Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck Essay Example

Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck Essay â€Å"I think the artist has the right to interpret and re-interpret history and the events of his time (Oliver Stone)†. Discuss this statement with reference to Good Night and Good Luck. George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck is a docudrama set in the 50’s during the rise of television. A docudrama is a film narrative based on a real time or event. This docudrama follows the true battle between a Mr Edward R. Murrow a well-respected CBS news reporter and Joseph McCarthy a junior senator from Wisconsin, who is blinded by patriotism and obvious hatred for communism. Murrow goes â€Å"straight at† McCarthy and targets his terrorism towards suspected communists and publicly denotes him for convicting civilians without trial in an era when the fourth estate was only used to â€Å"distract, delude, amuse, and insulate† and not show the reality of the world. Docudramas can provide a powerful way of showing past events. A docudrama gives the audience a greater insight into the time and events by getting beneath the surface as the artist has the right to remake scenes that were not documented. Critics of docudrama say the medium is merely a form of entertainment and has no credit in being used as a form of education as the director can pick and choose what goes in and scenes has to be fabricated. In the case of Good Night and Good Luck, Clooney gives a balanced view of Murrow, leaving McCarthy and Murrow both losers in the end. We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the opening scenes Clooney provides us with an interpretation of the 50’s which later reveals what lies beneath the surface. The characters appear at Murrow’s press club to be laughing and joking giving the impression of a facade of happiness between the co-workers. In reality, we later learn these reporters are willing to tear each other to shreds and steal each other’s jobs in order to get to where they want to be. This was a way of life in the fifties where everything had to seem normal and happy on the Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck Essay Example Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck Essay The film is relevant and successfully portrays the historical aspects of broadcast journalism in 1950’s America accurately. Initially shot in color, the film was edited to a black-and-white or grayscale theme in order to match the time period. Clooney also decided to incorporate actual footage of McCarthy presenting his speeches. These clips chronicle McCarthy’s reels and lend historical accuracy to the film. The movie also persists in establishing the â€Å"behind-the-scenes† of the early days of broadcast. In the headquarters, we see typewriters, heavy smoking, drinking, and episodes of stress that were to be expected in the business. The inner-workings of news and television such as the small space Murrow had between his chair and the camera were also believable. The film was also objective with the presentation of facts and newspapers. They utilized the exact words from the broadcasting between McCarthy and Murrow, and also showed the problems Murrow faced. T hese all contributed to recreating a realistic representation of the time period and the struggles of those who disagreed with McCarthy’s principles. One of the most important questions the film raised was the influence and change of mass media. In the 1950s, the commercial business of the television industry had just begun to expand and grow. By this late 1950s, there were over three million television sets in distributed across American homes, and CBS News had established itself as a credible source of television reporting. However, many television networks were not immune to scrutiny by McCarthy, and it was also true that in order to appease sponsors, many networks censored and avoided any controversial contents. Television is also not completed protected by the first amendment. Newspapers can censure government, but the federal Communications Commission can revoke a television licenses. So, one important theme posed by the movie was the government’s relationships wit We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary Good Night and Good Luck specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

buy custom American multinational corporation essay

buy custom American multinational corporation essay PepsiCo is an American multinational corporation that formed in 1965 with the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, Inc. and deals with production, marketing, and distribution of beverages and grain based snack foods. PepsiCo has its headquarters in Harrison, New York with its presence in four major divisions (PepsiCo Inc., 2010). In 2009, PepsiCo Americas Foods, which deals in foods and snacks in North and South America, contributed 43% of the total PepsiCo net profit (PepsiCo Inc., 2010).. There is also PepsiCo America Beverages, a division that markets both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages in North and South America. Other divisions include PepsiCo Europe and PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa. Globally, the company is the second largest food and beverages company and it operates in more than 200 countries (Marshall, 2010). In 2009, PepsiCo collected total revenue of $43.3 billion, and was rated the largest food and beverages company in North America. Pepsi Corporation distributes a number of brands, the key ones being those that generate annual sales of more than $1 billion each. These brands include Pepsi-Cola, 7Up, Fritos Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Doritos, Pepsi Max, Quaker Foods, Tropicana Cheetos, Miranda, Ruffles, Aquafina, Tostitos, Sierra Mist, Walkers, and Lays Lipton (UBM, 2010). Amid distribution of the brands, PepsiCo engages in charitable activities and environmental conservation programs like water usage in U.S, India and U.K, packaging and recycling, energy usage as well as pesticide regulation in India to ensure that the environment and the available resources are utilized properly. PepsiCos