Friday, January 31, 2020

The citizens of Oceania Essay Example for Free

The citizens of Oceania Essay The citizens of Oceania live in a society where all of there actions are controlled. Telescreen is the technology they use to help achieve this control. Telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously; any sound that Winston or any other citizen make can be heard, and as long as they are within the field of vision they can also be seen. Telescreen is also constantly broadcasting media that they want the citizens to hear, all of which basically leads to the indoctrination of its citizens. Citizens of Oceania lives are just about completely controlled; there are alarms that wake up the office workers when its getting up time. Then theres the Physical Jerks were the citizens have to exercise and even have a look of grim enjoyment on this face which was expected. Their entire way of living is controlled, and they constantly have the idea that Big Brother is watching you instilled in their mind. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth party in the Department of Records. His job is to alter historical records. The party would simply go into the past and say that this or that event had never happened. There slogan was Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. Winston had to make certain that all historical events correspond with the Partys beliefs at that time to ensure that whatever Big Brother claims was exact. It is all part of their way of controlling society. I believe that what Winston does for a living for the Ministry of Truth is appalling. There are situations when people do thing that are wrong but they really dont know any better. They are ignorant of the truth. Winston, however, is completely aware that what he does is not just. He even states how he unconsciously started writing during the Two Minutes Hate meeting, Down with Big Brother. He is completely aware of what he is doing and knows that its not right. I suppose, however, that he is sort of caught between a rock and a hard place. Newspeak affects communication of this society by restraining the societies vocabulary. This is simply another means of controlling the citizens of Oceania, and preventing them form committing a thoughtcrime. Citizens have to be extremely careful of the things that they say and this is simply a way of achieving that control. I dont believe that Newspeak could make thoughtcrime impossible though, although, they might be able to control what society is able to say and do I highly doubt that they would be able to actually completely control persons thoughts. Even Wilson thing about bring Big Brother down.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

The Cause of the Potato Famine Essay -- Irish History, Starvation, Dis

During the Irish Potato Famine between 1845 to 1849 (McCarthy 88), one million people died within five years and an additional two million emigrated to other countries (â€Å"Ireland†). Even today Ireland has not completely recovered from this sudden loss in population (â€Å"Potatoes†). Although many blame this horrendous event on the government’s use of Laissez Faire Economics, the real cause of disaster was the people. The population loss, starvation, and diseases that resulted from the Irish Potato Famine were self- inflicted by the Irish peoples’ upcoming decisions to the event.  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ireland was not of any interest to other countries, and in response these countries did not aid Ireland in its time of dire need. Countries had no concern in Ireland because it was an area of minimal development for industrialism (McCarthy 87). Also, Ireland had an absence of protection from invasions from other countries (McCarthy 87); one reason for this being that it is an island. Moreover, Ireland had an undeveloped amount of raw materials (McCarthy 87), which did not spark interest of speculation from others countries. Due to these two main factors, there was no investment in Ireland (McCarthy 87), which made the country isolated and unattended ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬  ¬Ã‚ ¬ when help was needed. When the Potato Famine attacked Ireland, it mainly affected the western countries (McCarthy 88). The majority of the starvation was from the less wealthy regions of the country, such as Bonegal down to Cork (McCarthy 88).These areas main food source was only potatoes because they were a cheap and easily grown crop. In other parts of Ireland, where the land was mostly pastures or a planted with a different variety of crops, hunger did not affect the people as intensely... ...t. Therefore, the government gave help to its people, so the blame should not be on the government for eventually putting forth an effort to help the situation. They had the right to see if the free market would work itself out, because according to the philosophies of Adam Smith, that would have been the expected result. Ireland’s poor planning in creating their lives around one crop economically and politically resulted in a much larger downfall than what could have occurred. Previously, in 1741 Ireland had a blight killing 250,000 people (â€Å"Irish Potato Famine†, Barnhill), only further proving how unprepared they were when the 1845 blight attacked; even with the knowledge that something like the famine would occur. In all, Ireland’s forthcoming decisions in how to economically run their country, was the primary reason the Irish Potato Famine hit them so hard.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Hwangs trying to find Chinatown version4 Essay

