Ethical Decision Reflection Essay

To let go of someone you dearly love is very painful to do. The pains cause by ending relationship is very unbearable. Some people may find their world tear apart when they realize that their relationship with their partner is not going well. I have had this relationship in the past that truly marks in my heart and in my mind. I do love this person very much despite of his weaknesses and flaws but many people around us do not like the idea of being us together. At first, I try not to give ear to their comments and opinions because of my love for my partner. But in a long run, I decide to call it quits because I find out that my partner is having an affair with other man; take note, it’s a â€Å"man. † It truly hurts me a lot because he exchanges me to a man! It is a big slap my on face. That is the first factor I consider when I break up with him. He is not trustworthy and faithful. I just strongly believe that a woman is meant to be with a man and a man is meant to be with a woman. Though I live in a liberated world but I cannot just take and stand with this kind of idea that is having an affair with same sex. When I break up with him, I feel so much freedom that I never been experiencing when we are still together. I don’t know why I feel that way, but that is how I really feel. I feel like a bird being imprison in a cage for a long time and has the chance to be released. When my friends especially my parents learn about it, they are very happy and relieve. They don’t just like my partner because they can smell something fishy on him. After the break, I feel such joy in my heart and feel more beautiful inside.

Managed Care Organization Essay

USLegal.com A managed care organization (MCO) is a health care provider or a group or organization of medical service providers who offers managed care health plans. It is a health organization that contracts with insurers or self-insured employers and finances and delivers health care using a specific provider network and specific services and products. They provide a wide variety of quality and managed health care services to enrolled workers keeping medical costs down through preventative medicine, patient education, and in other ways. These organizations are certified by the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). MCOs vary in their constitution as some organizations are made of physicians, while others are combinations of physicians, hospitals, and other providers. For instance, a group practice without walls, independent practice association, management services organization, and a physician practice management company are the common MCO’s. Patient Advocate Foundation Providers of care, such as hospitals, physicians, laboratories, clinics, etc., make up a â€Å"managed care organization† delivery system often known as an â€Å"MCO.† Seven common MCO models are: 1. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) An arrangement whereby a third-party payer (health plan) contracts with a group of medical-care providers who furnish services at agreed-upon rates in return for prompt payment and a certain volume of patients, perhaps under contract with a private insurer. The services may be furnished at discounted rates, and the insured population may incur out-of-pocket expenses for covered services received outside the PPO if the outside charge exceeds the PPO payment rate. 2. Point-of-Service Plan (POS) Also known as an open-ended HMO, POS plans encourage, but do not require, members to choose a primary care physician. As in traditional HMOs, the primary care physician may act as a â€Å"gatekeeper† when making referrals; plan members may, however, opt to visit out-of-network providers at their discretion. Subscribers choosing not to use a network physician must pay higher deductibles and co-payments than those using network physicians. 3. Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) A  network of providers that have agreed to provide services on a discounted basis. Enrollees typically do not need referrals for services from network providers (including specialists), but if a patient elects to seek care outside of the network, then he or she will not be reimbursed for the cost of the treatment. An EPO typically does not provide the preventive benefits and quality assurance monitor. 4. Physician-Hospital Organization (PHO) A contracted arrangement among physicians and hospital wherein a single entity, the Physician Hospital Organization, contracts to provide services to insurers’ subscribers. 5. Individual Practice Association (IPA) A formal organization of physicians or other providers through which they may enter into contractual relationships with health plans or employers to provide certain benefits or services. 6. Managed Indemnity Program A program in which the insurer pays for the cost of covered services after services have been rendered and uses various tools to monitor cost-effectiveness, such as precertification, second surgical opinion, case management, and utilization review. Also called managed fee-for-service programs. 7. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) HMOs offer prepaid, comprehensive health coverage for both hospital and physician services. An HMO contracts with health care providers, e.g., physicians, hospitals, and other health professionals, and members are required to use participating providers for all health services. Model types include staff, group practice, network, and IPA. They differ in their financial and organizational arrangements between the HMO and its physicians. Some HMOs combine various attributes of the four principal models. WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES When a person decides to enroll in Family Care, they become a member of a managed care organization (MCO). MCOs operate the Family Care program and provide or coordinate services in the Family Care benefit. The Family Care benefit combines funding and services from a variety of existing programs into one flexible long-term care benefit, tailored to each individual’s needs, circumstances and preferences. View a list of items covered in the Family Care benefit package. In order to assure access to services, MCOs develop and manage a comprehensive network of long-term care services and support, either through purchase of service contracts with providers, or by  direct service provision by MCO employees. MCOs are responsible for assuring and continually improving the quality of care and services consumers receive. MCOs receive a per person per month payment to manage care for their members, who may be living in their own homes, group living situations, or nursing facilities. Some highlights of the Family Care benefit are: When a person decides to enroll in Family Care, they become a member of a managed care organization (MCO). MCOs operate the Family Care program and provide or coordinate services in the Family Care benefit. The Family Care benefit combines funding and services from a variety of existing programs into one flexible long-term care benefit, tailored to each individual’s needs, circumstances and preferences. View a list of items covered in the Family Care benefit package. In order to assure access to services, MCOs develop and manage a comprehensive network of long-term care services and support, either through purchase of service contracts with providers, or by direct service provision by MCO employees. MCOs are responsible for assuring and continually improving the quality of care and services consumers receive. MCOs receive a per person per month payment to manage care for their members, who may be living in their own homes, group living situations, or nursing facilities. Some highlights of the Family Care benefit are: People Receive Services Where They Live. MCO members receive Family Care services where they live, which may be in their own home or supported apartment, or in alternative residential settings such as Residential Care Apartment Complexes, Community-Based Residential Facilities, Adult Family Homes, Nursing Homes, or Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. People Receive Interdisciplinary Case Management. Each member has support from an interdisciplinary team that consists of, at a minimum, a social worker/care manager and a Registered Nurse. Other professionals, as appropriate, also participate as members of the interdisciplinary team. The interdisciplinary team conducts a comprehensive  assessment of the member’s needs, abilities, preferences and values with the consumer and his or her representative, if any. The assessment looks at areas such as activities of daily living, physical health, nutrition, autonomy and self-determination, communication, and mental health and cognition. People Participate in Determining the Services They Receive. Members or their authorized representatives take an active role with the interdisciplinary team in developing their care plans. MCOs provide support and information to assure members are making informed decisions about their needs and the services they receive. Members may also participate in the Self-Directed Supports component of Family Care, in which they have increased control over their long-term care budgets and providers. People Receive Family Care Services that Include: Long-Term Care Services that have traditionally been part of the Medicaid Waiver programs or the Community Options Program. These include services such as adult day care, home modifications, home delivered meals and supportive home care. Health Care Services that help people achieve their long-term care outcomes. These services include home health, skilled nursing, mental health services, and occupational, physical and speech therapy. For Medicaid recipients, health care services not included in Family Care are available through the Medicaid fee-for-service program. People Receive Help Coordinating Their Primary Health Care. In addition to assuring that people get the health and long-term care services in the Family Care benefit package, the MCO interdisciplinary teams also help members coordinate all their health care, including, if needed, helping members get to and communicate with their physicians and helping them manage their treatments and medications. People Receive Services to Help Achieve Their Employment Objectives. Services such as daily living skills training, day treatment, pre-vocational services and supported employment are included in the Family Care benefit package. Other Family Care services such as transportation and personal care also help people meet their employment goals. People Receive the Services that Best Achieve Their Outcomes. The MCO is not restricted to providing only the specific services listed in the Family Care benefit package. The MCO interdisciplinary care management team and the member may decide that other services, treatments or supports are  more likely to help the member achieve his or her outcomes, and the MCO would then authorize those services in the member’s care plan. For a complete list of the services that must be offered by MCOs, refer to the description of the long-term care benefit package in the Health and Community Supports Contract. People Receive Services Where They Live. MCO members receive Family Care services where they live, which may be in their own home or supported apartment, or in alternative residential settings such as Residential Care Apartment Complexes, Community-Based Residential Facilities, Adult Family Homes, Nursing Homes, or Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. People Receive Interdisciplinary Case Management. Each member has support from an interdisciplinary team that consists of, at a minimum, a social worker/care manager and a Registered Nurse. Other professionals, as appropriate, also participate as members of the interdisciplinary team. The interdisciplinary team conducts a comprehensive assessment of the member’s needs, abilities, preferences and values with the consumer and his or her representative, if any. The assessment looks at areas such as activities of daily living, physical health, nutrition, autonomy and self-determination, communication, and mental health and cognition. People Participate in Determining the Services They Receive. Members or their authorized representatives take an active role with the interdisciplinary team in developing their care plans. MCOs provide support and information to assure members are making informed decisions about their needs and the services they receive. Members may also participate in the Self-Directed Supports component of Family Care, in which they have increased control over their long-term care budgets and providers. People Receive Family Care Services that Include: Long-Term Care Services that have traditionally been part of the Medicaid Waiver programs or the Community Options Program. These include services such as adult day care, home modifications, home delivered meals and supportive home care. Health Care Services that help people achieve their long-term care outcomes. These services include home health, skilled nursing, mental health services, and occupational, physical and speech therapy. For Medicaid recipients, health care services not included in Family Care are available through the Medicaid fee-for-service program. People Receive Help Coordinating Their Primary Health Care. In addition to assuring that people get the health and long-term care services in the Family Care benefit package, the MCO interdisciplinary teams also help members coordinate all their health care, including, if needed, helping members get to and communicate with their physicians and helping them manage their treatments and medications. People Receive Services to Help Achieve Their Employment Objectives. Services such as daily living skills training, day treatment, pre-vocational services and supported employment are included in the Family Care benefit package. Other Family Care services such as transportation and personal care also help people meet their employment goals. People Receive the Services that Best Achieve Their Outcomes. The MCO is not restricted to providing only the specific services listed in the Family Care benefit package. The MCO interdisciplinary care management team and the member may decide that other services, treatments or supports are more likely to help the member achieve his or her outcomes, and the MCO would then authorize those services in the member’s care plan. For a complete list of the services that must be offered by MCOs, refer to the description of the long-term care benefit package in the Health and Community Supports Contract. A managed care organization (MCO) is a health care provider or a group of association of medical examination providers who proposes accomplished health plans. It is a health group that bonds with insurers or self-insured employers and funds and provides health care by means of a definite provider system and precise facilities and products. An MCO is an insurer that delivers both healthcare amenities and payment on behalf of services. They offer a comprehensive range of quality and managed health care services to the joined employees by keeping medical charges down through preventive medicine, patient teaching, and in additional ways. These organizations are certified by the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). MCOs vary in their constitution as some organizations are made of physicians, while others are combinations of physicians, hospitals, and other providers. For instance, a group practice without walls, independent practice association, management services organization, and a physician practice management company are the common MCO’s.