advancement in ecommerce has been evident, and that is the focus of this report (Romanik, 2007). Project and Its Place within the Organization Changing to ecommerce involves fully understanding the normal offline transactions and applying the principals of electronic funds transfer and electronic data interchange. Ecommerce also includes Internet marketing and inventory management systems through the World Wide Web, especially for virtual items. Changing to ecommerce entails complete overhaul of marketing techniques to accommodate new internet marketing strategies, electronic payments and training of employees to match the new electronic commerce and business. PepsiCos adoption of ecommerce led to the collaboration with Yahoo. In the deal, PepsiCo would promote Yahoo on 1.5 billion soft drinks bottles displayed in 50,000 stores (Business Day, 2000). In return, Yahoo would promote PepsiCo products on Yahoo cobranded site called Pepsistuff.com (Gerstman Meyers, 2002). This promotion started in August 2000 and has since led to advertisement cost minimization due to its ability to reach more people at ago through the website (Business Day, 2000). What does not work, according to Burwick, PepsiCos former marketing manager, is an advertising approach on television that in his view only entertains and moves. However, Burwick notes that internet advertisement on the website provides a platform for interaction, which is a more active experience that is likely to have a more positive impact on sales (Business Day, 2000). This web advertisement that included music sites, banner advertisement and internet sweepstakes and barter arrangement with Yahoo, helped PepsiCo establish loyalty among its customers, greater brand exposure among its consumers under 25 years old and at the same time obtained relevant data that enabled the company respond to customer demands. Pepsi also uses the extranet strategy where customers flash their names and continue the marketing efforts of tweaking websites. Other than its websites, PepsiCo has currently upheld its ecommerce strategy on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, which are social sites that provide interaction opportunities for millions of potential customers around the world. This has helped improve popularity of the corporations 19 major brands in all the four regions, and contributed to the revenue collected in 2009. Marketing the products plays a very important role in the consumer goods companies that consume $40 billion annually on non-internet advertising. Ecommerce in this regard plays a vital role in marketing, distribution, supply chain management, ordering and delivering of the products to the clients in all the four major regions. This strategy helps PepsiCo eliminate intermediaries in its business since consumers can order products directly. The company can also use banners on top of web pages to convey the information about its products. However, this has been eliciting responses that banners are too small and limit th e amount of information that can be conveyed through them. Besides Pepsistuff.com, PepsiCo also uses its website in providing information to all its customers and potential customers on the available products and the ordering and purchasing procedures as well as the charges involved for deliveries (Gerstman Meyers, 2002). The strategy of e-business is multifarious, is more focused on these internal processes (Romanik, 2007). Its objective is to reduce costs while improving efficiency, as well as reducing costs while improving productivity. E-business includes ecommerce, and both address internal processes and technological infrastructure like application servers, security, databases, and legacy systems. E-commerce and e-business involve generating new value chains amid stakeholders, such as a company like PepsiCo and its clients. Original Business Model Employed By PepsiCo PepsiCo initially used non-internet advertisement that included high impact television spots that were prepared to evoke emotional reaction among its customers, appealing to woe customers to purchase. The company also minimally used PowerPoint presentations of its products to that are flashed on the websites. According to Hill Jones (2008), PepsiCo changed its business model and the manner in which it differentiated its product. Before adoption of the ecommerce initiative, PepsiCo fully depended on five regions that include North America, South America, Europe, and Asia regions (including India) in manufacturing, marketing, and delivering. These activities constituted manual offline transactions (Heinecke, 2011). Any changes to the business model ere necessitated by introduction of the e-Business initiative. The marketing, ordering, inventory management strategies, and the payment methods changed to adopt ecommerce methods. These necessitated change in PepsiCos organization structure and reduction of marketing staff and the cost of advertisement reduced by nearly 20% in 2010 (Heinecke, 2011). Through e-business, PepsiCo was able to effectively cut human errors and evade uneconomical duplications of duties that add little or no value to the business. Consequently, this saved the company business time, colossal amounts of resources. The introduction of ecommerce into PepsiCo also improved the speed, accuracy, and efficiency in which processes are carried out in the corporation, leading to increased productivity. E-business guarantees proficiency in communication within PepsiCo and reduces turnaround time in ordering, delivery, and payment of products, as well as fostering faster decision-making process. The networking brought about by the use of Internet services gave PepsiCo an opportunity to easily compare and rate its products against those from its competitors in terms of quality, availability, and pricing. Strategic Components of E-business Planning for the changeover to e-business from the offline business is a strategic component that determines the success of the ecommerce strategy. It involves action plans that include making available the amount of capital required, trained human resource, information technology skills, technology hardware, such