Victoria`s Secret Economic Environment

IntroductionThe apparel industry faces various supply chain challenges, many due to the fact that the major part of apparel manufacturing activity for the United States market has moved outside the country to low-labor-cost countries in the Far-East. Thus, due to long physical distances, apparel companies in the US are continuously challenged to quickly respond to changing trends, to reduce long lead-times, to execute collaborative product development with suppliers using effective communication and to ensure total supply chain visibility. Moreover, fickle consumer preferences and shortening of the product life cycles make the apparel industry very challenging from a supply chain perspective.The Victoria's Secret business provides a case study representative of most supply chain challenges faced by the apparel industry as a whole. Victoria's Secret is a multi-channel retailer selling its products through physical stores located throughout the United States, as well as through a colle ction of printed catalogs and an online shop. Its major product offerings lie in the category of intimate apparel, sleepwear, beauty, apparel, shoes and swimwear. For the purpose of this research, we focus on the intimate apparel segment of Victoria's Secret. Intimate apparel represents the largest portion of Victoria's Secret business and is sold through all the retail channels described above.Company HistoryAccording to company lore, after a disagreement with his father in 1963 over the operation of the family store (Leslie's), Leslie Wexner, then 26, opened  the first Limited store in Columbus, Ohio, with $5,000 borrowed from his aunt. Leslie Wexner's desire was to focus on moderately priced fashionable attire for teenagers and young women (Hoover's Online). The Limited went public in 1969 with five stores. Rapid development of large malls spurred Limited's growth to 100 stores by 1976.Two years later, The Limited acquired Mast Industries, an international apparel purchasing an d importing company. In 1982, Limited purchased Lane Bryant (a plus size brand) and Victoria's Secret (lingerie). In March 2002 the so called The Limited changed its name to Limited Brands. Limited Brands is currently focusing on its star players, Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works.Company StrategyThe company strategy has evolved over time. Prior to 1995, the company's strategy was primarily driven by a knock-off design, shop-and-copy system. During this period, the company's merchants searched for forthcoming fashion designs, all over the world, especially in Europe, and produced merchandise inspired by these designs. Their strategy involved speed sourcing of the products and selling them out even before the original brand could actually be launched. By the early nineties, there remained little competitive advantage in this approach, as the rest of the world had figured out similar ways to do business (Limited Brands Presentation, 2005), between 1995 and 1998, the company st rategically planned an overhaul, focusing on developing a distinct brand identity.The Limited became the largest employer of apparel designers in the world (as mentioned by a top executive). The company re-positioned itself to operate like an upscale consumer package company. With aspirations to be a large powerful brand that controlled its own retail distribution channels and seeking a consistent repeatable business, the company soon incorporated vertically integrated capabilities into its supply chain. In its quest to narrow its portfolio and create a distinct brand image, the company closed all of its poorly performing businesses, including the sale of its bank, and spun off or sold Abercrombie and Fitch, Lane Bryant and six out of seven Henri Bendel stores (Limited Brands Presentation, 2005).Financial PerformanceVictoria's Secret Business UnitWithin Victoria's Secret, all three channels – Victoria's Secret Stores, Victoria's Secret Beauty and Victoria's Secret Direct â₠¬â€œ are experiencing revenue growth as well as profitability. As of august 2013, Victoria`s Secret stores sales increased 3% on top of a 9% increase last year. Increase was primarily driven by strength in bras and panties. Victoria's Secret Direct, the catalog and online business, also experienced growth. Direct enjoyed a 3% increase in sales in 2013. The growth came from improved clothing assortment at more competitive prices and growth of its intimate apparel category, especially of panties and sleepwear.Direct now represents approximately a third of Victoria's Secret sales. A 2001 â€Å"share of drawer† analysis indicated that one-third of the typical customer's lingerie drawer comes from the Victoria's Secret brand. Most of the drawer, however, consists of daily wear lingerie products, of which Victoria's Secret is a relatively lower percentage. Thus, the trend for the new product introductions will likely be toward more pretty, yet every day, styles like the Body by Vic toria sub-brand, a line of everyday intimate apparel.Victoria's Secret StoresVictoria's Secret (VS) is the most profitable as well as the biggest revenue generating brand for Limited Brands. Its net sales for the year 2013 were $ 271 million correspond of 16.7% of the total % of sales. Victoria's Secret comprises 3 sub-businesses: Victoria's Secret Stores (VSS), Victoria's Secret Beauty (VSB) and Victoria's Secret Direct (VSD) network of stores. VSD sells VS lingerie, sleepwear as well as 3rd party brands in the categories of apparel, shoes and accessories through its online store and catalogs. This case study focuses on Victoria's Secret's lingerie business.ProductsVictoria's Secret sub-brands or collections can be said to focus on a central theme. For example, the most recently introduced Victoria's Secret sub-brand called ‘Pink† is a new collection of intimate apparel aimed at a 19 year old  woman (Limited Brands Interview, 2005), and the â€Å"Victoria† is t he new glamorous fragrance launched that build on its fragrance business. Each of these collections is offered in a variety of different styles based on the extent of coverage given by the bra, the configuration of the bra strap or even its entire silhouette.Overall, the products carried by Victoria's Secret Stores can be divided into 3 broad categories: Launch Fashion Products, Non-Launch Fashion Products and Basic Products. About 60% of units in store are basic, 25% non-launch fashion and the remaining 15% are launch products. Basics consist of products which sell all year round and have styles and colors which can be sold in all seasons and for the most part, never go out of style. Beige Dream Angel's bras, white and black bras from the Body by Victoria collection are examples of basic products.Fashion products are loosely defined as items with styles, colors or silhouettes which typically sell for one season (1 season = 6 months) and then shift to regular replenishment. Launch p roducts are fashion items which are heavily promoted and may even announce the introduction of a completely new category. These products involve special planning and are typically launched two times per year, in spring and fall. An example of a highly successful recently launched product is the new The Close-Up ®. The company also engages in about fifteen annual reconfigurations of its stores also termed as â€Å"floorsets†. A floorset may or may not involve a launch.Customer SegmentsVictoria's Secret Stores is trying to be the dominant, young, sexy and sophisticated lingerie and beauty brand in the world. Victoria's Secret serves a wide range of customers with varied psychographics and demographics. On a household income scale, the VS customer loosely lies between 30-75 percentile ranges. With presence in almost all major malls in the United States, VSS aspires to become a destination brand, which means that a customer would be tempted to visit the malls just to see the VS store. With the Pink ® sub-brand, the space Victoria's Secret is trying to fill as â€Å"young and casual†, a category which had been previously overlooked  by Victoria's Secret.Pink was developed in response to the fast growing Abercrombie & Fitch brand, which was once a part of The Limited. Out of the three key words describing the overall target customer above, â€Å"young† is the most important. The