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Schindler’s List

Name: Amanda Verdial

Course: American History

Date: 03/03/2019

‘Schindler’s List’ is a 1993 movie directed by renowned filmmaker, Steven Spielberg. It is based on the novel ‘Schindler’s Ark’ written by written by Thomas Keneally. The film is set in Krakow, a Polish city during World war II and the Holocaust during which the Nazis sought to destroy all Jews. Spielberg directed the film to depict the horror that the Jews suffered and the effort of one man to save the lives of many. The main protagonist in the story is Oskar Schindler; a German businessman who saved the lives of thousands of Jews.

Schindler was a businessman from Germany who had come to Krakow seeking to make a fortune from a business. He paid hefty bribes to German forces to acquire a factory in which he planned to set up an enamelware factory. Itzhak Stern was his administrator who handled the matters of financing the factory for Schindler. Because of the excellent relationship that Schindler had with the Nazis, he keeps his workers from being sent away to concentration camps. Most of these workers were Jews as they were paid the lowest wages.

Amon Goth led one of the concentration camps in Krakow and was tasked with ensuring that the ghetto is emptied of the Jews occupying it. What ensued was a bloody massacre that turned Schindler from a Nazi supporter to being sympathetic to the plight of the Jews who faced certain death under the Nazis. The color red is symbolic in the scene in which Schindler witnesses a young girl in a red coat dead after seeing her on the street before.

Many Jews were sent to the concentration camp, but Schindler bribed Goth into letting him build a sub-camp where his workers would stay. Finally, all Jews were to be transferred to Auschwitz, but Schindler planned to move his workers to a new factory in Brinnlitz. Their train is mistakenly sent to Auschwitz, but Schindler secured their release by bribery. All the hefty bribes that Schindler gave finally rendered him poor in 1945 when the war ended. He was to be captured by the Red Army due to his affiliation with the Nazi Party. Before he fled, he asked the German guards not to kill his Jewish workers. His workers gave him a signed letter to tell of how he had protected their lives.

Some of the major themes in the movie include violence, the value of human life and the selflessness of one man to make a difference in the lives of others. The theme of violence is evidenced in the shooting and killing of Jews during the efforts to liquidate the ghettoes in which they lived in Krakow. Schindler despite being one man was able to make a difference in the lives of many Jews. Himself being a Nazi Party, he should have been part of those seeking to eliminate the Jews but instead went to great lengths to save his workers. As a result, he ran out of money and risked arrest. He was selfless.

Power and corruption are also themes in the movie. The Nazis wielded their power over the Jews whom they viewed to be inferior people and thus dehumanized them. Corruption is evidenced by the fact that the German officers such as Goth took bribes from Schindler who sought to keep his workers safe.

The film itself has black and white effects because Spielberg wanted to give a sense of timelessness to the film and it paid off. Watching the movie, the audience is convinced that the events are depicted as they happened. The characters in the movie did a splendid job of becoming the characters they portray. The quality of production is also impressive, and the film is enthralling throughout its duration. Some forms of symbolism include the girl in the red coat which stands out as the rest of the film is in black and white. Red might be taken to show the bloodshed of the Jews. The black and white effects also depict death, Spielberg explained that color to him symbolizes life. The film appeals to peoples from all walks of life as it is a significant part of history.

The film has several strengths as well as weaknesses. Some of the strengths include the cast of the play. Under Spielberg, they manage to reenact the events of the dark time such that they appear very real. A second strength is the music by John Williams that creates the mood in the film. The third strength is the use of the black and white film to show timelessness in the film. Some weaknesses include the violence and nudity in the movie, which makes it unsuitable for young viewers such as children. The film also gives the perspective of Schindler; hence the Jews are merely supporting cast to be killed at the whim of the Nazis. The audience fails to accurately get the Jews’ perspective as a result. The third weakness is that it mostly dwells on those that survived rather than those who were killed. The audience fails to get the magnitude of the senseless murder of the Jews.

The film is generally very realistic and succeeds in educating the masses on the events that transpired during the Holocaust. Many people are not aware of what happened, and the film gives insight into this. It is quite educational, and the audience is left in awe at the story itself and the spectacular manner in which it is told.

Bibliography

Chen, Xiaolin. “The Use of Symbols in Schindler’s List.” In 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2018). Atlantis Press, 2018.

Gambaccini, P., and T. Miller. “Schindler’s List.” (2017).

Loshitzky, Yosefa, ed. Spielberg’s Holocaust: critical perspectives on Schindler’s list. Indiana University Press, 1997.

Spielberg, Steven, Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle, Embeth Davidtz, Michael Kahn, and Thomas Keneally. Schindler’s list. Universal Studios, 1993.

Yang, Hongsi. “Appreciation on Theme Music of Schindler’s List.” In 2016 5th International Conference on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. Atlantis Press, 2016.