as computers and internet connections. This component of e-business dictates the decision on implementation methods and tools used in the changeover, depending on strengths and weaknesses of the business and the opportunities presented by ecommerce according to the vision and mission of the PepsiCo (Cross Miller, 2009). Ecommerce business is an area faced with several risks. Therefore, companies need to understand it well to ensure that they are protected against such risks. PepsiCo faces such risks as well. Some of these risks include loss of merchandise as a result of fraud, misrouting during distribution process to wrong destinations (majorly when the merchants are untrustworthy and untraceable), leading to loss of both goods and money (Cross Miller, 2009). Any businesses adopting ecommerce should ensure that third party merchants are well known, registered, and traceable to curb the loss of customers merchandise and money to potential fraudsters. This is also applicable to the risks of customers disputes of the delivered goods leading to loss of payments. PepsiCo needs to ensure that during ordering, customers provide adequate information to be able to distinguish genuine customers from fraudulent orders. This will reduce the loss money through credit card payments, which poses impacts both on the company and merchants who are forced to pay the bank charges to compensate the losses. Accuracy in processing the transactions remain key to efficient deals to avoid experiencing chargeback costs that also occur when customers dispute the transactions sometimes due to inaccuracy in the amount involved, errors in processing, authorization errors and fraudulent issues. These costs can be avoided if transactions are accurately and efficiently processed. Therefore, this means that the new ecommerce technology should be well understood before the implementation stage takes effect, to be able to seal all the possible loopholes that are likely to give way to losses (Joseph, 2008). Provision of adequate infrastructure system that warns new clients who are not conversant with purchasing on the Internet is important in proving authenticity of the company. These systems should be in a position of protecting clients passwords to sensitive personal information like credit cards to avoid exposure to fraudsters and at the same time authenticate transactions when dealing with fresh cl ients before closing the purchase orders and delivering the products to the customers. Technological components must also be put in place for a company that needs to grow in the modern business environment that is full of competition through the use of high technology machines (Joseph, 2008). The technological platform where e-Business is carried out involves of technologies that have to be tailor-made, tested out and integrated into the business. This component is one of the essential e-business components that include widely approved technological standards and requirements that generate technical procedures and platforms than computers, but can be used to pass information. Technology infrastructure involves reliable Internet connections and adequate machinery, such as computers and browser connections. Technological constituents, such as middleware, are important since they help build broad and complex e-commerce systems. Employee development is strategy that works well for many companies, including PepsiCo. Employees first need to be prepared for the change to avoid unnecessary resistance during the implementation stage. Employee development also involves training workers to be technology compliant and improve their IT skills, which are mandatory in ecommerce having in mind that technology innovation and improvement takes place every time (Shajahan Priyadharshini, 2007). PepsiCo needs to train its clients on how to access information from the companys websites without risking exposing their information to non-deserving people, such as credit card fraudsters. This training can be done through seminars and online information that can be accessed by all existing and potential customers. Many clients are very skeptical when it comes to online purchases due to the widespread Internet fraud and may only be willing to do business with very organized and secure sites. PepsiCo also needs to segment its market during marketing and advertisement of the products. This segmentation can be done in terms of age, social class to provide products that all social groups can afford, and ensuring availability of these products from the distribution stores for the retail customers at all times. Reasons for Success and Of Pepsi Product Differentiation and positioning One reason that has led to the success of Pepsi products iss the differentiation of its brands that have been established and have built customer loyalty in those regions. Product positioning remains vital in building customer loyalty. This can quickly be done through internet marketing, which reaches more people at ago all over the world. Planning and New Technology The companys first strategy involving agreements with Yahoo picked up well and were very successful because of adequate planning, as well as embracing of the new digital technology. Other reasons include adequate planning, employee development, good management kills, infrastructure, and risk management systems. Reasons for Lack of Success and Of Pepsi Fraudulent transactions Fraudulent transactions that have always mired online transactions that make the merchants and clients lose both merchandise and money are the loopholes that have hampered Pepsis success. Thus, they need to be sealed in order to drive businesses to higher levels. Analysis of the PepsiCo Initiative PepsiCo being the second largest food and Beverage Company has very strong financial base, which is enough to implement the ecommerce strategy. Training of employees on the new internet marketing skills, supply chain management, inventory management. Implementation of the ecommerce Technology in PepsiCo involved provision of the computer gadgets and internet connection that to provide necessary platform for the change to e-Business (Shajahan Priyadharshini, 