided to target merchant fleets to threaten trade in the Atlantic. Merchant fleets used to travel with inadequate fleet so vulnerability to German attacks was already increased. It was almost impossible for Britain to provide complete protection and aerial cover to fleets throughout their Atlantic route. German navy started analyzing the points on the sea route where these fleets were coverless and no aerial or naval support available to merchant ships (Showell 71). Mid Atlantic was one of the lucrative options for attacking these fleets. The royal Britain navy was already over tasked in different regions of the world. Royal navy was facing challenging situation in accomplishment of the tasks in Atlantic, Far East and the Mediterranean. Therefore, the royal navy was already overstretched in the war. Such huge tasks of royal navy demanded careful planning and use of intelligence and tactics from naval and army commanders (Russell 132). Royal navy was greatly assisted by the French navy in defending the Mediterranean. Germany had 56 boats out of which only 46 were operational at the start of the war. According to the understanding of the famous â€Å"treaty of Versailles† Germany was not allowed to maintain any submarine as part of its naval fleet (Stern 58). Therefore, Germany took other measures by sending the troops abroad for submarine training. The treaty posed no restrictions on training the troops for anti submarine tasks. U-boat commanders were told to target merchant ships in Atlantic to break the backbone of British trade. In august 39, seventeen U-boats were sent to Atlantic Ocean with the mission of patrolling and laying mines (Showell 72). At the start of the battle, u-30 attacked and sunk liner â€Å"thania† casting 112 life causalities

Relationship with Boss Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Relationship with Boss - Essay Example The traditional concept was top-down approach and there was no question of managing the relationship with the boss. However, in the modern context, the concept has changed and the both-way approach has begun to prevail within the various organizations. In present times, the subordinates are required to develop certain traits through which their relationship with the boss can be managed effectively. According to Geisler (2011), knowledge about the working habits of the boss is essential for the subordinates in order to manage the relationship. It has also been observed that the subordinates should communicate with the boss in the way which is liked by the latter. The values of the boss are required to be recognized by the subordinate and he or she should try to align the boss’s values with his or her own. The structure of this paper will be focused upon the various approaches mentioned by the writers of the two articles. In this section of the research paper, the understanding of the subordinate or the manager of the retail chain (about herself) will be discussed. The manager should be specific about the fact that in her relationship with the boss, she is holding one part, the other part being the boss. Hence, for making the relationship effective, the manager should understand her own necessities along with strengths and weaknesses and personal style. Although it is not possible to change the nature of any person and so do the boss and the subordinate, the manager should strive for recognizing her personal traits that are hindering the growth of an effective relationship with the boss. The manager should then try out ways through which her discrepancies can be eradicated and the relationship can be made worthy.

What were the most important consequences of the Industrial Revolution Essay

What were the most important consequences of the Industrial Revolution for world history - Essay Example Traditionally, all family members relied on the head of the family for the provision of the dairy basic needs, and they all used to collectively assist him achieve this objective. The revolution led to the heads of family shifting and migrating away from home in search of employment to sustain their families. Their departure thrust women who were traditionally raised to be submissive to the males as heads of their households when their male counter parts were away. If problems persisted, these families could shift to nearby cities in search of employment in the emerging factories for sustenance. The widespread migration to cities2 made the towns overcrowded causing innumerable problems common even today due to high population growth rates and development of social vices. Lack of accommodation led to the establishment of slums characterized by poor infrastructures, lack of basic amenities like water and sewerage systems and this contributed to the emergence of various contagious disea ses often leading to catastrophic epidemics. The high number of labor supply led to low wages and high unemployment rates increasing the problems these migrants were facing. This is despite the industries requiring large workforces from the country sides3. The standards of morality depreciated rapidly with women and girls prostituting themselves for food. Women and children also copied vices such as drug and alcohol abuse from men and crime rates soared as people tried to survive. The new challenges facing the family and the social life made changes in the gendering roles of both men and women as women tried to fill their new roles. Women were increasingly given more authority and autonomy in making key family decisions in the absence of the patriarchal men, a trend being promoted even today. They were further employed in the emerging factories, and they had to learn new skills just like men to be able to fit in their work

