Paramore by Paramore free essay sample

The Tennessee rock trio Paramore is known for their angst punk sound and relatable tunes. The self- titled record has been Jeremy Davis, Hayley Williams, and Taylor York’s first released album since â€Å"Brand New Eyes† in 2009. The album opens with a strong and rebellious anthem, â€Å"Fast in My Car†. Williams’ striking lyrics fits along with the shredding guitar riffs and thumping drums. As the track continues on I grew fonder and fonder of it. It’s difficult, for me at least, to resist songs with loud raging drums and electrifying guitars. â€Å"Now†, the first single of the album, left me confused because it wasn’t something I was used to. The repeated drums and distorted guitar was new for me and it took some time to grow on me as well. â€Å"Now† has more emphasis on guitars with lighter drums and a tropical vibe, unlike older Paramore songs. The combination of Williams’ â€Å"lost the battle win the war, bringing my sinking ship back to the shore† lyrics, Davis’ epic bass solo, and York’s riffs give off a sense of motivation to reach out and overcome your lost battles. We will write a custom essay sample on Paramore by Paramore or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The sixth track, â€Å"Ain’t It Fun†, immediately caused me shock with its opening banging drums and funky guitar riffs. Davis plays the slap bass, which has never been played on a released Paramore track before. Williams’ sarcastic lyrics asking herself (she stated in an interview before) how she is going to survive in the real world. And if those lyrics weren’t enough at about half way through the song a gospel choir joins her, singing â€Å"don’t go crying to your momma cause your own in the real world† repeatedly while, Davis and York continue playing. â€Å"Still Into You† is definitely the song Paramore is most known for from this album. Going gold in The US and Canada, â€Å"Still Into You† is an upbeat tune with pop influences. It reminds me of â€Å"The Only Expectation†, a ballad from their previous album, but with non-pessimistic optimistic lyrics and a faster melody. You may have to listen to this album a couple times to really love it or even once but the overall theme shows that Paramore has matured as a band and as individuals and their music has been prove of that.

Lukoil Company Analysis

Presentation of the Company Established in 1991, Lukoil is a company whose principal business lies in the sale and distribution of natural gas and oil to local distributors located within Russia and several of the states within the CIS (DATAMONITOR: OAO Lukoil 2011, 1-9).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Lukoil Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through its acquisition of a rival company (Getty Oil), Lukoil was able to expand its consumer base to encompass consumers in well over 40 countries around the world making it one of the largest oil and gas companies currently in operation. Through a strategy of expansion and acquisition, this has allowed the company to reach markets in the U.S. as seen in its acquisition of Schlotzmeyer Brothers enabling Lukoil to become one of the largest distributors of petroleum within New Jersey and Pennsylvania (DATAMONITOR: OAO Lukoil 2011, 1-9). Aside from supplying gas to its consumers within Russia and various other countries, the company also happens to provide home services to consumers in the form of responding to possible gas leaks, as well as maintaining the various gas pipeline within neighborhoods that it primarily markets. It must be noted though, that the company’s annual revenue has increased within the past few years to an estimated $113.6 billion due to increased demand and for oil and natural gas within Eastern and Western Europe (DATAMONITOR: OAO Lukoil 2011, 1-9). What Are They Trying To Do? At the present, Lukoil is trying to leverage its current strength as the second-largest oil and gas producer in the world in order to obtain an EFQM award for excellence. In fact, they had recently applied for such an award in 2011 and was nominated as a finalist, however, they were subsequently turned down due to noncompliance related to its policies involving local merchants and current product mismanagement. The company is curren tly attempting to showcase that it deserves the award by developing an internal policy that focuses on developing partnerships with oil and gas distributors within Eastern and Western Europe in order to become a leader within its current market.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It should be noted though that while Lukoil has focused on the EFQM model of utilizing policy strategies as well as partnerships resources in order achieve a modicum of success, the fact remains that it neglects to focus on people as a sufficient enabler of success which may be the primary reason why it has only achieved finalist status instead of actually getting an EFQM award. Sequence and Timeframe In 2008 Lukoil was able to successfully conduct a billion-dollar merger with the petroleum distribution company, Akpet, in Turkey, which enabled the company to access several million consumers within A kpet’s service territory in Turkey as well as enabling the company to take control of nearly 600 petroleum stations (OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis 2012, 1-10). The acquisition of Akpet by Lukoil created numerous opportunities in the form of possible alternatives to their mainline of business as well as a method of possibly accessing the lucrative markets of Turkey and possibly Greece through the use of container