Was Stalin a Great Man? :: essays research papers

According to Thoman Carlyle, a â€Å"great man† is one who shapes history and affects the course of the future. In the case of Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929-1953, one can perceive that through torment and brutal force, he was able to modernize a nation and oppress his own people. One can argue that Stalin was a great leader of the 20th century. After all, he took an undeveloped country and molded it into one of the world’s greatest industrial and military forces. But, this transformation did not come at a small cost. Stalin was so paranoid that his Communist regime would be ‘crushed’ by one of the dominating Capitalist countries of the West that he became obsessed with the mass production of industrial and agricultural machinery, neglecting the production of basic goods needed to sustain human survival. In his mind, getting Russia’s industrial sector up to par was more important than producing adequate clothing and household goods. Setting completely absurd targets for increased production in agriculture, and of coal, pig iron, oil, and steel products in his three five-year plans did work well for Stalin, and other countries began to take notice. But, in history, very few leaders have forced their own people to make the kinds of sac rifices Stalin imposed on them. To increase agricultural production, and bring in a surplus of food products, Stalin enforced and regulated his idea of â€Å"collective agriculture† – government control of farm land. In turn, the kulaks felt completely oppressed and were unwilling to give up the small amount of land they owned. Stalin would not tolerate opposition from anyone, and as a result, millions of kulaks and peasants were sent off to labor concentration camps, known as â€Å"gulags,† or were simply eliminated. It wasn’t just the lower-class peoples that he wouldn’t tolerate opposition from. Stalin was known for having other political figures that could possibly pose a threat to his regime eliminated. In 1935, he began his â€Å"purges.† He would send out his secret police to arrest and either jail or execute those in political opposition of him.

Personal Narrative- Destruction of Nature Essay -- Personal Narrative

Personal Narrative- Destruction of Nature If you ever get a chance to visit Chaco Canyon National Monument in New Mexico, you should take the time to just stand in the desert and listen. The silence in this place is physical; you can feel it surround you. This is a silence with depth and layers that are unbroken even by the wind, which moves through emptiness and speaks only in occasional sighs through the canyons. The air itself is very clear—the lack of humidity gives the cliffs and buttes sharp lines, and the colors of the earth, though muted, stand in stark relief to the blueness of the sky. Night comes gradually to this place. The height and dryness of the air allows the stars to appear before the sun has set—creating an odd contrast of light and darkness in which night is falling on one horizon while the sun reddens the other. Standing on the cliff tops you can see the sky deepen from blue to black. At night the only lights come from the stars and moon, and the faint smear of light that is the city of Alb uquerque, fifty miles away. This small blemish on the horizon haunts my memory in some ways, like an eyelash in the eye, because I know that twenty years ago the night was perfectly dark. In his book Cosmos, Carl Sagan quotes two amateur astronomers as saying, â€Å"We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.† But my question is, if we do not fear the darkness, why do we constantly seek to keep it at bay with our streetlights and floodlamps? Emerson declares that if man would be alone, let him look at the stars. With the defeat of the night, we have also blocked out the stars. Do we fear isolation? Or is it the undeniable presence of uncontrollable forces or of decay that is present and necessary to na... ... presence, and darkness is always present. We have created an isolation that leads us to fear the world that created us. Are we hopeless? I hope not, because the intellect and creativity and ingenuity of the human mind are beautiful things. I am not saying we should chuck it all and go back to nature. The natural world is a harsh, brutal and impartial place, and we as sentient beings could not fit in. Rather, I argue that â€Å"development† and â€Å"progress† should be holistic, an improvement of the mind and soul as well as the body. Thoreau once said that in wilderness can be found the salvation of the world. It forces us to turn outside of ourselves and seek a social consciousness that extends beyond â€Å"individual rights† to human rights, and a greater reconciliation with the world around us. Perhaps then we can accept the darkness, because we will no longer fear the night.

