返回列表 发帖

African Americans In South

African Americans In South

       As a social and economic institution, slavery originated
in the times when humans began farming instead of hunting and
gathering. Slave labor became commonplace in ancient Greece and
Rome. Slaves were created through the capture of enemies, the
birth of children to slave parents, and means of punishment.

Enslaved Africans represented many different peoples, each with
distinct cultures, religions, and languages. Most originated from
the coast or the interior of West Africa, between present-day
Senegal and Angola. Other enslaved peoples originally came from
Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa. Slavery became of major
economic importance after the sixteenth century with the
European conquest of South and Central America. These slaves
had a great impact on the sugar and tobacco industries.

A triangular trade route was established with Europe for alcohol
and firearms in exchange for slaves. The slaves were then traded
with Americans for molasses and (later) cotton. In 1619 the first
black slave arrived in Virginia. The demands of European consumers
for New World crops and goods helped fuel the slave trade. A
strong family and community life helped sustain African Americans
in slavery. People often chose their own partners, lived under the
same roof, raised children together, and protected each other.
Brutal treatment at the hands of slaveholders, however, threatened
black family life. Enslaved women experienced sexual exploitation
at the hands of slaveholders and overseers. Bondspeople lived with
the constant fear of being sold away from their loved ones, with no
chance of reunion. Historians estimate that most bondspeople were
sold at least once in their lives. No event was more traumatic in
the lives of enslaved individuals than that of forcible separation
from their families. People sometimes fled when they heard of an
impending sale.

During the 17th and 18th century enslaved African Americans in
the Upper South mostly raised tobacco. In coastal South
Carolina and Georgia, they harvested indigo for dye and grew rice,
using agricultural expertise brought with them from Africa.
By the 1800s rice, sugar, and cotton became the South's leading
cash crops. The patenting of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793
made it possible for workers to gin separate the seeds from the
fiber some 600 to 700 pounds daily, or ten times more cotton than
permitted by hand. The Industrial Revolution, centered in Great
Britain, quadrupled the demand for cotton, which soon became
America's leading export. Planters' acute need for more cotton
workers helped expand southern slavery. By the Civil War, the
South exported more than a million tons of cotton annually to
Great Britain and the North. An area still called the “Black Belt”,
which stretched across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,
grew some 80 percent of the nation's crop. In parts of the “Black
Belt”, enslaved African Americans made up more than three-fourths
of the total population.

Even though slavery existed throughout the original thirteen
colonies, nearly all the northern states, inspired by American
independence, abolished slavery by 1804. As a matter of conscience
some southern slaveholders also freed their slaves or permitted them
to purchase their freedom. Until the early 1800s, many southern
states allowed these emancipations to legally take place. Although
the Federal Government outlawed the overseas slave trade in 1808,
the southern enslaved African American population continued to grow.
By 1860 some 4 million enslaved African Americans lived throughout
the South. Only Southern states believed slavery to be a major,
and essential, economic factor. Whether on a small farm or a
large plantation, most enslaved people were agricultural laborers.
They worked literally from sunrise to sunset in the fields or at
other jobs. Some bondspeople held specialized jobs as artisans,
skilled laborers, or factory workers. A smaller number worked as cooks, butlers, or maids. Slavery became an issue in the economic struggles
between Southern plantation owners and Northern industrialists in
the first half of the 19th century, a struggle that culminated in
the American Civil War. Despite the common perception to the
contrary, the war was not fought primarily on the slavery issue.

Abraham Lincoln, however, saw the political advantages of promising
freedom for Southern slaves, and the Emancipation Proclamation was
enacted in 1863. This was reinforced after the war by the 13th, 14th,
and 15th amendments to the US constitution (1865, 1868, and 1870),
which abolished slavery altogether and guaranteed citizenship and
civil rights to former slaves. Following the Civil War, Southern
states passed laws called "Black Codes". A Black Code was a law which
limited or restricted a certain activity or way of life for the African Americans. Mississippi banned interracial marriages with the threat
of certain death if the law was broken. Other codes restricted where
the Blacks could own land. All were attempts to keep the government
from giving the "forty acres of land" to former slaves. Since a
majority of the Southern population was made of Blacks, whites
feared they would eventually "take over". This led to the brutal
killings of many Blacks by the KKK and other white supremacist
groups. Blacks who tried to exercise power were either killed or
had some other form of physical action taken against them.

Although in 1880 voting booths were open to all, only some Whites
let Blacks vote, usually when this happened, they were watched
under the careful eye of a KKK leader. Sadly enough a Black trying
to pursue his right to vote was often met with death or loss of
income. According to the Ku Klux Klan, they stand for five "simple"
views. The first being "The White Race" being the Aryan race and
its Christian faith. The second, "America First" states that
"America comes first before any foreign or alien influence or
interest". "The Constitution" as they believe should be followed
exactly as written and intended, and is considered by their
group "the finest system of government ever conceived by man". The fourth, "Free Enterprise" was the end to high-finance exploitation.
And finally, "ositive Christianity" was the right of Americans
to practice their Christian faith, including but not limited to
prayer in school.