Politicians Justify Spending on the London Olympic Games as Being Good Essay

Politicians Justify Spending on the London Olympic Games as Being Good for the Economy - Essay Example With the onset of the games, government officials are declaring that the games would be good for the economy and justify spending because of the benefits which the games can bring to the city and the country in general. This paper shall explain the various justifications being made for the spending on the London Olympic Games. Body In general, the Olympic Games is a major sports event which has a significant scale and can potentially bring about economic developments for the host city or for the host country as a whole. The games usually unfolds for a few weeks only however, the preparations for the games usually takes place months, even years before the event and would require considerable investments from the government and the private sector. Its impact on the economy soon after the games can also be significant and sustainable for years after the event (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2004). This potential can also be seen with the London Olympics. The exact economic impact of the Olymp ic Games to the host country or city is spread out over years and is seen in three stages – before, during, and after the games. ... During the games, economic activities within the city would also increase through the tourists and through the athletes attending the games. Finally, after the games, the Olympic legacy potentially would keep drawing in more tourists and investors because of the infrastructures and the other attraction which the city can now offer (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2004). Tourism is one of the major benefits of the Olympics, one which can be seen before, during, and after the games. The Olympics provide a special avenue which draws local and foreign tourists to the city. Visitors who are involved in the games, including the athletes, coaches, and other team officials, as well as the spectators, media, and sponsors are to be accommodated within the city (Booth, 2009). The promotion of the games would also draw in the tourists due to the media exposure and enhanced international reputation. The visitors would start to trickle in within a few months from the games and would swell to bigger numbe rs during the games. Therefore, the Olympics can sustain the city’s economy for several years after the Games (London Development Agency, 2008). Tourists can increase demands on the regional and local economy with visitors spending money on food, accommodations, transportation, and tickets for the Games. The revenues from the media broadcast and sponsors will also accrue to the city; and the IOC would generally profit from these revenues (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2004). Secondary effects would also be seen with money being spent within the host country. This is known as the multiplier effect where additional activities and employment opportunities related to the games are made

The Statue of Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Statue of Liberty - Essay Example It is believed that this goddess represents freedom and in one hand, bears a torch as well as an ansata tabula (which involves a tablet that evokes law). It is on this tablet that the date illustrating the day of declaration of America’s independence is inscribed (Landau 34). At the feet of the statue lies a piece of a broken chain. The significance of this statue is its iconic representation of freedom in the United States; this is actually actual representation of welcome signal to the immigrants that come from other countries. It is believed that the politician and law professor Laboulaye Édouard declared in 1865 that any statue or monument representing the American freedom would have to be a joint project between the Americana and French people, motivated the sculptor of this statue in his design. The sculpture is said to have wanted to honor the union victories in the United States as well as the success that had been achieved in ending slavery and brutality against that immigrants and non-natives in the United States. The foundation in the making of this statue was supposed to be laid in the Fort Wood, which was an army base that has been disused on Bedloe’s Island, and had been constructed between 1807-1811 (Kent 14). During that time, this station was often used in the recruitment of people to join the civil war. The process of fortifying the structure of the structure was done to represent the shape of star that has seven points. The pedestal and foundation of the statue were aligned in a way that it was to face the southeast direction. In this case, it was meant to greet ships that would be entering into the harbor especially from the Atlantic (Landau 35). The process of making the statue took a long process and much thinking into its design and final shape. It is said that the committee in charge of making the statues commissioned Richard Hunt to oversee and help in the design of the statue’s

The Nursing Home Administrator Essay Example for Free

The Nursing Home Administrator Essay The Nursing Home Administrator is the head of operations at a nursing home. The position requires licensure to practice in a state. Individual states have different requirements for licensure but generally people have proof of adequate education, experience, experience of guidance under preceptor. The licensure examination requirements covers basic topics of nursing home administration with Master’s degree or Gerontology. The Administrator manages personnel, processing of admissions, manages finances, and overseeing day to (1). There are moral, educational, and work experience requirements to meet prior to meeting with Board of Examiners of nursing home administrators. The moral character and suitability for licensure is a reflection of the ability for the individual needed to fulfill the responsibilities of nursing home administrator, competency, and ethical values. The educational requirements include a Baccalaureate or higher level of education including supplemental educational credits in education for long-term care, health care, gerontology, and personnel management from an accredited educational program. The selected educational course is to be completed with acceptable grades from an accredited institution. The selected courses are to be completed within a certain period of time to be eligible to take Nursing Home Administrator licensure exam. To meet requirements coursework, a 300 level class or higher, predominantly rich with inpatient, health care, and nursing home as Master’s degree in Health Care Administrator, Health Facility Administrator requiring certain number of hours of field experience or work experience as full-time Administrator of Record in a certain period of time prior to licensure. The work experience requirements include completing a 12 months approved internship. The full-time experience must include predominantly supervisory role for resident care, be a financially compensated position, and completed in a certain period of time. There are alternatives to the credit hours courses in nursing home administration are two or more years within five years as Administration of Record of nursing facility, have a current five years American College of Health Care Administration certification (2). The licensure exam requirements for Nursing Home Administration are completion of the former requirements, a passing score on the exam approved by the Board. The role of a nursing home administrator encompasses a broad spectrum of responsibilities. People skills and effectively communicating, on various levels, delegating tasks, overseeing residents with the quality of life and social programs available, and being able to multitask can be a rewarding position.

