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Analysis of Act 3 of A Dolls House Essay - 661 Words

Analysis of Act 3 of A Dolls House For most of the play, we see Torvald delighting in Nora’s dependence upon him but not in his control over her, but as the play progresses the side of Torvald we see is more pushover than dictator. In the scene following the party, Torvald’s enjoyment of his control over Nora takes on a darker tone. He treats her like his possession, like the young girl he first acquired years ago. Contributing to the feeling of control that Torvald is exercising over Nora is that the evening has been of Torvald’s design—he dresses Nora in a costume of his choosing and coaches her to dance the tarantella in the manner that he finds â€Å"desirable.† The hollowness of Torvald’s promises to save Nora shows how†¦show more content†¦He panics upon learning of Nora’s crime, not because he cares about what will happen to her but because he worries that his reputation will be damaged if knowledge of Nora’s crime becomes public. Instead of treating Nora with understanding and gratitude for her noble intent, he threatens and blames her and then immediately begins to think of ways to cover up the shame that she has cast on his family. His proclamation of â€Å"I’m saved† after Krogstad’s letter of retraction arrives reflects that he has been thinking only of himself in his panic. He says nothing about Nora until she asks, â€Å"And me?† His casual response—â€Å"You too, naturally†Ã¢â‚¬â€reveals how much her well-being is an afterthought to him. Torvald’s selfish reaction to Krogstad’s letter opens Nora’s eyes to the truth about her relationship with Torvald and leads her to rearrange her priorities and her course of action. Her shift from thinking about suicide to deciding to walk out on Torvald reflects an increased independence and sense of self. Whereas she earlier she succumbs pressure from Torvald to preserve the appearance of idealized family life, she now realizes that she can exist outside Torvald’s confined realm. Torvald’s explanation for refusing to take the blame—that a man can never sacrifice his integrity for love—again reveals the depth of his gender bias. Nora’s response thatShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Henrik Ibsen s A Doll s House 970 Words   |  4 PagesA Doll’s House Ashleen Kaushal TOPIC: The theme of heredity in the play I. Introduction Henrik Ibsen’s three-act play, A Doll’s House, follows a seemingly typical housewife as she becomes painfully aware of the flaws in her marriage with a condescending, chauvinistic man. Ibsen uses the ideology of a Victorian society as a backdrop to inject the theme of heredity in the play. He employs several characters to demonstrate the different facets of heredity in order to highlight how this conceptRead MoreA Critics Opinion of a Dolls House1743 Words   |  7 PagesDestiny Maxfield Mrs. Collar Engl. 1302 19 November 2012 A Critic’s Opinion of A Doll’s House In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House many views could be seen from both sides of the gender world. Critics will argue about the true meaning of the story and why Ibsen wrote the story. The main points of the play that critics discuss are sexuality i.e. feminism, the wrong doing of the father figure, and spiritual revolution. I believe these critics are each right in their own way from my understanding of theRead MoreWritten Task Dolls House1173 Words   |  5 PagesOutline Prescribed question: Power and privilege: â€Å"How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? Title of text for analysis: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Norway 1879. Task is related to course section: Part 3: Literature texts and context Task focus: This essay focuses on Ibsen’s way of representing women, it explains why does he represent them in that specific particular way and how the time, era and context he lived in affected this aim. It states that women areRead More Analysis Of Ibsens A Dolls House Essay1839 Words   |  8 PagesA Doll House A critical Analysis When Nora slammed the door shut in her dolls house in 1879, her message sent shockwaves around the world that persist to this day. I must stand quite alone, Nora declared after finding out that her ideal of life was just a imagination of her and that all her life had been build up by others peoples, specifically her husband and her dad ideas, opinions and tastes. Nora is the pampered wife of an aspiring bank manager Torvald Halmer. In a desperate attemptRead MoreAnalysis of Doll House Play Essay1916 Words   |  8 PagesMrs. Mary Rorke English 102 1st Nov. 2005 A Doll House A critical Analysis When Nora slammed the door shut in her dolls house in 1879, her message sent shockwaves around the world that persist to this day. I must stand quite alone, Nora declared after finding out that her ideal of life was just a imagination of her and that all her life had been build up by others peoples, specifically her husband and her dad ideas, opinions and tastes. Nora is the pampered wifeRead MoreComparing The Historical And Intellectual Circumstances Surrounding The Writing Of Two3390 Words   |  14 Pageshistorical and intellectual circumstances surrounding the writing of two formally contrasting plays, commenting on their impact upon each play’s purpose and reception. (Choose one realist and one non-realist play from the list of set texts) A defining act, speech or movement can make history. When someone goes against the norm and convention is thrown aside, defining work is immediately recognised. History is made up of good and bad, the moral and immoral, but all encompass one another. The thought ofRead MoreThe Theme of Feminism in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House Essay2521 Words   |  11 Pagesand social dependence, and her dependence through her children. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen argues that a dependent woman will be passive and unwilling to speak her mind. She will not try to understand the abstract reality of life, unless it contain to her lifestyle at home. Instead she will let the title of her marriage suppress her. She will lose sight of finding her own independence and instead become a doll living in a house. Nora, the protagonist of the play has all of these qualities Nora’sRead MoreIbsen11859 Words   |  48 PagesBrasher, M.F.A. Committee Member ______________________________ Kenneth Cleaver, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ James Nutter, D.A. Honors Director ______________________________ Date Forshey 3 Abstract In Henrik Ibsen’s plays, A Doll’s House, The Wild Duck, The Lady from the Sea, and Hedda Gabler, the theme of captivity is demonstrated in the female protagonists Nora, Hedvig, Ellida, and Hedda. The theme of captivity also serves as a performance guide for the portrayalRead MoreA Doll House by Henrik Ibsen7379 Words   |  30 PagesMa. Jennifer S. Yap Dr. Sherwin Perlas World Literature January 14, 2012 A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen Translated by Rolf Fjelde I. Introduction During the late nineteenth century, women were enslaved in their gender roles and certain restrictions were enforced on them by a male dominant culture. Every woman was raised believing that they had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must yield to the control of a stronger gender. John Stuart Mill wrote in his essay, â€Å"The SubjectionRead More Development of the Montessori Method Essay3888 Words   |  16 Pagesincluded some biographical information as to her origins and the identity of her parents. I then drew a comparison of her methods for developing the Montessori Method and her career to the ISD model. I compared significant events in her career to the analysis phase. Explaining that her experience with children lead her to develop her programs. Then I drew a comparison to her work with the design and development phases, citing her materials that she uses in her classrooms and the classrooms themselves

