The goal of this paper is to provide a very descriptive view of the topic; therefore it will be graded based on thorough details regarding the topic. The main requirements of this paper are: Professionally written, provides a clear research question and outline of the paper, provides a thorough topic/problem description, sufficient literature review that is pertinent to the topic, provides a summary of findings. This topic of this paper is "Resources and Economic Power" in ALL of Asia, but specifically include include information about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Russia, Japan, and India. The sources of this research paper can be from any credible/scholarly written (or electronic) document (not Wikipedia). There needs to be a minimum of one citation for every paragraph (approximately 3-6 per page).

I will be submitting an old paper that received an "A" so that the format and content requirements can be better understood. The paper that will be submitted is of a different topic than the topic of this paper, it is only a guide to show what the grader is specifically looking for.
There are faxes for this order.

?In terms of size, speed, and directional flow, the global shift in relative wealth and economic power now under way ? roughly from West to East ? is without precedent in modern history. This shift derives from two sources. First, sustained increases in oil and commodity prices have generate windfall profits for the Gulf states and Russia. Second, relatively low labor costs combined with certain government policies have shifted to locus of manufacturing and some service industries to Asia? These shifts are the driving force behind globalisation that ? is a meta-trend, transforming historic patterns of economic flows and underlying stocks, creating pressures for rebalancing that are painful for both rich and poor countries.? (U.S. National Intelligence Council 2008 Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, Washington, D.C., Ch. 1, p.7)

What are long-term implications of these future shifts on global economic security? In your answer you should consider a variety of factors that are shaping global economic security (see list below). In addition, other issues besides those mentioned here could be included.

please answer each one of these four questions, I will be sending the sources I indicate in the follow up of each question

1) Describe what Polanyi means by fictitious commodities and the role of these commodities in the development of industrial nation.
Here is the book that has the answer, THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION. By Polanyi


http://books.google.com/books?id=xHy8oKa4RikC&dq=the+great+transformation+polanyi+filetype:pdf&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=skG3SffXNpHItQPS8vX_AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPR7,M1

2) Describe three reasons why governments might intervene into market economies. Be sure to include a discussion of why markets might fail to achieve an efficient outcome and discuss the actions governments might take to correct these failures.

(Class notes) I will be sending this in an Email (please Expand when appropriate)

3) In a recent Foreign Policy article, eight leading thinkers were asked to identify ideas that may be the most destructive to the existing world order in the near future. Identify four of these ideas, describing what they are, why they are considered dangerous, and how they might be avoided or mitigated as dangerous ideas

Davies, P. undermining free will. 36-38
I will be sending this in an Email


4) Discuss the future of capitalist system in the 21st century be sure to include a discussion of globalism as a way to organize economic activity and whether you think America can stay on Top as a dominant economic power throughout the 21st century

Krugman, P. can America stay on top? P (169-175)
Saul, J.R. the collapse of globalism p. (33-43)
I will be sending these in an Email


There are faxes for this order.

1) VERY IMPORTANT comment and instructions:
I need a writer who is very very professional for political scientists.
Last time, when I ordered essay, writer wrote with wrong information about Locke and Hobbes.
That's why I need really professional writer about political scientists.

Please Please I don't want general style essay. I don't want general summary of Marx and Hobbes.
NEVER GENERAL essays. That's why I choose doctoral level of paper. It is ANALYZING essay.
Please keep your mind.

This paper should keep ASKING QUESTIONS and ANSWER the qustions.
WHY? WHY?.. BECAUSE <- MOST IMPORTANT FORM OF THIS PAPER.
This paper is basically based on Introduction-body 1.2.3...-conclusion,
but it should be very very specific and very very analyzing paper.
Even it is okay that you can pick one "Why?" issue between Hobbes and Marx. And then you can analyze
one issue for 5 pages.

Once again, this paper should keep asking quesions and keep moving forward and
moving more narrow and narrow by analyzing questions.
I want to have very brilliant answer for conclusion which is NOT based on general textbook or Hobbes's
and Marx's ideas. Questions and answers should be very creative and original.

Therefore, thesis statement is also should be strong question-strong answer form.
And also this paper has very strong conclusion(Yes/no, Why/Why not), too.

I want to see very smart and brilliant process of "questions and answers" from introduction to conclusion.
Please moving forward than other general essays.

2) Please follow this:

11 fonts, Times new roman, 1 inch of margin, double-spaced, and full of 5 pages.

3) Have to engage the texts(IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT)

A successful paper will employ the texts to clarify important points.
Engagement of the texts includes both paraphrasing and direct quotation.
And you have to use the bibilography and citation from this book.

1. Karl Marx: Selected Writings, Edited by Lawrence H. Simon (Hackett Publishing Company, Inc)
2. Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan with selected variants from the Latin edition of 1688" Edited by Edwin Curley


4) Specific Topic:
Carl Marx: "The German Ideology (1846)", "On the Jewish Questions (1843)" and "Alienated Labor (1844)" from "Selected Writings"
Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan

- Is the State Autonomous?
Marx argues that state power is subservient to economic power, that the ruling economic class directs government policy. According to Marx, the shape of the economy (i.e. how we organize production) determines the shape of government, and modern governments exist to protect private property.

Hobbes, on the other hand, views state power (i.e. sovereignty) as foundational to economic production. He argues that without sovereign power, there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain (Leviathan, 76). For Hobbes, the State makes possible economic production.

Which is more foundational to human society??"economic power or state power? Which theorist, Marx or Hobbes, holds the more compelling view? Defend your answer.




5) And I attched some presentation slides for Carl Marx's "The German Ideology (1846)", "On the Jewish Questions (1843)" and "Alienated Labor (1844)" from "Selected Writings" and Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan.
Please read and this powerpoint slides will be very helpful you to write because it is based on my class
materials. And please read add notes on slides.
But Please don't write analyzing essays which is based on powerpoint slides too much.
They are just key points of their ideas. Once again, it should be very specific.



Thanks you so much.
There are faxes for this order.

Moral Criticisms of the Market

This assignment requires you to read an article by Ken S. Ewert (found in the Reading & Study folder). Note that in his article, Ewert is defending the free market from "Christian Socialists." He states their position and then gives a rebuttal.

Do you agree with the critique of the market in Ken S. Ewert's "Moral Criticisms of the Market"? Why or why not? Read carefully and offer cogent reasons.


Moral Criticisms of the Market

MARCH 01, 1989 by KEN S. EWERT

Mr. Ewert, a graduate of Grove City College, is working on a master?s degree in public policy at CBN University.

According to an author writing in a recent issue of The Nation magazine, ?The religious Left is the only Left we?ve got.? An overstatement? Perhaps. However, it points to an interesting fact, namely that while the opposition to free markets and less government control has declined in recent years among the ?secular left,? the political-economic views of the ?Christian left? seem to remain stubbornly unchanged.

Why is this so? Why are the secular critics of the market mellowing while the Christian critics are not?

Perhaps one major reason is the different criteria by which these two ideological allies measure economic systems. The secular left, after more than half a century of failed experiments in anti-free market policies, has begrudgingly softened its hostility towards the market for predominantly pragmatic reasons. Within their camp the attitude seems to be that since it hasn?t worked, let?s get on with finding something that will. While this may be less than a heartfelt conversion to a philosophy of economic freedom, at least (for many) this recognition has meant taking a more sympathetic view of free markets.

However, within the Christian camp the leftist intellectuals seem to be much less influenced by the demonstrated failure of state-directed economic policies. They remain unimpressed with arguments pointing out the efficiency and productivity of the free market, or statistics and examples showing the non-workability of traditional interventionist economic policies. Why? One likely reason is that the criteria by which these thinkers choose to measure capitalism are fundamentally moral in nature, so much so that socialism, despite its obvious shortcomings, is still preferred because of its perceived moral superiority. In their eyes, the justness and morality of an economic system are vastly more important than its efficiency.

ff indeed the Christian critics of the market are insisting that an economic system must be ultimately judged by moral standards, we should agree and applaud them for their principled position. They are asking a crucially important question: is the free market a moral economic system?

Unfortunately, these thinkers have answered the question with a resounding ?No!? They have examined the free market and found it morally wanting. Some of the most common reasons given for this indictment are that the market is based on an ethic of selfishness and it fosters materialism; it atomizes and dehumanizes society by placing too much emphasis on the individual; and it gives rise to tyrannical economic powers which subsequently are used to oppress the weaker and more defenseless members of society.

If these accusations are correct, the market is justly condemned. But have these critics correctly judged the morality of the free market? Let?s re-examine their charges.

I. Selfishness

The market, it is suggested, is based on and encourages an ethic of selfishness. According to critics of the market, mere survival in this competitive economic system requires that we each ?look after Number One.? Individuals are encouraged to focus on the profit motive to the exclusion of higher goals and as a result selfishness becomes almost a virtue. And this, it is noted, is in stark contrast with the self-sacrificial love taught by the Scriptures. Instead of rewarding love, compassion, and kindness towards others, the free market seems to reward self-orientation and self-indulgence. Instead of encouraging us to be concerned about our neighbor, the free market seems to encourage us to be concerned about ourselves. Individuals who might otherwise be benevolent, according to this view, are corrupted by the demands of an economic system that forces them to put themselves first. In the thinking of these critics, the market is the logical precursor to the ?me generation.?

However, this charge is superficial and misleading in several respects. It is important to remember that while the free market does allow ?self-directed? economic actions, it does not require ?selfish? economic actions. There is an important distinction here. it should be obvious that all human action is self-directed, Each of us has been created with a mind, allowing us to set priorities and goals, and a will, which enables us to take steps to realize these goals. This is equally true for those who live in a market economy and those who live under a politically directed economy. The difference between the two systems is not between self-directed action versus non-self-directed action, but rather between a peaceful pursuit of goals (through voluntary exchange in a free economy) versus a coercive pursuit of goals (through wealth transferred via the state in a ?planned? economy). In other words, the only question is how will self-directed action manifest itself: will it take place through mutually beneficial economic exchanges, or through predatory political actions?

Clearly the free market cannot be singled out and condemned for allowing self-directed actions to take place, since self-directed actions are an inescapable part of human life. But can it be condemned for giving rise to selfishness? In other words, does the free market engender an attitude of selfishness in individuals? If we define selfishness as a devotion to one?s own advantage or welfare without regard for the welfare of others, it is incontestable that selfishness does exist in the free economy; many individuals act with only themselves ultimately in mind. And it is true, that according to the clear teaching of Scripture, selfishness is wrong.

But we must bear in mind that although selfishness does exist in the free market, it also exists under other economic systems. Is the Soviet factory manager less selfish than the American capitalist? Is greed any less prevalent in the politically directed system which operates via perpetual bribes, theft from state enterprises, and political purges? There is no reason to think so. The reason for this is clear: selfishness is not an environmentally induced condition, i.e., a moral disease caused by the economic system, but rather a result of man?s fallen nature. It is out of the heart, as Christ said, that a man is defiled. Moral failure is not spawned by the environment.

It is clear that not all self-directed action is necessarily selfish action. For example, when I enter the marketplace in order to earn wealth to feed, clothe, house, and provide education or medical care for my children, I am not acting selfishly. Likewise, if you or I want to extend charity to a needy neighbor or friend, we must first take ?self-directed? action to create the wealth necessary to do so. Such action is hardly selfish.

The point is this: the free market allows individuals to peacefully pursue their chosen goals and priorities, but it doesn?t dictate or determine those priorities. It does not force an individual to focus on his own needs and desires, but leaves him or her at liberty to be self-centered or benevolent. My ultimate goal may be self- indulgence, or I may make a high priority of looking after others?the choice is mine. As to which I should do, the market is silent. As an economic system, the market simply does not speak in favor of selfish or unselfish priorities.

However, the free market, while not touching the heart of a man or eliminating selfishness, does in fact restrain selfishness. It channels self-centered desires into actions that are beneficial to others. This is so because in order to ?get ahead? in the free economy, we must first please other people by producing something which is of use and value to them. In other words, the market disciplines each of us to look outwards and serve others. Only by doing so can we persuade them to give us what we want in exchange.

We will rerum to this theme later, but for now the point is that in a very practical sense, the workings of the market persuade even the most self-indulgent among us to serve others and to be concerned about the needs and wants of his neighbor. True, the motivation for doing so is not necessarily pure or unselfish, but as the Bible so clearly teaches, it is only God who can change the hearts of men.

Furthermore, the free market, because of the incredible wealth it allows to be created, makes living beyond ourselves practicable. In order to show tangible love toward our neighbor (minister to his or her physical needs) we must first have the wealth to do so.

We sometimes need to be reminded that wealth is not the natural state of affairs. Throughout most of history the majority of people lived under some sort of centrally controlled economic system and were forced to devote most of their energies to mere survival. Often all but the wealthiest individuals lacked the economic means to look much beyond themselves and to aid others who were in need.

But the productivity spawned by economic freedom has radically changed this. In a free market, we are not only able to choose unselfish values and priorities, but we are also able to create the wealth necessary to fulfill them practically.

II. Materialism

Another moral indictment of the market, closely related to the charge of selfishness, is the belief that the market fosters materialism. The example most often used to demonstrate the market?s guilt in this area is the perceived evil effect of advertising. It is contended that advertising creates a sort of ?lust? in the hearts of consumers by persuading them that mere material possessions will bring joy and fulfillment.

In this sense, the market is condemned for creating a spirit of materialism and fostering an ethic of acquisitiveness. The market in general, and advertising specifically, is a persistent temptress encouraging each of us to concentrate on the lowest level of life, mere material goods.

This charge can be answered in much the same manner as the charge of selfishness. Just as allowing free exchange doesn?t require selfishness, neither does it require materialism. It is true that when people are economically free, materialism is possible, and certainly there are materialistic people in market economies. But this hardly warrants a condemnation of the market. Materialism, like selfishness, can and will occur under any economic system. It is obvious that a desire for material goods is far from being unique to capitalism. Witness, for example, the response of shoppers as a store puts out a new rack of genuine cotton shirts in Moscow or a shipment of fresh meat arrives in a Krakow shop.

Although the role of advertising has been much maligned, it in fact provides a vital service to consumers. Advertising conveys information. It tells consumers what products are available, how these products can meet their needs, and what important differences exist among competing products. The fact that this is a valuable function becomes apparent if you imagine trying to buy a used car in a world without advertising. Either your choice of cars would be severely limited (to those cars you happen to stumble upon, i.e., gain knowledge of) or you would have to pay more (in the form of time and resources used in seeking out and comparing cars). In either case, without the ?free? knowledge provided by advertising, you would be much worse off.

But the economic role of advertising aside, does advertising actually ?create? a desire for goods? If it does, why do businesses in market-oriented economics spend billions of dollars each year on consumer research to find out what customers want? Why do some advertised products not sell (for example, the Edsel) or cease to sell well (for example the hula hoop)? In the market economy consumers are the ultimate sovereigns of production. Their wants and priorities dictate what is produced; what is produced doesn?t determine their wants and priorities. Many bankrupt businessmen, left with unsalable (at a profitable price) products wistfully wish that the reverse were true.

Moreover, the Bible consistently rejects any attempt by man to ascribe his sinful tendencies to his environment. If I am filled with avarice when I see an advertisement for a new Mercedes, I cannot place the blame on the advertisement. Rather I must recognize that I am responsible for my thoughts and desires, and that the problem lies within myself. After all, I could feel equally acquisitive if I just saw the Mercedes on the street rather than in an advertisement. Is it wrong for the owner of the Mercedes to incite my desires by driving his car where I might see it? Hardly.

Just as God did not allow Adam to blame Satan (the advertiser?and a blatantly false advertiser at that) or the fruit (the appealing material good) for his sin in the Garden, we cannot lay the blame for materialism on the free market or on advertising. The materialist?s problem is the sin within his heart, not his environment.

If we follow the environmental explanation of materialism to its logical conclusion, the only solution would appear to be doing away with all wealth (i.e., eliminate all possible temptation). If this were the appropriate solution to the moral problem of materialism, perhaps the moral high ground must be conceded to the state-run economies of the world after all. They have been overwhelmingly successful at destroying wealth and wealth- creating capital!

III. Impersonalism And Individualism

Another common criticism of the market economy is its supposed impersonal nature and what some have called ?individualistic anarchy.? According to many Christian critics, the market encourages self-centered behavior and discourages relational ties in society. The non-personal market allocation of goods and services is seen to be antithetical to the seemingly higher and more noble goal of a loving and interdependent community. Because of the economic independence that the market affords, the individual is cut off from meaningful relationships with his fellow human beings and divorced from any purpose beyond his own interests. In short, the free market is accused of breeding a pathetic and inhumane isolation.

But does the market encourage impersonal behavior? Certainly not. It is important to understand that the presence of economic freedom does not require that all transactions and relationships take place on an impersonal level. For example, many people have good friendships with their customers, suppliers, employees, or employers. While these relationships are economic, they are not merely economic and they are not impersonal.

Furthermore, while the market leaves us free to deal with other people solely on the basis of economic motives, we are not required nor even necessarily encouraged to do so. We are completely free to deal on a non- economic basis. Suppose that I am in the business of selling food, and I find that someone is so poor that he has nothing to trade for the food that I am offering for sale. In the free market I am completely free to act apart from economic motives and make a charitable gift of the food. I have in no way lost my ability to act in a personal and non-economic way.

Community Relationships

So the market is not an inherently impersonal economic system. Nor is it hostile to the formation of community relationships.

An excellent example of a community which exists within the market system is the family. Obviously I deal with my wife and children in a non-market manner. I give them food, shelter, clothing, and so on, and I certainly don?t expect any economic gain in return. I do so joyfully, because I love my family and I value my relationship with them far above the economic benefits I forgo. Another example is the church. I have a non-economic and very personal relationship with people in my church. And there are countless teams, clubs, organizations, and associations which I can join, if I choose. If I want, I can even become part of a commune. The market economy doesn?t stand in the way of, or discourage, any of these expressions of community.

But now we come to the heart of this objection against the market: what if people will not voluntarily choose to relate to each other in personal or community-type relationships? What if they choose not to look beyond their own interests and work for some purpose larger than themselves? The answer to this is the rather obvious question: Who should decide? what is the appropriate degree of relationship and community?

True community, I submit, is something which must be consensual, meaning it must be voluntarily established. Think of a marriage or a church. If people do not choose to enter into these relationships when they are free to do so, we may judge their action to be a mistake, but by what standard can we try to coerce them into such relationships? Even if there were some objective standard of ?optimum community,? it is not at all clear that we would create it by robbing people of their economic freedom. There is no reason to believe that individuals living under a system of economic ?planning? are less isolated or have more community by virtue of their system. The fact that individuals are forced into a collective group hardly means that a loving and caring community will result. Love and care are things which cannot be coercively extracted, but must be freely given.

Moreover, the free market actually encourages the formation and maintenance of the most basic human community?the family. As the utopian socialists of past centuries?including Marx and Engels?recognized, there is a vital connection between private property and the integrity of the family. Destroy the one, they reasoned, and the other will soon disintegrate.

Their motives were suspect but their analysis was correct. When the state fails to protect private property and instead takes over the functions traditionally provided by the family (such as education, day care, health care, sickness and old-age support), the family unit is inevitably weakened. Family bonds are undermined as the economic resources which formerly allowed the family to ?care for its own? are transferred to the state. There is little doubt that the disintegration of the family in our country is in large part due to state intervention. Instead of turning toward and receiving personal care from within the family, individuals have been encouraged to turn toward the impersonal state. The result has been the disintegration of family bonds. It is state economic intervention?not the free market system?which is inherently impersonal and antithetical to true human community.

IV. Economic Power

The objection to the market on the grounds of impersonalism is based on the same fallacy as were the previously discussed charges of selfishness and materialism. Each of these claims indicts the market for ills which in fact are common to all mankind?faults that would exist under any economic system. Impersonalism, selfishness, and materialism are the consequence of the fall of man, not the fruit of an economic system which allows freedom. If these sinful tendencies are an inescapable reality, the question that must be asked is: ?What economic system best restrains sin??

This brings us to a fourth moral objection to the market which is often espoused by the Christians of the left: that the market, which is often pictured as a ?dog-eat-dog? or ?survival of the fittest? system, leaves men free to oppress each other. It allows the economically powerful to arbitrarily oppress the economically weak, the wealthy to tread upon and exploit the poor. According to this view, wealth is power, and those with wealth will not necessarily use their power wisely and justly. Because the nature of man is what it is, this ?economic power? must be checked by the state and restrained for the public good.

But does the market in fact allow individuals to exploit others? To begin with, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about this thing called ?economic power,? The term is in fact somewhat of a misnomer. When we speak of power, we normally refer to the ability to force or coerce something or someone to do what we de sire. The motor in your car has the power to move the car down the road; this is mechanical power. The police officer has the power to arrest and jail a lawbreaker; this is civil power. But what of economic power? If I possess a great deal of wealth, what unique ability does this wealth confer?

In reality what the critics of the market call economic power is only the ability to please others, and thus ?economic power? is not power in the true sense of the word. Regardless of a person?s wealth, in the free market he can get what he wants only by pleasing another person through offering to exchange something which the other deems more valuable. Wealth (assuming it is not used to buy political power) doesn?t bestow the ability to apply force to or dominate another individual.

Take for example the employer of labor, an individual who is often considered to be the embodiment of economic power and an exploiter of those less powerful than himself. It is often forgotten that an employer can get what he wants?employees for his business?only by offering something which pleases them, namely a wage which they consider better than not working, or better than working for someone else. He has no power to force them to come and work for him, but only the power to offer them a better alternative.

What ensures that he will want to make them a pleasing offer? The fact that doing so is the only way to get what he is interested in, namely their labor, provides a very strong incentive. But suppose the prospective employee is in very desperate straits and almost any wage, even one which seems pitifully low, will please him enough to work for the employer. In this situation, it seems as if the employer can get away with paying ?slave wages? and exploiting the economically weaker employee.

This scenario, however, ignores the effects of the competition among employers for employees. In the market economy, employers are in constant competition with other employers for the services of employees. They are ?disciplined? by this competition to offer top wages to attract workers. Because of competition, wages are ?bid up? to the level at which the last employee hired will be paid a wage which is very nearly equivalent to the value of what he produces. As long as wages are less than this level, it pays an employer to hire another employee, since doing so will add to his profits. Economists call this the marginal productivity theory of wages.

But what if there were no competing employers? For example, what about a ?one-company town?? Without competition, wouldn?t the employer be able to exploit the employees and pay ?unfair? wages?

First of all, it is important to remember that in the free market, an economic exchange occurs only because the two trading parties believe that they will be better off after the exchange. In other words, all exchanges are ?positive sum? in that both parties benefit. Thus if an employee in this one-company town is willing to work for low wages, it is only because he or she places a higher value on remaining in the town and working for a lower wage than moving to another place and finding a higher paying job. The ?power? that the employer wields is still only the ability to offer a superior alternative to the employee. In choosing to remain and work for a lower wage, the employee is likely considering other costs such as those of relocating, finding another job, and retraining, as well as nonmonetary costs, such as the sacrifice of local friendships or the sacrifice of leaving a beautiful and pleasant town.

Moreover, this situation cannot last for long. If the employer can pay wages that are significantly lower than elsewhere, he will reap above-average profits and this in turn will attract other employers to move in and take advantage of the ?cheap labor.? In so doing, these new employers become competitors for employees. They must offer higher wages in order to persuade employees to come and work for them, and as a result wages eventually will be bid up to the level prevailing elsewhere.

Economic Ability to Please

What is true for the employer in relation to the employee is true for all economic relationships in the free market. Each individual, though he may be a tyrant at heart, can succeed only by first benefiting others?by providing them with an economic service. Regardless of the amount of wealth he possesses, he is never freed from this requirement. Economic ?power? is only the economic ability to please, and as such it is not something to be feared. Far from allowing men to oppress each other, the free market takes this sinful drive for power and channels it into tangible service for others.

It is also important to consider that the only alternative to the free market is the political direction of economic exchanges. As the Public Choice theorists have so convincingly pointed out in recent years, there is no good reason to suppose that people become less self-interested when they enter the political sphere. In other words, to paraphrase Paul Craig Roberts, there is not necessarily a ?Saul to Paul conversion? when an individual enters government. If he was power-hungry while he was a private-market participant, he likely will be power-hungry after he becomes a ?public servant.?

But there is an important difference. In contrast with economic power, political power is truly something to be feared because of its coercive aspect. The power-seeking individual in government has power in the true sense of the word. While in the market he has to please those he deals with in order to be economically successful, the same is not true, or is true to a far lesser degree, in the political sphere. In the political sphere he can actually abuse one group of people but still succeed by gaining the favor of other groups of people.

A classic example is a tariff. This economic intervention benefits a small group of producers (and those who work for or sell to the producers) at the expense of consumers who have to pay higher prices for the good in question. The politician gains in power (and perhaps wealth) because of the significant support he can receive from the small but well-organized group of producers. Other examples of the use of political power that clearly benefit some individuals at the expense of others are government bail-outs, subsidies, price supports, and licens ing monopolies. The fact that these types of legislation continue despite the fact that they harm people (usually the least wealthy and most poorly organized) demonstrates the tendency of mankind to abuse political power.