Race has been a root of a lot of discords and wars for many centuries. From the past to the present, the world has been divided into different sides just because of this. However, the conflict that is caused by ethnicity is not only between people. Oftentimes, it is also between a person and himself. Many people from marginalized ethnic groups face internal struggles due to their incapability to accept their history, status and nationhood. They cannot accept their identity as a member of a certain race. However, people should accept their identity as a person belonging to a certain group of people. The reasons for this are numerous. First of all, acceptance of one’s own identity helps make a person satisfied and happy. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. Third, failure to accept identity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. Last and most importantly, of all aspects of identity, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed forever. These arguments will be explained in the following paragraphs using the experiences and opinions of Benjamin and Ronnie, as expressed in the play Trying to Find Chinatown. First, acceptance of one’s own identity helps make a person satisfied and happy. This is because that person has less to desire or wish for. On the contrary, a person who cannot accept his own identity is often dissatisfied and unhappy. Aside from the things that he need and desire such as money, food, success, popularity and friends, he will have an additional desire that is difficult to obtain. He will want to escape his own race and be part of another, which he believes to be better and more superior. This may be shown by the attitudes of Ronnie and Benjamin in the play. Of the two, Benjamin seems to be happier and more satisfied. In fact, he is more at peace. He is able to achieve this happiness from simple things such as the sounds of screaming in Cantonese and Sze-Yup in Chinatown (Hwang 1484). He is happy remembering his father chasing the boys who was shouting to him, â€Å"Gook! Chink! Slant-eyes† (Hwang 1482). He is also at peace sitting on a stoop on Chinatown while sucking hua-moi because he feels at home and he is happy to China as his home (Hwang 1484). This is the exact opposite of how Ronnie feels. He views himself to be nobody (See 1484) because he thinks his ethnic group is not important in the world, thus he cannot get a sense of pride for just being a part of it. While it takes simple things to make Benjamin happy, it also takes simple things to make Ronnie unhappy. He is unhappy using chopsticks, seeing ducks hanging on windows of restaurant and eating dim sum (See Hwang 1483). It is true that there are other factors like wealth and education that determines a person’s happiness and satisfaction. However, what differentiates a person who accepts his race from the one who does not is that, for the latter, satisfaction is always not possible. Despite his riches and the things he achieved, he will always have that secret desire to have a different identity. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. He will always be in denial of what he is. For example, in the play, Ronnie repeatedly denied being a part of the Chinese community such as that one that may be found in Chinatown. For him, such types of places do not tell anyone anything about who he is (See Hwang 1483). He takes any association of himself with his ethnicity as an insult. In the beginning of the play, Benjamin asked Ronnie where Chinatown is and the latter got mad because he though the former chose him to ask because he is Chinese (Hwang 1480). He even tries to hide his ethnicity through his clothes (See Hwang 1480). On the other hand, no trace of this shame as regards his race may be found on Benjamin. In fact, he is the one who tells people that China is his roots (See for example Hwang 1481). He takes pride of his history and his ancestors. Such pride in his background helps him to be proud of himself. Third, dissatisfaction with ethnicity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. On the contrary, satisfaction will help people achieve unity. Even just between Ronnie and Benjamin, this inability to unite is evident. Instead of being on the same side, they argue on the worth of being Chinese. Ronnie finds being part of a community that has opium dens, chopsticks, ducks, Ms. Saigon and dim sum is not something worth being a part of. On the other hand, Benjamin defends Chinese communities based on these features and more; like the sweets, the railroads and the workers. (See Hwang 1481, 1483-1484) If they cannot unite as between themselves, it is very difficult to imagine them fighting for the cause of their community together. This may be compared to the group of Asian students in the Midwest who went on hunger strike despite the probability that they have not experienced directly the evils they are fighting against (Hwang 1481-1482). Due to their acceptance of their ethnicity, they were able to identify with each other and unite to fight for a cause. Last and most importantly, of all aspects of identity, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed forever. It is ingrained in the way one talks, speaks and lives everyday. Even for someone like Benjamin who is not ethnic by blood, the Chinese culture has been ingrained in him from his childhood. Therefore, this culture becomes rooted in him too deep that it becomes a part of his identity. This cannot be uprooted easily. As a consequence, the dissatisfaction, shame and other things that arise from dissatisfaction will also stay. Therefore, a person like Ronnie may be able to assimilate to another culture and lead another mind. However, deep in the recesses of his mind, and in his heart, he knows that he does not belong and that there are people who will think such. Therefore, he will always be defensive of his status and ashamed of his past. In conclusion, people should accept the fact that they belong to a certain ethnic group. First of all, this will help them become satisfied and happy. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. Third, failure to accept identity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. Lastly, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed and will remain as part of a person’s identity forever.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Henry Tam and the Mgi Team - 1525 Words

The MGI Team Case Study is a lesson in the difficulties faced by a team with inadequate leadership. Indications of possible problems in the group’s functioning were evident even before the MGI team’s first meeting. At that time, the group consisted of the three founders of MGI and two Harvard Business School (HBS) second year students. The heterogeneous nature of the group was an area of possible conflict. Three or perhaps four different cultures were represented on the team. Two of the founders were from the Ukraine and remained very close to the culture. The third founder was from St. Petersburg, Russia and was considered by the other two members to be more Americanized. Dana, the first student selected to join the team, was the†¦show more content†¦The students were initially unclear about their roles in the team, but eventually emerged as the strategic direction setters. The team naturally progressed into two different sub-groups. One consisted on the three founders of the company (the Russians) and the second comprised the two HBS students. The founder/Russian team wanted the company to pursue the entertainment market, and their focus was long-term direction of the company rather than the immediate need to produce materials for the HBS business plan contest. This sub-group’s norms were high commitment to the team, creativity, an informal and disorganized approach to the work and high conflict among group members, this latter characteristic likely a product of their Russian culture. The student team was extremely goal oriented and eventually focused on taking the company in an initial direction to market the product toward the educational market. Their objective was meeting the immediate requirements of the HBS business plan contest. The norms of this team were high cooperation between Henry and Dana, high levels of preparation for the meetings and a more structured approach to the problems at hand. Henry and Da na demonstrated their cohesiveness in the fashion that they strategized together and played good cop/bad cop to deal with Sasha’s aggressive obstinacy toward ideas brought forward by Dana.Show MoreRelatedHenry Tam The MGI Team4226 Words   |  17 PagesExecutive SummaryMGI team were left with three weeks to come up with a business plan before the time line for the Harvard Business School (HBS) Business Plan Contest. The seven members in the team comprised of the three founders - Igor Tkachenko, Alexandra (Sasha) Gimpelson and Roman Yukab, Henry Tam Jr. and Dana Soiman of HBS MBA class students, Dav Clark from MIT and Alex Jan Sartakov from Boston Berklee College. The team had little success thus far working together having experienced conflictsRead MoreHenry Tam and the Mgi Team Case2037 Words   |  9 PagesHenry Tam and the MGI Team Case Characteristics of group formation and team processes are highlighted in the Harvard Business School case of Henry Tam and the Music Games International (MGI) Team. The MGI founders sought to improve the commercialization of their music game by launching a team to market their product and develop a business plan. 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