Reflection on movie 500 years later Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection on 500 years later - Movie Review Example It would appear as if Africans then were willing and subservient slaves working for Europeans, but in actuality, they tried their best to rise above the horrible conditions they were pushed into. Somehow, it was just inopportune that they were helpless victims to those who had more power then, but all that is part of history now. Being able to view Elmina, said to be the slave colony in Ghana, and getting an idea of how slaves were treated, makes one shudder. Just imagining how they were placed in massive numbers in dungeons with steel plates on their necks, cuffs and ankles, and chains binding them together, creates an image that is so distressing, and it makes one wonder, why did these white people treat the Africans this way? What have they done to deserve this? What’s even ironic is that there is a church on this fortress; it makes you think how can these church-goers even bear to attend mass there knowing that the Africans were suffering in the dungeons in that area? Desp ite being the world’s 2nd largest continent – and possibly even one of the richest, because of their natural resources, one of which is diamonds – Africa has a dark history of slavery behind it which is said to be so deeply-ingrained that even the Africans themselves have a distorted view of what they perceive to be â€Å"the true, the good and the beautiful†. This occurrence is highly-expected due to the long-term bondage and subjection to foreign influences by different countries. Africa was an unwilling pawn in this game, and yet it has received the least desired effects which are still felt up to the present day. As one of the resource persons in the documentary states, what took place in Africa 5 centuries before was one that was physical – the torture, the serfdom, the suffering and vulnerability. Currently, Africa is still deep in slavery, but more on mental enslavement, which is indeed very disturbing. This is made apparent in the following quote: â€Å"African people are the largest consumers of self-mutilation products; skin bleaching, hair straightening, artificial nails, false hair, etc.† This is the effect of the long-term exposure to the Western/European cultures and creating icons which are far removed from what Africans can actually see in the environment they are exposed to. Africans have lost their genuine love for what is truly of African origin and have totally embraced that which was merely fed to them by their Western brethren. What’s more, the act of accepting Western culture as part of being African has been further enriched by attaching negative connotations to the word Black – as evil, dark, ugly, dirty, sinister, etc. – which only served to even widen the gap between the two races. Hence, in trying to be White, the Blacks merely ended up throwing more mud on their faces – not really a great scenario. It is indeed quite unsettling to know that up to the present time , the false notion of White superiority over Blacks is still believed by most Africans. There is still that undeniable stereotype attached by blacks to whites, and vice-versa, and although it has significantly improved, it will still probably take some time to totally eradicate this principle. This, I think, is a common problem which persists among cultures which were colonized and subjected to foreign influe

Regan to Obama years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regan to Obama years - Essay Example This paper seeks to describe major events that took place from the period of Reagan to Obama. There were major historical turning points from Reagan to Obama period. The first major historical turning point was the collapse of communism and the ending of the cold war. The other major historical turning point was increased growth of United States economy in a rate that was never witnessed before during Reagan and Clinton period. The other turning point was the terrorist attack. Another major historical turning point is the Obama health care program. The major historical turning points that took place during this period had an impact on America current society, economy, politics, and culture. The collapse of communism had a tremendous effect on America’s politics (Peck, 2010). It signified the end of tension that existed between America and communist countries. Moreover, the nuclear weapons that were in United States and Soviet Union declined significantly. There was also restor ation of democracy at the expense of communist totalitarianism. Moreover, it led to domination of America economy in the world as capitalism won over communism (Peck, 2010). America influenced other countries to adopt free trade. Secondly, the growth of America economy caused the country employment rate to decline. ... The 9/11 attack led to America change of foreign policy due to the threat posed on homeland security (Purdum, 2003). The attention of America security was heightened that witnessed before. There was also increase in Domestic security measures and continue to affect the everyday lives of all Americans. The other transformation is on the health sector. The Obama health care reforms are expected to change the lives of low-income earners in America. Millions of America who could not get medical cover will now be covered in the Medicaid. On the other hand, insurance will get more premiums at a lower cost. The AIDS epidemics in America shook Americans confidence starting from 1980’s. AIDS was discovered in America in 1981. However, this topic was not frequent among politicians. President Reagan was the first to deny its general presence and even forced his surgeon not to discuss AIDS. Like other politician, he thought the disease was for gay people. With time, the disease spread to other people and affected lives of many Americans (The History of HIV and Aids in American, n.d.). The Centre for Disease Control published the first official record of the disease on June 5, 1981. The documentation involved gay men hospitalized over pneumonia and disseminated Candida infections. After this, many cases were reported while the two gay men died later. The disease was characterized by prejudice and stigma while the government ignored with no public attention. Those who were affected were even denied schooling opportunities. The ignorance of President Reagan and administration caused the activists to blame them on the death of gay men all over the country (The History of HIV and Aids in American, n.d.). The public mention of the disease took

In-depth analysis of the great military leader George S. Patton from a Research Paper