goal is clearly to target a young demographic. Finally, the company sees VS as an â€Å"aspirational† brand, and as such, older women may be encouraged to buy Pink  ®' products as well, as a 40 year old is likely to aspire to look like 30 rather than to look.Demand Forecasting and PlanningOn the demand planning and forecasting front, the Catalog and Web businesses are governed by separate strategies. This is primarily because the drivers of demand for the two channels are different. For the catalog, the demand forecast is mapped against the curve of the pr oduct life cycle from the point the catalog is mailed to when 98% of the product is sold. Moreover, circulation of printed books is the primary driver of sales. Within a catalog, dynamics related to location of the display of product, and to the model selected for the display, are sales drivers. Once Direct has visibility as to the actual product layout of the catalog, it re-forecasts the demand several weeks before it is mailed, and subsequently adjusts its purchase orders.For the web, on the other hand, the forecast is based on individual item performance on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. One of the key metrics that Direct uses to monitor its sales is given by the Net-Growth Ratio. This ratio measures for every $1 of demand generated, how much was generated for sales after accounting for returns, cancellations and failure to fulfill back-orders. Victoria's Secret Direct, especially the catalog business, has additional levers in the way that offer a wider breadth of fashion asso rtments. This is because the marginal costs of carrying fashion versus basics product in Direct is governed by different dynamics in comparison to stores, as the stores have huge fixed costs due to real-estate.Moreover, it is possible for Direct to leverage assets between the catalog and web operations such as common photography. About 400 million catalogs are mailed in a year; approximately one fresh book a week having anywhere between 60 to180 pages and including between 250 and 600 items. About 95-98% of the Direct products are sold in US. Semi-annual sales are  tied together with Victoria's Secret Stores and a sale period is comprised of 8 weeks, requiring approximately 8 mailings during this time (Limited Brands Interview, 2005). Last, but not the least, if a product doesn't perform well in one media, it is not introduced in the other.Sourcing and ProductionVictoria's Secret Direct utilizes the Mast network, as do the Victoria's Secret Stores. Direct is able to maintain accur ate data about customer preferences and buying patterns due to the online nature of its business. It is therefore able to quickly translate this information to its vendors, making it much more responsive to changing customer needs than the Victoria's Secret Stores. This allows Mast to adopt a sourcing strategy based on the vendors' ability to deliver smaller and more frequent orders. Smaller orders mitigate risk of over-stocking and frequency allows the company to react closer to the demand and to get the right product out to market in time.Distribution and FulfillmentOn the distribution front, Direct uses its own distribution center in Columbus, Ohio, separate from the Victoria's Secret Stores' distribution center. Both web and catalog share this DC. The process of picking in distribution centers is different from stores, as these products are picked as single items based on orders, whereas in the Victoria's Secret Stores' operations the products are picked and shipped in cases. Th e average time it takes to get to customers is about two days. The online business is well integrated to inventory systems at the DC level, but is not integrated with Victoria's Secret Stores. With only about 15-20% of overlap in SKUs between the stores and Direct, this is not an immediate need (Limited Brands Interview, 2005).Direct keeps a close watch on its inventory and maintains fairly accurate item levels as well as order level data. For example, the current percentage of service level that Direct operates shows an 88% in stock and 12% back-order at the item level. This level of data integrity allows Direct to be much more responsive than Victoria's Secret Stores and  as a result allows them to make dynamic changes to order quantities, pre-packs and size-curves based on latest selling patterns. In contrast to placing large orders with Mast, as do Victoria's Secret Stores, Direct can thus place smaller and more frequent orders. Moreover, Direct doesn't require excess inventor y for the purpose of its floor and window displays as do Victoria's Secret Stores.Goals and ChallengesAs a part of the INSIGHT project, Victoria's Secret Direct is working closely with its production team to create a library of fabrics and raw materials to make a choice matrix such that lead times can be reduced dramatically. They are also a part of the same initiative to reduce concept to market lead times from 72 to 40 weeks.The challenge for the company is in the area of returns. Currently, returns amount to approximately 25% of demand and are primarily driven by the Swim and Apparel categories; however, a considerable part of returns are put back in stock. These are products which are in reasonable condition to be resold. The return rate for lingerie is negligible. One of the challenges that Victoria's Secret faces overall is in the category of fringe sizes. Fringe sizes are the ones which are on the tail-end of the demand curve and whose demand patterns are harder to predict. C ustomers looking to buy these sizes typically feel the need to try them on before purchase.If these products are carried by Direct, there is potential for reduced customer service levels. On the other hand, if Victoria's Secret Stores decides to carry these sizes to provide better customer service, they will be faced with challenges of less predictable demand patterns for these sizes, leading to over or under stocking of product. Therefore, the company has to work a delicate tradeoff between providing better customer service levels and the subsequent financial impact of this service. A survey about multi-channel retailing tactics used by retailers, conducted by Forrester research, showed that 87% of retailers allowed purchases made online to be returned to stores.Limited Brands fully integrated Victoria's Secret with its Direct business. This involves large logistical challenges for the brand but have a  positive impact of customer satisfaction levels as the customers are able to return goods purchased online to Victoria's Secret Stores, and are even able to order products in stores which they purchased online and have them delivered to their house with no additional cost.Victoria's Secret's Supply Chain FrameworkVictoria's Secret's business strategy has evolved from a shop-and-copy system to a branded concept, that of selling innovative, technologically advanced products at reasonably high profit margins. The Victoria's Secret brand is positioned to be the dominant, young, sexy and sophisticated lingerie and beauty concept, targeting young customers who appreciate the value of possessing innovative lingerie. At the same time, the company is somewhat risk averse.It does not rely solely on its fashionable bra launches for all of its sales. It distributes risk by having a mixed assortment of fashion and basic goods. However, having this mixed assortment adds complexity, in that the brand has to operate two supply chains; one for each of these types of products . Below I underlined the operating model, operational objectives and important tailored business activities that drive sustained competitive advantage within the Victoria's Secret supply chain and align with the overarching business strategy.Complementary Operating ModelThe operating model at Victoria's Secret Stores is to achieve desired brand recognition through innovative product development, glamorous bra launches and high shelf availability of its products. Most of the Victoria's Secret Stores' new product introductions are offered in both fashion (items with less predictable demand) as well as basic (stable demand) styles. This mix of fashion and basic items helps Victoria's Secret to distribute risk, to ensure profitability and to offer compelling value to customers. The company identifies that there