Free trade and mercantilist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Free trade and mercantilist - Essay Example So, while free trade is beneficent in its purest form, modern policymakers have hijacked the concept to serve the interests of select private businesses at the cost of smaller business enterprises and the majority of the electorate. (Dunkley, 2004, p.53) The rest of this essay will look into how free trade, despite strong arguments in its favor, has not always been adopted in economic policy making. It was by the start of 1970s that currents of change were detected in the global economic order, with nationalism and protectionism being replaced by neo-liberalism and free flow of capital. But there were also concerns that this new economic paradigm can lead to excesses and decadence. For example, the unsavory side-effects of free trade in this period includes â€Å"the appearance of a nearly feral form of entrepreneurship in which black marketers, drug barons, arms merchants, rackets bosses, Mafiosi, and other profiteers were emerging as the economic and political leaders of the social transformations underway in their respective societies.† (Buchanan, 2000, p.1) These developments acted as a disincentive for a few governments to draw up free trade policies. Another reason why free trade practices are not uniformly accepted is due to the effect it has on workers and consumers. Some believe that under this system, workers become helpless pawns of their capitalist masters, compelled to sell their labor power at sub-optimal costs. The only theoretical alternative they have to evading this exploitation is to become destitute, which is a far greater misery. Multi-national corporations (MNCs), which are the facade of free trade, are perceived as coercing citizens to unwillingly participate in the capitalist market system, while also leaving consumers with no choice but to buy their products. (List, 1997, p.51) In the book titled Telling the Truth about History, author Joyce Appleby traces how MNCs came to be

Freedom of Religion in the Bill of Rights Research Paper

Freedom of Religion in the Bill of Rights - Research Paper Example Moreover, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prevents the government from making laws that establish any religion as the state religion. This clause ensures the secular nature of the US Constitution. The First Amendment to the US Constitution deals with religious freedom. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances...Amendment 1 (The United States Constitution, 2009). The First Amendment also provides the right of Freedom of expression. These rights cannot be interfered with by the government. Freedom of expression includes the rights of Freedom of speech, press, and assembly. It also includes the freedom to petition the government for a redressal of a grievance. The Supreme Court and the lower courts have interpreted the definition of the freedoms provided by the First Amendment to the Constitution, through their case law. These freedoms and rights apply to all the people who live in the US, and not just its citizens (Citizen Rights). The Establishment Clause precludes the government from enacting legislation that accords any religion the status of the state religion. It also prohibits the government from treating any religion with greater preference than the other religions. This clause has been interpreted by the courts to engender separation of Church and State. The Free Exercise Clause restricts the government from interfering with any individual’s religious practices. All the same, civil and federal laws are permitted to restrict religious acts and ceremonies, wherever warranted (Citizen Rights).

Touch of Evil Essay Example for Free

Touch of Evil Essay Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) attempted to lift the stylish low-budget crime drama form with quality directing, writing, acting, cinematography, soundtrack, and locations, while maintaining the authentic film-noir motif. One of the key elements of film-noir was steamy sexuality, and Touch of Evil exploited this genre feature enthusiastically with lurid and seductive characterizations and scenes of tawdry sexual tension. Touch of Evil takes place in a border town between the USA and Mexico, representing the thin line separating two different cultures and realities. The lead character finds himself in a dilemma when a murder takes just as he and his bride cross the border. He struggles to deal with local officials without ruining his honeymoon, but events conspire against him. The local Sheriff is dishonest, his wife is kidnapped by his enemies, and his murder investigation takes him into an underworld of human misery, corruption, and sleaze. In 1958, interracial relationships were socially unacceptable, perhaps even forbidden in certain sections of America. Hollywood generally avoided the subject until the controversial Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, Stanley Kramer), almost a decade later. So when Touch of Evil’s opening scene presents a Hispanic man and a Caucasian women, a newly wed couple, it purposely introduces an element designed to produce audience anxiety. When Orson Welles’ character, Sheriff Quinlan, realizes that the characters portrayed by Charleton Heston as Miguel Vargas, a virile Mexican, and Janet Leigh as Suszie, a sexy American, are a honeymooning husband and wife, he snidely comments, â€Å"She dont look Mexican†¦.† Earlier, the Mexican border guards addressed the same issue with similar disdain. These scenes establish interraciality as a socially unaccepted custom in the film’s universe and focuses the audience’s attention and expectation of danger on the issue. The plot soon fulfills the expectation. Vargas, an honest and incorruptible police official, tries to help the local police solve a murder that he and Suzie witnessed as they crossed the border into Mexico in the open scene. In one scene of high sexual tension – and fantasy – Suzie, in seductive lingerie, in the privacy of her hotel room, has phone sex with her husband who has called her from a pay phone. A blind man, adding a titillating voyeurism to the scene overhears the conversation. Matters are complicated when Suzie is kidnapped by criminals with a grudge against Vargas, and Vargas’ dedication to his prosecurial duty and concern for his wife leave him with a dilemma of two separate crises both demanding him to take action. The stakes rise when Vargas becomes convinced that the local sheriff (Welles’ Quinlan) is corrupt and is framing an innocent man. Vargas tries several times to rescue Suzie, which fail and serve to incite the kidnappers to threaten Suzie with sexual degradation, and ultimately places her in even greater danger of being murdered. The result of these events on top of the smoldering relationship between the main characters is a story that produces a story environment of smoldering sexuality that produces scenes rife with sexual anxiety. Sources consulted: â€Å"Touch of Evil† http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311 retreived Oct. 16, 2007 Ebert, Roger. Review of â€Å"Touch of Evil† September 13, 1998 http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980913/REVIEWS08/401010367/1023