2007). PepsiCo also offered in-house trainings to the staff to be technology compliant ready to execute the ecommerce operations. The major stakeholders of the PepsiCo are the suppliers, customers, government, employees, and the management. The companys consumers need to utilize the ecommerce platform to order and pay for products conveniently, while maintaining and managing internet security risks. The internal control systems that are used to authenticate transactions need to be fully outlined with clear chain of command. The improvement of the technology has also provided good business growth opportunity enhancing PepsiCos strength in the market. The involvement of the society, production of healthy products with low sugar levels favorable for children, guarding them against health and lifestyle related diseases like obesity, diabetes, and the environmental protection projects, gave PepsiCo business advantage over its competitors, such as the Coca-Cola company. PepsiCo does this by converting its product portfolio, forming global initiatives like calorie labeling to increase nutrition education, and backup up programs that promote physical fitness centers (Romanik, 2007). Responsible Electronic Marketing In the ecommerce, PepsiCo has adopted a responsible electronic marketing strategy that teaches children that good eating habits at an earlier age contribute to their future health. PepsiCo adopted a policy in 2009 not to advertise and sell certain products that do not meet specific nutrition level to children under age 12. The policy took effect in 2009 for beverages globally and all snacks and food in the whole world on January 1, 2011. Pepsi plans to stop selling full sugar soft drinks directly to primary and secondary schools across the world by 2012. This policy is to help schools to provide a wider range of low-calorie and nutritious beverages to their students in primary and secondary schools (Ferrell Ferrell, 2010). PepsiCo plans to implement this policy fully by January 1, 2012 and it has announced this interest on the Internet. PepsiCo does not currently sell directly to primary and secondary schools full calorie drinks in Europe, Canada, and a number of countries in the Arabian Peninsula (Ferrell Ferrell, 2010). Currently the use of iPhone has spread to users many including school going children who can easily access the information. For this reason, PepsiCo implements the responsible e-marketing strategy to ensure that information reaches the only relevant people. Reasons for Not Adopting the Ecommerce In as much as technology is acceptable, many online clients have since withdrawn from transacting businesses over the internet due to the widespread internet crimes committed by fraudsters. Many clients have expressed reservations and they prefer offline business transactions to e-business. Bad experience of wrong delivery and erroneous processing of transactions has also contributed to the failure of ecommerce initiative. Pepsi should not just adopt Ecommerce marketing coverage strategy since it focuses on differentiated marketing, they should also consider other aspects that accompany the marketing strategy. Many clients do not have sufficient IT skills that are required in carrying out e-business. This gave the changeover a slow start in some regions, including India, with many insisting on continued offline transaction (Joseph, 2008). Conclusion Ecommerce and e-business have become the order of modern business. Many companies than need to compete have adapted the two innovations. Ecommerce and e-business involve the use of the Internet in the transaction of goods and services from production, order, delivery, marketing, and payment for the purchased goods and services. PepsiCo is one of the companies that have adopted ecommerce for about ten years and have used the new technology in inventory management, supply chain management, Internet marketing and electronic funds transfer. PepsiCo is an international company that deals in beverages and foods snacks in four major regions in North America, South America, Europe and Asia and African markets with a number of products like Pepsi-Cola, 7Up, Fritos Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Doritos, Pepsi Max, Quaker Foods, Tropicana Cheetos, Miranda, Ruffles, Aquafina, Tostitos, Sierra Mist, Walker's and Lay's Lipton. The company uses the Internet to market and sell these brands. Several strategies ensure all the stakeholders are successfully navigated through the navigation period. These include adequate planning, employee development, good management kills, infrastructure, and risk management systems. Buy custom American multinational corporation essay

Critical review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical review - Essay Example This review takes into consideration the issues of equity, diversity and contemporary science education highlighted by the writers and analyzes the findings, arguments and results written by the writers of the article. The research questions given in the study are many in number and are: â€Å"How did these beginning teachers attempt to engage all students in talking and thinking about the nature of science, science concepts, and scientific practices? What reasons did they provide for content selected and strategies implemented? In particular, how did the recently adopted state science content standards shape their curricular and pedagogical decisions? How did the materials and strategies beginning teachers used resonate or conflict with those taught in their preservice science education courses? From what other sources did these beginning teachers draw inspiration or information?† (Bianchini, et. al, 2003, 423). These research questions are important and interesting because in asking these, the writers have tried to explore how the beginning teachers try to teach their students about the nature of science, its contemporary implementation and the adoption of strategies in terms of equity an d diversity. For people who are related to education sector, this study is very interesting because of its vastness and the posed questions related to contemporary science teaching dealing with equity and diversity. The methods adopted for data collection by the researchers of the study were qualitative interviewing, videotaping lectures and audio-taping interviews. The design of the study was very clear as the researchers were quite aware about the methodology they were going to adopt and they used it tactfully. The research was conducted by attending various teaching sessions by the first year teachers, by interviewing them about their adopted strategies in their teaching and in terms of their implementing various steps for equity and diversity related to