is not a single all-in-one supply chain solution for both of these categories of products and therefore it maintains two different types of supply chains for each.The supply chai n for Victoria's Secret's fashion items is driven by â€Å"Speed-to-Market† to ensure responsiveness. This is reflected in the company-wide initiative to shorten its â€Å"Concept-to-Market† calendar. This supply chain is further governed by a sourcing strategy that requires a set of suppliers with an excellent record of product innovation, value-adding capabilities and no minimum volume requirements. Due to the prioritization of speed over low labor cost, these items are made in the most capable factories in the world, wherever they may be, and are consistently air shipped to the company's distribution center in Columbus, Ohio.On the other hand, the supply chain for Victoria's Secrets basic items is driven by factors like asset utilization and supply chain efficiency. As a result, basic goods are manufactured in vertically integrated factories which provide close control over capacity utilization and productivity. These factories run at full capacity and provide econo mies of scale (Limited Brands Interview, 2005). Mast holdings have an equity stake in two of Limited Brands' largest factories in India and Sri Lanka. This is a strategic decision in order to maintain tighter control and better supply chain visibility.Operational ObjectivesThe help of Limited Logistics Services (LLS), Victoria's Secret has drafted a Service Level Agreement that defines various performance metrics for services to Victoria's Secret Stores. This agreement also defines the role of the Victoria's Secret Stores in successfully meeting these objectives. The performance metrics are divided into three broad categories as defined below.Customer ResponseThese metrics are customer-focused and customer-facing. They include a set of distribution metrics as well metrics related to store performance such as responsiveness, floor-set, business priorities, new stores, Value Added Services (VAS), meeting cadence, reporting, and air shipments.EfficiencyThese are internal metrics. They are productivity and cost-related and include a set of metrics at the manufacturing as well as distribution center level such as Auditing/Cycle Counts, Through- Put, Network Productivity, DC Metrics, DC Throughput, and Store Throughput.Asset Utilization These metrics are also internal-facing and largely focus on maintaining economies of scale. They include: Capacity Utilization and Inventory Turns.Objectives Balancing FrameworkThe focus placed on each of the metrics mentioned, varies by whether the product is basic or fashion. For example, in the category of basic products, asset utilization metrics like capacity utilization and efficiency objectives like supply chain costs and productivity carry more weight than responsiveness. The factories making these products run at full capacity with two shifts per day to efficiently deliver these products to market at minimum possible cost of production. These products generate moderate margins for the company in comparison to the fashion pro ducts.On the other hand, in high-margin product categories of fashion goods, particularly in highly promoted launch-related fashion goods, which are most often a result of innovative product development and have relatively short-product-lifecycle of just one season, responsiveness metrics are seen to carry more weight overall. The focus in this model is to increase in-season product availability to reduce lost sales and maximize margins.Tailored Business ActivitiesAt the operational level, there are a set of three tailored business activities that provide significant competitive advantage to the Victoria's Secret supply chain and place Victoria's Secret in a unique position in comparison to its competitors. These activities are aligned to the overarching strategy, which is to deliver an assortment of innovative  fashion products and less risky basic products. The first tailored activity emanates from the company-wide open innovation model. The decentralized design culture within V ictoria's Secret adds unique capabilities to its supply chain design.Product Innovation can come from the supplier, from in-house development or through design inspirations from external concepts. This creates the possibility of inter-company operating ties with outside suppliers. For example, if Limited Design Studios in New York initiates a design concept, it can go to a preferred supplier to be further developed and even changed. This relationship during the design process adds flexibility, which is hard to replicate.The second tailored activity has to do with the sourcing model that Limited has adopted as a whole. The presence of Mast Industries as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Limited Brands is of tremendous value to the company. Mast carefully selects its vendors based on capabilities to manufacture and deliver fashion versus basic products. Mast works with a set of vertically integrated factories as well as raw material suppliers to create a product that is hard to replicate.V ertical integration helps the company to control the production process from fiber to garment. On one hand, this leads to greater manufacturing efficiency required for producing basic products, which generate relatively lesser profit margins than fashion items. On the other hand, vertical integration also helps to speed the product development process essential for new and fashionable products.Finally, the role of Limited Logistics Services' (LLS) â€Å"shared service model† in the smooth operation of its supply chain is indispensable. As mentioned earlier, the Service Level Agreement with each of its brands, including Victoria's Secret, not only defines the detailed performance metrics but also defines the role of each brand in order to carry out the objectives on time. LLS consistently benchmarks itself against outside logistics providers and has been able to provide higher service levels to its brands at competitive costs. The dynamic ability of LLS to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate its performance against external agencies, helps Victoria's  Secret to stay ahead of the competition. In its logistics design, LLS incorporates the fact that whether a product being delivered is fashion or basic.For example, in most cases, fashion lingerie is air-shipped from Asia to Columbus, OH and basic products are ocean-shipped. This is because the fashion products, which have relatively higher margins, are less expensive to transportation costs per unit. Fashion and launch products may also have to go through a customized value-added service process in order to cater to the requirements of the individual stores to which they are shipped. These value-added services are performed at the DC level and the company claims to perform them more cost effectively and efficiently than an outside third party logistics provider. MarketMonopolistic competition is a form of imperfect competition where many competing producers sell products that are differentiated from one a nother (that is, the products are substitutes, but, with differences such as branding, are not exactly alike). In monopolistic competition firms can behave like monopolies in the short-run, including using market power to generate profit. In the long-run, other firms enter the market and the benefits of differentiation decrease with competition; Textbook examples of industries with market structures similar to monopolistic competition include restaurants, cereal, clothing, shoes, and service industries in large cities, which the company Victoria`s Secret fit perfectly.The â€Å"founding father† of the theory of monopolistic competition was Edward Hastings Chamberlin in his pioneering book on the subject Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Joan Robinson also receives credit as an early pioneer on the concept. Monopolistically competitive markets have the following characteristics: There are many producers and many consumers in a given market, and no business has total control over the market price. Consumers perceive that there are non-price differences among the competitors' products. There are few barriers to entry and exit.Producers have a degree of control over price.