A Case Analysis On Arik Air Nigeria Commerce Essay

A Case Analysis On Arik Air Nigeria Commerce Essay This essay is a case analysis on Arik air Nigeria and will therefore seek to identify the major threats and opportunity in the environment, analyse the strength and weakness of the company, identify the strategic position of Arik air, and suggest a strategy to be adopted by the airline in an effort to sustain its competitive advantage. BACKGROUND Arik Air is Nigeria’s biggest indigenous commercial airline offering domestic flights to major cities in Nigeria and with an expanding network of regional and international flight operations to major cities in the world (Eze, 2010). Presently, Arik Air flies to 17 Domestic destinations in Nigeria and 8 International destinations (Arik air, 2010: Online). Arik Air Nigeria The company’s corporate mission is: ‘To be a safe and reliable airline by selecting and operating new, modern aircraft and by employing the most experienced and efficient staff.’ (Airkair, 2010: Online) Vision: ‘To make Nigeria proud of its aviation industry’ (Arikair, 2010: Online) Strategic Intent: Arik’s strategic intent is to be the preferred airline carrier of choice in West Africa. (Airk Air, 2010: Online) EXTERNAL ANALYSIS: The external analysis was conducted using PESTEL Framework and Porter’s five forces as the basic tools (Thompson, 1997; Luffman et al, 1996; Welsh, 2005; Johnson et al, 2009) in an effort to understand the effect of changing environment on Arik Air’s operation. The findings based on pestel framework (See Appendix 1) and Poster’s five forces (See Appendix 2) are as follows: An analysis of the political environment revealed that governments around the world are tightening immigration regulations due to the surge in terrorism the implication of which is a reduction in the number of global traveller thus posing a threat to airline including Arik Air. (Stevermen, 2009; Cartar, 2010). However liberalization and Deregulation efforts are being made in several regions of the world with Asia setting a target for the full liberalization of its skies by the year 2015. This is projected to boost aviation industry performance by creating avenue for fair competition platform between more established airlines and the growing competitors like Arik Air(Bailey, 1986; Smith Ting, 2008). The rising fuel price is a matter of economic concern in the world, with Aviation fuel price estimated at $85 per barrel (IATA, 2010: online) the implication of which is an increase in running cost for airlines and this poses a high threat to Airlines. However, there is optimism that a global economic recovery is on the way with the world economy expected to grow 2.7% in 2010 (World Bank, 2010: Online) and the aviation industry is forecasted to reduce its loss from $5.8 Billion in 2009 to $2.8 Billion in 2010. (Financial Times, 2010). The World travel & tourism council (2010) projects an increase in the number of holiday travellers in 2010 with further growth expec ted in 2011. The 2010 world cup is expected to boost travel to Africa in 2010 (Eberl, 2010). Â   Percentage change vs. 05-Mar-10 Index* $/b cts/gal $/mt 1 week ago 1 month ago 1 year ago Jet Fuel Price 243.3 89.0 211.9 701.4 3.4% 4.1% 80.3% Source: IATA (2010: Online) source from Platts * 100 in 2000 (87 cts/gal) Â   Impact on this year’s fuel bill of the global airline industry: New fuel price average for 2010 Impact on 2010 fuel bill $85.5/b +$13 billion Estimated by IATA Source: IATA (2010: Online)

Selection of a Cloud Computing Provider Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Selection of a Cloud Computing Provider - Essay Example There are a number of issues that companies may have with the cloud service providers. These include issues pertaining to the exit strategies as well. Generally companies make contract with providers keeping in mind the reputation that they have or referred by other industry counterparts. While the contract is at its initial stage of being formulated, none of the parties think seriously of termination of contract if they had to undertake in future. However, at the time of selection of appropriate cloud provider, it is imperative that along with the facilities the factors relating to the termination of the contract with the service providers should also be taken into account. Other inevitable issues include nature and amount of workload, the commercial viability of the project, legal and regulatory requirements and most importantly, the organization’s own strategic objectives. The nature of requirements, also has their role to play in selecting the appropriate cloud provider. For instance, the company needs to identify as to whether it has to acquire the service of cloud providers in respect of infrastructure, platform or software based. Public, private and hybrid clouds are generally formed as result of such complex requirements of the companies. So far as the implementation of cloud computing is concerned, it is conceived as the fragmented activity such that single cloud provider cannot do everything for its clients. As a result the implementation is carried out in such a manner that at the earlier stage those applications are implemented first, which have quick benefits so that continuity can be managed and disruptions can be minimized.

Asian values and Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asian values and Human Rights - Essay Example However, he pointed out that sometimes externalities result from these struggles. For example, upholding property rights has often resulted to the suppression of the masses by the relatively few wealthy individuals who actually owned these property rights. Problems encountered in the advocacy of "human rights" stem from its own structure. The idea of what is right and wrong is very subjective and often times depends on the cultural and value context of the point of view. The "Asian values" point of view further complicates the on going debate on the meaning of human rights. Asian values, mainly Confucian values, question the increasing use of "bureaucratic-technical vocabulary emphasizing law, abstract logic, and the formation of policy statements" (Dallmayr 180) regarding human rights. Mote, as a student of China's civilization history, clearly admired the Chinese civilizations and their contribution to the modern society. However, he did criticize how the past is being regarded. He emphasised that the point of civilization, if ever there is one, is "to [realise] the maximum from this present moment, not to blindly repeat some past nor to forgo the present in preparation for some anticipated future" (Mote 6). It is apparent that this belief was one of the underlying factors why Frederick Mote was fascinated by the Chinese civilizations. According to him all Chinese intellectual traditions shared this fundamental belief about the purpose of civilization and even that of the existence of man. This fundamental concept and belief helped the development of Buddhism in China which he said "frustrated Christianity" (Mote 6). Perhaps so, but the point is it appears that the Chinese civilizations were "unitary" in that they applied the same standards of value to all human activities, and hence the arts were expected to conform to the moral fabric as dictated by society. This was the singular reason why the arts of these civilizations never developed the art-for-art's-sake which was a common element in Western fine arts within the same period. Nevertheless, these arts should be judged by the standards within the national norms of the past rather than through different norms. Economic Perspectives Max Weber, A selection of texts, edited by S. Andreski. London: George Allen and Unwinn 1983, pp. 111-125. First, Andreski's selection of texts fro Max Weber's writings surprisingly present a very coherent Weber which is in contrast to his usual obscure and difficult to understand writings. Clearly, Weber was very interested on the reasons why capitalism failed to developed in the Ancient World. Specifically, the text was concerned on why has modern capitalism emerged in the western world and not in the Ancient World, say China or India, at the same time For Max Weber, the Puritans believed only activity signifies and increases the glory of God, hence an

Evaluation of transferable skills gained during its completion Assignment

Evaluation of transferable skills gained during its completion - Assignment Example This is termed as view of quality. In the gap based view of quality, the quality can be achieved by overcoming the customer perceptions. In case of certain products, the quality is related to certain pre-defined standard level. Conformance to a standard or specification is treated as quality. The customer perceptions are mainly related to the pre-defined quality standards. By minimising the errors on product and service, the quality standards can be achieved, â€Å"From a production/operations point of view, customer satisfaction is about monitoring the quality of delivery of the product and service, the aim being to minimise production errors so saving money and making customers happy.† (Customer satisfaction 2009). Quality and customer satisfaction are closely related. In order to ensure customer satisfaction, quality is an essential factor. In order to measure the customer satisfaction, the examination of the complaints from the customers is an adoptable way. Customer satisfaction is a multidimensional concept. Customer satisfaction and service quality are closely related even though they are independent factors. Thus an increase in the quality level should increase the degree of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is the mostly adopted tool for business growth and it is greatly related to factors such as quality and production measurement. The changes in the operational performance and product quality are mainly aimed at improving the degree of customer satisfaction towards them. Customers are the driving force in any business. To enhance the customer satisfaction continuous improvement in the quality level is required for the business. Process service and work environment are subjected to the quality concept. For balancing the needs of customers quality is an essential element. While producing high quality products and services, customer

Political subdivisions of police governmental powers per federalism Essay

Political subdivisions of police governmental powers per federalism - Essay Example Several countries like the United States, Canada and Australis follow this system of governance. In effect there are two separate sovereignties both having their own powers and as remarked in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). While the federal government is very powerful, it can never be all-powerful because the states have continued to have their own judicial system which covers and controls every department which is not linked to the central government and operates within the state’s territory. In this essay I shall start by defining the term federalism and political subdivisions. Then I shall move on to explain the police governmental powers per federalism and explain the historical context of Constitutional clauses establishing such powers. In doing this I intend to aid my essay with examples of the case law before concluding it. Federalism refers to a government system where each province concerned is administered by two government levels. As a general rule the commanding central government takes care of the issues which affect the nation in general while the problems related to state territories are controlled by their respective governments. The federal governance system prevalent in the US is also based on the same concept. There is a central government and various subdivisions of state governments. The constant power struggle between the state and the central government lead to various legal conflicts affecting the smooth administration of key departments operating under both the government divisions. The British government's oppression and tyrannical political and economic road map for American colonies led to the American Revolution. It caused the Americans to greatly distrust the centralized governmental powers. As a result only very little authority was bestowed upon the central government when the C onstitution was initially formed in 1781. The Articles of Confederation created during this period assured unlimited power to each state government to the extent of each state having their own court system. This form of government became too complex to control and a ‘Great Compromise’ was established in 1787 to implement uniform administration throughout the US. This compromise was reached to make the governance process easier, ensure fast economic growth and maintain a standard judicial system throughout the country. Most of the policies drawn in the ‘Great Compromise’ were based on the federalist ideologies. This was condemned by several opponents who called federalism a ‘folly’ and accused the pact of reducing the state government’s power and failing to clarify its actual role in the governance of the country. They also added the Supremacy Clause weakened the power of the state governments. Changes made in the constitutional provision s ensured only the states having a close relationship to the government will be granted the prerequisites for their growth projects. It is a commonly accepted fact that practical conciliation was the only reason to encourage constitutional federalism, then. People speaking in defense of the ‘Great Compromise’ argue that state governments have the power to vote and elect the central government. Hence, their rights are guarded and they are the ones controlling the central government, not vice versa. Political subdivisions on the other hand indicate the states present in the

Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Scholarship Essay Example To make matters worse, soon after my divorce, I had to move back in with my parents only to have to face a family tragedy. My parents died within 18 months of each other soon after. They left behind a sizable debt which I now have to contend with paying. All of these amount to me coming to my wits end. How will it be possible for me to continue with my life and honor my financial obligations if I do not have the kind of job that will allow me the kind of income to do so? After much soul searching, I finally found the answer. I decided to quit my job of nine years in order to save what I could of the little money that my parents left me to spend on pursuing the completion of my Business Administration degree. I felt like I had no choice but to resign from my job because it was not really serving its full purpose as a significant source of income for my family needs and financial obligations now that my parents were no longer around to help me out financially. Some people may say I am stupid for leaving a job that was paying me, even if it was only a pittance. But then again, holding on to that job was preventing me from retraining myself in order to achieve a higher goal. My full concentration is now set on completing my college degree and eventually pursuing an MBA. However, my finances are still quite strapped, which is why I have come to the Neal, Thomas James, and Lynnie Rice Neal Scholarship foundation for help. With a GPA of 3.75, I realize that I will be in a cut-throat competition with the other applicants. But the foundation will not be sorry if the scholarship is awarded to me. I know the value of a good education because I am the only member of my family to ever attend college. And I fully intend to use every opportunity that I can in order to achieve the greatness in life that I know I was meant for. All I am asking for, is a helping hand. I am hoping that your foundation will be one to give me the leg up that I need to get

Journal 6 - World Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Journal 6 - World Literature - Essay Example They fought with each other to death and this incidence amused the spectators and same incidence was repeated after many years, the passengers of the boat amused themselves by throwing the coins on natives and when the writer requested the lady who started it to stop, her response was, â€Å"I love charity.† The Carbide Tower, which rises in the middle of Buna and whose top is rarely visible in the fog, was built by us. Its bricks were called Ziegel, briques, tegula, cegli, kamenny, mattoni, teglak, and they were cemented by hate; hate and discord, like the Tower of Babel, and it is this that we call it: —Babelturm, Bobelturm; and in it we hate the insane dream of grandeur of our masters, their contempt for God and men, for us men. Is the expression from the memoir A Good day. The tower of hate was built by the captives and it was an insane dream of their masters. And presently that building stands as a curse of divine and Germens also feel that. At sunset, the siren of the Feierabend   sounds, the end of work; and as we are all satiated, at least for a few hours, no quarrels arise, we feel good, the Kapo feels no urge to hit us, and we are able to think of our mothers and wives, which usually does not happen. For a few hours we can be unhappy in the manner of free men. This extract also explains the plight of the workers in the camp. It is the day when they have a stomach full. There is a certain change in everyone’s attitude. Everyone is satisfied and there is no grumbling and fights that arise due to empty or half full stomachs and in fact their leader doesn’t feel any urge to hit them. The irony is when the stomach is full the near and dear one’s are remembered. The above three examples from the Memoirs relate how effectively they take the readers into flash back and evoke the images as they have happened just before the reader’s eyes. As both these memoirs are the survivor type in nature they are able to capture writers struggle and sufferings. It does not just appear before the reader as a fiction but with a personal reconstruction and impact. 3. Destruction was caused or perpetrated by individuals who neither felt nor expressed any remorse for their actions; one of the leaders that fall in this list is Saddam Hussein. He was born on 28 April 1937 in the village of al-Awja, near Tikrit, on the Tigris River in northwest Iraq, into a landless but influential Sunni family. He was a member of the al-Khatab clan. Saddam later fabricated his genealogy to claim direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed. He had a battered childhood as his father abandoned his mother when she was pregnant with him and he was brought up in the custody of his maternal uncle as his mother remarried. With such emotionless up bringing Saddam never felt remorse for

Parenting Knowledge and Informational Asymmetry Communication among Essay

Parenting Knowledge and Informational Asymmetry Communication among Parents, Teachers and Child Development Specialists - Essay Example The problem can be identified as the following: optimal involvement parity of parents, teachers and child development specialists into the child development process, overcoming of informational asymmetry taking place in this kind of communication. The principal question is: how effective must be relative influence of parents, teachers and child development specialists on a child What is the most reasonable approach to the effective communication among them 2. There are some relevant sociological methods of researching the problem of informational asymmetry: survey research, content analysis and field research. One of the hypotheses to be tested is: the structure of family affect children development. "According to the Urban Institute's 1997 National Survey of American Families, 63 percent of children live in two-parent, 27 percent in one-parent, and 8 percent in blended families" (3). The more unstable is the family structure, the deeper is the informational asymmetry among parents, teachers and child development specialists.

Business Ethics - Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics Discrimination Essay Discrimination is defined as distinguishing something from something else (i. e. don’t hire him because he has no experience). Unjustified discrimination is distinguishing something from something else on a basis that is not justified (i. e. don’t hire him because he is black). The term discrimination commonly replaces the term unjustified discrimination in business, philosophy, psychology and day-to-day community life. In a just and fair society, such as we Canadians aspire to, a job applicant’s race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, orientation, mental ability, or physical condition should not disadvantage them in career choices or job competitions. If a short Asian female firefighter can do the job, she should get the job. Conversely she should not expect to receive concessions that are not available to all; that is in effect also discrimination. Unfortunately, discrimination often arises in business in regards to hiring, job placement, wage, and promotion. Affirmative Action Ideally, discrimination should be of no concern at all; everyone should have an equal opportunity to anything. In a perfect world a hiring manager would not have to think thoughts such as, â€Å"They are disabled, they are women, they are aboriginal,† and would only think, â€Å"This person will be perfect for the job because†¦. † Unfortunately this may never completely happen. For example if a person in a wheelchair applies to be a stock person at Costco and another person who is not in a wheelchair applies for the same position the manager will be debating, â€Å"Should I hire the person who cannot walk because I want to be socially responsible? Or should I hire the person who can walk, who will probably do a better job and who I won’t have to make special accommodations for? † Another example is a man and a woman who are applying to be a nurse on the obstetrics ward; they have both just graduated and have exactly the same experience. If only one position is available who is more likely to be hired? Affirmative action programs often come into place to encourage equal opportunity. Affirmative action refers to policies or rograms that take factors such as; age, sex, race, color or religion and give preferential treatment to people that belong to an identifiable disadvantaged group, or outgroup. Cons Reverse discrimination occurs when preferential treatment is given to one person and the other is left out. For example if a woman is hired to work in an oil patch just because she is a woman and man is not hired (perhaps only because of quota requirements), he will experience reverse discrimination. This may in fact v iolate a province’s human rights code. Some would also argue that it is wrong to place at a disadvantage a current day job applicant in order to attempt to compensate for historical wrong treatment of certain categories of job applicants. Merit may not exist if affirmative action is in place. A situation could arise where an applicant may deserve a job more because he or she has more education and more experience than the hired applicant who is disabled, if the hiring was done only in the interest of a representative workplace. May condescend or offend outgroups because the people belonging to that group don’t believe they need preferential treatment in order to succeed. Affirmative action creates a perception that all racial minorities or physically disabled persons have low self image, poor job marketing skills, missed opportunities, and are in need government regulated assistance. Efficiency may be compromised if a company is forced to hirer a proportionally representative workforce. Instead of hiring the best fitting candidate, companies would be forced to seek out a visible minority or a disabled candidate. This simply is not good business practice. A company should be free to hire the best candidate. Morale and workplace cooperation may be negatively impacted by a person being hired because of affirmative action policies which clearly give special considerations not available to all. The outgroup may develop a sense of entitlement that is not supported by the majority of the workers. Affirmative action may cause a widening of the gap (and an affirmation of bigotry) instead of a diverse and inclusive work force. For example, a white man at a steel factory may think that he got his job because he is qualified for it while being angry that the Asian man only got hired because there were no other Asians working in the plant and the hiring manager did not want to be discriminating. Pros Assistance in obtaining a desired job may be necessary for members of an identifiable disadvantaged group, or outgroup, since discrimination may make it difficult to establish a career. For example, men can be excellent nurses, but if a female hiring officer doesn’t understand or embrace the benefits of diversity, the obstetrics ward would have all female nurses. Another example might be a hair dressing trainee who is in a wheelchair; this applicant may have more obstacles to overcome and more convincing to do with a prospective employer. It is not fair, or just, that these applicants would have to be much better that the â€Å"normal† kind of applicant in order to be desirable to the employer. This â€Å"assistance† is given in affirmative action plans such as requiring employers to choose the disadvantaged applicant when all other skills are equal. Affirmative action makes working in different areas more desirable. Ex, Okanagan College has free introductory welding courses for women only. If colleges did not have these affirmative action programs there would probably be less female welders. This creates an incentive for a member of an outgroup to step forward and be part of the creation of workplace diversity. Affirmative action ensures justice for those who have historically been oppressed. Although hopefully not in Canada, there may still be a stigma attached to those whose ancestors were slaves, lower class, or aboriginal and thus seen as lesser that those with good career jobs. Some people may believe that affirmative action is necessary to change the attitudes of society by mandating a diverse work force. Canada cannot ignore the fact that a few generations ago a person with mental challenges or physical disabilities would not have been offered a position if there was a reasonable candidate who was considered â€Å"normal. † Affirmative action envisions a just work place where everyone is normal because the new normal is diverse and inclusive. Affirmative action encourages a representative work force. If 2% of the community’s population is visually impaired, then in a company of 100 employees, there should be a least two people who have some kind of sight impairment. In Canada, 3% of the population is aboriginal; therefore, there should be three members of a First Nation employed at the above company. A disabled person aged 25 to 44 accounts for 8% of the population. Statistically speaking, the above company, if it were in British Columbia, should have 27 employees who are recent immigrants. With roughly 60% of Canada’s population being Caucasian, all the numbers above would create a representative work force. It could be described as a diverse, dynamic, and exciting place to work; but does it exist? By requiring the inclusion of a representative work force affirmative action will in the long term change attitudes and encourage diversity. Thesis Affirmative action programs are still necessary to ensure equal opportunities in the work place and to encourage diversity, which over time will extinguish discrimination and contribute to a just, fair, and tolerant society. History I believe discrimination stems from history. If a young person learned from parents, schools, or media that women are not good trade workers, they will continue this discrimination for generations. This is what happens in all forms of discrimination because discrimination is learned. Discrimination can be reduced in a society with the influence of laws, education, and incentives. Affirmative action mandates exposure, which with encouragement by supportive government and ethical businesses will result in workplace diversity, and that over time will influence the thinking of society as a whole. Further Discussion: Continue Affirmative Action Dimock and Tucker thoroughly discussed their views on affirmative action policies about how such policies cause problems for employment equity in Canada. Dimock and Tucker did not discuss why such policies may still be necessary and did not thoroughly discuss a solution to discrimination. Their conclusion, while pointing out that affirmative action programs have not met intended goals, does not offer concrete solutions other than education. I disagree that the young should be the only target to ensure against discrimination. Youth can be racist, sexist, and exclusive. That’s why our society has a large problem with bullying. If discrimination is a learned trait, then the youth are learning it from above, and that is precisely the target of affirmative action. I believe affirmative action should still be used to some extent in order to encourage diversification. I think a combination of education and the experience of exposure is more useful that a single target group (such as educating the young). If groups (young, school aged, post secondary, and the work force) are created with diverse and representative participants, the likelihood of all groups beginning to like each other because of repeated exposure is much higher then if they remain separated. Well informed members of society who have personal experience with diversity are the least discriminating for several reasons: †¢They have been educated not be discriminating (from classes like this). †¢They have been put together in groups with all different types of people, and †¢They have become comfortable with that diversity. The result is that they have learned to be less discriminating than their peers or previous generation. For example, a white 18 year old’s great grandparents may have been what is now considered racist toward black people. In the grandparent’s time racism, even segregation, was thought of as perfectly normal, and those views were passed down generation to generation. However, through education and exposure racism was slowly extinguished until we have a grade 12 student who welcomes a new immigrant from Zambia. Instead of being completely racist like his great grandparents the 18 year old now only believes the stereotype that all black people like rap music which he hates. The next generation will (hopefully) not even notice that a black person is in the group. If affirmative action continues it will help the top (the existing generation of employers) meet the bottom (the well informed and accepting job applicant) and the result will be a tolerant, inclusive, and diverse work place. The attitudes of the work place will in time influence society as a whole. Conclusion I was lucky enough to learn about discrimination in both psychology and philosophy class in the same week. Although solutions are not offered in this paper, I believe discrimination can be eliminated through education and diversification. If it were normal to have a representative and diverse â€Å"melting pot† of opportunities and experiences, there would be no need to practice discrimination. Diversification is good. It makes a community tolerant and compassionate; it makes a secure and exciting place to live. Including all groups in all employment opportunities will ultimately create a better society – the melting pot that Canada so prides its identity in. Affirmative action plans ensure that the work place will contribute to this pride.