What Is Whistle Blowing Philosophy Essay

What Is Whistle Blowing Philosophy Essay Whistle-blowing is a disclosure by organization members of illegal, immoral or unethical practices under the control of their employer, to persons or organizations that may affect action. Immoral practices can be violation of law, violation of public interest such as fraud, violation of health/safety, corruption etc. the organizations that may affect this action can be media, public interest groups, enforcement agencies etc. TYPES OF WHISTLEBLOWING: Internal whistle-blowing: To report misconduct to a fellow employee or senior management within the company. External whistle-blowing: Report misconduct to outside entities or general public. ETHICAL ISSUES RELATED TO WHISTLE-BLOWING: The generally prevailing view of the whistleblower within business on the part of the management and colleagues is that this person is the traitor to the organization. (Richard DeGeorge) Employees have both moral and legal obligations to be loyal to their employees. (Beauchamp and Browie) Whistle-blowing is a conflicting matter in terms of employee loyalty. On one hand it may be seen as loyal and on another, disloyal. It is assumed that employees have a vow to protect the dealings of the organization. External whistle-blowing is wrong because an employee has a contractual duty to be loyal to corporation he is working in. Whereas Ronald Duska says: One does not have an obligation of loyalty to a company, even a prima facie one, because companies are not the kind of things that are properly objects of loyalty. This means it is impossible to associate loyalty with a company because it is an abstract entity. Because company does not have a mind of its own, instead, it is made up of people working towards the same goal. A whistle-blower is not disloyal in reality. We can make an argument that a whistle-blower shows greater loyalty as compared to the person who ignores any malpractices in the organization. Whistle-blowing is a brave act of conscience and a person who blows the whistle may carry heavy personal costs. One should do what is right, lost income can be replaced but lost self-esteem is difficult to retrieve. IS THERE A RIGHT TO BLOW THE WHISTLE? Nobody can answer whether blowing whistle is good or bad because the problem is that it has effects, good as well as bad. Sometimes whistle-blowing causes more problem than good. If there is an issue that has to be addressed to the top authorities then it should be channeled through right authorities. If a whistle-blower starts talking to his co-workers about some malpractices, the office environment gets effected. And also the claims of whistle-blower are not always genuine. As a result other employees get dragged into it unnecessarily and company gets involved in lawsuits. By the time the company proves its innocence it has already suffered a loss of thousands of dollars. Whistle-blower should approach the internal authority prior to externally blowing the whistle. Because sometimes the top management is not aware of the problem and employees make the situation worse by blowing the whistle. An employee has an ethical obligation to blow the whistle. It is beneficial for him to act ethically and show loyalty by not only obeying the rules and regulations of the company but also reporting genuine wrongdoings that may affect the public at large. ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON WHISTLE-BLOWING: DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS: For example, a company is making unsafe consumer products in order to save some money. An employee working in that organization sees this as immoral and reports the media about it. A whistle-blower would do this according to Kants duty-based ethics. Moral obligations have nothing to do with consequences. RIGHTS THEORY: Whistle-blowing is not morally required according to rights theory. Everyone has a welfare right to make income and support themselves and their family, so they cannot do this without a job. By blowing the whistle he/she may get fired so it is better to ignore any malpractices in the organization. UTILITARIANISM: Utilitarianism is based on principle to predict the consequences of an action. Utilitarianism is more clearly understood by cost-benefit analysis. Whistle-blowing has many moral venues. On one side the welfare of employees must be considered and on the other side the consumer. Utilitarian simplify whistleblowing by pleasure versus pain issue. If whistle-blowing will generate less pain than pleasure then it is a good act. If not, then it is wrong and unethical THE FORD PINTO CASE: In the Ford Pinto case it is a well-known fact that before the production of this car Ford engineers were aware of Pintos potential for catastrophe. They had a crash test at a top secret site and every test at 25mph resulted in ruptured gas tank of the car. Ford employees under the oath denied this fact and this car flooded the market for about eight years. An internal cost-benefit analysis illustrated that it was not profitable for the company to make changes sooner. Thus, they placed monetary worth on human life. Total benefit was $49.5 million and total cost was $137 million. Therefore, none of the employees blew the whistle because they had a fear of being fired from the job. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE: Prophet Mohammad PBUH said: Discussions are confidential (not subject to disclosure) except in three places: shedding unlawful blood, unlawful cohabitation and unlawful accumulation of wealth. (Abu Dawud) Prophet of Allah (P.B.U.H.) said: He who saw Munkar (wrongdoing) amongst you should prevent it with his hand, if unable to, then with his mouth (i.e. whistle blowing), if unable to, then (dislike it) in his heart and that is the least of faith. (Abu said al khudri) These sayings of Prophet Muhammad proved that whistle-blowing is also encouraged by Islam. Richard De Georges Theory of Whistleblowing The philosopher Richard DeGeorge proposed that external whistleblowing is morally permissible when three conditions are fulfilled. Whistleblowing is termed as acceptable by DeGeorge when following three conditions are met: If any product or policy cause serious harm for the general public. If an employee realizes an intense danger to the consumer of a product he or she should report it to his supervisor. Therefore manager responsible for the manufacturing of the product should be aware of its threat. If an employees immediate supervisor does not take the moral concern regarding the product into account, thus the internal chain of command has been exhausted. The firstcriteria explain the intensity of issue. The explanation of harm can be assessed in terms of physical, emotional or financial harm. The second and third criteria can be interpreted that employee tried hi level best to address via internal means. DeGeorge holds that whistleblowing becomes morally required when in addition to the previous three conditions the following two conditions are met: There is sufficient accessible documented evidence available to convince an impartial individual. The employee must have valid and strong reason that by going public, necessary changes will be brought. Moreover, benefits of whistleblowing must be worth the risks one takes and the dangers to which one is encountered. WORLDCOMS WHISTLEBLOWER Cynthia Cooper Case: In March 2002, when WorldCom was struggling tocoordinate and integrate the complex mess created by the 65 companies it had acquired, World-Coms highly respected chief financial officer,Scott Sullivan, moved $400 million from a reserve account and recorded it as income in the companys public financial reports. Alerted to this, CynthiaCooper, the perfectionist head of WorldComs internal audit department, began to secretly examinethe companys books. She  soon discovered that Scott Sullivan and David Myers, for years had publicly reported billionsof dollars as capital expenditures when they were in real the operating costs. Uncollectible receivables were ignored, and reported as  income what were reallyreserve funds, and did all this with the help of ArthurAndersen, the companys auditor and accounting firm. Though angrily threatened by Sullivan, andrisking her job and career, on June 20, 2002, Cynthia Cooper courageously met with the auditcommittee of WorldComs board of directors and   toldthem what had been going on. On June 25, World-Coms directors announced the company had  inflatedits profits by over $3.8 billion-an amount later  roseto $9 billion-is the greatest accounting fraud in history. Sullivan and Myers were arrested; WorldComs shareholders lost $3 billion; 17,000 WorldCom workers lost their jobs.It was the biggest fraud in U.S. corporate history. WorldCom declared bankruptcy in July 2002, after its stocks value had declined by $180 billion and its founder; Bernard Ebbers had left the company. CynthiaCooper was later recognized as one of the three Persons of the Year by Time Magazine. Analysis Based on Kantian Ethics Philosopher Immanuel Kant is renowned for his ethical theory which is categorized under Deontological ethics. According to his theory it can be assessed that it is the intention behind an action rather its consequences that make an action good. Deontological Moral system is based on the categorical imperative. According to Kant to act from a good will is to act from a duty. The act of Cynthia Coopers whistleblowing fits into this categorical imperative of duty to do the right thing. The sole motive of the action is report financial crime; there are no monetary gains or self-interested motives. A Kantian view justifies Cynthia Coopers whistleblowing as reporting financial crime is morallyright thing to do, thus moral obligation has nothing to do with consequences. Since Kant believed that every action has a maxim, we need to ask what would happen if the principle (maxim) of an action were a universal law (one that everyone acted on). Would a world where everyone acted on that principle be possible? If it can, then the decision to act would be morally permissible (Bowie, 1999). Therefore the proposed act of whistleblowing passes Kants test of universizability. If whistleblowing were a universal principle, all would benefit from the transparency and investor confidence would be maximized; therefore, according to Kant, the act of whistleblowing is morally permissible. Analysis based on Kohlbergs Moral theory of Development   Kohlbergs theory is useful because it helps us understand how our moral capacitiesdevelop and reveals how we may mature in our understanding of our own moralstandards. According to Kohlberg Cynthia reached the sixth stage of moral development: Universal Moral Principles Orientation. This is because at thisPost conventional stage, right  action  comes  to be defined  in terms  of moral  principles chosenbecause of their reasonableness, universality, and consistency. Cynthia believed that manipulation of financial accounts is a universal crime and therefore she reported the misconduct based on the moral principle orientation. Cynthia Cooper justified her choices on the basis of moral principles and obligations as during the interview with Times Magazine she said: There is a price to be paid. [But] it comes back to the values and ethics that you learnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..The fear of losing my job was secondary to the obligation I felt. WHISTLE BLOWING IN PAKISTAN Whistle blowing internal and external is usually not practical for employees in Pakistan because they dont posses the resources either within the firm or within the civil society. They lack strong moral beliefs, confidence, will power and commitments and are scared of the consequences. Today, media especially journalism is acting as a whistleblower to the public. The current political environment in Pakistan threatens whistle blowers in a corporation from upholding their voices against illegal practices of their organization. Employees who blow whistle are refrained from doing so and observe difficulties and barriers such as life threats, political insecurity, risk of career and family insecurity. In our country, unsafe medical practices and unethical behavior is at such a high level and widely spread that blowing a whistle to alarm the authority would be simply inaudible. Health care fraud is very common in Pakistan. False claims, patients required paying illegal fees, absence of staff and refusing to see patients in government hospitals and referring them to private clinics are violating ethical spheres. 