Law of the Harvest LDS Talk

My dear Brothers and Sisters, It is so good to be with you today. The warmth and love that each of you have is so good to feel and to be part of the fellowship of the saints. Brother XYZ has asked that I talk to the Law of the Harvest. â€Å"Gallations 6:7 â€Å"Whatsoever a man Soweth , that shall he reap† I wish to first share with you a story. Many years ago when I was working in Sacramento I had to make a trip for work to San Los Opisbo. The funeral was to be in the early afternoon so I could make the trip in one day. I got all my items together. I had maps and directions from map-quest.I knew my direction and I was going to make it there. I got there in no problem but noticed that I took me a little longer then I had planned. Once there service was over I got in the van that I was driving and looked over the map and saw that I just needed to drive on the road I was on and then turn near the town of Avenal and that would get me on I-5. I started out and began driving. Aft er a while I noticed that I hadn't taken the right turn that I had planned on doing. I pulled over and saw that if I stayed on this road I could go into the town of Coalinga and then get I-5 again.But it was going to be more driving on this quite road. I said to myself well I will just have to go faster to make up the time. It felt like forever but I know it was not but I came up over a rise and saw the familiar outline of a highway patrol car. I pulled to the right of the road right as I passed him. His lights came on and over to me and came around behind me. He came over to my window where I had my drivers license and insurance waiting for him. He askeme where I was heading. After a long explanation he saw all my maps and told me that I was going to fast and that I needed to slow down.He let me off but said that if he ever caught me again He would â€Å"throw the book at me† – What did I learn from this lesson of my life. I had made a plan I had the directions and th e path laid our for me. I had a road map but I failed to get on the right road. Then in haste of youth I decided that I would try to race to make up time. Which cost me time. This is like life, Laws are eternal truth that we follow and the direct action of those laws. We can choose to follow the commandments but we CAN NOT CHOOSE the result of that choice. we have the map and course laid out for us to follow. Our leaders guide the way for us to follow.We need to listen to there council and wisdom. We can NOT expect to live a life of sin and of misdeeds and still return back to our Father. But I KNOW that the converse is true. That if we live a life of goodness and of obedience then we shall be welcomed home to our father. Then for life there is redemption. The amazing gift that God has give us through his son Jesus Christ. The way to overcome the consequences of our actions. Like the officer in my story They can grant us forgiveness and met out mercy because justice was served those many years ago in Gessmetine groves and on Calvary's hill.D&C 130 20-21 â€Å"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. † Take time today to reflect upon your life and the things that you have. I know that you will find that it is a direct reflection of the life that you have lived. Before I continue I need to read another scripture as a clarification Alma Chapter 38 ( Alma speaking to his sone Shiblon.He being a rightous man who was great missionary unto the people of Zoramites And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end. I say unto yo u, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee. And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day. I share that scripture so that none may think that the trails that they have are a ‘punishment' for sin.Trails act as the refiners fire spoken of in 1 Peter 1:7. Elder Sill said this â€Å"One of the distinguishing characteristics of our world is that it is a place of law and order, and the basic law of creation is God’ s fundamental law of compensation. It says that all work must be paid for, that we can no more do a good thing without sometime, in some way receiving a reward, than we can do an evil thing without suffering a penalty. In everything that we do, including the very thoughts that we think, we are subject to this interesting, undeviating eternal law.It is just as universal in its operation as are the laws of gravity, electricity, light or heat. It is never set aside, it is never suspended or restricted, and it governs in every department of human activity. Nothing is ever denied to well-directed effort and nothing is ever achieved without it. It is a thrilling challenge, that we may have any blessing that we are willing to live for. And the primary law of the universe is this immutable,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. irrevocable law of the harvest that says, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. ’ ( Gala. 6:7 ) ( The Law of the Harvest, p. 1. ) Think of it my fellow saints D& C 82: 10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. You need to make the choice today the kind of person you want to become and then do what is required to become that son or daughter of God. In my calling I work with the young men. I invite them to chart the course they want to take. If you lay out the course and you make your plans the small choices along the way are easier to make. The blessings are real I have seen them in my life and they can happen in your life.Sometimes other people are in your path that make living the gospel hard. I think of a story from my mission days. My mission president would from time to time send me a missionary that needed some guidance. Elder XYZ was one such Elder. He had a sleeping problem. He would sleep until 10, 11 maybe even noon and then get up to work. When I received the assignment. I was told that I needed to help him not by being the school master but by a quite example of love and com passion. Each morning I would rise at the appointed hour and begin my day. I would follow all the mission rules that I could.I tried with all my might to find people for us to teach and the work with. We began to teach these people when Elder Allen would rise we would begin our day. Brothers and Sisters the Lord blessed us with some amazing people to teach and baptize. Elder XYZ knew it I knew it and President XYZ knew that is was obedience to the rules of the mission and to what we needed to do that produced that fruit. The Lord was bound to help these people as a result of simple Elder ABC following the mission rules. Many times we just need to follow the commandments and as a result og our actions people lives are blessed.This most often happens with church leaders or those who are charged with helping people along the path of life. Because of ones faithful discharge then another is blessed Brother CFD was a faithful home teacher he would go out and visit the people that he had o n his route. Most if not all of them never came to church. He had a name on his list of Brother ERD. For four long years he would go to this man's home and talk with him and invite him to come back. He would get the same answer each time. â€Å"Nope not this week† A change started to come over him as he saw this faithful brother.Then one week he came to church. The ward welcomed him back and he became interested in the work that needed to get done. His wife had to be baptized and his grand kids needed names placed on the roles of the church. He came back to the fold of God because one man decided to share his time with another and follow the charge that he had as a priesthood leader. As we serve others two things happen. 1- Lives of the people change and are made easier or they get stuff that are given to them 2- the people giving the service are rewarded for the work they are done.This reward or compensation is both physical and also spiritual. Alpha was the President of his Teachers quorum , I was the advisor, One Sunday about two years ago we heard that brother YTR had a bad accident and would not be able to mow his lawn. In Priesthood we talked about the needs of Brother YTR and the Bishop told Alpha to get the lawn mowed. Alpha a young 15 year old , holder of the Priesthood of God, planned on going to this house. They got rides for the boys that needed them. They got lawn mowers and edgers. Then They called me.Alpha told me that They were going to there on Wednesday and thought I should know. I was surprised that it was planned. I told him that I could be there and would bring a watermelon if they wanted. He said sure and I was there at the home. Alpha and his fellow members of the Aaronic Priesthood provided service and were blessed. I was taught by these â€Å"boys† and they taught each other. These stories are not unique, you all have these same stories of obedience to a law of God and cherish in the blessings that you received . Each tim e that story is shared the blessings are relived and your excitement is filled.I want to warn us all to not think that these blessings are ours and ours alone. Many faithful people of all religions are given blessings and can feel of the Law of the Harvest. The lord is the same yesterday today and forever and when we do a righteous thing we will be blessed. For those of us who have strayed and who need help getting back on the path there is hope. Christ paid the price for our sin and know how to welcome us back. Luke 8 4- 15 Christ taught the parable of the sower And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, wh ich in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Verse 13 tells of the hope that we have for these who fall away for a time. Let us do what we can to bring them back. The atonement of Christ is for all. I know that as a man soweth so shall he reap.