Reading response papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Reading response papers - Essay Example e only wish to ascertain whether and to what extent religious forces have taken part in qualitative formation and the quantitative expansion of that spirit over the world. Furthermore, what concrete aspects of our capitalistic culture can be traced to them, In view of the tremendous confusion of interdependent influences between the material basis, the forms of social and political organization, and the ideas current in the time of the Reformation, we can only proceed by investigating whether and at what points certain correlations between forms of religious belief and practical ethics can be worked out. At the same time we shall as far as possible clarify the manner and the general direction in which, by virtue of those relationships, the religious movements have influenced the development of material culture. Only when this has been determined with reasonable accuracy can the attempt be made to estimate to what extent the historical development of modern culture can be attributed t o those religious forces and to what extent to others. In â€Å"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,† Max Weber examines the part played by Protestantism in the evolution of Capitalism. After reading his arguments, it is evident that there are definitely â€Å"certain correlations between forms of religious belief and practical ethics.† It is Protestantism, as opposed to Catholicism, which gives religious sanction to one’s calling, or occupation in life, and asserts that worldly activity is worthy in the eyes of God. Weber makes this point particularly clear in his discussion of the Calvinist Baxter’s works in Chapter V. Baxter holds that the activity of daily work is the best way to glorify the Lord. Idleness is condemned, while physical and mental activity is associated with divine grace. Baxter’s stand on specialization in a particular occupation, or division of labor, as a means of improving the quality and quantity of products, is definitely a precursor of

World Beer Consumption Essay Example for Free

World Beer Consumption Essay Approximately, 100 billion liters of beer are consumed around the world every year (Olfir, 2007). The worldwide growth rate of beer consumption has been recorded for the past 19 years (Kirin Holdings, 2005). This, however, is not to say that the beer consumption around the world is alike. The alcoholic beverage consumption levels around the world and the rates at which these increase vary from one country to another. For example, in India the annual consumption of beer is . 5 litters per capita (Gupta, 2007), where as in Czech Republic, the consumption of beer is 156. 9 liters per capita per year (Olfir, 2007). There are many factors that contribute to the difference in beer consumption levels amongst different countries. Some of these factors include the stability of the country’s economy, laws and regulations, religion, and culture. Economy I believe that the economy of a nation plays an important role in the levels of beer consumption in different parts of the world. The demand for beer is rapidly increasing in nations whose economy is on the rise. Some of these economies include Asia, particularly China, Eastern Europe, and Africa (Access Capital, 2010). For example, In 1966 China only consumed about half a bottle of beer. As the average per capita income has increased so has the consumption of beer, reaching 103 beers per person in 2007 (Appebaum, 2011). Laws and Regulations Laws and regulations on alcoholic beverages also have an effect on the consumption of beer. In most cases, if not all, laws have the ability to hinder the increasing rates consumption of alcohol. For example, the principle of prohibition is intensely recommended by the Indian constitution and Indian law prohibits the advertisement of alcoholic beverage (Ranganathan, 1994). This is one of the reasons why their per capita consumption is so low. On the other hand, legislation may cause for consumption levels to increase. For example, in Czech Republic, Ireland and Germany, the top three nations with the highest beer consumption (Olfir, 2007), the minimum legal drinking age is between 16 and 18 years of age. Because people can start drinking at an earlier age legally, the amount of drinkers is higher in these countries. Religion As previously mentioned, India consumes approximately . 5 litters per capita on a yearly basis. Although this number might seem insignificant compared to other countries, such as Czech Republic, it is important to note that the consumption over the last few years has increased at a rate of about seven percent annually (Gupta, 2007). An important factor to such low rate is religion (Ranganathan, 1994). As Shanthi Ranganathan mentions in the article, The Most Sensible Thing is Not to Drink, Hinduism, the largest religion followed in India, the consumption of alcohol is known as one of the five heinous crimes. It is compared to adultery and murder (Ranganathan, 1994), making it a horrible act. Christianity, on the contrary, has more open-minded beliefs in regards with the consumption of alcohol (Wig, 1994). Culture Another country that can be used as an example to explain the difference in beer consumption levels among different countries is France whose beer consumption level per capita is 35. 