ships as a means of delivering natural gas to new markets where prices are much higher. From a certain perspective, this particular step actually complies with Kotter’s 8 step change model wherein in order to continue to survive in the current oil and gas market, Lukoil created a sense of urgency by pursuing a strategy of heavy expansion into numerous new markets. This was done through actions of the board of directors of the company starting in the year 2000 till 2008 wherein major new acquisitions were done due to the internal belief that survival through expansio n was the only path the company could utilize. Unfortunately, one of the main problems experienced by Lukoil within the past 5 years is the fact that they let their initial successes dictate the way in which they viewed the market, which led to a skewed production rate (OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis 2012, 1-10). This means that they got ahead of themselves and extracted more natural gas than what was actually demanded by the market.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Lukoil Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is indicative of a serious gap between various parts of the company’s management and operations structure given that there was little, if any, sufficient internal communication to voice possible concerns regarding the potential of over-extraction. It was due to this wanton disregard for basic considerations of the RADAR methodology as well as the law of supply and demand that by 2012 the price of natural gas fell to $2 per 1,000 cubic feet, which is the lowest it has been in decades. In fact, due to the massive oversupply that Lukoil has at the present (an estimated 25 billion cubic feet or more) the company has had to resort to using abandoned mines and caves as storage areas for the extracted natural gas. While such a situation is beneficial for consumers it directly cuts into the costs related to extraction and distribution for natural gas supply companies since it in effect costs more to distribute the gas than to sell it. Various industry experts have stated that it will take several years or possibly even a decade before the excess supply of natural gas has been consumed with prices returning to levels seen in 2005 to 2007 (OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis 2012, 1-10). It is obvious that the oversupply of natural gas within Lukoil is a definite problem for the company given the fact that there are few alternative markets that the company can sell the gas to outside of its current traditional markets. There should have been some means of internal communication present to prevent such a problem from getting out of hand, unfortunately selling the gas internationally is also not an option given the inherent costs associated with international transportation and the fact that other countries already have their own local natural gas suppliers (OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis 2012, 1-10).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Milestones Some of the milestones done by the company come in the form of establishing an internal method of self assessment in 2008 in order to help determine how employees rate the operational structure of the company as well as the creation of a system of improving operational efficiency and effectiveness by reducing operational waste through worker based evaluations (Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD 2012, 4038-4045). While such aspects have proven to be quite effective in terms of enabling the company achieve a considerable level of market competitiveness, the following factors will highlight some of the problems that the company needs to work on. Various industry reports which have examined the rate of natural gas consumption within the Russia have stated that one of main reasons why decline has stagnated as of late is due to the fact that weather patterns have shifted resulting in changes in the way in which consumers normally consume natural gas (Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD 2012, 40 38-4045). For example, natural gas suppliers have always relied on increased gas consumption during the winter seasons as temperatures drop below zero necessitating the need to increase more gas in order to stay warm. Unfortunately, from 2009 till the present, Russia, as well as much of Eastern Europe, has actually experienced a rather strange phenomenon wherein winters have become milder resulting in subsequent decreases in gas consumption during the winter months. In fact gas consumption has dropped by almost 25 to 50 percent in some states due to the relatively mild winters that have been occurring. As a result, the season where natural gas companies such as Lukoil usually make the most money and have a large percentage of their product stock consumed has in effect turned into an average season for natural gas consumption. Global warming, which has been blamed for subsequent increases in temperatures around the world has been blamed for the milder winters that Russia has been exp eriencing. Considering the fact that global warming is connected to the sheer amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere it is likely that this period of milder winters within Russia and the Eastern European states will continue well into the future (Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD 2012, 4038-4045). This state of affairs has actually greatly contributed to the excess level of supply that companies within the industry have to deal with at the present, which of course adversely