95% of the population in Pakistan holds the view that our health sector is corrupt. The fear of been victimized, loosing the job and career, is the main concern very often trainee doctors keep quiet and do not raise their voice against their seniors. RICHARD BARLOWS CASE Richard Barlow  is an  American  intelligence analyst and a former senior member of the  Central Intelligence Agency. He lost his job and was charged of being disloyal to CIA. Barlow learned that the top US officials were allowing the sale of the F-16 fighters to Pakistan in 1989. It was against the 1985  Pressler amendment of the  Foreign Assistance Act  which prohibited the sale of any  material or armaments which might assist in the development or manufacturing of nuclear weapons. He also found that the officials were concealing this information from Congress since telling the truth would have legally obligated US government to restrain from giving military aid to Pakistan at the time when it was being provided, through Pakistan, to Afghanistan against Soviet Union. Barlow therefore blew a whistle without considering the consequences. As a result he was asked to prove himself before Congress and court. He was charged of being a traitor and an adulterer. He lost his job. It was life altering experience for him which damaged his marriage, career and left irreparable dents on his character. He is quoted as saying: They smeared my name in truly extraordinary ways that no one had ever seen before If he had been listened to, many people believe that our country would have never got its nuclear bomb. ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS KANTIAN ETHICS: Immanuel Kant is the founder of deontological ethics. He states that ethical behaviors are those which are duty oriented. A person must perform what is his duty, not whats good. The act of Richard Barlow is justified on Kantian grounds. Sacrifice of self interest for the greater interest of the society was the act performed by Barlow. LOYAL AGENT ARGUMENT: Loyal agent argument reduces an employee from being human to just being an organ of the organization. Loyalty does not imply that we have a duty to refrain from reporting the immoral actions of those to who we are loyal. An employer who is acting unethical is not acting in his own best interests and an employee is not acting disloyally in blowing the whistle. LEGAL PROTECTION TO WHISTLE BLOWERS One of the early laws that protected whistleblowers was the 1863 United States  False Claims Act  (revised in 1986), which tried to counter fraud by the US government during the  Civil War. Under the 1st and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, state and local government bureaucrats are prohibited from opposing whistleblowers. Boards like Civil Service Reform Act are created Whistle blowing has gone high tech; therefore steps are taken to ensure safety of them. There are different websites available which guide employees on ethical issues like national whistle blowing centre(NWC) Federal (equal employment opportunity) laws also have protection provisions for whistle blowers. If you observe a  prohibited discrimination  against employees you may report the concerned authorities. Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan has stated the unavailability of protection to whistle blowers and lack of transparency as the major causes of corruption in our state. Therefore, it has created an interface in the form of Freedom of Information Bill 2008. Summarizing: Whistleblowers not only provide the initial stimulus for improving organization efficiency and effectiveness, but also they are often the source of solutions to organization problems (Miceli et al., 1991). Whistle blower observes a dilemma between serving as a loyal agent and preventing social harm. This implies that he should reconcile his own interest with the general interest of the organization. Utilitarian considerations therefore cannot furnish a definitive guide in this context. Whistle blowing must be institutionalized. This means that there must be a set of procedures for employees to report the fraud internally before they raise the matter in the outside world

The Wave was a Good Idea :: Nazi Germany

When something like the Wave comes along, so promising and full of energy and optimism, people are bound to be caught up in it. The students at Gordon High got "swept up" in the ideals and promises of the Wave. No matter how poorly it may have turned out, though, the Wave did start as a good idea. It attempted to make all students equal, to eliminate competition and create a feeling of unity, and, most importantly, to teach the students in Mr. Ross class about Nazi Germany. The Wave eliminated cliques and accepted outcasts. It made students like Robert Billings accepted by their peers. No student was left out, and all of the original Wave members even sat together at lunch. Robert spoke up without being made fun of, and even Brad, a boy who used to torment him relentlessly, accepts him as an equal. No student is considered better or not as good as another student within the Wave. Perfect equality is established, although at the cost of individuality. As the Wave progressed, Mr. Ross noticed the students as a whole were doing better on tests and quizzes. It seemed there was no longer any competition for grades. Rivalry between two students and best friends, Laurie Saunders and Amy Smith, disappeared. Amy had always competed with Laurie for grades, friends, and boys. She loved the Wave because, as a member of it, she didn?t have to constantly compete anymore. Mr. Ross also encouraged the students not to work toward being the best, but to focus on the common goal of the class ? working together as one to achieve what they seek. By doing this, they utilized the section of the Wave motto ?Strength through Community?. Of course, the most important reason it was a good idea is that it taught the students exactly what it intended to ? about being swept up into a large group, about losing the ability to think for oneself, and about unquestioningly following a leader. Many students had thought that nothing like the Holocaust could ever happen again. Only when Mr. Ross snapped them out of their ?Wave? mentality did they realize it almost did. It taught the students to think for themselves and be responsible for their own actions. The excuse of ?just following orders?