5 liters per year (Lansdell, 2006). Compared to other countries, France may be considered to have a lower level of alcoholic consumption. The biggest contributor to this countries consumption level, I believe, is the culture of the country. When drinking, in most cases, French prefer wine instead of beer and they take their time to consume their beverages, unlike Americans, who are always in a rush to do everything. Worldwide Brewers and Increased Beer Consumption Each year, 2. 5 million people worldwide die do to alcohol or beer consumption. Alcohol is attributed to being the third greatest factor for diseases (W. , 2011). I believe that due to the great risk factor that comes with the consumption of alcohol, worldwide brewers should not have the ability to grow at such a fast rate all around the world. Although the industry could possibly help the economic stability of a country, I believe it does a greater harm to the different nations. I believe that one possibly solution that would allow the beer industry to prosper without causing much harm, is if as they enter a nation to introduce their product, they help create programs that educate people on the consumption of alcohol. I believe that if people are educated on the subject matter and know the consequences of drinking this product, they will continue to consume the beverage but being more responsible. This, in my opinion, will not have a negative affect on the beer industry. Another way that a nation can prevent the consequences of alcohol consumption caused by worldwide brewers is by creating greater taxation or other barriers that would hinder the production and selling of beer in their nation. This scenario, however, might be one that the beer industry might one to avoid. Unlike my first suggestion, this would have a greater negative impact on the industry. Such situation would lower sales in the given country affecting the revenue of the company. I also believe that although the rate of alcohol consumption in many developing countries is increasing, these rates will begin to slow down. Although, as mentioned earlier, economy prosperity may help increase the levels of alcohol consumption, it is also true that after a certain level of prosperity, people tend to consider quality when purchasing a product. For example, Ethiopians may start consuming low-end beer, however, as their financial stability begins to prosper they might continue to upgrade until they convert to wine-drinkers. Works Cited W. , C. (2011, February 12). W. H. O. Report on Worldwide Alcohol Abuse. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from lifering. org: http://lifering. org/2011/02/w-h-o-report-on-worldwide-alcohol-abuse/ Wig, N. (1994, September). Alcohol in the Third World. (D. p. Knight, Ed. ) Retrieved September 30, 2009, from unhooked. com: http://www. unhooked. com/sep/thirdworl. html Access Capital. (2010). Investing in Ethiopia. Access Capital. Appebaum, B. (2011, April 25). Beer Drinking and What It Says About China’s Economy. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from Economix: http://economix. blogs. nytimes. com/2011/04/23/beer-drinking-and-what-it-says-about-chinas-economy/ Gupta, V. K. (2007, February 15). The Beer industry in India in context of Consumer Buying Behavior. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from inidiamaba. com: http://www. indianmba. com/Faculty_Column/FC519/fc519. html Kirin Holdings. (2005, December 15). Kirin Research Institute of Drinking and Lifestyle . Retrieved Ocotober 3, 2011, from Kirin Holdings: http://www. kirinholdings. co.jp/english/ir/news_release051215_1. html Lansdell, G. (2006). Top 10: Drinking Countries. Retrieved October 03, 2011, from askmen. com: http://www. askmen. com/feeder/askmenRSS_article_print_2006. php? ID=949422 Olfir, E. (2007). Volume of World Beer Consumption. (G. Elert, Editor) Retrieved 0ctober 3, 2011, from http://hypertextbook. com: http://hypertextbook. com/facts/2001/JohnnyAlicea. shtml Ranganathan, S. (1994, September ). Alcohol in the Third World. Retrieved September 30, 2009, from unhooked. com: http://www. unhooked. com/sep/thirdworl. html.

The African Experience: A Curse or Blessing :: Research Papers

The African Experience: A Curse or Blessing The native African places an immense amount of importance and respect on Nature. Its effects determine certain predicaments that control and direct African lives, and how outsiders, especially Westerners, perceive them. Never before has a group of people followed so religiously and faithfully a baffling phenomenon such as nature. Nature worship has deep roots in the African tradition and is now a full and indispensable branch of the African heritage. Nature defines Africa to the world as the â€Å"Cradle of Mankind.† To the African, Nature also acts as a mediator between the gods in the heavens and man on earth. This relationship, I feel, has been greatly misinterpreted by the vacuous and ethnocentric civilized world: it has been tagged as ‘black magic,’ ‘voodoo,’ and other meager figments of unfortunately parochial imaginations. What an insult! Oh may the gods forgive them, for they know not what they do. â€Å"In the beginning was the water, and the water was with god, and the water was god.† This quote clearly defines how the natural elements such as land (earth), sun, moon, lightning, and, in this case, water are considered not just as the vital necessities that help sustain life but as the gods of life. They are built honorary shrines as an act of appreciation and appeasement. In Egypt, in northeast Africa, a great temple was built for Isis, the water god. This temple was built so flamboyantly as an attempt to try and reflect architecturally how important the Nile is to the people of Egypt. Without the Nile, Egypt would have been a barren, desolate place, incapable of supporting life; just an eastern extension of the Sahara Desert. Therefore, the great river is considered a miracle, a miracle from the gods, given in order that man may continue to exist and not be annihilated. Hence the magnificence of the Temple of Isis. African peoples had a lot of mysteries in their continent which they tried to explain. And once again, they turned to their superiors in the supernatural world, the gods. For example, if lightning should strike, that would be an ominous sight, implying that the gods are angry with the people; an extraordinary harvest or rain after a long, intolerably dry season would be considered as an act of favor towards man by the gods. All this was the Africans’ way of trying to understand the unexpected and to explain the inexplicable, functioning much as science does in contemporary Western society. Why, then, does this entire system connote barbarism or a rustic, undeveloped mentality when used in its original context, or when approached by the

