Naked Maoists before a Naked Wall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Naked Maoists before a Naked Wall - Essay Example The people in the picture "Naked Maoists before a naked wall" give us a sense of this same type of protesting. Naked, backs turned, and entwined with one another, we can imply they are standing against their enemies with their backs turned to the hate. The child at the end looks unsure of how to face and not knowing why they are doing it, faces toward the alleged enemy. Innocence of a child not knowing why they should be afraid or hate, it is a learned behavior for them. Showing the strength of their backs shows courage to withstand anything. The back being one of the strongest parts of the body compared to the legs. Their legs are crossed with the person next to them similar to a cross-stitch pattern of sewing. The power of the stitch comes from crossing over one another to make the item hold without straining or weakening. With their crossing of body parts, they're one solid unit, they will be strong when others cannot and hold the other up when it feels it may fall. The arms are also entwined and fingers spread against the wall. In yoga, the position of downward dog, the strength of the position comes from the hands with fingers spread to distribute the weight. Distributing the pain and the suffering of one another eliminates it from being a burden to just one. Strength in numbers has come to mind frequently while viewing this photo. Heads hung down can be read it two different ways. One may be in defeat, where they have been beaten by an oppressor. The other would be shame; they are ashamed of their current situation in their country, the world, and the way the events have been handled. One thing that may not have been what the Kommune members wanted to say is stated with both men and women being in this photo. Together naked and exposed, similar in pose and realize that what is done to one is equally felt by the other. Each is part of the whole society, part of the whole generation, and part of hopefully the solution instead of the problem. There is a delicate balance of hate and love, war and freedom, male and female, and right and wrong. Here we see that one needs the other in order to be and cannot stand alone. Another thing not thought of by the Kommune members, is both men and women standing in the same pose, naked, look similar. There is no individual expression in this photo; they are all posed the same. In Maoist China, all people were the same; men, women, children, all working for Mao and for their country. No individuality. The politics of the day, and even into today's society, is one of control and dissent. Certain powers liked to control and fight and bring war into countries, and others thought of better ways to solve problems. All of us take sides based on what we believe to be right. The Kommune members could have believed they were standing up for their beliefs by showing their dislike of the current political events. We don't know this, and may never, but we can see that it was a bold statement for the time. The Kommune members chose this pose for a reason, chose it to stand for something, and to make a point. As stated above, we may never know what the exact thoughts were of each individual, but we can interpret it to be a stand against something they felt was wrong, striping each person of their individuality, and baring their humanity in front of the world. Whatever the reason