In fact, virtually every state intervention into the economy is for the purpose of benefiting one party at the expense of another. In each of the cases mentioned above, some are exploited by others via the medium of the state. Therefore, if we are concerned about the powerful oppressing the weak, we should focus our attention on the abuse of political power. It, and not the so-called ?economic power? of individuals acting within the free market, is the true source of tyranny and oppression. Our concern for the downtrodden should not lead us to denigrate economic freedom but rather to restrain the sphere of civil authority.

V. Conclusion

The free market is innocent of the charges leveled at it by its Christian critics. Its alleged moral shortcomings turn out to be things which are common to mankind under both free and command economic systems. While it is true that the free market restrains human sin, it makes no pretense of purging people of their selfishness, materialism, individualism, and drive for power. And this, perhaps, is the true sin in the eyes of the market?s critics.

The market is explicitly non-utopian. It doesn?t promise to recreate man in a new and more perfect state, but rather it acknowledges the moral reality of man and works to restrain the outward manifestations of sin. In this sense the free market is in complete accord with Biblical teachings. According to Scripture, man cannot be morally changed through any human system, be it religious, political, or economic, but moral regeneration comes solely through the grace of God.

If the Christian critics of the market expect an economic system to change the moral character of people, they are sadly mistaken. Such a task is clearly beyond the ability of any human institution or authority. We must be content to restrain the outward expression of sin, and this is something which the free market does admirably.

I want tomar to complete this order
For this task I would like you to write 50 words for each question.


1. Should Australia resort to protectionism to deal with the challenge of economic globalisation in general and growing competition from Asian economic powers in particular?


2. What are the pros and cons of multilateral and bilateral trade?

3. Is the US-Australia FTA a good deal?


4. Given the capability of nuclear weapons and the mass causalties and destruction that they can cause, should non-proliferation efforts in relation to state and non-state or rogue actors be the same?
Ie should we allow states to have nuclear weapons more so than rogue actors or should a hard and fast rule be applied to all?

5. It has always been assumed that Israel has nuclear weapons despite their refusal to admit so. This situation may repeat itself in the future with states holding nuclear weapons whist refusing to acknowledge their existence. This then presents a brick wall to non-proliferation efforts. How do we deal with states such as Israel who refuse to acknowledge they are holding nuclear weapons in moving forward with our non-proliferation efforts???

6. The IAEA has these enhanced powers. Yet they are individually negotiated by member states.

So I ask, what is the point of the IAEA at all if those states who are serious about developing nuclear weapons simply don't sign up?

This might 'flush them out' because we can assume that those non-signatories are dodgy; but this in itself does very little to bring the realization of a nuclear free world to fruition. It seems to me that no body is serious enough about non-proliferation to actually commit to it meaningfully.

Thoughts?

7. Without more up-to-date and robust measures adopted by the international community that specifically focus on containing 'vertical' proliferation of nuclear weapons, are we likely to see more unilateral and confrontational action by states such as US? (and China with respect to North Korea?).

Is it beyond the power of international institutions and community of states to control the transfer of technology, know-how and materials to upgrade and increase nuclear arsenal once a state has crossed the horizontal threshold?

8. I was looking on the DFAT website and came across the page below.

http://www.dfat.gov.au/security/aus_uran_exp_policy.html

It states that Australia may only export uranium for non-explosive purposes. My question is what (if anything) can be done if an NWS uses uranium bought from Australia to produce nuclear weaponary. My guess would be very little. And if this is the case, why would Australia continue to export uranium knowing this.
Thoughts?

Below please find the outline submitted for the paper. Please include all points mentioned and any other you may find in your research (statistics etc.). Use parenthetical citations unless a direct quote. The university is extremely critical with citation please use freely.

Globalization and the Impact on US Manufacturing

I. Introduction

A decade ago, the debate about manufacturing leaving the U.S. focused on the jobs being pulled into Mexico. Today, it is more urgent than ever, but its source is no longer just south of the border. Open up the business section of any newspaper or perhaps read your own employers latest press release and you will quite likely learn about manufacturing relocating to Brazil, China, India, Bulgaria or Malaysia.
Economy.com, an economic consulting firm in West Chester, Pa., estimates 1.3 million manufacturing jobs have been moved abroad since the beginning of 1992 the bulk coming in the last three years. Most of those jobs have gone to Mexico and East Asia.

II. Describe the events in the world economy of the past 20 years.

A. Encouraging and liberalizing international trade between countries

1. Organizations have been established to regulate global commerce, such as the WTO.

2. Numerous treaties and alliances have been signed between countries to ease trade and reduce barriers, such as NAFTA

3. The relative importance of international trade in the world economy had greatly increased: from 5.5 percent in l950 to 17.2 percent in 2000

B. Developing countries economy

1. In 1950 the United States was THE economic power, and by the mid 1970s Europe and Japan were clearly established as major global players, by 2000, emerging Asiaespecially China and India, but also a number of other countrieshad become a significant economic force in the international economy.

2. Most of the transition economies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are realizing above-average rates of economic growth and integrating into the world economy.

C. A third major change has been the rapid increase in integration of global financial markets.

1. In 1952, only seven countries (U.S., Canada, and five Latin American countries) had free exchange rate regimes for current account transactions as set out in Article VIII. Today, 164 countries have accepted Article VIII obligations, while capital account transactions are much freer than they were.

III. How technology has contributed to the globalization of markets and productions.

A. It is generally agreed that the technological revolution of the past few decades has had major contribution to the globalization of markets and productions.

1. The technological innovations have supported the unification of international markets as it eased communications and the data sharing process between players on the economic stage.
2. Ricardos theory of Comparative Advantages has also been implemented in the technological sector in the meaning that countries began to trade technological appliances as to increase the efficiency of their operations and reduce costs.

IV. Why US manufacturing companies are moving their facilities to China, Mexico and developing countries.

A. Lower Labor Costs

1. Many of the factory jobs are being cut as companies respond to a sharp rise in global competition. Unable to raise prices and often forced to cut them companies must find any way they can to reduce costs and hang onto profits.
2. Jobs are increasingly being moved abroad as companies take advantage of lower labor costs and position themselves to sell products to a growing and promising market abroad.

B. Restrictive and counter-productive government regulations

1. The area of environmental compliance, encourage many companies to look outside the U.S.



C. Lower material and natural resource costs

1. Natural resources have become insufficient and corporations are moving their operations to less developed countries as to get increased access to the natural resources
2. Lower costs of materials, generally a direct result of suppliers having lower-cost structures, as well, is another driving force

V. What are some possible solutions to mending US Manufacturing?

A. Dollar relief
1. There are both short-term and long-term policy options for the problems posed by the U.S. trade deficits that resulted from the overvalued dollar. In the short term, the U.S. dollar should fall against a broader range of currencies, especially those that are currently pegged to the dollar (China, Malaysia, and Taiwan). In the long-term, the United States should adopt exchange rate policies that keep large trade deficits from recurring.

B. Trade policy relief

1. Enforceable labor and environmental standards codified in trade agreements would keep U.S. manufacturing firms and workers from being undermined by trading partner countries that gain advantages through the exploitation of their human and natural resources

C. Rebuilding labor capacity in manufacturing

1. Investments in workers' skills can result in substantial positive externalities (spillovers) for the economy at large. Policy initiatives aimed at upgrading workers' skillsespecially initiatives targeted at production workers, a group that often goes lacking in terms of employer-provided trainingwould have a significant effect on filling new manufacturing job opportunities.

D. Lean Manufacturing

1. A manufacturer that can reduce direct labor costs by 50 percent slashes the potential benefit of lower-cost labor by half as well. Reducing defects cuts the need for generally labor-intensive rework, further reducing the attraction of low-cost labor. In many industries, the cost of direct labor is less than 15 percent even prior to lean efforts. As this number is reduced, there becomes less and less incentive to drive decisions primarily on this component of total cost.

2. Lean technology can also impact other factors that drive manufacturers overseas. For example, the high cost of dealing with hazardous waste products has forced some manufacturers overseas where environmental controls are less restrictive.





References

Bivens, Josh., Scott, Robert., & Weller, Christian. (2003, September). Mending Manufacturing. Economic Policy Institute.

Freeman, C., 1989, New technology and Catching Up, The European Journal of Development Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 85-99.

Haces, T.G., Nicolas, D.H., 1996, Economic Change and the Need for a New Federalism: Lessons from Mexicos Northern States, American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 26.
Hagenbaugh , Barbara. (2002, December 12). U.S. manufacturing jobs fading away fast. USA Today.
Hill, Charles W.L. (Ed.). (2007). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Rink, Jack. (2006, February 02). Lean Manufacturing Can Save American Manufacturing. Maintenance World.

Singh, A., 1994, Global Economic Changes, Skills and International Competitiveness, International Labor Review, Vol. 133.

answer these 2 essay questions. 1 pg and a half each answer.
1. The balance of power principle has been central to both the theory and practice of international politics for many centuries. However, the balance of power idea is nebulous. Define balance of power (25%) and use three major wars or peace conferences to explain how and why the policy of balancing was taken. They include but are not limited to the Thirty Years War/Westphalia Conference, the War of Spanish Succession/Utrecht Conference, the Seven Years War, and the Napoleonic War/Vienna Conference (25% for each case).
2. Paul Kennedy argues that victory in a major war tends to go to the side with more economic power. Use the concept of components of war (1/3 of 50 points) and two wars (1/3 for each example) to support or refute his argument.
*use Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers if you need it.
*textbook used for class is International Relations by Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon C. Pevenhouse.

?Roger and Me? ? Film ? By Michael Moore - The basis and resource for this essay.

Background - If I were to begin a lecture with the sentence Political power has widespread consequences, I would probably not be off to a good start with some of my audience. After all, everyone knows that widespread consequences are the business of politics. Yet most people seem generally unaware of just how far-reaching the results of political decisions can be. For example, many American families are today experiencing problems caused by a declining standard of living. Perhaps a parent becomes unemployed, develops emotional problems, and then gets reports from school that the kids are not doing well. We tend to interpret these as personal problems--and then to stigmatize them and ostracize their sufferers--without asking whether the problems might have resulted from political decisions such as giving tax breaks to American corporations that relocate operations--and jobs--abroad. So we apply counseling solutions to the problems but may never get at their roots. Indeed, we may see the problems get worse despite our best efforts.

What some films and novels have in common is that they trace connections between the exercise of political power and everyday situations in which we find ourselves: auto workers being laid off ("Roger and Me"), people dealing with their own and others' racism ("Do the Right Thing," Invisible Man), workers wanting better working conditions and benefits ("Norma Rae"), and people trying to make sense out of life when a single missile can X-ray and evaporate half a million people (Fail Safe).

Sometimes the consequences of political decisions become evident with a little thought; sometimes they are quite effectively concealed.

Use the ideas of this material to gain a picture of how politics works and affects everyone.

Like All the President's Men, this work is a departure from fiction in film and in novels. Rather than portraying fictional characters in a contrived plot, "Roger and Me" takes us into the lives of actual men and women dealing with the all-too-real problems of the decline of the United States as a world industrial power.

The focus is on the automobile industry, in particular, on one of the early centers of that industry, Flint, Michigan. Major automakers like General Motors have for years been cutting back on production and employment. Now, many of the older plants that have been running at reduced capacity are being closed for good and their workers let go permanently.

Because Flint was heavily dependent on automaking, the effects on the local economy are disastrous. Flint seems to be in the process of turning into a postindustrial ghost town, but the agonies endured by its ordinary people make for a riveting drama.

In stark contrast to the grim realities of the little people are the lives, attitudes, and actions of the auto-industry elite: the pious but elusive Roger Smith and lesser GM officials; the privileged ladies on the golf course discoursing on the welfare system and its abuses; and local political leaders, who sometimes seem to be seeking solutions to Flint's problems and sometimes merely to be looking for palliatives--from entertainment to religion--to take people's minds off their realities.

This contrast between the situations of the relatively powerless masses and the more powerful elites is the stuff of which social satire is made. Chronicling the filmmaker's attempts to interview Roger Smith about Flint's problems and including footage of daily reality in Flint, "Roger and Me" is sometimes hilarious, sometimes outrageous, and always insightful.

As you watch this film, think about a central theme that the exercise of political and economic power (it is sometimes difficult to draw a line between the two) affects everyday life.

Key inclusion elements - Did the events in this film more or less have to happen, or did they become inevitable because of decisions that could have been made differently? Could this film be a preview of what awaits much of the rest of this country?

Development of International Trade and Commerce--History

Hi--

I need a 2 page paper answering three question on International Commerce and Trade?HISTORY. This paper will require a bit of history of the Middle Ages and the emerging of the MARKET SOCIETY or the ?PREMAKET ECONOMY?. Basically, HOW THE WEST GREW RICH. How have we become what we are now and other nations are behind and still catching up? Is it because we are a capitalist country and people are rewarded for invention and innovation, incentive to invest, etc., or is it because we were/are a decentrailized nation and others or centralized and control? How and Why have we change from Feudalism in the Middle Age (1300-1800) to Capitalism now. Is it because of The Growth of Trade in the 1800?s?, The Industrial Revolution?, The Development of Industry?, or/and The Impact of Industrial Technology? These are just basic thesis to help the direction of the report.

The three (3) questions MUST BE ANSWER as part of this essay are:

1. Both fragmentation and integration of political and economic power have contributed significantly to the growth and development of the market economies. Explain this apparent contradiction.
How has both fragmentation and integration of political and economic power contributed to the growth and development of the market economies?

2. Feudalism was a society in which economies activity was controlled by tradition and command, reference to ?moral ends?, while the market societies economic activity is controlled by capitalism reference to ?commercial ends?, resting on a foundation of shared moral values. Explain how this transition evolved. (Feudalism to Capitalism)
Explain how a Feudalist society and a market society evolved.

3. The economic growth of the West is closely associated with technological innovation. Innovation requires undertaking risks and costly experimentation. How does capitalism manage technological innovation and the cost associated with it?
How does capitalism manage technological change?

(Is it Competition? Supply/Demand? Incentives to save/invest/. Rewards for invention because of self -interest??)

These three questions are very important part of my upcoming exam and they must be answer thoroughly as part of this essay. I need this paper Tuesday, April 9th in the morning. You can bill to my credit card. Just confirm this email and let me know that this can be done on the deadline given. This is my second year at Stanford University in International Business. I await.
Thanks you.

Kao Saechao

Topic: The history and the development of the steel industry from 1875 - 1920 in the Great Lakes region.

For the past 200 years, steel has been the most essential element of an industrial society which greatly shaped the economic power of the world. Since the early 20th century, USA has become the world's strongest economic power in the world and the resources and geographical features of the Great Lake regions played a remarkable role. The steel industry of the USA is so crucial that it can be strongly associated with the globalization of a superpower. I would like to know more about the environment and the geographical features of the Great Lakes region and its influence on the history and the development of the steel industry from 1850 - 1920. It truly would be a great opportunity to delve deeper into a region that is so "close" to us and how an environment can change the world.

Tasks:
The term paper should include the following sections: introduction, main section(s), conclusion, bibliography, appendix
-Introduction: tell me what your main interest is (clearly defined research question), why I should care, how you will approach your topic and the limitations of your approach.
- Main section(s): either analytical or descriptive. Discuss main issue(s) and different perspectives on it. Material is well-focused (i.e., answers the research question). Your conclusion derives logically from your argumentation.


Please include the following references:
1) Beeton, Alfred M., and R. Stephen Schneider. "A Century of Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan." Journal of Great Lakes Research 24.3 (1998): 495-517. Web. 27 Jan. 2014
2)BELL, LOWTHIAN. "THE IRON AND STEEL TRADE." Fortnightly review, May 1865-June 1934 41.241 (1887): 88-104. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
3) Diamond, Jared . Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Company , 2005. Web. .


Please try to include the following concept:
1) Environmental Determinism

Respond to this arguement

Do We (Should We) Have a Democracy?


Do We?

Libertarians find fault with interventionist government. Contrary to their
views, interventionism is not the problem. Our real problem lies deeper, in the very
nature of our government. Its consistent failure to be responsive to the needs of citizens,
but to be solicitous, instead, of special interest groups, is symptomatic of a structural
flaw. Politics has been reduced to an arena in which rich and powerful interests vie for
greater riches and power.
This is due to a loss of individual influence in the political process, a loss that
stems from size. The public feels no sense of participation in or responsibility for
legislative decisions. This encourages governments to adopt short-term palliatives rather
than deep-seated solutions that might cause temporary pain. For the public will turn on
politicians only if it is suffering.
Special interests, called ?factions? by our founding fathers, breed in the
widening gap between representative and voter. Elected officials cater to these special
interests and disregard their constituents with impunity, for if people are economically
sated, they care little about the political arena and will passively re-elect incumbents
running smooth well-funded campaigns.
This problem must be faced by any large democracy, and it calls into question
the viability of this form of government for large heterogeneous countries. The
prototypes of successful democracies, classical Athens, Germanic tribes in the days of
the Roman Empire, the early U.S., and even the short-lived eighteenth century
democracies in Corsica and Haiti, had small, homogeneous, self-sufficient populations.
Citizens could identify with each other. It was easier to preserve a sense of community
and an interest in the common good.
Early nineteenth century New England town meetings, paragons of
democracy, were held in small communities in which citizens had similar backgrounds,
outlooks and interests. Broad political participation was common. The lack of socio-
economic status did not discourage anyone from having political opinions and expressing
them. ?American mechanics, it was said, ?are not untaught operatives, but an
enlightened, reflective people, who not only know how to use their hands, but are
familiar with principles.?? (Lasch, The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy,
p. 60.)
But as our society has grown larger and more heterogeneous, it has become
more difficult to conduct meaningful dialogue, to obtain informed consensus on issues,
and to deal with the conflicting interests. People have become less inclined to transcend
their private interests in favor of needs of the community. Attitudes have increasingly
diverged from those regarded by the classical Athenians as integral and necessary to
democracy. This calls attention to one of Tocqueville?s chief concerns: Can participatory
democracy be viable on a large scale?
That remains a critical question today, more than 150 years later. Of course,
the politically correct answer is that the U.S. is even now a perfect example of a viable
democracy.
But do we really have a democracy? In the wake of the growth of mega-
corporations, which have replaced small proprietorships and farms over the last century
and a half, participatory democracy has declined. Our practice of democracy, broad-
based public participation in the political process, has been subtly transformed. While we
have retained the forms of democracy, we have auctioned off its substance and its spirit.
We are not unique in this. ?Romans liked to congratulate themselves for
following what they called mos maiorum ? ?the ways of our ancestors?. They were fond
of old traditions and liked to keep alive old ways of doing things? Even when doing
something new, the Romans liked to wrap it up in antique packaging. The names and
forms of many republican institutions ? and the delusion that the state was a republic
and not a monarchy ? endured long after they ceased to be appropriate.? (Roberts, A
History of Europe, p. 50.)
A millennium later in a different culture: ?When a ruler assumed the throne,
there was a ceremony of investiture (bay?a), a vestige of the early Islamic convention
that the ruler was chosen by the people.? (Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, p.136.)
Public faith in the sanctity of our own mos maiorum has led us to close our
eyes to developments that subvert the spirit of democracy, for we are uncomfortable
with the politically incorrect. Yet inexorable forces have gradually pushed us in this
direction.
Nearly 200 years ago Nicholas Biddle, a staunch adversary of Andrew
Jackson, counseled William Henry Harrison?s campaign: ?Let him say not one single word
about his principles, or his creed ? let him say nothing ? promise nothing. Let no
committee, no convention ? no town meeting ever extract from him a single word about
what he thinks now, or what he will do hereafter...? (Muller, Freedom in the Modern
World, p. 87.)
Biddle?s advice was ahead of its time. As our country has grown and
prospered, the increased sophistication of marketing, the tools and techniques available
to well-funded campaigns, and the size of political spoils have changed the very nature of
the political process. Stakes have grown too high to leave politics to chance. Market
research, product selection and advertising now drive the process. Not only the tools of
advertising and marketing, but also the vehicles, the mass media, have come to play a
dominant role. Politics has become an industry driven by free market principles and in
free market vehicles.
The cost of these vehicles has imposed a new structure on politics. Politicians
at all levels understand it is the best packaging and most effective marketing that win
elections. Marketing the candidate, reaching people with a short simple message that
provides name recognition and a warm feeling, requires expensive media ads and drives
up the cost of running for office. The high cost of campaigns, which must be borne by the
candidate and his supporters, reduces the electoral process to an auction and perverts
the spirit of democracy.
In the spirit of this perversion, special interest groups are delighted to serve
as underwriters. They contribute to candidates and parties in return for influence on
legislation. These groups spend billions of dollars in the political arena to increase their
income by tens of billions through tax benefits, trade legislation, or the structure of
government programs. They profit handsomely from the privatization of government.
Little pretense is made that the aim is to benefit the American people. If it
were, special interests would not have to spend billions of dollars on lobbying. We would
not need 100,000 registered lobbyists. Nor does anyone pretend campaign contributions
are an expression of political ideology or confidence in a candidate ? for large
organizations contribute heavily to both political parties at the same time, and to anyone
likely to win.
These contributions are investments, money spent to exact favors from
whoever wins. They are good investments. If they were not, if they failed to generate
significant incremental contributions to bottom lines (at our expense, for they create no
new wealth), organizations would have stopped making such contributions long ago.
It is only natural that these investors, the campaign donors who are
responsible for who gets elected, ultimately wield the power. ?Decision making in the city
[Washington D.C.] has increasingly come to be a polling of affected campaign donors
and interest groups, rather than of the people?? (Kevin Philips, Arrogant Capital, p. 36.)
These donors use their economic power to purchase political influence to protect and
increase their economic power.
Philip Morris is one of the largest investors in the lobbying industry. Its
contributions have been directed to maximizing political leverage to advance its
economic interests. The Economist (August 31 ? September 6, 1996) reports that in
California it contributed $125,000 to a Republican candidate who barely won against an
anti-tobacco candidate and became the majority whip. This contribution and others, to
the Democratic ex-speaker of the house and the Republican attorney general, insured
California?s refusal to join other states in suing the tobacco companies.
Some states could be bought more cheaply.

Gov. Bill Owens appoints a tobacco lobbyist to head a Colorado health care agency. She
helps him craft a plan to aid uninsured breast and cervical cancer patients. The governor
puts the plan on this week?s special session agenda ? but says lawmakers must pay for
cancer treatments solely from programs designed to reduce tobacco use. Some public
health advocates say that adds up to a deliberate raid on programs proven to save
lives. ?It?s difficult to conclude anything but he?s going after tobacco prevention,? said
Bob Doyle of the American Lung Association.?
State election records show Owens received a $5,000 campaign contribution
from cigarette maker Philip Morris three weeks before announcing his plan. They also
show that Karen Reinertson, a state official who helped developed the plan, lobbied for
tobacco interests for seven years before Owens appointed her to head his Department of
Health Care Policy and Financing. (The Denver Post, September 19, 2001, p. B1.)

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Spending at the state level is small
potatoes. Given the enormous spoils at the national level, huge amounts have been
invested to sway public opinion and lawmakers? votes. ?In 1993-1994, during the height
of a national debate over health care reform, interest spending on outside lobbying alone
totaled an estimated $790 million.? (Schier, By Invitation Only: The Rise of Exclusive
Politics in the United States, p. 171.)
In a similar vein, ?The telecommunications fight pitted competing economic
interests?as they fought over the spoils. The interest that was hardly heard in the
struggle was the public?s.? (Drew, The Corruption of American Politics, p. 80.)
In some cases the quid pro quo is blatant. ?When Amway founder Richard M.
DeVos and his wife Helen each gave $500,000 to the GOP in April 1997, the payback
came from the two most powerful people in Congress. In July, Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott and House Speaker Newt Gingrich slipped a last-minute provision into the hotly
contested compromise tax bill that granted the DeVos family?s company, Amway, a tax
break on the Asian branches, saving it $19 million?. ?I know a little something about soft
money, as my family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national
Republican Party,? Betsy DeVos wrote in an op-ed for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll
Call. ?I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are
buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some
things in return.?? (Mother Jones, November-December 1998, p. 56.)
This sort of investment may skirt the legal definition of ?bribery.? But it fully
captures the essence of the term. It explains why people resort to bribery, and why we
have made it a crime. Isn?t it ironic that bribery is a felony while pseudo-bribery in the
context of political campaigns is the effective basis of our political power? Is this
compatible with democracy? And people wonder why we have lost confidence in the
system!
Even initiatives, long hoped by reformers to restore a measure of direct
democracy, have become a tool of narrow moneyed interests. It requires capital to hire
consultants to couch the initiative in the most appealing terms. It costs up to $5 per
signature to get the initiative onto the ballot. It is expensive to air the necessary
advertising. ?The single most important finding in this study concerns the crucial role of
money in campaigns on ballot questions? Time after time I have noted the initially
favorable attitudes of voters shift to negativism, in large part as a result of advertising
that is at best simplistic?and at its worst deceptive.? (Zisk, Money Media and the Grass
Roots: State Ballot Issues and the Electoral Process, p. 245, 264.)
The practice of investing in the political process to maximize influence, in
addition to forging an alliance among capital, issues and candidates, has changed our
notion of the ideal campaign and the ideal candidate. In campaigns it has replaced the
focus on broad themes geared to the general electorate with niche marketing, for this is
the most efficient use of capital.