Economic Cycle From 1984 To 1986 Essay

We can first define economic cycles as the reoccurrence of the expansion or contraction of a countries economy. We still have to look at the view of Wesley Mitchell who is the most famous in the research on economic cycles. He defined business cycle as; Business cycles are a type of fluctuation found in the aggregate economic activity of nations that organize their work mainly in business enterprises; a cycle consists of expansions occurring at about the same time in many economic activities, followed by similarly general recessions, contractions, and revivals which merge into the expansion phase of the next cycle; this sequence of changes is recurrent but not periodic; in duration business cycles vary from more than one year to ten or twelve years; they are not divisible into shorter cycles of similar character with amplitudes approximately their own. (Burns and Mitchell, 1946, p. 3) In this paper, we would be looking at the economic cycle of the U. S economy between 1984 to 986. Nevertheless, before going into the economic cycle that existed from 1984 to 1986, it is clear that in our present time the economy of now pulls the same trends with that of the 1980s. The present fiscal states bears the same tends too, with the borrowing made by government to come down following the substantial years of borrowing. The PSBR declined and surpluses were reached as the 1980s progressed. Surpluses were projected to continue on the grounds of unchanged policies. __________________ 1. Bruce T. Grimm, â€Å"Alternative Measures of U. S. Economic Activity in Business Cycles and Business Cycle Dating,† BEA Working Papers 0024, Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2005. Nevertheless, this was not the same in the early 1990s, as public finances had deteriorated markedly with the deficit reaching 7 per cent of GDP in 1993-94. Not withstanding we have to look at the topic on board and discuss on the cycles of 1984-1986. ECONOMIC CYCLE IN 1984 The economy of the United State rocketed at a fast pace for nearly two decades as the wallets of consumers went fat and it was all about shopping spree . This was all about the recession of the 1980s with specification to the year 1984. The increased pace of growth did not only reflect on the mode of shopping but on the spending done on business. From 1984 to 1986, there was a rapid increase in employment. The increase was so rapid that many analysts to term the United States economy as the American job machine. However, as the rate of employment increased, many still did not benefit from the expansion. Among the less educated young men, unemployment rose and the rate of labor force participating decreased. Though there were enough jobs, many still argued the quality and measurement of the American job in terms of wage, benefits, and job security was decreasing. There was a decrease in high paying jobs in the manufacturing sector and there were more of low paying jobs. There was a growth in part-time and temporary jobs and the less skilled workers were like an erosion of job quality. By the early part of 1984, America experienced the new period of sustained growth since World War II. The tax cut made by government increased the rate of spending done by consumers. ______________________ 2. Burns, Arthur, and Mitchell, Wesley. Measuring Business Cycles. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research. (1946). GNP increased at an annual rate of 4. 2 percent except for the decline in 1986 to fewer than 2 percent. This was the lowest in the decade. The rate of inflation was between three to five percent and the economy produced 13 million jobs. ECONOMIC CYCLE 1985 The economy of the United States continued in an upward trend from 1984 to 1986. This continued in 1985 though in a slow trend in the early year. Nevertheless, as the economic growth continued due to healthy growth and the demand for goods and services, the domestic production suffered because most goods available where imports. The second half of the year was also accompanied with steady growth that lead to the expectation of a continued growth into 1986. Now, looking into the economy in 1985, it was noticed that the first half of the year had a sluggish growth. The GNP of the last half of 1984 rose by 3 percent but that of the first half of 1985 was rose only by 1%. The worsening of the export sector and the decline in inventory investment in first half largely offset a moderately strong increase in the purchase of domestic product goods and services. These included government purchases, business fixed investment, consumption expenditures and residential constructions. Most of the strength in purchases where provided by U. S households. This is due to the strong growth in consumption and the increase in spending done on residential projects. By the second half of the year in 1985, the economic growth has quickened with a 4. 3 percent rise in the GNP at third quarter. The domestic final purchase increased more than that of the first half and the was a decline the rate of export. Because of the sharp _____________________ 3. Balke, Nathan S & Gordon, Robert J. â€Å"The Estimation of Prewar Gross National Product: Methodology and New Evidence†. February 1989. Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(1), pages 38-92. rundown in the domestic stocks for automobile, inventory investment, decline more than that of the first half. The government’s purchases of goods and services in the third quarter were also a sharp contributor to the purchase of domestic final products. The rise in government purchase was because of the increased use of Commodity Credit Corporation Loans by farmers and large increase in defense purchases. Residential fixed investment also increased and while nonresidential fixed investments declined. Expenditures done on personal consumption products increased strongly in third quarter of 1985. The economic growth pace in 1985 was a steady one and it was about 2. 5 percent. This was lower than that of 1984. The growth in domestic purchase increase because of the demand for personal consumption was high. Resource use and Inflation In 1985, the growth in output was not strong enough to reduce the underuse of resources. The rate of unemployment for the civilians fell from 7. 2 percent to 7 percent in November. Manufacturing employment declined and the payroll for nonfarm jobs increased moderately. The rate of capacity utilization in industries, which was another measure of resources use declined at about one percent point. This reflected the greater slack present in the industrial sector than in the social economy. The inflation rate was checked by the slack in the economy this was combined with the strong dollar prices on import and imports competing goods. There was a moderate in increase in the rate of labor cost and the favorable performance for food and energy prices contributed to the level of inflation in 1985. The broadest general price index _____________________ 4. Cacy, J. A. , Glenn, H. M. , and Dan, H. H. â€Å"Economic Review: The U. S. Economy in 1985 and 1986†. December 1985. increased by 3. 75 percent annual rate over the first three quarters of 1985. the price of finished goods sold at wholesale rose by 1. 5 percent in November. This was higher in than that of 1984. The prices of food product declined significantly and there was a slight drop in energy prices. In summary, the year 1985 saw moderate U. S. demand growth being changed to a sluggish out put growth. This was because of the worsening rate of export and inventory investment. The sluggish output growth kept a large amount of resource idle. The total slack experienced in the economy, the direct influence of strong dollar, the weak food prices, and the weak energy prices restrained the rate of price inflation.