Opposition to The New Deal Essay Example for Free

Opposition to The New Deal Essay The New Deal, its many Administrations and their policies were making major changes to American Industry and society. As a result of this, some people were quite unhappy and attempted to stall The New Deal. As time went on, FDRs gained more and more power over the reformation of the American economy and businesses. People feared the amount of power FDR had and started questioning his intent. What really caused people to question Franklin D. Roosevelt was his attempt to fix the Supreme Court. As the nine judges making up the court were mainly old and conservative, FDR believed they were too opinionated and too eager use their authority without considering the consequences. Therefore he decided it wise to request he appoint up to six new, open-minded judges. Some people saw this as FRD attempting to tamper with the constitution in order to give himself more power, and it scared them. It was mainly because of this reason that FDRs request was turned down, but the judges certainly seemed to have got the point and from then on were a lot more careful. Republicans certainly disliked The New Deal and found it dangerous. Leading Republican, Frank Knox, summed up Republican views on The New Deal by saying The New Deal candidate has been leading us toward Moscow. By this he meant that with Roosevelts increasing powers and his guidance and control over industry it seemed that he was slowly but surely verging towards communism. They also disliked Roosevelts industrial laws because they took power of the owners and benefited the workers with policies such as trade unions and social security. Some extreme opposition came from a self-educated man with a degree in law after only 8 months he was a shameless politician with no morals and he fought dirty. In order to get where he was he had fixed ballots by placing his own men at available posts in the state government, he had used blackmail and bribery to get votes. Sometimes opponents were as much as kidnapped on Longs orders. Huey Long became US senate in 1930 and claimed that if he were to become president he would adopt the policy of confiscating any personal fortunes of over 3 million U.S dollars and giving $5000 to each and every less wealthy family. Long did not at any point explain how he would do this, but the idea of much needed money being given to them for nothing was jumped at by the poorer families, and Long gained a lot of support. Fortunately for FDR, Longs career ended due to assassination before he was able to challenge him. So with certain aspects of luck, and a well-conducted New Deal, FRD managed to rescue America from its depression without any great hitches. There were careless flaws such as the move Roosevelt made trying to fix the SC without considering the consequences, but in the end all went to plan and opposition was only opposition, and not a threat to the New Deal.