Should We Spend Time In The Sun Free Essays

Sunbathing and getting a suntan is getting more and more popular nowadays. Researches show a trend of getting suntan, just for fashion and good-looking, as they consider suntans to be healthy and attractive. Especially in the case of teenagers, no matter boys or girls, who mostly do this because of following their idols’ appearance or even as a habit or an obsession (Source 1 and 2). We will write a custom essay sample on Should We Spend Time In The Sun? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Because of this, more and more people tend to spend their holidays abroad as to get a suntan by holidaying in hot countries and using sunbed. Between 1971 and 2001, the number of trips had increased form 4. millions to 38. 7 millions, making a huge difference of over 9 times (Source 3). Also people are spending a lot of money to create fake tan and to use sunbed. Unfortunately, researches show that people who sunbathe show a higher risk of getting skin cancer, and the earlier they start, the higher the risk (Source 2 and 4). From the researches, I can see that in recent years, more and more people are willing to spend money on using sunbeds and creating fake tans (Source 2), so the income and popularity of these businesses increases. Also, a trend of holidaying in hot and sunny countries is shown (Source 3 and 4), creating more business opportunities for tourism in countries such as Italy and Spain. It is believed that spending time in the sun is the main cause of skin cancer (Source 5 and 6). The energy from the sun contains Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and there are two types of rays that exist in it, which are Ultraviolet A (UVA) and Ultraviolet B (UVB). They damage DNA, the genetic material that makes up genes. Genes control the growth and overall health of skin cells. If the genetic damage is severe, a normal skin cell may grow abnormally in the way of cancer cells. UV can also cause sunburn, and other damage that makes the skin look prematurely old and wrinkled. That is why many protection attempts are taken, such as avoiding excessive exposure to the sun (Source 6), and using sunscreen to increase our protection, the higher the Sun Protection Factor (SPF), the higher the protection you get (Source 7 and 8) The chances of getting a suntan, sunburn or skin cancer depend on many factors. One of the main factors is your skin colour (Source 9 and 10), the darker your skin, the lower the chance of getting any of the above. The other factor is the Sun Protection Factor of the sunscreen you apply (Source 8). The more you apply and the higher the factor gives more protection, and this results in less solar energy absorption. Another factor I found is the life expectancy. Due in large part to advances in medical technology, life expectancy for newborns has increased continuously over the past 70 years, from 57. 1 years in 1929 to 77. years in 2004, and an increase of more than two years in the past decade. (Source 11) Life expectancy affects the amount of sun exposure in a lifetime, which causes a higher risk of getting skin cancer because of a longer time of sun exposure. On the other hand, moderate and sensible sunlight exposure can help prevent skin cancer and some other cancers. In the case of skin cancer, sunlight causes vitamin D to synthesize in the body, giving some protection from the risk. This production of vitamin D can act as an immunity response from the body receiving Ultraviolet B rays from sunlight (Source 12, 13 and 14). Studies also show that people who get malignant melanoma but also have a high amount to daily sun exposure have a higher survival rate than people with less exposure. It is said that sunlight is more powerful than any drug, which is safe, effective and available free of charge (Source 12). I also found out that the amount of vitamin D our body need can be fulfilled by around thirty minutes in the sun each week (Source 15). Having some sunshine also affects our mood, as it stimulates the pineal gland to produce mood enhancing chemicals, called trytamines in the brain (Source 14). The sun can also help you achieve a good look if you like a healthy suntan (Source 14). In my opinion, I think we should not spend time in the sun, because our health is very important, and we should never take the risk of having skin cancer, especially not because of the desire for a suntan and to sacrifice their health. I think it is a waste of money and time to sunbathe. As for the production of vitamin D in our skin, which can be easily fulfilled by a thirty minutes sun exposure each week, we can do that by just having a walk. How to cite Should We Spend Time In The Sun?, Essays