Societys Influence On Morals Essay -- essays research papers fc

Society's Influence on Morals   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The atrocities of the Holocaust have prompted much inquiry by researchers to understand how humans can behave so cruelly toward their fellow man. Theories have been formed that cite the men of Battalion 101 as â€Å" exceptions† or men with â€Å"faulty personalities,† when, in fact, they were ordinary men. The people who attempted to perform a genocide were the same people as you and me with the only difference being the environment in which they worked. The behavior of the men in Battalion 101 was not abnormal human behavior, rather, their actions are testament to the premise that when humans are exposed to certain environmental and psychological conditions, extreme brutality is highly apt to occur.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The members of the Police Battalion 101 had the same ideas and influences as the rest of the German citizens. Because of the racist teachings produced by the German government, the entire German society was uniform under the belief that they were the master race. The German were taught that anyone different from their own kind (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) needed to be removed from their society in order for it to prosper. The Police Battalion men shared the same beliefs as everyone else, but they had to perform the dirty work of killing approximately 83,000 Jews. Christopher Browning states in his book, Ordinary Men, that, â€Å"...the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, like most of the German society, was immersed in a deluge of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda† (Browning 184). Unless placed in the Battalion men's situation, one can not fathom how a population of people can so evilly turn against another.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People in every culture are susceptible to the ideas and beliefs brought upon them by propaganda. Whenever an idea is accepted as the ‘norm', people will find a way to justify it and follow it despite the evil implications it might entail. Humans have faced these situations throughout the last two centuries numerous times. For example, the American slave trading was totally acceptable to the southerners because the blacks were perceived to be lesser human beings. The slave owners did not mind controlling and abusing a slave like it was an animal since in their mind the slave was comparable to an animal. This was true in Germany with the only diffe... ...g's book, Ervin Staub made the assertion that â€Å"'cruelty is social in its origin much more than it is characterological'...most people ‘ slip' into the roles society provides them...† (167). Evil ideas and beliefs are molded onto a person by their surroundings rather than inherent in their personalities. With such a strong influence on our behavior, propaganda can lead a society to think and belief the unimaginable. The men of Police Battalion 101 are a testament to the idea that people are capable of not only thinking the unimaginable, but they can act upon it. Works Cited Bortnick, Rachel Amado. â€Å"Dallas Honors a Righteous Nation.† Dallas Jewish Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nov. 1993. Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men. New York: Aaron Asher Books/HarperCollins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publishers, Inc., 1993. Fogelman, Eva. Conscience and Courage. New York: Anchor Books Doubleday,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1994. Jacobs, Mike. Speech to Class. Dallas, 31 Mar. 1997. Reich, Walter. â€Å"The Men Who Pulled the Triggers.† The New York Times 12 Apr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1992. Weapons of the Spirit. Writ./Dir. Pierre Sauvage. The Friends of Le Chambon. 1988. Societys Influence On Morals Essay -- essays research papers fc Society's Influence on Morals   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The atrocities of the Holocaust have prompted much inquiry by researchers to understand how humans can behave so cruelly toward their fellow man. Theories have been formed that cite the men of Battalion 101 as â€Å" exceptions† or men with â€Å"faulty personalities,† when, in fact, they were ordinary men. The people who attempted to perform a genocide were the same people as you and me with the only difference being the environment in which they worked. The behavior of the men in Battalion 101 was not abnormal human behavior, rather, their actions are testament to the premise that when humans are exposed to certain environmental and psychological conditions, extreme brutality is highly apt to occur.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The members of the Police Battalion 101 had the same ideas and influences as the rest of the German citizens. Because of the racist teachings produced by the German government, the entire German society was uniform under the belief that they were the master race. The German were taught that anyone different from their own kind (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) needed to be removed from their society in order for it to prosper. The Police Battalion men shared the same beliefs as everyone else, but they had to perform the dirty work of killing approximately 83,000 Jews. Christopher Browning states in his book, Ordinary Men, that, â€Å"...the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, like most of the German society, was immersed in a deluge of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda† (Browning 184). Unless placed in the Battalion men's situation, one can not fathom how a population of people can so evilly turn against another.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People in every culture are susceptible to the ideas and beliefs brought upon them by propaganda. Whenever an idea is accepted as the ‘norm', people will find a way to justify it and follow it despite the evil implications it might entail. Humans have faced these situations throughout the last two centuries numerous times. For example, the American slave trading was totally acceptable to the southerners because the blacks were perceived to be lesser human beings. The slave owners did not mind controlling and abusing a slave like it was an animal since in their mind the slave was comparable to an animal. This was true in Germany with the only diffe... ...g's book, Ervin Staub made the assertion that â€Å"'cruelty is social in its origin much more than it is characterological'...most people ‘ slip' into the roles society provides them...