Preconceived notions are quite arguably the
most widely acknowledged form of racism today. Use of derogatory
terms, such as the quite offensive "n-word" and slang such as
"spook", "porch monkey", etc. are all terms people of all race's
use to refer to Blacks. Even situations can become unnecessarily
frightening because of preconceived notions we have been led to
believe about Blacks. For example, if a white woman has gotten
lost while driving and stumbles into a predominantly "black"
neighborhood, she would be more likely to panic and become
frightened then if she were lost in a neighborhood considered to
be predominantly "white". Fears and ideals such as these have been
instilled in our society for years, which leads to the occurrence
of racial hate. It is obvious that racism still exists in many
forms throughout our nation and throughout the world.
Example of this racism is present in almost every aspect of
society to this day. Although slavery was outlawed in our country
following the Civil War, African-Americans have never been able
to enjoy the freedom that Caucasians have, and probably never
will. Years and years of oppression have led to an
attitude of inferiority by the African Americans that will,
quite possibly, never fade. What humility to society in general
that this institution existed.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

Civil Rights Movement

               
Civil Rights Movement: 1890-1970

1890: The state of Mississippi adopts poll taxes and
literacy tests to discourage black voters.

1895: Booker T. Washington delivers his Atlanta
Exposition speech, which accepts segregation of the races.

1896: The Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson the
separate but equal treatment of the races is constitutional.

1900-1910

1900-1915: Over one thousand blacks are lynched in the
states of the former Confederacy.

1905: The Niagara Movement is founded by W.E.B. du Bois
and other black leaders to urge more direct action to
achieve black civil rights.

1910-1920

1910: National Urban League is founded to help the conditions
of urban African Americans.

1920-1930
1925: Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey is convicted
of mail fraud.

1928: For the first time in the 20th century an African
American is elected to Congress.

1930-1940
1931: Farrad Muhammad establishes in Detroit what will
become the Black Muslim Movement.

1933: The NAACP files -and loses- its firs suit against
segregation and discrimination in education.

1938: The Supreme Court orders the admission of a black
applicant to the University of Missouri Law School

1941: A. Philip Randoph threatens a massive march on
Washington unless the Roosevelt administration takes
measures to ensure black employment in defense industries;
Roosevelt agrees to establish Fair Employment Practices
Committee (FEPC).

1942: The congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is organized
in Chicago.

1943: Race riots in Detroit and Harlem cause black leaders
to ask their followers to be less demanding in asserting
their commitment to civil rights; A. Philip Randolph breaks
ranks to call for civil disobedience against Jim Crow schools
and railroads.

1946: The Supreme Court, in Morgan v. The Commonwealth of
Virginia, rules that state laws requiring racial segregation
on buses violates the Constitution when applied to interstate
passengers.

1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the color line in major league
baseball.

1947: To Secure These Rights, the report by the President’s
Committee on Civil Rights, is released; the commission,
appointed by President Harry S. Truman, recommends government
action to secure civil rights for all Americans.

1948: President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order
desegregating the armed services.


1950-1960

1950: The NAACP decides to make its legal strategy a full-scale
attack on educational segregation.

1954: First White Citizens Council meeting is held in Mississippi.

1954: School year begins with the integration of 150 formerly
segregated school districts in eight states; many other school
districts remain segregated.

1955: The Interstate Commerce Commission bans racial segregation
in all facilities and vehicles engaged in interstate transportation.

1955: Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat
to a white person; the action triggers a bus boycott in Montgomery,
Alabama, let by Martin Luther King Jr.

1956: The home of Martin Luther King Jr. is bombed.

1956: The Montgomery bus boycott ends after the city receives
U. S. Supreme Court order to desegregate city buses.

1957: Martin Luther King Jr. and a number of southern black
clergymen create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC).

1958: Ten thousand students hold a Youth March for Integrated
Schools in Washington, D.C.

1959: Sit-in campaigns by college students desegregate
eating facilities in St. Louis, Chicago, and Bloomington,
Indiana; the Tennessee Christian Leadership Conference holds
brief sit-ins in Nashville department stores.

1960-1970

1960: Twenty-five hundred students and community members in
Nashville, Tennessee, stage a march on city hall—the first
major demonstration of the civil rights movement—following
the bombing of the home of a black lawyer.

1960: John F. Kennedy is elected president by a narrow margin.

1961: Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy
hold a secret meeting at which King learns that the new
president will not push hard for new civil rights legislation.

1962: Ku Klux Klan dynamite blasts destroy four black churches
in Georgia towns.

1962: President Kennedy federalizes the National Guard and
sends several hundred federal marshals to Mississippi to
guarantee James Meredith’s admission to the University of
Mississippi Law School over the opposition of Governor Ross
Barnett and other whites; two people are killed in a campus riot.

1963: Black students Vivian Malone and James Hood enter the
University of Alabama despite a demonstration of resistance
by Governor George Wallace; in a nationally televised speech
President John F. Kennedy calls segregation morally wrong.

1963: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated; Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson assumes the presidency.

1964: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which prohibits discrimination in most public accommodations,
authorizes the federal government to withhold funds from programs
practicing discrimination, and creates the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.