How far has the Modern Conservative Party departed from the Thatcherite agenda? Comparing Margaret Thatcher’s “There is No Such Thing as Society” versus Cameron’s “Big Society”

Executive summary

This essay argues that Modern Conservative Party, particularly its new Prime Minister, David Cameron has not totally departed from its predecessor, Margaret Thatcher. Though Cameron explained that his “Big Society” to be totally different from Thatcher’s “there is no such thing as society” as it acknowledges the societal ties that makes society interdependent, this paper is in the opinion that such political pronouncement was just to parry the criticism associated with Thatcher’s “New Right”. The departure of Cameron’s “Big Society” from Thatcher’s “New Right” is more on the semantics because many of the principles of its predecessor remain the same.

First, Thatcher’s “there is no such thing as society” did not mean the dissolution of social ties that composed society. She herself clarified that the original intent of the statement was distorted beyond recognition. What she meant by “there is no such thing as society” is to diminish dependency on welfare and to encourage individual members of society to help themselves. In effect, it lessens the burden on public expenditures which contributed to the inflation that beset UK’s economy. Thatcher may have just put it in the wrong way but the intent and purpose of her statement was to strengthen industry by enabling society’s individual members. In effect, Cameron’s “Big Society” is just the same with Thatcherism when it intends cut back public expenditures (though explaining that he is just returning it to 2007 level). It only differs in a way that it encouraged public engagement and volunteerism and by putting up a Big Society fund of £200M to enhance societal capability (Channel4.com 2011).

With regard to the economy, Cameron also adopts the free market system which is precisely what Thatcher asserted despite public criticism during her time. Cameron’s economic policy pronouncements also do not subscribe to Keynesian inflationary measure of pump priming the economy through increased public expenditure. It is only his method that differs from Thatcher because he intends to cut public expenditure which Thatcher was opulent during her term.

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Genetic Engineering

Genetic, Molecular and Biological factors all have a role to play as the rate of prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases increases. Examples of chronic diseases are those known as neurodegenerative diseases, and they affect a human beings Central Nervous system. In turn, people suffer from chronic conditions such as dementia. This means that there is a lot of research being conducted, in order to find out why the aging population is being affected. The research, which has been done, has found out that the degenerative diseases, which are chronic, are caused by molecular changes. Moreover, the changes take place in the nerve cells and can lead to death or even dysfunction of the nerves. Furthermore, genetics has a role to play in this vital matter on neurodegenerative diseases. The various gene expressions are responsible for changes in the gene structure of human beings (Last, 2000.45).

Another chronic condition is asthma, and its development has been attributed to biological and genetic factors. The disease normally occurs when human are subjected to conditions, which are hypersensitive. During previous years, it was known to have been caused by genetic factors and that has changed. Current research has found out that asthma is caused by environmental, molecular and genetic factors. An infectious disease such as AIDS is spreading fast among people and thus, it leads to high death rates. Biological technology is used in research and study of genetic factors (Last, 2000.45). Furthermore, genetic factors make it possible to find out if people are prone to acquiring infectious and chronic diseases as compared to others. Information regarding genetic, molecular and biological diseases makes it possible to learn about diseases. It makes it easy to learn how to treat and cure infectious and chronic diseases.

Currently, research concerning matters on genetic, molecular and biological factors is available. They can be found in the World Health Organization website and publications. The latter provides information regarding infectious as well chronic diseases and the factors related to them. The Journal of Inflammation has research about the genetics involved in asthma Moreover; it shows the research through the perspective of a molecular biologist. Other research publications include; Medscape Reference, Journal of Neuroscience and American Journal of Epidemiology.

A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) exists when genes are transferred from a species to another. The process, which is used, is known as laboratory, and it leads to formations of GMO’s. The process is meant to obtain desirable characteristics and Traits from certain genes. This is the reason why the organisms are known to be transgenic. Genetic Modification and Genetic Engineering are used to describe the laboratory process. There is a difference, which exists between GMO’s and Non GMO’s. The former are produced through conventional methods, and its risks are extremely unique. GMO’s have the ability of overcoming barriers concerning species. It means that it is possible to engage in genetic engineering and come up with unique species. For example, it is possible for tomatoes to be injected with fish genes. The tomatoes will then have traits similar to that of a fish. The latter is not possible when producing Non Genetically Modified Organisms (Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, 2011.1).

An example of a Genetically Modified Food is Soy, and it accounts for 88 % of the total world soya production. When soybean is implanted with a blasted gene, it leads to the formation of GM Soy. The result is that the latter is resistant to glyphosate, which has cytotoxic impacts. Soy is used for various functions for both animals and human beings. Animals are usually fed with feed that contains soy, and human consume it from the animals by products. Human beings consume Genetically Modified Soya from eating meat, eggs and drinking milk of such animals. The GM soy is obtained and processed into flour and it is used in making baby food, bread, among other food stuffs. An example of a company, which makes efficient use of GM soy, is Nestle in the production of baby food. Currently, there have been some criticisms that the use of GM Soy in baby food is harmful to a baby’s health. Rabbits, which have been fed GM Soy, have been known to have increased metabolic activity and liver dysfunctions. The conclusion was arrived at, after conducting a study on the matter and GM Soy found to be the cause. According to Michael Antoniou, a molecular geneticist, the study carried out on the rabbit is true. This means that human beings might be affected in the same manner as the rabbits. This means that it must be ensured that GM food is safe (Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, 2011.1).