Functional Structure Of Skeletal Muscle

Functional Structure Of Skeletal Muscle Muscle makes up the largest group of tissues within the body, roughly half the bodys weight (Sherwood). Skeletal muscle is attached to the bones of the skeleton and through its highly developed ability contract, produces movement at joints. A controlled contraction of the muscle enables purposeful movements of the body and manipulation of objects (Sherwood). First it is important to understand the structure of the muscle and how it functions. We will then discuss the factors that control normal growth and repair in the muscle, and lastly explore how muscle atrophy results from not using a muscle. Basic structure A skeletal muscle is made up of muscle and connective tissues, which both play a role in the contracting and function of the muscle. A single cell of a skeletal muscle is called a muscle fiber, the muscle is made up of groups /bundles of these muscle fibers bound together by fibrous connective tissue, and each bundle is called a fasciculus (muscles nerves movement). Another layer of connective tissue binds the fascicule together and the whole muscle is surrounded by an outer layer of connective tissue. (M Muscle fibers Muscle fibers are long and cylindrical in shape, usually extending the whole length of a muscle. They contain multiple nuclei, which come from the fusion of smaller cells during development and formation (ezeilo and Sherwood). These nuclei lie beneath a cell membrane called the sacrolemma (ezeilo). The cytoplasm, which is known as sarcoplasm, is filled with numerous bundles of contractile proteins called myofibrils. The myofibrils contain many mitochondria, energy generating cells (ezeilo and Sherwood). Each myofibril consists of two types of myofilaments namely, the thick filaments (containing the protein myosin) and the thin filaments (containing predominantly the protein actin, but also tropinin and tropomyosin). Summary of the levels of organization in a skeletal muscle (Sherwood) Whole muscle muscle fiber myofibril thick and thin filaments myosin and actin A and I bands When viewed under a light microscope, a myofibril shows dark (the A bands) and light (the I bands) bands alternating along its length. All the bands lie parallel to each other and together lead to the muscle fibers striated appearance (ezeilo Sherwood). The thick and thin filaments are stacked in an alternating pattern which slightly overlaps each other, and this arrangement is responsible for the A and I bands (Sherwood). An A band is made up of thick filaments and the sections of thin filament that overlap on both ends of the thick filaments. The thick filaments cover the width of the A band and are only found there. There is a lighter section in the centre of the A band, where there are no thin filaments, which is called the H zone. The middle portions of the thick filaments are found in this area and a network of supporting proteins holds the thick filaments together vertically. The supporting proteins are form the M line which is found in the centre of the A band within the middle of the H zone (Sherwood). An I band consists of the section of thin filament that does not enter the A band, this means that an I band contains only thin filaments, but not the whole length of the filament (Sherwood). The Z line is the dense vertical section thats located in the centre of each I band. The portion in between two Z lines is called the sarcomere. A sarcomere is the functional unit of the muscle. A functional unit of any organ is the smallest component that can perform all the functions of that organ (Sherwood). Thus the sarcomere is the muscle fibers smallest component that can perform a contraction. The Z line forms the connection between the thin filaments of two adjacent sarcomeres. A sarcomere is made up of the entire A band and the end portion of the I band on both ends. Diagram A myofibril divided into two sarcomeres (sport-fitness-advisor.com) Cross bridges The cross bridges are the section where the thick and thin filaments overlap. The thick filaments are surrounded by the thin filaments in a hexagonal pattern. In all six direction, the cross bridges extend from the thick filaments to the surrounding thin filaments. In addition, each thin filament then has 3 thick filaments around it. The cross bridges are significant in that the binding of the actin of the thin filaments and myosin of the thick filaments happens at the cross bridges, which produces a contraction of the muscle fiber (Sherwood). Muscle contraction and cross bridges Actin and myosin are sometimes referred to as contractile proteins but neither of them actually contract during a muscle contraction. In a relaxed fiber, muscle contraction cannot take place because of the position of the proteins, tropomyosin and tropinin of the thin filament (Sherwood). Tropomysosin and tropinin are called regulatory proteins because they both play a role in stopping contraction from occurring or allowing contraction to take place by exposing the actin binding sites (Sherwood). Tropomyosin covers the sctin binding sites on the cross bridges thus blocking the interaction between myosin and actin which results in muscle contraction. Tropin is made up of 3 polypeptide units which bind to tropomyosin, actin and calcium. When troponin is not bound calcium, it stabilizes tropomyosin in the blocking of the actin sites on the cross bridges. When it is bound with calcium, the shape of the protein changes allowing tropomyosin to slide away, exposing the binding sites, and myosin and actin can bind at the cross bridges, resulting in a muscle contraction (Sherwood). Below is a diagram illustrating the position of the cross bridges, in a relaxed muscle and a contracted muscle. +, power stroke, action potential- calcium link between excitation and contraction Diagram 2: The sliding action of the cross bridges of a relaxed and contracted muscle respectively (www. teachpe.com) Adaptation of muscles to functional use One of the factors that determines the performance of a muscle is the type of muscle fibers within the muscle (N Slow fibers are known as type I fibers. These fibers are specialized in order to sustain a contraction over a longer period of time (MNM). Within these fibers there is an extensive capillary network, which allows