1964: Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1965: Malcolm X is assassinated while addressing a rally of his
followers in New York City; three black men are ultimately
convicted of the murder.

1965: Rioting in the black ghetto of Watts in Los Angeles leads
to 35 deaths, 900 injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.
1966: Martin Luther King Jr. moves to Chicago to begin his first
civil rights campaign in a northern city.

1966: Martin Luther King Jr. leads an integrated march in Chicago
and is wounded when whites throw bottles and bricks at demonstrators.

1966: The Black Panther Party (BPP) is founded in Oakland,
California.

1966: James Meredith is shot by a sniper while on a one man
“march against fear” in Mississippi.

1967: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his first speech devoted
entirely to the war in Vietnam, which he calls ‘one of history’s
most cruel and senseless wars’; his position causes estrangement
with President Johnson and is criticized by the NAACP.

1967: Rioting at all-black Jackson State College in Mississippi
leads to one death and two serious injuries.

1967: Thurgood Marshall is the first black to be nominated to
serve on the Supreme Court.

1967: Rioting in the black ghetto of Newark, New Jersey, leaves 23
dead and 725 injured; rioting in Detroit leaves 43 dead and 324
injured; President Johnson appoints Governor Otto Kerner of
Illinios to head a commission to investigate recent urban riots.

1968: The Kerner Commission issues its report, warning that the
nation is ‘moving toward two societies, one black, one white—
separate and unequal.”

1968: Martin Luther King Jr. travels to Memphis, Tennessee, to
help settle a garbage worker strike.

1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray
in Memphis, Tennessee, precipitating riots in more than one
hundred cities.

1968: Congress passes civil rights legislation prohibiting racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.

1968: Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr.’s successor as head
of the SCLC, leads Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C.

1969: The Supreme Court replaces its 1954 decision calling for
“all deliberate speed” in school desegregation by unanimously
ordering that all segregation in schools mush end “at once".



[此贴子已经被spry于2002-10-31 1:45:05编辑过]

\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

US Government

hi,maryland, hope this helps.


US Government


     The U.S. Government has three branches of government:
Legislative, Judicial, and Executive. These branches of
government have a mean of checks (constitutional) by the
other branches. Each has certain powers to check and
balances the other two branches. The good about these
checks is for that the other two branches don’t get to
powerful. When the constitution was first forming, the
checks and balances where first used. Each branch of
government is different.

Legislative branch is made up of the Congress. The
Executive branch is the President and his staff. The
Judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court and
other Federal courts. Legislative branch makes the
law, Executive branch carries out the law, and judicial
branch interprets the law. During time the system of
Checks and Balances were use over the years as it was
intended to do. Congress makes the laws, creates agencies
and programs, and appropriates funds to carry out the
laws and programs. They may override veto with two-thirds
vote, may remove the President through impeachment, and
the Senate approves treaties and presidential appointments.
The Executive branch appoints Supreme Court Justices and
other federal judges. The Judicial branch judges, appointed
for life, are free from executive control. They also have
the courts declare executive actions to be unconstitutional.

Clashes between each branch are hardly ever known. The system
of check-balance system operates all the time. Most of the
checks happen in the Capital. But some clashes can occur; The
President does veto some acts of Congress. On some occasion,
Congress has override one of the president vetoes. And some
rare occasion, the Senate does reject one of the president’s
appointees. And most direct confrontations are not common. The
three branches try to avoid them. The Checks-and-Balance
system makes compromise easy and necessary-and its part of
the democratic government.

In James Madison in his essay, The federalist No.51, uses
words to describe the main idea the uses of Checks and Balances
or in other words keeping the branches of government
“in their proper places.” An example, when the President
picks someone to serve in some important office in the
executive branch. Say the Secretary of State of the Director
of the F.B.I or the C.I.A, and the President is aware that
the Senate must confirm that appointment. In other words the
President picks someone who will very likely be approved
by the Senate. In similar was when Congress makes law. It
does so with a careful eye on the President’s veto power.
And the power of the courts to review its actions.

Checks-and-balances system has prevented “an unjust combination
of the majority.” It has not very often stalled a close working
relationship between the executive, legislative, and judicial
branches from time to time. The President and a majority in
both houses of Congress are especially true in good working
relationship. When the other party controls one or both houses,
conflicts play a larger than usual part in that relationship-
as they have in recent years. As part of the system of checks
and balances, court have the power of judicial review. The
power to decide whether what government does is in accord with
what the Constitution provides In other words the U.S. government
has used the system of checks and balances for many of years.
And it will be this way for many other years until someone
changes it. But I think that will come to mind.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

Indian Tribe


    The Southwest Region Native American tribe that is discussed
in the following focuses on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community. The Pima-Maricopa Indians have struggled and endured
a constant hardship of events in its background, history, and
location. Thomas Dobyns, the author of The Pima and Maricopa stated,”
they have suffered through their worst years at the hands of
ruthless investors and land grabbers, and the fight to undo the
damage will never end. Descendants of the region’s original
inhabitants are, however, gaining skills in law, business,
farming, and community organization that they are utilizing to
win back the water and land that was once theirs.”