Compare and contrast Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast Shakespeare Essay Both poets discuss the treatment of women within their world. In each case, they indicate their disgust with the way men behave. Shakespeares sonnet offers a mocking tone to the courtly gentlemen of his day whilst Zephanaiahs tone is more angry. Shakespeare writes to a strict ABAB rhyming pattern within the fourteen line sonnet structure. Benjamin Zephanaiah however does not stick to any sort of standard rhyming pattern and the poem is not written in a regular western structure, more so in a reggae rhythm. The effect Shakespeare obtains from this structure is one of a mordant tone. The audience of the time would have expected a poem of love like Bartholomew Griffins Fiddesa. The audience expects My mistress eyes to be described as on a level with the warm brightness of the sun, and are stunned to read nothing like the sun. This evidently gives an image of Shakespeare mocking Griffin and other poets that wrote love poems at the time. I think that Zephanaiah, however, is not writing in a regular western structure and rhythm because he wants to break convention. His poem is deeply rhythmic but he clearly avoids using Eurocentric rhyming patterns and structures. This encapsulates an angry atmosphere to the poem. The reggae rhythm is often used to attack western culture. The Caribbean culture used the reggae rhythm to speak out in times of despair when Negroes were persecuted. Reggae has a distinctive sound, which originates from the West Indies. Zephanaiah writes put de judge in the grave,. The word grave is a very strong word. He is almost suggesting the judge should be killed. When he says, judge I do not think he is only referring to the judges of these so called Miss World beauty pageants but anybody that is judgemental in this way. Every person on the planet has judged somebody at some time in his or her lives, so does everybody deserve to die? It becomes apparent that Zephanaiah is also unhappy with other types of persecutions, namely racism. Zephanaiah makes several references to slavery and how his sister dont want to go to the market to be viewed like a slave and be viewed like her ancestors were, like second class citizens. He carefully intertwines womanhood and slavery. He is clearly referring to women that have been forced to become prostitutes in the red light districts of the world. Zephanaiah shows his rage to these activities as well as his disgust with how some people feel that women are tradable. Both poems use non-comparisons. Shakespeare say his mistress eyes are nothing like the sun; and that no such roses see I in her cheeks;. Shakespeare clearly mocks the love poets of the era; for example in the poem Fidessa by Bartholomew Griffin his ladys eyes the brightest stars the heavens hold; Her cheeks, red roses, such as seld have been; Fidessa line 3 Benjamin Griffin wrote Fidessa in 1596. Sonnet 130 was written just thirteen years later in 1609. Fidessa is written in the style typical to the love poetry of the time. Shakespeare clearly detests this style of writing, so writes a poem to mock it. Shakespeares poem is written in a sarcastic manner. Zephanaiah, however, uses different types of non comparisons like her value is not prize money. She is priceless. Human souls are not designed for trading; a price cannot be put on a life. The difference in effect is a much angrier feeling to the more modern of the two poems. Neither one of the poems describes the female as a woman, lady or even wife. Shakespeare uses mistress. Mistress are associated with power and control; they are on a level with any male equivalents. Zephanaiah uses the word sister. Again he is trying to show the female as an equal to the male. In both poems this has the same effect; the female is treated in the same way as a man. Both poets are trying to give a certain amount of respect to women. Both poems feature the same basic themes of sexual discrimination, the only difference being the tone they are written in. Sonnet 130 is written to mock the poets of the time whilst Miss World is written in resentment and exasperation.

Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) Effect on Exchange Rate

Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) Effect on Exchange Rate Brent J. Sackett Referee Report 3: Copelovitch, M. S., Pevehouse, J. C. (2013). Ties that Bind? Preferential Trade Agreements and Exchange Rate Policy Choice. International Studies Quarterly, 57(2): 385-399 Summary This paper assesses the effect of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on exchange rate policies. When a country joins a PTA, the government’s ability to employ trade protection is constrained. This increases incentives to maintain fiscal and monetary autonomy in order to manipulate its domestic political economy. One way to do this is by implementing a flexible exchange rate policy. The authors argue that a PTA with a nation’s â€Å"base† country (the country to whom they have traditionally fixed their currency, or a country where they have extensive trade ties), makes a country less likely to adopt a fixed exchange rate. In addition, this paper argues that countries who have signed a base PTA will also tend to maintain an undervalued exchange rate level. Using an original data set of 99 countries from 1975 to 2004, the authors find empirical support for their argument. Evaluation My overall impression of this article is positive. In fact, I would say this article will be excellent after a few methodological problems are corrected. The paper clearly identifies a research question and provides an important insight that expands our understanding of exchange rate policy. However, I will present some comments and recommendations for improvement. Comment 1 (Theory and Causal Mechanism) In general, the theory and hypotheses are clearly presented and easy to understand. However, one part of the theoretical link between PTAs and exchange rate policy is missing and should be discussed more thoroughly. This may simply be a matter of terminology, or it may indicate a missing link in the causal chain. The authors assert that â€Å"PTAs generally commit members to more extensive free trade (2).† This seems to indicate the causal mechanism behind the story: PTAs tie the hands of governments who want to employ trade protection, so they resort to exchange rate policy instead of tariffs or other means. However, PTAs are not all the same in the way they constrain behavior regarding trade protection (Baccini, Dà ¼r, Elsig Milewicz, 2011, Kucik, 2012). While the authors note substantial cross-national variation in PTA participation, the discussion of variation in the PTAs themselves is inadequate. PTAs are not homogenous and actually vary substantially. Baccini et al. and Kucik both explain that variation in PTA design and implementation goes far beyond simple â€Å"free-trade† protections to include intellectual property, investments, enforcement, and even significantly differing tariff levels and exemptions. Is the paper’s theory based on free-trade commitments generally or PTAs specifically? In footnote 9 on page 4, the authors state that GATT/WTO membership had no influence on exchange rate choice even though in theory it should constrain trade policy choice in the same way a PTA does. This leads to some confusion about the causal mechanism that needs to be clarifi ed. What exactly is the causal mechanism within PTA participation and why does it fail in other commitments to free trade? In addition, I would like to know if the large variation in PTA design effects the causal mechanism. These questions need to be answered to clarify the argument. I have a second concern regarding the assumptions behind the theory. For the causal mechanism to work, the nation must feel pressure to comply with trade restrictions in the PTA. Otherwise, there is no incentive to use exchange rate policy to circumvent the PTA. However, others research has shown that compliance with international agreements is not straightforward and the intention to comply cannot be assumed (Simmons, 1998). Some nations may join PTAs with no intention to comply at all. Others may sign a PTA because they already intended to behave in accordance with the free trade commitments anyway. In either case, the causal mechanism of the paper is undermined. If Simmons and others are correct, a PTA may not provide the restraint the authors assume it does. Although a thorough discussion of compliance is not necessary, I would like to see it mentioned at least briefly. Both of these comments lead to some concerns about the data. Comment 2 (Data) I have two comments regarding the data. The first is a concern about potential measurement errors that follows from my questions about the causal mechanism. The primary explanatory variable BasePTA uses the PTA dataset based on Mansfield et al. (2007). However, the data include significant heterogeneity in the likely causal mechanism (free trade commitments) that is not measured properly. Kucik notes that: â€Å"At one end of the design spectrum, roughly 25% of all PTAs grant their members full discretion over the use of escape clauses, imposing very few if any regulations relating to the enforcement of the contract’s flexibility system. At the other end, no less than 27% of PTAs place strict limits on (or entirely forbid) the use of flexibility (2012, 97).† If this is true, a highly flexible PTA may actually be similar to an observation without a PTA at all. A more refined measurement of the causal mechanism than simple PTA participation may be needed. My second concern regarding the data is related to selection effects. Countries do not join PTAs randomly. For example, democracies are more likely to participate in PTAs (Mansfield, Milner, and Rosendorff, 2002). In addition, there may be other unobserved reasons that individual countries decide to enter into PTAs especially with their base country. I would like to see a more detailed discussion regarding selection effects and perhaps some statistical method to test for it such as a Heckman model. Comment 3 (Methodology) Two problems with endogeneity in the models need to be address. One of the primary dependent variables, Undervaluation, is calculated using GDP per capita (5) to control for the fact that non-tradable goods tend to be cheaper in poorer countries. This is problematic when GDP per capita is also used as an explanatory variable in models 3 and 4 as shown in Table 4. A model using the same variable on both sides of the equation potentially causes problems. This is especially problematic considering the limitations of the other variable capturing the concept of undervaluation REER. According to the authors, REER fails to capture the concept at all! REER â€Å"†¦does not actually indicate whether a currency is over- or undervalued†¦ (5).† It only measures changes in the exchange rate relative to the baseline year. The variable Undervaluation was added to correct this shortcoming, but is hampered by endogeneity. The combination of these two factors may be why the findings about exchange rate levels are not definitive. Another form of endogeneity sneaks into the authors’ model. Beaulieu, Cox, Saiegh (2012) illustrate that GDP per capita and regime types are endogenous. High levels of GDP per capita may simply be an indication of long term democratic government. When both variables are included in models predicting exchange rate policy, the resulting coefficients may be incorrect. The models reported in Tables 2 4 include both GDP per capita (log) as well as democracy (POLITY2) and result in inconsistent levels of statistical significance for both variables. This endogeneity should be addressed using a proxy or other methods. I also have a minor concern with omitted variable bias. Bernhard, et al. (2002) emphasize that Exchange rate policy and Central Bank Independence (CBI) cannot be studied in isolation. They have potentially overlapping effects and measurements of both need to be included in a model explaining monetary policy. I recommend incorporating an additional variable that measures CBI. My final concern with methodology has to do with the operationalization of the concept of democratic institutions. The authors briefly note that domestic political institutions influence exchange rate policy. Specifically, the nature of the electoral process and interest group influence can result in variations in exchange rate policy (for example, Moore Mukherjee 2006; Mukherjee, Bagozzi, and Joo 2014). In addition, Bearce (2014) shows that democracies manipulate exchange rate policy to appease domestic groups without regard to PTAs. To control for this, the authors use the Polity2 variable and two export composition variables. However the composite measurement of democracy fails to account for the variation in political institutions (such as parliamentary systems) that have been found causal in influencing exchange rate policy. In addition, the variables Mfg Exports and Ag Exports fail to account for an interest group’s ability to influence policy. To fully control for demo cratic institutions, the authors need to identify the relevant democratic institutions and use a variable to capture those institutions. The Polity2 composite is inadequate. Comment 4 (Discussion and Implications): My first comment about the discussion is positive. I think the model extension to capture the interaction effects between BasePTA and Base Trade is excellent and insightful. In particular, Figure 1 is very well done and clearly illustrates this effect. However, the rest of the discussion of the findings is overshadowed by the data and methodological problems. In particular, the comment about the â€Å"noisy (12)† nature of the findings regarding exchange rate levels seems like a cop-out. I would rather see the methodology strengthened instead of excuses (although to be fair, exchange rate levels are indeed noisy). Smaller issues The general structure of the paper is solid and the writing is clear, but I have some comments regarding minor issues that could improve the impact of this paper. Comment 1 (Primary Dependent Variable discussion): I am concerned by the comment that the potential measurements of the dependent variable (Exchange Rate Regime) differ in methodology and yield â€Å"†¦ quite different classifications across countries and over time (5).† This caused a red flag and left me concerned initially. Valid and reliable measurement of this variable is essential to properly test the hypothesis. I recommend rewording this and explaining more simply from the start why this variation exists and why it does not threaten the model. Comment 2 (Inflation Variable discussion) The inflation variable (6) uses two sources to account for missing observations (World Bank and IMF). I am concerned that the measurement methodology may not be exactly the same and could introduce bias when the observations are combined. A brief sentence or two covering the compatibility between the two sources would eliminate this concern. Recommendation to the editor Revisions required: This paper will make a strong contribution to the literature with some revisions. My biggest concern has to do with the causal mechanism and how the concept is captured in the primary explanatory variable. Explaining this in more detail and addressing the other issues will make this paper ready for publication. References Beaulieu, E., Cox, G. and Saiegh, S. (2012). Sovereign Debt and Regime Type: Reconsidering the Democratic Advantage. International Organization, 66(04): 709-738 Baccini, Leonardo, Andreas Dà ¼r, Manfred Elsig and Karolina Milewicz (2011). â€Å"The Design of Preferential Trade Agreements: A New Dataset in the Making†, WTO Staff Working Paper ERSD-2011-10 Bearce, David (2014). A Political Explanation for Exchange-Rate Regime Gaps. The Journal of Politics, 76(1): 58–72 Bernhard, William, J. Lawrence Broz, and William Roberts Clark (2002). The Political Economy of Monetary Institutions. International Organization, 5: 693-723 J Lawrence Broz and Seth Werfel (2014). Exchange Rates and Industry Demands for Trade Protection. International Organization, 68(02):393–416 Kucik, Jeffrey (2012). The Domestic Politics of Institutional Design: Producer Preferences over Trade Agreement Rules. Economics Politics 24(2):95–118 Mansfield, Edward, Helen Milner, and Jon Pevehouse. (2007). Vetoing Co-operation: The Impact of Veto Players on Preferential Trade Agreements. British Journal of Political Science 37: 403–432. Mansfield, Edward, Helen Milner, and Peter Rosendorff (2002). Why Democracies Cooperate More: Electoral Control and International Trade Agreements International Organization, 56(3): 477-513 Moore, Will and Bumba Mukherjee (2006). Coalition Government Formation and Foreign Exchange Markets: Theory and Evidence from Europe. International Studies Quarterly, 50(1):93–118 Mukherjee, Bumba, Benjamin Bagozzi, and Minhyung Joo (2014). Foreign Currency Liabilities, Party Systems and Exchange Rate Overvaluation. IPES Conference Paper 1–44 Simmons, Beth (1998) Compliance with International Agreements. Annual Review of Political Science 1:75-93