impacts the price of gas sold. The inherent problem really, as evidenced by the literature examined, was that there was an inherent discrepancy in the external communication between distributors and suppliers wherein the adverse relationship between the two lead to a development of a chasm between what the mangers interpreted as accurate industry data but was in fact erroneous since they were not receiving any input from local distributors regarding subsequent drops in demand. While such a n aspect will be discussed later on in this paper, it is important to note that this is a particularly relevant milestone given that it was one of the reasons why the EFQM award was not given to Lukoil in 2011. Another factor that should be taken into consideration was that the current reduction in demand for gas in Russia and Eastern Europe should have been anticipated by the company, however, there was apparently an insufficient level of internal methods of examination that delved into properly configuring the supply chain resulting in the problems the company is currently experiencing. Where Are They Now? The current corporate strategy espoused by Lukoil in order to survive the current problems affecting the European economy and the natural gas industry has been through acquisition and diversification. Its strategy of acquisition comes in the form of its merger with Akept in Turkey, another gas supplier company, which allowed Lukoil to expand into new markets and make possible fo rays into other parts of Europe (Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD 2012, 4038-4045). Unfortunately, the company’s current policy comes at the cost of neglecting the â€Å"people† aspect of the Radar methodology wherein they focus more on developing the proper policies to expand and enrich the company while they ignore the needs of distributors on the local level. This is evidenced by the fact that on September 2012, various Lukoil gas stations openly protested the actions of the company, which sold gasoline to these stations at higher prices as compared to other local competitors. The end result was that these gas stations were unable to directly compete against other well established brand and, as such, shows a considerable disparity in communication between the company’s management team and individual local distributors. Where Are They Heading? One of the inherent problems that the natural gas industry, as well as Lukoil, currently faces at the present is the fact th at gas prices have gone as low as $2 per 1,000 cubic feet. This results in even lower profit margins as shown earlier where Lukoil annual revenue was nearly halved. In situations where the price of a product continues to go down as a direct result of an oversupply of that particular product within the market there is a certain threshold wherein a company breaks even and when it spends more selling and distributing a product than it does actually making it (Ciopi 2010, 103-110). In the case of Lukoil and the natural gas industry within the Russia and Eastern Europe as a whole, they are barely breaking even as is. With the demand for gas remaining steady and the fact that it could potentially go down as a direct result of milder winters, this in effect could result in gas prices getting even lower, which would devastate the entire natural gas industry (Ciopi 2010, 103-110). This assumption still does not take into consideration the full extent of the vast amount of stored natural gas that several natural gas companies have yet to fully disclose, which many experts believe consists of several billion cubic feet of natural gas. Taking such factors into consideration, it can be stated that the future profit margins for Lukoil look quite grim, especially when taking into consideration the weather patterns and the excess amount of supply, which are the company has yet to find an effective solution for. Areas for Improvement The main areas for improvement that Lukoil should focus on involves developing the â€Å"people† aspect of the EFQM model. An examination of the company reveals that its policies lack sufficient corporate social responsibility especially when taking into consideration the various environmentally damaging practices the company has enacted as well as its lack of sufficient care for local distributors as evidenced by their ire towards the company for the less than competitive prices they have to deal with when it comes to selling oil from Luko il at their gas stations. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the fact that there is an insufficient amount of internal communication between management and consumers which resulted in the sheer reckless abandon that characterized the sheer amount of excess gas that was extracted despite the fact that conditions within the gas market dictated a downward shift in consumer demand (Firlej 2009, 1-6). This is indicative of a serious communication flaw that exists not only within the company’s management practices but also with aspects related to external reviews of the company’s actions in order to determine whether they are complying with current market forces. The reasons that have been stated so far as well as the time of events that has been elaborated on, can be considered as the primary reasons why Lukoil was only able to become a finalist for the RADAR Award rather than a winner. While it may be true that the company complied with most of the a spects dictated by the model, the literature examined states that this was meant as a means of boosting operational performance and not necessarily in order to comply with the