Greek Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Greek Philosophy Essay What Is Philosophy? †¢Philosophy : The studies of Greco-Roman thinkers on activities and inquiries. It is also the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. †¢Philosophy focuses on three main types: †¢Stoicism †¢Skepticism †¢Epicurean †¢Philosophy consists of these philosophical areas: †¢Metaphysics †¢Materialism †¢Idealism †¢Epistemology †¢Empiricism †¢Rationalism †¢Ethics †¢Hedonism †¢Cynicism Three Main Types Stoicism †¢Refers to the knowledge of Aristotle oMind is a blank state, impressions are made by the 5 senses. †¢Stoics deny the metaphysical points of view. oReal objects produce intense feelings. oThe body and soul are pairs that act and react to each other. Skepticism †¢Examines as to what someone should believe- derived from Platos schooling †¢Objections on skepticism: oIts commitment to knowledgeable limitation is nonexistent. oIf knowledge is limited and judgment is not expressed, life is presumed unlivable. Epicurean †¢Formulated by Epicurus who believed philosophy was studied to make the soul happy. †¢Happiness created with less wanting of materialistic things and more peace. Philosophical Areas Metaphysics †¢Branch of philosophy accountable for the study of existence. oAnswers what is? †¢The foundation of philosophy oWithout metaphysics, we would not be able to comprehend the world or act accordingly to it. Materialism †¢Refers to the simple focus of the material world. oEverything in the universe is matter and matters. †¢The philosophy is held by those who believed that material items are accountable for existence. Idealism †¢Stresses the central ideal and spiritual interpretations of experiences. oThey believe world exists as a spirit †¢Two forms: oMetaphysical idealism oEpistemological idealism Epistemology †¢The investigation of grounds and nature of knowledge of the world. oFocuses on the knowledge of differences between truths and falsehood. †¢Fundamental aspect to how we think. Empiricism †¢Theory of experience as primary source to our knowledge of the world. oLearning through perception. †¢Classical empiricism oRejection of innate, in-born knowledge and concepts †¢Radical empiricism oExplains that all our knowledge is derived from our senses. †¢Moderate empiricism oDescribes the exceptions to general empiristic rules. Rationalism †¢Philosophical movement that introduced mathematical methods to philosophy. oCan be understood through mathematical and logical  principles, not sensory experiences. Ethics †¢Branch of philosophy dealing with what is the proper action for humans. oAnswers What do I do? †¢Requirement for human life, decides course of action. Hedonism †¢Doctrine that states that all pleasure is naturally acceptable- good for the soul. †¢Nothing but pleasure is good. Cynicism †¢Described as a way of life, which consists of asceticism, anti-conformism, and anti-conventionalism. †¢Basis of cynicism is the virtue of well being and a happy life. Philosophers Socrates †¢Possibly the wisest sage of all time †¢Contributions to philosophy: oPithy sayings. oSocratic method of discussion oSocratic irony oSocratic method- saying he knows nothing and that unexamined life is not worth living †¢Participated in the military during the Peloponnesian War. oCommitted suicide by ingesting poison hemlock. Plato Fun fact: Plato is not his original name- its Aristocles, but was later changed to Plato by his teachers †¢Considered the most important philosopher to have ever lived- father of Idealism. †¢Thought the human soul contained reason, spirit, and appetite. †¢Student and follower of Socrates. †¢Impacted math, science, morals, and political theories with his  Legacy of the Academy schooling. Aristotle †¢Student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great. †¢Wrote on logic, nature, psychology, ethics, politics, and art. †¢Developed deductive reasoning. †¢Basis: Aristotles syllogism †¢Church used Aristotle to explain doctrines in the Middle Ages. Concept of Prime Element †¢Thales Attempted to find naturalistic explanations of the world; identified water as the ultimate principle. †¢Pythagoras Creator of Pythagorean Theorem; believed earth was what encompassed all beings. †¢Anaximenes Explained how air was universally present and is the source of all that exists. †¢Heraclitus Disagreed with aforementioned philosophers and claimed fire was the classical element. †¢Empedocles Created the cosmogenic theory that composed of the four classical elements: water, earth, fire, and air. Bibliography †¢http://www. philosophybasics. com/movements_rationalism. html †¢http://www. importanceofphilosophy. com/Ethics_Main. html †¢http://philosophy. lander. edu/ethics/hedonism. html †¢http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/philosophy%20? s=t †¢http://ancienthistory. about. com/cs/people/p/aristotle. htm †¢http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/platoprofile/p/Plato. htm †¢http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/socratesbio/p/Socrates. htm †¢http://www. historyforkids. org/learn/greeks/philosophy/ †¢http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/athenians. html †¢http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/greeks. html †¢http://philosophy. gr/ †¢http://philosophy. gr/hellinistic/cynics. htm †¢http://www. newworldencyclopedia. org/entry/Greek_philosophy,_A ncient †¢http://www. livius. org/gi-gr/greeks/philosophers. html †¢http://www. historyforkids. org/learn/greeks/philosophy/ †¢http://www. historyforkids. org/learn/philosophy/epicureans. htm †¢http://www. iep. utm. edu/stoicmind/ †¢http://www. iep. utm. edu/skepanci/.

Toys :: essays research papers

Toys"R"Us INTRODUCTION In this assignment I have chosen to focus on explaining what kind of company Toys"R"Us is, giving a brief, short summary of the firms history, their corporate responsibilities, what their competitive advantages are and how they implement their strategies through retailing and merchandise. I also found it relevant to explain the market situation in the toy-industry and what the trends are, for understanding what other difficulties that are important to consider in order to survive. SHORT HISTORY In 1948, a company which totally dedicated themselves to children and their needs, was formed by Charles Lazarus in Washington DC. This was a perfect timing in relation to the post-war baby boom period, the demand for accessories for children was high, and the main purpose for the company was to carry furniture for babies. After some time, he heard customers saying phrases like "I need a toy for my baby", so he began selling toys aswell. Mr.Lanzarus tried to give his customers what they wanted he understood early that this was the best way to keep his customers. In 1957, he opened his first toy supermarket, and with specialized retailing and the off-price positioning, he revolutionized the concepts in the pre-mall and discount days. After this success, he sold his business to Interstate, which later went bankrupt. Mr.Lazarus rejoined the company and made it profitable, and in 1978 it became a public company; Toys"R"Us,Inc. DIVISION OF THE COMPANY Today, Toys"R"Us is a $11 billion dollar company and they have over 1500 stores over the whole world. The company is divided into six different divisions: Toys"R"Us US Strongly focuses on strengthening the shopping experience by providing better service and better merchandise. There are around 680 locations of Toys R Us in the US. Toys"R"Us International Is licensed, franchised and operated through over 570 locations in 29 countries outside the US Kids"R"Us Consists of more than 375 locations where children ´s clothing and toys are all under one roof, and oughts to offer all of the latest fashions and of course high quality merchandise. Imaginarium Toysrus.com Developed in alliance with Amazon.com in order to offer an online shopping service. Babies"R"Us Offers everything parents need for their babies, like furniture, bedding, car seats etc. All products can be purchased under one roof By organizing their organization into these different divisions, it gives them a competitive advantage because it makes it easier to focus in the certain areas. These divisions are very different from each other, and needs specialization in all the different aspects.