A Post Modern Age Essay Example For Students

A Post Modern Age Essay A Post-Modern Age? Introduction: Post-Modernism can be described as a particular style of thought. It is a concept that correlates the emergence of new features and types of social life and economic order in a culture; often called modernization, post-industrial, consumer, media, or multinational capitalistic societies. In Modernity, we have the sense or idea that the present is discontinuous with the past, that through a process of social, technological, and cultural change either through improvement, that is, progress, or through decline life in the present is fundamentally different from life in the past. This sense or idea as a world view contrasts with what is commonly known as Tradition, which is simply the sense that the present is continuous with the past, that the present in some way repeats the forms, behavior, and events of the past. I would propose that traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontrollable change and unmanageable alternatives, but that these changes and alternatives eventually create something that may result in the society that traditionalists actually seek after; the balance between Nature and Technology. Modernity itself is merely the sense that the present is a transitional point, not focused on a clear goal in the future but simply changing through forces outside our control. I will first describe how Modernity came about, and then to indicate some of the features for which Post-Modernity is meant to be a reaction, response or addition to modernization. Beginnings of Modernity: First, I aim to give a broad historical picture against which we may understand the rise of Modernity as an idea related to science and society or as a framework for a view of rationality. We know that we experience change as either progress or transition, that is, we view our historical situation and our lives presently as deriving meaning and value in some unrealized future. The shift from Renaissance humanism to Modern rationalism can be understood in terms of four shifts: 1 from an oral culture in which the theory and practice of rhetoric played a central role to a written culture in which formal logic played a central role in establishing the credentials of an argument; 2 from a practical concern with understanding and acting on particular cases to a more theoretical concern with the development of universal principles; 3 from a concern with the local in all its stable diversity, to the general understood in terms of abstract multi nationalisms; and 4 from the timely a concern with making practical decisions in the transitory situations which demand wise and prudent responses, to the timeless a concern with understanding and explaining the enduring, perhaps eternal, nature of things. There are several societal factors that have indicated and resulted in the rise of Modernity. The origin of Modernity may have its roots in several periods: the year 1436, with Gutenbergquot;s adoption of moveable type; or in 1520, and Lutherquot;s rebellion against Church authority; or 1648, and the end of the Thirty Yearsquot; War; while even still, it could have begun during the American or French Revolutions of 1776 or 1789; or even the rise of Modernism in fine arts and literature. How we ourselves are to feel about the prospects of Modernity depends on what we see as the heart and core of the modern, and what key events in our eyes gave rise to the modern world. Societal Responses to Modernity: During the period of the 1500quot;s thru the 1900quot;s the framework and presuppositions about Nature and Humanity were being progressively challenged and overturned by many scientific advances, until not one, or very little of their elements were accepted by reasonably educated people. European society was becoming known as traditional, hierarchical, corporate, and privileged. These features had characterized Europe and much of the rest of the world during these few centuries. Virtually every society on the globe by the opening of the eighteenth century could be characterized by social dependencys and discrepancies between wealth and poverty. All of these societies also confronted the problems of scarce food supplies. After a time during the same period, important changes began to occur in the societies of the world from Asia to Europe. A population explosion due to an improved food supply created pressures on the existing traditional and newly modernizing social structures. Commerce, banking, and agriculture improved greatly and a more stable and certain money supply were established; however, only Europe at the time was becoming highly industrialized. Eighteenth-century Japan stood, of course, in marked contrast to both Europe and China. Tokugawa rule had achieved remarkable stability, but Japan had chosen not to enter the world-trading network, except as a depot for Dutch and Chinese goods. The population grew less rapidly than that of Europe or China, and the general economy seemed to have grown slowly. Like the situation in many European cities, guilds controlled manufacture. In all these respects, Japan in the eighteenth century sought to spurn innovation and preserve stable tradition. Throughout the eighteenth century, Africa continued to supply slave labor to both North and South America. The slave trade drew Africa deeply into the transatlantic economy. Latin America remained at least in theory the monopolized preserve of Spain and Portugal; however, that monopoly could not survive the expansion of the British economy and the determination of Britain to enter the Latin American market. At the same time, British forces established control in mid-eighteenth-century India that would last almost two centuries. Seen in this world context, European society stood on the brink of a new era in which the social, economic, and political relationships of past centuries would be destroyed. The commercial spirit and the values of the marketplace clashed with the traditional values and practices of peasants and guilds. Modernism vs Postmodernism EssayThe benefits of Modernity or of Post-Modern structures can be questionable; many individuals of this new electronic age do not completely embrace consumerism, and in some cases are critical of technology, but nevertheless embrace its potential. There can be no doubt that the historical circumstances of the late twentieth century are very different from those of earlier periods. What the transformations of contemporary social life has been, however, and the relative significance of these changes with respect to one another is a matter that can be highly varied, and I dont presume to know everything about Post-Modern thought or philosophy, because it can take on many aspects, and I/we could be entirely fooling ourselves if we try to express it. Post-Modernity does seem to represent some kind of a break with the past, in fact Post-Modernity may simply be an extension of Modernity. However, Post-Modernity in this age seems to be characterized by new societal forms, and relationships between the cultural, economic, political and social realms, and a return to traditional values. There is a new kind of enmeshing of the cultural, economic and political spheres in Post-Modernity, combining the Modernist with Marxian ideals creating together our Post-Modern Age. Transformation: There has been a transformation of the content and forms of contemporary culture and even in our notions ofculture for example, high versus low or popular culture including dramatic changes in the nature of the media and in the content and forms of presentation of media images the television generation, the electronic age, theinformation age, the voyeuristic society, etc. an increased awareness of the plurality of national, ethnic and linguistic viewpoints with the internationalizing of communications and global interaction, etc. A radical shift from colonialist to post-colonialist perspectives on modernization, and questions of Third World and community development which produces problems of coping with the plurality of perspectives on the world without any credible source; the loss of relative autonomy of the cultural sphere as distinct from the economic and political spheres with the recognition that culture and communications are an industry and that they are politicized, not objectivequot;quot;, neutral or necessarily critical. Similarly, there have been massive changes in the nature, content and form of economic structures and interrelationships, for example through the shifts which have made a large proportion of the worldquot;s production information rather than the production of goods and services; global unification controlling the means of production and a complementary diffusion, fragmentation and privatization individualization of consumption; new conflicts over development, modernization and exploitation versus the necessity of the ecology movement, conservation and the preservation of natural diversity; and so forth. Conclusion: The break away from 19th-century values and traditions is often classified as Modernism and carries the connotations of transgression, rebellion, and a loss of soul and humanity. However, the last twenty or so years have seen a change in this attitude toward focusing upon a series of unresolvable philosophical and social debates, such as race, gender and class. Rather than challenging and destroying cultural definitions, as does Modernism, Post-Modernism resists the very idea of boundaries. It regards distinctions as undesirable and even impossible, so that an almost Utopian or Marxist world, free from all constraints, becomes possible. It must be realized though, that Post-Modernism has many interpretations and that no single definition is adequate. Different disciplines have participated in the Post-Modernist movement in varying ways, for example, in architecture traditional limits have become indistinguishable, so that what is commonly on the outside of a building is placed within, and vice versa. In commercial terms Post-Modernism may be seen as part of the growth of consumer capitalism into multinational and technological identities. Its all-embracing nature thus makes Post-Modernism as relevant to the common folk of society as to the great thinkers and intellectuals. Post-Modernism it would seem is the reason for the emergence of interdisciplinary and cultural studies in universities. Post-Modernism, then, is a mode of consciousness and not, it should be emphasized, a historical period that is highly suspicious of the belief in shared speech, shared values, and shared perceptions that some would like to believe form our culture but which in fact may be no more than empty, if necessary, fictions. I believe we should be committed to salvaging what we can of the ideals of Enlightenment and Modernity. We need to stay open to all valid claims of reasoning, knowledge, spirit, tradition, and humanity; for we are not, and cannot be, all knowing in this life. To be focused so completely upon Post-Modernism or Modernity, suggests that we can somehow define a group, any group, in the sense of its cultural essence; which is not in truth completely possible or even wise. Are we in a Post-Modern Age? I would say yes as a defined theory or word, but in the reality of man and life, the answer is No. Man is continually changing and adapting and for ever continuing to progress in spirit, technology, and social/cultural adaptation. Whatever age we are presently in, we are modern compared to the one before, each age lives its own Modernity; each era obligated to find its own balance between Nature and Technology, Tradition and Progress; a continuous cycle until the end of man.