broader goals of RADAR. This is evidenced by what was mentioned earlier regarding the distinct lack of focus the company has had on its local distributors. Plans for the Future The current plan of Lukoil to address the problems that have been identified is to create a proper information system that in effect allows internal and external parties (i.e., company managers and local distributors) to effectively communicate within the company’s own internal network so as to enable both parties to better understand each other and communicate their ideas and needs (Firlej 2009, 1-6). It should also be noted that a proper internal information system should help the company control its extraction and processing plants in order to better match supply with demand. By doing so this will help to reduce the overall am ount of money the company losses by extracting more than what is actually needed. Information systems can be described as the interface between people, organizations and technology enabling the business to accomplish a specific task or action. One example of an information system is the various applications and websites utilized by Amazon in selling products, accepting client payments through credit card processing applications, contacting their warehouses and shipping bought products to the correct addresses indicated by their consumers. While this is only one example of the plethora of information systems out there what must be understood is that information systems act as methods of integration for a company helping to streamline specific processes so that they can be controlled, influenced and improved when necessary (Firlej 2009, 1-6). Developing proper information systems is an essential aspect for a company for without it a company will be unable to properly deal with the buy ing, selling and the utilization of resources across various locations in the country. Due to the varied and often complicated nature of company operations it becomes a necessity to streamline and integrate product delivery processes, methods of operation, customer service and various other operational capacities. A company cannot just simply develop and market a product without taking into consideration how best to allocate specific resources in determining where a product needs to go, which branch needs it most, how will product returns be processed and how HR services will deal with salaries for the myriad employees within a company. A company requires an efficient and up-to-date information system in order to integrate the factors mentioned into an efficient and effective operational strategy so as to better serve its clients and reduce the inherent costs of operation. Organizations need to understand how to properly allocate resources to specific international locations, how su ppliers can be contacted, what are the limits of production on a daily basis and how will each branch location contact each other. In other words information systems can be classified as solutions to identified problems or necessary methods of integration. What must be understood is that while managers and CEOs are great at coming up with specific solutions to problems they are lost when it comes to implementing these particular solutions when they require computer programming as one of the factors behind the implementation. Information systems and information system specialists bridge this gap by being able to integrate the ideas of managers and CEOs into viable technological applications that can be implemented on a company-wide basis. For example, if a company is currently having problems with its archaic method of form based ordering in order to get products from the warehouse to consumers a manager or CEO would think to implement a faster and better means of getting orders to w arehouses without having to rely on someone physically going there and handing them the orders. Thoughts Overall, when examining what Lukoil has done so far, it can be seen that its strategy is mostly that of EFQM than that of Kotter. The only problem is that they neglected to focus on the â€Å"people† aspect of the EFQM model and instead chose to pursue a path that emphasized on expansion and prolific distribution networks without taking heed of external measures of control on the company. This, as a result, has created numerous problems for the company that could have been avoided in the first place. As such, it can be stated that while the journey of Lukoil has been a fruitful one from a financial perspective, based on the EFQM model it can be stated that it is severely lacking in some aspects of the model and, as such, this is the primary reason why the company was considered as merely being a finalist rather than being given the RADAR Award. List Ciopi, M 2010, ‘L UKOIL’s Market Strategy in Central and Eastern Europe’, Petroleum – Gas University Of Ploiesti Bulletin, Economic Sciences Series, pp. 103-110, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost. ‘DATAMONITOR: OAO Lukoil’ 2011, OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis, pp. 1-9, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost. Firlej, K 2009, ‘Lukoil’s Global Energy Reach: is the Russian Oil Giant a Solid Investment?’, Journal Of Case Research In Business Economics, vol.1, pp. 1-6, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost. ‘Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD’ 2012, Seenews Research Profiles (Company Profiles), pp. 4038-4045, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost. ‘OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis’ 2012, OAO Lukoil SWOT Analysis, pp. 1-10, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost. This report on Lukoil Company Analysis was written and submitted by user Sons of the Tiger to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