Lastly, the government of the United States has come up with tight and effective measures concerning unsafe food. It seeks to ensure that all citizens are protected, so that they do not consume food, which is unhealthy. Some organizations, which have the mandate of ensuring food safety, include the FDA and USDA. For example, they control the food that is imported into the United States. They have guidelines, which have to be met by people who seek to import food to America. Unfortunately, the methods used are not scientific something needs to be done urgently concerning this matter. Consumers should have the proper information regarding the food that they eat (König Et Al, 2010.1087).

Work Cited

Last, J. A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 4th edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.Print.

König A. et al. “Assessment of the safety of foods derived from genetically modified (GM) crops”. Food Chemical Toxicology. 42, 7, (2010): 1047–1088.

Center for Environmental Risk Assessment. HYPERLINK “http://cera-gmc.org/index.php?evidcode=&hstIDXCode=11&gType=&AbbrCode=&atCode=&stCode=&coIDCode=&action=gm_crop_database&mode=Submit” “GM Crop Database:Tomato”. International Life Sciences Institute. HYPERLINK “http://ceragmc.org/index.php?evidcode=&hstIDXCode=11&gType=&AbbrCode=&atCode=&stCode=&coIDCode=&action=gm_crop_database&mode=Submit” http://ceragmc.org/index.php?evidcode=&hstIDXCode=11&gType=&AbbrCode=&atCode=&stCode=&coIDCode=&action=gm_crop_database&mode=Submit. Retrieved December 13, 2011.

‘THE FLASH’ EFFECT

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‘The Flash’ effect

Entertainment plays a significant role in the lives of each individual. Every person has their kind of entertainment which appeals to them and which means a lot to them. It is therefore in regards to this that different people choose different types of entertainment ranging from music, TV programs, movies among others. For this assignment, I have chosen a film- Netflix’s ‘The Flash’ (McMillan, 2019).

Several people have written about the effect of the flash on young people and anyone who watches this Netflix series. Many individuals and researchers consider this form of entertainment to be very addictive. Due to its length, researchers argue that it is not healthy for a person to watch the show for a very long time since it may bring in medical complications. However, on the other side, the series is a superhero series, and therefore anyone who watches the series has a 70% chance of developing some positive regards and view about life. Therefore this means a person who watches the series is likely to change and find good and positive ways to do good for humanity just as the flash does even though he faces many challenges (Bartsch, & Viehoff, 2010).

We can hypothesize that watching the flash for long periods is unhealthy for a person. However, watching the series enables a person to develop good characters and behaviors towards other people and the world.

The methodology used to study how people’s behavior change combined qualitative and quantitative research to determine what a person goes through for them to be gratified or for a specific entertainment and, in this case, a movie series to affect them. The use of questionnaires and interviews for this research is of great importance as the target is those who have watched this series and its effect (Sharma, 2016). The age groupings is that 60% of those interviewed were between 18 years to 35 years while the teenagers accounted for 20% of the research and the rest 20% fell to those above 35 years of age. This is because those between 18 and 35 years are most likely to watch this kind of series (Bartsch & Viehoff, 2010).

The results were that different people have different feelings and conclusions about the series. However, most people have positive feedback that the series has helped them re-develop their humanity in so many different ways (McMillan, 2019). Most of the people state the willingness of the flash to bring out positivity towards the lives of people around him without having to kill those who do wrong is a courageous thing to do since he has the option of killing them but does not kill them because that is a vice and killing makes him a wrong person. Therefore the series, to a very great extent, talks to the people and reminds them of their moral base and compass to follow (Sharma, 2016).

References

Bartsch, A., & Viehoff, R. (2010). The use of media entertainment and emotional gratification. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2247-2255.

McMillan, D. R. (2019). Superhero TV–Analyzing the Narrative Techniques of the CW’s The Flash (2014-Present) & the Netflix Original Program Daredevil (2015-2018).

Sharma, R. A. (2016). The Netflix effect: Impacts of the streaming model on television storytelling.

In the non-fiction book by Rebecca Skloot ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,’ it shows how the writer writes about a woman of title whose cells were harvested from her tumour. The book displays how the harvest was done without her consent while she was alive. It is a true story based on the life of a young farmer who died aged 31 in the year 1952. The Southern-African American tobacco farmer had died from cervical cancer and in modern history, the cells that were harvested from her body have become an important tool in modern-day medicine. This story was filled with success and anguish despite it being filled with issues of morality and ethics. The legal parts were also developed as it portrays the apparent nature of biasness in the American health care system. The story at john Hopkins hospital displays despicable and annoying values of the nurses and other staffs who work there. The doctors demonstrated a pure lack of care for Henrietta when she was literarily burning to c crisp but the doctors wrote indicated that she seemed fine in their reports. Due to the life of poverty of Henrietta, the doctors evidently disregarded her in a case where they valued treating the more powerful and rich whites than the blacks, thus by the American standards subjecting Henrietta to in inhumane treatment that denied her full treatment.