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community is in-fact two
Indian tribes, made up of the Pima tribe and the Maricopa tribe.
According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes,
these two tribes joined together between 1740 and 1780 in a
federation and would be governed by a single tribal council,
although they would follow their own tribal traditions.
Although speaking distinctly different languages the Maricopa
and Pima have since dwelled in harmony. The Pima Indian tribe
is believed to be the ancient ancestors of the Hohokam. The
Hohokam were a farming tribe that mysteriously vanished centuries
ago. The Pima attributed their decline to the rapacity of foreign
tribes, who came in three bands, and killing or enslaving many
of their inhabitants destroying their pueblos, devastating their
fields, and killing or enslaving many of their inhabitants.
It is speculated the Hohokam people may have suffered from
plague and disease after physical contact with the Spaniards.
The ancient Hohokam villages can still be seen today at different archaeological sites in the southwest.

The Pima had abundance of water from the Gila River that gave
the Pima a distinct agricultural advantage over other Indian
communities. Therefore they had less need to wander in search
of wild foods and were able to live a settled life in villages
near the river. Pima translates to “Akimel O’Odham,” which
means river people. They developed irrigation systems that
channeled water to their fields; this promoted a more abundant
supply of food. They also benefited from the Spanish, whom
introduced them to wheat. Wheat being a winter crop allowed them
to double their productivity, this resulted in a surplus of
grains and allowed the Pima to engage in an increased amount
of trading and commerce. The Pima remained neutral during the
Mexican-American War, which took place from 1846 to 1848.
Shortly after the Mexican-American War the land the Pima dwelled
on became U.S. territory.

During the California gold rush of 1849 the tribe thrived on
agriculture, bartering food and livestock for guns and shovels
to U.S. troops and prospectors passing through. They also
protected them from Indian raids on the white-man. The Maricopa
joined the Pima, whose language they did not understand, for
mutual protection against their enemies. They were at war with
the Mohave and Yavapai Indians as late as 1857 near Maricopa
Wells, South Arizona. The result was 90 of the 93 Yuman warriors
gave their lives in battle, after this disaster for the Yumans
they never wandered further up the Gila River.

The years preceding 1871 were devastating for the tribe due to
a shortage of water from the Salt River attributable to the
recent non-Indian settlements. The Pima were unable to reclaim
their water rights, causing the failure of crops and before long
famine that would diminish the population of the tribe
significantly.

Today the Pima tribe resides in Southern Arizona
along the Gila and Salt rivers, near Phoenix, Arizona. The Spanish
estimated there were approximately 2,000-3,000 members of the
tribe in 1694, and a 1989 census showed a joint population of
about 16,800 members. Evidence shows that the Maricopa Indians
originated in Southern California. Prior to the fifteenth century
they dwelled near the shores of the Salton Sea, approximately
fifty miles east of San Diego. The Maricopa migrated east towards
the Colorado River basin. The Maricopa tribe lived among other
Yuman language speaking tribes. Living among other tribes caused
constant fighting because of the scarcity of available resources.
By the early 1600’s the Yuman speakers were divided on the lower
Colorado River Valley into three distinct groups. The Mohave had
settled in the Mohave River Valley northward along the Colorado.
The Quenchan had settled at the junction of the Gila and Colorado
Rivers. And the Cocomaricopa settled between the Mohave and
Quenchan tribes.

By the mid 1700’s the Maricopa were being victimized by both
the Mohave and the Quenchan. They were forced upstream with their
rancherios extending about 40 miles along the Gila from the mouth
of the Hassayampa to the Auguas Caliente. Later, that same decade,
they made their historic alliance with the Pimas for mutual
protection against their kindred. The Maricopa tribe was at war with
the Mohave and Yavapai Indians as late as 1857 near Maricopa Wells
in southern Arizona. The result was 90 of the 93 Yuman warriors
gave their lives in battle. After this disaster for the Yumans
they never wandered further up the Gila River. Two years later
the United States Congress created the Gila River Reservation
on which they still live today. In 1775 the Maricopa population
was estimated at 10,000, and only 200 in 1986.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

[推荐]BEE-Background Essay Everyday

in this series, you can get some background information on various topics.


[此贴子已经被tongxun于2002-11-1 23:14:33编辑过]

收藏 分享
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

Boston Tea Party

             The Boston Tea Party was the key-event for the
Revolutionary War. With this act, the colonists started the
violent part of the revolution. It was the first try of the
colonists, to rebel with violence against their own government.
The following events were created by the snowball effect.
There, all the colonists realized the first time, which they
were treated wrong by the British government. It was an
important step towards the independence dream, which was resting
in the head of each colonist. They all flew from their mother
country to start a new life in a new world, but the British
government didn't gine them the possibility by controlling them.