Confucius on Humanity :: Philosophy

Confucius on Humanity ABSTRACT: The basic conception of Confucius' philosophy is ren, i.e., humanity, while humanity is at the same time the leitmotiv of our epoch. This accounts for why the Confucian idea is close to contemporary readers and why his teaching principles and methods has maintained vitality throughout history. Confucius explained humanity as 'to love the people,' or 'to love the masses extensively.' This led him to provide equal opportunities in education and to carry out teaching activities in dialogue with his disciples. The overall development of everyone's potential ability constitutes the most important part of Confucius' notion of humanity. He practiced moral education, intellectual education, physical education and aesthetic education through his 'six artcrafts': 'The wise have no perplexities, the humanists have no worries, the courageous have no fears.' His philosophy originated from his political practice and teaching activity. Based on experience, its principles and methods are pragmatic r ather than speculative. Confucius has been honored as a paragon of virtue and learning by Chinese people for thousands of years. The main documents of Confucian philosophy consists in recorded dialogues and discourses with his disciples: The Analects. Thus it may seen that his lectures sent forth an amiable intimacy, and his philosophic discourses were characterized distinctively by an element of feeling. Having acted as shepherd, trumpeter and storekeeper in his early days, Confucius eventually turned out to be the most famous and learned scholar in his time by staunch studying independently. From his thirtieth down to his death, there were thousands of students following around him. Even after his death, his tomb had been guarded by lots of disciples and admirers ,and the place turned to be a village at last. With his achievements and prestige, Confucius had been honored for a paragon of virtue and learning by Chinese people for thousands of years. The main documents of Confucian philosophy consist in the recorded dialogues and discourses between him and his disciples. Thus it may be seen that his lectures sent forth an amiable intimacy, and his philosophy in that time could only be a naive empiricism brought forth by the special situation rather than a great set of speculative metaphysics. I. Humanity Principle The central idea of Confucian philosophy is REN, i.e. humanity, he explained that REN is to love the people," one could not love only his parents, brothers, sisters and sons," but ought to love the masses extensively.

Benjamin Franklin: Americas Model for Servant Leadership :: American History

Benjamin Franklin: Americas Model for Servant Leadership In Benjamin Franklin's civic pride and his projects for the improvement of Philadelphia, we see another aspect of the philosophy of doing good. At the same time we may recognize the zeal for reform that has long been a characteristic of American life. In his attention to the details of daily living, Franklin shows himself as the observant empiricist. As the successful engineer of ways to make the city he loved cleaner, safer and more attractive he continually sponsored new institutions that were proof that the applications of reason to experience were fruitful in the real world. "Human felicity," he wrote, "is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day." Franklin typifies that aspect of the American character that is attentive to small details as well as over-all great plans. The practical idealism of America lies in our capacity to work for our ideals step by step, to recognize that the perfect world is never achieved but that we may approach it gradually by a creative attentiveness to each aspect of life around us. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S religious creed held that the best service to God is to be good to man. He leaned to the views of the "Dissenters" of his day, notably Joseph Priestley and Richard Price, who preached a doctrine somewhat like present Unitarianism. A moralist, he taught that man's soul is immortal and that man's conduct in this world will determine his condition in the next; so he made a creed of virtue, based on integrity and good deeds-man must help himself and others. In the American tradition Franklin stands as a man who preached thrift, frugality, industry and enterprise as the "way to wealth." He grew to maturity in an American tradition that was older than he was, according to which such virtues as thrift and industry were not enough to bring a man success; he had also to practice charity and help his neighbor. Wealth was a token of esteem of the Divine Providence that governs men's affairs, and thus the accumulation of riches was not sought for its own sake alone. Furthermore, wealth and position, being marks of the divine favor, conferred an obligation; a successful man was a "steward," holding the world's goods in trust for the less fortunate. This "Protestant ethic" was a common denominator of Calvinistic Boston where Franklin spent his boyhood and of Quaker Philadelphia where he grew to young manhood. Benjamin Franklin: Americas Model for Servant Leadership :: American History Benjamin Franklin: Americas Model for Servant Leadership In Benjamin Franklin's civic pride and his projects for the improvement of Philadelphia, we see another aspect of the philosophy of doing good. At the same time we may recognize the zeal for reform that has long been a characteristic of American life. In his attention to the details of daily living, Franklin shows himself as the observant empiricist. As the successful engineer of ways to make the city he loved cleaner, safer and more attractive he continually sponsored new institutions that were proof that the applications of reason to experience were fruitful in the real world. "Human felicity," he wrote, "is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day." Franklin typifies that aspect of the American character that is attentive to small details as well as over-all great plans. The practical idealism of America lies in our capacity to work for our ideals step by step, to recognize that the perfect world is never achieved but that we may approach it gradually by a creative attentiveness to each aspect of life around us. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S religious creed held that the best service to God is to be good to man. He leaned to the views of the "Dissenters" of his day, notably Joseph Priestley and Richard Price, who preached a doctrine somewhat like present Unitarianism. A moralist, he taught that man's soul is immortal and that man's conduct in this world will determine his condition in the next; so he made a creed of virtue, based on integrity and good deeds-man must help himself and others. In the American tradition Franklin stands as a man who preached thrift, frugality, industry and enterprise as the "way to wealth." He grew to maturity in an American tradition that was older than he was, according to which such virtues as thrift and industry were not enough to bring a man success; he had also to practice charity and help his neighbor. Wealth was a token of esteem of the Divine Providence that governs men's affairs, and thus the accumulation of riches was not sought for its own sake alone. Furthermore, wealth and position, being marks of the divine favor, conferred an obligation; a successful man was a "steward," holding the world's goods in trust for the less fortunate. This "Protestant ethic" was a common denominator of Calvinistic Boston where Franklin spent his boyhood and of Quaker Philadelphia where he grew to young manhood.