In matters of life and death, it is despicable that doctors ignored Henrietta by not according her the best efforts to save her. This clearly shows how the doctors do not value when Henrietta was dying and was not given the best attention to save her. Even though it was a common practice to harvest cells from a dead person, it is unethical to do so without their consent while alive. As this act may be the worst part of her treatment, the disregard doctors had to her was way worse. It cannot be precise and certain that Henrica being poor and black is the reason why she was treated poorly with disregard but in her lifetime the trends that were demonstrated made it appear as though the things that mattered the most were ethnicity and class.it was evident from the plot that Henrietta’s doctors were not valuing her as much as doctors are expected to value other patients. The book’s setting and storyline demonstrate the negligence of doctors to many of their patients especial of black origin in the mid-1900s. it shows a time where people were made to suffer more than they ought to and a complete disregard of the well-being of others is represented.

In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks they got fewer pain medications and had higher mortality rates” (64) showed that blacks besides suffering more pain they died frequently, which is a passage that is used to show that many blacks just like Henrietta were significantly treated worse than whites due to their poverty and race. Thus being given semi and low-quality care. The cells harvested in from Henrietta’s dead body have been used for science success as the have served advancements in research and development in the medical field thus becoming immortal. The setting occurred in a time when segregation in America was at peek and despite being a success for the medical development it was a sorrowful moment for the family of Henrietta.

The story shows of ho modern growing of living cells were kick-started through Henrietta’s sample tumor that was harvested and grown in the lab calling her cells ‘Hela’ that was taken at the John Hopkins Hospital. The main point of reading the book was the highlights presented in the book into modern advances in medicine. With success agony and sorrows the story presents multiple lines of anguish and injustice that Henrietta suffered and the sorrows of her family especially the daughter Oprah. There are also the aspects of lack of consent, segregation and racism, the unethical profiting of the biotech industry from the unknowing donation of a poor black woman. Taking into consideration the life of Henrietta and the injustices she faced one can easily burst into outrage. But through proper analysis of the book, I was able to realize that the unjust aspects of the story to Henrietta were not just extraordinary but rather a day to day related to the racism that most people face when seeking for care.

Lack of consent is a major theme expressed by the story as Henrietta was never told or asked if her cells would be used for a research and the misleading factor whereby her family members were brought in for checking on the basis that it was for their own good but in the real sense it was for their own benefit whereby they were to check and detect if the Hela cells are genetic related. In contemporary health care system harvesting of cells for the purpose of developing medical research has become a common practice, however, there is a need for consent from the patient whose cells are to be used or even her family.

The Hella cell line eventually became a commercial patented line that generated massive revenue for a number of biotech companies as the family of Henrietta languishes in poverty with economic depression. The unjust nature of this information is surprising as according to the ethical obligations, legally the family would be entitled to a share of the biotech firms profits. Legal proceedings that followed were more surprising when court ruling ruled against Moore whose cancer cells were patented for commercial use stating that once the cells were exercised out of his body, he was not entitled to its financial benefits. The 2003 legal precedents of no rights considered the scenarios where sample tissues were freely donated. Ignoring the fact that there was the issue of informed consent in the case of Henrietta and misleading upon testing.

After reading the chapters in the book I have often viewed the world in a different way with a possibility of other more complex and greater injustices carried in the medical industry that are underlying the themes and other concerning issues presented by the chapter. The structures and chapters I covered in the book had shown several injustices that are projected against Henrietta Lacks and exposure of unethical practices in the medical fields. The possibilities raised to me is that these injustices may have been a distraction from greater injustices. The structural background of racism was quite rather different from the questions of finance and other benefits interests raised through the features of biotech companies registering massive revenue through the use of these cells. The story may have other concerns that were much bigger but were not accurately presented as major themes like the under looking of lack of education access and employment opportunities that are the core cause of these themes. With proper educations, the characters would be able to make informed decisions and give out consent to the doctors. Employment is portrayed through the fact that Henrietta Lacks was a farmer and precisely stated to be poor thus giving rise to the lack of care by the doctors. The lack of health care systems is also portrayed in the story in that it was until Henrietta’s tumor was fully developed and she would feel it herself that she went to seek treatment. Thus the rise for an urge to developed health care systems for early detection that was lacking in the story.

It is not precise but I can say the level and standard of care given to Henrietta Lacks was inadequate and it was an unethical practice for the John Hopkins hospital to harvest her cells without her consent or consent of her family. The remaining family of Lacks had a right to be given proper information and be enlightened of the tests that were carried upon then rather than the hospital misinforming them that it was for their own good in the detection of cancer while in real sense it was for their benefit. The system until now has consistently failed Henrietta’s family many of whom continue to suffer from chronic illness physically and mentally. Even the end-user result of these extraordinary cells from Henrietta fueled a biotechnology revolution, the underlying injustices to Lacks should not go unnoticed. And because of the true storyline presented by Skloot, we ought to continue talking of these underlying injustices

1937 Massacre

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How and why does the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic either fit or not fit with the larger pattern Ferguson identifies?