In recent decades, parties, interests, and campaigns have discovered what has become
the most efficient way to succeed in elections and policy making.? The cost and risk of
reaching out to all citizens is increasingly irrational for these elites. Providing exclusive
invitations is the rational way to political success.? It is now possible for candidates,
parties, and interests to rule without serious regard to majority preferences.? These
strategies don?t aim at the improvement of the commons as a primary goal?but instead
serve to further narrow group or campaign goals. (Schier, By Invitation Only, p. 1-22.)

Candidates have been similarly transformed. It is less their understanding of
the issues, their commitment to a well-conceived platform, or even their character and
record in public service. It is more their ability to play the role designed by the
professional political team.
Perversely, this has made the selection procedure for the best candidates
incompatible with a selection procedure for the best elected officials. ?The new
technology has fundamentally altered the way in which the modern political candidate
perceives his role. The great statesmen of the past saw themselves as heroes who took
on the burden of their societies? painful journey from the familiar to the as yet unknown.
The modern politician is less interested in being a hero than a superstar. Heroes walk
alone; stars derive their status from approbation. Heroes are defined by inner values,
stars by consensus. When a candidate?s views are forged in focus groups and ratified by
television anchor-persons, insecurity and superficiality become congenital?. Glibness
rather than profundity, adeptness rather than analytical skill constitute their dominant
traits.? (Kissinger, Years of Renewal, p. 29, 1066.)
Our government sounds disturbingly like Plato?s cynical caricature of
democracy in The Republic. ?[W]ith a magnificent indifference to the sort of life a man
has led before he enters politics, it would promote to honor anyone who merely calls
himself the people?s friend.... Accordingly, we can now go back to describe how the
democratic type develops from the oligarchical. I imagine it usually happens in this way.
When a young man, bred, as we were saying, in a stingy and uncultivated home, has
once tasted the honey of the drones and keeps company with these dangerous and
cunning creatures, who know how to purvey pleasures in all their multitudinous variety,
then the oligarchical constitution of his soul begins to turn into a democracy.?
Plato?s insights notwithstanding, we have evolved in just the opposite
direction. As our government has become less responsive to citizens and more solicitous
of groups that fund campaigns, we have moved away from democracy and toward
oligarchy or plutocracy.
Reflecting the distance between the reality of our political power structure and
democracy, John Ralston Saul (Voltaire?s Bastards) characterizes our government as
corporatist, rather than democratic. Corporatism deals with organizations ?
corporations, unions, lobbies ? rather than individuals. It was preached by nineteenth
century political philosophers and reached its zenith in the fascist regime of Mussolini.
Our present alignment of government with such interests constitutes the central element
of corporatism. Even the trappings, including the use of symbolism as a substitute for
substantive political debate, are characteristic of corporatism.
(It might be objected that the comparison with Mussolini?s fascism is overly
harsh; for in fascist Italy, the government controlled the corporations and told them what
to do. By contrast, in our political-economic structure, corporations are autonomous.
Such an objection is overstated. In Mussolini?s Italy the largest and most powerful
corporations had Il Duce?s ear and were able to influence government policy. Many made
their own decisions as much as contemporary corporations do. And Mussolini effectively
guaranteed huge profits to cooperative corporations. What more could one want?)
Many political and social scientists defend a clone of corporatism. They are
faced with the politically uncomfortable reality that all important public decisions are
made by a privileged elite, the top echelon of powerful organizations. So they have
argued ? unconvincingly ? that our elitism is pluralist and that this pluralism makes it
compatible with traditional democratic ideals. Even if our elitism were pluralist, it would
still be incompatible with traditional democratic values. A pluralist elite would only
broaden the oligarchy.
This attempt to justify pluralist corporatism blurs the distinction between
democracy and corporatism. It is already too easy to slide from the former to the latter.
This makes it even easier. It exacerbates a most worrisome aspect of our drift toward
corporatism ? that it has occurred so gradually and so naturally that we are unaware of
the extent to which the nature of our government has changed. It is not that large
corporations stealthily executed a coup d??tat. This change did not require subversion or
anything sinister. Our government, under subtle but constant pressure, has gradually
metamorphosed. One can trace this development, in an oversimplified way, through
remarks from past presidents:
?There was a time when corporations played a very minor part in our
business affairs, but now they play the chief part, and most men are the servants of
corporations.? (Woodrow Wilson)
?The chief business of the American people is business.? (Warren Harding)
?This administration is not sympathetic to corporations, it is indentured to
corporations.? (Richard Nixon)
This transition illustrates the enormous power exerted over time by
corporations acting rationally in their economic self-interest. It is in their economic
interest to have a favorable public image, independent of their actual business practices.
Thanks to the power of mass media, the image they have been able to fabricate is totally
benign. Whatever the reality, we are unable to penetrate this self-serving facade.
As but one measure of the power of corporate advertising to confound our
perception, The Bureau of National Affairs estimates that the monetary value of
corporate crime is 10 times greater than that of individual crime. ?One study of seventy
of the nation?s largest manufacturing, mining, and mercantile corporations revealed that
60 percent had been convicted of criminal charges on an average of four times each.?
(Spence, With Justice for None, p.284.) But despite our concern with crime, we are blind
to this. For large corporations, through their advertising muscle, control the media and
determine how we view them. They influence even news reporting and blur the
difference between objective news and self-serving infomercials.
Just as it is in the interest of corporations to shape a benign image, it is in
their interest to bend government policies to their favor. The exercise of such influence
has increased gradually over decades, and at all levels of government. Corporate
officers can now argue that since other corporations and special interest groups are
procuring government policies favorable to them, it would be irresponsible to their
shareholders if they neglected to do the same. It is hardly surprising that it has become
common and accepted corporate practice to influence government policies in areas of
concern.
As one result of this practice, in the 1980s interest deductions ? not granted
to individuals ? enabled corporations to significantly reduce their tax bill. The ability to
purchase net operating losses to generate tax deductions further reduced corporate
income taxes. In 1950 corporate taxes produced four times as much revenue as payroll
taxes. Now, reflecting the political clout of corporations and the lack of political clout of
payroll workers, payroll taxes generates three times the revenue of corporate taxes. In
the past two decades the corporate share of federal income taxes has declined from one
third to one-tenth. In 1998, more than half of our 250 largest corporations paid effective
federal income tax rates of less than 10%.
Enron, one of the largest contributors to political campaigns, and cited by
some authors as the model modern energy corporation, paid no federal taxes at all from
1996 through 1999, despite financial statements showing a net income of $2.3
billion. ?Enron documents suggest General Electric, Microsoft, Merck and other giants
were involved in similar dealings. Additionally ? as illustrated by the recent debacle at
Sprint Corp. ? corporate executives have been using complex shelters to avoid paying
income taxes on their massive stock options profits.? (Al Lewis, The Denver Post,
February 16, 2003)
As corporations have become more successful in these efforts, our political system has
moved further from its origins as a democracy. What remains of our democracy is its
symbolism. We have our mos maiorum in quadrennial presidential election dramas,
presented by the media as a political Super Bowl. Even biennial congressional elections
are presented with all the drama and passion of a televised high school football game.
But if you consider where the political power really lies, it is with large corporations,
unions and special interest groups.
It is not that corporatism is necessarily a bad form of government, despite
representing a concentration of political and economic power antithetic to the vision of
our founding fathers. South and East Asian countries have practiced it and have
generated high levels of economic growth, much of it benefiting ordinary citizens. (One
reason we have done poorly is that we are mediocre corporatists, preoccupied with the
short term.)
Our problem is that we have failed to examine the merits and pitfalls of
corporatism, much less the culture necessary to make corporatism effective. Rather, we
have pursued corporatist policies blindly, unaware of our self-deception. We have
pretended to have a democracy, while autonomous economic interests wield the real


There are faxes for this order.

One of the most critical outcomes of armed conflict is the impact on societies. Armed conflict has far-reaching effects and substantially impacts societies. Below is a list of conflicts the United States fought after 1918.

Choose one (1) conflict from the list below:
World War II
Korean Conflict
Vietnam Conflict
Cold War
Analyze two to three (2?3) major consequences the conflict had on United States? society.
How did this war affect American sensibilities, including the way Americans viewed the war and themselves?
Did the war change America?s role in the world? Explain your answer.
Was the outcome of the war beneficial or detrimental to the United States (or a combination both)?
Note: The scope of this assignment is to analyze how U.S. society changed due to armed conflict and not to provide a summary of the conflict.

Resources:

Article
The Revolutionary War
Americans first engaged in war during the founding of their country. By 1775, colonists in America were distinguishable from their British counterparts in a variety of ways. The colonists lived their lives without a formal aristocratic class. Also, many more colonists were in possession of real property than in Britain, had a lower rate of poverty, and were more agrarian than those living on the British Isles. Furthermore, the colonists were more religiously pluralistic. Such differences led to escalating tension as the colonists saw themselves as increasingly divergent from their Old World counterparts.

Specific events that led to the Revolutionary War include a series of acts in which the British Parliament placed restrictions or increased taxes on the colonies. Perhaps the most notable was the Stamp Act of 1765, which was imposed upon the colonies after a costly seven-year war with France, known as the French and Indian War. Colonists protested the Stamp Act because they felt it amounted to taxation without parliamentary representation.

Colonists also disagreed with a provision in the act which stated that those who violated the Stamp Act would be tried in court without a jury. Subsequent taxes were levied, including a tax on tea that famously led colonists dressed as Native Americans to destroy 342 containers of tea in Boston Harbor, which later became known as the Boston Tea Party. The British government responded harshly to these protests, especially in Massachusetts. Subsequently, the colonists countered with boycotts. This culminated in a meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774 to organize resistance against the British government. By April of 1775, skirmishes at Lexington and Concord prompted a Second Continental Congress to meet, in which George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. In 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, effectively declaring war against the British.

The Revolutionary War had far-reaching consequences. Not only did it result in the formation of a country bound to become extremely powerful and influential in later centuries but it also foreshadowed independence movements and revolutions in the New World and Europe. The American Revolution provided a model for the later revolutions in France and against the colonial dominance of Spain in the New World. The revolution also resulted in an early experiment in democracy, constitutional government, and an adherence to the rule of law as opposed to monarchy and aristocratic privilege. Following the revolution, middling elements of American society began to participate more often in the political process. Ideas like liberty and freedom, fundamental to the American Revolution, raised questions that eventually eradicated ancient institutions such as slavery and instituted universal suffrage, slowly broadening democratic institutions to encompass all citizens and eliminating privilege.

Although the Revolutionary War won American colonists their independence from Great Britain, serious tensions still existed between Britain and its former North American colonies. In fact, British ships routinely interdicted American shipping vessels, often oppressing American citizens in the process, thus agitating relations between the two countries. Following a failed embargo of British goods, President James Madison presented Congress with a report maintaining that American settlers in the northwest were being raided by Native Americans who were agitated by the British. Convinced that military action was necessary, the United States declared war in 1812.



Article
The War of 1812 and the Civil War
The War of 1812

The War of 1812 brought about three major developments for the United States. First, the war resulted in the destruction of the ability of Native American tribes that bordered the United States to resist future expansion westward. Second, it led to the normalization of the United States' borders with Spain and Britain, leading to greater clarity of the United States' western borders. Lastly, it led to the marginalization of the Federalist party, which had fervently resisted the war. After the resounding defeat of British forces at New Orleans and the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, many labeled the Federalists as traitors, a moniker from which they never recovered.

The Civil War

After the War of 1812, the United States experienced relative peace for the next few decades. However, growing tensions over the United States' expanding borders, federal authority, and civil rights led to the costliest war in U.S. history. Fundamentally, the American Civil War was caused by irreconcilable differences between free states in the north and slave states in the south. As the United States expanded, questions arose as to whether or not newly acquired states would become slave-owning states or states that relied upon free labor. In 1860, following the failure of the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, both of which sought to divide U.S. territory into areas where slavery would remain and other areas in which it was banned, the election of Abraham Lincoln brought about the first state secessions. South Carolina seceded from the Union that year, fearing that President Lincoln would appoint antislavery officials, military personnel, and judges, and impede the movement of slavery into U.S. territories. Many more states seceded shortly thereafter. The war officially began 1861, when Lincoln made the decision to resupply Fort Sumter, a federally-held fortification in southern territory.

The Civil War had many effects on American society. Perhaps most importantly, the U.S. Constitution was amended for the first time, in an attempt to exclude race as a barrier to citizenship and full and equal participation in civil society. Though even amendments to the Constitution failed to deter harsh discrimination and institutional inequality, the aftermath of the Civil War demonstrated that the federal government could indeed play a role in changing American society in relation to race and civil rights. Secondly, it established a precedent in which secession from the United States would not be voluntary. Economic reforms were also institutionalized. Once again, the federal government chartered banks and also temporarily imposed an income tax. The federal government granted land for massive railroad construction projects, vastly increasing the effectiveness of U.S. infrastructure. Lastly, the end of the war freed large amounts of people to settle western territories, soon leading to the induction of new states to the Union.





Presentation
World War I
The origins of World War I are particularly complicated. However, they can be traced back to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. The assassination was performed by a young Serbian with indirect ties to the Serbian government. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, committed to punishing Serbia for its involvement in the assassination, invaded it. Within weeks, because of a series of political and military alliances, most of Europe had mobilized for war. After a century of nearly uninterrupted peace, most Europeans believed that large-scale, protracted war was anachronistic. However, as the western front drew to a stalemate, the eastern front failed to reach swift conclusions, and the death toll reached numbers never witnessed before, it was soon realized that warfare in the modern world was certain to be even more costly than in past eras.

Despite the growing casualties in Europe, the United States attempted to stay neutral, though U.S. foreign trade heavily favored Britain and France. U.S. trade preferences eventually led to tension with Prussia over unrestricted submarine warfare. Believing that the U.S. military response would come too late to affect the war, Prussia decided to take the risk of inciting America to war. In 1917, expecting to defeat Britain and France within less than a year, Prussian military strategists made the decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare to further debilitate allied war efforts. That same year, a plot was uncovered that was to incite Mexico into war against the United States with Prussian assistance. Acting in what would become known as the Zimmerman Telegram, Prussian diplomats agitated for armed conflict in North America, which they believed would distract the United States from interfering in the European theatre of war. Because of this, President Woodrow Wilson received a declaration of war from Congress in 1917.

Most of the consequences of World War I can be seen in the events that led to World War II. Following the defeat of Prussia, Austria, and Russia, all three countries suffered profound changes. Russian failure led to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which established the first functioning Marxist government, known as the Soviet Union. The Austro-Hungarian Empire also crumbled, transforming Austria from a massive state to a much smaller, far less significant country, leading many in Austria to favor union with Germany just before the beginning of World War II. Prussia was reconstituted under the new name of Germany, reflecting the end of the Prussian monarchy and the establishment of a democratic state. More importantly, however, the heavy financial reparations, geographic losses, and military restrictions, which crippled the newly reconstituted German state, directly led to another, even more destructive war 20 years later. Furthermore, from the ruins of central European empires, new countries were established, under the principle of nationalism, for many nations that were previously part of much larger, pan-national states.

Political events that came about as a result of World War I included the League of Nations, which was established in an effort to resolve diplomatic disputes before large-scale war could occur again. Though the League was largely ineffective, this was the first time such an institution was attempted. Technologically, World War I introduced the use of airplanes, tanks, chemical warfare, and other mechanized innovations, all of which profoundly changed modern warfare.

Most importantly for the United States, World War I marked the beginning of the U.S. as a globally important country. For the first time, the United States directly intervened in a conflict on the European continent. Though American politicians eventually chose to extract themselves from European concerns and adopted an isolationist position, the United States would no longer be able to permanently withdraw from international significance.



Article
World War II
Widely viewed as an extension of World War I, the Second World War arose from German animosity toward the heavy punishments and restrictions imposed upon the country in the Treaty of Versailles. Soon after the United States entered into WWI, Prussian military forces collapsed, leading to the surrender of both Austro-Hungary and Prussia. Forced to pay heavy indemnities, demilitarize, capitulate all colonial possessions, and forfeit large territories in the East, the newly constituted German state (formerly known as Prussia) suffered under burdensome Allied demands.
Known as the Weimar Republic, the democratic German state experienced a stabilization of political and social life during the relative economic peace of the 1920s. However, once the economic turmoil of the American stock market destroyed a delicate balance of international loans and payments, the 1930s revealed how difficult it was for Germany to function under the terms of peace to which it had unconditionally surrendered.

As economic situations worsened, radical political movements slowly gained favor among significant minorities of voters. By 1933, one of those parties, the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi party, gained enough seats in the German Parliament to elect Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the Weimar Republic. Under Hitler?s leadership, German foreign and domestic policy became increasingly belligerent. Later in 1933, the German parliamentary building known as the Reichstag caught fire. This resulted in Adolf Hitler taking full control of the government, after which he began to remilitarize and expand the borders of Germany. Hitler?s reoccupation of the Rhineland, annexation of Austria, invasion of Czechoslovakia, and signing of a secret nonaggression treaty with the Soviet Union, all culminated with the invasion of Poland in 1939. This action resulted in the beginning of another general European war.

Other countries within Europe and beyond were also expanding militarily. The Soviet Union, interested in regaining lost territories in Eastern Europe, remilitarized under Joseph Stalin, which resulted in the conquest of the Baltic States, Finland, and part of Poland. In Italy, Bonito Mussolini seized political control in a coup in 1922, introducing fascism to Europe. His invasion of Ethiopia was a prelude to war in Europe. In Japan, imperialist forces rapidly expanded into Korea, China, and the Pacific, precipitating war by the early 1930s.

The United States' involvement in WWII came as a direct result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, the bombing of Pearl Harbor was not a spontaneous occurrence. U.S. and Japanese relations were degrading for years prior to that event. The 1937 Japanese invasion of China incited objections by the United States and the League of Nations. Japanese invasion of French Indochina and other aggressive acts in the Pacific convinced the United States to embargo oil exports to Japan. Japanese military strategists eventually found that U.S. presence in the Pacific was detrimental to their expansion in the region. The attack on Pearl Harbor was an attempt to eradicate the U.S. presence in the Pacific with one debilitating military strike. Instead, it led to a protracted, costly war in the Pacific and a total loss for Japan.

A major consequences of World War II was the emergence of the United States as a globally-important political and economic power. With Europe economically ruined from war and industrially incapacitated, the United States emerged as the only western state able to counter total Soviet expansion throughout Europe and large portions of Asia. Europe was split into an western, American-supported portion and a pro-Soviet eastern portion. Also, in the United States, the war ended the Great Depression and brought about a long period of economic and industrial expansion. American women entered the workforce in large numbers for the first time, which later initiated the modern feminist movement. Likewise, minority participation in the war and in domestic labor initiatives sparked further petitions for equality and civil rights.

Furthermore, the United States' policy makers and the public at large no longer felt that it was prudent to allow world events to unfold without American influence. The Soviet Union maneuvered to spread its influence within Europe and throughout the world. Soon, it became obvious to American policy makers that the Soviet Union, openly hostile to western democratic states and unwilling to allow free elections within the Soviet Union or in countries under its influence, needed to be contained. However, western states were unwilling to risk an open and comprehensive war with the Soviet Union. Instead, the next few decades saw regional conflicts emerge along with other indirect conflicts with the Soviet Union. This time period is often referred to as the Cold War.



Presentation
Presentation: America and the Great War
America and the Great War


June 28, 1914, America awakes to the news of the assassination of an Austrian prince in the town of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina. To the common man, the obscure events unfolding over there were of little concern. How were they to know that less than 2 months later, the guns of August would herald the beginning of the largest conflict the world had ever seen?
As the events unfolded in Europe, America began to feel the repercussions in the form of an increased demand for war materials to wage the growing conflict. On the high seas, both England and Germany interfered with American vessels? right of free passage, which brought stern condemnation from President Wilson and the American Congress. Events worsened with Germany?s announcement of a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. President Wilson warned Germany about the dire consequences of this policy, and Germany relented.

President Wilson would win reelection on the popular belief that his policies had kept the United States out of the war in Europe; however, on January 31, 1917, Germany would once again resume unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. By April, 1917 Germany had sunk five America vessels, leaving President Wilson with little choice but to ask Congress for a declaration of war, which was quickly approved. From the farm to the factory, America would mobilize for war on all levels of society.

Although seen as the junior member of the allied nations at war with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria, Turkey), the fresh troops from America played key roles in shoring up the now tired and war-weary soldiers of Britain, France, and Italy (the Triple Entente). They were instrumental in stopping the last great German offensive of the war in the summer of 1918. They would repeat this role in the fall Argonne offensive, which broke Germany's Hindenburg Line and started the German retreat back into Germany. Germany, sensing defeat, began secret negotiations for a cessation of hostilities in October of 1918. By November 11th, an armistice was signed ending the war to end all wars.

President Wilson's hope was for a peace treaty that would be fair to all parties. But Britain and France would force the Treaty of Versailles on Germany that would place a heavy burden on Germany. President Wilson?s other dream of America joining the new League of Nations was also to be met with failure. America would revert to its position of isolationism, which had been its stance on world issues before the war.



Article
Korean and Vietnam Conflicts
Following the collapse of Imperial Japan in 1945, American troops occupied South Korea, while North Korea was occupied by Soviet troops. Following an uneasy five years of peace, the fall of China to communism prompted North Korea to invade South Korea. North Korean aggression, militarily supported by the Soviet Union, was also precipitated by a perceived weakness of American commitment to South Korea. Indeed, North Korean armies soon captured Seoul, before a United Nations (UN) force, comprised mostly of American troops, pushed North Korean armies back to the 38th parallel, where the border remains to this day.
A variety of consequences occurred as a result of the Korean Conflict, which ended in 1953, with thousands of fatalities but no clear victor and no peace treaty signed. The North continued to be occupied by communist forces, and the South became an American ally. Also, Korea illustrated how a relatively contained conflict could turn into a much broader regional conflagration. As the conflict escalated, there were points in time in which China and the Soviet Union could have conceivably been drawn into the conflict, potentially resulting in another regional, or even general war. Perhaps most importantly, Korea illustrated how tensions between the U.S.S.R. and the United States could become full-scale armed conflicts. Other long-term consequences include the establishment of permanent nuclear installations in South Korea and the commitment of conventional U.S. military equipment and troops to South Korea for decades afterwards.

Although the cause of the Korean Conflict remains relatively simple to explain, the origins of the Vietnam Conflict are more complex and its development far more gradual. The Vietnam War began in the 1950s. After the decisive defeat of French colonial forces by Vietnamese nationalists in 1954, the French government sued for peace. It soon became obvious that Soviet political involvement would result in a communist-controlled Vietnam, soon after independence was arranged. Instead, after peace talks in Geneva, Vietnam was split into a northern region, dominated by the Communist party of Vietnam, and a French-controlled southern region. Free elections were to proceed in 1956, after which a reunification of the two regions was planned. However, once the Eisenhower administration came to the conclusion that even free elections would result in a Vietnam governed by communists, President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Dulles supplied the South with sizeable military support.

Elections were indeed held in 1956, leading to the election of Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem, a staunch anticommunist, was eventually assassinated in 1963, just weeks before the assassination of President Kennedy. Further destabilization occurred in 1964, when North Vietnamese forces launched an attack against patrolling American naval vessels, giving President Johnson the political capacity to expand American involvement in Vietnam. U.S. aerial bombing operations quickly led to American ground force commitments in 1965, and a full-scale armed conflict erupted.

In many ways, the consequences of the Vietnam Conflict are as complicated as the event itself. However, some clear results can be identified. After the evacuation of U.S. forces from Saigon in 1975, North and South Vietnam were unified under one government, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In the United States, the experience of Vietnam was far-reaching. Vietnam not only resulted in the longest conflict in U.S. history and the most controversial conflict of the 20th century, but it also led to the establishment of a military draft. This is an event that has not been experienced in the United States since that period. The draft led to a decrease in the voting age to 18, which was also the age at which an American male could be drafted.

Other important legislative changes include the passage of the War Powers Act (1973), requiring U.S. presidents to receive explicit approval from Congress before forces could be deployed overseas for combat purposes. Politically, the conflict resulted in an aversion to further American casualties, which fundamentally changed U.S. intervention in later international conflicts. The Democratic party also experienced serious consequences in 1968. Democratic voters, split over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, divided their votes between Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace, resulting in a Republican presidential victory and a Democratic party whose politics were changed fundamentally. Economically, the Vietnam Conflict resulted in inflation as spending for Vietnam continued, but the United States remunerated largely through monetizing of the money supply.



Article
The Cold War
The origins of the Cold War lie in the immediate conclusion of World War II. Very shortly after Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were defeated, two former allies, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States, began to perceive each other as global competitors. Soviet unwillingness to cooperate with the United States and Western Europe manifested in 1948.

In an attempt to economically revive West Germany, the Allies announced establishment of a West German currency, independent of Soviet influence. The USSR, wary of German revival, established an independent currency for East Germany as well, and blocked all transportation routes into the city of Berlin in an attempt to force the Allies to abandon the city. In response, the Allies initiated an airlift of food and other supplies, rendering the blockade ineffective by 1949. Slowly, as it became obvious that life in the Western parts of the city was more preferable to life in the Eastern parts, a wall was built to keep the communist section of the city partitioned and its people sequestered.

Trouble over the city of Berlin also precipitated the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, to contain the Soviet aggression in Europe. The Soviet Union reacted by establishing a mutual defense treaty, known as the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. By the late 1950s, the Cold War in Europe had become a stalemate. However, this indirect conflict shifted to other portions of the world. Open conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam Wars are examples of the Cold War turning decisively hot.