† (167). Evil ideas and beliefs are molded onto a person by their surroundings rather than inherent in their personalities. With such a strong influence on our behavior, propaganda can lead a society to think and belief the unimaginable. The men of Police Battalion 101 are a testament to the idea that people are capable of not only thinking the unimaginable, but they can act upon it. Works Cited Bortnick, Rachel Amado. â€Å"Dallas Honors a Righteous Nation.† Dallas Jewish Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nov. 1993. Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men. New York: Aaron Asher Books/HarperCollins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publishers, Inc., 1993. Fogelman, Eva. Conscience and Courage. New York: Anchor Books Doubleday,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1994. Jacobs, Mike. Speech to Class. Dallas, 31 Mar. 1997. Reich, Walter. â€Å"The Men Who Pulled the Triggers.† The New York Times 12 Apr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1992. Weapons of the Spirit. Writ./Dir. Pierre Sauvage. The Friends of Le Chambon. 1988.

Learning Styles Essay

Having studied a small number of learning styles I will evaluate my own personal learning style and how I can use this through the next three years of my life at Bucks New University. I will look at the most popular theories in use today and their value in today’s world. The theory of individual learning styles began in the 1970’s and developed thoroughly in the 1980’s becoming more and more popular in recent years. The use of MRI scan data was added to already developing theories to understand how the brain processed information. (Revell, P, May 05) A learning review carried out in 2004 by the ‘Learning and Skills Research Centre’ revealed that there are 71 established learning style theories, a number of these are very similar in style. I am going to focus on 3 widely used theories methods, David Kolb’s learning style model, Honey & Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire and Fleming’s VARK. (Image) This diagram shows the ‘cycle of learning’ created by Kolb. David Kolb, began developing his Learning Style model in 1971, he then published his learning style model in 1984. The model is made of 4 learning styles; experience, reflection, reflecting and planning. In his cycle of learning Kolb describes that we will experience something, reflect on what happened, think how we can change or what we can use again and then act upon this and do it again changing any mistakes we made first time round, therefore repeating the cycle. For example when learning to ride a bike you may fall off due to hitting a tree (the experience,) look at what why we hit the tree, not looking up? (reflect,) think about how we can change why we fell off, look forward as we are riding (plan) and then finally try again to ride looking forward. This cycle may repeat itself many times before we get right what we was trying to learn. Honey & Mumford’s questionnaire (IMAGE) In 1992 Peter Honey and Alan Mumford created a questionnaire for learners to identify their learning style. The questionnaire originally consisted of 80 questions but this has been shortened and made available with only 40 question’s. Honey and Mumford’s model is based heavily on the Kolb model but focuses in on the in-between stages of the cycle. They agree with Kolb that all stages are crucial to learning, they suggest that some people tend to be happier with one stage of the cycle over others. (Cameron, S 1995) Honey and Mumford determined four learning styles that people may prefer to use than trying to use the whole cycle of Kolb’s model. The four stages are, activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activists are very open minded, will try new things without much thought, are very sociable and probably prefer group work. However they are likely to get bored very quickly and find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. Activists will most likely be the planners within the marketing industry as they have lots of experiences and enjoy overcoming obstacles, they will most likely be watched closely by the manager due to their tendencies to jump in, act and think afterwards. Reflectors are much more passive and will think in much more depth before reaching any decision’s, they will tend to take more of a back seat role and observe others. A reflective member of staff would make be good in a manager role because they think with their heads, not their heart and would therefore make decisions that are more informative. Theorists enjoy approaching problems logically and having information to back up theories. Theorists are very good at analysing data and researching in depth. They can struggle to work with activists as they act first then think whereas theorists will think (a lot) before acting. Theorist would be best at doing marketing research and analysing the information as this something they excel at. Pragmatists like the freedom of creating something new, they don’t like being restricted to set ideas. They enjoy problem solving and are very practical but they do get bored very quickly. Pragmatists would be fantastic in a creative environment and therefore perfect for creating advertisements using their initiative. Flemings VARK VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinaesthetic. Fleming developed his theory based on previous VAK modes but added the read/write in 1987. ‘From what I read and observed, it seemed obvious that some students had a distinct preference for the written word whilst others preferred symbolic information’ (Fleming, N. 2006) Fleming’s questionnaire has 16 question, so that people take it more seriously and do not get bored while filling out the questionnaire. Visual learners prefer to look at images and the use of colour. When making notes a visual learner will use images, symbols and highlight key words with colour. When planning a piece of work visual learners may use mood boards and mind maps for them to get inspiration from before forming into words. Audio learners prefer to listen to lectures or having things explained to