Adam Smith and Karl Marx Essay

Adam Smith and Karl Marx Modern political economic theory and philosophy can be greatly attributed to the works of two men who seemingly held polar opposite views on the subject. Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher, published his most well known work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776 and is most often associated with the ideas and principles of the political economic system known as Capitalism. At the other end of the spectrum is Karl Marx; the German philosopher most often associated with Communism and the author (or co-author) of The Communist Manifesto. This paper seeks to discuss the core differences in their respective political economic philosophies with regards to what economic value is and what the role of government should be in their versions of political economy. This will conclude with the argument that while Smith's work had laid the foundation for modern economic philosophy, it was Marx who would ultimately leave the most significant impression upon the world with his revolutionary ideas. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (commonly abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations) is considered to be the first full treatment on the study of Economics. This work essentially lays the foundation for the economic system known as Capitalism. Interestingly enough, Capitalism was a term first brought into the public debate, somewhat pejoratively, by Karl Marx himself in describing a â€Å"capitalist† as a private owner of capital or the means or production. (â€Å"Capitalism† (Wikipedia), 2008). A consensus definition of this idea is an economic system based on private individual ownership of property in which the distribution of goods is determined freely by competing market forces and investments are made by individuals. (â€Å"Capitalism† (Merriam-Webster), 2008). In a Capitalist society, individuals are free to own property and invest their capital in the pursuit of profit with relatively limited influence or barriers from the government. The Wealth of Nations was organized into five books of several chapters each. The first two books examine the fundamentals of the market system and include explanations relating to the role of labor, the nature of capital and markets, and the motives people have for entering into the market system. The third book is mostly an historical examination of the economics in ancient societies. The fourth book is the core of Smith's argument for the capitalist society and it in these chapters that Smith lays out the core arguments for the limited role of government that is required for long term economic success. The fifth book deals primarily with government spending, revenues and taxation. The Communist Manifesto was much more a call to action than it was a treatise on economics and is a much shorter work than Smith's The Wealth of Nations. Marx also published a very thorough (and denser) economic examination known as Das Kapital in 1867. The conclusions reached in that and other works would underpin the concepts found in The Communist Manifesto. It is not inaccurate to say that Communism is in many ways the opposite of Capitalism. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and co-author Friedrich Engels listed 10 attributes of an ideal Communist society. The first one lays out the primary condition: â€Å"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. † (Marx & Engels, 2006, p. 32) This effectively describes state-ownership and control of all capital and the means of the production made for the benefit of all in a classless society. Communism espouses the idea that the economy should function for the greater good of all society and not merely act as a tool to enrich the ‘bourgeois† or ruling classes. As the title would indicate, The Communist Manifesto lays out the purpose and reasoning for the existence of the Communist party that was developing across Europe in that time. In the prologue, Marx and Engels state the books purpose: It is high time that Communists should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet this nursery tale of the Specter of Communism with a Manifesto of the party itself. Marx & Engels, 2006, p. 2) The chief disagreement between Capitalists and Communists is who or what is entitled to ownership and the means of production. In chapter one of the second book of The Wealth of Nations, Smith defined capital as the stock (read: assets or money) that a person does not immediately consume for which the owner expects to derive a f uture profit. (Smith, 1909) This of course implies that the individual has possession and ownership of the capital item in the first place. Marx bestows a social aspect upon what capital is in The Communist Manifesto. Marx stated that capital is a â€Å"collective product? nly by the united action of all members of society, can it be set in motion. Capital is therefore not a personal, it is a social power. † (Marx & Engels, 2006, p. 23) In other words, capital belongs to all of the people that are needed to not only produce it, but to provide a reason for its value. One thing that Marx and Smith seems to have agreed upon is something economists call the Labor Theory of Value. While they would ultimately come to different conclusions on the use of the value, the basic assumption is this theory is that value is ultimate derived in an object from the labor necessary to produce it. â€Å"Labor Theory†, 2008) In chapter 5 of book I of The Wealth of Nations, Smith argues tha t â€Å"the real price of everything? is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. † (Smith, 1909, p. 36) Smith distinguishes this from the nominal value of an item that can vary based on market