A Study Of The Theme Of Panopticism And Jeremy Benthams, Michael Foucaults Ideas In Panopticon By Jenni Fagan And 1984 By George Orwell

A Study Of The Theme Of Panopticism And Jeremy Bentham's, Michael Foucault's Ideas In Panopticon By Jenni Fagan And 1984 By George Orwell A panopticon can be used in order to effectively keep surveillance of society. This, in all of its senses, is manipulative and coercive. As society started growing, it kept getting more difficult to control the people, and therefore, other resources or mechanisms had to be used for the monitoring of these people. In the late eighteenth century, Jeremy Bentham had an architectural design for prisons, asylums, schools, hospitals, and factories, and received help from an architect in order to put his ideas on paper . Michael Foucault, a French philosopher, did extensive research on panopticons and his ideas were taken into consideration by future authors. Bentham’s plan for the prison design gained popularity because Foucault saw it as a strategic model to internalize discipline and authority. The Panopticon, written by British young adult author Jenni Fagan, is directly linked to these ideas. 1984 by George Orwell, however, was published in 1949, so it cannot be said that Foucau lt influenced it, since the panopticist ideas were published in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison (1975). On the other hand, Bentham could have slightly influenced Orwell’s writings. These panopticist ideas come into play in today’s world as well, and it has become a controversial topic because of modern technology that society feels has become more and more invasive. The Panopticon and 1984 both have the recurring theme of panopticism, which affect the main characters in different manners. This paper aims to show the correlation between Bentham, Foucault, and how the same ideas and theories influenced works that were written decades apart. The ideas of a panopticon originally had good intentions; Jeremy Bentham created it in order to retire violent methods of punishment. He wanted to punish in another form, this being more psychological. Foucault stated that the panopticon â€Å"reverses the principle of the dungeon†. The dungeon had â€Å"three functions: to enclose, to deprive of light, and to hide; it (the panopticon) preserves only the first and eliminated the other two† . Knowledge comes from power, and the panopticon can allow the authorities to see everything that is going on around them, leading them to know more things. The panopticon also creates a constant state of control, and makes those that are observed internalize the fact that they are always watched. â€Å"Constant observation acted as a control mechanism; a consciousness of constant surveillance is internalized†. The Panopticon, as the title states, revolves around the idea that people are always being watched. Anais feels as if she is involved in an experiment, and she knows that people are always watching her, and wants to escape it. It’s a novel that goes in depth into the main character’s psyche, and the reader gets an insight into her life and fears. She’s strong, but copes with drugs and her own imagination. Ironically, these are the things that should not be done when one knows that they are under vigilance. For Anais to escape the experiment and cope with her uncertainty of where she comes from, she seeks comfort by playing the â€Å"birthday game†. By creating a life for herself, she is able to rely on those facts and pretend that she has a semi-normal life. On the other hand, it is a sign of resistance from the panopticon, because people can see her actions, but not her thoughts. Since the novel is written from her perspective, the readers do get to see h er thoughts, so the readers act as the panopticon in this case. Anais is very skeptical of all that goes around her, and has been forced to grow up quickly. In the Panopticon that she lives in, the watch tower gives no privacy, which is an act against human rights. Being in a constant state of surveillance drives Anais mad, which in the end pushes her to escape her life. She was able to run away because the watch tower shattered, â€Å"the whole surveillance window shatters, and I see them; turning on their fucking tails; the experiment, for a fraction of a fucking second: exposed† . At this point, Anais is liberated and can start her life in Paris, just like she had decided with her birthday game. The last sentence of the novel is, â€Å"I begin today† . Because the windows hiding the faces of those surveilling her have shattered, they are now at her level because they are real people. She has the power to run away and fight the system, and therefore, becomes her own person. Orwell’s novel is dystopian and reflects the society as powerless and robotic. Big Brother in this case is the panopticon. There is no face to Big Brother, but society fears him. By using these scare tactics they have been able to brainwash society into being permanently scared. They have to be in constant control of what they say or do because the consequences are brutal. It is impossible to trust anybody, because when Winston did, he was turned into the police. Orwell also introduces â€Å"Newspeak† into the novel, which would now be considered simple English. It is the official language of Oceania. Because the words are so simple and there is no complexity to them, it gives people no reason to rethink words or give other definitions to them. It limits their language so they cannot rebel against the system, which is the main reason behind changing the language. Apart from limiting language, it also limits personality and personal identity, which is also a method of br ainwashing. Newspeak does not allow for any type of personal development, and Winston breaks this by keeping a diary. He is able to express his feelings in it, but realizes he has written â€Å"DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER† multiple times on the page and sees that he has committed thoughtcrime. If the level of intelligence of this society were higher, one might have realized that it would be impossible to track all the thoughts of all the members of society, but because of the various methods of brainwashing that have been carried out, no one was able to think it through. â€Å"Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you† . Fear is the most common tactic used by oppressive societies to stay in power. If society fears the system, one will rebel against it and the oppressive state continues. Winston is also guilty of doublethink, although he realizes he is. He works for the system, but secretly is rebelling against it. At the Ministry of Truth, slogans that read â€Å"WAR IS PEACE†, â€Å"FREEDOM IS SLAVERY†, and â€Å"IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH† all brainwash society. These words are antonyms of each other, and the people do not realize that. By working at the Ministry of Truth, he is supporting these statements, but by writing in his diary and being secretive he is rebelling against it. The difference between 1984 and The Panopticon is that the latter has partial freedom. Although Winston Smith is not a prisoner and works for the party, he has less freedom than Anais does. He has no freedom of any type, he cannot do, say, or think as he pleases, because the society is a microscope that is being observed by Big Brother. Anais, though she has been arrested and is a victim of countless foster homes and misfortune, is in a controlled environment but has the freedom to think, which is extremely powerful. As Foucault stated, knowledge is power. She can liberate herself of the constant pressure from the social workers and of the panopticist society she is in. There is no type of Thought Police or thoughtcrime like it exists in 1984. On the other hand, Anais is psychologically incarcerated at times, which is why she resorts to drugs. Although she has the freedom to think and create her past life, it stops her from really knowing who she is and where she comes from. However, her mind is so powerful that she can brainwash herself into creating a past life for herself. Winston, nevertheless, is very aware of what goes on in his life and that can give him a sense of security. Even though he is not following the rules, he knows his consequences. Because both novels share similar themes, the panopticist ideas appear throughout and the characters share common traits. Anais and Winston are very similar in the sense that they are both victims of their society. They are both incarcerated metaphorically. Their minds are free, but only one of them can be safe expressing their true thoughts and feelings. There is an internal struggle occurring with each, and although the characters are very different in terms of lifestyles and persona, their inner struggles clash. Being in a state of liminality like both characters are, they struggle with their daily lives and may or may not go against their basic beliefs, like Winston did when he turned in the love of his life, Julia. Anais differs in this manner, but as the novel progresses, there are signs of maturity on her part, and she becomes more conscious of her desires. The novels also share a major common aspect; the fact that both of the societal powers do not have a face to them. In 198 4, Big Brother does not have a face, so there is enough reason to believe that he does not exist, and that there is a group of people controlling society. Likewise, in The Panopticon, Anais does not see the faces of the people in the watch tower until the windows are shattered and she is able to see for a fraction of a second. Power does not come from one sole person; there is generally a group of people in control or a political figure who is puppeteered by others. A panopticist society currently exists among us, and although it may not be in the traditional sense, people definitely feel the effects of it. People are raised to believe that they are under constant watch of those that cannot be seen, for example Santa Claus for the young, or even more in depth, a God. A panopticon is essentially what God is, all watching and all knowing. In the end, people fear the consequences that God can give them, which is why many are so dedicated to their religion. This can make people feel anxious all the time and it is not fair to make people believe that they are not free because there is a radar on them at all times. It is psychologically damaging, because there is no true freedom. Currently, there have been happenings of government interference with the general public, not only terrorists or potential suspects. Wire-tapping goes against the American Constitution, and although the Patriot Act is named and worded in a way that makes it seem as if it is s omething that is a duty to ones country, it strips society of basic human rights. Under no circumstance is it okay to spy on one’s own, because it betrays trust between the government and members of society. One very current situation is the power behind Cuba’s dictator: Fidel Castro. There is no factual evidence that he is alive, but because â€Å"his people† say he is, Cubans believe it because they have been brainwashed to extreme extents by the communist party. Panopticons exist in all various forms, but the only way that society can fall into the trap is by succumbing to the power behind the words, because words are the most powerful thing when gaining power. Ignorance is not strength, and one should have the freedom to think freely and act within reason. Being under a constant state of vigilance like the characters of The Panopticon and 1984 were wears out ones mind and persona. Anais was able to break out of the cycle, but Winston on the other hand, fell back into the system and was brainwashed once again.