In-depth analysis of the great military leader George S. Patton from a biographical and characteristic analysis prospective - Research Paper Example Background information Having been born in 1885, George S. Patton rose to become one of the finest officers in the army wing of the United States military. General George Patton, born in San Gabriel to George Smith Patton Sr. came from a Scots-Irish and English descent, according to the study of Wilcox (2010). As a little boy, he was a devoted reader; he particularly liked military stories and classics. This is because he grew up in a military family, though some of his relatives died earlier during the war. According to Wellard (2006), George Patton acquired the motivation to venture into military studies from his family members, who had the love of protecting the people and the entire country. George Patton joined Virginia military institute to pursue his ambitions for one year, and there he undertook studies on the Kappa Alpha Order. Having completed the one year course, George Patton enrolled in the United States Military Academy, which made it mandatory for him to repeat his fir st year as a result of poor performance in some subjects including mathematics. Due to George Patton’s enthusiastic attitude, he repeated the subject and received an honor declaring him a Cadet Adjutant, which was the second highest position a cadet could hold. Having shown dedication in his quest for being in the military, George Patton finished his studies in 1909 and was in a position to become cavalry officer. Literature review The essay focuses on the efforts that George Patton made to ensure that one day he becomes an artistic military officer. This is through enrollment in military schools as seen in the book by Sutcliffe (2005). The thesis places emphasis on the achievements of George Patton from the time he was working as a junior officer until the time when he climbed to become a general in the army. The essay focuses on the various expeditions that George Patton went through, the decisions that he was making that would negatively and positively affect various parti es, and the controversy surrounding him. Having been in the World Wars I and II, George Patton’s character depicts exemplary leadership; the essay explains his qualities that depict able leadership, including the decisions made during the attack on France and Mexico. Visiting injured soldiers shows that he was a praiseworthy leader. The essay focuses on the ways and methods used by George Patton in his quest to secure the nation through the military. The findings in the research regarding the efforts done by George Patton are in consideration. This is because they help link the research question with the previous works written by other researchers. Methodology Among the most important expeditions that the general led is the first mobilized military attack by the United State of America. In this punitive expedition, George Patton had a duty of conducting border patrols around the Fort Bliss. During the expeditions, some militia men made an attack on Mexico, killing a number of American citizens. The attackers faced retaliation from the armed forces led by George Patton. The attack mission was under his leadership; as a result of his enthusiasm towards the mission, according to the study work of Rice (2004), George Patton gained the title of personal aide to the general. General Patton also took part in the World War I, according to Rejai and Phillips (2006); at the onset of the war, when America made a decision to participate,

Starbuck’s, Nordstrom, Boeing, Costco and Wal-Mart have all been Essay

Starbuck’s, Nordstrom, Boeing, Costco and Wal-Mart have all been chosenas Fortune Magazine â€Å"USA 100 Best Companies to Work For† Starbuck’s, Nordstrom, Boeing, Costco and Wal-Mart are leaders in their industry and have been doing business successfully. During the research on their Human Resource Management (HRM), I can see their successes are firmly related to their effective and efficient HRM strategies. There are many factors in common among these five companies’ HRM strategies: devotion to employees’ benefits, employee training, a diversified work environment, promotions and rewards system, friendly and healthy workplace and outsourcing opportunities, Starbuck’s business has been boosting year by year. For many people that have had Starbuck’s coffee, they may notice that Starbuck’s customer service is outstanding. Every customer is treated like a VIP and with high quality service. This has a lot to do with Starbuck’s HRM. Starbuck’s provides its management team and employees training to help them better understand its business process. Also, Starbuck’s offers a wide range of job opportunities for people to develop their potential. Nordstrom has reputation of quality products and customer service. From its website introduction, it is not hard to find that Nordstrom gives employees an excellent rewards system to encourage higher standard service, and it values employees at different levels. Every employee that works at Nordstrom will feel he or sh...

Summary of the Supply Chain for Iphone in China

Summary of Supply Chain for iPhone Highlights Costs in China David Barboza states that for nearly years, the cost of the supply chain for iPhone in China has increased significantly. However, the labor cost is still remaining unchanged, which is relatively low. This often takes place in the Southern China, where workers are paid less than a dollar an hour in the production process of this high-end product. The company spends only 7 percents of the total cost on paying labors that involved in the final assembly while the remaining parts are spent mostly on the other components involved in the supply chain, such as microchips. Due to the higher costs in the supply chain, Apple has to squeeze more costs out of the system as Jenny Lai has mentioned in the article. In order to cut down the cost, the company planned to relocate the factories and workers to other parts of China, where the cost for labor and raw materials is cheaper; the strengthening Chinese currency makes exports more expensive, as well as the high inflation rate and housing cost, hence the cost of making devices increased. According to the analysts, the manufacturers with low-margin profit are unflavored for Apple to contract with. Meanwhile, owing to the comments made by Professor Jason Dedrick, the world of contract manufacturers is unfair to the workers in the fact that they have to work under great pressure with a low wage and insufficient rest. Therefore, since 2005, the underpaid workers started pressing the pressure to the company by acquiring a raised wage. However, Foxconn, one of the Apple’s major manufacturers is considering moving inland. It is because this can help to maintain a lower wage and cheaper source of raw materials for the production of iPhone. Many analysts are optimistic in finding new innovations to improve profitability in relative to the high cost in the supply chain. Yet, the ways they used is to pressurize the workers to work in an inhuman system. Therefore, Mr. Wang at iSuppli Research has concluded that the labor-intensive model is not sustainable in China. To conclude, this type of low-end assembly work doesn’t produce big returns for iPhone in China. Due to the fact that China doesn’t want to work for other countries, it would like to attain its real value which knowledge can be found.