it to be oxygen rich. The slow fibers contain myoglobin which carries oxygen, and the fiber is thus red in colour. Energy for contraction is obtained mainly from oxidative reactions. These fibers make use of a slow twitch in response to stimulation and are thus resistant to fatigue. The slow fibers contain numerous mitochrondria which, because of the rich oxygen and blood supplies, can contribute more ATP during contraction. (MARTINI chp10). Fast fibers are known as type II fibers. These fibers contain no myoglobin and are white in colour (MNM). These fibers are larger in diameter than the slow fibers and contain densely packed myofibrils, significant glycogen supplies and fewer mitochondria than slow fibers. The fast fibers use glycogen to obtain energy for contraction. They make use of a fast twitch and produce a powerful contraction; however they fatigue rapidly (MARTINI chp10). The fast fibers use large amounts of ATP during contraction and thus extended activity is supplemented by anaerobic metabolism. Skeletal muscle is able to adapt its structure depending on the functional demands required over time (MNM). The quantity of sarcomeres within the myofibrils and the proportions of fast and slow fibers can adapt and change over a period of time. Depending on what is required of a muscle over a period of time, the fibers can adapt. In training for endurance, some of the fast fibers will adapt and become similar slow fibers and function more like them. During strength/resistance training, muscle bulk and strength is increased through increase in number and size of the myofibrils mainly within the fast fibers. In addition, when a muscle is held in a shortened length over a period of time the number of sarcomeres reduces, whereas if its held in a lengthened position the number increases. This is an adaptation to the length of a muscle that helps from a functional perspective (MNM). Muscle growth and repair Muscle performance is influenced by turnover of contractile proteins. Production of new myofibrils and degradation of existing proteins is a delicate balance, which depending on the condition, can promote muscle growth or loss (signaling atrophy and hypertrophy). The processes of protein synthesis and degradation are controlled by pathways that are affected by factors such as physical activity, mechanical loading, supply of nutrients and growth factors (signaling atrophy and hypertrophy. Muscle growth Protein turnover and cell turnover are the two processes that play a large role in the growth of skeletal muscle mass. In an embryo, cell turnover is the process which plays the predominant role in muscle growth and development. During postnatal growth, the satellite cells (stem cells) are included into the growing fibers and at the same time protein synthesis increases (atrophy hypertrophy sherwood). These satellite cells are significant in keeping the quantity of cytoplasm as well as the quantity of nuclei in the cytoplasm stable. In adults, there is significantly less cellular turnover. An increase in muscle growth is done principally through amplified protein synthesis as well as a reduction in protein breakdown (atrophy hypertrophy). GH IGF1 -AKT ++ size fibers contractile proteins into myofibrils ++diameter microtears Muscle repair When a skeletal muscle is injured, it is necessary for specific cellular pathways to be activated in order to repair the injured tissue. Serrano and Munoz-Canoves stated that activation and restriction of these pathways must be temporarily coordinated in a precise sequence as regeneration progresses if muscle integrity and homeostasis are to be restored (Regulation and dysregulation). After a skeletal muscle has been injured, a series of events happens concurrently to repair the muscle, these are initiated by the release of growth factors and cytokines from the damaged blood vessels and the penetrating inflammatory cells (Regulation and dysregulation). The initial phase of muscle regeneration is distinguished by necrosis of the injured tissue and the activation of the inflammatory response (cellular and molecular regeneration). The inflammatory cells that are released phagocytose the cell debris that is present following an injury. The encouragement of the survival of various cell types, as well as the migration and proliferation of cells, is the role of the cytokines. Following this, there is a phase of regeneration, where there is the activation of myogenic cells which multiply, differentiate and finally fuse together resulting in the formation of new myofibers, as well as the reconstruction of the functional contractile components (cellular and molecular regeneration).. The satellite cells (stem cells) play a key role in this procedure. The satellite cells make use of the necrotic basement membrane as building blocks to guide the new fibers in forming the same pattern and ensuring that they lie in similar positions. The myoblasts fuse to each other as well as the damaged myofiber and thus form the new myofiber. At the same time as this, matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are at work. MMPs play a regulatory role with concerns to the extra cellular matrix formation, break down and remodeling (Role of MMP). The MMPs break down the necrotic base membrane components, which allows the satellite cells to migrate and differentiate in the area. In addition, angiogenesis is required to form a new vascular network within the injured muscle (regulation and dysregulation). The final stage of the muscle repair is when growth and maturation of the new muscle fiber takes place. If any of these stages persist for longer than is necessary, the result may be unsuccessful muscle repair. Unsuccessful muscle repair is characterized by continued myofiber break down, inflammation and fibrosis, ultimately, extreme build up of the extra cellular matrix components (regulation and dysregulation). Elaborate? Muscle atrophy Atrophy was defined by Macro Sandri as a decrease in cell size mainly caused by loss of organelles, cytoplasm and proteins. (signaling in atrophy and dystrophy). If a muscle is immobilsed and not used for a period of time, the amount of actin and myosin within the skeletal muscle decreases, the muscle fibers decrease in size and the muscles mass reduces, along with the muscles strength (Sherwood).