Japanese Internment :: essays research papers

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was filled with panic. Along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes, and businesses, this feeling was especially great. During the time preceding World War II, there were approximately 112,000 persons of Japanese descent living in California, Arizona, and coastal Oregon and Washington. These immigrants traveled to American hoping to be free, acquire jobs, and for some a chance to start a new life. Some immigrants worked in mines, others helped to develop the United States Railroad, many were fishermen, farmers, and some agricultural laborers. Inevitably, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that began World War II, Japanese-Americans were frowned upon and stereotyped because of their descent. However, Japanese immigrants contributed to economic expansion of the United States. Whites resented the Japanese immigrants, but reaped economic profit from the Japanese-American residents’ discipline and hard work. Japanese-Americans of this time seem to be attacked; however, they choose to uphold their disconnection with the rest of the Americans. Many Japanese felt they had superiority over Americans, creating tension and disconnection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nevertheless, Japanese were resented and disliked by whites. Due to pressure from state leaders near the west coast, President Roosevelt, on February 19, 1942, signed Executive Order 9066. This resulted in the which resulted in the violent imprisonment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. When the government gave its internment order, whites rounded up, imprisoned, and exiled their Japanese neighbors. In 1942, 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the United States were relocated to ten internment camps. More than two thirds of those sent to internment camps, under the Executive Order, had never shown disloyalty and were also citizens of the United States. In April 1942, the War Relocation Authority was created to control the assembly centers, relocation centers, and internment camps, and oversee the relocation of Japanese-Americans. It took another forty years for the US government to recognize the violations of this population's constitutiona l rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The internment camps were permanent detention camps that held internees from March, 1942 until their closing in 1945 and 1946. Although the camps held captive people of many different origins, the majority of the prisoners were Japanese-Americans. There were ten different relocation centers located across the United States during the war. These Japanese Americans, half of whom were children, were incarcerated for up to 4 years, without due process of law or any factual basis, in bleak, remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.

John Stuart Mill and Women’s Movement Essay

John Stuart Mill was born in London in 1806. He became renowned as an economist, a writer, a philosopher and senior personnel in the East India Company (EIC). John Stuart Mill rendered much of his life time to a prominent activist working for women’s rights and movements. The Beginning The history which links Mill to the feminist movement dates back to the year 1851 when he married to a widow named Harriet Taylor and got settled in Blackheath Park. This place is said to be his spot from where a number of influential writings that advocated women’s right were written, which subsequently became popular worldwide. The Victorian Women’s Movement in England is also said to reach to this very place of Mill in the hope of counseling, headship and financial assistance (Sunshine for Women, 2003). Mill started working for the women’s cause after getting married to Taylor. As a matter of fact, he had to be subtle in participating in reform movements while being a member of the EIC. This is the reason he had to use his pen to work for the purpose. Mill retired from the East India Company in 1858. The first popular writing that he have with his name was written in 1860 and 1861 entitled as The Subjection of Women, which he did not give to publish as yet (Sunshine for Women, 2003). The Breakthrough In the year 1865, Mill was asked to stand at one of the positions for the parliament, the offer which was readily accepted by him. The agreement was basically, on the basis of the platform’s top most agenda as to give women rights to vote along with other equality rights. Following Mill’s enthusiasm for the cause and seeing his participation, different other women’s rights organizations approached him for his support. In due course, a Ladies Discussion Group carried out a poll asking its members if they thought it right for the women to participate in the public affairs. To their surprise, all the women members consented with this. Such an overwhelming response made Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, a leading early nineteenth century feminist and educationist, take a daring step. She suggested at par to build a suffrage society. Unfortunately, this step could not be carried out at that point in time because other contemporary activists were also afraid of extremists’ actions against the idea. However, Mill was courageous enough to support this idea once it was made certain that a Reform Bill would be put forward to the Parliament. He asked Bodichon to get more than hundred signatures in support of the petition. The stride proved to be quite successful and Bodichon was able to bring around 1,500 signatures following the formation of the first ever Women’s Suffrage Committee. Subsequently, when Mill put forth the petition after almost a eyear in 1866, the Bill was passed and the agenda of having women’s suffrage was incorporated in the parliament. Despite many hurdles, Mill’s one another daring step towards the cause was to make an amendment in the clause that dealt with property qualifications. He proposed to substitute the word ‘man’ with ‘person’ (Sunshine for Women, 2003). Nevertheless, at that point in time, the amendment was defeated with a larger number of votes against it. Unfortunately, this committee did not live very long and was dissolved with the dissolution and reformation of the bill as well. But, the women and Mill’s support did not end here and Mill’s wife along with other women members of the committee succeeded in creating a whole new organization which they named as London National Women’s Suffrage Society (Sunshine for Women, 2003). Mill’s leadership led him to become the honorary president of this very organization. At this moment, this organization needed something in written to disseminate among their members and among the external public. Mill felt a dire need to make his writings public and thus his The Subjection of Women got published and it saw gaining popularity worldwide being translated into a number of languages. Most importantly, this piece of writing was only of its kinds to be present on such a topic until World War 1 (Sunshine for Women, 2003). This step certainly, proved to be a milestone in women’s movement in that era. Subjection Mill’s Subjection remained a limelight for decades whenever women’s movement and feministic approach was talked about. What he wrote in it was women’s persistent low-leveled position which was in a constant struggle to rise. His writings show his sensitivity towards the issue as he talked about the prevalent attitude of the society towards a patriarchal system while subjugating women’s very existence. Subjection also talks about how women’s existence could be kept on exploiting once the society does not follow the norms of equality and justices. The comprehensive book also gets the reputation of advocating how terrible domestic violence is and could prove to be. However, it voices that the right to vote granted to women is only the first step towards a series of obligations that should be followed to treat them as equal beings (Mill, 2003). Conclusion All in all, analyzing John Stuart Mill’s life we can conclude that he got depression and physical ailment at a much younger age, but his intellect was far above those of his contemporary men. He thought and spoke high of women and worked for the feminist movement as much as his health granted him to. References Mill, J. S. (2003). On Liberty and Other Writings. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Sunshine for Women. (2003, February n. d. ). John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). August 2, 2010, from www. pinn. net

WW DBQ

Additionally, the Triple Entente expended about 1 00 million pounds and est. mated about 225 million during the year of the war (Doc C). The two alliances spent a large ammo nut on their militia for several reasons. Foremost, if one country used money to make thee r military power erupts others, the neighboring provisions felt compelled to do the same, an d perhaps even exceed the surrounding nations in order to not become underdeveloped com pared to the rest.For example, Below of Germany announced that, â€Å"We don't ever want to become ‘the slaves of humanity. † (Doc D) Moreover, as the countries with more powerful militaries became increasingly more dominant, smaller countries, such as Germany, were forced to make a decision to become â€Å"a hammer or an anvil† (Doc D) and soon focused on strengthening g their defense and opposing British power, all of which they could not do without multiplying mill tart costs (Doc C).This alarmed the largest countries and d ue to the fact that they possessed a prepared force and a stock of arms, the leaders refused to seek more a more reasonable late ruminative in favor of Anonymous. â€Å"Militarism. † Dictionary. Com, 2014. Web, 14 Deck 2014. Http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/Militarism war. By the time World War I began in 1914, all of Europe was modernized an d troops fully prepared as a result Of the armaments race and militarism.