George Gittoes

George Gittoes Case Study George Gittoes, born 1949 in Rockdale Sydney, NSW has trained at, The Yellow House, Sydney, NSW 1970-1971, Art Students’ league, New York, USA and The University of Sydney in 1968. George is an artist of many talents, he is known as a ceramist, screen artist, performance artist, printmaker, draughtsman, painter and photographer. Gittoes is also a filmmaker, known well for his documentary Soundtrack to War filmed throughout 2003-2004. His documentary captures authentic recounts from individuals who have experienced or are experiencing the war in Iraq.In this quote George explains why he partakes in works about war and humanitarian issues in today’s world, â€Å"Why do I do it? As far as choosing the roads I have traveled, I have this instinct that if I get comfortable, the work will lose its ‘sting’, so I go out of the comfort zones and into the wilderness to find my art. In the past it was the natural world where predators fed on gentler creatures. In the contemporary context, I go alone into a different kind of human wilderness – Rwanda, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq – not to contemplate nature, but the basics of humanity†¦ George Gittoes (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/George_Gittoes) George Gittoes artwork, white earth is oil on canvas portrays political corruption and how youth were immersed in the propaganda of Nazi Youth. On the work, the boy’s ears are distorted, expressing the impossibility of closing them now and not listening to the lies he is immersed in. By using blue and yellow dividing lines in the background it separates the boy from the two official behind him giving orders and leading him.Gittoes witnessed an Afrikaner-Weerstands Beweging (AWB) rally during his visit to South Africa in 1994, there he saw a 15year old boy immersed in the propaganda of Nazi Youth. Whilst being pestered by photographers, Gittoes sympathises for the boy, as he recounts the rape and tortured . The boy in the work is too young to fully understand the political corruption circling around him and was stuck between being used by the AWB and being tortured by international press. You can relate to why the boy has shut his eyes, to lock out the controversy, but it is near impossible to shut his ears to the hate propaganda being inflicted on him by Terre Blanch (the figure to the right as explained by George). One side of the boy’s body is unnatural enlarged as if expressing his sway toward Terre and away from the other figure. If this is what is happening it explains why the other figure has one hand raised over his face in despair. This explains the world now and the world almost 20 years ago, as one of propaganda, corruption and the influences of political figures.The artwork White Earth explains in the title the racism that is ever so abundant in our world even to today. This belief of an all white country is thrust upon many, especially the young and naive like the boy being harassed in South Africa by corrupt political leaders or figure of authority. Gittoes is renowned about the way he creates work s by inspiration of his life experiences. He has a great deal of passion for art and humanity to be an eyewitness to the suffrage of mankind throughout the world is carried in his work. The social class portrayed in this painting is high and low.The political leader and dictator Terre Blanch is high in social class, whereas the boy may be lower in class making him an easy target for manipulation and subject to receiving hate propaganda from authority figures. The meanings shown in this is the meaning or influences, that what you here you are persuaded to believe even if you shut your eyes they cannot be blocked out. George Gittoes works are controversial but inspiring based on the true-life events that he witnesses he tries to portray, the emotions, belies, and stories through elements and aspect of the artwork.This artwork was well received by s ome but not all as some don’t believe in the Nazi youth propaganda and support Terre Blanch’s views. In conclusion this artwork ‘White Earth’ by George Gittoes is an in-depth representation of corruption, racism and power held by those few people trust and look to-political leaders. George has captured what I assume many are trying to get away from, hearing about hate propaganda, we can all shut our eyes but not many can shut their ears as well.