Grapes Of Wrath - Jim Casy Chracter Analysis Essay -- essays research

John Steinbeck passionately describes a time of unfair poverty, unity, and the human spirit in the classic, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel tells of real, diverse characters who experience growth through turmoil and hardship. Jim Casy- a personal favorite character- is an ex-preacher that meets up with a former worshiper, Tom Joad. Casy continues a relationship with Tom and the rest of the Joads as they embark on a journey to California in the hopes of prosperity and possibly excess. Casy represents how the many situations in life impact the ever-changing souls of human- beings and the search within to discover one's true identity and beliefs. Casy, however, was much more complex than the average individual. His unpredjudiced, unified, Christ-like existence twists and turns with every mental and extraneous disaccord. Jim Casy is an interesting, complicated man. He can be seen as a modern day Christ figure, except without the tending manifest belief in the Christian faith. The initials of his name, J.C., are the same as Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was exalted by many for what he stood for was supposed to be , Casy was hailed and respected by many for simply being a preacher. Casy and Jesus both saw a common goodness in the average man and saw every person as holy. Both Christ and Casy faced struggles between their ideals versus the real world. (Despite Casy's honesty, goodness, and loyalty to all men, he would not earn a meal or warm place to stay. Although Jesus had many followers, still others opposed his preaching until the very end. ) These prophets attempted to disengage man from the cares of the world and create a high spiritualism that stemmed joy from misery. (All the migrants found pleasures along their trips and kept their hope and spirit throughout the journey. Thanks to Jesus, the sadd est, dullest existence has had its glimpse of heaven.) Casy once remarked, "I gotta see them folks that's gone out on the road. I gotta feelin' I got to see them. They gonna need help no preachin' can give 'em. Hope of heaven when their lives ain't lived? Holy Sperit when their own sperit is downcast an' sad?" Casy wished to reach out to others in spite of his own troubles. He wanted to give them sprit, hope and rejuvenate their souls. Jesus too felt that need and can be considered "the great consoler of life." The Life of Jesus by Ernest Renan ... ...ist-like, harmonious, unprovincial, somewhat realistic charcter who has seen the challenges of organization, authority, his own faith, reception from others, and his own ever- changing personality. This man can be looked at as a martyr, ethical, sacred individual, and yet ironically "Okie", hobo, or virtue-less bum. However The Grapes of Wrath and Jim Casy are undisputed symbols of hope, dreams, spirit and the oneness of all humanity. To me personally, Jim Casy is a role-model to any one who aspires to think original thoughts. I find his defiance of organized religion thought-provoking and inspiring. His ideas of nature are prophetic and his selfless love of people beautiful. Jim Casy's essence of understanding, dreams, love, hope and belief in an almighty holiness can be summed up in one quote, "An' Almighty God never raised no wages. These here folks want to live decent and bring up their kids decent. An' when they're old they wanta set in the door an' watch the downing sun. An' when they're young they wanta dance an' sing an' lay together. They wanta eat an' get drunk and work. An' that's it- they wanta jus' fling their goddamn muscles aroun' an' get tired." Grapes Of Wrath - Jim Casy Chracter Analysis Essay -- essays research John Steinbeck passionately describes a time of unfair poverty, unity, and the human spirit in the classic, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel tells of real, diverse characters who experience growth through turmoil and hardship. Jim Casy- a personal favorite character- is an ex-preacher that meets up with a former worshiper, Tom Joad. Casy continues a relationship with Tom and the rest of the Joads as they embark on a journey to California in the hopes of prosperity and possibly excess. Casy represents how the many situations in life impact the ever-changing souls of human- beings and the search within to discover one's true identity and beliefs. Casy, however, was much more complex than the average individual. His unpredjudiced, unified, Christ-like existence twists and turns with every mental and extraneous disaccord. Jim Casy is an interesting, complicated man. He can be seen as a modern day Christ figure, except without the tending manifest belief in the Christian faith. The initials of his name, J.C., are the same as Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was exalted by many for what he stood for was supposed to be , Casy was hailed and respected by many for simply being a preacher. Casy and Jesus both saw a common goodness in the average man and saw every person as holy. Both Christ and Casy faced struggles between their ideals versus the real world. (Despite Casy's honesty, goodness, and loyalty to all men, he would not earn a meal or warm place to stay. Although Jesus had many followers, still others opposed his preaching until the very end. ) These prophets attempted to disengage man from the cares of the world and create a high spiritualism that stemmed joy from misery. (All the migrants found pleasures along their trips and kept their hope and spirit throughout the journey. Thanks to Jesus, the sadd est, dullest existence has had its glimpse of heaven.) Casy once remarked, "I gotta see them folks that's gone out on the road. I gotta feelin' I got to see them. They gonna need help no preachin' can give 'em. Hope of heaven when their lives ain't lived? Holy Sperit when their own sperit is downcast an' sad?" Casy wished to reach out to others in spite of his own troubles. He wanted to give them sprit, hope and rejuvenate their souls. Jesus too felt that need and can be considered "the great consoler of life." The Life of Jesus by Ernest Renan ... ...ist-like, harmonious, unprovincial, somewhat realistic charcter who has seen the challenges of organization, authority, his own faith, reception from others, and his own ever- changing personality. This man can be looked at as a martyr, ethical, sacred individual, and yet ironically "Okie", hobo, or virtue-less bum. However The Grapes of Wrath and Jim Casy are undisputed symbols of hope, dreams, spirit and the oneness of all humanity. To me personally, Jim Casy is a role-model to any one who aspires to think original thoughts. I find his defiance of organized religion thought-provoking and inspiring. His ideas of nature are prophetic and his selfless love of people beautiful. Jim Casy's essence of understanding, dreams, love, hope and belief in an almighty holiness can be summed up in one quote, "An' Almighty God never raised no wages. These here folks want to live decent and bring up their kids decent. An' when they're old they wanta set in the door an' watch the downing sun. An' when they're young they wanta dance an' sing an' lay together. They wanta eat an' get drunk and work. An' that's it- they wanta jus' fling their goddamn muscles aroun' an' get tired."