Irony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Irony - Essay Example The widow was pretending to mourn her husband’s death but in the real sense she was very happy that she was free at last. The other part that irony was really brought out was when she died on realizing that her husband had died. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† brings out irony to a great extent. Mrs. Louise Mallard had a heart problem which made it hard for Josephine, her sister to comfortably tell her of her husband’s death. Josephine learned about the news from Richards who was the first to learn about the death of his friend. He had received the news earlier in the office when the railroad tragedy came in. Richards asked Josephine to break the news to her because she was her sister (Chopin, n.pg).. Mallard was among the people communicated to have died during the disaster. Josephine and Richards were hesitating to tell Mrs. Mallard that her husband was dead because she was suffering from heart disease. They feared that this news would kill her from a heart attack, traumatize her or could not be able to handle the news. Nevertheless, Josephine delivered the news to her sister. Surprisingly, her respond to the horrible news of her husband’s death was as that of a freed bird. This was exactly the opposite of what they expected her to respond. Mrs. Mallard accepted the news unexpectedly fast and locked herself in her room to be on her own. This was ironic too because she just sat comfortable and looking through the window ad never shed tears or got sick as expected. This shows that she was relieved to learn of her husband’s death. The news of, however, left her feeling free and happy that her husband was no longer around (Chopin, n.pg). She did not even bother to enquire what exactly happened which is unexpected and rare behavior to most people who have been left by their loved ones. Her heart was beating fast because of joy and not because of worry. According to Chopin (n.pg), She was thinking about her life in freedom and she felt that

Literature Review on Marketing Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

On Marketing - Literature review Example The goals of a successful brand include conveying the message clearly; verifying the integrity of business; psychologically linking with the target prospects; motivating the customer, and improving consumer loyalty. A powerful brand is priceless as the battle for consumers is increasing gradually (Rice & Atkin, 2012, p. 102). It is vital to invest time in researching, classifying, and developing the brand since it is a foundational part within the marketing communication strategy. Brands let the customer to purchase with assurance, and they offer a route map in a confusing range of alternatives. The actual strength of booming brands is that they meet the beliefs of individuals that purchase them or, to put it in a different manner, they signify a promise kept. They can be considered as an agreement between a retailer and a consumer - if the retailer adheres to its side of the deal, the consumer will be contented; if not, the consumer will henceforth look somewhere else. The value to companies of having powerful brands is unarguable. Brands that maintain their promise draw loyal customers who will come back to them on regular intervals. The advantage to the brand owner is that that predicting cash flows becomes simpler and hassle-free, and it becomes feasible to arrange and control the progress of the business with better assurance. Therefore, brands, with their capability to secure revenue, can be ranked as prolific assets in precisely the same manner as any other, more conventional assets of a company, for instance, investments, equipment, and cash. In general, the top bran ds are developed around an exclusive business thought or a persuasive idea (Kozinets et al, 2010, p. 82). When workforce is motivated by the plan, they will facilitate to maintain it and communicate it to clientele, dealers and others by means of their eagerness and dedication. Luxury Brand Luxury brands are considered as â€Å"images in the minds of consumers† (Caywood, 2013, p. 96) that involve links regarding a higher price, value, aesthetics, uncommonness, and a high level of non-functional connections. The contemporary perceptive of a brand is focused on customer and individuality. As a result, brands are considered as images in the minds various target groups, which are designed by businesses to categorize their products. Luxury brands are well connected with their core products. This is revealed by the current definitions of luxury brands, which talk about particular associations regarding product traits. As a result, the constitutive traits of luxury products communic ate mainly with those of luxury brands. Producers of luxury produc