             The events leading to the Boston Tea Party began
already ten years before (1763), when the English won the
French-and-Indian War. The king of Britain passed taxes on the
colonies to make up for the loss of money because of the war.
He did it in a line of acts, called the Sugar Act (tax to
protect and secure the colonists) and the Stamp Act ( tax on
all licences, newspapers and business papers ). The colonists
reacted with protests against those acts, what made the British
Parliament to repeal the taxes within 5 months. Then they (the
government) passed taxes on lead, paint, paper and tea. These
acts were called the Townshed Duties, but the colonists called
them the "Insidious Acts". Mass meetings were held and people
tried to influence others not to buy English imported goods
anymore. In the end the parliament removed all the taxes except
for tea. Actually the colonists easily didn't want to accept,
to pay taxes to a government, they don't really belong to
anymore. Although this tax on the tea cost a colonial family just
pennies a year. Sam Adams, a kind of leader of the colonists,
figured out, that the tax could be raised or lowered by the
parliament at will. (Sam Adams: "The power to tax is the power
to destroy!" ).He also pointed out, that the colonists had no
representation in the Parliament, and that they can't be taxed
without having a representation in there, to care for their
interests and wills. However, most people drank tea smuggled
in from the Netherlands, so they didn't care very much whether
the parliament raises or lowers the taxes. When the East India
Tea company realized, that the colonists were drinking cheap,
smuggled tea, the Parliament gave them ( the company ) the
monopoly to export tea without paying duties. That way the tea
could be much cheaper than the holland tea, even with the taxes.
This act was called the Tea Act, which was of great importance
for the following Boston Tea Party.

             The colonists reacted to this act by holding
meetings to discuss it. Supporter of the revolution (just
to name some of them: John Adams, John Hancock, Dr. Joseph
Warren) wrote letters of protest to the government's officials,
but they didn't achieve anything. The tea ships arriving in
Boston still had to pay the full British tax.

             In September, 1773, a radical group of colonists
found out, that three East India tea cargo ships, laden full
with tea, were heading for Boston under full sail. They knew,
that if the ships got unloaded and the tax would be paid, it
would be a crushing defeat.

             The same radical group wanted to make the agents
of the East India Company resign from their job in front of a
big crowd, but this part didn't work. Over the following weeks
speeches in form of propaganda were made, to get all colonists
informed about the events. People even quitted drinking tea
(what they did for their whole life ) and started drinking
coffee.

             The actual event On November 18th, 1773, the ships
arrived. Pamphlets were posted to arrange a meeting between the
citizens and the governor ( Hutchison ), called the "Committee
of Correspondence". They wanted him to call the ships back to
Britain. When he didn't agree, a bunch of men, disguised as
Indians, went and stormed towards the harbor, planning to throw
the tea into the bay. They divided in three groups, each of them
with one leader. After they made the captain and his crew getting
down below, they grabbed all the boxes of tea, opened them and
threw them overboard. Even some members of the crew helped them
to destroy the tea. A big crowed was created in the harbor, some
of them even tried to steal some tea. Altogether they destroyed
340 chests. At 10:00 pm the event was over, and the streets of
Boston were empty again. The next day everybody was happy, and
plans were made, to public the important event in all colonies
of America.

                 The reactions of the British Government were
called the "Intolerable Acts". The Boston Harbor was closed by
4000 British soldiers, so that Boston couldn't get any food or
other important goods. But this act failed it's mission, because
the other colonists sent the Boston citizens food and other
life important goods. They also created a militia to protct
themselves of the British army. They also weren't allowed to
held any meetings in Boston anymore. These tries to get the
colonies under their control again were the last ones with a
view of success.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

Television Violence

Many shows include violence as a key factor to interest public
viewers. However, people may think television violence is one
of the many causes for everyday violence. Dr. Littner has
slightly disagreed with this theory and explained his reasoning.
Dr. Littner believes that television does not create the desire
for violence but supports the existing desire that cannot be
taken away. Personally, I agree with Dr. Littner’s opinion
because his reasoning is rational and logical. If a mature
teen were following a television program that included rape,
it would be very unlikely for him/her to go out and rape a
person. On the contrary, if an emotionally disturbed teenager
were following the same program, the chances would be more
likely for him/her to rape a person. The maturity of the
viewer, the way in which the violence is shown, and the age
of the viewer are all factors that affect violence caused by
television. If the viewer is very emotionally disturbed then
the more likely for the viewer to have difficulty controlling
his/her disturbed emotions. It may also be unsafe if the
violence is presented unrealistically and is purposely shown
to attract an audience. A mature adult may be angered and
insulted by inappropriate displays of violence. A normal
adolescent may not know how to handle violence and as a result
may be attracted to the violence. The television show, “Beavis
and Butthead”, which is an animated show with two boys playing
practical jokes for fun, shows the significance of the age of
the viewer. The jokes consist of dangerous results if taken
literally. For example, a few years ago, the show had the two
animated characters light a curtain on fire. About two weeks
later, the news announced that a young boy had lit his curtains
on fire, which led to an explosion. It was said by the news that
the show “Beavis and Butthead” had caused the young boy to do
so. This example explains exactly how the swayed audience of
violence can lead to destruction, being that the young boy was
too young to understand the consequences.