A Practical Proposal Addressing a Local Problem

A Practical Proposal Addressing a Local Problem The following is a paper on a practical proposal addressing a local problem. This paper is a summary of my research on the employees’ rights violation at the giant Wal-Mart retail stores.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Practical Proposal Addressing a Local Problem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The paper has information on how the rights of the employees have been violated (low salary, poor working conditions, employee discrimination and inadequate health care). Due to the employees’ violation at Wal-Mart, the information in the paper provides guidance on how workers can go about resolving their issue (by forming or joining trade unions). It goes in depth to explain how these unions work and finally gives a justification on the whole issue. Wal-Mart is the largest retail store in America and the world. The retail store is still spreading its dominance worldwide, starting in Asia where it has its st ores in over ten countries, Europe and South America. The giant retail store is still planning to expand its business dealings on an even wider scope in the near future. The giant store possesses incentives that are geared towards profit making, due to the recent recession though, the incentives tend to hurt its workers. With Wal-Mart’s effort to make a way into hypermarket cultures all over the world, lots of severe setbacks have come into play. What is more, low-wages, low benefits, employment discrimination, poor healthcare, anti-union policies, and bad working conditions have made Wal-Mart an evil business in the eyes of their employees. This paper will therefore concentrate on Wal-Mart’s employee violations, propose a solution to this and finally find a justification on the whole issue. â€Å"With about two million employees worldwide, Wal-Mart has faced a torrent of lawsuits and issues with regards to its workforce. These issues involve low wages, poor working c onditions, inadequate health care, employee discrimination, as well as issues involving the companys strong anti-union-policies† (Keil Lee 336).Advertising Looking for essay on labor law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Criticism has pointed out to Wal-Marts soaring turnover rates as proof to a discontented labor force, even if other aspects may possibly be involved. A study has shown that, roughly seventy five percent of its workers leave inside one year with the firm. Wal-Mart’s full-time hourly associates receive, a standard, 10.11 dollars every hour; with 34 hours in a week, a worker gets 17,874 dollars in a year which is 20% lesser than an average retail employee. The firm is also accused of poor employee working conditions. This is evidenced by lawsuits against the firm asserting that workers are sometimes forced to work off the clock (where overtime pay is refuted), are denied lunch breaks or eve n stopped from taking rests. The best solution on the problems affecting Wal-Mart employees lies in the forming and joining of labor unions that will advocate for the workers’ rights. Labor unions and particularly in the United States are lawfully distinguished as representatives of employees and workers in various industries. â€Å"Activities by labor unions in the United States today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members if by any chance the management attempts to violate contract provisions† (Zieger Gall 548). In this case therefore, forming and joining labor unions is the way forward as they will advocate policy implementation and legislations on behalf of the employees, despite the fact that wall mart has strong anti-union policies. With the union again, the workers will notably gain some equity and bargaining power, this comes about when violations against the workers have been experienced (Zieger Gall 548).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Practical Proposal Addressing a Local Problem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The union makes sure that the law is followed and that a contract term drafted by a single party, is intrinsically biased (the union makes sure the employees and the management are the stakeholders in contract drafting), â€Å"as a result the union brings the management and the workers as close as to equal as possible providing a legal counter weight to the management† (Zieger Gall 548). The employees are also responsible in electing their own representatives in the union who will air their grievances to the union in cases of employee violations, in order for the union to take corrective measures. As a justification for what the workers need to do, there is a tight regulation in the labor union on private-sector union membership by the NLRA (National Labo r Relations Act). This law is run by the National Labor Relations Board, a self-governing national organization, this union and others are controlled partially by federal government and partially by government laws. General they have displayed vigorous growth for pay, and workers conditions are put through negotiations with selected local and government officers. When joining a labor union, employees must either be granted voluntary acknowledgment from the employer or acquire majority employees in the bargaining-unit vote to be represented in a union; in both cases, the federal government