Many historians trace the beginnings of the Cold War to the Berlin Blockade of 1948. The conflict did not end until decades later, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Because of the Cold War?s length and the fact that it was fought indirectly, many of the consequences of the Cold War were indirect. The long struggle demonstrated to most observers the superiority of the Western economic and political systems. Western economies continuously outperformed the Soviet Union's and provided higher standards of living for their citizens. Furthermore, the politically and socially transparent nature of Western societies resulted in a greater ability to satisfy the needs of their citizens.

There were other effects of the Cold War beyond ideologies, however. Massive investments in military technology eventually led to tremendous benefits for civilians when that technology was applied to peaceful pursuits. This was perhaps most evident in the microcomputer industry, where technological innovations routinely found application in the civilian world. The United States also resolved to expand infrastructure, creating the interstate highway system.


Resource Links
The Coming of the American Revolution
(http://www.masshist.org/revolution/topics.php)
This site contains information related to the American Revolution including links that discuss key events that led to the revolution. Title: America in the British Empire

Effects of the American Revolution
(http://colonial-america.suite101.com/article.cfm/effects_of_the_american_revolution)
This article provides insight into the effects that the American Revolution had on political, economic and cultural aspects of the United States.

The Formation of the National Government
(http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/April/20080407113358eaifas0.9864771.html)
This article describes events that shaped the national government. The events or topics discussed include: The Articles of the Confederation, U.S. Expansion, and The Constitutional Convention.

The Unfinished Revolution
(http://www.nps.gov/revwar/unfinished_revolution/war_of_1812.html)
This article describes the War of 1812 and how that war solidified their independence.

An Overview of the American Civil War
(http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/overview.html)
This article describes key events that led to the Civil War. It includes a discussion on what started the Civil War as well as key battles in this historical event.

The United States Civil War
(http://www.us-civilwar.com/)
This site provides several links related to the Civil War including battles, timelines, leaders and causes of this war.

How it Began
(http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/index.htm)
This site provides several multimedia resources related to WWI including the causes and effects of the war.

The Origins of World War One
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins_01.shtml)
This article provides a unique perspective on the first world war and its beginnings.

World War I
(http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module.php?module_id=438)
This web page describes the events and the consequences that occurred because of WWI.

The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
(http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/thenandnow/)
This article describes how the impacts of the first world war can be seen in the modern world.

World War II
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii)
This History Channel link provides various multimedia educational videos and photo galleries discussing key events of WWII.

Guided Readings: America at War: World War II
(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?titleID=75)
This site provides links to key events that occurred during WWII. Some of these events include The Holocaust, Pearl Harbor and The Coming of World War II.

U.S. Relations: The Korean War
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/asia/northkorea/relations.html)
This article briefly discusses the Korean War and how this has impacted the Korea?s relationship with the U.S.

Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History
(http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html)
This article provides insights into the beginning and progression of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

The Berlin Blockade
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX49.html)
This article discusses the Berlin Blockade, a significant at the beginning of the the Cold War.

The Berlin Wall
(http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1867.html)
This article discusses the erection of the Berlin Wall and its impact on beginnings of the Cold War.

I want you to add two pages to my research paper. add a traditional introduction to my research in which you show the historical context of women in the late 19th century in the American west and how they are marginalized. then go to the middle of my research and add quotations from the novel itself talking about Alexandra merits. please write three or for quotations with your comments. don't change anything in the argument, any addition should support my argument. you can delete or edit any paragraph you feel it is weak. please write your addition in a different color or font.
the following is my research paper:
Willa Cather's O pioneers! and the American Frontier female Roles
Although women of the 19th century American West enjoyed a considerable amount of human rights like the rights of inheriting lands, working in some jobs, such as teaching and nursing, they faced many challenges and problems that spoiled their enjoyment of these limited rights. Women in the nineteenth century American West were described in many historical and literary contexts as being secondary and marginal. The traditional roles of women in the American West society at that time viewed woman as being nurturer, wives and sometimes prostitutes. In other words, woman, as far as most of the frontier literary and historical contexts can tell, is an object, a spoil of war or the warriors fame. Woman is something that helps or prevents the adventurer but she is not the adventurer herself (Quawas).
In fact, gender played critical role in the determination of roles or role allocation in the context of the American West society. It is ideal to note that roles were executed in relation to ones gender. There were roles specifically for men and women in the society because of their gender differences. Women focused on the execution of home roles such as household chores, child bearing, rearing, making meals, taking care of the husband, and enhancing the image and reputation of the family and home. Men in this context were superior to their women counterparts within the society.
In this essay, I will shed light on a woman who has the qualities and merits that enable her to break the fence of gender roles in her society. By applying Psychoanalysis and feminist theory, I will analyze the personality of the independent, strong, risk taker, an smart Alexandra Bergson in Willa Cathers O Pioneers!. The significance of my research is that it studies the possibility of females success in life under certain circumstances and refutes the opinion which suggests the leadership is a male-specific quality.
The 1913O Pioneers by Willa Cather, one of the greatest American women writers, is a good illustration for the frontier literature. The novels heroine embodies all feminine characters who disregard the complex American West during the time the novel was written. The narratives reveals out the difficulties experienced by women at the end of nineteenth century. The story also highlights how women struggle to remain significance to their life missions. Cather highlights the discussion of the women characters and their struggle to overcome societal challenges. The story demonstrates the power of a woman through underscoring obstacles and drawbacks that the main character in the story overcomes. The protagonist demonstrates a powerful personality that helps her overcome the hardships she is exposed to (Duby, Perrot and Pantel 68). Through the main character, Alexandra, Cather wants to assess the temperament as well as the intellectual propensity of a female character exposed to numerous life challenges. The author designs the narrative to psychoanalyze the intellectual propensity of a female with respect to her capacity to endure opposition and provide proficient leadership in the society (Duby, Perrot and Pantel 68). Besides, Cather accomplishes a feminist theory study through assessing the aspects and conditions that make the theory a reality during the period in which the story was set. She epitomizes the part female characters play in the novel considering that the main character in the novel is a female.
Alexandra, an intelligent and a strong-willed woman and the main character in the novel, illustrates an evaluation of psychological, physical and mental strength displayed through women who lived in the late nineteenth century West America. Willa stresses the role of Alexandra from the initial moment when she introduces the character to the reader, His sister was a tall, strong girl, and she walked rapidly and resolutely, as if she knew exactly where she was going and what she was going to do next (Cather 12). From all indications, Cather wants to depict Alexandra as a person who notwithstanding her gender identity, is disinclined to agree to the responsibility of a nineteenth century weak and hackneyed female. Alexandra is strong-willed and she has resolved to attain her goals through all possible means even if it means acting in conflict with the traditional representation of a woman in her society. Emil views her as an individual with the ability to assist him in taking part in representing her strength.
Alexandra displays a powerful psychological potency through her pursuit for land. Her connection with the land represents the extreme fight back between the huge manipulative forces and the human agency. The psychological potency demonstrated by Alexandra is visible when her father assigns her the family land. Alexandras father wants her to manage and control his land when he dies. The father has more confidence and trust in Alexandra compared to his sons, Oscar and Lou. He writes a will that indicates that Alexandra would take control and care of the estates owned by the father once he is dead.
Three years after her fathers death, Alexandra manages and protects the land according to her fathers wishes. Through this action, Alexandra illustrates grand strength as a woman. She puts forth her strength upon the land and this action shapes and bends her. Her connection with her fathers land becomes deeper than simple influence or control. Cather demonstrates the potency of a woman through the manner in which Alexandra successfully controls her familys estates through application of her aptitudes. The creation of this character by Cather, a character who shows great personality that earn the confidence and conviction of her father, is crucial in acknowledging the goals and themes of this narrative. Alexandra exhibits commendable attributes that makes her the most outstanding person among her friends in the narrative. Cather does not represent any other character with commendable attributes like those of Alexandra. The representations of Alexandras attributes include her intellectual and psychological physique.
The intellectual and psychological stature of Alexandra is analyzable through Sigmund Freuds theory, which claims that females psychic energy can be produced via libido. Cathexis force, which refers to the procedure of investment of emotional and mental energy in an object, a person or an idea, assists individuals in investing in mental power that facilitates and speeds up the making of decisions relating to life (Freud 88). According to Sigmund Freud, humans conduct can be inspired through a force to live. Freuds theory is applicable in evaluating the attributes of Alexandra in the novel. It is therefore comprehensible why Alexandra is capable of achieving her set goals and objectives. Cather uses the character of Alexandra in an impressive manner to attain her objectives of giving a picture of the temperament of females in the course of the 19th Century (Slote112). Immense psychological potency is depicted when Alexandra remains powerful, objective and flexible amidst disputes in the setting following the famine.
Alexandra views the objective of safeguarding the family land as achievable, and must be accomplished. This shows her strong will, and as result, Alexandra applies great cathexis force whenever she formulates and puts in immense intellectual energy in making constructive decisions. Theaspiration to guarantee a secured economic prospect for her people received support and motivation from Alexandras psychosomatic composition (Slote 112). She approaches the condition of her family estate in a different way compared to farmers in her community. Her wonderful approach to problems facing her family is enhanced through her mental composition. Her inclination and aspiration is the call for life preservation. She makes wise decisions that allow her to attain her goals, and this true account of Sigmund Freuds theory (Freud 23). The resolution to get involved in adaptive techniques of farming highlights another case in point of a motivation and need to safeguard life in an agrarian community faced with an appalling famine.
The livelihood of Alexandras relatives receives supports through agricultural activities, which include farming. This aspect makes Alexandra to be very keen when making vital decisions. She is careful to make decisions that would not jeopardize their lives and source of livelihood. This is evidenced when Alexandra decides to embrace alternative farming methods that are productive even in unfavorable weather conditions. Through obtaining ideas from men and women regarding their farming methods, Alexandra gains composite comprehension regarding how to grow crops. This knowledge offers her the prospect to recognize that she could be of benefit to the society, where she would help her community recover from the dangerous situation that it was facing. Through demonstrating the strength, will and influence of Alexandra to the members of her community, the author develops the exceptional attributes of Alexandra .Through Alexandras demonstrated traits; Cather is able to put across an important point to the reader.
In addition to this, the pronouncement to mortgage the land in possession by the family tends to display a scholar potential by the character. It is evident that she is in a position to talk her brothers into settling for the idea of trusting in the promise by the untamed country. At this point, she is in a position to re-mortgage the piece of land through a bid in order for her to purchase more. It is definite that this is a possible occurrence now when the land is under drought along with depression. The mentioning of drought at this particular point is appropriate since the author targets at enlightening the reader that the town Hanover was working to ensure that it does not give up into being blown away. In depth, it requires a high degree of braveness for one to make such a decision. From an overview of the story, it is precise that the most individuals have freight concerning the drought season that makes them result to purchasing their pieces of land.
Given an example of Carl Linstrum, he resolves to purchase his piece of land the relocate to a safer locality. Alexandras take on the matter tends to be bold unlike how Linstrum decides to purchase his piece of land in fear of the pronounced drought. She puts every key point into consideration to result in a wise decision with influence of both her mental along with psychological strengths. One of the interesting facts about Alexandra is that she opts to ensure that environment within her is safe instead of cowardly relocating to other grounds. This leads to her decision of re-investing. After the drought, it is evident that Alexandra appears to have made the right decision regarding maintain her location and making the environment conducive for her survival. After that, trying moment there is evidence of Alexandra coming across certain persons and giving them hope. A better example is her brother who was in shock to realize that Alexandra was still hopeful about focusing her investment on land despite the fact that it was unworthy.
One of the key roles by Emil is that she manages to be imperative on the part guaranteeing that Emil remains hopeful. An alternative aspect about Alexandra is that she portrays the personality of someone who does not get easily intimidated with certain challenges that people face in life, thus, she seems to be a fighter regardless of the hardships they face. Alexandra appears to have taken interest on the weather trend within the region in order for her to foresee some of the possibilities relating to the weather pattern within the location. This is the most significant possibility that had influence on her re-investment on the pieces of land as an alternative to purchasing them at a very low price. The author manages to bring out the personality that relates to depression. One can argue the fact that Alexandra projects a psychologically muscular reaction concerning family along with responsibility.
Another important factor that the Freudian theory examines is the composure of the intelligence. With this factor, the Freud manages to point out that the human brain is in two groupings, namely conscious with unconscious. The conscious part of the brains dwells its attention on numerous activities that someone would be sentient. Alternatively, the unconscious segment of the mind relates to actions that a person is uninformed. These are significant aspects in acknowledging the mind symphony of the character(Smith 49 ). It is clear that the mind operations by Alexandra has both compositions working effectively. She has goals that she personally did not have a clue of the repercussions. Putting these factors into consideration clearly clarifies that it is difficult to Alexandras individuality. One can conclude that she is a risk taker in that the results are not threat to her.
The resolute mind possessed by Alexanddra is detectable in the way that she treats the other people around her. The author shows Alexandras resolute mind by describing her attitude towards individuals who seem to have a negative effect on her life. The stubbornness of an individual may also depend on the power that an individual have. When Lou and Oscar try to verify their stand about Carl asserts, Well, suppose I want to take care of him? Whose business is it but my own? (Cather 92). The conversation confirms that that Alexandra has an influence on the thinking of her brothers meaning the controlled most of their actions. The brothers considered the presence of Carl as a threat to their wellbeing when considering that they are now occupying similar position of being Alexandra suitors. It is clear that Alexandra wants to associate him with preserving the family land. She considers that the preservation of the land acts as a factor for the survival of her family. It is this burning desire about the family that makes Alexandra to actively involved in protecting the familys estates; consequently, enabling her to make drastic changes in her life. Freuds theory of discussion would be useful in studying the personality associated with Alexandra
Freuds theory explains that the various psychosexual stages have a higher amount of influence in the development of the children. Every developmental stage becomes more important in affecting the degree of which an individual seeks for the pleasure seeking activities. The scholar also asserts that the completion of every developmental stage have a direct correlation to a healthy living. The completion of the stages without less problem shows that an individual will be having a healthy personality in the process of achieving adult-age(Tyson 10). Consequently, the analysis given by Freud theory is significant in understanding the exemplary character associated to Alexandra. The mature completion of Alexandras childhood is detectable when the father sought for a counsel from her a tender age. Another argument about Alexandras personality may also relate to the physical development when she was a young child. The parents provided enough protection to her childhood ensuring that she received proper intellectual development. Further, the information about Alexandra is important as it helps in exemplifying the trait of the character throughout her history. This is traceable in the story when the father begins to seek her counsel at a tender age. The information gives answer to the questions why is the author so involved in the matter? This means that the author would go for all the possible information about Alexandra to ensure her present an amazing description about her. Consequently, the concentration on the character makes her important as a tool for the author in transferring her message to the readers.
Understanding the character of Alexandra will also need the incorporation of the concept about defense mechanism provided by Freud. The defense mechanism helps in understanding the character trait of the individual in discussion. The author asserts that defense mechanism helps in covering wrong doings thereby contributing to its use by some individuals. Regarding this concept, individuals would end up rationalizing issues with the major aim of protecting their ego after making a mistake normally in their decision making process (Freud,Anna,67). Consequently, the use of defense mechanism is significant in studying the role of Alexandra in the story. As shown, Alexandra seems to possess a straightforward feeling when interacting with the people surrounding her. She does not hide anything amidst the talks without feeling shame. This shows that Alexandra has a personality of pure conscience that leads to making wise decision on the role delegated to her by the deceased father. Further, her relationship to other characters is also good thereby enabling her to develop a pure relationship with them.
According to the information drawn from the novel O Pioneers! Alexander is the heir to her fathers estate. This occurs despite the presence of numerous sons by John Bergon. This leads to the presentation of the heroine by Cather in the form of an individual possessing social, political, and economic power within the society. Women in the society faced limitation form the fact that they had no opportunity and right to vote thus minimal participation in the political sphere within the society. It is ideal to note that Alexandra becomes a landowner at the time when women faced such political limitations within the society.
The trust of her father pays off in the development of an astute and visionary businessperson through implementation of her daughters management skills and policies. This leads to the development of the land parcel of the daughter in comparison to the lagging development in the case of the land parcels by the sons. These developments illustrate and mirror description of Alexandra as a tall, strong girl by Cather in relation to her rapid and resolute walk with the knowledge of what to do in every situation. Alexandra is described as a tall, strong girl, and she walked rapidly and resolutely, as if she knew exactly where she was going and what she was going to do next, [Cather 12]. This is a reflection of her determination towards the achievement of her goals and objectives.
This description is essential in the understanding of the chief protagonist in the story thus enabling the author of the novel to develop effective and efficient characters in relation to the development of the plot. The combination of the character traits with references to Alexandra is essential in the illustration of the character as meaningful and justified to possess the traits as provided by the author. In the implementation of the Freuds theory in the critical analysis of the event, the Cather presents Alexandra as exhibiting great traits of an individual with the opportunity to exercise political, social, and economic power in the creation of change within the society. This leads to the presentation of the women characters in the novel as empowered category endowed with great intellectual skills as evident in the management skills and policies of land with reference to the chief protagonist of the play.
In the process of preserving the familys land, Alexandra is also critical in advising her brothers to adopt and implement effective and efficient techniques of farming with the aim of enhancing productivity levels. This is a reflection of mental energy in relation to the implementation of Freuds theory. Alexandra does not bow to pressure against women owning land and participating in other activities as voting practices, but sees an opportunity in relation to maximization of the productivity of land resources. This leads to the implementation of accurate and effective land techniques thus quality management of land stress in the society.
This is an indication that the chief protagonist is a risk taker thus the ability to identify opportunities where male society members fear or lack the courage to exploit. In addition, it is vital to implement anticathexis theory in relation to understanding outstanding personality of Alexandra as the chief protagonist in the novel. Alexandra directs her libidinal strength towards a good course which is maximization of the productivity of land resources thus preservation and utilization of the family land. This is an indication of the execution of the essence of the cathexis theory thus encouraging her brothers to focus on the implementation of new techniques of farming.
On the other hand, It is also vital to evaluate the prosperity of Alexandra from the feminism perspective. In order to achieve this objective, it is ideal to note that the story of this novel is set at the end of 19th century. According to historical illustrations, men dominated the American West societies during this time of the development of the society. This indicates that women played minimal role towards the development of the society. Women focused on activities such as child rearing and taking care of the husband as well as household chores. Men had great power in the society since they were the sole decision makers and heads of their families. Critical issues such as land were under the influence of male superiority. The land in the story wanted to be let alone, to preserve its own fierce strength, its peculiar, savage kind of beauty, its uninterrupted mournfulness (Cather 16). The presentation of land to Alexandra by her father is an illustration of her exemplary traits. This is because of her empowerment to thrive in the essence of male superiority in the maximization of the available opportunities in the context of land resources. The story is a reflection of feminism movement towards empowerment through achievement of social, economic, and political power in the critical time of history.
The author adopts and implements feminist approach in the presentation of the chief protagonist as strong and brilliant whether mentally and physically. Despite various limitations hindering contribution and development of women in the society in American West of the 19th century, the heroine in this novel goes against the odds to preserve and enhance the production of the family land in the presence of her brothers and male counterparts in the community. In addition, there is also a demonstration of her brilliance in the management of land stress during the essence of drought and stress in comparison to tactics implemented by her brothers in the novel. According to the illustration by the Cather, Alexandra adopts and implements quality counsel in comparison to her brothers in the management of economic crisis and famine. This is an illustration of the empowerment and intellectual skills of women towards the achievement of their rights in the contribution to the development of the society. The superiority of Alexandra is evident throughout the novel due to tendency by her brother to ignore her plea and advise on the adoption of quality farming techniques claiming to be responsible for her progress and success. Lou turned to Oscar. Thats the woman of it; if she tells you to put in a crop, she thinks shes put it in. It makes women conceited to meddle in business (Cather 93-94).
Presentation of Lou and Oscar as underdogs in relation to the success of Alexandra makes it easier for the reader to note the essence of strength of women in the society with reference to the comparison of intellectual strength of men and women in the society. Thi is an indication that gender should not be a factor to consider in the determination of the level of intellectual skills and contribution towards the development of the society. Cather manages to present women as successful despite various limitations in the American West of 19th century following implications or influences of male prejudice and superiority on critical matters affecting the society. The chief protagonist (Alexandra) also has the ability to make valuable and sound decisions on critical issues better than men within the novel thus the ability to exploit or maximize the opportunities with the aim of achieving the desired outcome. This is a reflection of the development or rise of feminism in the society. Men view this as a threat to their dominance in critical aspects such as decision making. The chief protagonist has the ability to demonstrate her leadership skills in going against the odds and exploiting the piece of land through re-investing on the resource. The common view in relation to the matter would have been selling of the property because of limitations faced by women in the society. This is a critical representation of the capacity of women in the society for the purposes of maximization of the available opportunities towards the achievement of their rights and empowerment.
Another feminism approach would focus on the examination of the relationship between Alexandra and her father. The father plays a critical role in the achievement of the rights and empowerment of women in the society. This is because of the role played by Alexandra as a role model or mentor to other women in the society through empowerment received from her father in relation to the presentation of the land and management opportunities for the preservation and maximization of the productivity levels of the family land. In the empowerment of Alexandra, the father states to Oscar and Lou, When you marry, and want a house of your own, the land will be divided fairly, according to the courts. But for the next few years you will have it hard, and you must all keep together, Alexandra will manage the best she can (Cather 22). This is a reflection of the change in the society as women obtain much power to participate in the development of the society. Alexandra also notes that she has the opportunity to transfer her motherly nature to helping or loving other society members and brothers thus the tendency of helping them achieve their goals and objectives through implementation of quality pieces of advice. This empowerment is also critical in the determination of her relationship or marriage encounter with reference to interaction with Carl in the development of the plot of the novel. Despite the fact that she reveals her emotional side in the relationship encounter, marriage aspect does not force the chief protagonist to give up her dream in relation to the seat of power emanating from effective and efficient management of the estate.
On the other hand, the previous quotation can be read from differently. That is. A feminist psychoanalysis of Willa Cather places young Alexandras development squarely within the relationship between her and her father. Because her father empowered her, Alexandra is free from the psychic residue of patriarchy. Interestingly, her fathers dying wishes include references to Oscar and Lou getting married but not to Alexandra. Alexandra is assuming the role of the patriarch, which her father gives to her. Thus, he states to Oscar and Lou, When you marry, and want a house of your own, the land will be divided fairly, according to the courts. But for the next few years you will have it hard, and you must all keep together. Alexandra will manage the best she can (Cather 22). Oscar and Lou are feminized, viewed as being in need of the patriarchal institution of marriage; whereas Alexandra is the potent heir to the estate and not in need of external financial support.
Comparing Alexandra with another female character shows that she is liberated from the chains of gender role which helps her being successful. There are always dreamers on the frontier (Cather 301) Dreams feature prominently in Alexandras life. Besides the lofty dreams of the future, such as her fathers dream about making a great fortune and going back to Sweden to pay back to the poor sailors the money grandfather had lost Cather 236). Alexandras nightly dreams can be analyzed using psychoanalysis. However, Alexandras dreams are rational compared with Maries. Marie is a counterpoint for Alexandra, because Marie comes across as being not in touch with reality. Alexandras dreams are solely her own: her desire to be in touch with the land, to cultivate it and create prosperity. She does not think in terms of providing for children, because she has none. Alexandra has liberated herself from the social, political, and economic institutions that constrained womens lives in the era during which the story takes place.
Another essence of the determination of the triumph of Alexandra relates to the examination of the goals and objectives of Cather in the development of the plot and setting of the novel. The decision of Alexandras father to offer her piece of land and present her as the manager of the property in case of his death is an illustration of the main objective or purpose of this novel which represented by women capability to be decision makers in their societies.. This is an illustration of change in the society since women never had the right to participate in such activities in the 19th century. The change of role and expectations in the novel focuses on the presentation of the objective of the author towards enhancing interaction with the readers. This is a reflection of irony on the part of the father as he decides to offer the management opportunity to the oppressed in the society because of her intellectual skills and power rather than gender. The author focuses on the presentation of women as powerful through mental and intellectual gains as presented in the case of the chief protagonist.
It is critical to understand the perspective of Cather in the demonstration of the process towards the achievement of women and achievement of their rights thus going against male dominance in the society. The motive of re-investing in the piece of land is also a reflection of a critical message to the readers by the author of the novel. This is because of the opportunity to demonstrate the essence of intellectual skills of the oppressed society members as evident in the case of the chief protagonist. As the chief protagonist, Alexandra demonstrates her intellectual skills to focus on success both at individual and communal or collective gains.
The author of the novel also presents or demonstrates sexuality of the chief protagonist in a view of illustrating the goals and objectives to the readers. This is through direct subversion of the gender roles and social norms. In the first encounter, Alexandra envisions herself being lifted and carried lightly by someone very strong. He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain (Cather 282). Alexandra focuses on subverting patriarchy in relation to putting off marriage thus not viewing herself in the context of the traditional woman in the 19th century. This makes her a true feminist who plays a critical role in the empowerment of the women in the society. She acts as a role model to women through demonstration of her private and public lives in the achievement of prominence. In the reverse presentation of the role, the novel notes that His right arm, bared from the elbow, was dark and gleaming, like bronze, and she knew at once that it was the arm of the mightiest of all lovers (Cather 283).
Cather's novel O Pioneers! bridges the gap between gender and heroism. This Western American novel by Cather shows that women are able to do something important besides giving themselves to men, captures the essence of the heroic pioneer, the noble American spirit taming the West, in a female character. A loe of the land is not a gender-specific quality attributed only to men; the land, Cather states, can be loved by anyone who dares to trust in it and to create it anew. As a hero of the West, Alexandra breaks the concept of the untamed West and the woman's role in it. Traditionally, men were the ones "who forged ahead into the wilderness while the woman came up carrying tablecloths" (Thomas 62).
In the development of the plot, the author focuses on the demonstration that women and men have similar capacity and potentiality in the realization of the goals and objectives of the society when given similar opportunities. The opportunity to make decisions is an essential concept in the realization of the goals and potential of the society members. The case of Alexandra and the empowerment from her father is an illustration of the level and capacity of women to compete effectively and efficiently with men towards the development of the organization. It is critical for the transformation of the society to allocate roles and expectation on merit rather than gender. This is because of the demonstration of effective and efficient land management skills and policies by Alexandra for the purposes of maximizing the value and productivity of the land while preserving the family property. It is critical to note the prosperity of Alexandra against the odds in the achievement of her goals and objectives within the society despite being of the weakest gender in accordance with the traditional perspective of women in relation to the American West of the 19th century. From this evaluation, it is ideal to conclude that Willa Cathers O Pioneers! confirms the fact that women are equal to men and if they are given the opportunity and the good supportive environment, they will be as successful as men and they will be able to make wise and crucial decisions.