As the Second World War was on the verge of starting, people were struggling to recover from the Great Depression, Haitians were in trouble. This period is well over seventy years old, as also during this time, in Europe, Nazism was spreading at a fast rate. During this time, Haitians were trying to cope with their lives after being under the power of the occupation by American military. There were many immigrants workers from Haiti, and nearly 20,000 of them were massacred in Haiti. They were murdered using the crudest weapons such as machetes and bayonets. Not even babies were spared by these heinous acts through the orders of the then dictator of the Dominican Republic known as Raphael Trujillo. He believed that by murdering the Haitians, the Dominican Republic “would be cleansed” (Human Rights Watch, 2002). In turn, wealthy landowners took over the land owned by peasants. On the other hand, Niall Fergusson believes that “the twentieth century will be remembered for many horrific crimes against human beings” (Ferguson, 2007). He claims that, despite their being advances in the social, political and economic arenas, violence took place. Furthermore, withdrawal of empires, ethnic group’s heterogeneity as well as economic volatility were the cause of the horrific violence.

This paper seeks to give an analysis on how the 1937 massacre by the Dominicans on the Haitians fits into Ferguson’s theory. The reasons for the massacre include; pogroms on ethnicity cleaning, ruling classes and economic progress.

Analysis of the 1937 Massacre and how it fits into the theories presented by Fergusson concerning identity

(CL). The classes that ruled in Haiti and the Dominican Republic were the ones responsible for the horrific massacre. (EV). The Dominican gave minimal compensation to the state of Haiti. It has also been proven in previous history that reactionary policies existed between the two states. The latter was through the efforts of the ruling classes in both countries. According to Wucker (2000) in Why Cock’s Fight, “two nations share more than a porous common border” and thus the reason for their fights. This means that the various upper classes join each other in many ways. Furthermore, according to the report on human rights, the various feudal classes had been struggling for many years. (WA). Ferguson believes that the need to attain power and prestige made the upper classes murder the lower classes.

(CL). Matters concerning ethnicity played an immense role in causing the horrific massacre on the Haitians by the Dominicans. (EV). For a long time, since the 1820’s there had been fights between the different ethnicities. They all wanted to own their own land, and in the year 1844, the Dominican Republic attained its independence. This is after the Haitian troops occupying the Dominican Republic were defeated. The need to attain Leadership and power were the main reasons for the clash between the ethnicities. Also, the policies, which existed in The Dominican Republic did not favor the Haitians. The policies were known to affect Haitian plantation workers by abusing and exploiting them. According to Wucker in (2000) Why Cocks Fight, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are likened to two cocks fighting in an arena. (WA). This means that the two countries were in need of “making their ethnicities better than each other” (Wucker, 2000). Ferguson believes that most of the heinous violence that has taken place is due to issues on ethnicity. For example, the horrors, which took place during Nazism were due to issues on ethnicity. Every ethnicity wanted to prove that it was more domineering than the other, according to a report on human rights.

(CL). The need to make economic progression made the Dominicans massacres the Haitians. This is through coming up with laws similar to those of apartheid, to have a supply of labor that was low wage. (EV). The Haitian workers were needed in the sectors of trade and agriculture. This meant that some of the immigrants were taking over work this would be done by legal Dominicans. It is a known fact that the Dominican Republic grew tremendously due to the Haitians workers. Despite the Haitian population being at ten percent in the Dominican Republic, they contributed to 30% of the overall economy. The Dominican Republic and Haiti had a disparity based upon wage and the economy. The latter is the mechanism responsible for the migration by many Haitians into the Dominican Republic. According to Ferguson (2007) economic volatility is a reason why the massacre took place. (WA). Since, the Dominican people were paying the Haitians they had the right to treat them brutally. Wucker believes that attaining economic power often corrupts people and makes them kill others. Even reports based on human rights seem to believe that the latter is true. Most times migrant workers are mistreated while working in foreign countries. In conclusion, Ferguson’s theories on identity fit in well with the 1937 massacre, which took place in the Dominican Republic. It seems that despite the development in the various sectors of the economy brutality never seems to cease.

References

Human Rights Watch. (2002). ‘Illegal People’: Haitians and Dominica-Haitians in the Dominican Republic. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Wucker, Michael. (2000). Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola. New York: Hill and Wang.

Ferguson, Niall. (2007). The War of the World. New York: Penguins.

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Globalization in India

The largest democracy in the world is India, and this means that it is influencing business activities being conducted in its territory. Economic and political reforms are responsible for ensuring that the environment for businesses in India is extremely attractive. In turn, the number of foreign investors has increased .Around the years of 1990; economic reforms that were major were employed by the government of India. This means that the market pace in India brings about direct investments. Many countries such as the United States are happy with the reforms in India, thus the reasons why they are investing. There are many opportunities in India for those who want to earn great profits. According to information provided by the government of India, the largest foreign investor is the United States (Limaye, 1998.1).