AuditingSelect a company quoted on the UK stock exchange. Obtain, or Case Study

AuditingSelect a company quoted on the UK stock exchange. Obtain, or download a copy of, the company's last annual report c - Case Study Example This report will touch on the key areas of audit risk that have heightened in the audit report for the year ending 30th April 2012. The main sources of information will be the annual report, respective audit procedures and any other relevant sources. Areas of increased risk a) Revenue Stage Couch Group’s revenues are generated from the three main divisions (continuing operations) which include Rail, UK Bus and North America as a number of joint ventures. Revenue is a key area of concern as it is used in assessing the group’s overall growth and performance (Stage Couch Group Annual report 2012). As pointed out in the company’s annual report for the year ending 30th April 2012, the overall performance was as a result of increased sales in all the three divisions. The revenue increased by 7.76 per cent in 2012 from the 2011 financial team. There are times when the management of a company may misstate the revenue with the aim of impressing investors, the top level ma nagers or the board of directors. The group recognizes revenue share amounts payable or receivable in its income statement at the same period in which related revenue is recognized. The revenue obtained from maintenance income and advertising incomes is treated as miscellaneous revenue by the company. The management of the company says that the company had performed well. However, the low percentage increase in revenue from 2011 to 2012 may be an issue of concern. A 7.76 % increase in the total revenue may be an indication of misappropriation and misstatements. This is a reason why the increase in revenue is an area of increased risk. Investor’s motive is to invest in a company that performs well and indicates growth. They get information of a company through the financial statements so as to make investment decisions (Stage Couch Group Annual report 2012). Therefore, if the revenue for instant does not indicate any growth, they will not invest in that particular company. Oth er times human error might occur when recording revenues or revenue may be recorded at the wrong time. This is another reason of concern on revenues. The audit procedure here is for the auditor to have an understanding of the company and the industry in which the entity operates so as to have a better assessment of the auditing procedures outcome. Audit procedures would also include vouching and verification procedures and analytical review of the financial statements. b) Cash When the company has enough cash, it means that its liquidity position is secure. Cash balances and receipts usually affect the profits of a business. Stage Couch Group cash balances decreased to ? 241 in 2012 from ? 358.3 thus this is a key area of concern that calls for scrutiny of internal controls to detect any error or fraud (Stage Couch Group Annual report 2012). The auditor uses analytical procedures as the audit procedure in detecting any fraud. He compares the cash balances with the projected cash and if the balances exceed or fall below the years expectations, tests of detail are performed. Cash is an area of concern because the management might overstate it to cover up on its liquidity position. c) Accrued receivables According to the 2012 financial statement, accrued receivables decreased to ?16.4 million in 2012 from ? 19.4

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Government - Essay Example 2012 Republican Party of Texas (2012), Republican Party mission is to promote conservative philosophy of government by promoting conservative principles and providing the infrastructure through which the people sharing conservative values participate in the political system (3-5). On the other hand, Texas Democrats believe in democratic government that serves all the citizens indiscriminately. Considering the issues of protecting life, the Republicans believe that human life begins from fertilization to natural death while Democratic party believe that the product of joined egg and sperm has no independent status or rights. Republican Party of Texas also supports the legal marriage and moral commitment between a natural man and a natural woman unlike the Democratic Party that is opposed to other attempts to deny the freedom of same sex marriage (Sevilla Web). Additionally, Republicans consider that America is a nation under God and founded on Judeo-Christian principle but the Democrats recognize that no Texan should not be forced to live under religious doctrines to which they do not subscribe. Moreover, by looking at the school choice, the Republicans encourage maximum freedom of choice in public, private, or parochial education while Democrats oppose private school vouchers in all forms and strengthen state oversight of homeschools (â€Å"2012 Texas Democratic Party† 3-6). Republicans also oppose sex education other than abstinence until marriage while Democrats support effective, comprehensive age appropriate sex education program. Regarding health care, Republicans urge the passage of a reform that results in a more affordable healthcare including tort reform and urges immediate appeal of the â€Å"Obamacare’ while Democrats believe that health care is a right and supports the right of women to acquire contraception. In addition, Parental Rights on Education shows differences in ideologies where the Republicans assert that parents have the right and

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana Research Paper

Foster Parenting and Foster Care in Louisiana - Research Paper Example Foster parents need to develop for the child a ‘family-like environment’ (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012), ensuring that the vital needs of the child, in terms of food, clothing, health and education, are fully covered. Foster parents also need to support the personal development and growth of the child (Department of Children and Family Services, Foster Parenting 2012). It should be noted that foster parents do not have parental rights, at least not at the same level as the birth parents; for this reason, foster parents need to cooperate with the local authorities and the birth parents for identifying the needs of the child in terms of daily care. The above rules are common in foster parenting schemes developed across USA. In Louisiana, authorities have focused on the support of foster parents so that the care provided to the children, in the context of foster parenting, to be as appropriate as possible. In 2003, the number of children in foster care in Louisiana has been estimated to 4,541 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). Among those children, 53 are male, while the average age of children in foster care is 10 years (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). As of September of 2003, the average period that a foster child stays in a foster family has been estimated to 29 months, which can be characterized as rather long (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In 2004, the number of certified foster homes in Louisiana was estimated to 2,822 (Foster Care Month Organization 2005). In order for a family to provide foster care, it has to ask for a foster care certification. The requirements of this certification are the following ones: a) provision of information to foster family in regard to the needs and the demands of the program, b) the submission of a relevant application, c) fingerprints are provided by all members of the foster family, meaning those members who are

1933 Securities Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

1933 Securities Act - Essay Example Generally, the Act was enacted due to the realization that more information was required about and within the securities market. In this case, the Act addressed requirements in the securities market to enhance disclosure by requiring all companies in the U.S. to seek registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission before beginning their operations (Hecker, 2014). This registration was meant to ensure that companies gave potential investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission with relevant information, specifically through registration statements and prospectus. However, under the Securities Act of 1933, specific securities are exempted from these registration requirements. These exempt securities either come from other government regulatory agencies with a form of jurisdiction over the securities’ issuers, or from issuers with a high credit worthiness level. These securities include municipal bonds such as local government bonds, securities issued by federal agencies or the United States’ government, and securities issued by credit unions, savings institutions, and banks (OConnor, 2014). In addition, other exempt securities include public utility bonds or stocks, fixed annuities and insurance policies, and securities issued by non-profit, educational, and religious organizations. Finally, bankers’ acceptances, bills of exchange, notes, and commercial papers with initial maturity periods of less than 270 days are also included under exempt securities.