Works cited
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers! Boston And New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.Google Books. Web . 10 May .2013.
Duby, Georges, Perrot Michelle, and Pantel Pauline. A history of women in the West. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1994. Print.
Freud, Anna. The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. New York: IUP, 1966. Print.
Freud, Sigmund. Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety XX (2nd ed.). London: Hogarth Press, 1955. Print.
Quawas, Rula. "Carving an identity and forging the frontier: the self-reliant female hero in Willa Cather's O Pioneers!" Studia Anglica Posnaniensia: international review of English Studies 41 (2005): 237+. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 May
Slote, Bernice. 'Willa Cather and Her First Book', Willa Cather, April Twilights. London: University of Nebraska Press, 1968. Print.
Smith, David Livingstone. Freud's Philosophy of the Unconscious. Vol. 23. Springer, 1999.Print.
Robinson, Lillian S. "Treason our text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary Canon. In Feminisms: An Anthology of literary Theory and Criticism, ed, Robyn R Warhol and Diane Price Herndl,2112-26.New Brunswick ,N.J.: Rutgers University Press,1991.
Tyson, Phyllis, and Robert L. Tyson. Psychoanalytic theories of development: An integration. Yale University Press, 1993.Print.

Dear Author,

I kindly ask you to prepare the sample for two chapters of my MA thesis.

In order to provide you with as much information as possible, I will send you the last version of my MA thesis prospectus. I will also provide you with the Table of contents, so that you can see what is the general idea of the paper.

It would be great if you could find the following books and use some quotations from them to back up the point:

1. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time by Jeffrey D. Sachs
2. The White Mans Burden: Why the Wests Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done so Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly
3. Why Foreign Aid is Not Working: THE TROUBLE WITH AFRICA by Robert Calderisi.

The two chapters that I expect you to research are:
(They have to be structured in the same order as they are placed in the table of contents.

Do strategic partnerships with the European Union and China benefit the political and economic development in Ghana?

1. Main agenda of the international development strategy for Ghana since the 1970s.
1.1. Short history of the foreign aid programs launched by the economically developed donor countries;
1.2. Analysis of the effectiveness of the previously introduced developmental programs on the basis of the HDI data;
1.3. The explicit and implicit motives of the donor countries to launch the strategic partnership programs for Ghana in the last four decades.

(This chapter will be dealing with the strategic goals of donor countries from the 1970s as well as analyze the impact of the implemented programs in the past. Some historic background will be given to the reader in order to demonstrate the way in which the impact of these initiatives reflected the fluctuations of the HDI*). It would be good if you could find some information on the development programs for Ghana, which failed to reach the goal of sustainable development (in political and economic spheres).

* HDI- human Development Index United Nations Development Programme's 2010 Human Development Index has to be used as a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the development programs. The UN represents in this sense one of the most accredited and useful resource for research largely because in its status as an international organization and development agent, it has provided extensive knowledge and experience in development aid and assistance. For the purpose of the research the latest HDI has to be used extensively to offer a starting point for the analysis on the situation in Ghana. The Human Development Index is crucial because it represents a composite index taking into account several aspects of life, from infant mortality to the level of literacy among adults.

2. Analysis of the political situation in Ghana: political corruption and lack of economic transparency.
2.1. Short introduction into the political system of Ghana;
2.2. Corruption on the political level: lack of economic transparency; (in the end of this subchapter, please shortly write about the improper resource allocation, as the consequence of the lack of economic transparency (please measure the inequality of a distribution by Gini coefficient)*

2.3. The consequences of the improper resources allocation. (Explain the general trends as the further throughout analysis of the European and Chinese funds allocation figures will be given in the following chapters).

This chapter will explain why only a limited amount of finances from the foreign assistance programs reaches the people of Ghana, as well as analyze the problems in the political mechanism of resource allocation.

* The Gini coefficient is a measure of the inequality of a distribution, a value of 0 expressing total equality and a value of 1 maximal inequality. It has found application in the study of inequalities in disciplines as diverse as sociology, economics, health science, ecology, chemistry and engineering.

I hope that you will be able to find the following books to analyze the political situation in Ghana:

1. What Foreign Aid Can and Cant do in Africa: Understanding the Context of Aid and Socio-Economic Development in Ghana by Nathan Andrews.

2. Population, Health and Development in Ghana: Attaining the Millennium Development Goals edited by Chuks J. Mba and Stephen O. Kwankye.


Below, you will find the MA thesis proposal. As later I will convert it into the introduction chapter, the chapters that I expect you to research DON'T HAVE TO INCLUDE THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION (only the short introduction to the subchapters)

Introduction

Today, given the Millennium Development Goals and the overall general movement on development, there is a constant tendency of the developed countries to provide increased attention and assistance to the African continent. In this sense, the US launched its Africa Development Foundation, China, in its turn established its China-Africa Development Fund, whereas the European Commission established a large part of its strategic partnerships with African states (Mohan 2010). However, these initiatives are not without criticism. Thus, it is considered by analysts that the new development programs established by the developed countries sometimes seem to be more beneficial for the donors, rather than for the direct beneficiaries, the African continent (Boafo- Arthur & Essuman-Johnson 2004). The majority of African countries may benefit from oil and mineral resources that have the potential of transforming economies. But, the general opinion among scholars is that these resources represent more a curse than a blessing. The opponents of the foreign development programs in Africa believe that the worlds developed countries are more concerned with the potential economic benefit from African oil, copper and cobalt sources rather than with the sound end sustainable development of the African countries, in all of their economic, political, and most importantly social perspectives.
Given the nature of the debate raised by this constant discussion over foreign aid to Africa, its benefits and shortcomings, my thesis will analyse the way in which the development programs (strategic partnerships) underway in Africa benefited sustainable development. More precisely, the analysis will point out whether the new development programs encourage the transformation of the potential of natural resources into resources for human development, economic and political construction or, on the contrary, only foster the political and economic instability within some African states.
* As today the term development program has acquired a somewhat negative shade, the majority of the donors try to replace it by the more donor-friendly term strategic partnership. For that reason, the term strategic partnership is more widely used in the development sphere nowadays than the term development program. The initial name of the topic was Do Even though the name was changed, the essence of the topic is the same and the hypothesis was left unchanged.
Given the wide variety of characteristics inside the African continent, the thesis will focus on the example of Ghana and its relation with two of its important donors, the EU and China. More precisely, the focus is on the strategic partnerships undergone by the two donors and there impact on the political and economic development of Ghana. Ghana is a peaceful and stable democracy, which makes good progress toward its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2020. In 2008 it was revealed that Ghana has substantial oil reserves which will become available in 2010.Ghana's government anticipates that oil and gas will generate about $500 million in revenues in 2011. With economic growth rates even as high as 6 per cent over recent years, Ghana is an emerging African economic success story (CIDA 2010). However, even though this country is moving fast towards its economic development, Ghana ranks 130 out of 169 countries on the United Nations Development Programme's 2010 human development index (UNDP 2010). Therefore, there is no doubt that Ghan still needs some innovative development programs (strategic partnerships), which will let its Development indicators increase in the nearest future. Both the EU and China promise to do that with the help of their development aid programs.
Even though Ghana is known for its stability and democratic government, the country has a poor record of managing finances transparently. Therefore, there are not only doubts concerning the hidden motives of the economic powers which are conducting their strategic partnerships in Ghana, but there are also some doubts about who in Ghana will benefit from such programs (Hope 2000). In this sense, my thesis also aims to identify whether the funds from the Chinese and European strategic partnerships benefits the Ghanaian power holders, or the people of Ghana. Thus, both of the above mentioned issues, of Ghanas external and internal benefit from the EU and Chinese strategic partnerships will be discussed.



Methodology
As the thesis aims to demonstrate the real-life data on the current development of the country, the United Nations Development Programme's 2010 human development index will be used as a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of one or another development program. The UN represents in this sense one of the most accredited and useful resource for research largely because in its status as an international organization and development agent, it has provided extensive knowledge and experience in development aid and assistance. For the purpose of the research the latest HDR is used extensively to offer a starting point for the analysis on the situation in Ghana. Currently, according to the 2010 HDR, Ghana is on the 130th position, in the category of low human development index (UNDP 2010). More precisely, it is considered that Ghana is still an underdeveloped country. Even so, the UN Report on Least Developed Countries does not make reference to Ghana, a fact that is encouraging for the African state (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2010).
The Human Development Index is crucial because it represents a composite index taking into account several aspects of life, from infant mortality to the level of literacy among adults. The shortcomings of the HDR consist mainly, as presented in the preface of the document, in the complete reliance on national statistics. In this sense, the facts and classifications are established according to national information sources that may be out-dated or may lack credibility.
HDR statistics will be used to process information from previous years and decades, which in turn enables a comparative analysis for economic and political development. In this sense for instance, given the fact that the international development strategy for Africa is known since the late 1970s, it is important to assess the way in which the impact of this initiative is reflected in the fluctuation of the HDI (Human Development Index). As an example, the index has slowly improved since the 80s, from 0.363 to 0.431 in 2000 to 0.467 in 2010. This improvement, by applying the cause-effect analysis method, can be viewed as a direct effect of international aid, including aid from China and the EU, or, on the other hand, as a natural development of the economic cycle. By providing input from research, scholars, and primary sources (development reports), this development will be (or will be not) demonstrated to have been a natural consequence of international assistance for development.
The Gini Coefficient (Wikipedia 2010) will be used to assess the sustainability of the development process and its inequality( 2nd chapter). In this sense, by comparison, the research points out that there is indeed a gap between the economic growth that is statistically visible and the social impact it has on the population. Better said, despite favorable economic conditions job creation has not matched economic growth, particularly in rural areas (UNDP Ghana 2010). Similar analysis will be made for other areas of the social and economic development with precise attention provided to sectors where Ghana has benefited from Chinese and European assistance such as constructions in industrial areas.



FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1. Main agenda of the international development strategy for Ghana since the 1970s.
1.1. Short history of the foreign aid programs launched by the economiclly developed donor countries;
1.2. Analysis of the effectiveness of the previously introduced developmental programs on the basis of the HDI data;
1.3. The explicit and implicit motives of the donor countries to launch the strategic partnership programs for Ghana in the last four decades.

( This chapter will be dealing with the strategic goals of donor countries from the 1970s as well as analyze the impact of the implemented programs in the past. Some historic background will be given to the reader in order to demonstrate the way in which the impact of these initiatives reflected the fluctuations of the HDI). It would be great if you could find the examples of the development programs that were not sustainable and ??' harmed, but not benefited the economic and political development in Ghana in the past.

2. Analysis of the political situation in Ghana: political corruption and lack of economic transparency.
2.1. Short introduction into the political system of Ghana;
2.2. Corruption on the political level: lack of economic transparency;( measured by Gini coefficient)*
2.3. The consequences of the improper resources allocation. (Explain the general trends and state that the further throughout analysis of the European and Chinese funds allocation figures will be given in the following chapters).

This chapter will explain why only a limited amount of finances from the foreign assistance programs reaches the people of Ghana, as well as analyze the problems in the political mechanism of resource allocation .
3. Analysis of the EU-Ghana strategic partnership.
3.1. An overview of the EU-Ghana strategic Partnership;
3.2. The EU strategic benefit from the implementation of the program;
3.3. The allocation of the EU funds in Ghana;
3.4. The impact of the allocated funds on the political and economic development of Ghana, in terms of HDI.

In this chapter, a brief overview of the EU-Ghana relations will be given. More to this, it will be explained, why the EU decided to establish the partnership between the parties, but not to position itself as a donor for Ghana. The impact of the strategic partnership on the economic and political development of Ghana will be measured. The results will be compared to those of China, in order to analyze, which foreign aid model (a donor or a partner) is more effective in terms of positive impact on the political and economic development in Ghana. (HDI)

4. Analysis of the Chinese strategic partnership, launched by the China-Africa Development Fund.
3.1. An overview of the Chinese program for Ghana development, launched by the China-Africa Development Fund;
3.2. Chinese potential benefit from the introduction of the program in Ghana;
3.3. The allocation of the Chinese funds in Ghana;
3.4. The impact of the allocated funds on the political and economic development of the state.

In this chapter I will describe current relations between Ghana and one of its major donors, China. In this chapter, it will be explained what are the potential political and economic motives that drive China to become a donor for Ghana. The results will be measured.(HDI)

Each subchapter should contribute to answering the research question in one, or another way. MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION is the name of the topic. Second, less important research question is Who benefits more from the strategic partnerships: the EU/China, or Ghana?


If you will have any further questions, please, don't hesitate to contact me
Regards
Julia

There are faxes for this order.

Customer is requesting that (Serban) completes this order.

Current Event Papers:
Find current events from New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Roanoke Times, USA Today, trade publications, etc. the aricle should not be more than 8 weeks old and should be business specific. The current articles should relate to the reading I have attached. the article should exemplify a concept, rather than just state the concept. Press releases, Q&A columns, one paragraph synopsis are NOT acceptable articles for this assignment. Scientific journal articles are also NOT acceptable articles for this assignment. It is a 2-page analysis explaining, in your own words, what course concept the readings relates and what insight the author intended to convey. Finally use your judgment to evaluate the article.
Send me a copy of the article that you use.

Basically connect the article to Michael Porter has five forces that are widely used to
assess the structure of any industry. Porters five forces are the:
Bargaining power of suppliers,
Bargaining power of buyers,
Threat of new entrants,
Threat of substitutes, and
Rivalry among competitors


ARTICLE:

Industry Analysis: The Five Forces
Cole Ehmke, Joan Fulton, and Jay Akridge
Department of Agricultural Economics
Kathleen Erickson, Erickson Communications
Sally Linton
Department of Food Science
Overview
Assessing Your Marketplace
The economic structure of an industry is not an accident.
Its complexities are the result of long-term social trends and
economic forces. But its effects on you as a business manager
are immediate because it determines the competitive rules
and strategies you are likely to use. Learning about that
structure will provide essential insight for your business
strategy.
Michael Porter has identified five forces that are widely used to
assess the structure of any industry. Porters five forces are the:
Bargaining power of suppliers,
Bargaining power of buyers,
Threat of new entrants,
Threat of substitutes, and
Rivalry among competitors.
Together, the strength of the five forces determines the profit
potential in an industry by influencing the prices, costs, and
required investments of businesses??"the elements of return
on investment. Stronger forces are associated with a more
challenging business environment. To identify the important
structural features of your industry via the five forces, you
conduct an industry analysis that answers the question,
What are the key factors for competitive success?
Using This Publication
This publication describes five forces that influence an
industry. The publication includes a set of application
questions that will help you evaluate the structure of the
industry you are in or are considering entering. The more you
understand about the strength of each force, the better able
you will be to respond.
The forces affecting profitability are often beyond your
control, so you must choose tactics to respond to the forces
rather than try to change the business environment. This
publication offers insight on specific tactics you need for
success when facing competitive situations. While you may
assess any one force individually, you will gain the most value
by assessing all five of the forces
With each force, a Perspective feature illustrates the force
for an Indiana wine entrepreneur by evaluating that marketplace.
To avoid repetition, we use the word product to mean
either a product or a service. Read more about the five forces
in Porters book, Competitive Strategy.
Audience: Business managers seeking to assess
the nature of their marketplace
Content: Presents five forces that influence the
profitability of an industry
Outcome: Reader should understand the forces
and be able to counter them with appropriate
tactics
2 Purdue Extension Knowledge to Go
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
How Much Power Do Your
Suppliers Have Over You?
Any business requires inputs??"labor, parts, raw materials,
and services. The cost of your inputs can have a significant
effect on your companys profitability. Whether the strength of
suppliers represents a weak or a strong force hinges on the
amount of bargaining power they can exert and, ultimately,
on how they can influence the terms and conditions of
transactions in their favor. Suppliers would prefer to sell to
you at the highest price possible or provide you with no more
services than necessary. If the force is weak, then you may be
able to negotiate a favorable business deal for yourself.
Conversely, if the force is strong, then you are in a weak
position and may have to pay a higher price or accept a lower
level of quality or service.
Factors Affecting the
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Suppliers have the most power when:
The input(s) you require are available only from a
small number of suppliers. For instance, if you are
making computers and need microprocessors, you will
have little or no bargaining power with Intel, the
worlds dominant supplier.
The inputs you require are unique, making it costly to
switch suppliers. If you use a certain enzyme in a food
manufacturing process, changing to another supplier
may require you to change your entire manufacturing
process. This may be very costly to you, thus you will
have less bargaining power with your supplier.
Your input purchases dont represent a significant
portion of the suppliers business. If the supplier does
not depend on your business, you will have less power
to negotiate. Of course the opposite is true as well.
Wal-Mart has significant negotiating power over its
suppliers because it is such a large percentage of
suppliers business.
Suppliers can sell directly to your customers,
bypassing the need for your business. For example, a
manufacturer could open its own retail outlet and
compete against you.
It is difficult for you to switch to another supplier. For
example, if you recently invested in a unique
inventory and information management system to
work effectively with your supplier, it would be
expensive for you to switch suppliers.
You do not have a full understanding of your
suppliers market. You are less able to negotiate if you
have little information about market demand, prices,
and suppliers costs.
Reducing the Bargaining Power of
Suppliers
Most businesses dont have the resources to produce their own
inputs. If you are in this position, then you might consider
forming a partnership with your supplier. This can result in a
more even distribution of power. For instance, Dell Computer
uses partnering with its components suppliers as a key
strategy to be the low-cost/high-quality leader in the market.
This can be mutually beneficial for both supplier and buyer if
they can:
Reduce inventory costs by providing just-in-time
deliveries,
Enhance the value of goods and services supplied by
making effective use of information about customer
needs and preferences, and
Speed the adoption of new technologies.
Another option may be to increase your power by forming a
buying group of small producers to buy as one large-volume
customer. If you have the resources, you may choose to
integrate back and produce your own inputs by purchasing
one of your key suppliers or doing the production yourself.
Perspective on Bargaining Power of Suppliers

For an Indiana winery, one of the main supply decisions lies
with the key product ingredients??"winegrapes and juice.
Wineries have several options, including owning the
vineyard, purchasing grapes, or purchasing juice. An
overabundance of winegrapes and juice from the West Coast
of the U.S., for instance, enhances Indiana wineries
negotiating power with grape and juice suppliers. However,
the bargaining power of Indiana wineries is generally
weakened due to lack of winegrape growing experience.
If the winery needs a specific grape variety for a particular
wine, then the manager needs to be concerned about the
supply and demand for the product. As supply becomes
short, the manager will find that suppliers have increasing
bargaining power.
Raw aterials for wine production are commodity items that
are very cyclical in price, quality, and availability. There are
times when high-quality grapes can be bought for low prices
(over supply) and other times when particular grape varieties
or juice are almost non-existent. This can have a
significant effect on a winery. And it is something the
manager has no control over. For example, if a late spring
frost hits the New York vineyards, the tender varieties will
not produce enough grapes to satisfy demand for the year.
Small wineries are particularly challenged because they
do not have the leverage associated with volume that the
larger wineries have. As a result, the force of suppliers on
a small winery can be viewed as relatively strong.
However, a manager of an Indiana winery could decrease
the effect by cooperating with other small players to
make collective purchases.
Contracts and positive relationships with suppliers and
producers are another way a small winery can manage
the uncertainty and power of suppliers. Recognizing the
power of suppliers and the influence of outside factors
(e.g., knowledge and weather) is an important
consideration as a small winery finds a place in the market.
4 Purdue Extension Knowledge to Go
Many small customers acting as a group can create a strong
force. For instance, because of their size, health maintenance
organizations (HMOs) can purchase health care from
hospitals and doctors at much lower cost than can individual
patients.
Note that not all buyers will have the same degree of bargaining
power with you or be as sensitive to price, quantity, or
service. For example, apparel makers face significant buyer
power when selling to large retailers like Wal-Mart or
department stores, but face a much more favorable situation
when selling to smaller specialty shops.
Factors Influencing the
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Buyers have more power when:
Your industry has many small companies supplying
the product and buyers are few and large. For
example, you may have little negotiating power if you
and several competing companies are trying to sell
similar products to one large buyer.
The products represent a relatively large expense for
your customers. Customers may not price shop for a
quart of oil, but they will price shop if purchasing a
new vehicle.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
How Much Negotiating Power Do
Your Buyers Have?
The power of buyers describes the effect that your customers
have on the profitability of your business. The transaction
between the seller and the buyer creates value for both parties.
But if buyers (who may be distributors, consumers, or other
manufacturers) have more economic power, your ability to
capture a high proportion of the value created will decrease,
and you will earn lower profits.
How Much Power Do Your Buyers
Have Over You?
Buyers have the most power when they are large and purchase
much of your output. If your business sells to a few large
buyers, they will have significant leverage to negotiate lower
prices and other favorable terms because the threat of losing
an important buyer puts you in a weak position. Buyers also
have power if they can play suppliers against each other. In
the automotive supply industry, the large car manufacturers
have significant power. There are only a few large buyers, and
they buy in large quantities. But, when there are many
smaller buyers, you will have greater control because each
buyer is a small portion of your sales.
List the major inputs
needed for your business.

Reducing the Bargaining Power of
Buyers
You can reduce the bargaining power of your customers by
increasing their loyalty to your business through partnerships
or loyalty programs, selling directly to consumers, or increasing
the inherent or perceived value of a product by adding
features or branding. In addition, if you can select the
customers who have little knowledge of the market and have
less power, you can enhance your profitability.
Perspective on Bargaining Power of Buyers
Indiana wineries have three types of buyers??"direct
consumers, wholesalers, and retail outlets. Direct
consumers are mostly tourists out for the day, weekend, or
even a weeklong vacation. In this situation, competition for
those buyers is actually any travel destination in the area
competing for their leisure time. Would the buyers rather
visit a state park or a museum than a winery? A winery
can reduce the bargaining power of these customers by
offering unique products and events that offer high value.
Wholesalers have a significant amount of bargaining power
because they are few in number and have a considerable
influence over the wines that are sold on the retail shelf.
Thus, the bargaining power of small wineries is weak
compared to that of the wholesalers. In Indiana,
counteracting legislation allows small wineries to sell
directly to retail outlets without using a wholesaler.
While the bargaining power of one of these wineries
with retail outlets is still weak, the winery has the
benefit of offering a local Indiana product that is in
demand with consumers.
Overall for Indiana wineries, buyers have more power
than the entrepreneurs. This is due to the fact that direct
consumers have multiple options for entertainment, and
wholesalers and retail outlets have thousands of wine
brands to choose from. Therefore, a small winery owner
must be creative in dealings with consumers, usually by
offering loyalty programs and increasing perceived value.
6 Purdue Extension Knowledge to Go
List the types of customers that
you have or expect to have.
What alternatives might these
customers have for your product?
How can you build loyalty for your product
or service to reduce customer bargaining power?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Further Assessment
Using a pencil and sheet of paper, examine in greater detail how the bargaining power of buyers will affect your business.
Self Assessment??"Bargaining Power of Buyers
Thi
respond with Yes or No in the space provided. Yes indicates a favorable competitive environment for your business. No indicates
a negative situation. Use the insight you gain to develop effective tactics for countering or taking advantage of the situation.