Indians are known for using an approach that focuses on their encounters, and this is normally in international business. This means that most managers of Indian origin ensure that they build upon relationships, which are long term. The latter is as a result of their functional and cultural dimensions. India follows the ‘Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization economic reforms. In order to make the economy of India competitive, the LPG was introduced. The result is that the economy is growing fast (Goyal &.Khicha, 2006. 1). Globalization has brought about the development of industries such as IT, Bollywood, and steel, among others. The presence of the LPG is especially felt in the sectors of finance, trade and industry. As a result of globalization, India has developed in terms of communication and is engaging in world trade. Also, more people have been able to migrate to different parts of India, and the results are extremely rewarding. The Gross Domestic Product of India has improved drastically and this is attributed to globalization.

The Bollywood industry in India is fast gaining popularity due to its many productions, which occur regularly. According to analysts, it is estimated that Bollywood might take over Hollywood soon. As a result of globalization, many of the actresses and actors in Bollywood are working in productions in other countries. Some Hollywood celebrites are also taking part in Indian movies. Bollywood has made many populations from other countries to know a lot concerning India. The sector of car manufacturing is responsible for the economic development in the country. An example of an Indian car model, which is popular in many countries, is Mahindra. This car is extremely cost effective and thus the reason for its popularity. The car market has even ventured into African countries such as Kenya and South Africa (Ojha, 2002. 1).

After many years of stagnation, India is now among the leading steel suppliers and manufactures in the world. This is because there is a great demand for steel and India has the ability of catering to this need. Most of the steel, which is produced in India, is exported to China, which needs the product for many uses. The expansion of the steel industry has also contributed to that of the automobile industry. Steel produced in India is extremely cost effective and thus the reason for its popularity. In conclusion, India is a country that has the ability to compete with leading world economies. This is because it has made advancements in car and steel manufacturing as well as in Bollywood productions (Glyn, 2006.34).

Work Cited

Goyal, K. &.Khicha, P. Globalization of Business: Future Challenges”, Third concept- An

International Journal of Ideas. 2006.

Ojha. A. Globalization & Liberalization – prospects of new world order, Third concept- An

International Journal of Ideas .2002.

Limaye, Mohan. Doing Business in India: Aspects of the Political Dimension. Business Horizons, November, 1998. Print.

HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Glyn” o “Andrew Glyn”Glyn, Andrew. HYPERLINK “http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Economics/International/?view=usa&ci=9780199226795″Capitalism Unleashed: Finance, Globalization, and Welfare. Oxford: Oxford University Press.2006. Print.

History

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How did contact and the fur trade affect both the native peoples and the European Colonists

In the year 1534, Jacques Cartier a French explorer, arrived at Baie des Chaleurs. During his quest, he met with the Mi’kmaq, known to be natives, and they had trading relations with the Europeans. Cartier gave an account of the life, which he experienced, while with the natives in a foreign land. The natives could not communicate well with the Europeans, and this led to difficulties during trade. The natives were the ones who had ownership of fur, and would exchange them for various European products. The latter were products made from iron such as knives.

As the fifteenth century came to an end, many Europeans came to North America due to the presence of fish. Later on, they discovered they would obtain fur from the natives, and this became the norm. There were many vital reasons why the Europeans had vetted interest in the native’s land of North America. The interests were economically and politically related, and in turn, created competition among European leaders. Those who conquered oversees colonies believed that they had obtained an advantage over the other powers. Most European powers were built using cheap resources, as they did not have a lot of money. The world, which Europeans sort to conquer, is known as the ‘New World’. Entrepreneurs in the fur trade were granted a monopoly, so that in turn, they would assist the colonizers in sponsoring Christian missions and settlements. Moreover, the natives believed that they would benefit significantly from the military and trade alliances with the Europeans.

Towards the sixteenth century, there were many changes taking place in Europe. Furthermore, the developments made many of them explore other, unknown lands. For example, the Christian Church became divided due to the different ideologies held by its followers. In turn, it led to the reformation of the church, as the Protestants migrated to various lands. The natives would be exploited for their labor, if colonies were to be successful. Resources obtained would be transported to the colonizer’s mother country. Also, there is evidence that suggests that native people in the America’s had interacted with foreigners. It seems that the fur trade paved way for other European powers to explore other areas. Examples are the Portuguese who went to Africa, and they obtained ivory, gold and slaves. The later took place in the year 1440, and many other Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Diaz did the same. Spain did the same and sent explorers such as Hernando Cortes and Christopher Columbus to the Aztec empire and Caribbean’s. The need to find a passage in the sea led to the discovery of native lands. Explorers wanted to find a link that existed between the Pacific and Atlantic. In turn, it would be easy to reach the East Indies and China, which had valuable wealth.