them, they enjoy group discussions and are very good at describing visual things in great detail. Audio learners can benefit from reading aloud their notes while recording themselves. When planning for a piece of work an audio learner may find it better to speak through their ideas with a friend. Read/write learners much prefer to write down notes and take information from text books, when breaking down statistical information they will describe any trends instead of drawing them. Read/write learners will excel at essay writing and when planning a piece of work they will write lists and notes. Kinaesthetic learners prefer to just try new things and touch things to help them learn. Field trips for the ideal for kinaesthetic learners as they can take in all the information around them, without getting bored. When completing a piece of work they will just use trial and error until they get it right. Without acknowledging your own style you may encourage your team to focus on issues from a certain perspective and miss the opportunities that result from different approaches. A team has a collective learning style all of its own. (Haygroup) My learning style After completing the 1982 version of the Honey and Mumford questionnaire I scored: Activist 6 Reflector16 Theorist15 Pragmatist 8 From these results I now understand that I prefer to step back and observe others, I require more time and information to make decisions. From previous experience I would say that I totally agree with this for example when making a decision about any expensive purchase I will always look at information about and research the best prices before making a decision. So I do regularly use the reflector and theorist styles. From completing the 13 question VARK questionnaire I have scored: Visual1 Audio0 Read/write4 Kinaesthetic 7 From these results I can see that I am kinaesthetic learner, this contradicts my findings from the Honey and Mumford questionnaire where I found id rather observe and take in information. Where as from this VARK questionnaire I have found that id rather use trial and error and learn using hands on methods. This contradictions surprise me as the styles are so different but I do understand that this is true to me, I do prefer to learn on my own and take in a lot of information before creating an essay but when it comes to learning how to use something new I prefer to just hold it and try it out. Conclusion From my research I have found that many of the learning styles are very similar but are constructed in their own way and helps the learner to establish their style in its individual way. Kolb’s learning theory would not be able to be broken up into sections but the Honey and Mumford theory is based on Kolb’s so I can be compared to the VARK theory I have also looked at. I do believe I can pair these up as follows because they have very similar tendencies. Active and Visual learners like images to stimulate them. Reflectors and Audio would prefer to look back at a lecture and re-do their notes to suit them. Theorists and Read/Write learners prefer looking at information in texts. Pragmatists and kinaesthetic learners are both creative and get bored quickly. From what I have learnt form this essay and have found out about how I learn will help me study through the next three years without me struggling or getting bored. Learning style is the way human beings take in new and/or difficult information, how they process, store and retrieve it. (Prashnig, B: Debating Learning Styles) Having studied a small number of learning styles I will evaluate my own personal learning style and how I can use this through the next three years of my life at Bucks New University. I will look at the most popular theories in use today and their value in today’s world. The theory of individual learning styles began in the 1970’s and developed thoroughly in the 1980’s becoming more and more popular in recent years. The use of MRI scan data was added to already developing theories to understand how the brain processed information. (Revell, P, May 05) A learning review carried out in 2004 by the ‘Learning and Skills Research Centre’ revealed that there are 71 established learning style theories, a number of these are very similar in style. I am going to focus on 3 widely used theories methods, David Kolb’s learning style model, Honey & Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire and Fleming’s VARK. (Image) This diagram shows the ‘cycle of learning’ created by Kolb. David Kolb, began developing his Learning Style model in 1971, he then published his learning style model in 1984. The model is made of 4 learning styles; experience, reflection, reflecting and planning. In his cycle of learning Kolb describes that we will experience something, reflect on what happened, think how we can change or what we can use again and then act upon this and do it again changing any mistakes we made first time round, therefore repeating the cycle. For example when learning to ride a bike you may fall off due to hitting a tree (the experience,) look at what why we hit the tree, not looking up? (reflect,) think about how we can change why we fell off, look forward as we are riding (plan) and then finally try again to ride looking forward. This cycle may repeat itself many times before we get right what we was trying to learn. Honey & Mumford’s questionnaire (IMAGE) In 1992 Peter Honey and Alan Mumford created a questionnaire for learners to identify their learning style. The questionnaire originally consisted of 80 questions but this has been shortened and made available with only 40 question’s. Honey and Mumford’s model is based heavily on the Kolb model but focuses in on the in-between stages of the cycle. They agree with Kolb that all stages are crucial to learning, they suggest that some people tend to be happier with one stage of the cycle over others. (Cameron, S 1995) Honey and Mumford determined four learning styles that people may prefer to use than trying to use the whole cycle of Kolb’s model. The four stages are, activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activists are very open minded, will try new things without much thought, are very sociable and probably prefer group work. However they are likely to get bored very quickly and find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. Activists will most likely be the planners within the