[此贴子已经被spry于2002-11-5 22:28:57编辑过]

\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

IT Technology

             The successful company will be driven to increase
stakeholder value and profitability while creating a working
environment that encourages and nurtures the growth of personal
creativity and development as well as nurturing a sense of well-
being for all members of the organization. When dealing with the
forces that drive industry competition, a company can devise a
strategy that takes the offensive. This posture is designed to
do more than merely cope with the forces themselves; it is meant
to alter their causes. The IT professional's role in competitive
market intelligence The IT professional is increasingly being
called upon to be a sleuth in the quest for the competitive
market intelligence that is so necessary to support the
enterprise's overall business strategy. In today's fast-changing
marketplace, it is essential to monitor the techniques of similar
businesses, and IT is being called upon to fulfill that
functional need. IT must provide marketing with answers to vital
questions such as: 1. How are competitors getting business?
2. Where does the enterprise look for new customers? 3. How are
prospects targeted? 4. What services, products, and prices do
competitors offer? 5. What images do our competitors project,
and how does that compare to our image? The combined strength
of marketing and IT Enterprises have depended on marketing for
too long to provide competitive intelligence. It is crucial for
IT professionals to contribute their specialized expertise to
successfully adapt to the changing dynamics of the market arena.
Marketing cannot do the job without the cooperation, tools, and
willing support of the IT department. With the combined strength
of the two complementary functions, a winning competitive market
intelligence program is within the enterprise's reach. Useful
and sometimes surprising insights can be gained from exploring
the terrain of actual and potential competitors. Hardly an
academic exercise, sizing up the competition should become an
ongoing, regular, and systematic process of gathering, analyzing,
and acting upon relevant data, which will provide businesses with
two tangible benefits:  It will reveal the steps that
management must take to preempt competitive strikes. 

It will signal new market opportunities. Competitive monitoring
enables management to develop practical strategies and measure
the success of their actions. What you should know Simply
knowing who your competitors are is not enough; you should also
ferret out what their strategies and objectives are. You can
gauge their strengths and weaknesses by learning about their
products and services (current and new), pricing, features, and
the level of customer satisfaction. How are your products or
services positioned relative to the competition? Do your
customers and prospects see your service as having the highest
quality and still selling at the lower price? Is your product
viewed as the low-cost brand, the premium-priced brand, the old
standby, or the leader? After getting some comments, it may
still be neither possible nor desirable to change your service's
features. Instead, research could point out what to communicate
and how to communicate to your market. For example, you could
tell your marketing department what potential customers are
looking for and highlight the features that are valued by your
customers. Your information will enable the marketing people
to create materials that tell customers what they want to hear
and sell them what they want to buy. Differences can be subtle
but they really do matter. Are yesterday's customers and clients
being lured away by today's competition? Are they being tempted
by the competition's siren song? Are they saying yes to your
rival's lower fees or discounts? Are they buying new products or
services that your company has not even thought of offering? Who
will provide the answers? IT can, at the very least, provide
meaningful data to formulate the correct solutions. Potential
market threats While management understands the importance of
keeping an eye on the competition, some members of management
mistakenly believe that the marketing department alone has the
resources to do a proper job. This is simply not true. Much
valuable information exists in the database mines of the IT
function. The IT professional must do some of the digging in
those mines to find it. Most IT professionals are already in an
excellent position to obtain and use primary competitive
information and need only the encouragement or permission of
management. Frequently, IT has become the central repository for
this kind of competitive analysis information. However, using the
information can be a challenge when different departments within
the company engage in territorial squabbles, and the company is
forced to dilute valuable resources through unnecessary
duplications of effort. In such situations, management must educate
all departments to funnel customer and prospect data back to a
central IT point. Emphasize your strengths The benefits of a
competitive intelligence effort coordinated by the IT department
are: 1. Learning the enterprise's strengths and weaknesses.
2. Learning whom is and who is not buying.
3. Determining customers' and prospects' buying plans.
4. Anticipating rather than reacting to the market.
5. Taking the competition seriously.
They are not going to vanish. Equally important, but
occasionally overlooked, is that competitive research, if done
well, can give your company a refreshing appreciation of the
role of the IT function and a better understanding of your
company's own competitive strengths. You may discover, for
instance, that your firm's style or delivery is more appreciated
or valued by customers than management may have realized.
Knowing this facilitates your exploitation of those strengths.
Conclusion In conclusion, the awareness of these forces can help
a company stake out a position in its industry that is less
vulnerable to attack. Many factors determine the nature of
competition, including not only rivals, but also the economics
of particular industries, new entrants, the bargaining power of
customers and suppliers, and the threat of substitute services or
products. A strategic plan of action based on this might include:
positioning the company so that its capabilities provide the best
defense against the competitive forces; influencing the balance
of forces through strategic moves; and anticipating shifts in the
factors underlying competitive forces. Increasingly, corporations
are recognizing the strategic role of the operations function.
These organizations are discovering that a focus on customer needs
is effective only if the operations function is designed and
managed to meet those needs. From acquiring raw materials to
fabricating parts, to assembling products, to customer delivery,
a total systems perspective can enable them, in the ideal, to
fashion an operations function like the inner workings of a finely
tuned machine. Today that operation can be fine-tuned by using
modern information systems.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