There was limited interaction between the aboriginals and the Europeans who were interested in the cod fish industry. Natives were appreciative of the products they acquired from the Europeans as it improved their lives. As fashion trends progressed in Europe, the need to acquire fur increased. After some time, the sources of fur became exhausted as demand had increased significantly. Whale hunting is another activity, which gained popularity, apart from the fur trade and cod fishery. Whales were vital sources of lighting lamps; some parts were used in dresses worn by Europeans. A notable whaling operation took place in the 1540’s in what is known as the Strait of Belle. The English made extreme progress in conquering their new lands such as the Ferry Land. The success of colonizers such as Portugal and Spain made France want to experience the same. French kings sent many of its citizens to explore North America, and an example is Giovanni da Verrazzano. Many ill-fated things took place in France and made it difficult to conquer other new lands. For example, there were many wars of a religious nature, which needed to be addressed. France’s interest only arose after people demanded that they obtain fur, also because the civil war had just ended.

In conclusion, after many tough and long years of hard work, France acquired its new territory. Many provinces, in the eastern part of Canada, were formed by the French as it did not succeed in North America. Acadia and Canada were known for being lucrative due to the various trade activities. Furthermore, they had developed significantly due to the fur that could be obtained. The position of Canada made it vulnerable to external assault and internal dissension. It is not known why many French explorers were attracted to Canada, yet it did not have resources as the other lands. Effective leadership is what made the French succeed in most conquest and especially in Africa. By obtaining sufficient capital, they would prosper even more. Indeed, the fur trade as well as the contact between the Europeans and the natives had significant impacts to the world.

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Groupon

Introduction

Entrepreneurship has become quite popular with many people in the recent times. It revolves around getting a tidy sum of money as return on investment. Of course, this calls for a lot of patience in the growth and development of the business or enterprise. It goes without saying that there exists numerous categories of businesses, all of which require different entrepreneurial skills. One of the businesses that have adopted the most controversial business models in the recent times is Groupon.

Groupon refers to a deal-of-the-day website featuring discounted gift certificates that are usable at national and local companies. The website was launched in late 2008 with Chicago forming its first market. This was followed by other towns such as Toronto, Boston and New York City. This enterprise underwent a tremendous growth as to serve over 150 markets in North America, as well as 100 other markets in Asia, South America and Europe by late 2010. Its growth is evidenced by the fact that the business was valued at $1.35 billion in April 2010, which was a far cry from the $1 million that was provided at its beginning as “seed money”. The business was projected to make $1 billion in terms of sales, faster than any business. The attainment of this dream was, however, dependent on its business model, which underlined its entrepreneurial capability.

The company gives out one Groupon every day in every market under its service. It acts as an assurance contract via The Point’s platform. In this case, if a predetermined number of people sign up for the company’s offer, then the deal will be availed to all people. However, kin cases where the number of people does not meet the predetermined minimum number, all people who had signed up for the offer would lose the deal of that day. In essence, the retailers have their risk reduced, as they treat the Groupons as sales promotion tools, as well as quantity discounts. The entrepreneurial bit of the entire idea rests in the fact that Groupon keeps have the amount of money that the customer has paid for the coupons. Groupon, unlike classified advertising, does not require its participants to pay any upfront costs so as to take part in the deal, rather, it collects personal information pertaining to willing customers before contracting consumers by email. These are customers who may have an interest in a certain service or product.

However, questions have been raised as pertaining to the viability of the business model. As much as Groupon has been recording an incredible growth of revenue, it has not been making any profits. This may be attributed to the high hiring and marketing-related costs, which underlines the reason why the company declared that it would cut back or reduce its marketing expenses. Since June 2009, the company has incurred net losses amounting to more than $650 million. In addition, the rate at which its gross billings have been growing has tremendously reduced as a result of unsustainable and faulty business model. It is worth noting that the workability of the plan to lower its marketing expenses is still in question. This is because the business considerably relies on marketing so as to have new customers, as well as retain existing ones. In essence, recurring marketing expenditure cannot be done away with without affecting the growth of the company. The financial situation at Groupon today comes as a surprise as it is a far cry from the picture painted by Frank Sennett in his book “Groupon’s Biggest Deal Ever”. This is especially considering that the company had Google, the largest search engines in the world, craving to acquire it at $6 billion in early 2010. In addition, Forbes magazine had christened the upstart daily-deals site had been christened the second quickest to hit the billion-dollar valuation. It was also the quickest firm to make $1 billion in sales (Sennett, 17). It is, therefore, surprising that the company would be making losses in millions of dollars. However, it is worth noting that the deals offered by Groupon are not profitable to the merchants. More often than not, it deducts half of the sales proceeds as the commission for marketing the deals of the vendors, over and above the discounts that customers are offered. In addition, it is imperative that the sustainability of the business is determined in line with customers who still find the model viable. It is worth noting that most of the businesses that still find its model viable are yoga clubs or studios, as they can profitably exploit its business model. This is because such service providers can offer their customers long-term subscriptions that are not bound by the terms of Groupon. This could explain the contracting customer base as other customers have had their ideas rebuffed as inappropriate.