30 Religious Terms You Should Know

30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know By Maeve Maddox When I was growing up in small town America, stories about religion were generally confined to the Saturday church pages in the local newspaper. Catholics and Jews were the most exotic religious practitioners in town, and â€Å"atheist† was a strong term of disapprobation. These days religion is front page news. People are killed or driven into hiding because someone somewhere has labeled their work â€Å"blasphemy.† School children with attitude get away with refusing to do their homework because they know that school officials are easily spooked by anything relating to religion. Journalists and school officials shouldn’t have to tiptoe around religious topics. The topic of religion, like that of ecology, is one that concerns all human beings. Although the three Abrahamic religions get most of the news copy, the number of religions that matter to people number in the double digits. Whether we care about it or not, we ought to be able to read and write about religion with some understanding of the terminology. NOTE: The definitions given here are not intended to be exhaustive. For one thing, some of the terms are defined differently by different religious groups. For permutations of meaning, see the OED or some other authoritative dictionary. Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three faiths trace their origins to the patriarch Abraham who rejected the polytheism of ancient Sumer to embrace a belief in one, invisible, deity. Sometimes referred to as â€Å"the desert religions.† agnosticism: the philosophical position that the existence or non-existence of God or a First Cause is unknowable. Anglican: relating to the Church of England. An ancient name for the English people was â€Å"Angles.† The Church of England traces its beginning to 597, the year in which Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine to Canterbury. The Church of England remained under papal authority until 1534 when Henry VIII declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church because of conflicts with Pope Clement VII. animism: the belief that every material form of reality (plants, animals, stones, thunderstorms, earthquakes) have an indwelling spirit; often includes belief in the continued existence of individual disembodied human spirits capable of helping or harming the living. asceticism: a mode of life that excludes physical pleasures and self-indulgence. Many religions regard asceticism (fasting, abstaining from sexual activity, wearing inadequate clothing) as a means of reaching a higher spiritual state. atheism: disbelief in any deity or supernatural power. blasphemy: indignity offered to God, from Greek blasphemia, â€Å"a speaking ill, impious speech, slander.† Religions define blasphemy in terms of their own beliefs, often designating prophets and holy objects along with God as subjects not to be profaned. Many countries have anti-blasphemy laws. Buddhism: the teaching that suffering is inherent to life and that the way to escape suffering and repeated existence is to limit one’s desires and expectations. There are various sects with varying beliefs. Confucianism: a system of teachings characterized by central emphasis on the practice and cultivation of the cardinal virtues of filial piety, kindness, righteousness, propriety, intelligence, and faithfulness. ecclesiastic: relating to a church. Greek ekklesiastikos referred to the ancient Athenian political assembly. First century Christians writers adopted the word to mean â€Å"assembly of believers,† or â€Å"church.† episcopal: having to do with a bishop. Like â€Å"ecclesiastic,† the English word bishop derives from a Greek word, episkopos, â€Å"watcher, overseer. The Greeks used their word to refer to government officials. First century Christian writers used bishop or episkopos to refer to church elders. In time bishop came to mean the chief administrator of a diocese (administrative district governed by a bishop) with the power to ordain. Episcopal is the adjective for bishop. evangelical: having to do with the Christian gospel/New Testament writings. The word is also used to describe a type of Christian belief that emphasizes the inerrancy of scripture and salvation through personal conversion. Eucharist: the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, a rite in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in symbolic union with Christ. The word comes from a Greek word meaning â€Å"grateful.† ecumenical: worldwide. As applied to religion, the word’s current use to mean cooperation among religious groups began with a 20th century movement promoting the idea of an inter-confessional Christian unity. Now an â€Å"ecumenical† group cooperating on some matter of general social benefit might include representatives from non-Christian religions. eschatology: the study of matters relating to the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world. Gnosticism: the belief that salvation is to be obtained by means of secret knowledge and that the material world is evil. Gnostic mystery religions abounded in the Roman Empire. The early Christian church was fragmented into various sects, many of which taught a Gnostic version of the new religion. gospel: the story of Christ’s life and teachings as told in the first four books of the Christian New Testament. The literal meaning of the word is â€Å"good news.† heresy: a religious opinion, or adherence to such an opinion, that is contrary to an established religious teaching. The word comes from Greek hairesis, â€Å"action of taking, choice, sect.† Originally a heresy was simply a difference of opinion. It became a religious crime, often punished by death. Hinduism: a body of social, cultural, and religious beliefs and practices found chiefly in India. It includes a belief in reincarnation and transmigration of souls. indulgence: in Roman Catholicism, a remission of punishment, especially punishment in Purgatory (in Catholic belief, Purgatory is an intermediate place of purification for souls that departed stained with minor sins not deserving of eternal punishment in Hell). Immaculate Conception: the Roman Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin (the sin of Adam and Eve conveyed to all human beings). This is not the same thing as the Virgin Birth, â€Å"the belief that Jesus was divinely begotten and miraculously born of a virgin mother.† jihad: a holy war on behalf of Islam. The Christian equivalent word is crusade, â€Å"a campaign or war sanctioned by the Church against unbelievers or heretics.† Literal crusades were common in the Middle Ages and were directed against Christian heretics as well as non-Christians. Now the term is used figuratively to mean â€Å"any remedial activity pursued with zeal and enthusiasm.† The same meaning is becoming attached to jihad. lay: not in holy orders. In a monastery there are monks who pray and do intellectual work, and those who do manual work and attend to secular affairs. The latter are called lay brothers. The term has spread to non-religious professions. Someone who lacks professional knowledge of a particular profession is called a layman. In a church setting one may speak of the clergy and the laity (non-clerical members of the church). monotheism: the doctrine or belief that there is only one God. nihilism: the viewpoint that all traditional beliefs are unfounded and that human life has no meaning. orthodox: in agreement with the official doctrine of a given religion. The word is from Greek orthodoxein, â€Å"to have the right opinion.† The noun is orthodoxy. Departure from orthodoxy is called heterodoxy. pagan This is a term difficult to define in even such a superficial treatment as this. For the early Christians, a pagan was a believer in polytheistic religion. The word originally meant â€Å"country dweller.† The rural population was slower to adopt Christianity than the city dwellers, probably because their religion was closely bound to agricultural cycles. Nowadays there are religious groups that identify themselves as Pagans. Modern paganism is earth-centered and can include polytheistic beliefs. The word heathen is used pejoratively to mean a person without religion. Like pagan, heathen also points to the fact that non-city dwellers tended to reject religious change. Heath comes from a word meaning â€Å"field.† Heathen was originally an adjective meaning â€Å"of the heath.† polytheism: belief in more than one god. profane: not holy. Anything not related to religion and spirituality is profane. The word can also be used as a verb meaning â€Å"to treat something sacred with irreverence.† secular: worldly, not sacred. Similar to profane, secular refers to anything that is not specifically religious. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SFor Sale vs. On SaleThe Difference Between e.g. and i.e.?

Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts and the Lie Essays

Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts and the Lie Essays Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts and the Lie Essay Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts and the Lie Essay Essay Topic: Maya Angelou Poems The Heart Of a Woman GCSE other cultures poetry coursework compare and contrast the lie by Maya angelou and Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts by Alice walker, paying close attention to love. We have been studying two poems by poets from other cultures. One of the poets is Maya angelou she wrote a poem called The Lie. The other poem we are studying is never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts by Alice walker. Both of these poets were alive during the civil rights movement, they were highly political and were both feminists; they also both suffered a trauma at the age of 8. Maya angelou was sexually abused by her mothers boyfriend Mr Freeman. She wrote about this in her autobiography I know why the caged birds sing. Alice walker was shot in the eye by her brother with a BB gun. Their literature had similar themes, they both wrote about gender, relationship, and kinship, in this essay Im going to be comparing and contrasting the two poems, paying close attention to love. Both of these poems are about romantic love, rather than filial love. Both the poems are written about being hurt by love, being betrayed, and about having your trust abused. The lie is written about a woman. Describing how she feels because someone has threatened to leave her. She says I hold curses in my mouth which could flood your path, sear bottomless chasms in your road she is saying that she could curse, stop him from going anywhere and hurt him too, but she wont. Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts is about a woman advising us not to give our heart to someone who will hurt us. This poem is more wise then Walkers The Lie and is not so emotionally involved. When looking at the mood of the poems, we can see that both of the poems have a bitter sad mood, but never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts has a more frightening mood. Words like blood-chinned, sucks and shuttling are used in this poem to create this mood.