Gun Control

             Gun control is an action of the government that is supposed to reduce crime. Congress has passed many laws on this subject and there really has not been an effect. Gun control has been a controversial issue for years, but the citizens of the United States have a right to own guns and the Constitution states that. On the government's path to control guns they created the Brady Act. Handgun Control Incorporated is the major organization for lobbying, and introducing legislation on gun control. It is headed by Sarah Brady, wife of former White House Press Secretary James Brady. James Brady was shot during an attempt on President Reagan's life in 1981. Sarah is the one responsible for introducing this bill. This bill was supposed to stop criminals from obtaining guns. If an individual wants a firearm bad enough, chances are they will get one (Brennen and Polsby). All it does Is prevent honest people from being able to purchase guns. The person purchasing the gun has to wait for two week while the government performs a background check. The problem with this is it stops the average citizen from purchasing a gun on the whim, while it protects the common criminal. What if a burglar enters a house with full intention to maim or kill? The innocent victim can not get a gun to protect his family because he was arrested seven years ago for drunk driving (Larson). According to the General Accounting Office, in the first seventeen months of the law's existence only seven criminals were convicted for attempting to buy a handgun. Banning more and more guns may reduce gun violence, but it will not eliminate guns from society and will only lead to more and bigger problems. While continuing to take more freedom away from the American people. Gun control laws do not prevent little kids from using guns and harming people. Violent video games help children with their marksmanship and to get over their fear of shooting someone. Parents of three slain girls in the Heath School shootings are going after the manufacturers. They feel that violent video games are partially responsible for their children's death. They claim that the video game taught the shooter how to be an excellent marksman. The boy had never used a gun, but was skilled enough to hit eight moving targets in only eight shots (Prichard). Another fact that backs up the parent's belief is that of military training. Each year billions of dollars are spent to train police and the military how to shoot. Video simulation is the best way to help overcome the natural resistance that most people have about shooting someone. Studies show that people are extraordinary susceptible to programming. One main difference between military training and video games is that military instructions are constantly pausing the action and where the video game is in constant action (Blakemore). There is no direct relationship between the number of guns and the amount of crime in the United States. Between 1973 and 1992, the rate of gun ownership increased by forty-five percent while the homicide rate during that period fell by nearly ten percent. Even with the increasing number of guns in society the homicide rate decreased, highlighting that guns are not the root of the problem, people are. Guns do not kill people, people kill people. Guns do not work as self-protection against criminals. Guns are just as valuable to civilians as they are to police officers. As many as sixty-five lives are protected by guns for every life lost to a gun. Every year potential victims kill between two thousand and three thousand criminals, and wound an additional nine thousand to seventeen thousand. Private citizens mistakenly kill innocent people only thirty times a year, compared to about three hundred and ten mistaken killings by police. Criminals succeed in taking a gun away from an armed victim less than one percent of the time. Gun control laws are needed to prevent the purchase of saturday night specials and assault weapons. Criminals generally prefer larger caliber and more expensive handguns (Brennen and Polsby). President Clinton proposed a restriction on armor piercing ammo. However, the FBI reported that sixty-eight percent of officers killed were not wearing a vest. Of those killed wearing a vest ninety-five percent were shot in unprotected areas. Many people like to use guns for recreation use. The NRA, National Rifle Association, even has its own hunting magazines. These magazines are the American Hunter and American Rifleman. Hunting is a great sport and with these new gun control laws it is harder and harder for good citizens to buy guns for recreation. Hunting is not only a sport but also a hobby. Target shooting is even part of the Olympics. Another thing people use guns for is target practice. This is mostly for personal safety. The better marksman you are the easier it is to protect yourself. Some people even like to shoot targets for fun. The government has no right to take away hobbies from the American people, especially if its not hurting anyone. The government keeps chipping away at our right as American citizens by imposing gun control legislation. There are several major anti-gun control groups. These groups include the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Gun Owners of America (GOA). The National Rifle Association is a national group dedicated to the upholding of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. In their magazines, American Hunter and American Rifleman, they say, "The National Rifleman Association believes that every law-abiding citizen is entitled to the ownership and legal use of firearms." The National Rifleman Association does many things to help display their beliefs and persuades others to their beliefs. This association also has a strong influence on legislation, because it has many lobbyists and supporters in government. This group has many members in Congress, and former presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan are NRA members. The Gun Owners of America is another group that is against gun control. The Gun Owners of America preserves and defends the rights of gun owners through legislation. They publish books, articles, and videos on gun issues and how those issues affect people. They also conduct seminars for the press and Congress about issues on the Second Amendment, and gun issues. The GOA opposes bans on semiautomatic weapons, armor piercing ammunition, and handguns. The Second Amendment states that, "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The functions of the militia as stated in Article 1, Section 8, clause 15 of the Constitution are to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. If we allow the government to regulate and ban the only effective method of defense the people have, then on that day this country will no longer be one ruled by the people and for the people, but instead one that has surrendered all its power to the government. With the apparent failure of gun laws one could agree that more is not the answer. Banning guns will not solve the crime problem it will only change the method. If guns are not available then another weapon will be used or an older gun. Simple laws will not stop a person who is determined to cause someone harm. This is why people should be allowed to own and carry guns. This allows them to protect themselves from those kinds of people. Proper education in school and other places to teach how to use a gun and to respect guns as a dangerous weapon is what is needed to reduce gun violence in the future. If we allow the government to ban guns the American people will be defenseless and powerless to stop the government from taking over or to stop an outside invasion if either were to occur. This country was born because the citizens were armed and could fight for themselves. How can we remove the very object that helped give our country its freedom?
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

ADAM SMITH AND JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU.