is to endorse the union (Zieger Gall 548). â€Å"Once the union has won the support of a majority in the bargaining unit and is certified in a workplace, it has the sole authority to negotiate the conditions of employment;† (Zieger Gall 548) as shown by Zeiger gall (548) again, the management and the union together draft the stipulations and conditions of service in lawfully binding contr acts.Advertising Looking for essay on labor law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More When violations do occur in the workplace, majority contracts bring in other parties to take care of their differences, via a complaint procedure to see if the problem can be jointly resolved. â€Å"If the union and the employer still cannot settle the matter, either party can choose to send the dispute to arbitration, where the case is argued before a neutral third party† (Zieger Gall 548) A number of U.S. economists are trying to analyze whether Wal-Mart has a positive or negative impact particularly on the American economy. The major irony behind this is that the analysis is sponsored by Wal-Mart itself. In attempting to mend its reputation and reach out to critics Wal-Mart conducts gatherings and conferences in Washington D.C., despite this, Wal-Mart is evidently dragging down American living standards when they violate their employees’ rights. They do this when they pay poverty level wages and other benefits. Conversely, they argue that they have the lowest prici ng which is beneficial to consumers, particularly the poor while keeping the overall inflation checked. To alleviate this it is necessary that its workers form or join labor unions. There many advantages in these unions, some of these are better wages and benefits for its members, improved work conditions together with social networks providing financial, emotional and legislative hold up. The actual gain from a union though is the provision of another stronger voice in bargaining during contract formation. Keil, Stanley. Spector, Lee. The Impact of Wal-Mart on Income and  Unemployment Differentials in Alabama. Review of Regional Studies; Winter, 35 (3), 336-355. 2005. Print. Zieger, Robert, Gilbert, Gall. American Workers, American Unions: The  Twentieth Century. Maryland. John Hopkins University Press. 2002. Print.

The Making of an Unequal Society

The Making of an Unequal Society Joseph Stiglitz believed that inequality in America was the result of a conspiracy between the rich and powerful. He also added that the U.S. government assisted them. He placed blame on their shoulders and he was angry because of his convictions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Making of an Unequal Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Stiglitz acknowledged that there are other forces at work but conceded that the major reason for the inequality is due to the actions of the wealthy, the corrupt and the opportunists. Stiglitz labeled the ability of the rich and powerful to steal from the weak as the art of rent seeking. Stiglitz observation must be considered in order to build an egalitarian society. Stiglitz traced the root-cause of inequality and said that it can be traced back to the acquisition of military power in ancient times. He said that the rich and powerful seized power in order to extract resources from the people that they have dominated. An overview of feudal systems and empires can easily confirm this assertion. Kings, landlords, warlords, emperors and pharaohs demonstrated the immutable fact that those who had the military and economic power to subdue people can force others to pay tribute. They also earned the capability to allocate resources in their favor. The author said that the ultimate goal of corrupt leaders and businessman is not to create wealth but to transfer wealth. He added that the rich and powerful had perfected various schemes that compeled others to pay tribute even if they did not work for it. The author said that this phenomenon is called rent seeking. Stiglitz cited examples such as: 1) hidden and open transfers and subsidies from government; 2) laws that make the marketplace less competitive; 3) lax enforcement of existing competition laws; and 4) statutes that allow corporations to take advantage of others or pass costs on to the rest of society (St iglitz, p.39). Stiglitz condemned rent seeking and used strong terms to denounce the evil created by corrupt members of society and he wrote:Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To put it baldly, there are two ways to become wealthy: to create wealth or take wealth away from others. The former adds to society. The latter typically subtracts from it, for in the process of taking it away, wealth gets destroyed (Stiglitz, p.32). One can just imagine the wasted opportunities when wealth was destroyed through corruption. At the same time one can just imagine the ripple effect of a single act of benevolence. A businessman that created a high-quality product and sold it at the right price contributed in the creation of a better society. But a greedy businessman with inferior products and overpriced goods sold will create inefficiency in society. Stiglitz also condemned predat ory lending practices and expressed his displeasure when he stated that the government’s inability to curb credit card woes was an outrageous form of social injustice. He added that the government must intervene and that policymakers should establish rules and regulations that will protect the poor from unscrupulous businessmen. Stiglitz argued that the solution to inequality is effective income distribution. He