Language Of Race Essay

(Review of Lawrence Blum, â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ : The Moral Quandary of Race (Ithaca; Cornell University Press, 2002). Theory and Research in Education 1(3), pp. 267-281. ) Lawrence Blum’s book, â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ : The Moral Quandary of Race, is excellent and thought-provoking. It is a model of moral philosophy done well, and, as importantly, done with a purpose. At no point does one wonder, as one does with all too much moral philosophy these days, â€Å"Why does this matter? † Blum makes it clear from the start why we should care about the language and concepts of race and racism, and he does a brilliant job of integrating careful philosophical analysis with contemporary examples, historical explication, and creative thought experiments. Blum’s purpose is basically two-fold: first, to fight against racism and racial injustice by proving that the notion of â€Å"race† is both descriptively false and morally inimical and replacing it with the more accurate and useful notion of â€Å"racialized group†; and second, to enable and promote productive dialogue about racism and racial inequality, especially between members of different racialized groups. He is explicit only about the second of these aims — as he comments in the preface and reiterates in similar terms throughout the book, â€Å"If we agree that racism is so important, don’t we need to know what it is? How can we talk intelligently, especially across racial lines, unless we do? † (p. viii) — but the first aim clearly determines the structure and content especially of the second half of the book. In both cases, Blum suggests that language is a key: we can both move forward in the fight against racial injustice and promote cross-racial dialogue about racism and other racial ills, he suggests, if we analyze and clarify what we mean by certain words that are often used too loosely (such as â€Å"racist† and â€Å"racial 2 discrimination†); recapture other terms that have inappropriately been divested of moral weight (such as â€Å"racial insensitivity† and â€Å"prejudice†); and abandon the language of â€Å"race† altogether because its history of use has made it inherently misleading. This is the primary thrust of the book. In this essay, I will question Blum’s emphasis on language and naming. I will suggest that disagreements about the racial language we use, such as about â€Å"what racism is,† are integral elements of the debate about race and racial injustice, rather than something that can and should be resolved ahead of time. Although Blum characterizes his analysis of racial language as being merely clarificatory, therefore, and designed to advance cross-racial dialogue from the outside, as it were, I will argue that instead he is doing something far different. At best, he is staking a partisan position within the debate itself; at worst, he is cutting it off from the start by building the answers to most of the important questions about racism and racial discrimination into his definitions. In addition to these methodological concerns, I also will query the practical results of implementing the linguistic shifts Blum proposes. I will argue, first, that implementation of â€Å"racialized group†-talk will be harder than Blum suggests (even among people who fully accept his arguments and are willing and even eager to abandon â€Å"race† in favor of â€Å"racialized group†), and second, that it is unlikely to have the social psychological effects Blum predicts. In both of these cases, I will consider teachers’ practices in implementing anti-racist curricula as an important test case, since teachers (along with parents and the media) play a crucial role in shaping the racial language and attitudes of the next generation. i Before I tackle these issues, however, a brief summary of (and a couple of quibbles with) â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  are in order. 3 Blum establishes the moral and conceptual grounding for his project in his first and longest chapter, â€Å"‘Racism’: Its Core Meaning. † In this chapter, Blum provides a deft historical, moral, and conceptual analysis of â€Å"racist† and â€Å"racism. † He is concerned to construct a definition that preserves the strong moral opprobrium that attaches to â€Å"racism† while avoiding the â€Å"conceptual inflation,† â€Å"moral overload,† and â€Å"categorical drift† that have come to characterize the terms â€Å"racism† and â€Å"racist† — i. e. , the indiscriminate application of these terms to a wide variety of categories (such as motives, beliefs, acts, and people) encompassing any and all â€Å"racial ills† from bigotry to prejudice to racial discomfort, as well as even to non-racial ills such as discrimination based on age, religion, nationality, or physical appearance. By contrast, Blum limits the application of â€Å"racism† to things stemming specifically from antipathy and/or an inferiorizing attitude toward a racial group. He shows why antipathy and inferiorizing are both sufficient and necessary to his definition — for example, one may feel benevolent toward blacks in part because one feels superior to them, but feel antipathetic toward Asians because one assumes they are smarter than oneself; both attitudes would be properly classified as racist, and he argues persuasively that all other examples of racism could fit into one or both of these broad categories. Hence, Blum shows, although racism can be attributed to motives, acts, people, symbols, beliefs, images, epithets, remarks, attitudes, individuals, societies, and institutions (all categories that Blum discusses in detail), each attribution must be independently justified; one cannot just assume that a person who displays a racist symbol, for example, is a racist herself, or even that she necessarily has racist motives. In this respect, Blum is sensitive to the mitigating (although still morally suspect) issues of individual ignorance, unreflective adoption of social norms and behaviors, and unconscious attitudes, any of which may cause an individual to appear but not to be racist, or alternatively to be racist in fact, but to have adopted these racist attitudes 4 subconsciously or even unconsciously. ii Finally, in this chapter Blum gives significant attention not just to racism’s definition but also to its particular moral character. He argues that racism is morally evil not just because it violates â€Å"general moral norms† such as equality, respect, and good will, but also because of its â€Å"integral tie† to historical â€Å"race-based systems of oppression† that were clearly evil. â€Å"‘ Racism’ draws its moral valence from this historical context in two ways. First, the mere fact that these historical systems were based on race provides some of that opprobrium, even if current instances of racism no longer take place in the direct context of, for example, segregation, apartheid, or slavery. . . . [S]econd . . . we continue to live with the legacy of those systems† (Blum 2002: 27-8). In chapter 2, Blum asks â€Å"Can Blacks Be Racist? † and answers in the affirmative. No matter what preconditions one places on racism (e. g. that it must be ideologically embedded, or combined with social power), Blum argues, there will be (and are) some black people (as well as members of other minority groups) who meet these criteria and hence must be judged to be racist. Insofar as the denial that blacks can be racist is motivated by a desire to highlight the inherent inequalities among different racist acts and beliefs, however, Blum would agree — and argues that — there are important â€Å"moral asymmetries† in racism. Because of such acts’ â€Å"historical resonance† (p. 44), â€Å"greater power to shame† due to minorities’ positional inferiority (p.46), reflection of on-going patterns and prevalence of racism (p. 48), and contribution to maintaining â€Å"systematic racial injustice† (p. 49), â€Å"Everything else being equal, greater moral opprobrium rightly attaches to racism by whites against people of color than the reverse. This is the most important moral asymmetry in racism† (pp. 43-4). Chapter 3 catalogues â€Å"Varieties of Racial Ills,† which are acts or attitudes that deserve some (often substantial) degree of moral condemnation but do not rise to the level of â€Å"racism† as 5 such. These include racial insensitivity, racial ignorance, racial discomfort, white privilege,exclusionary same-race socializing, and racialism (a term used here to mean â€Å"conferring too much, or inappropriate, importance on people’s racial identity† (p. 59), but which Blum confusingly reuses with a different meaning in chapters 5-9). Chapter 4 then moves into an extremely careful and thoughtful discussion of â€Å"Racial Discrimination and Color Blindness. † He deduces four reasons that discrimination may be wrong: â€Å"(1) it unfairly excludes a qualified individual on the basis of a characteristic irrelevant to the task for which selection is being made; (2) it is done out of prejudice; (3) the prejudice is pervasive and (for that or other reasons) stigmatizing; (4) the discrimination helps to sustain the group whose members are discriminated against in a subordinate position† (p. 89). Hence, he argues, the term â€Å"racial discrimination,† which automatically carries with it the implication of moral condemnation, should be confined â€Å"to forms of discrimination involving race that either stem from race-based prejudiced [sic] or that disadvantage an inferiorized or stigmatized group† (p. 95). In contrast, he argues, forms of racial differentiation that avoid the four pitfalls listed above may be tolerated or even embraced: for example, racial egalitarianism, which does rely to some extent on racial differentiation but not on discrimination as defined above, is preferable to color blindness. Chapters 5-7 form an undesignated second section of â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , focusing specifically on the concept, history, and science of â€Å"race† in order to debunk it. Blum analyzes the empirical outcomes of thinking in racial terms in chapter 5, â€Å"‘Race’: What We Mean and What We Think We Mean. † He identifies four moral dangers of racial thinking: (1) â€Å"a moral distance among those of different races — an intensified consciousness of a ‘we’ of one race counterposed to a ‘they’ of another† (p. 102); (2) the â€Å"imposition of false commonality on all those classified as members of the same race† (p. 103); (3) the suggestion of â€Å"an inescapable 6 ‘racial fate’† (p. 104); and (4) â€Å"associations of superiority and inferiority of value† (p. 104). These lead into chapter 6’s fascinating discussion of â€Å"‘Race’: A Brief History, with Moral Implications,† in which Blum shows the historical contingency and relatively recent vintage of racial thinking, at least in the West. (Although Blum’s language about race’s recent arrival on the scene is fairly global, his examples are almost entirely confined to ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, and North America; this leaves the reader a bit confused about the intended scope of his historical analysis and claims. ) Finally, chapter 7 boldly asks, â€Å"Do Races Exist? † and marshals a fair amount of scientific evidence (in conjunction with the historical evidence from chapter 6) to answer a resounding â€Å"no. † This outright rejection of race sets up the challenge he confronts in the final two chapters (and unstated third section) of the book: how simultaneously to rid ourselves of the inimical concept of â€Å"race† while still promoting the causes of racial justice and equality — causes which, as Blum showed in chapter 4, require for their achievement that we name and pay attention (as opposed to blind ourselves) to differences among racial groups. iii In chapter 8, â€Å"Racialized Groups and Social Constructions,† therefore, Blum proposes to replace the concept of â€Å"races† with â€Å"racialized groups,† arguing, â€Å"The term ‘racialized groups’ is preferable as a way of acknowledging that some groups have been created by being treated as if they were races, while also acknowledging that ‘race’ in its popular meaning is entirely false† (p. 160). Blum further justifies use of the term â€Å"racialized groups† in chapter 9, â€Å"Should We Try to Give Up Race? † He argues that racial justice and even a positive sense of racial identity can be promoted by â€Å"racialization†: â€Å"its recognition supplies a more accurate understanding of the character of the racialized social order, encourages a stronger recognition of commonalities of experience and of political and moral commitments across ‘racial’ lines, and, arguably, would in the long run be 7 more politically effective in mitigating racism and racial injustice than would a belief in the reality of race† (p. 170). But Blum recognizes that merely transforming our language is not enough; this act will not itself transform the unjust social structures that inform and shape our language: â€Å"In the real world, ridding ourselves of the myth of race can not be severed from the politically more challenging task of changing the structural relationships among racial groups† (p. 178). Hence, he concludes by implicitly urging a two-pronged approach to promoting racial justice and equality: altering our language, on the one hand, and engaging in direct social action (especially integrationism), on the other. Critique I find most of Blum’s arguments compelling taken on an individual basis. â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  convinces me that the term â€Å"racism† should be reserved for race-related, morally egregious beliefs/motives/acts/etc. , that there’s a wide range of racial ills, that pursuit of racial equality does not amount to racial discrimination, that â€Å"race† is a morally inimical concept, and that â€Å"racialized group† better captures the historical genesis and conceptual construction we call â€Å"race. † I am not convinced, however, that these arguments taken together satisfy the central articulated aim of the book: namely, to promote cross-racial dialogue about race. This is not, as I’ve said, because I question his reasoning or his conclusions; rather, I question whether his method, of using substantive moral philosophy, is consonant with this aim. First, some reminders about Blum’s stated aim. As I noted at the beginning of this essay, Blum asks in the preface of â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"If we agree that racism is so important, don’t we need to know what it is? How can we talk intelligently, especially across racial lines, unless we do? . . . . We need to clarify what racism is, to find a basis in history and current use 8 for fixing a definition† (p. viii). He reiterates this concern at the beginning of chapter 2: â€Å"My goal of an adequate account of racism is entirely antithetical to race-based attachment to definitions of ‘racism. ’ I am seeking an account that will facilitate communication between groups about the character, forms and extent of racism (and other race-related ills). For that we need some agreement on what racism is, and from there we can attempt to settle differences about its extent† (p. 35). Blum’s aim is clearly to establish a baseline for discussion — to foster productive communication by providing moral and conceptual clarification and then to get out of the way in order to allow the now â€Å"intelligent† and â€Å"facilitated† debate to proceed on its own. This is an admirable goal, but I don’t think that â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  achieves it — nor do I think that it could achieve it in its current form. This is so for a few reasons. First, it is misleading to suggest that moral philosophy is necessary to fix a definition of â€Å"racism. † So long as there’s an agreement, or at least mutual comprehension among the interlocutors, as to what each person means in using various terms, then that is sufficient to promote dialogue. For example, if all people accepted that only whites could be racist, then â€Å"cross-racial dialogue† could proceed on that basis; there’s no reason that Blum’s definition of racism (which asserts that all people can be racist) is necessary to promote dialogue. Of course, one of Blum’s implicit points is that there isn’t agreement about what racism is, and that such agreement, or even mutual clarification and comprehension, is