ADAM SMITH AND JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU.

Adam Smith(1723-1790) and Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712-1770) each provide their own distinctive social thought. Smith, political economist and moral philosopher, is regarded as the father of modern economics. Rousseau, a Franco-Swiss social and political philosopher, combines enlightenment and semi-romantic themes in his work. Thus Smith’s work places emphasis on the relationship between economics and society, whereas, Rousseau focuses his attention on the social inequalities within society. Therefore, Smith and Rousseau, of the Scottish and Continental Enlightenment respectively, provide unique insights on their existing society. Adam Smith is one of the main figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith’s main concern was the establishment of the free market, as laid out in his work “The Wealth of Nations”(1776). In the “Wealth of Nations”, Smith is very critical of the division of labour. The emphasis falls equally on the economic and social consequences of the division of labour(Smith, 1998:26). Moreover, “What is significant about the contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment to Sociology is the clear awareness that society constituted a process, the product of specific economic, social, and historical forces that could be identified and analyzed through methods of empirical science. Society was a category of historical investigation, the result of objective, material causes”(Smith, 1998:26). Smith believed that society would benefit from individuals who were self-interested in their own personal economic gains. Furthermore, Smith believed that the division of labour had a negative impact on society. He thus was very critical of the divison of labour. For Smith, “the man whose life is spent in performing a few simple operations, of which the effects too are, perhaps, always the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding…He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion and becomes as stupid as it is possible for a human creature to become”(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Smith clearly argues that the division of labour halted the growth and development of the people. If the people are unable to progress, Smith believes that society suffers as well. In essence, for the society to progress and development, the people must do so first. Therefore, the division of labour, in Smith’s perspective, conflicts with the ideals of the Scottish Enlightenment thinking of individual progress and development. “For Adam Smith, the development of a commercial society produced a social structure divided into three classes, landowners, capitalists, and labourers, ‘the three great constituent orders of every civilized society’”(Smith, 1998:27). Thus, Smith’s ideal society would be of people would work for themselves. He was a strong advocate for free market and posed strong opposition to the feudal system. He, along with other Enilghtenment thinkers, believed that the State had no legitmate role in the free market. Smith’s defence of the free market was tied to the belief that state interference with the market benefits the rich and hurts the poor(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Therefore, Adam Smith’s vision of an ideal society was one in which most people are involved in independent commodity production(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Thus for society to develop and prosper as a whole, its individual members must serve their self-interests. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s work, in contrast to Smith’s, gives attention to the social inequalities within society created by social development. Rousseau believes the social development that the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers advocate, actually create a web of problems that previously did not exist. More specifically, his work concentrates on the articificial social inequalities. “The artifical refers to the specifically socially or conventional aspects of reality – the conditions of human life that are contrived or invented by human beings themselves”(Smith, 1998:10). This means that people themselves are responsible for creating the social inequalities that exist within society. “Rousseau’s contrast of the ‘noble savage’ with ‘civilized man’ illustrates this conception; the former exists in a state of nature that provides everything necessary to a free and happy existence, while the latter is enslaved by all sorts of artificial wants and desires”(Smith, 1998:10). Thus, this comparison that Rousseau uses illustrates clearly that social inequalities is a result of social development. The ‘noble savage’ as Rousseau refers to, is not bounded by the artificial social inequalities that contrain the ‘civilized man’. Rousseau’s critical view of society is based upon his theory that the social inequalities existing in society conflict with the laws of nature. “Rousseau declared that it is plainly contrary to the law of nature…that the priviledged few should gorge themselves with superfluities, while the starving multitude are in want of the bare necessities of life”(Smith, 1998:10). These problems did not exist for the ‘noble savage’, however, the ‘civilized man’ lives in a society that creates and perpetuates social inequalities amongst its members. Rousseau states that, “society creates more compex needs and therefore a more complex humanity than that found in the state of nature”(Smith, 1998:16). Thus people are responsible for creating artificial differences among themselves. Adam Smith and Jean Jacques Rousseau view society from different perspectives. Smith concentrates his attention on economics and individual development, whereas, Rousseau discusses the consequences of social inequalities that have arisen from social development. Smith advocates self-interest as a means for the society to develop and prosper, and in contrast, Rousseau sees this self-interest and development as the cause for social inequalities. Inequalities, that Rousseau believes, naturally do not exist.
\"Our lives are a combination of good and bad, positive and negative.When we focus on the good that is already present, we feel better. If not, we don\'t. Either way, life goes on.\" -- Peter McWilliams

TOP

返回列表

站长推荐 关闭


美国top10 MBA VIP申请服务

自2003年开始提供 MBA 申请服务以来,保持着90% 以上的成功率,其中Top10 MBA服务成功率更是高达95%


查看