said that it is the byproduct of both political and economic processes. Therefore, the government must exert political will in order to shape and control the economic process so that it does not only favor the powerful and the rich. For example, a company’s failure can be traced to the hefty bonuses given to the CEO. The outrageous sums of money given to corporate heads led to the downfall of certain companies because the CEOs were forced to manipulate financial data in order to show that the company is profitable and therefore strengthen their hold on their po sition of authority as well as their large pay bonuses. The government can end this problem by enforcing laws against different forms of fraudulent business practices. Aside from creating effective laws and enforcing them, there is another way that the government can help in the process of income distribution and this is through a more practical and effective method of raising revenue through taxes. The problem of taxation becomes evident when it comes to the amount of money collected through the extraction of natural resources. Stiglitz said that most of the time, the government fails to collect the correct amount that has to be paid after mining firms had extracted minerals from government lands. Stiglitz therefore concluded that in effect this is comparable to giving money away to the rich and powerful.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Making of an Unequal Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More If the govern ment develops a better system to ensure effectvie collection of taxes and fees, then, there are more funds that can be used to help poor families. Furthermore, there will be more funds that can be used to create opportunities for those who wanted to break the power of poverty over their lives. If Stiglitz can prove his claim that the government failed to collect the correct amount of taxes from mining firms and other companies, then, there are hundreds of millions of dollars that remained in the hands of the rich and powerful. The same resources should have been re-distributed in favor of the less fortunate. One can just imagine the impact of an additional $1 billion in taxes that can expand the scope of public service. Consider for instance the impact of an additional $2 billion injected into the public school system. Consider the impact if the government has enough money to finance the education of 1,000 college students. Conclusion Stiglitz was correct when he said that rent seek ing could destroy an economy. The financial crisis of 2008 was a powerful reminder of what can happen if power is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Stiglitz pointed out that since the beginning of time the rich and powerful will do everything to maintain the status quo. Stiglitz also highlighted an important fact and he said that rent seeking required a sophisticated and concerted effort. It is difficult to dismantle the apparatus that created rent seeking. It is difficult to eradicate rent seeking because one can only dismantle the said apparatus with the help of the government. Rent seeking can be destroyed through the ratification of particular laws that will create checks and balances in the system. The government plays a vital role in the eradication of rent seeking because it will require political will to go after white-collar crimes. However, the regulatory agencies that were established to monitor industries and enforce laws are manned by people from the private se ctor. For example the energy regulatory agency is under the supervision of people that used to work in oil companies. Stiglitz said that these people who were appointed to a government post will never do anything to jeopardize their standing in the said industry. They knew that their present job in the government will not last long. In some cases their position is dependent on the next presidential election. Therefore, they will do everything in their power to appease the CEOs so that they will be assured of a comfortable and profitable job when they go back to the private sector.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Stiglitz, Joseph. The Price of Inequality.New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 334

Assignment Example More importantly, it provokes them to stop acting like victims and begin fighting like heroes. The sonnet form serves as a valid tool for discussing social injustice and describing the urgency of social action. Second, sonnets have a feature called a turn where the poem’s theme or tone changes abruptly. English sonnets frequently turn at line 13, but McKay turns already at line 9: â€Å"O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!† By discarding the symmetrical form of the sonnet, it follows the chaos of an actual battle. It also suggests the need to stop waiting and to start acting on social injustice now. Third, the alternate rhyme scheme supports the purpose of the poem as rhetoric for an active participation towards social justice. The rhyming of â€Å"hogs† (McKay 1) to â€Å"dogs† (McKay 3), for instance, illustrates that the oppressors are inhumane because of their animalistic violence. In addition, rhyming â€Å"inglorious spot† (McKay 2) with â€Å"accursed lot† (McKay 4) increases the intensity of the marginalized conditions of the speaker’s population. The rhyme scheme also enhances the effectiveness of the poem as rhetoric against long-standing oppression and as a strong call for timely social

Personal Reflection about My Learning Profile Essay - 1