Business Regulations

Business Entities, Laws, and Regulations Paper Dorian Rowe BUS/415 Shaun Koenig November 14, 2011 Businesses in every industry have to deal with entities, laws, and regulations. Management teams have to take into account items such as consideration of control, taxation, and liability issues among others. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the restaurant/bar, professional practice, and construction scenarios. For each scenario the business entity that represents the best choice for each business, ownership structure, taxation, and liability issues for consideration. Identification of laws and regulations each business must consider in starting the business, and identification of risks against which each business must protect itself will also be examined for each scenario. Scenario 1 Cynthia and Mark plan to open a sports bar and restaurant where customers socialize and watch sporting events on large-screen TVs that hang around the bar. They do not have much money, but they do have Sandra, a wealthy investor who does not have time to participate in the business, but wants to provide capital to start the business in return for a percentage ownership (University of Phoenix, 2010). The business entity that represents the best choice for this business is a general partnership that two or more people can form. Taking control would consist with the three co-owners to make a partnership agreement in which each partner has equal rights in which to participate in the managing and controlling of the business. A majority rules over disagreements within the partnership situation and amendments to the agreement would require consent from all three owners. Each individual is responsible for his or her tax forms. Liability issues that should be taken into consideration include the unlimited personal liability for company loses, for a partner’s debts, for a partner’s transgressions. Laws and regulations the business must consider in starting the business deal with duration that technically a general partnership terminates with withdrawal of a co-owner, death or disability and sharing profits. Scenario 2 Renaldo and Naomi have just completed all educational and experiential requirements to be licensed as obstetricians. They want to open a birth clinic together. They will take out a large loan to finance start-up costs (University of Phoenix, 2010). Renaldo and Naomi are newly license as obstetricians and want to open a birth clinic together. Both will need to take out a huge loan to finance their start-up amounts. Renaldo and Naomi would be best to create a limited liability partnership (LLP) to organize their business. By forming the LLP, the partners protect themselves from liability beyond their initial capital contribution should the partnership fail or face a lawsuit. Members of an LLP are also not personally liable for the malpractice of one partner and states require LLP to carry substantial liability insurance in exchange for this limited liability. The limited liability protects Renaldo and Naomi from taking personal responsibility for the loan they will take out should the business become insolvent (Cheeseman, 2010). Forming an LLP ensures that Renaldo and Naomi retain control of their business because they are the only shareholders. For tax purposes, an LLP is not taxed as a separate entity so Akiva Renaldo and Naomi will only pay tax for the business profits on their individual tax returns. To form their LLP, Renaldo and Naomi will need to write and file articles of partnership in the state in which they wish to operate. If they choose to conduct business in another state, they will first need to register as a foreign LLP with that state. Organizing their business as a limited liability partnership offers Renaldo and Naomi the best combination of liability protection, tax benefits, and control of their business (Cheeseman, 2010). Scenario 3 Mei-Lin is the hiring manager for Surebuild, Inc. , a new construction company. She has advertised a position as a jackhammer operator. The position’s description states that the successful applicant must have a high school diploma. The following people apply for the position: Donna, 35, who appears to be pregnant, is a high school graduate, and was formerly employed as a jackhammer operator; Duane, 55, who is experienced with a jackhammer, but has no high school diploma; Rick, who is 38, does not speak English, has no high school diploma, but is experienced with a jackhammer; and Jennifer, 23, a college graduate, who is epileptic and has no experience with a jackhammer (University of Phoenix, 2010). Duane and Rick automatically do not qualify because they do not have a high school diploma that is a specified requirement in the job description. Donna and Jennifer do because they each have a diploma and from there the employee with the most experience should be hired. As an epileptic the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects Jennifer, but because Donna has experience and Jennifer does not Donna is more qualified. Although Donna is pregnant the employment law and regulation with which the business must comply in making a decision would be the amended 1964 Pregnancy Discrimination Act from the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act covers employers with more than 15 employees including local and state government governments, employment agencies, labor organizations. The basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII, and to the federal government. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act says that an employer simply cannot refuse to hire a woman who is pregnant because of pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions or because of the bias of fellow coworkers or customers. In this scenario Donna is fully qualified for the job because of her high school diploma and her previous experience as a jackhammer operator, therefore; pregnancy cannot be the reason she is not hired. Each business decision is unique and requires research to determine what solution is correct for the business. Every organization must consider the different types of business entities, laws, and regulations before and during operating. Laws and regulations provide the framework to compliance of local, state, and federal business laws. Stakeholder understanding and knowledge of these laws is essential to compliance. Documented training and retraining of management and employees should ensure compliance. References Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). The legal environment of business and online commerce (6th ed. ). Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/TOC. aspx? assetdataid=fb9bdcea-ca02-48cc-b883-c1cf12695559&assetmetaid=61859383-2c36-48f5-8ac2-4a24e5c61e14 University of Phoenix. (2010). Syllabus. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, BUS 415 website