Global Justice & Global Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global Justice & Global Poverty - Essay Example Some of the constutuents that measure living standards include the per capita, age of people and life expentancy among others. There is the fear of the gap widening more in the years to come if no action has taken place to curb this problem. Inequality is massive in the decision making of policies in the international political and in financial insititutions.John Rawl explains this in his theory on global liberties. They exist in form of both global economic and political basis. â€Å"There is uneven distribution of resources in the world† (Pogge, p34, par 3); hence, causing inequality in the living standards. Discrimination is another factor that leads to inequality especially when the poor people are discriminated in relation to their economic status the society. Many peole are dying in East Bengal due to lack of food, medical care among other basic needs. This shows how much inequality has affected the world today. It is possible to evade poverty among such poeple through a pplying several policies. This paper will focuss on the effects of global justice and the increasing cases of global poverty. It also analyzes possible solutions to this problem so to achive lower levels of poverty cases if any. The issue of double standards has also been addressed in this paper. However, double standards is not justified whatever the situation. Global justice has become an issue in political philosophy arising from the unjust state of the world today (Pogge, 2007, p345). Thinking about global justice in the world today involves a double standard. This involves two broad parties to achieve global justice. The first party is at the individual level while the second is the government level. Teh context of global justice is the impartiality that bhas been created in the world today. This is because people believe that their duties to family members, friends and their personal issues are more important than those of strangers. This makes them less concerned about issues of people who appear to be strangers to them. The government also contributes to the state of glodal injustice through the various policies they make for their cirtizens. This is because they make policies with their citizens in mind only, not considering those of other countries. â€Å"This has also led to some of the conflicts existing between some states† (Schaefer , p23 par4). Global justice is the main cause of global security because injustice causes certain feelings in people like anger and humiliation. These feelings cause violence among societies in the quest for justice. For instance, the poor feel that the wealthy people in the society are the cause of their poverty. Such feelings trigger violence and in long run lead to wars in the world. Philosophers have tried coming up with theories to solv ethe problem of global injustice in the world today. An example of such a philosopher is John Rawl. He explains how to achieve justice in the world both on the basis of eco nomic status and political inequalities. Morality is also another factor to consider when seeking to ensure justice (Pogge 2007, p34). This is because it is morally upright to ensure equality in the society. Some theories term injustice and inequality in the socity as an immoral act. However, the theory of Rawl explains clearly on how to curb the problem of injustice in the world by avoiding discrimination. He explains that making decisions should not be on the basis of teh economic status of a person. It ensures that

Critically analyse the concept of ' fair and equitable treatment ' in Essay

Critically analyse the concept of ' fair and equitable treatment ' in investment treaties, taking into account recent investment - Essay Example In the context of international investment, inter-state negotiation, inter-governmental treaty drafting, diplomatic exchange, etc. have become frequent and critical. Naturally, the number of disputes between investors and host countries is increasing as well. Hence, the issue of fair and equitable treatment in international investment dealing is gaining momentum very rapidly. There is a need to urge the different countries of the world to avoid activities like confiscation, expropriation, discrimination, etc. in regards of the foreign investors and the objective can be achieved if and only if the basic principles of mutual respect are legally defined and incorporated in the treaty frameworks. This paper is developed through a literature review followed by an analysis phase which will critically evaluate the importance of fair and equitable treatment in relation to the recent trends of investment treaties and the different related arbitration cases. Arbitration case examples have been appended after the analysis, followed by a viable conclusion. The paper also aims to comprehend the present trends in the light of the older developments which have shaped up today’s international investment scenario. ... ovide and ensure â€Å"fair and equitable treatment† is generally put forward, along with certain other standards, as component of protection for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by the host countries. It is a non-contingent and absolute treatment standard which states that the treatment would be executed in such terms whose exact meanings are well defined, by the means of references to certain situations of application. The â€Å"relative† standards specified in â€Å"national treatment† are not of primary importance in this regard. The standards to determine fair and equitable treatment were developed through multilateral investment and trade instruments, and with the increasing numbers of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), these standards became more critical and debated. â€Å"The obligation of the parties to investment agreements to provide to each other’s investments fair and equitable treatment has been given various interpretations by government al officials, arbitrators and scholars.†1 Thus the backdrop of analysis of the concept of â€Å"fair and equitable treatment† must be based on the literature that describes the trends of international investment law. â€Å"International investment law is one of the fastest-growing areas of international law today. Only a decade ago, the current surge in investor–state arbitrations, having cumulated in approximately 300 investment treaty disputes,  1  was beyond imagination. At the same time, investment treaties enshrine principles of international investment law, rather than hard and fast rules. Almost unavoidably, international investment law therefore became coined more by the dispute settlement activities of arbitral tribunals which entertain claims between foreign investors and host states brought under investment

Riesman, how does the rise of bureaucratic Essay

Riesman, how does the rise of bureaucratic - Essay Example The â€Å"inner directed† domain of individuality loses primacy when personal values are compromised for the sake of gratifying other people. In a bureaucratic type of environment, social acceptance is deemed to be very significant. Moreover, in a mass society dominated by the attitude of following trends and fashion, the â€Å"other directed† features rule out the â€Å"inner directed†. The transition occurs whenever an individual becomes aware of the relevance of coping up with the changing times. The moment an individual learns to filter out messages from the social environment and to process these messages to something that would be beneficial for the self, then the shift from the â€Å"inner directed† to the â€Å"other directed† takes place. In simpler terms, â€Å"inner directed† character denotes individuality or independent thinking whereas â€Å"outer directed† means cooperation and the likelihood to compromise, which is the fundamental attitude requirement of advance capitalism (Kivisto 1998: p. 112). Riesman further asserts that the shift in the social character was brought about by the transition of the society. He had delineated three stages of this societal transformation: the traditional, the inner directed and the outer directed. For him, the traditional stage is the best form of social character because it has the potentiality to develop in a high degree (p. 112). In these levels of social development, Riesman integrated the concept of the old and the new middle class. The old middle class that thrived in the traditional stage were the feudal lords and other individuals from an aristocratic blood. The new middle class that arose in the contemporary period are the entrepreneurs who are driven not by competition but cooperation. These two middle classes that existed from different times were in conflict when it comes to social character. The old middle class is more inclined on

Globalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council

Globalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council Chapter 3 Globalization in the GCC: a political and economic analysis Political Aspect The creation of the GCC was a direct result of regional political events of that time. The idea of the need for the union of the major independent states of the gulf had been floating around since the early 1970s. Three main reasons leading to the formation of the gulf cooperation council included: Border disputes between Arab states and the royal families. The Iranian revolution The invasion of Iran by the Soviet Union. The Gulf States apart from Saudi Arabia are small population states. First we look into border disputes. The creation of Bahrain and Kuwait was lead to the demarcation of boundaries which the families Arab ruling families did not like. The strained relations were held together only by their common links religion and language. The ruling families had close bonds with families of other states and therefore they did not like the idea of having to confine their selves to a border (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Secondly, the Arab peninsula felt safe from Iran as long as the Shah of Iran was in control. This was because America (an Arab friend) was dictating the policies of Iran during the shah’s rule. After the Iranian revolution, came the religious leaders. They had a different set of ideology and religious beliefs than the Arab states. Since Iran was a regional military strength, this further made the Gulf States insecure and further highlighted the need for a united front by the Arab peninsula (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Lastly, the invasion of a Muslim Afghanistan by the atheist Soviet Union was viewed as a threat as Yemen was also a socialist country and capture of Afghanistan meant that the communists were gaining strength and this was another form of insecurity for the region as the Arab states had supported the USA in the cold war which made them rivals of the Soviet empire. The Soviet threat had to be faced collectively and therefore it was imperative that a union of the Arab states be created. The last straw was the Iran- Iraq war which started in 1980. It affected trade routes of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also Iraq, which was a friendly Arab country, was being affected. And this threat needed to be faced collectively, therefore in 1981, the Gulf States, united themselves in the form of GCC (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). The charter known as the cooperation council charter was signed by all the member states, including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman. The charter listed cultural, social and political and economic reasons along with commonality of religion, language and customs for this union. The articles in the charter defined the need to develop independence and self sustainability in political, economic and financial affairs (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Since the creation of the council, the GCC has gradually tried to instill its authority in the region and work for change for the betterment of the states. The council states have developed at remarkable pace in the fields of media technology, developmental projects, financial institutions and security of the region (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). The first visible of the impact of the unified common GCC policy was visible globally during the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The council made possible it’s liberation, through the help of the world’s help, The council called for a meeting of the organization of the Islamic conference (OIC) and this lead to GCC requesting for and then passing resolution in the united nation’s security council, UNSCR 660 (1990). The council since the 1990 has tried to help in conflicts resolution in many countries, including Somalia, Palestine Israel, Lebanon Israel etc. the GCC is also in the forefront in helping the countries in need of economic aid for rebuilding. The countries insisted on the rebuilding of Iraq through donations, On the country basis, the GCC have planned free trade agreements with China, Pakistan and India. They already have FTAs with Lebanon, Turkey and Syria in the region and Japan in the East Asian region. The GCC also has signed pacts and agreements with regional organizations like the European Union (EU). The EU and the GCC have signed declarations of cooperation with each other and are working toward a FTA (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Non-governmental, international and regional organizations The economic and developmental transformation of the GCC countries along with other Arab countries of the region has been due to assistance from international institutions and donor agencies of the region. These agencies have been providing, financial, technical and organizational help to the states for formulating better strategies for stable development of the Arab states specifically and the gulf region in general. The United Arab Emirates has enough financial capital for funding the preparation of NES and NEAP. Even so, the gulf state has been seeking and receiving technical help from international and regional organizations in order to ensure that their developmental programs are stable and sustainable. To ensure stable growth and development in the gulf and Arab countries, availability of financial assistance is important, especially for countries not exporting oil (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"International donor organizations working in the region include: Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Arab Fund for Economic and social Development (AFESD) Kuwaiti Fund for Development (KFD). † (Khordagui H, (2004). Apart from development on the infrastructure level, certain organizations have been providing the gulf countries with help in a wide range of activities including capacity building, legislative drafting, policy analysis etc. Usually the assistance concerning the capacity building assistance measures is being undertaken by the regional organizations in order for there to be regional benefits of these national initiatives (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"These institutions include: â€Å"METAP: a cooperative initiative between the Commission, the European Investment Bank, UNDP (the Arab Bureau the Capacity 21 Unit), the WB – has provided capacity building assistance to the Mediterranean region for nearly the past decade† (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"Med-Policies Initiative – part of the METAP program, but funded by the WB in coordination with ESCWA – is building national capacity regional awareness on economic environmental policy-making† (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"The Center for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) is an independent, nonprofit regional institution is working to increase the capacity of national institution to enhance environmental management and SD† (Khordagui H, 2004). Social Development and Civic Society Saudi Arabia is the biggest member of the GCC. It has the largest population and the biggest oil reserves. Therefore one would expect that with all in the capital inflow, political reforms would follow and that would lead to maturation of the state toward a free society. In Saudi Arabia, monarchy rules the state. There is no parliamentary system and there were not political parties, trade unions or voluntary associations before 2003. There is a counsel of chambers of commerce and it acts as an umbrella between the government and the society as a whole (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). â€Å"The UAE is fast becoming the economic hub of the GCC. Therefore there needs to be civic reform and State’s institutional development needs to be the foremost priority of the state. There can be no assembly of public nature without prior government’s approval. The first human rights organization was first formed in the country in 2006. Its founding members include people of diverse professions from far corners of the society.† (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008) Political parties are still illegal in the kingdom. Any person or organization which tries of voice an opinion against which is against or different from that of the monarchy is quickly shut down. There are two opposition movements working from outside Saudi Arabia. These include the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) and the Movement for Islamic Reform (MIRA), in Saudi Arabia. Activists who attempted to demonstrate in a peaceful manner against the monarchy were arrested and their activities deemed unislamic (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). In order to conform to the rest of the world and also due to the internal needs and external pressures led the Saudi government to initiate the civil society creations in the kingdom in 2003. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates are governed by both a traditional as well as a modern form of a government. The UAE is at an advanced level of institutionalizing their government departments. The political system of UAE can be thought of a flexible system conforming and adaptive to the democratic ways of governance. The UAE does not allow the existence of political parties per say, but the ruling elite and their positions in the government are determined even today by their positions in their respective tribes and dynasties. In order to keep their authority and position the rulers are required to ensure that they retain the people’s loyalty which has to be ensured by keeping with the principle that the people should have easy access to the rulers and they could voice their opinion or grievances in meetings. This tradition of holding assembly of citizen’s frequently is still active today and ensures that people are not neglected. Decisions made in these meetings sometimes even determine policy changes at the highest levels. On the other side, the modern institutions are capable of dealing with more complex and large scale problems and concerning the state. Therefore the dual mode of governance in the UAE has molded itself in the past decades to optimally suite the citizens of the state as well as the state itself (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). The Saudi Journalist’s association was founded to look after the interests of the journalists of the country, it is mostly an independent organization and works without any governmental interference. A media regulatory authority has been in place since 1982 in Saudi Arabia. Even though the print and the television media is well developed and well circulated in the kingdom, it is mostly government regulated. The ministry of information has the authority to appoint the editor in chief of all the circulating newspapers and can remove anyone they feel does not conform to their standards. Moreover, the government owned Saudi Press Agency and the ministry of information control the print and the Broadcast media. An independent organization to look after the human rights abuses paved its way into formation in 2004 in the kingdom. It is called The National society for Human rights and it has the job of keeping track of abuses related to employment, judiciary, domestic violence, prisons etc. There has been a history of complaints in the gulf about the human rights abuses related to non payment of wages to the workers and maid, mal treatment sexual harassment. Since 2005, the ministry of labor of Saudi Arabia announced that it was ready to receive complaints of the above mentioned nature from anyone and would be ready to prosecute anyone found guilty of the offense (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). Unlike Saudi Arabia, UAE does not posses any human rights groups and independent trade unions are still banned in the state, its chamber of commerce and UAE Women’s Federation are umbrella organizations with the responsibility to keep checks and balances of all sorts. The latter is assigned to prepare the women population, which makes constitutes a larger chuck of the population, to face the challenges of the 21st century and to train them to become active participants in the society (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). The gulf countries are enjoying economic boom from the high oil prices and they are taking advantage of this by using this capital for development of their respective states and region in general. Local and international corporate businesses have established themselves well into the societies. With this comes corporate social responsibility. This means that businesses have the responsibility to encourage and participate in any way they can, in the social development of the region. The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be explained as the commitment by the corporate sector to behave in an ethical manner and participate in the economic development along with providing a better quality of life for the workforce, their families and the society at large (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). â€Å"In the GCC, although there are initiatives of corporate contribution to the society as a whole, there is still a greater need of formalizing it to ensure that the pace of development in the education, health, and housing and environment sectors is improved on sustainable grounds. A major factor in CSR activities is the governments strategy. There are governments within the GCC region that feel that social sectors such as education, health, housing and environment are the sole responsibility of the governments or rulers, resulting in little effort by the corporate sector in these areas. A very relevant example of this is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest country within the GCC, where there are hardly any well-managed CSR initiatives† (Giving Back: Corporate Social Responsibility in the GCC, 2007). Political Reforms The political systems of the gulf countries are in their infancies. Neil Patrick a senior analyst noted in a seminar about political reform in 2006, that there was a need to identity and treat all the GCC countries individually and recognize that the political structures and in different stages of maturation in each of these countries. For example, political reforms were first initiated by Kuwait, and currently, the have a well established working parliament. In contrast, the UAE has only recently started raising the idea of electoral participation. Other countries including Oman, Qatar and Bahrain etc all have political councils, whose members are usually sheikhs or members of the royal families. These councils are mostly advisory councils with limited mandates (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). Historically the infrastructure and organization required for the development and reform have been absent from the GCC states and royal families have been the only rulers in most of these states. According to Neil Patrick, the monarchies and the â€Å"Sheikdoms† operate in away in which taxing the citizens have become very difficult. They continue to use the earnings from the oil profits to satisfy the civilian population and run the state and this ensures at least in the short term that their rule will not be challenged. As the society within these countries has become more and more educated, and as the states have gradually opened up to the democratic world, the world, the need for change or reform has been seriously felt. Over the past couple of decades, the younger generations, unlike those of the past have become more educated, more aware