How Easy Is It for Businesses to
Enter Your Market?
You may have the market cornered with your product, but
your success may inspire others to enter the business and
challenge your position. The threat of new entrants is the
possibility that new firms will enter the industry. New entrants
bring a desire to gain market share and often have significant
resources. Their presence may force prices down and put
pressure on profits.
Analyzing the threat of new entrants involves examining the
barriers to entry and the expected reactions of existing firms
to a new competitor. Barriers to entry are the costs and/or
legal requirements needed to enter a market. These barriers
protect the companies already in business by being a hurdle
to those trying to enter the market. In addition to up-front
barriers, a new competitor may inspire established companies
to react with tactics to deter entry, such as lowering prices or
forming partnerships. The chance of reaction is high in
markets where firms have a history of retaliation, excess cash,
are committed to the industry (see Rivalry Among Competitors),
or the industry has slow growth.
Unique Barriers
Entry barriers are unique for each industry and situation,
and can change over time. Most barriers stem from irreversible
resource commitments you must make in order to enter
a market. For example, if the existing businesses have wellestablished
brand names and fully differentiated products,
as a potential market entrant you will need to undertake an
expensive marketing campaign to introduce your products.
Barriers to entry are usually higher for companies involved
in manufacturing than for companies that provide a service
because there is often a significant expense in setting up a
production facility.
Another typeof entry barrier is regulatory. To produce organic
food there is a three-year wait before land may be certified.
During the waiting period, producers must raise the crop as
organic, but may not market it as organic until the three-year
cleansing process of the land is completed.
Overcoming barriers to entry may involve expending significant
resources over an extended period of time. Industries
based on patentable technology may require an especially
long-term commitment, with years of research and testing,
before products can be introduced and compete.
Factors Affecting the Threat of
New Entrants
The threat of new entrants is greatest when:
Processes are not protected by regulations or patents.
In contrast, when licenses and permits are required to
do business, such as with the liquor industry, existing
firms enjoy some protection from new entrants.
Customers have little brand loyalty. Without strong
brand loyalty, a potential competitor has to spend
little to overcome the advertising and service
programs of existing firms and is more likely to enter
the industry.
Start-up costs are low for new businesses entering the
industry. The less commitment needed in advertising,
research and development, and capital assets, the
greater the chance of new entrants to the industry.
The products provided are not unique. When the
products are commodities and the assets used to
produce them are common, firms are more willing to
enter an industry because they know they can easily
liquidate their inventory and assets if the venture fails.
Switching costs are low. In situations where customers
do not face significant one-time costs from switching
suppliers, it is more attractive for new firms to enter
the industry and lure the customers away from their
previous suppliers.
The production process is easily learned. Just as
competitors may be scared away when the learning
curve is steep, competitors will be attracted to an
industry where the production process is easily
learned.
Access to inputs is easy. Entry by new firms is easier
when established firms do not have favorable access to
raw materials, locations, or government subsidies.
8 Purdue Extension Knowledge to Go
Access to customers is easy. For instance, it may be
easy to rent space to sell produce at a farmers market,
but nearly impossible to get shelf space in a grocery store.
You are more likely to find new entrants in the food
business using the farmers market distribution system
over grocery stores.
Economies of scale are minimal. If there is little
improvement in efficiency as scale (or size) increases,
a firm entering a market wont be at a disadvantage if
it doesnt produce the large volume that an existing
firm produces.
Reducing the Threat of
New Entrants
Enhancing your marketing/brand image, utilizing patents,
and creating alliances with associated products can minimize
the threat of new entrants. Important tactics you can follow
include demonstrating your ability and desire to retaliate to
potential entrants and setting a product price that deters entry.
Because competitors may enter the industry if there are excess
profits, setting a price that earns positive but not excessive
profits could lessen the threat of new entry in your industry.
Perspective on Threat of New Entrants
The threat of new entrants has a unique twist in the
winery business. A winery is not an easy business to start
because it is capital intensive and market entry can take
multiple years due to licensing requirements and initial
production time for vineyards and wine. A strong
knowledge base is also required in order to make highquality
wine and understand the complexities of the
industry. Thus, there are significant barriers to entry.
However, in at least one respect, competitors are
complementary for Indiana wineries. When several
wineries exist in close proximity, it becomes beneficial
for all wineries involved. People may not travel an hour
from home to visit only one winery, but they would view
the trip as worthwhile if they had the opportunity to visit
four wineries. This clustering effect enhances the
attractiveness and profitability of all wineries involved.
Barriers to entry in the local wine market are high due to
capital investments, licensing, and knowledge
requirements. However, having competition close to a
business does not necessarily have a negative effect on
the bottom line. Therefore, some industries may actually
encourage and support new entrants up to a point.

What Products Could Your
Customers Buy Instead of Yours?
Products from one business can be replaced by products from
another. If you produce a commodity product that is undifferentiated,
customers can easily switch away from your product
to a competitors product with few consequences. In contrast,
there may be a distinct penalty for switching if your product is
unique or essential for your customers business. Substitute
products are those that can fulfill a similar need to the one
your product fills.
As an example, a family restaurant may prefer to buy the
packaged poultry produced at your plant, but if given a better
deal, they may go to another poultry supplier. If you grow
free-range organically grown chickens, though, and you are
selling to upscale restaurants, they may have few substitutes
for the product that you are providing.
Substitutes Can Come in
Many Forms
Be aware that substitute products can come in many shapes
and sizes, and do not always come from traditional competitors.
Pork and chicken can substitute in consumer diets for
beef or lamb. Aluminum beverage cans battle in the market
against glass bottles and plastic containers. Cotton competes
with polyester from the petroleum industry. Barnes and Noble
retail bookstores compete with Internet retailer Amazon.
Postal services compete with e-mail and fax machines.
When developing a business plan, it is critical to assess the
other options your customers have to satisfy their needs. To do
this, look for products that serve the same function as yours. A
threat exists if there are alternative products with lower prices
or better performance or both.
How Substitutes Affect the
Marketplace
Substitutes essentially place a price ceiling on products.
Market analysts often talk about wheat capping corn. This
occurs because wheat and corn are substitutes in animal feed.
If wheat prices are low, corn prices will also be low, because,
as corn prices rise, livestock feeders will quickly shift to wheat
to keep ration costs low. This reduces the demand and
ultimately the price of corn.
Its more difficult for a firm to try to raise prices and make
greater profits if there are close substitutes and switching costs
are low. But, in some cases, customers may be reluctant to
switch to another product even if it offers an advantage.
Customers may consider it inconvenient or even risky to change
if they are accustomed to using a certain product in a certain
way, or they are used to the way certain services are delivered.
Factors Affecting the Threat of
Substitution
Substitutes are a greater threat when:
Your product doesnt offer any real benefit
compared to other products. What will hold your
customers if they can get an identical product from
your competitor?
It is easy for customers to switch. A grocer can easily
switch from paper to plastic bags for its customers,
but a bottler may have to reconfigure its equipment
and retrain its workers if it switches from aluminum
cans to plastic bottles.
Customers have little loyalty. When price is the
customers primary motivator, the threat of substitutes
is greater.
Reducing the Threat of Substitutes
You can reduce the threat of substitutes by using tactics such
as staying closely in tune with customer preferences and
differentiating your product by branding. In some cases, the
advertising required to differentiate is more than one firm can
bear. In that case, collective advertising for an industry may
be more effective.
11 Purdue xtension Knowledge to Go
Perspective on Threat of Substitutes
In the wine business, theres a common misconception.
When considering substitutes, many would make the easy
assumption that the substitute for wine is beer. There are
many other options that need to be considered, however.
In addition to selling an alcoholic beverage, a winery is a
destination, an entertainment and educational source,
and a part of world history and culture.
Theres a saying in the wine-making business, Taste the
experience of Indiana wine??"taste the wine, taste the
events, taste the education, etc.
Due to the diversification of offerings in addition to wine,
substitutes must be carefully considered and evaluated.
Competing against the other travel destinations for
limited customer leisure time is one of the biggest
challenges.
In order to decrease the threat of substitutes in the
market and encourage customers, managers of Indiana
wineries must carefully consider these alternatives and
strategically address all the other options facing a
prospective buyer.
Self Assessment??"Threat of Substitutes
This is a short scorecard to help you assess your business position in your marketplace. Read each of the following questions and
respond with Yes or No in the space provided. Yes indicates a favorable competitive environment for your business. No indicates
a negative situation. Use the insight you gain to develop effective tactics for countering or taking advantage of the situation.

The offering and Marketing of Distance Learning in Third World Countries.
General: This Research Paper aims to demonstrate that the current distance learning and online learning programs that are available are prepared with the students in the west in mind and not students in Third World countries. We need to demonstrate that a new approach is needed in these countries and that we need to make available to them a system that can be implemented taking into consideration the fact that there are several barriers such as language, culture, technology, access to research material, libraries etc. Furthermore we need to talk about marketing strategies of such a product in these countries. Following is a suggested structure of the above.
Chapter 1 ? Introduction to the Thesis
-This sets out the basic premise of the project
- Why is there an issue ? economic growth and exclusion by cost of study and artificial market barriers ? the fact that most distance learning and online learning programs are design for people in the west. (expensive, needing fast internet connection, language barrier etc)
-Social economic power of supplier of education, limiting numbers to control the economic development and influence its implementation
-What might be done using existing medium and knowledge transfer
-Why this is not working
-What might be done
Chapter 2 ? Higher education and distance learning global trends
- Summary of the use of distance learning, its forms, it costs and its delivery requirement in higher education
-Make an argument that this only serves the interests of the rich western universities who develop programmes for internal strategic interests
Chapter 3 - Distance learning and its impact on student number in..
-Continue the review but now focus on the target markets for the study (Iran and Pakistan, India, China)
- Show how the current approaches fail to offer hope and opportunity to those who most need it
- Suggest reasons and possible solutions
Chapter 4 The research issues and aims of the project
-What can be done and why should it be done?
-A discussion on the issues of the market determining value
-What is the purpose of the thesis and its outcomes?
-Who will it help (reveal as sinners) and how will it do that
-What are the actual outcomes ? research report, new form of product, distribution system
Chapter 5 ? Research methodology and methods
-How are you going to address the problems
-What is the basis of the methods chosen
-What are the methods and why are they best to deal with the research questions or outcomes
-Constraints
Chapter 6 - Doing the work
-Describe the activities in research and development
-Highlight actions and the result obtained
-Discuss how the outcome we formulates making reference to them throughout this section (the actual outcome, software, research report will also need to be done and attached separately)
Chapter 7 ? Discussion
-This is a general decision of the results; what they mean, how you have analysis and used them to create the outcomes
Chapter 8 ? Conclusions and reflection
-What does this all means?
-What is the likely use of the outcome?
- How successful have you been?
- Reflection on the process

We can furthermore discuss the marketing problems in terms of an integrated marketing mix relating to the marketing of distance learning in Third World Countries.

Essay Title :
What is the nature and purpose of Ethical Frameworks and how does ethical practice involve working positively with diversity and difference?

when writing this essay please consider the fact that i am an African living in Britan. i am disable. the following is an email i received from my tutor which includes reading list. i want all the bibliography, works cited, etc to come from the following books and handouts which is mentioned in the email from my tutor:

EMAIL FROM TUTOR:
I think you are the ones who might be doing the ethics essay. Some have asked for reading. You don?t have to go into all individual differences in the essay but reading about them can help put you into the shoes of others.

The docs which start eth opp above are handouts and exercises. Don?t be overwhelmed- just see what is helpful for you.

Tim Bond for the general stuff, yes,
The Therapeutic Relationship (Petruska Clarkson)
BACP Ethical Framework (bacp.co.uk)
The Mirror Crack?d--really good (ANNE KEARNS)
?good fences make good neighbours??
Being White in the Helping Professions (JUDY RYDE)
Black Issues in the therapeutic process (ISHA MCKENZiE-MAVINGA)
the chapter on gay affirmative
Guidelines for LGBT- an A4 sized thing, bright pink- good brief read, might just get you thinking about working with any stigmatised minorities

Don?t forget that differences are all kinds- think culture in the broadest sense=- and what happens when we think someone is the same as us?

Handouts1

mkSame-Sex Relationships, an Historical Overview

My intention in this presentation is to look at some of the main religious influences on our attitudes to homosexual relationships in Britain. The law banning consenting sex between two adult men was repealed in Britain in 1967. The origins of this common law can be traced back to the decision by King Henry VIII to incorporate the Church's condemnation of homosexuality into secular governance in 1533. Even then, the attempt to outlaw and punish those who preferred sex with their own gender was nothing new.
One of the earliest recorded laws so far found on the matter is usually regarded as the Holiness Code of Leviticus, which is generally considered well over 3,000 years old. Verse 20:13 reads: "If a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death." This passage has been used throughout the intervening centuries by innumerable religious sects and governments to justify the imprisonment, torture, and execution of people imagined, rightly or wrongly, to be gay.
Not all Jews and Christians have accepted it without question. Many, such as John Selby Spong, have pointed out that surrounding passages also call for the execution of teenagers who are rude to their parents, and describe the wearing of polycotton shirts as an abomination in the eyes of Adonai. That has a certain surreal humour value, unless you happen to know of someone who was murdered or driven to suicide by the unrelenting hatred of the supposedly godly.
Many scholars also look to Persian religion as a source of sanction against homosexuality. Whilst Zoroastrianism has not had a prominent influence on British attitudes, it has arguable! had an indirect influence via its impact on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In its earliest form, the religion of Persia was polytheistic and had no laws against gay sex ~ a fairly common circumstance back then, given that polytheism tends to embrace diversity. For most of those ancient religions, an individuals sexual preferences were essentially a matter of personal taste, rather than a matter of morality or spirituality.
When the prophet Zarathushtra converted the Persians to monotheism, he appears to have made no comment on the matter either. It was not until the writing of the Vendidad many centuries later, between 200 and 400CE, that we find the first Persian sanction. Fargad 8, Verse 32 states ~ "The man that lies with mankind as man lies with womankind, or as woman lies with mankind, is the man that is a Daeva; this one is the man that is a worshipper of the Daevas, that is a male paramour of the Daevas."
The word Daeva is usually translated as meaning a devil, though originally it signified one of the Shining Ones, or gods. Ahura Mazda was asked, in Verse 27, how a Zoroastrian may cleanse themselves of the sin of homosexuality. He responded ~ "For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which there is no atonement, for ever and ever."
It is curious that the word used to criticise homosexuals can mean either a devil or a shining god. The Phoenician or Canaanite religion had priests known as qedeshim. For a time they were part of early Hebrew religion too, though the Old Testament recommended their expulsion. This Canaanite word originally meant holy man, though the King James and various other translations render it as sodomite. The feminine term, qedeshoth, is conventionally translated as prostitute. These religious castes were primarily devoted to the goddess Asherah, also called Astarte. Historians hotly debate wether this caste offered sexual services in addition to the more conventional priestly ones. Certainly in the minds of a great many Bible translators they did. Modem-day devotees of Asherah take the concept of sacred sexuality very seriously.
Victorian schoolteachers would often fmd their Classics classes a little difficult when the euphemistic 'unspeakable sin of the Greeks' reared its head in poetic and philosophical texts. Way back in 630BCE, the Greek poet Alcman composed poetry for a lesbian wedding. Same-sex marriages are nothing new. The word lesbian itself, of course, derives from the Greek. The isle of Lesbos was once the home of poet, playwright, and headmistress Sappho, most of whose poetry to the beautiful girls in her Finishing School was repressed and burnt by the Vatican. Enough survived that people two thousand years later should speak of lesbians and sapphics. As well as being a literary genius, the bisexual Sappho was also a priestess to the goddess Aphrodite. Not only did the ancient world invent the idea of same-sex weddings, but it had no particular problem with gay priests or priestesses either. It should be noted that Romano-Greek definitions of sexual identity were not structured by the issue of gender, such as our views are today. For the Mediterranean cultures the social status of the two partners was far more crucial than the gender, and defined what erotic acts were considered socially acceptable. They had no concepts of gay, straight or bisexual. Only ideas of high caste and low caste. Such sexual laws as those cultures had then, mostly dealt with issues of class rather than gender.
The Greeks also gave us such now-outmoded words for gay men as uranians and catamites, both terms derived from the names of old gods. Greek myth attributed the invention of homosexual love not to some fiendish devil, but to the most beautiful of all the Olympians ~ Apollo himself. His was the first male-male partnership, when he fell in love with the beautiful prince Hyacinthus. The mighty warriors of Sparta so admired Hyacinthus and his love for the radiant sun god, that every summer they held a three-day festival in his honour, which still occurs in some places today.
The Egyptians referred to homosexual activity in a variety of mythical and cultural contexts. They have even left us what may well be the earliest tomb of two male lovers. Khnum-hotep and Ni-ankh-khnum were courtiers, unrelated by blood, who took the unusual step of being buried together in the same tomb. One of the wall paintings shows them with arms round each other, an act of intimacy almost unknown in Egyptian art ~ even for heterosexual married couples.
The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were apt to engage in apotheosis - the process by which the recently deceased are elevated beyond the realms of minor ancestral spirits and into the ranks of demigods. One of the last pagans to be apotheosised was Antinous. This classically handsome young man was the lover of the Emperor Hadrian (he of the Scottish wall), who took the throne in the year 117CE, dying in 138. Greek-bom Antinous was loved for a few short but passionate years, before he drowned in the Nile at the age of about 20. A spontaneous reverence for the lost youth soon sprang up, along with tales of his rising from the grave to become an immortal god. When Hadrian heard of this, he responded by instituting a state cult. At least seven large temples were built across the Empire to this sanctified figure, and a whole city was built in his honour on the banks of the Nile.
Festivals were instituted in honour of Antinous, most notably his death on October 28th and birth on November 27th. Whilst Britain was part of the Roman Empire, these festivals were marked here too, indeed they are still marked by some modem pagans. In the numerous small shrines built to him, he was (and still is) honoured as a patron of the arts, of male beauty, and seen as a general protector and guide to the dead. Whilst the impact of Antinous on British attitudes has not been large, it is worth noting that whilst for some faiths homosexuals are devils, for others they are gods!
Whilst the attitudes of Mediterranean polytheist religions is well documented, the views of the faiths from Northern Europe are less well known. Some commentary has, however, survived. The Hellenic writer Diodorus, back in 400BCE, described, with some degree of surprise, how the Celts had no concepts of social dominance within the sexual arena, but "...they weave around other males in a strange frenzy. They are accustomed to sleeping on the ground upon hides of wild beasts and indulge together ?with male partners on both sides for sex." At much the same time Aristotle spoke of "...those nations which openly approve of sexual relations between men, such as the Celts and certain others."
The Christian commentator Bardaisan wrote in the early 3rd century that "In the countries of the north, in the lands of the Germans and those of their neighbours, handsome young men assume the role of wives towards other men, and they celebrate marriage feasts." Fellow Christian historian Eusebius ofCaesarea, wrote in the 4th century that "Among the Gauls, the young men marry each other with complete freedom. In doing this, they do not incur any reproach or blame, since this is done according to custom amongst them." Commentary on lesbian relationships is harder to find, largely because the mostly male historians of that period had little interest in what women got up to.
Whilst we cannot say that every single tribe followed the same pattern, the suggestion is that same-sex love was not considered odd or strange, or something to be stamped out. The Fenechus law codes of Ireland, which changed little under Christian rule, make no specific mention of homosexuality. The Tain bo Cualigne myth, itself committed to writing by monks during a period when Ireland maintained both Christian and Druid traditions, contains some beautiful love poetry sung by the warrior Cuchulainn over the corpse of his dead companion Ferdiad. The poem describes them as "men ~who shared a bed", and does so in entirely sympathetic terms.
During the 19th century it was common for European writers to refer to homosexuality as either the German .or the English vice, different predilections being associated with different countries. Whether this was in any way a hang-over of those early tribal attitudes, or simply a matter of nationalist stereotyping, is hard to say.
We have already mentioned Leviticus as a source for justifying later laws against gay unions. Another Biblical tale frequently quoted is that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two angels visit Lot in the city, and the men of the city gather in a mob outside demanding to "know" the visitors ~ which a good many have taken to mean rape, though this is not actually stated. Many theologians have considered angels as essentially sexless, neither male nor female. The attempted rape (if such a thing took place at all) of a genderless entity could hardly be constituted as a homosexual act, or a heterosexual one either. Quite how it should be labelled is anyone's guess. Many commentators have focussed on the sin of Sodom as being inhospitality towards strangers, not a particular sexual predilection. By the end of the first century CE, an increasing number of Jewish and Christian thinkers, such as the historian Josephus, promoted the idea that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality. It is ironic that this tale should have been made into one of sexual morality, given that Lot's apparently religiously acceptable response to the mob was to offer his own two daughters up to be raped instead. Scarcely an icon of sexual probity.
Despite the proscriptions, there have been vicars, priests, rabbis and so forth over the centuries who have broken with tradition to bless same-sex unions. Often ending up in a good deal of trouble for doing so. In recent years those religions that stigmatise homosexuality have seen growing lobbies from within to either change their views entirely, or to distinguish between the sinner and the sin ~ that is, to tolerate gays so long as they are celibate. Much of the latter argument has been largely in response to assorted unproven psychological theories claiming genetic origins for homosexual desire. Those who subscribe to such ideas have inclined to the view that me urge is taken out of the realm of choice (and therefore can scarcely be condemned), it being only the decision to act on the urge that carries a moral value.
Pressure to change laws in Britain has been growing since the Victorian age, and has come primarily from secular and humanist sources. Whilst some religious voices have been in favour of liberalisation, the loudest have usually been conservative ones. Britain has yet to see the more extreme examples from America of evangelists picketing the funerals of gay people, and screaming abuse at the mourners. However, we still have many examples of people who feel it their moral right to spit at, or beat up suspected gays. Or to kick them to death, or bomb gay pubs. The views of such people are not bom in a moral vacuum, but out of generations of people being indoctrinated with the socially-sanctioned notion that homosexuality warrants violence or death.
In concentrating primarily on those religions that have had a strong influence on our British legal and moral system, I have not touched upon the wealth of sources from the Far East. Acceptance of same-sex marriages was common in China, as was nanshoku in Japan. Nor have I mentioned the diverse array of practices amongst the native tribes of North and Central America, some of which had third and fourth genders. Nor have we looked at practices in India, nor at the love poetry of Muslims such as Abu Nuwas and later medieval writers. Suffice to say that world is a vast and diverse place. Gay marriage is not some bit of contemporary political correctness. It is a long tradition, with its roots in the polytheist faiths of the ancient world, that has continued to grow and develop throughout the prominence of monotheism and secular humanism.
The earlier quote from the Vendidad relates specifically to how Zoroastrians are expected to behave. It makes no proscription as to the behaviour of non-believers. Clearly it is the right of each religion to demark what is and is not acceptable for their own followers. In exploring the attitudes of varying faiths, it is not my intention to suggest that religion A adopt the views of religion B, simply to comment on the source of those views. However, I would like to emphasise my personal view that the world would probably be a happier place if religions focussed on instructing their own devotees, and did not attempt to impose their laws on the world at large.
A review by Robin Heme
XXXXXX

Handout 2

What are the potential abuses of these kinds of power in the relationship between counsellor and client?

This exercise should be done bearing in mind everything you know about ethics, moral values, cultural identity and working with difference. Think about the differing constraints between the context of the counselling; eg private practice, doing outsourced work for EAPs (Employee Assisted Programmes) or other agencies, employment by the NHS or other agencies.

Ability to offer or withhold rewards, privileges or specialist services
Power to compel or punish the other into compliance
Having specialist knowledge or training
Possession of knowledge and the ability to communicate effectively
Power invested by law or status
Status of the two parties in relation to each other
Ability to meet the other?s emotional needs
Sexual power
Cultural power- belonging to the dominant culture (gender, race, sexuality, etc)
Social, class based power
Coping power- being more able to cope or function, emotionally or practically, than the other
Economic power
Being in possession of the territory
Any other kinds?



Janet Dowding 02.2010 saved as power
XXXX

Handout3

Attitudes Toward Difference Survey: The Riddle Scale
Put a check next to each statement with which you agree. Bracket the 2-3 consecutive statements that reflect your current range of thinking about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
___ 1. Homosexuality is unnatural and immoral. LGBT people are emotionally or psychologically ill.
___ 2. LGBT people should participate in reparative therapy or any other treatment available to help them change their sexual orientation.
___ 3. We should have compassion for LGBT people. They can?t be blamed for how they were born.
___ 4. LGBT people didn?t choose to be the way they are. If they could somehow become heterosexual, they would surely do so.
___ 5. Homosexuality is a phase that many people go through and most grow out of.
___ 6. LGBT people need our support and guidance as they wrestle with the many difficult issues associated with their lifestyle.
___ 7. I have no problem with LGBT people, but see no need for them to flaunt their sexual orientation publicly.
___ 8. What LGBT people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is their business.
___ 9. LGBT people deserve the same rights and privileges as everybody else.
___10. Homophobia is wrong. Society needs to take a stand against anti-LGBT bias.
___11. It takes strength and courage for LGBT people to be themselves in today?s world.
___12. It is important for me to examine my own attitudes so that I can actively support the struggle for equality that LGBT people have undertaken.
___13. There is great value in our human diversity. LGBT people are an important part of that diversity.
___14. It is important for me to stand up to those who demonstrate homophobic attitudes.
___15. LGBT people are an indispensable part of our society. They have contributed much to our world and there is much to be learned from their experiences.
___16. I would be proud to be part of an LGBT organization, and to openly advocate for the full and equal inclusion of LGBT people at all levels of our society.