Cognitive Dissonance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cognitive Dissonance - Assignment Example As opposed to an efficacy test, the article conducts an effectiveness test within a real world context. Procedures pertaining to the research will all be done in an ecologically valid environment free from laboratory control. In order to objectively test the underlying hypothesis, researchers conducted a scientific research exercise. This essay involves an evaluation on the research article, and includes appraising both the dependent and independent variables adopted during the process. In addition, a thorough critique on results and findings will serve the purpose of unearthing strengths and weaknesses contained within the article. Finally, suggestion for future research will provide directions for improved versions of the prevention program in subject. Dependent versus Independent Variables Since it is a scientific research article, both dependent and independent variables are contained within the underlying hypothesis. The hypothesis claims that dissonance-inducing habits causes a n improvement in teenagers’ eating patterns and reduces dissatisfaction towards their body images. In this context, the independent variables include; i. Dissonance-inducing habits ii. Psycho educational Brochure control condition On the contrary, dependent variables, commonly referred to as the outcome variables includes; i. Improvement in eating disorder risk factors like dieting ii. Status of eating disorder symptoms iii. Risk for onset of sub threshold and threshold conditions like anorexia nervosa iv. Degree of escalation in individuals’ body mass v. Depressive symptoms Dissonance-inducing practices are independent variables because they are manipulated by researchers in order to elicit the desired outcome from participants. According to Stice, Paul, Jeff and Heather (2009), changing the intensity of dissonance-inducing practices will cause a corresponding change in the desired effects of improved eating habits. On the other hand, status of eating disorder symptom s and the other listed variables fall under the dependent category. There variables are tested for cause-effect relationship whereby independent variables are the cause while the dependent variables are expected outcomes. ANOVA Results Significant Results Within the findings section, researchers conducted analysis of variance test in an effort to ascertain difference between the dissonance-induced practices and psycho educational brochure conditions. After the analysis, certain findings were found to indicate significant difference between the two conditions, while other results indicated little or insignificant difference. Among the ANOVA results found to being significant include; i. Thin-ideal internalization