Why Pakistani People Have Lost a Sense of Nationality

Identity may be defined as a distinctive characteristic of an individual or a particular group of individuals. For one’s survival in this world it is very crucial to maintain his identity. If we expand the criterion of ‘identity’ to national level it is of utmost importance because it is nation’s identity which distinguishes its people from the rest of the world. The importance of national Identity can be better analyzed by the fact that it is the base of all the policies, i. e. domestic and foreign policy and hence the social. economic cultural and ethical development of any country partly depends upon its national identity. In other words actions of a nation are determined by its identity. As far as Pakistan’s identity is concerned, it may be divided into three phases, i. e. pre-partition, post partition and present day. The term ‘identity crisis’ is used to denote a particular situation where by an individual, group of individuals or a nation faces conflicts regarding its identity. These conflicts occur when one’s ideological basis and prevailing circumstances contradict in such a way that the prevailing circumstances dominate the ideological basis. . With reference to Pakistan the history of ‘identity crisis’ have its roots in the late Mughal dynasty. The comfort-loving attitude of the rulers, bloodsheds for the throne, abandoned faith, mismanagement of domestic economic and political matters, absence of updated foreign developments and other moral, ethical and social weaknesses were the major forces which contributed in the identity crisis of the Muslims of South Asia. In pre partition era where by Muslims of south Asia have lost their regime and British rule tighten the span of their social , cultural and political life. Actually they lost their rule just because of the ‘lost identity’. After a half century of submissive life they began to find the ‘lost identity’ and they succeeded. The second phase of identity crisis began very after the inception of Pakistan. The Shia/Sunni crisis at the time of partition was the first of all. But luckily at that time, the crisis was pragmatically resolved by Quaid-e-Azam, so it was buried in a hatchet at that time but later on it burst up from different grounds. The second case of identity crisis in the chronology is the crisis of East and West Pakistan. At the time of inception, Pakistan inherited East and West Pakistan with one and four provinces respectively. Population of East Pakistan alone was more than that of the total population of the four provinces of West Pakistan. The seeds of identity crisis were sown with the ‘language controversy’, where by Urdu was declared as the national language of Pakistan while Urdu was the influencing language only in West Pakistan. This language controversy and some other strategies which lead to the deprived feelings among the natives of East Pakistan and the ultimate consequence was an identity crisis in the form of separation of East Pakistan in 1971. Not only the separation of East Pakistan but, a variety of identity crisis cases stood in the post partition era. The list contains delayed constitutional development, unstable political conditions (due to personal likes and dislikes and lust of power), Social injustice and negative image of Pakistan on international screen. Constitution is the base of any new born state but in case of Pakistan this base couldn’t be established even after about a decade of the inception of Pakistan. So when there was no base for people, the process of identity development started very late. Latterly the termination of 1956’s and 1962’s constitutions fulfilled the remaining part of delayed identity development. All these factors further participated in corruption, national disharmony, rigid attitudes, misconceptions about the religion (partly the role played by ‘mullas’), blind practices on unnecessary customs and a list of moral dilemmas. The identity crisis after the partition threw Pakistan in an ignominious status both at domestic and at international arena. Domestically we couldn’t achieve the social status which we’ve dreamt during the Pakistan movement. Economically we stood at the back end of the global economic stage. And above all we were entitled as a ‘terrorist state’ due to some mismanaged and scattered groups. Even some of them really didn’t have the basic knowledge of their ideological agenda. In present day Pakistan, the situation is more hazardous than that of one discussed in the previous phase. Today’s identity crisis is ‘giant’ in nature aiming to nip our ideology form the bud. Now with changing global environment and with the changing role of Pakistan at international level, the nature of identity crisis has become more complex. The present day crisis may be classified as political, social religious and economic identity crisis. The social and religious crisis work in collaboration. On the religious part, the extremist group has developed misconceptions about the religion. On the other hand the society is facing the ‘cultural war’ through different media. In such a situation the nation, preferably the youth has contradictions with religious implications which is making them unaware of their ideological basis. In the second step the attractive evil (the weapon of cultural war) is becoming dominant. So the nation’s ideological basis is being deployed by the prevailing circumstances, creating identity crisis. In this case we can’t blame the young mind (as he’s not getting the proper guideline and he has not been trained in such a way that he can find the roots the purpose of his existence, secondly the so called knowledge of religion he gets is not authentic). The second type of present day identity crisis in Pakistan is political in nature. In fact our political system has always been ruled by reigns in hands of few influencing groups. No such political platforms were built for the coming generations, to ensure their participation in national or international affairs. It is very necessary to train the youth for the participation in national affairs because they are the people who have to run the country in the future. Unluckily our youth didn’t get any such training at any stage of our 59 years history. The ultimate result was that, the administrators belonged to a specific group, making others so annoyed that others even don’t care to have a look at the mismanagement. This imbalance in the political infrastructure restricted the educated youth to participate in the national policies and ultimately the process of policy making enjoyed the influence of un-educated and narrow minded policy makers, who couldn’t devise the identity goals of the nation till yet. At international political arena we are still facing the vicious circle of ‘terrorism’. Even our government ensured Pakistan’s contribution in the ‘war against terrorism’, but being an Islamic state we become the suspect of any international terrorist act. Here the policy of state is ambiguous, which aims to satisfy the western world but the integration of Muslim world is not to be seen any where. In my opinion we don’t know that where we are standing right now, where we have to go and where we are going? On the part of economy, no doubt our economy grew with in last half decade but only at macro level. The poor is still standing on the place where he was a decade ago. Increasing Unemployment, inflation, and poverty etc are not only contributing in social imbalances but because of these factors, a common man is not able to find the basis of his identity. The identity of a nation is its image, and our image today is ‘a tree whose roots have been cut’. This situation is actually showing our lost identity. We have become much concerned about our outer look but we have forgotten the basis on which we have to develop our inner self. If this process keeps on going with the same velocity, the time is not far when the existence of our identity will vanish. It is very crucial to have a breach of the peace against identity crisis. In this regard the most important step is identity education. The identity education should be provided at educational institutions as well as in temporarily organized seminars (seminars should be accessible for general public). Identity education will not work till we present a difference between different cultures. Media censorship should also be there in order to lessen the possible damages of cultural war. Media should also spread the knowledge of values among the common men. And last but not least we all should play our part to improve our religious image at international level. In this connection we can spread the true essence of our religion which is peace.