Online Communication among Youth Essay -- Facebook Instant Messaging I

Technology has provided people with the means to do things that would other wise be impossible. However, while technology has provided the ability to communicate with people halfway across the world, some believe it has limited the interaction with those who are closest. Yahoo, MSN and AOL are not only top e-mail providers but also offer 'real time' messaging, or instant messaging. Instant messaging has far replaced e-mail as a form of communicating, especially among youth. According to a 2005 study done by Pew Internet and the American Life Project on the social impact of the Internet, 59 percent of individuals under the age of 30 were more likely to instant message. This was in contrast to those over 30, who used instant messaging at a rate of 33 percent. College students and younger have grown up in the era of Facebook. Facebook is an online social network that allows you to communicate with friends, meet people you do not know and now it offers a new instant messaging system. This new system is called Facebook Chat. It allows you to see wh...

Cultural Conservation :: essays research papers

One problem with cultural conservation: To put it simply, and its not a problems that only conservatives very often confuse (or conflate ethics and aesthetics. When Gertrude Himmererfarf lambastes out (as she perceives it) 'amoral, 'sexually deviant' and 'polymorpously perverse' culture she is primarily responding to something that she finds culturally foreign and aesthetically threatening. I agree with her that values are oftentimes a good thing, but only when they are born of an ethical and pragmatic perspective, not an aesthetic one. The conservatives want a seemingly neat and compartment society wherein stable appearances are maintained and archaic cultural archetypes are adhered to religiously. I grew up in a world of cultural archetypes. I grew up with white businessmen going to office buildings while their wives stayed at home and their kids went to school. or , more accurately, I grew up with alcoholic, adulterous business men who lives culturally insular lives while their wives took sedatives and smoked cigarettes and vented their frustrations on there kids, and these same kids took reams of drugs, got abortions, drove drunk, and victimized the weaklings. I grew up in what most conservatives would consider a utopia; lots of money, prestige, cultural cohesion, and good conservative values. But their values were in fact aesthetics, and maintaining these aesthetics ruled and ruined their lives. Almost everyone in this suburban bourgeoisie system hated their lives, but because they had been brought up to worship aesthetic myths they felt that to question them was an admission of personal failure. What are these myths? they're old and platitudinal but I'll trot on them again: that's money makes you happy, that society is right and that poverty is bad, that maintaining convention in every aspect of your life is the ultimate good, that aberrance from these ideas is sin. ect. I'm not going to say that the polar opposites of the clichà ©s is true, that would be one of the failings of the radical left. I believe that for the most part these criteria are irrelevant. Money can make life easier, but it also can make life miserable. Poverty can be bad but it can also be fine. Convention has some good points and some bad points. What it all comes down to is flexibility that should allow for the well being of the individual without compromising the rights of other individuals. When conservatives trot out their litany of evils-homosexuality, single parent families, multiculturalism, ect. I'm always asking 'why?'. If people are happy being gay then whets wrong with that? it may be a lifestyle that's aesthetically different from what

The Medicine Wheel (Lakota Sioux)