of their rights as members of the society. This passive but steady demand for reform and more freedom has applying internal pressure on the ruling elite for change. On the other hand, opening up of the country for investment and development has lead to the democratic forces in the form of USA and the EU to exert multifaceted pressure on the Gulf States for democratization and liberalization. â€Å"Moreover, globalization, and particularly economic globalization, intensifies pressures on rulers to be more transparent and accountable in the administration of state resources† (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). It has been noted that over the past two decades, continued economic growth, wealth distribution and emergence of a middle classes with a strong voice has been the cause for gradual change towards liberalization and reform. â€Å"Economic change effectively creates alternative bases of power and constituencies that will contest the political status quo and claim a voice in the decision making process. It is therefore important to assess whether the distribution of rent in the Gulf States has led to an accumulation of wealth in a middle class with an interest in reform and enough power to begin making political demands† (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). Access to information International community has promoted information and communication technologies in the recent past as a means of providing a source of liberalization in the gulf countries. It has been thought that by integrating ICT in their developmental projects for these countries, the monopoly of the state on media and information control. The results although have been a success to some extent, but have failed to influence the society as the west once hoped. Case in point the spread of news channels like Al jazeera from Qatar. The coming on air of this and other channels has had an impact of providing the society with free uncensored and uninhibited view of the Arab views and feelings. The aim of the west was to ensure that the liberalization and opening up of the gulf would lead to the Gulf States, conforming to their west’s likings. This opening of the media has lead to voice to the civic society but their views of the west have not softened as the west had hoped. The governments still have control over other aspects of the information. This is clearly seen in the case of provision of the internet. Even though the states provide internet access, this is limited and poorly distributed. On the pretext of conserving cultural and religious values, the states like the Saudi Arabia have been exerting media filtration and censorship by using filtering software and denying access of any information which might influence their society’s view of them. The economic aspect Trade and investment liberalization Human development It has been long claimed that the gulf country rely heavily on their revenues from oil production to support them. Globalization is fast becoming the new reality in the GCC countries. This is has led to the gulf countries to tread on uncharted territory. The trend towards globalization and the threads attached to it can have an effect on the very lives of the citizens these countries cater for. Globalization can bring the promise of open markets and opportunities to have access to all the tools a country needs for development. On the other hand, globalization can also lead a country towards marginalization. â€Å"The relation between human development and globalization can be visualized in the following manner: the effects of globalization on a developing economy, such as the Arab Gulf countries, could be backwash effects or spread effects. The backwash effects means that globalization could contribute to and the source of human deprivation through processes of marginalization (of the country) and social exclusion (of individuals and groups based on social, ethnic, occupation/ skill, age or gender grounds)† (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). On the flip side, globalization can also lead to multitude of benefits. Globalization, through investment and production, can lead to jobs creation and greater choices for the public in terms of consumption and all of this can further enhance the human development. Globalization leads to foreign direct investment FDI, which in turn leads to capital inflow in the country and this can be used for developmental projects in a developing country. The steps towards globalization include: Liberalization of the local economy. Liberalization of state property ownership (privatization). Regionalization and multilateralism. Step 2 or privatization in the Arab countries has been a result of old as well as new policies. The privatization policy became a national policy in Oman in 1996. Information and communication revolution â€Å"The policies include provision related to what to privatize first (productive service sector), partial privatizations, transparency, competition, FDI, protection of the environment, public relation, and privatization proceeds. The guidelines include provisions related to bids selection, public offering, taxes, loans, employees and management†(Zineldin, M, 1998). The Saudi Arabia had been considering privatization and policy since early 90s. The 1990-1995 development plan envisioned a privatization process, a stock exchange for trading, privately owned construction and development companies, privatization some banks etc. In 1997 the ministry of commerce decided to expand the role played by the private industry in the kingdom’s economy by privatizing and selling government held assets worth more than $7 billion. The main aim for privatization and liberalization was to encourage private investment in the country’s economy, to provide lucrative opportunities for local as well as foreign companies to invest in domestic ventures. They also aimed to provide jobs to the ever increasing number youths in the country and to bring the unemployment rates down. They wanted to broaden and diversify the economic base and increase its markets competitiveness level to meet the standards set by the WTO for its membership (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). Abu Dhabi and the UAE have highlighted the need to privatize approximately 40 or so industries. After a study conducted by the World Bank, it recommended that Kuwait privatize at least 7 small enterprises, whose total vale was more than $3.6 billion. By 1995, Bahrain had also privatized at least partially, its, aluminum industry, small enterprises from the food manufacturing industry. Industrial investment by the private sector in this small state was more than $4.4 Billion by the end of 1996. (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). The campaign to private in order to make the institutions more efficient and productive has led to inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in these countries. Oman, Dubai (UAE) and Bahrain etc have allowed their private investors to gain complete ownership of their investment and industry. (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). The past 3 decades have led to an unprecedented growth in the GCC countries. The cost oil per barrel has risen from $12 to $100 and beyond. The financial profits that have been gained from this boom as been used to modernize infrastructure, improve social indicators, develop infrastructures as well as maintain foreign currency reserves while keeping external debt at a low level. â€Å"Life expectancy in the GCC area increased by almost 10 years to 74 years during 1980–2000, and literacy rates increased by 20 percentage points to about 80 percent over the same period. Average per capita income in the GCC countries was estimated at about $12,000 in 2002, with their combined nominal GDP reaching close to $340 billion (more than half the GDP of all Middle Eastern countries†. (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). Globalization and Human development Globalization, through the process of privatization leading to increase in resource allotment and can lead to increased focus towards human development. Improvement and competition leads to increase in the standards in the health and education sector. Privatization in the education sector can lead to improvement it its standards and it can structurally transform itself to cater to the needs of the market. â€Å"In other words private involvement in education and health sectors could bring with it more investment, more competition, better service, and wider choices. Successful liberalization and privatization programs could also accelerate growth, boost domestic investment and attract foreign capital generate employment and increase (per capita) income† (Jiyad, A. M 1998). The performances of the GCC countries towards human development have been weak in the past few decades. Great progression was seen in the early 70s and 80s but investment towards human development seems to have become stagnant in the 90s. Case in point is Saudi Arabia which compared to the public spending of $81.4 billion in 1985, only spent $82.7 billion in 1995. This and other indicators like these demonstrate that investment in the future development of the people had been ignored in the decade of the 90s. † (Jiyad, A. M 1998). Another problem which still needs tending to is the increase in the population in most of the GC countries. The high growth rate along with increase of women in the work force due to opening up of the society in the GCC countries has produced another problem of unemployment. The GCC wok force is growing at a rate of 4% per year and if this keeps up, the unemployment rates will soon follow suite and create another burden on the society. The GCC countries have been trying to initiate and grow in the non oil industry sector to create jobs for its people and to be able to sustain their growth rates. †Government services in many GCC countries are provided free or at highly subsidized prices, particularly water and electricity, while non-oil taxation is low, consisting mainly of income tax on foreign corporations except in Oman, where local corporations are also taxed. Some of these countries have recorded overall fiscal deficits over the years, reflecting volatile global oil prices and relatively high levels of current expenditure† (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). This can be seen by the indicators in the following charts below. â€Å"All GCC countries share sound and well-supervised banking systems. Banks are well-capitalized and profitable. Their supervisory framework has been strengthened and is largely compliant with international standards and codes. Moreover, GCC countries have gradually taken a number of steps toward implementing a market-based monetary policy, though direct instruments (such as interest rate and credit ceilings) continue to play a role in a few of these countries.† (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). Deepening of the regional economic integration Even with their high visions and plans of development to create sustainable non oil based economic power houses, the GCC countries have fell short of their aims for the past decades. These goals can still be achieved. The key for realizing such gains is in the collective integration and regional advancement. These collaborations have to be inline with the WTO policies and regulations. Since the GCC countries already enjoy free trade agreements with each other, the next step would be in the form of creating custom union. This can be beneficial for the GCC countries involved in the union as well as during multilateral trade deals. Giving the world a single regional front can only be beneficial as this means that there will be unified tariffs across the countries. The negotiations with the WTO any aspects would be held through a collective front rather than of the members negotiating individually. (Yousif Khalifa Al-Yousif ) Other benefits that can be achieved by the GCC countries integrating themselves further include providing a unified local market to the world to deal with. This means that the smaller countries like Bahrain can gain access the behalf of large ones like Saudi Arabia into the western markets. Deepening ties will further lead to reduction in internal conflicts and maters of miniscule value. Since integration into a regional bloc like the GCC has already led to and will further lead to open access to each others markets therefore inter GCC trade will only allow the local industries to grow further and provide employment to local work force along with allow growth in the human development sector. Millennium goals indirectly leading to economic and developmental Stability The GCC countries are a bloc of wealthy countries on their way to regional integration and providing a unified and developed front to the goal. Therefore it is suitable for them to cater to and provide assistance to the less developed Arab countries in the region. The countries have set out goals for the future and are working towards them at a steady pace. Eradication of poverty: the spread of wealth even with the population of the GCC is unevenly distributed. The gulf countries are working hard to implement policies which would lead to ensuring that all the people are provided with food and shelter. This can be done by providing jobs. Broadening the industrial base is the priority. This will lead to creation of jobs for the people. In this way wealth can be spread and distributed evenly. Energy Accessibility and Efficiency â€Å"Despite the vast energy resources of the region, in 2003 only 78.6% of the Arab population had access to electricity, ranging from almost 100% in the GCC countries to under 8% in Low Developed Countries (LDC). The region’s overall energy efficiency (kilogram (kg) oil equivalent per $1,000 GDP (PPP)) has improved unevenly in the past decade. In 2002, the GCC countries reported the highest energy use (504 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP), followed by those of the eastern (262 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP) and the western (some 137 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP). Data available data on energy use in the Arab LDCs are inadequate.† Regional Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in the Arab Region (2006). Education: the literacy rate of the local population in some of the major GCC countries is quite low. Steps are being taken to ensure to ensure that that the new generation is provided with education to be able to work as a contributor for the development of the society and the country as a whole. Gender equality: it has been long an issue, that the Arab countries in general have a poor record for gender equality and women empowerment. The GCC countries have moved leaps and bounds from where they were a couple decades ago. Currently female integration is in every corner of the work place. Few of the major multinational companies are owned and run by business women in the gulf. Still female literacy rates are low and the gulf government’s aims for the near future are ensure that they become equal participants in the work force as they comprise around 50% of the total population. References and Bibliography Bà ©atrice Maalouf, (2006). The GCC: A Union to Be Reckoned With. Congress of the Czech Political Science Society in Olomouc [internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Democratic governance Arabia (2008), United Nations Development Program. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Figure 1, Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Figure 2 Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. GIC Produces Comparative Data on GCC Economies Showing Solid Upturn in 1999 GDP. (2001),