forces; he holds that the real value is constant in relation to the labor that it used in its production. Smith argues in the following chapter that there are three components to the price of an item: the labor needed to produce it, the â€Å"rent of the land† or resources needed to make it, and the â€Å"profit of stock† that compensates the investor for risking his resources. In Das Kapital, Marx also recognizes the labor component of any item in the first chapter. He states that any commodity has a use-value and an exchange value that is derived from the labor needed to produce it. (Marx, 2000) Marx however viewed the â€Å"profit of stock† as the ability of the capitalist to exploit the wage laborers out of the surplus value of the things they create because of their control over the means of production. The role of government in relation to the economic system is a central theme of how ultimately successful the economic system would become. One of Smith's core arguments to the success of capitalism is summarized in his most famous metaphor of the â€Å"invisible hand† found in Chapter 2 of Book IV in The Wealth of Nations: By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. (Smith, 1909, p. 351-352) Smith argued that in a fair and free market economic system, producers will act in their own self-interest to maximize their profits. As profits increased, competitors would come about seeking to obtain a share of the profits, and would thus drive down prices through this competition. The result was more efficiency and productivity that would lead to the long term benefit of all of society. He was against any government action that would serve to disrupt this natural balance such as trade restrictions, wage laws, and industry regulation. Smith essentially believed that the more the government stayed out of the way, the better off society would be as a whole. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx makes an argument for an entirely stateless society. â€Å"Political power† he states, â€Å"? is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another. † (Marx & Engels, 2006, p. 3) A common theme of The Communist Manifesto is the struggle between different classes of society, to which Marx simplifies to a clash between the â€Å"bourgeois† and the â€Å"proletariats†. Marx argues that â€Å"The essential condition for the existence, and for the sway of the bourgeois class, is the formation and augmentation of capital; the condition for ca pital is wage-labor. † (Marx & Engels, 2006, p. 19) Marx held the belief that in a pure Communistic society, there would be no classes, and that the government would out of necessity dominate and control the means of production in the economy. The legacy and impact of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was felt throughout Europe shortly after its publication. In England in particular, the British prime ministers sought policies that were attributed to what they had learned in Smith's book including a new commercial treaty with France, customs reform, and a change in fiscal policy that resulted in lower debt and government spending. Government's throughout Europe also began to realize the fallacy of the artificial trade barriers erected between the different countries; so much so that they would prefer to trade with their American colonies more often than their own neighbors. West, 1990) Smith's greatest impact is perhaps the academic contribution to the study of economics. Before The Wealth of Nations, there really was nothing of the sort that so thoroughly examined the fundamentals of economics. Nearly every economist after Smith, including Karl Marx, would use The Wealth of Nations as a primary source and base their argument s off of Smith's suppositions. Marx's influence on the world however was far from an academic exercise. The violent revolution that Marx predicted would need to occur in order for the proletariats to overthrow the bourgeois did indeed occur in Russia during the â€Å"Red October† of 1917. The ruling aristocracy of Russia's Czarists came to an end at the hands of Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks. This would lead to the formation of the communist Soviet Union. During the revolution, the Bolsheviks seized all the private property around the country, gave control of all the factories to the government, nationalized all the banks, seized all of the Church's properties, and declared that they would not honor any foreign debts. Thus the first real attempt at Communism took the form of the Soviet Union; symbolized by the worker's sickle and hammer on the flag. â€Å"October Revolution†, 2008) The actions of the Soviet Union would go on to inspire many other Eastern countries to attempt their own versions of Communism; all consistent with the principles Marx envisioned in The Communist Manifesto. The resulting conflict of economic fundamentals between these Communist entities and the more Capitalist economies of Western Europe and the United States would spark conflict throu ghout much of the 20th century. References capitalism. (2008) In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Retrieved December 17, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Capitalism capitalism. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved December 17, 2008, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/capitalism labor theory of value. (2008) In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Retrieved December 17, 2008 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Labor_theory Marx, K (2000) Das Kapital Gateway Edition, Washington, DC, Regnery Publishing, Inc Marx, K & Engels, F (2006) The Communist Manifesto, New York, Penguin Books October Revolution. 2008) In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Retrieved December 17, 2008, from http http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/October_ Revolution Smith, A (1909) Harvard Classics: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, New York, P F Collier and Son West, E (1990) Adam Smith's Revolution, Past and Present. Adam Smith's Legacy: His thought in our time. 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