Attitudes Toward Difference Survey Scoring Guide
Find the numbers below that correspond to the bracketed range on your survey. Read the attitude and characteristics that encompass this range. According to the Attitudes Toward Difference Scale developed by psychologist Dorothy Riddle, this is where you stand with regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
1-2 Repulsion: LGBT people are strange, sick, crazy and aversive.
3-4 Pity: LGBT people are somehow born that way and it is pitiful.
5-6 Tolerance: Life for LGBT people is hard; anti-gay attitudes just make things worse.
7-8 Acceptance: Homosexuality is a fact of life that should neither be punished nor celebrated.
9-10 Support: The rights of LGBT people should be protected and safeguarded.
11-12 Admiration: Being LGBT in our society takes strength.
13-14 Appreciation: There is value in diversity. Homophobic attitudes should be confronted.
15-16 Nurturance: LGBT people are an indispensable part of society.
Adapted from: Riddle, D. (1985). "Homophobia Scale." In Opening Doors to Understanding and Acceptance. ed. K. Obear and A. Reynolds. Boston: Unpublished essay.
Your Rating:
1-4 Your personal feelings may be preventing you from accepting and respecting LGBT people.
5-8 You are somewhat accepting, but may not be willing to actively work against anti-LGBT bias.
9-12 You are willing to provide support and work toward equal rights for LGBT people.
13-16 You are able to fully embrace LGBT people as equal and valuable members of the community.
Food for Thought:
Are your attitudes toward LGBT people based upon experience or preconceptions?
Are you as accepting of LGBT people as you are of people from different racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds? Why or why not? Have you ever had an LGBT friend? How might your attitudes help or hinder you from being an ally for LGBT people? What can you do educate yourself about LGBT issues and improve your attitude with regard to LGBT people?
XXXXX

Handout 4



Acceptance
One of Rogers? core conditions for counselling was ?unconditional positive regard?. Acceptance is a major aspect of this.

Much has been written about what unconditional positive regard might mean and what the difficulties are. One of the other core conditions is that of congruence, or genuineness. What are the conflicts between congruence and acceptance?

Classifying, stereotyping, prejudice
As human beings we are naturally prone to organising our world by classifying things:
?these things are furniture- this is a table, but that is a chair?
?that is a wren and that is a blackbird?

- and we do it with our fellow human beings:
?You are male, you are female?,
?you are black, she is white?

This leads to: ?you are like me, you are not like me?

? and stereotypes are born:
?men can?t express their feelings?,
?women can?t read maps?,
?black people can run faster?

And the judgements and assumptions based on the stereotypes creep in:
Scots are mean with money,
gay relationships never last,
black boys drive too fast,
These are clearly a barrier to seeing people as individuals.

It happens. We are all prejudiced, and we have all grown up absorbing the values and norms of society. However we can be aware of which ones are still active which dormant, and which have truly been changed by life experience.

Why is acceptance a prized attitude in counsellors?
An attitude of acceptance enables the client to feel free to explore their difficulties
? Without judgement
? Knowing that the therapist will not become involved in their lives
? Without having the opinions or values of the counsellor imposed on them
? Whilst maintaining their autonomy (ie no advice!)
? With the minimum of shame, which interrupts the process

As a counsellor the aim is to accept the client?s
? worth
? experience
? thoughts, feelings, desires and fantasies-
? identity and culture
? the validity of their values, even if they are different

?The subject matter of psychotherapy includes fantasies, fears, and feelings which patients find very hard to acknowledge, even to themselves? psychotherapy is a medium where the normal rules of social encounters are suspended and where it is safe to regress at times into kinds of behaviour which would be quite inappropriate in another setting.?
Holmes and Lindley quoted by Bond in Ethics of Counselling , 2000, p151

Acceptance of the client?s experience involves listening for the emotional rather than literal truth? clients often use metaphor, or use highly emotional language in order to convey the complexities of their inner world. Even when you suspect that another person might experience the same thing quite differently, it is the client?s experience which leads to the necessary understanding.

Acceptance of the person rather than their behaviour

Person centred theorists suggest that respecting the person and accepting their worth might be distinguished from the counsellor? feelings about behaviour.

Clients may exhibit judgemental, hostile, prejudiced or narrow views- they may admit to disloyalty, cruelty, to lying or cheating, to hurting someone else; they may appear to be incapable of love or empathy for others or for themselves? they may offend you your values or your principles? the behaviour may be out there in the world or in the room with you.

(NB Whether s/he admits it initially or not, the client may have come because s/he doesn?t like the behaviour either.)

The behaviour may be due to
? outmoded childhood survival strategies
? an avoidance of negative feeling- sadness, fear
? defence against shame
? entrenched patterns of relating
? a lack of self-worth
? unresolved trauma
? a history of being bullied or neglected
-and so on.

The following examples might illustrate this point:
? a teacher who tells you that she enjoys humiliating her pupils
? a man who makes it clear that a woman?s place is in the kitchen
? a client who swears aggressively throughout the session
? a client who considers beatings from her partner to be justified or normal
? a manager who brags to you about sexually harassing his staff

Acceptance of the client?s identity and culture

Person centred theorists haven?t generally paid a great deal of attention to cultural difference.

A cautionary note:

It?s vital for counsellors to be self-aware about their morals beliefs and values, to examine how thoroughly they have questioned those that they were brought up with to arrive at their own.

Where your values beliefs and morals are so different from the client?s and when the behaviour in question is related to the culture or identity of the client, beware the pull to ?love the sinner, hate the sin?. Taking homosexuality as an example: It is oppressive to cloak feelings of disapproval, repulsion or negative views of homosexuality in a warm but less than genuine regard for the client.

?Gay clients have no desire to be confronted by therapists who warmly offer to help them with a poor situation. In fact, such an attitude is one of the subtler forms of homophobia. Therapists who are unable to accept homosexuality as a positive and potentially creative way of being should recognize this fact and not take on gay clients: their fear, anxiety and ambivalence will inevitably be conveyed to their clients?.

(Woodman and Lenna, 1980) quoted in Pink Therapy Vol 2: Ed. Davies and Neal Therapeutic perspectives on working with lesbian, gay and bisexual clients. 2000, p100.

To summarise:
Acceptance in the Rogerian sense is an acceptance of the client?s experience and inner world.

Acceptance of this need not require you to like their behaviour (or allow it, if it violates your boundaries). However acceptance that it is as it is may help you to stay open enough to find out what lies behind it.

?Acceptance? can be experienced by some stigmatised minorities as patronising or pathologising; they might ask:

?What is there to accept? Who are you to say that I am alright by you? Are you judging that my way of being in the world is less valid than yours??


What are the challenges to us as counsellors in aiming to be congruent and accepting?

Where might your limits lie?

Which clients do you feel that you really could or should not work with?

Janet Dowding March 2010 Saved as Acceptance

XXXX

Handout 5

How does your internalised oppression operate?

In what ways does the way that you identify hold you back?

Do you stand in your own way because you have embedded beliefs about how your identity makes you unacceptable to others?

Think about which of your cultural identifiers make you a member of a stigmatised minority- even if it is mainly only in certain situations.

Have you internalised injunctions about how women, or (substitute your sexual orientation, religious background, ethnicity, etc) should be or behave?

If you are not in the dominant culture in your workplace, do you imagine that there is only so far that you can progress and still be liked by other people?

Do you sometimes feel / fear that people see you as a stereotype and not as an individual?

Do you find yourself acting out stereotypes?

Do you start to believe the stereotypes?

Are you hyper-critical of yourself, of others like you, of others different to you?

Do you blame your identity for a lack of self-esteem?

Do you blame your identity for a lack of academic or career progress?

Do you skimp on self-care or settle for less than what you really need?

Do your feelings of difference stop you from getting close to people?

Do you tone down your culturally determined behaviour to blend in or make yourself more acceptable, when with people not like you? (e.g. as a man in a group of women, be less macho / as an American, tone down your accent , as a Christian, choose not to mention your religious beliefs.)

If the stereotype about your identity is that you are prone to anger, do you spend a lot of time trying to be nice?

Do you wear a mask in certain situations either to hide an aspect of your identity or to make you acceptable in spite of your difference?

If the stereotype about your identity is that you are vulnerable, do you minimise your needs?
XXXX

Handout 6

AN ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL


1. Identify the situation or problem and write a clear description

2. Whose problem is it?
? Practitioner?s dilemma?
? Shared dilemma?
? Organisational dilemma?
Consider all relational aspects

3. Check out relevant ethical frameworks and the law
? What is required by law?
? What is prohibited by law?

4. Consider the principles and values underlying the counselling work
? Beneficence ? what decisions and actions will achieve the greatest good?
? Non-maleficence ? what decisions and actions will cause the least harm?
? Justice ? what decisions and actions will be fairest for all parties concerned?
? Autonomy ? what decisions and actions respect and maximise opportunities for individuals to implement their own choices?
? Fidelity ? what decisions and actions honour the trust placed in the practitioner?
? Self-respect ? how should the practitioner?s own need for the above principles and values be taken into account?

5. Identify all available support

6. Identify all possible courses of action

7. Review each possibility by identifying which principles/values are brought into conflict by each one, and consider the impact and likely consequences of each.

8. Select the appropriate course of action. Take into account three tests:
? Universality ? could your chosen course of action be recommended to others? Would you condone it, if it was done by someone else?
? Publicity ? could I explain my chosen course of action to other practitioners? Would I be willing to have my actions and rationale exposed to scrutiny in a public forum?
? Justice ? would I do the same for other clients/counsellors in a similar position? Would I do the same if the client/counsellor was well known or influential (or was not)?

9. Document the above process carefully

10. Evaluate the outcome
? Was the outcome as you hoped?
? Had you considered all relevant factors?
? Would you do the same again in similar circumstances?

11. Review any personal impact the situation has caused
? How has this situation affected me?
? Can I identify any skills or knowledge areas that need to be developed?
? Has any need for personal therapy emerged?


XXXXX

Handout 7

Boundary problems and dual relationships

Dual relationships are seldom neutral. It is necessary to consider their impact on counselling process and entering into them calls for careful consideration, not least because of the boundary issues involved.

? Direct dual relationships e.g. client and trainee; trainee and supervisee; line management and supervision; supervisee and friend
? Indirect dual relationships e.g. counselling someone when you know their partner; acting as a consultant for a training course when one of the students is a current client of yours; counselling a client who is the supervisee of your supervisor; counselling a client who is the supervisee of a colleague

In these situations it is necessary to consider confidentiality and the potential for compromising the efficacy of specific roles. Ethical principles that come into play include justice, fidelity and self-respect.

? Crossing boundaries - usually involves consideration, negotiation and has the client?s needs in the foreground eg client arrives with a flat tyre and without their mobile phone, so you offer the use of your phone or negotiating seeing a client twice weekly when your usual practice is once weekly.
? Breaking boundaries ? usually involves the intentional or unintentional use or abuse of a client, financially, emotionally or sexually

?A board-certified psychiatrist saw a woman in individual therapy for ten years. During the course of the therapeutic relationship, he negotiated with her to sell her two of his boats, sight unseen. Additional transactions involved sales of her personal property to him: Waterford crystal, china, and a silver service, the last of which as appraised at $1,600 but was purchased by the psychiatrist for $200. In the same year he accepted a refrigerator and a dining table with six chairs as gifts. During the course of these commercial trasactions, the patient had run up a significant bill with the psychiatrist. She sold her father?s coin collection to the psychiatrist for $1,000 as a means of getting one of the boats into the water. Within a year, the back repossessed the boat and the patient declared bankruptcy.?

(Norris, Gutheil and Strasburger 2003)

This seems improbable but illustrates the potential power of a practitioner. Less obvious forms of exploitation or enmeshment might include taking on a client with issues beyond your competance because of the need for work; over running sessions because of enjoying the client?s company; continuing to see a client within an organisational setting when they are no longer entitled to counselling, because of feeling no one else can help.

Breaking sexual boundaries

A US studies (Pope 1988) showed that on average 8.3% of male mental health professionals and 1.7% of female mental health professionals had sexually engaged with clients. Given that the respondents willingly gave this information it is reasonably to expect that others had sexually engaged with clients but did not want to disclose this.

Practitioners who sexually engage with clients often thought of as ?a scheming, malicious therapist overpowering ? perhaps by physical force ? a reluctant client? (Pope 1988 p.222). This is a misconception.

Common scenarios (from Pope 1988 p.223)


Role Trading therapist becomes the ?patient? and the wants and needs of the therapist become the focus of the treatment
Sex Therapy therapist fraudulently presents therapist-client sexual intimacy as a valid treatment for sexual or other kinds of difficulties
As if? therapist treats positive transference as if it were not the result of the therapeutic situation
Svengali therapist creates and exploits an exaggerated dependence on the part of the client
Drugs therapist uses drugs or alcohol as part of the seduction
Rape therapist uses physical force, threats, and/or intimidation
?True Love? therapist uses rationalizations that attempt to discount the professional nature of the relationship with its attendant responsibilities and dynamics
It just got out of hand therapist fails to treat the emotional closeness that develops in therapy with sufficient attention, care and respect
Time out therapist fails to acknowledge and take into account that the therapeutic relationship does not cease to exist between scheduled sessions or outside the therapist?s office
Hold me therapist exploits client?s desire for non-erotic physical contact and client?s possible difficulties distinguishing between erotic and non-erotic contact


Therapist risk factors (Norris, Gutheil and Strasburger 2003)

? Life crises
? Transitions
? Therapist illness
? Loneliness and the impulse to confide
? Idealisation and the ?special patient? ? ?I don?t usually do this with my clients, but??.?
? Pride and shame (this couldn?t happen to me: I know what I?m doing)
? Problem with setting limits
? Denial

These are a variety of circumstances that may create vulnerability for the therapist and so increase the likelihood of using a client or clients to resolve the sense of uncertainty, loneliness, stress etc, as well as evoking feelings that skew judgement and inhibit finding support and help.

Factors increasing client vulnerability

? a pattern of seeking enmeshment
? the difficulty of challenging therapist behaviour
? previous experience of boundary violations, especially early in life
? shame and self-blame
It is important to remember that whatever is happening for the client, it is always the practitioners responsibility to maintain appropriate boundaries. Boundary violations are never the fault of clients.

Damage done by therapist-client sexual contact (Pope 1988)

? Ambivalence ? feelings of alternately or simultaneously wanting to get away from the therapist and cling to or protect the therapist
? Feelings of guilt ? affected clients feel to blame, although the responsibility always rests with the therapist
? Sense of emptiness and isolation ? a sense of being cut off and worthless
? Sexual confusion ? including traumatic memories, avoidance of sex or compulsive sex
? Impaired ability to trust ? others and themselves for having trusted the therapist
? Identity, boundary and role confusion ? harm is done to the sense of a separate self and the ability to establish and maintain boundaries
? Emotional liability ? strong feelings including anxiety or depression that can overwhelm
? Suppressed rage
? Increased suicidal risk
? Cognitive dysfunction ? especially with attention and concentration

These affects are very similar to the affects of early trauma, rape and assault.

Approaching sexual feelings in counselling

The intimacy inherent in counselling gives rise to strong feelings ? positive and negative. Sexual feeling can be particularly problematic as:

? issues of sexuality are often neglected on counsellor training courses
? the problem is often downplayed or denied amongst professionals
? discomfort inhibits or blocks conversation about the sexual feelings that commonly arise for practitioners. For instance, research has shown supervisees are often reticent to talk about sexual feelings arising in their work in supervision (Webb and Wheeler 1998)



References

Norris, D., Gutheil, T. and Strasburger, L. (2003) ?This Couldn?t Happen to Me: Boundary Problems and Sexual Misconduct in the Psychotherapy Relationship? in Pyschiatric Services http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org. Vol. 54. No.4.

Pope, K. (1988). ?How Clients are Harmed by Sexual Contact with Mental Health Professional: The Syndrome and its Prevalence? in Journal of Counselling and Development. Vol 67.

Webb, A. and Wheeler, S. (1998) ?How honest do counsellors dare to be in the supervisory relationship?: an exploratory study? in British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. Vol. 26. No. 4.



? Sarah Hawtin 2007

XXXX

Handout 8

Boundaries and the therapeutic framework



What are boundaries? What might they look like in the counselling relationship? Why are they important?

Boundaries form the limits of therapy and include time, place and emotional, psychological and sexual limits. Boundaries include the recognition that practitioner and client may well have different expectations and hopes about what is possible.

? Time/place ? expectations may be influenced by prior ideas about counselling; feelings of needing help and/or feeling able/unable to cope; implications of what is offered ? short term/long term; time limited and open ended

? Emotional, psychological and sexual limits ? need to recognise the constellation of feelings that cluster around relationships past and present; need, dependency, love, desire, security, frustration, abandonment, fear/anxiety, hate, jealousy etc etc

A practitioner needs to convey their commitment, understanding and willingness to help without becoming involved in a ways that:

? perpetuates the state/s a client is seeking to resolve
? primarily serves the counsellor
? undermines the client?s capacity to build trust in themselves, their feelings and their ability to act


Contracts

Contracts are mutually agreed limits ? usually including time, place, duration, confidentiality, payment and goals (do more of this in the working alliance weekend). Forming a contract is part of an open exploration of expectations and hopes. It makes boundaries transparent, therefore suppporting a client?s autonomy and helps with negotiation.


Boundaries and confidentiality ? the ideal and the actual

The most idealistic image of therapy is of the closed door, sealed against any intrusion. This can be taken literally and symbolically i.e. the idea of dedicated time, free from outside interference and with the total focus being the client. However, the reality is there are duties that may conflict. For instance, the duties of confidentiality and care may collide if there is a likelihood of self-harm or harm to another.

Mark Aveline (2001) has highlighted the professional, ethical, legal and employment obligations that are part of therapeutic working (see Figure 1 below). The responsible practitioner cannot ignore the realities of those institutions or individuals who are potentially affected by counselling.




Figure 1 ? Possible stakeholders in the counselling process.



The function of the therapeutic framework

The therapeutic framework is the constellation of boundaries or limits to working. This is always ?holding? (providing consistency, safety and in some instances a reparative relationship) and may also be illuminating (highlighting patterns of behaviour and feeling).

The use of the therapeutic framework varies between approaches:

? person-centred ? has a reputation for flexible boundaries, including variable length sessions. This needs to be understood as a proactive process of negotiation in reponse to client need, rather than being reactive.
? psychodynamic ? the framework is more consciously encorporated, because of wanting to ?use? the frame as a way of coming to understand a client more fully. The emphasis on transference also raises the need for appropriate and safe holding.



References

Aveline, M. (2001). ?Complexities of practice: psychotherapy in the real world? in eds. Palmer Barnes, F. and Murdin, L. Values and Ethics in the Practice of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Buckingham: Open University Press.


? Sarah Hawtin 2007
XXXXX

Handout 9

Working with Transgender Clients
Tina Livingstone
B.Ed Hons, Dip Couns
Introduction
For the purposes of this document I shall refer to the client group as T, rather
than transvestite, transgender or transsexual, partly because counselling may
precede any clinical diagnosis and partly because it is an inclusive, though not
ideal, identifier for a rainbow of trans-identities that seems too diverse to
quantify into a tripartite system.
I write from the perspective of a non ?Trans, Client Centred counsellor with 15
years personal experience within the trans-community. Currently working in
private practice, my T clients are from all areas and walks of life, and include
those who self identify as transsexual, transvestites, and transgendered
people, those with clinical diagnosis of transsexualism, people pre- and post
gender transition, pre and post reassignment surgery, those struggling with
gender issues and indeed those struggling with other issues.
N.B
It is wrong to assume that T clients always come to counselling with gender
based issues, though there is no doubt that these can provide another layer of
difficulty even when the source of the struggle lays elsewhere
As with the rest of the population contact with myself as a counsellor often
occurs at a crossroads / dilemma junction or is the result of cumulative stress;
in the case of T clients such need may occur pre-, during, and/or post clinical
treatment. My clients come to me through advertisement and on
recommendation within the trans-community itself.
My professional experience is that the relevance of counselling to the
emotional and psychological health of T people is both significant and diverse.
The emotional / psychological pressure of being in a socially stigmatised
minority being one of the primary pressures.
It is my belief that ideally those who work with T clients should have some
grounding in the issues arising, relevant legislation, and current clinical
treatment, thus enabling connection with the clients frame of reference and
facilitating informed practice. (It can be off putting for a client to be met as a
curiosity or questioned about process and equally challenging for the
counsellor not to know what the client is talking about - detracting from
therapeutic process in both cases)
My experience is that the Humanistic approaches, acknowledging the right to
self autonomy, and providing a suitably empathic and non judgemental basis
for therapeutic process, are most useful with these clients.

XXXXX

FIRST NATIONAL BANK v. BELLOTTI
435 U.S. 765 (1978)

Comment: I have edited this opinion. The full text can be found at the citation above.
Write a case report to answer the questions below:

Questions:

1. What did the Massachusetts legislature do?
2. What did the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decide? Its reasoning?
3. How did the U.S. Supreme Court rephrase the initial question?
4. Why doesn't it make a difference whether the corporate speech is about matters that materially affect its business interests?
5. What is the constitutional standard used to determine whether government regulation of politial speech is permissible?
6. What state interests did Massachusetts assert to justify its regulation of corporate political speech? What was the Supreme Court's response to them?
7. What is Rhenquist's fundamental argument?

JUDGES: POWELL, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and STEWART, BLACKMUN, and STEVENS, JJ., joined. WHITE, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and MARSHALL, JJ. REHNQUIST, J., filed a dissenting opinion.

In sustaining a state criminal statute that forbids certain expenditures by banks and business corporations for the purpose of influencing the vote on referendum proposals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the First Amendment rights of a corporation are limited to issues that materially affect its business, property, or assets. The court rejected appellants' claim that the statute abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The issue presented in this context is one of first impression in this Court. We postponed the question of jurisdiction to our consideration of the merits. 430 U.S. 964 (1977). We now reverse.

I

The statute at issue, Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., ch. 55, 8 (West Supp. 1977), prohibits appellants, two national banking associations and three business corporations, n1 from making contributions or expenditures "for the purpose of . . . influencing or affecting the vote on any question submitted to the voters, other than one materially affecting any of the property, business or assets of the corporation." The statute further specifies that "[no] question submitted to the voters solely concerning the taxation of the income, property or transactions of individuals shall be deemed materially to affect the property, business or assets of the corporation." A corporation that violates 8 may receive a maximum fine of $ 50,000; a corporate officer, director, or agent who violates the section may receive a maximum fine of $ 10,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n1 Appellants are the First National Bank of Boston, New England Merchants National Bank, the Gillette Co., Digital Equipment Corp., and Wyman-Gordon Co.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Appellants wanted to spend money to publicize their views on a proposed constitutional amendment that was to be submitted to the voters as a ballot question at a general election on November 2, 1976. The amendment would have permitted the legislature to impose a graduated tax on the income of individuals. After appellee, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, informed appellants that he intended to enforce 8 against them, they brought this action seeking to have the statute declared unconstitutional.

In addressing appellants' constitutional contentions, the court acknowledged that 8 "[operates] in an area of the most fundamental First Amendment activities," and viewed the principal question as "whether business corporations, such as [appellants], have First Amendment rights coextensive with those of natural persons or associations of natural persons." The court found its answer in the contours of a corporation's constitutional right, as a "person" under the Fourteenth Amendment, not to be deprived of property without due process of law. Distinguishing the First Amendment rights of a natural person from the more limited rights of a corporation, the court concluded that "whether its rights are designated 'liberty' rights or 'property' rights, a corporation's property and business interests are entitled to Fourteenth Amendment protection. . . . [As] an incident of such protection, corporations also possess certain rights of speech and expression under the First Amendment." Accordingly, the court held that "only when a general political issue materially affects a corporation's business, property or assets may that corporation claim First Amendment protection for its speech or other activities entitling it to communicate its position on that issue to the general public." Since this limitation is " identical to the legislative command in the first sentence of [ 8]," the court concluded that the legislature "has clearly identified in the challenged statute the parameters of corporate free speech."


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n7 The court stated that 8 would not prohibit the publication of "in-house" newspapers or communications to stockholders containing the corporation's view on a graduated personal income tax; the participation by corporate employees, at corporate expense, in discussions or legislative hearings on the issue; the participation of corporate officers, directors, stockholders, or employees in public discussion of the issue on radio or television, at news conferences, or through statements to the press or "similar means not involving contributions or expenditure of corporate funds"; or speeches or comments by employees or officers, on working hours, to the press or a chamber of commerce.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

III

The court below framed the principal question in this case as whether and to what extent corporations have First Amendment rights. We believe that the court posed the wrong question. The Constitution often protects interests broader than those of the party seeking their vindication. The First Amendment, in particular, serves significant societal interests. The proper question therefore is not whether corporations "have" First Amendment rights and, if so, whether they are coextensive with those of natural persons. Instead, the question must be whether 8 abridges expression that the First Amendment was meant to protect. We hold that it does.

A

The speech proposed by appellants is at the heart of the First Amendment's protection.

"The freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed by the Constitution embraces at the least the liberty to discuss publicly and truthfully all matters of public concern without previous restraint or fear of subsequent punishment. . . . Freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period."

The referendum issue that appellants wish to address falls squarely within this description. In appellants' view, the enactment of a graduated personal income tax, as proposed to be authorized by constitutional amendment, would have a seriously adverse effect on the economy of the State. The importance of the referendum issue to the people and government of Massachusetts is not disputed. Its merits, however, are the subject of sharp disagreement.