In addition, the company’s undoing lies in the process by which it creates value. It is worth noting that the company only derives its revenues from commissions that earned from the money customers pay. This is in contrast with other companies like Facebook, Microsoft and Apple. Facebook makes money through online marketing in which case once other companies advertise their wares they remunerate Facebook. Apple and Microsoft, on the other hand, are involved in the design and sale of computer hardware and software, not to mention their operation of online stores. Their models of business are undoubtedly different from Groupon’s. It is noteworthy that, in cases where a vendor becomes bankrupt, the customers would go to Groupon for their money. This underlines the risk that it posses to the company especially since Groupon does not carry out credit assessments on the vendors.

The performance of Groupon is a clear indication of the personal, entrepreneurial skills of its founder Andrew Mason. It is worth noting that ThePoint was Mason’s first entrepreneurial venture. Andrew Mason was an inexperienced CEO who was hiding a brilliant and analytical mind behind his golf demeanor. He turned 30 years old in October around the same time when Yahoo! was expressing its interest in buying Groupon (Sennett 55). This was followed a few weeks later by Google’s offer through Allen & Company for $6 billion. On the other hand, Bill Gates had worked painstakingly for a number of years before making a breakthrough in the 80’s, which was more than five years after launching Microsoft. This is the same case for Steve Jobs who worked for a number of years before his company Apple Inc became successful. He is known for his charisma and entrepreneurial spirit. The emphasis of Jobs and Gates, on hardware and software that would be used even by small businesses, has been the key thing in the long-term success of their respective companies. However, Groupon’s model only works for a select few and mainly alienates small businesses.

Nevertheless, Mason can ensure the long term growth of Groupon by allowing its acquisition by larger companies such as Facebook, Amazon.com and Google. This would be a leverage for its brand value and subscriber base. Google, being the world’s biggest technology firm, could offer Groupon key advantages. The integration of daily deals in the dominant online search product would rapidly increase the company’s reach as far as its offers are concerned. It is worth noting that Groupon would still be capable of operating as a truly autonomous unit, as suggested by Google’s acquisition of YouTube (Sennett, 67). Alternatively, it could tie up with Internet giants such as Facebook and Google to enhance its reach by publicizing its deals. In addition, it could go beyond its fundamental business of presenting daily deals and evolve into an e-commerce site such as eBay and Amazon. It had already hooked local merchants to an enormous e-commerce machine and then provided the resulting bargains directly to numerous consumers in the world. This strategy may make become an incredible breakthrough of the decade perhaps equal to Amazon’s establishment of an online only retail superstore that occurred in the 90’s (Sennett, 97).

‘Digital Divide’

‘Digital Divide’ is a term that is known as ‘digital split’ and it means the inequality between the people who have the resources and can access the new information and communication tools easily by the technology and the people who do not have resources and access to the technology. For example – Internet is the technology which provides the latest information and we can do anything by the help of internet by just one click. Thus the digital divide exists between the people who can access technology and those who cannot access. But in actually, digital divide is not only limited to the internet. In fact, it means the access of information and communication technologies and media of way for accessing any type of information by the different segments of the society. For example – In some countries, telephone is considered as the basic requirement for communication and that is mostly used in the government offices. But unfortunately, there are some countries which do not have the sufficient telephone lines for the communication. So in this example – we can use the digital divide which shows the advancement of the one country and less progress of the other country. Besides it, digital divide shows the discrepancy between those people also who has the ability, skills and knowledge to uses these resources and technology as compare to those who have the access of these resources but they do not have the ability and knowledge to use it. In short, we can say that it is easy to notice digital divide between the people who lives in rural areas and those who live in urban areas, between who are educated and those are not educated to use the technologies, between the different economic scales of the persons and besides that, it exist at the global level also where some nations are industrially developed and some are less developed.

It is an emerging social issue for the policy makers, scholars and others because it divides the people on the basis of the availability of resources, latest technology and its usage. It shows the differences among the development and developing and underdeveloped areas. In digital divide, the people who are untouched and not able to access the resources and technologies are affected most because they do not have update information. It may include the individuals, organisations, schools, hospitals, nations, or any other institution. But these people are affected in a very negative way because it creates economic, social and growth inequality between those who have the access and literacy and those who do not have the access and literacy for use it and it results that they are not able to connect with the world of freedom, democracy and are not able to avail the other benefits that help a person to make a tension free, easy going and free life.

The effects of digital divide can be noticed between the businesses which traditionally work under brick-mortar structure but now these are upgraded to e-business. Some businesses still run on the manual works and on paper without use of computer and other technology. Thus we can see the processing and operations of the business are slow because the flow of information is slow and it makes the decision making also slow. Thus we can say that digital divide creates the gap between the businesses and affect the performance and growth of the business in negative way.

References

http://www.internetworldstats.com/links10.htmhttps://sites.google.com/site/digdivide1/how-digital-divide-affects-businesses-and-social-capabilities