very unlikely to arise on its own. Rather than revealing a troubling weakness or gap in the discussion, however, this reveal instead the essential nature of the debate about race and racism: namely, that debating the meaning of these terms is part and parcel of debating the things themselves. In other words, fixing a definition is not a neutral act. It is a partisan act. This is because much of the dispute about racism is bound up in how one defines the problem. If individuals unintentionally benefit 9 from the legacy of racism (e. g.via â€Å"white privilege†), are they morally responsible in some way? Is it racially discriminatory for an association serving mostly Latino youth to try to hire mostly Latino staff? Is it racist for a small business owner to hire people she â€Å"feels comfortable† with, if it turns out she tends to feel comfortable only with people from her own racialized group, since that’s among whom she grew up? These questions lie at the heart of the â€Å"conversation about race†; they cannot and should not be settled ahead of time. Thus, Blum’s second methodological mistake is to think that setting a neutral baseline for discussion is even possible. Blum’s approach is inevitably partisan — simply in trying to clarify meanings, he takes stances on a number of controversial issues — and hence he is within rather than above the fray. This is perfectly appropriate — taking and defending particular stances about how we ought to live our lives is what moral philosophy is, or at least should be, about — but it is not what Blum professes to be doing. Furthermore, Blum’s approach is at least partly opposed to his stated aim of promoting cross-racial dialogue about race and racism, insofar as to the extent that readers accept Blum’s positions as given, their avenues for debate about race and racism will be cut off rather than expanded. I hope (and expect) instead that readers will be drawn to engage with and debate the arguments themselves, as any good work of social and moral philosophy should inspire people to do; they do not, however, provide a neutral starting point for others’ conversations. iv My concerns about the match between Blum’s stated objective and the content of his book are irrelevant to my assessment of his arguments or his conclusions, most of which I think are generally on target. I do wonder, however, about the concrete, â€Å"on the ground† implications of his conclusions, especially but not solely for those responsible for educating the next generation. I will address two especially pressing questions: (1) How would one use the 10 language of â€Å"racialized groups† in a way that was clearly distinct from using the language of race, especially in institutional contexts? (2) Is there convincing psychological evidence to support Blum’s claims about the results of redescribing social and identity groups? For example, is there convincing evidence that thinking of oneself as being a member of a socially constructed racialized group has more positive psychological effects than thinking of oneself as a member of a biologically-determined race? These questions raise issues that are significant for assessing the practical import of Blum’s arguments in general; they are also crucial for determining how his conclusions would alter anti-racist curricula and pedagogy in the classroom, which presumably will be central to the realization of Blum’s moral philosophy. First, Blum’s claim that we can combat racism (at least to some extent) by altering our language about race has moral purchase only if there is some way to â€Å"operationalize† — and especially to institutionalize — this linguistic adjustment. Blum seems to acknowledge this, and to be optimistic about its potential: â€Å"Appreciating the difference between race and racialization, and at the same time attempting to do justice to the unreality of race and the reality of racism, may point us toward new ways of thinking and new forms of institutional practice† (p. 166). He gives one (and only one) example of how one might adopt â€Å"new forms of institutional practice† in relation to the Census, which is a key tool for tracking racial patterns and disparities in society — but also hence for seeming to legitimate racial categorization. In response to this dilemma, Blum suggests, â€Å"Were the federal government to encourage a broad understanding that the purposes for which the Census is now explicitly used do not require a commitment to the existence of races in any form, but only to racialized groups, the legitimate discrimination- monitoring function of Census racial categories could be severed from any implication of racialism† (p. 167). But then frustratingly, Blum gives no specifics about how the Census could 11 do this. Would Blum hope for a statement of disavowal of race? If so, where? Just in the preamble (which already includes a â€Å"baby step† in that direction (see p. 227, fn. 11)), which nobody reads? Or in the census itself, which seems impractical since it is intentionally kept as short as possible in order to maximize response rates? Instead of a statement of disavowal, the Census could replace â€Å"What is this person’s race? † (the question currently asked) with â€Å"What is this person’s racialized group? †, and then use quotation marks (or â€Å"scare quotes†) around terms such as â€Å"black,† â€Å"Spanish/Latino/Hispanic† (which is currently kept separate from the â€Å"race† question), and â€Å"white† to reinforce their constructed status. This is also unsatisfactory, however, for two reasons. First, â€Å"racialized group† will likely be either greeted with confusion or treated as a synonym of â€Å"race,† especially in the absence of an explanation of the term; in the latter case, it is likely to end up acquiring the separatist, hierarchical, and essentialist connotations or â€Å"race† (just like â€Å"disabled† and even â€Å"differently abled† acquired those of the maligned term â€Å"handicapped† they were designed to replace). Second, many of the choices given are not (yet) â€Å"racialized groups,† at least not in the United States, but are nationalities: Samoan, Filipino, Native Hawaiian, Asian Indian, Japanese. Should these terms all be in scare quotes? I would think not — but then how would one deal with the presence of scare quotes some places and their absence others? One could add â€Å"nationality and/or ethnicity† to the â€Å"racialized group† question, and then surround everything with quotation marks — but this then gets cumbersome, to say the least, and is likely to raise other dilemmas. As the Census example shows, institutionalizing â€Å"racialized group† language is hard in print, particularly when it comes to naming and labeling the racialized groups themselves (â€Å"black,† â€Å"white,† â€Å"Vietnamese,† â€Å"Native American†). It is substantially harder in conversation, 12 such as in the oral give-and-take of a classroom. Consider Ellen, a teacher of ten and eleven year-olds, who is eager to incorporate anti-racist education into her teaching. Ellen reads â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  over the winter holiday and then sits down to revise her January lesson plans, which include a unit on non-violent protest designed both to fit into the school’s conflict resolution initiative and to lead up to the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s birthday. As she reads over her plans, she quickly inserts a mini-lesson on â€Å"racialized group† at the beginning of the unit and converts â€Å"race† to â€Å"racialized group† throughout the unit. She adds in a two-day lesson called â€Å"What is Racism? †, and develops an interactive group activity for near the end of the unit designed to help students decide when it’s okay to refer to or take someone’s racialized group membership into account and when it’s not. Reviewing her social studies lessons on Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. , and the March on Washington, D. C. , she is pleased. She also thinks her English lesson on an excerpt of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail will prove challenging but inspiring to her students. But then Ellen suddenly gets worried. Throughout her lessons are references to blacks, whites, Indians, British, Hindus, Christians, Jews. Which of these are racialized groups and which are not? How can she help her students figure out the difference? How can she talk about â€Å"blacks† and â€Å"whites† to her class without her students falling back into racial thinking? She can hand-signal scare quotes each time, but will that just turn into a joke among the students? And which groups would she use the hand signals for? All of these concerns are predicated on the conclusion that language matters — that it influences how we think, reason, behave, and interact with one another. This brings us to my second question about implications of Blum’s conclusions: is there social psychological evidence in favor of them? Throughout the book, Blum clearly operates on the assumption that if people recognize the socially constructed, rather than biologically inherent, nature of racialized groups, 13 then they will better be able to fight against the â€Å"hierarchical† and â€Å"inegalitarian† (p. 107) assumptions inherent in racial thinking. This is partly because racial identity then becomes in some way a matter of choice. â€Å"Whether a group is racialized is a matter of its treatment by the larger society. Whether the group takes on a self-identity as a race is a different matter† (p. 148). In recognizing their racialized treatment, rather than believing themselves defined by an immutable racial identity, individuals who are members of racialized groups can decide how to respond. Will they embrace their racialized identity, as those do who proudly join the Asian- American club, volunteer with La Raza, or wear t-shirts proclaiming â€Å"It’s a BLACK thing — you wouldn’t understand† or â€Å"Hot Latina Mama†? Will they reject it, declaring â€Å"that’s not who I am† and/or trying to assimilate? Or will they try to subvert it in some way, say by reclaiming the term â€Å"nigger† (or â€Å"queer† in the [non-racial] case of gays) and defiantly using it as a term of affection for others inside the group? By choosing the extent and nature of their racial identities, Blum seems implicitly to be arguing, individuals and groups are empowered; whether they choose to appropriate, reject, or subvert the characterizations thrust upon them by racializing others, the very act of choosing liberates them from the racialist (and racist) assumptions of innate difference, inferiority, and/or stigma. Two substantial bodies of work in social psychology, however, cast serious doubt on this claim. The first is system justification theory — the theory that â€Å"psychological processes contribut[e] to the preservation of existing social arrangements even at the expense of personal and group interest† (Jost and Banaji 1994: 1). The second is the notion of â€Å"stereotype threat† — the idea that in certain situations (those posing â€Å"stereotype threat†), members of stigmatized groups worry about confirming a negative stereotype about their group through their performance on a task, and then, precisely because of this anxiety, end up performing worse on 14 the task than they otherwise would (and than others do) — thus paradoxically performing true to negative stereotype (see Steele and Aronson 1995; Steele 1997). I will address each in turn. According to system justification theory, people implicitly support the status quo, including hierarchy differences between low- and high-status groups, even when they are members of low-status groups, and even when they reject the distinctions on a conscious level. Thus, in studies done under both â€Å"authentic† and experimental conditions, women ask for lower wages than men do for the same work (or they work 25 percent longer than men if offered the same wage (Cite forthcoming)); individuals rate even initially unwanted outcomes (such as tuition increases, or a member of the opposing political party winning an election) more desirable the more likely they are to occur (Kay et al.2002); And they rationalize the legitimacy of existing inequalities (e. g. , if told that graduates of University B earn more on average than University A graduates, University A students will rate University B students as being smarter and better writers than they; if told the opposite, however, then University A students will express the opposite prejudice and rate themselves higher (cite forthcoming)). Even individuals who explicitly articulate egalitarian beliefs tend to demonstrate moderate to strong implicit attitudinal biases toward higher-status groups (whites, young people, men); this is true regardless of the individual’s own group membership(s) (Greenwald and Banaji 1995; Banaji 2001). In other words, individuals internalize prejudice, discrimination, racism, and/or oppression (Jost and Banaji 1994; Jost et al. 2002; Kay et al. 2002). â€Å"[M]embers of disadvantaged groups internalize negative stereotypes and evaluations of their own group, to at least some degree† (Jost et. al. 2002: 598). Thus, even if people know that they are members of a group that is treated (merely) as if â€Å"there were inherent and immutable differences between them; as if certain somatic characteristics marked the presence of significant characteristics of mind, emotion, and 15 character; and as if some were of greater worth than others† (Blum 2002: 147), they are still likely to believe, subconsciously at least, that these are accurate assessments of their group membership. It takes a great deal of inner strength to stand up to stigma, discrimination, and prejudice. Even those who consciously reject racialist presumptions may respond differently subconsciously. This may be because of internalized oppression, as discussed above. But it may also be a result of rational adjustments in motivation or expectations. Knowing that one â€Å"is discriminated against, stigmatized, or inherits a history of racial† disadvantage (p. 177) may very well (and rationally) lead one to adopt a presumption of disadvantage — a belief that one’s effort will not be rewarded because of on-going discrimination and racism, and hence a reduction in effort, motivation, and/or aspirations. There is clear evidence of both effort reduction (Stone 2002) and aspiration reduction even among people who consciously reject stereotypes, such as women who profess a liking for mathematics (Nosek et al. 2002). This lowering of expectations is clearly compounded if individuals accept, whether implicitly or explicitly, the idea that they really are inferior in some way (as system justification theory suggests). Furthermore, as Claude Steele’s acclaimed work on â€Å"stereotype threat† shows, there are significant psychological and performative costs even simply in knowing that one is a member of a group that is perceived in a negative light. For example, research over the past few years has consistently shown that black students do worse on verbal tests if told the test is a measure of ability than they do if they are told the test is non-diagnostic (Steele 1997); the same is true for women’s performance on math tests (Keller 2002). Similarly, white students do worse than controls on tests of athletic skills if told that the their performance will indicate their â€Å"natural athletic ability,† but black students do worse if told their performance indicates their â€Å"sports 16 intelligence† (Stone, et. al. 1999). This response to â€Å"stereotype threat† is evident even among very young children (ages six to ten): children above seven years old demonstrate high levels of stereotype consciousness (awareness of others’ stereotypes about various groups), and children who are members of stigmatized groups perform worse when they think they are being measured along stereotypic lines than they do on the exact same test when their stereotype awareness (and hence sense of stereotype threat) is not activated (McKown 2002). These results pose a serious challenge, I believe, to Blum’s claims about the practical import of his moral philosophy. Although it is true that this research has all been done under conditions of â€Å"race† rather than â€Å"racialized groups† being salient (insofar as â€Å"racialized groups† has not become a popular or widespread term), it strikes me as being highly unl.