As the Court said in Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214, 218 (1966), "there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of [the First] Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs." If the speakers here were not corporations, no one would suggest that the State could silence their proposed speech. It is the type of speech indispensable to decisionmaking in a democracy, n11 and this is no less true because the speech comes from a corporation rather than an individual. N12. The inherent worth of the speech in terms of its caacity for informing the public does not depend upon the identity of its source, whether corporation, association, union, or individual.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n11 Freedom of expression has particular significance with respect to government because "[it] is here that the state has a special incentive to repress opposition and often wields a more effective power of suppression." T. Emerson, Toward a General Theory of the First Amendment 9 (1966).

n12 The individual's interest in self-expression is a concern of the First Amendment separate from the concern for open and informed discussion, although the two often converge. The Court has declared, however, that "speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government." And self-government suffers when those in power suppress competing views on public issues "from diverse and antagonistic sources."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The court below nevertheless held that corporate speech is protected by the First Amendment only when it pertains directly to the corporation's business interests. In deciding whether this novel and restrictive gloss on the First Amendment comports with the Constitution and the precedents of this Court, we need not survey the outer boundaries of the Amendment's protection of corporate speech, or address the abstract question whether corporations have the full measure of rights that individuals enjoy under the First Amendment. The question in this case, simply put, is whether the corporate identity of the speaker deprives this proposed speech of what otherwise would be its clear entitlement to protection. We turn now to that question.

B

The court below found confirmation of the legislature's definition of the scope of a corporation's First Amendment rights in the language of the Fourteenth Amendment. Noting that the First Amendment is applicable to the States through the Fourteenth, and seizing upon the observation that corporations "cannot claim for themselves the liberty which the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees," the court concluded that a corporation's First Amendment rights must derive from its property rights under the Fourteenth. n14

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n14 Corporate identity has been determinative in several decisions denying corporations certain constitutional rights, such as the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, or equality with individuals in the enjoyment of a right to privacy, but this is not because the States are free to define the rights of their creatures without constitutional limit. Otherwise, corporations could be denied the protection of all constitutional guarantees, including due process and the equal protection of the laws. Certain "purely personal" guarantees, such as the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, are unavailable to corporations and other organizations because the "historic function" of the particular guarantee has been limited to the protection of individuals. Whether or not a particular guarantee is "purely personal" or is unavailable to corporations for some other reason depends on the nature, history, and purpose of the particular constitutional provision.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is an artificial mode of analysis, untenable under decisions of this Court.

"In a series of decisions beginning with Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925), this Court held that the liberty of speech and of the press which the First Amendment guarantees against abridgment by the federal government is within the liberty safeguarded by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by state action. That principle has been followed and reaffirmed to the present day."

Freedom of speech and the other freedoms encompassed by the First Amendment always have been viewed as fundamental components of the liberty safeguarded by the Due Process Clause, and the Court has not identified a separate source for the right when it has been asserted by corporations. n15

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n15 It has been settled for almost a century that corporations are persons within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific R. Co., 118 U.S. 394 (1886).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

C

We thus find no support in the First or Fourteenth Amendment, or in the decisions of this Court, for the proposition that speech that otherwise would be within the protection of the First Amendment loses that protection simply because its source is a corporation that cannot prove, to the satisfaction of a court, a material effect on its business or property. The "materially affecting" requirement is not an identification of the boundaries of corporate speech etched by the Constitution itself. Rather, it amounts to an impermissible legislative prohibition of speech based on the identity of the interests that spokesmen may represent in public debate over controversial issues and a requirement that the speaker have a sufficiently great interest in the subject to justify communication.

Section 8 permits a corporation to communicate to the public its views on certain referendum subjects -- those materially affecting its business -- but not others. It also singles out one kind of ballot question -- individual taxation -- as a subject about which corporations may never make their ideas public. The legislature has drawn the line between permissible and impermissible speech according to whether there is a sufficient nexus, as defined by the legislature, between the issue presented to the voters and the business interests of the speaker.

In the realm of protected speech, the legislature is constitutionally disqualified from dictating the subjects about which persons may speak and the speakers who may address a public issue. If a legislature may direct business corporations to "stick to business," it also may limit other corporations -- religious, charitable, or civic -- to their respective "business" when addressing the public. Such power in government to channel the expression of views is unacceptable under the First Amendment. Especially where, as here, the legislature's suppression of speech suggests an attempt to give one side of a debatable public question an advantage in expressing its views to the people, the First Amendment is plainly offended. Yet the State contends that its action is necessitated by governmental interests of the highest order. We next consider these asserted interests.


IV

The constitutionality of 8's prohibition of the "exposition of ideas" by corporations turns on whether it can survive the exacting scrutiny necessitated by a state-imposed restriction of freedom of speech. Especially where, as here, a prohibition is directed at speech itself, and the speech is intimately related to the process of governing, "the State may prevail only upon showing a subordinating interest which is compelling," "and the burden is on the government to show the existence of such an interest." Even then, the State must employ means "closely drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgment . . . ."

A

Preserving the integrity of the electoral process, preventing corruption, and "[sustaining] the active, alert responsibility of the individual citizen in a democracy for the wise conduct of government" n27 are interests of the highest importance. Preservation of the individual citizen's confidence in government is equally important.

Appellee advances a number of arguments in support of his view that these interests are endangered by corporate participation in discussion of a referendum issue. They hinge upon the assumption that such participation would exert an undue influence on the outcome of a referendum vote, and -- in th end -- destroy the confidence of the people in the democratic process and the integrity of government. According to appellee, corporations are wealthy and powerful and their views may drown out other points of view. If appellee's arguments were supported by record or legislative findings that corporate advocacy threatened imminently to undermine democratic processes, thereby denigrating rather than serving First Amendment interests, these arguments would merit our consideration. But there has been no showing that the relative voice of corporations has been overwhelming or even significant in influencing referenda in Massachusetts, or that there has been any threat to the confidence of the citizenry in government.


Nor are appellee's arguments inherently persuasive or supported by the precedents of this Court. Referenda are held on issues, not candidates for public office. The risk of corruption perceived in cases involving candidate elections, simply is not present in a popular vote on a public issue. To be sure, corporate advertising may influence the outcome of the vote; this would be its purpose. But the fact that advocacy may persuade the electorate is hardly a reason to suppress it: The Constitution "protects expression which is eloquent no less than that which is unconvincing." We noted only recently that "the concept that government may restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amendment . . . ." Moreover, the people in our democracy are entrusted with the responsibility for judging and evaluating the relative merits of conflicting arguments. They may consider, in making their judgment, the source and credibility of the advocate. But if there be any danger that the people cannot evaluate the information and arguments advanced by appellants, it is a danger contemplated by the Framers of the First Amendment. In sum, "[a] restriction so destructive of the right of public discussion [as 8], without greater or more imminent danger to the public interest than existed in this case, is incompatible with the freedoms secured by the First Amendment."

B

Finally, appellee argues that 8 protects corporate shareholders, an interest that is both legitimate and traditionally within the province of state law. The statute is said to serve this interest by preventing the use of corporate resources in furtherance of views with which some shareholders may disagree. This purpose is belied, however, by the provisions of the statute, which are both underinclusive and overinclusive.

The underinclusiveness of the statute is self-evident. Corporate expenditures with respect to a referendum are prohibited, while corporate activity with respect to the passage or defeat of legislation is permitted, see n. 31, supra, even though corporations may engage in lobbying more often than they take positions on ballot questions submitted to the voters. Nor does 8 prohibit a corporation from expressing its views, by the expenditure of corporate funds, on any public issue until it becomes the subject of a referendum, though the displeasure of disapproving shareholders is unlikely to be any less.

The fact that a particular kind of ballot question has been singled out for special treatment undermines the likelihood of a genuine state interest in protecting shareholders. It suggests instead that the legislature may have been concerned with silencing corporations on a particular subject. Indeed, appellee has conceded that "the legislative and judicial history of the statute indicates . . . that the second crime was 'tailor-made' to prohibit corporate campaign contributions to oppose a graduated income tax amendment."

Nor is the fact that 8 is limited to banks and business corporations without relevance. Excluded from its provisions and criminal sanctions are entities or organized groups in which numbers of persons may hold an interest or membership, and which often have resources comparable to those of large corporations. Minorities in such groups or entities may have interests with respect to institutional speech quite comparable to those of minority shareholders in a corporation. Thus the exclusion of Massachusetts business trusts, real estate investment trusts, labor unions, and other associations undermines the plausibility of the State's purported concern for the persons who happen to be shareholders in the banks and corporations covered by 8.

The overinclusiveness of the statute is demonstrated by the fact that 8 would prohibit a corporation from supporting or opposing a referendum proposal even if its shareholders unanimously authorized the contribution or expenditure. Ultimately shareholders may decide, through the procedures of corporate democracy, whether their corporation should engage in debate on public issues. Acting through their power to elect the board of directors or to insist upon protective provisions in the corporation's charter, shareholders normally are presumed competent to protect their own interests. In addition to intracorporate remedies, minority shareholders generally have access to the judicial remedy of a derivative suit to challenge corporate disbursements alleged to have been made for improper corporate purposes or merely to further the personal interests of management.

Assuming, arguendo, that protection of shareholders is a "compelling" interest under the circumstances of this case, we find "no substantially relevant correlation between the governmental interest asserted and the State's effort" to prohibit appellants from speaking.

V

Because that portion of 8 challenged by appellants prohibits protected speech in a manner unjustified by a compelling state interest, it must be invalidated. The judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court is Reversed.

MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST, dissenting

Comment: I have edited this dissent. Complete text is at the citation

This Court decided at an early date (1885), with neither argument nor discussion, that a business corporation is a "person" entitled to the protection of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Likewise, it soon became accepted (1895) that the property of a corporation was protected under the Due Process Clause of that same Amendment. Nevertheless, we concluded soon thereafter (1906) that the liberty protected by that Amendment "is the liberty of natural, not artificial persons." Before today, our only considered and explicit departures from that holding have been that a corporation engaged in the business of publishing or broadcasting enjoys the same liberty of the press as is enjoyed by natural persons (1936), and that a nonprofit membership corporation organized for the purpose of "achieving . . . equality of treatment by all government, federal, state and local, for the members of the Negro community" enjoys certain liberties of political expression (1963).

The question presented today, whether business corporations have a constitutionally protected liberty to engage in political activities, has never been squarely addressed by any previous decision of this Court. However, the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Congress of the United States, and the legislatures of 30 other States of this Republic have considered the matter, and have concluded that restrictions upon the political activity of business corporations are both politically desirable and constitutionally permissible. The judgment of such a broad consensus of governmental bodies expressed over a period of many decades is entitled to considerable deference from this Court. I am certain that the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts should be affirmed.

Early in our history, Mr. Chief Justice Marshall described the status of a corporation in the eyes of federal law:

"A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law. Being the mere creature of law, it possesses only those properties which the charter of creation confers upon it, ether expressly, or as incidental to its very existence. These are such as are supposed best calculated to effect the object for which it was created." Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheat. 518, 636 (1819).


The appellants herein either were created by the Commonwealth or were admitted into the Commonwealth only for the limited purposes described in their charters and regulated by state law. Since it cannot be disputed that the mere creation of a corporation does not invest it with all the liberties enjoyed by natural persons, our inquiry must seek to determine which constitutional protections are "incidental to its very existence."

There can be little doubt that when a State creates a corporation with the power to acquire and utilize property, it necessarily and implicitly guarantees that the corporation will not be deprived of that property absent due process of law. Likewise, when a State charters a corporation for the purpose of publishing a newspaper, it necessarily assumes that the corporation is entitled to the liberty of the press essential to the conduct of its business. Until recently (1976), it was not thought that any persons, natural or artificial, had any protected right to engage in commercial speech. Although the Court has never explicitly recognized a corporation's right of commercial speech, such a right might be considered necessarily incidental to the business of a commercial corporation.


It cannot be so readily concluded that the right of political expression is equally necessary to carry out the functions of a corporation organized for commercial purposes. A State grants to a business corporation the blessings of potentially perpetual life and limited liability to enhance its efficiency as an economic entity. It might reasonably be concluded that those properties, so beneficial in the economic sphere, pose special dangers in the political sphere. Furthermore, it might be argued that liberties of political expression are not at all necessary to effectuate the purposes for which States permit commercial corporations to exist. So long as the Judicial Branches of the State and Federal Governments remain open to protect the corporation's interest in its property, it has no need, though it may have the desire, to petition the political branches for similar protection. Indeed, the States might reasonably fear that the corporation would use its economic power to obtain further benefits beyond those already bestowed. I would think that any particular form of organization upon which the State confers special privileges or immunities different from those of natural persons would be subject to like regulation, whether the organization is a labor union, a partnership, a trade association, or a corporation. However, where a State permits the organization of a corporation for explicitly political purposes, this Court has held that its rights of political expression, which are necessarily incidental to its purposes, are entitled to constitutional protection.

One need not adopt such a restrictive view of the political liberties of business corporations to affirm the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court in this case. That court reasoned that this Court's decisions entitling the property of a corporation to constitutional protection should be construed as recognizing the liberty of a corporation to express itself on political matters concerning that property. Thus, the Court construed the statute in question not to forbid political expression by a corporation "when a general political issue materially affects a corporation's business, property or assets."

I can see no basis for concluding that the liberty of a corporation to engage in political activity with regard to matters having no material effect on its business is necessarily incidental to the purposes for which the Commonwealth permitted these corporations to be organized or admitted within its boundaries. Nor can I disagree with the Supreme Judicial Court's factual finding that no such effect has been shown by these appellants. Because the statute as construed provides at least as much protection as the Fourteenth Amendment requires, I believe it is constitutionally valid.

It is true, as the Court points out that recent decisions of this Court have emphasized the interest of the public in receiving the information offered by the speaker seeking protection. The free flow of information is in no way diminished by the Commonwealth's decision to permit the operation of business corporations with limited rights of political expression. All natural persons, who owe their existence to a higher sovereign than the Commonwealth, remain as free as before to engage in political activity.

I would affirm the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court.

There are faxes for this order.

Chapter5 Information

Key concepts in the challenges of globalization:
Global economy
Globalization
International management
Global manager

Europe
European Union (EU)
Political and economic alliance European countries that agreed to support mutual economic growth
Expanding to at 22 member countries with 375 million consumers

The Americas
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Agreement for free flow of goods and services between the Canada, Mexico, and United States
Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) ? Alaska to Chile ? is a possibility

Asia and the Pacific Rim
Economic power of China and Japan
Growth in other Pacific Rim countries
Asian countries represent a third of the global marketplace

Africa
Increased attention to stable countries
Beckons international business
South African Development Community (SADC) links 14 countries in trade and economic development

Reasons for engaging in international business:
Profits
Customers
Suppliers
Capital
Labor

Market entry strategies involve the sale of goods or services to foreign markets but do not require expensive investments.
Types of market entry strategies:
Global sourcing
Exporting
Importing
Licensing agreement
Franchising

Direct investment strategies require major capital commitments but create rights of ownership and control over foreign operations.
Types of direct investment strategies:
Joint ventures
Foreign subsidiaries

Criteria for choosing a joint venture partner:
Familiarity with your firm?s major business.
Strong local workforce.
Future expansion possibilities.
Strong local market for partner?s own products.
Good profit potential.
Sound financial standing.

Complications in the global business environment:
Environment is complex, dynamic, and highly competitive.
Global business executives must deal with differences in the environment of business in different countries.
World Trade Organization resolves trade and tariff disputes among countries.
Protectionism can complicate global trading relationships.

A multinational corporation (MNC) is a business with extensive international operations in more than one foreign country.

Mutual benefits for host country and MNC:
Shared growth opportunities
Shared income opportunities
Shared learning opportunities
Shared development opportunities

Host country complaints about MNCs:
Excessive profits
Domination of local economy
Interference with local government
Hiring the best local talent
Limited technology transfer
Disrespect for local customs

Profit limitations
Overpriced resources
Exploitative rules
Foreign exchange restrictions
Failure to uphold contracts

Ethical issues for MNCs:
Corruption ? illegal practices that further one?s business interests.
Sweatshops ? employing workers at low wages for long hours and in poor working conditions.
Child labor ? full-time employment of children for work otherwise done by adults.
Sustainable development ? meeting current needs without compromising future needs.

Culture
The shared set of beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior common to a group of people.
Culture shock
Confusion and discomfort a person experiences in an unfamiliar culture.
Ethnocentrism
Tendency to consider one?s own culture as superior to others.

Stages in adjusting to a new culture:
Confusion
Small victories
The honeymoon
Irritation and anger
Reality

Popular dimensions of culture:
Language
Low-context cultures and high-context cultures
Interpersonal space
Time orientation
Monochronic cultures and polychronic cultures
Religion
Contracts and agreements

Values and national cultures (Hofstede):
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Individualism-collectivism
Masculinity-femininity
Time orientation

Understanding cultural differences (Trompenaars):
Relationships with people:
Universalism versus particularism
Individualism versus collectivism
Neutral versus affective
Specific versus diffuse
Achievement versus prescription
Attitudes toward time ? sequential and synchronic views.
Attitudes toward environment ? inner-directed and outer-directed cultures.

Comparative management
How management systematically differs among countries and/or cultures.
Global managers
Need to successfully apply management functions across international boundaries.

Planning and controlling
Complexity of international environment makes global planning and controlling challenging.
Planning and controlling risks:
Currency risk
Political risk

Organizing and leading
Multinational organization structures
Global area structure
Global product structure
Staffing international operations
Competent locals
Expatriates

Are management theories universal?
North American management theories may be ethnocentric.
Participation and individual performance are not emphasized as much in other cultures.
Not all Japanese management practices can be applied successfully abroad.

Are management theories universal?
North American management theories may be ethnocentric.
Participation and individual performance are not emphasized as much in other cultures.
Not all Japanese management practices can be applied successfully abroad.

Global organizational learning:
Companies can and should learn from each other.
Readiness for global organizational learning varies based on managerial attitudes.
Ethnocentric attitudes
Polycentric attitudes
Geocentric attitudes
Be alert, open, inquiring, but always cautious.

Reference: http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books action=resource&bcsId=4218&itemId=0470154578&resourceId=12670

Go to chapter 5 and click

This is very important chapter5 ..... All information inside chapter5

Mini Assignment 2 ? Bata (Case 5)
Please carefully review case 5 (W-24 in your textbook), ?Bata: One step at a time?, and answer the following questions:
1. Describe Bata?s international business strategy. Would you consider Bata a multinational corporation?
2. If you were Bata?s top management, how would you deal with successfully managing business units in four very different geographic regions? [Hint: Identify any two relevant dimensions of culture. In addition, be as specific as possible in describing how you would effectively undertake the four functions of management in this case]
3. What benefits and challenges do you foresee if Bata continues its global expansion strategy?
NOTE:
? The case can be found in your textbook in the ?Cases for Critical Thinking? section near the end the textbook (the pages of the section begin with a ?w?).
? Carefully review each set of questions, and pay close attention to the words being used, and the key decision concepts being mentioned.
? This case requires you to apply key concepts that are covered in chapter 5; hence, make an effort to directly apply any relevant information or concepts on chapter 5 that pertain to the case.
? Be specific in your responses to the questions posed in relation to the case.
? Discuss the questions with fellow class mates, but write up your own responses.


Teacher gonna look turnitin.com so be careful

In late 1966, Rollin King, a San Antonio entrepreneur who owned a small commuter air service, marched into Herb Kellehers law office with a plan to start a low-cost/low fare airline that would shuttle passengers between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. Over the years, King had heard many Texas businessmen complain about the length of time it took to drive between the three cities and the expense of flying the airlines currently serving these cities. His business concept for the airline was simple: attract passengers by flying convenient schedules, get passengers to their destination on time, make sure they have a good experience, and charge fares competitive with travel by automobile. Kelleher, skeptical that Kings business ideal was viable, dug into the possibilities during the next few weeks and concluded a new airline was feasible; he agreed to handle the necessary legal work and also to invest $10,000 of his own funds in the venture.
In 1967, Kelleher filed papers to incorporate the new airline and submitted an application to the Texas Aeronautics Commission for the new company to begin serving Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. But rival airlines in Texas pulled every string they could to block the new airline from commencing operations, precipitating a contentious four-year parade of legal and regulatory proceedings. Herb Kelleher led the fight on the companys behalf, eventually prevailing in June 1971 after winning two appeals to the Texas Supreme Court and a favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. Kelleher recalled, The constant proceedings had gradually come to enrage me. There was no merit to our competitors legal assertions. They were simply trying to use their superior economic power to squeeze us dry so we would collapse before we ever got into business. I was bound and determined to show that Southwest Airlines was going to survive and was going into operations.
In January 1971, Lamar Muse was brought in as the CEO to get operations under way. Muse was an aggressive and self-confident airline veteran who knew the business well and who had the entrepreneurial skills to tackle the challenges of building the airline from scratch and then competing head-on with the major carriers. Through private investors and an initial public offering of stock in June 1971, Muse raised $7 million in new capital to purchase planes and equipment and provide cash for start-up. Boeing agreed to supply three new 737s from its inventory, discounting its price from $5 million to $4 million and financing 90 percent of the $12 million deal.
Because the airline industry was in the throes of a slump in the early 1970s, Muse was able to recruit a talented senior staff that included a number of veteran executives from other carriers. He particularly sought out people who were innovative, wouldnt shirk from doing things differently or unconventionally, and were motivated by the challenge of building an airline from scratch. Muse wanted his executive team to be willing to think like mavericks and not be lulled into instituting practices at Southwest that were largely imitative of those at other airlines. According to Rollin King, It was our one opportunity to do it rightWe all understood that this was our opportunity to decide how to do it our way. Our philosophy was, and still is, we do whatever we have to do to get the job done.

Using the above information as a reference; use the below questions as heading, write an 8 page paper (not including graphs, charts, figures, or tables); double spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one inch margins on all sides, APA format, on the analysis of : Southwest Airlines
NOTE: All references need to be according to APA format

1. Discuss the corporate culture at Southwest Airlines and how it leverages its culture to achieve a competitive advantage.

2. Evaluate the companys financial performance by calculating and interpreting the profitability ratios (operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on total assets, and return on stockholders equity).

3. Describe the characteristics of companys culture and how it affects company performance.

4. Given the strategic decisions in the case, recommend actions that Southwests management should take to sustain/strengthen the culture (or implement a change) based on the situation given.

5. Given the strategic decisions in the case, identify three leadership actions that the company would need to consider to implement the decisions. Explain why these are critical to implementing the strategic decision.

The post Civil and Reconstruction years were years of economic, political, social and cultural transition. During this period, under the leadership of entrepreneurs, America emerged as modern industrial nation. The result of this industrialism would ultimately, help America develop into a world technological economic power. American industry was growing faster than ever before. Cities spread and so too, did the stress and pace of life. However, this did not seem to matter, for this was the age of progress??"the age of promise??"material comfort was potentially available to all. America had indeed changed. . . Industrialism had brought many benefits, but it also brought industrial exploitation, monopolies and laissez-faire polices. Consequently, there was some question as to whether or not government existed for big business or the people. And Americans began to wonder if the American Dream could become a reality . . .
As you consider the statement, define the character of the American society during the period 1865 to 1900. What impact, if any, did the Civil War and Reconstruction Era have on this period in American History. What other changes were taking place? How were those changes reflected in American, thought, principles and values? What new concepts, if any, evolved? What impact did these concepts have on American traditional thought, values, behavior and social economic classes (consider the businessmen, farmers, laborers and the Victorian, i.e., upper middle class) as well as American institutions? What implications do theses changes have for future American centuries? What about the American view of the influx of 13 million immigrants and the view of the immigrants themselves? What was their dream? What was the reality for many of these immigrants in this strange new land? Why is this period referred to as the Gilded Age? Is all that glitters gold?
There are faxes for this order.

General topic - "How has terrorism effected the world economy, in particular the United States".
SUB-TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED:
1) What is terrorism?
2) What is the purpose of terrorism? Is there an economic purpose?
3) Has terrorism effected the U.S. and/or world economy? How?
4) Has the growth of fledgling economic powers, such as China & India, exacerbated or helped the U.S. economy in light of the effct of terrorism on the economy?
5) How has terrorism effected the stock market & invenstments?
6) Has the tremendous cost ot American taxpapers in preventing terrorist attacks effected the American or world economy?
7) Has terrorism effected cost, supply & demand of commodities, in particular oil and gas?

Please e-mail me if you have any questions!! Thanks.

The following questions need to be answered after reading this book... The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Selerstad
1. Describe the roles of women represented in this book.
Specifically:
a). What was their role in their family?
b). Did they have any political power? Why or why not?
c). Did the women in this book have any economic power?
d). Were any of them affected by religious beliefs about the role of women?
2. Describe the educational limitations of women portrayed in this book.
3. What surprised you about the conditions and problems encountered by women portrayed in this book?

Diplomatic historians have split into two schools of thoughts regarding a general theme for American foreign relations during the interwar years. On group argues that the 1920?s and early 1930?s witnessed the resurgence of Isolationism, an American withdrawal from international affairs and the failure of the US government to exercise the responsibility of a great power to help solve outstanding global issues. Others point to the tremendous growth in US economic power and the expansion of American business and culture oversea. Which school best describe US foreign policy during the 1920?s and 1930?s why?

BOOK used in class american foreign relations by Paterson Thomas