Individualism in China - 1039 Words

Individualism - the lack of it or the excess of it - has often been considered a major problem in the modernization of China. In the early decades of this century reformers championed individualism in opposition to traditional authority in both thought and social life, and especially in opposition to the Confucian family system. Others contended that what thwarted Chinas modernization was not the absence of individualism but rather a surplus of it. The common term for individualism in modern East Asia ï ¼Ë†in Chinese ge-ren zhu-i) represents a Western idea, and implies that no such ism exsited in traditional thought. Thus it symbolizes the challenge of a new idea to traditional values and suggests the advocacy of change.†¦show more content†¦Though it has a positive aspect in affirming the individuals freedom from society and his own transcendent value, from the standpoint of society this has no effect on the status of other individuals. â€Å"It makes no positive claim wi thin society. â€Å"(Etienne Balazaï ¼â€° By contrast, there is a more affirmative and socially defined individualism which seeks to establish the place of the individual or self in relation to others, to secure his status in some institutional framework. Confucianism attempts this in relation to the family and state. However, Confucianism made a bad bargain for the individual. He was made to sacrifice more to the group than he got in return. It remains true that the Confuican almost alone in traditional China concerned himself with defining and establishing some positive role for the individual in society. It was by virtue of this active social and political endeavor that Confucianism became a vehicle for the growth of a new humanism and individualism in Neo-Confucianism. At the same time, the question of the relation between this new trendcies deriving from Buddhism and Taoism remains a real one throughout this period. This is because none of these systems falls wholly within on e or the other of our categories. The Confucian conception of the self is not without a metaphysical aspect, nor the Buddhist and Taoist wholly without some social orientation. All three haveShow MoreRelatedCultural Differences Of Business Practices1625 Words   |  7 Pagescustomers. Currently, China is the world s second largest economy, behind only the United States and the world s biggest exporter, with its development rate surprising the world. On the other hand, the UK is one of the most developed countries in the world. It enjoys a high reputation in commerce and trade. 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Laissez-faire Versus Government Intervention

Historically, the U.S. government policy toward business was summed up by the French term laissez-faire -- leave it alone. The concept came from the economic theories of Adam Smith, the 18th-century Scot whose writings greatly influenced the growth of American capitalism. Smith believed that private interests should have a free rein. As long as markets were free and competitive, he said, the actions of private individuals, motivated by self-interest, would work together for the greater good of society. Smith did favor some forms of government intervention, mainly to establish the ground rules for free enterprise. But it was his advocacy of laissez-faire practices that earned him favor in America, a country built on faith in the individual and distrust of authority. Laissez-faire practices have not prevented private interests from turning to the government for help on numerous occasions, however. Railroad companies accepted grants of land and public subsidies in the 19th century. Industries facing strong competition from abroad have long appealed for protections through trade policy. American agriculture, almost totally in private hands, has benefited from government assistance. Many other industries also have sought and received aid ranging from tax breaks to outright subsidies from the government. Government regulation of private industry can be divided into two categories -- economic regulation and social regulation. Economic regulation seeks, primarily, to control prices. Designed in theory to protect consumers and certain companies (usually small businesses) from more powerful companies, it often is justified on the grounds that fully competitive market conditions do not exist and therefore cannot provide such protections themselves. In many cases, however, economic regulations were developed to protect companies from what they described as destructive competition with each other. Social regulation, on the other hand, promotes objectives that are not economic -- such as safer workplaces or a cleaner environment. Social regulations seek to discourage or prohibit harmful corporate behavior or to encourage behavior deemed socially desirable. The government controls smokestack emissions from factories, for instance, and it provides tax breaks to companies that offer their emplo yees health and retirement benefits that meet certain standards. American history has seen the pendulum swing repeatedly between laissez-faire principles and demands for government regulation of both types. For the last 25 years, liberals and conservatives alike have sought to reduce or eliminate some categories of economic regulation, agreeing that the regulations wrongly protected companies from competition at the expense of consumers. Political leaders have had much sharper differences over social regulation, however. Liberals have been much more likely to favor government intervention that promotes a variety of non-economic objectives, while conservatives have been more likely to see it as an intrusion that makes businesses less competitive and less efficient. --- Next Article: Growth of Government Intervention in the Economy This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.