An introduction to human Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

An introduction to human - Assignment Example For instance, the DNA of humans. Cladogenesis is a form of splitting where the main branch and its sub branches form an evolutionary strategy which is adaptable and eventually leads to formation of high quality range of sister organisms. On the other hand, anagenesis is a gradual evolution which leads to overall replacement of a species by its novel form. Tarsier  : Tarsier bancanus is a primate species tarsier. They live in southern Philippines. Tarsiers are adapted to leaping with their legs and muscles comprising approximately a quarter of the total body weight. Cercopithecoidea: species in this group include talapoins, macaques, surilis and geunons. They are found in several places including Southeast Asia, Africa and India. Some species are terrestrial while others are arboreal. B) Primates have evolved a number of different social organizations, in your own words define and discuss each of the following social categories and then for each category give an example of one primate species (different from those used in your answers above) whose social organization falls into that category and discuss something interesting about that species social life. (21 points) Noyau: Noyau is seen in orangutans and they depict promiscuous mating patterns. These primates do not live in groups as they live in isolation. The home ranges where the primates live are intersecting and both females and males do not live together. There are no set boundaries on the ranges. While females have single home range, males have a relatively huge range that covers several ranges occupied by the females. Monogamy: An example of a primate who portrays monogamous mating patterns are the gibbons. In this case, there is only one pair and their respective offsprings. Mates engage with only one primate all their lives, there is no promiscuity. Polyandry: primates who practice polyandrous mating include Goeldis Marmoset. Polyandry involves one

Modernism and Postmodernism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modernism and Postmodernism - Research Paper Example The researchers of modernism have always noted a special interest of its members in creating new forms, defiantly opposed to the harmonic forms of classical art, as well as emphasis on the subjectivity of the modernist worldview. The first modernists are the people of the late 19th century raised by the general crisis of European culture. Many of them rejected the methods of social and political radicalism in the change of lifestyle, but they were all ardent supporters of the spiritual revolution, which, in their view, was inevitably born by the crisis of the old world. Spiritual revolution, as a new quality of consciousness and a new concept of life, demanded a new ideological platform. This platform was formulated on the basis of Henri Bergson’s intuitionism, Nietzscheanism, Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology, Sigmund Freud’s and Carl Jung’s psychoanalysis, Soren Kierkegaard’s and Martin Heidegger’s existentialism. The works of these authors no t only cemented the ideological platform of modernist art searches in the period, but allowed this artistic school to act retrospectively, capturing the events of preceding culture, and prospectively, leaving the field for experiments in the future (postmodernism). Modernism, fighting for liberation and renewal of forms in art, could not exist without common ties with the history of culture, recognizing in this way the principles of historicism in its own trend: â€Å"the creation of a usable past was a key means of both coming to terms with and keeping at bay the pressures and the alleged chaos of the modern world at the turn of the twentieth century†.... ly confronted with the further development of the qualities generated not by modernism, but by the Romantic era of the French Revolution and radical sentimentalism of Johann Herder and Gotthold Lessing. This, for example, is the emphasis on the place of the individual consciousness in life in the cosmos. However, the romantic individualism of the 18th century and modernist individualism are fundamentally different phenomena. In romanticism the individual was either the owner of all spiritual riches of the universe, or this individual grieved about the unavailability of absolute values and universal ideals not denying the possibility of their existence. Modernists, on the contrary, recognized the insolubility of these issues, came to a denial of the spiritual and moral â€Å"absolutes.† At the same time, they tried to revive the myth-creating method, which, in their opinion, was able to restore the integrity of the organic and human life in a single cosmological system by the m eans of art. The poetry of modernism had a deep sympathy to the ideas of a new, mystical ideas and myth. In the effort to speak the language of new images the symbolists did not reject the traditions of classical poetry, but on the contrary, tried to build a new language based on ancient archaic images. Modernist poets paid a lot of attention to classical mythology (Paul Valery, Thomas Eliot), national folkloric characters (William Yates), ancient esoteric teachings and their modern modifications, like theosophy or anthroposophy (Yates, for example, created his own mystical system). The foundation of the modernist prose was laid by the Austrian writer Franz Kafka. According to him, the whole world order is most tragic and hostile to man, who is powerless and doomed to suffer. Plots of Kafka’s