John D. Rockefellar essays

John D. Rockefellar essays John D. Rockefeller is a prime example of what Freuds theory of the pleasure principle is all about. Freud refers to the pleasure principle as the id, which is located in the unconscious state of mind. The id is concerned only with what brings immediate personal satisfaction, regardless of any physical or social limitation(Burger, pg. 48). John D. Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839 and lived until May 23, 1937. During this time frame he became one of the wealthiest men in the United States. Rockefeller grew up on a farm near Richfield, N.Y., before he moved to Cleveland Ohio in 1853. He attended Central High School from 1853-1855 and took some additional courses at a business college before he became assistant bookkeeper for commission merchants Henry B. Tuttle and Isaac L Hewitt in Sept. 1855. It wasnt until 1863, when Rockefeller had decided to enter the oil business, that he began to amass his fortune. He organized STANDARD OIL CO. (OHIO) as its largest stockholder in 1870, directing the company until he retired in 1896, but retaining the title of president until 1911 (Goulder, 1972). It is a fact that Rockefeller did not grow up in a wealthy household and it is also obvious that although his education was limited to only a few college courses, when John D. desired something bad enough, he just went out and found a way to get it. The fact that he continued to retain presidency of his company for 16 years after he was retired clearly shows that he had a need for power and desired to stay at the top of the power pyramid. This is a perfect example of the pleasure principle because the id is only concerned with what an individual wants. By 1880 John D. Rockefeller had become worth 18 million dollars. Money was his key to power and power was everything to Rockefeller. His personal life demonstrates that. He is described as The millionaire, who had lost all of his hair and whose wi...

Conflicts in Old Man and the Sea essays

Conflicts in Old Man and the Sea essays The Old Man and the Sea is as deep as the ocean. There are many conflicts occurring in the novel, some subtler than others; but each contributes to Santiagos suffering and reveals different depths of his character. Two examples of conflict are between Santiago and the marlin and between Santiago and the other fisherman. Santiago suffers a great deal through these hardships, but with strength and determination, he is able to overcome them. The main conflict of the story is between Santiago and the Marlin. He first sees the Marlin when it jumps up. The marlin is two feet longer than the skiff and very strong. When it tries to swim away, it pulls the skiff with it, far out to sea. For days the old man sits alone in his skiff, battling the marlin. Through this, he is able to overcome hunger, weakness and a cramping left hand. You are killing me, fish, the old man thought (92). At one point Santiago believes he is too weak and that the fish might actually kill him. This is when he is able to find his strength and reel in the now tired fish. He harpoons the fish and stains the ocean with its blood. Another conflict exists between Santiago and the other, younger fisherman. They think that Santiago is salao because he has not caught a fish in 84 days. They do no respect him because he is old and unlucky. They do not recognize or venerate his skill. In fact, they ridicule him. This affects Santiagos confidence and isolates him further. Santiago does not have any friends other than the boy because no one respects him. When Santiago comes back from his trip with the gigantic marlin carcass with shark bites in it, they realize that Santiago has great skill and determination for his age and they begin to respect him. When the old man tells the story about the Campion, he reveals that being honored is important to him. His pride is bruised by the lack of respect by the other fisherman. His honor is finally restored wh...