marketing industry as they have lots of experiences and enjoy overcoming obstacles, they will most likely be watched closely by the manager due to their tendencies to jump in, act and think afterwards. Reflectors are much more passive and will think in much more depth before reaching any decision’s, they will tend to take more of a back seat role and observe others. A reflective member of staff would make be good in a manager role because they think with their heads, not their heart and would therefore make decisions that are more informative. Theorists enjoy approaching problems logically and having information to back up theories. Theorists are very good at analysing data and researching in depth. They can struggle to work with activists as they act first then think whereas theorists will think (a lot) before acting. Theorist would be best at doing marketing research and analysing the information as this something they excel at. Pragmatists like the freedom of creating something new, they don’t like being restricted to set ideas. They enjoy problem solving and are very practical but they do get bored very quickly. Pragmatists would be fantastic in a creative environment and therefore perfect for creating advertisements using their initiative. Flemings VARK VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinaesthetic. Fleming developed his theory based on previous VAK modes but added the read/write in 1987. ‘From what I read and observed, it seemed obvious that some students had a distinct preference for the written word whilst others preferred symbolic information’ (Fleming, N. 2006) Fleming’s questionnaire has 16 question, so that people take it more seriously and do not get bored while filling out the questionnaire. Visual learners prefer to look at images and the use of colour. When making notes a visual learner will use images, symbols and highlight key words with colour. When planning a piece of work visual learners may use mood boards and mind maps for them to get inspiration from before forming into words. Audio learners prefer to listen to lectures or having things explained to them, they enjoy group discussions and are very good at describing visual things in great detail. Audio learners can benefit from reading aloud their notes while recording themselves. When planning for a piece of work an audio learner may find it better to speak through their ideas with a friend. Read/write learners much prefer to write down notes and take information from text books, when breaking down statistical information they will describe any trends instead of drawing them. Read/write learners will excel at essay writing and when planning a piece of work they will write lists and notes. Kinaesthetic learners prefer to just try new things and touch things to help them learn. Field trips for the ideal for kinaesthetic learners as they can take in all the information around them, without getting bored. When completing a piece of work they will just use trial and error until they get it right. Without acknowledging your own style you may encourage your team to focus on issues from a certain perspective and miss the opportunities that result from different approaches. A team has a collective learning style all of its own. (Haygroup) My learning style After completing the 1982 version of the Honey and Mumford questionnaire I scored: Activist 6 Reflector16 Theorist15 Pragmatist 8 From these results I now understand that I prefer to step back and observe others, I require more time and information to make decisions. From previous experience I would say that I totally agree with this for example when making a decision about any expensive purchase I will always look at information about and research the best prices before making a decision. So I do regularly use the reflector and theorist styles. From completing the 13 question VARK questionnaire I have scored: Visual1 Audio0 Read/write4 Kinaesthetic 7 From these results I can see that I am kinaesthetic learner, this contradicts my findings from the Honey and Mumford questionnaire where I found id rather observe and take in information. Where as from this VARK questionnaire I have found that id rather use trial and error and learn using hands on methods. This contradictions surprise me as the styles are so different but I do understand that this is true to me, I do prefer to learn on my own and take in a lot of information before creating an essay but when it comes to learning how to use something new I prefer to just hold it and try it out. Conclusion From my research I have found that many of the learning styles are very similar but are constructed in their own way and helps the learner to establish their style in its individual way. Kolb’s learning theory would not be able to be broken up into sections but the Honey and Mumford theory is based on Kolb’s so I can be compared to the VARK theory I have also looked at. I do believe I can pair these up as follows because they have very similar tendencies. Active and Visual learners like images to stimulate them. Reflectors and Audio would prefer to look back at a lecture and re-do their notes to suit them. Theorists and Read/Write learners prefer looking at information in texts. Pragmatists and kinaesthetic learners are both creative and get bored quickly. From what I have learnt form this essay and have found out about how I learn will help me study through the next three years without me struggling or getting bored. Reference List 1)Cameron, S. (2005) The business students handbook. March 2005. Essex. Pearson educated limited 2)Prashnig,B. (n. d) Debating Learning Styles http://www. creativelearningcentre. com/downloads/Debating%20LS. pdf 3)Revell,P. (May 2005) Each to their own:The Guardian http://www. guardian. co. uk/education/2005/may/31/schools. uk3 4)Fleming, N. , and Baume, D. (2006) Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree! , Educational Developments, SEDA Ltd, Issue 7. 4, Nov. 2006, p4-7. http://www. vark-learn. com/documents/Educational%20 Developments. pdf 5)Haygroup http://www. haygroup. com/tl/Downloads/Why_People_Learn. pdf 6)Chapman,A (2005) Kolb learning styles http://www. businessballs. com/kolblearningstyles. htm 7)Kolbs learning cycle diagram http://www. ldu. leeds. ac. uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/kolb/static_version. php 8)http://www. vark-learn. com/english/page. asp? p=hel[sheets