Symbols, such as the medicine wheel, are common among Sioux Indians, especially the Lakota Sioux. The Lakota Sioux believed each section of the medicine wheel had some spiritual significance. To them, the medicine wheel represents enlightenment, growth, strength and knowledge. Each color on the medicine wheel signifies a different season and lifestyle. Inside the circle is a cross shape. The cross symbolizes the four directions, and also the Four Lakota Virtues. The shape of the wheel represents the never ending circle of life and death.It means the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End, and to the Lakota Sioux, represents unity in the Great Spirit. One of the four sacred colors found on the medicine wheel is red. It is located at the top left hand side of the four corners. Red symbolizes several things, including north; this (north) symbolizes the passing of the ancient and ancestors. â€Å"North brings cold harsh winds of the winter season† ( ). This cleansing wind causes t he leaves to fall and buries the earth underneath a blanket of snow. Lakota Sioux believed â€Å"..If someone had the ability to face these harsh winds, like the buffalo, they have learned patience and endurance† ( ). The element of the North is Air. Air is movement and†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ freedom – the clearing of thoughts and the carrier that allows us to manifest our dreams† ( ). Air represents the mind. The color red and that section of the wheel also symbolize wisdom. They believed wisdom to be of one of the best qualities, and is usually met in or after death. Red also represents the last part of the lie cycle: afterlifeWhite is the second of the four sacred colors found on the medicine wheel of the Lakota Sioux. It is located at the bottom left corner on the medicine wheel. â€Å"White stands for youth and friendship† ( ). It represents the south. This direction is for warmth and growth since the sun is at its highest peak in the southern sky. â€Å"The sun’s rays are powerful in drawing life from the earth† ( ). The Lakota Sioux believed life of all things come from the south, so this section also represents the second phase of the llie cycle. † The South is where our journey through life begins – with the knowing of self† ( )Yellow is the third of all the sacred colors found on the medicine wheel. Yellow signifies the east where the sun rises. This brings us the energy of adventure. The Lakota Sioux believed this to symbolize family and newborns. This is also the beginning of a new day and a new understanding of life and people. â€Å"On a deeper level, east stands for the wisdom in helping people live good lives† ( ). This section is located at the bottom right corner of the medicine wheel. The element of the East is Fire. Fire is the radiant energy of transformation. Fire contains the great power of expansion† ( ). They believed this section of life is to help us find innocence and p urity. It is a great path among the rode to spirituality. Black is the last color section in the medicine wheel. It is located in the top left hand corner.Black signifies the west, where the sun sets and the day ends. The color is black, not in nothingness, â€Å".. but the black of â€Å"all things†Ã¢â‚¬ ( ). It is the color of mystery and of the unconscious. The Lakota Sioux believed the west the be the source of all water, so this section is vital. The great thunderbird lives in the west and sends thunder and rain from this direction† ( ). Back represents solitude, reflection and growing old. The direction of South was our beginning of knowing who the â€Å"self† is. â€Å"The direction of the West deepens this knowing through dreams and visions of the future† ( ). They believed the element of the West is earth. Earth is passive, receptive and nurturing. A deep connection with earth is needed to bring ourselves into balance with Universe. Black is the second to last part of the life cycle: death.

Homer’s Ideal of Excellence

Throughout this excerpt of â€Å"The Iliad† by the great poet Homer, shows the ideals way back into their era. In this epic segregated values of both men and women are seen in Homer’s era. This epic story begins with the young prince of Troy, Paris, who kidnaps Helen, wife of the king of the Greek state of Sparta. After this treachery towards Sparta the Spartan kings Brother, Agamemnon, attacked Troy. The excerpt begins with Paris’s brother, Hector, another prince of Troy, is talking to his wife, Andromache, just before he goes to fight Achilles. Achilles is a great warrior which has slain many foes with nothing but a scratch including all of Andromache all seven brothers who he fought all at once. Andromache attempts to plead to Hector to flee, but his honor and courage strives him to continue to his impending doom. These words spoken by both Hector and Andromache seem as though they both knew it was most likely was going to be their last words. The way Homer writes the tone of these last words between husband and wife were so compelling in the fact that a mans honor and bravery were way more important than staying alive and taking care of his new born son and wife. From just reading this part of Homer’s writing it is obvious how it shaped the minds of all of Greece and set values among the people of the era. After reading this part of the poem understanding it comes to light by fully seeing how the honor of a man in this era is more important than anything even including your own family. This can be seen When Homer writes; â€Å"†All that, my dear,† said the great Hector of the glittering helmet, â€Å"is surely my concern. But if I hid myself like a coward and refused to fight, I could never face the Trojans and the Trojans ladies in their trailing gowns†. Also Homer goes on to illustrate that he must because that is how Hector was raised and how he must uphold his families honor in the name of his deceased father. Another thing that can be seen is very important to the people of this era was their need to make their gods happy, which in Greek culture was Zeus. The last words of Hector before he goes to fight the unstoppable soldier, Achilles, was praying to the great Greek gods, but not for himself, instead for his son to be just as strong and brave as himself and to be a mighty king of Ilium. He then continues to pray to make his son an even better man then himself. This brought upon another ideal in mind, the linage of your family. As in back then when you were born you automatically obtained all of you bloodlines successes and failures and were marked by them. At the end of the excerpt Hector says to his wife to not be worried about him and not to be distressed but instead continue on her duties at home, where she should continue looming and using the spindles. He then goes on to say how war has no business with women and how it is the business of every man and especially himself since he is the prince of Troy. This emphasizes how the duties were segregated among the Greek people. How women are condemned to taking care of the children, cleaning, and looming cloths whereas men were condemned to death in war for their rulers. These poems did not record history yet the Greek people took these stories as authentic history causing a past in which they can look upon when seeking guidance on what they should do in the Greek culture and ideals. Also they gave the Greek people with a cast of heroes like Hector and Achilles to be their role model. These poems brought both men and women a guide of what they should do to pursue arete (or excellence) among their society. Whether it was inside the household or out on the battlefields both men and women by the Homeric world were taught to pursue excellence (or arete). The â€Å"Iliad† and the â€Å"Odysseus† shaped the ideals of the Greeks and gave a model for the rest of Greek culture to follow.