Personal Reflection about My Learning Profile - Essay Example Mathematics, as they say, has always been a sore point in my life. If I remember correctly, as a little child I cried a river of tears more than I care to count, especially since I used to experience problems in counting and counting being part of mathematics made it even harder. The moment anyone, be it the teacher or a student, begins to spout numbers at me then it was rapidly becoming my habit to shut down. I used to experience a difficult time in completing basic addition and subtraction sums as my perception were that math was difficult. As my memory’s ability to store information was also not that good, I used to count my fingers and toes to get the answers to the simplest of the arithmetic questions posed at me and it was becoming embarrassing and tedious. Moreover, this was further worsened by the fact that I did not train as I was expected to both inside and outside my math classroom mainly because I hated the subject with a zeal. When my parents realized this, there was nothing they could do to make me do better at math rather they decided to push me to learn multiplication and division by drilling me over and over again. As a freshman in Binghamton University, my earlier experiences have made the understanding and application of threshold concept a bit easy. To start with is my newly developed interest in mathematics which came to light and boomed exponentially during my junior high school immediately after taking the Calculus AB class. For example, my teacher Luba Goldenberg taught us to visualize instead of memorizing during the first day of the class. This proved to be my eye-opener. Later on, she said that she would like to give us the trig quiz which asked about the answer to Sin 11Ï€ over 6. She also mentioned to us to try to answer each question in three seconds.  Ã‚  

Traditions of Western Religion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Traditions of Western Religion - Research Paper Example All the world’s major religions contain sects within it; some comingle with ease while others seem to share only mistrust and disdain. Much as Catholics and Protestants fought bloody battles for centuries, Sunni and Shiite Muslims are fighting territorial and political battles throughout the Middle East. This discussion will first address the similar history of all Muslims then the circumstances of the split. It will concentrate on Sunni, Shia, the Druze, a Shiite off-shoot belief and Wahhabism, a derivative of Sunni. The final section explores the contemporary conflicts of Islam’s two main sects. The central belief of all Muslims is that the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632 AD, was Allah’s (Arabic for God) messenger. His revelations are recorded in the Qur’an and are followed by Muslims of all descriptions who also look to sayings of Muhammad, hadith, for inspiration and guidance. The concepts of justice, goodness and piety are essential to Islamic practices and belief system. Furthermore, all Muslims are directed to live their lives according to the five pillars of Islam: â€Å"(1) shahada—recital of the creed â€Å"There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet†; (2) salat—five obligatory prayers in a day; (3) zakat—giving alms to the poor; (4) sawm—fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan; and (5) hajj—making a pilgrimage to Mecca once during a lifetime if one is physically and financially able.† (Blanchard, 2009) The chief role of Muslim religious leaders is to interpret shari’a, or Islamic law. There are no strict codes or wording of laws such as westerners are accustomed. Rather, for both Shiite and Sunni Islam, shari’a allows for wider legal interpretations to fit the circumstance and greater flexibility for sentencing. The Sunni/Shiite split occurred near the begin nings of the Islamic religion. The main disagreement concerns the Prophet Muhammad’s successor and the type of leadership that would guide Muslim society. The long-standing and significant dispute centers on whether the leader(s) should be a direct descendant of the Prophet or could be a qualified, virtuous and devout person who would adhere to the customs of Islam. This issue was initially decided when Abu Bakr, a friend of the Prophet, was selected by community leaders to be the successor, or Caliph. While most Muslims accepted Bakr, a minority supported Ali ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet’s and his son-in-law. Bakr was married to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. The term Shi’at Ali translates to â€Å"Ali’s helper.† Another important distinction that relates to modern times is the amount of reverence paid to the respective leaders of the two Islamic sects. Sunni Muslims give exalted status only to the prophets of the Quran and not to present day leaders. Shiites bestow imams with this lofty status. The Sunnis religious hierarchy is not adorned as elaborately, as highly esteemed and is not as politically powerful as the Shiite leadership. Because of this distinction, Sunnis tend to be more accommodating in permitting lay people to serve as spiritual leaders. Sunni religious leaders, as opposed to Shiites, have historically been subject to control by the state. Shiite leaders have enjoyed greater autonomy. (Blanchard, 2009) The Druze is a fairly populous yet little known yet sect of Islam because they want it that way. This mysterious group, numbering nearly one million in Syria alone, has endeavored for many centuries to shield their cultural lives from outsiders and keep their religious views secret. Druze prefers to live in isolation. They are