The Importance of Principles in A Man for All Seasons :: Man for All Seasons Essays

The Importance of Principles in A Man for All Seasons There are many issues that people have to deal with in society. Some issues can be difficult to handle and some can be easy. While dealing with these issues, people tend to be more curious about their personal life then the life of their time period. There are many consequences that will be occurring to that situation depending on how people will deal with the problems they face in their lives. In the play "Man For All Season", Thomas More, does not only life for his personal life, but also the life oh his time period that makes him a strong person who faces many issues by being pressured his family and friend, by not saying the oath, and by always sticking to his principals. "A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt, deals with a famous man suffers death rather that swearing on an oath which ran against the dictates of his conscience. He is a man of complete integrity and strength. More has an extremely brave mind, loyalty for his king, and a love of his religion. He is a man of strong faith and deep trust in himself when dealing with one of the difficult many situations he is placed in. One of the biggest political issues dealt with King Henry the 8th is that he needed a son. After nearly twenty years of marriage to Queen Catherine, Henry never got a son and therefore, had a divorce. Unfortunately, a papal dispensation was necessary. This dispensation is not easily obtained especially since Catherine the wife of Henry's older brother who had died. Therefore; the marriage had never been valid and the request for a second dispensation is refused. This is the time when Henry had asked More for his approval but More does not agree with the s ituation because it is against the law and his moral beliefs. As a consequence, more is sent to jail because these beliefs go against Henry orders. More is pressured by many people in this play but always tries his best to keep his beliefs and principles which makes him a "Man for All Seasons". Thomas More deals with a lot of pressures and stress that come from his family and friends.