How Media Affects Society Essay Example for Free

How Media Affects Society Essay How The Media Affects Society The media is undoubtedly a significant and influential aspect in modern day society. As a means of communication in a world very much advanced in technology, the media touches all types of people through various forms such as the radio, newspapers, televisions etc. The question remains: what information is left unbiased and untarnished? The people within society must sort through the many bits of information fed to them and unfortunately, in most cases, all bits of media is taken as the whole truth. The ways in which media impacts society to a great extent are through the facts it chooses to reveal, as recently seen in the case of the Tamil war in Sri Lanka. The tone in which it is presented such as the recently reported cases of Tamil protest on the streets of downtown Toronto and finally in the manner it chooses to target certain audiences, such as the case of Victoria George-Pazzano in Mexico. The media affects society through the facts it chooses to reveal. The media can choose to mention certain things and not to mention certain things. As seen in the recent Tamil war in Sri Lanka all mainstream media outlets were banned from broadcasting out of the country. The media then proceeded not to broadcast any of it, leaving people unaware of it on a global scale, until the Tamils outside of Sri Lanka began to protest and make other countries aware of the situation. The media chose not to reveal this information and if it was not for the protest and marches held around the world it is possible, that society could have never known that genocide was being used against the Tamil Tigers. Society needs the media to be informed on the events happening around the world, but sometimes the media may not choose to show us what is exactly going on. This can result in society not knowing how to react to what is happening in other parts of the world. Just as important as the facts the media chooses to reveal, the tone and manner in which the media presents these facts plays a large role on societys take on events. The tone in which the media presents the facts in can be hostile, neutral or in favour. The tone can affect societys view on the situation, resulting in either a positive or negative reaction. As seen on May 10th when thousands of Tamils met on Torontos Gardiner Expressway, for almost 4 hours shutting down a key artery in the citys road network. If the media had said, â€Å"The Tamil protesters are keeping Torontonians hostage in their own city† vs â€Å"The Tamil protesters are bravely doing what needs to be done to save their families†. This could have resulted in Toronto turning against the Tamil community and possibly resulting in hate crimes, but instead the tone of the media was in favour of the protesters. Which has resulted in a positive reaction from Toronto and the Canadian government. The tone in which the facts are presented by the media, can easily change the point of view of the consumer, and can have either a positive or negative reaction regardless of the truth behind the facts. Lastly, the media uses its voice to target certain audiences for certain reactions. Who can the media target? In the case of Victoria George-Pazzano, a 29 year old woman who suffered a severe asthma attack while on vacation in Mexico became critically ill. Victorias family pleaded to the Canadian government and Ontario hospitals to bring her home,but were continuously told that there were no beds and doctors available to treat in all of Ontario. The family of Victoria then pleaded there case to the media, who in return targeted the government officials and found out that either the hospitals or the officials were lying to Victorias family because there were more than 20 beds available at the time. Because the media targeted the government with the right tone and direction of attention, the heat was put on the government for action because all of the attention was affecting there reputation. Without the media Attention, Victoria George-Pazzano would have died in a hospital bed in Cancun Mexico because the government of Canada pushed her aside. With these three weapons at the medias disposal, namely the facts it chooses to reveal, the perspective it chooses to take and the people it wishes to target. The media holds a great deal of power and influence over society. Of course, it may be for a positive effect or a negative one. Would one rather live in fear of all the rapes, assaults, robberies and murders that are reported or live happy, not knowing about every crime that takes place? That is another debate altogether. But, one thing is for certain: the people should not live blindly at the word and mercy of the media or another. There should always be room for doubt, speculation and of course ones own opinions. Although the media may carry a great influence over society, each person is entitled to think for oneself.

The Important Pursuit Of Marine Conservation Environmental Sciences Essay

The Important Pursuit Of Marine Conservation Environmental Sciences Essay Oceans and seas cover 70% of the worlds surface and are of critical importance economically, environmentally and socially. As an island nation, the UK coasts around 7500 miles of coast line and a wealth of marine biodiversity. The marine environment around England is extremely rich and diverse. England has some of the finest marine wildlife in Europe. Englands seas contain amazing underwater landscapes and  over 10,000 species, including many of national and European importance. For example, England has more underwater chalk reefs than anywhere else in Europe. We have some surprising species such as sea fans, solitary corals, sea horses, sharks and dolphins as well as many types of fish and invertebrates. The seas around England contain an important part of our wildlife. Some 50% of the variety of our species is found in the sea, in an area that is three times the land area. The geology of the seabed around England is rich and varied, ranging from rocky granite reefs to mobile sandbanks. It is this variety of seabed type, coupled with the influence of colder Arctic and warmer Mediterranean waters around our shores, those results in the diverse range of marine species and habitats in our seas. In this project will focus on looking into: How climate change affect the potential production for fisheries resources, and how it will affect in the future compared to past and present scenarios, in the absence of utilization will estimate the added liability of these effects on national and regional economies in marine-dependent areas and on specific elements of marine system at different scales Future vulnerabilities of national economies (and globally) to determine the consequences of predicted marine scenarios, including affection of marine policies on all economic, environmental and social platforms Rationale Task 1: Explain why the topic you have chosen is frequently on the political agenda, stating why the issue is so controversial. The environment, as general topic, has been on the political agenda since the late 1960s. A human nature relationship connects to extraordinary diverse set of issues covered by environmental politics, which include marine conservation. The emergence of conservation and nature protection groups in the latter part of the nineteenth and the early twentieth countries, was the first signal of concern about environmental issues on political agenda, reflecting growing interest in the protection of wild life and natural resources. The marine environment is increasingly high up the policy and political agenda now and rightly so. The marine environment is so important on a political agenda because it is critical important part of our economic, environmental and social existence. It provides  a wide  variety of goods and services. Our seas supply us with many goods and services including: Climate regulation.  Our oceans regulate our climate by redistributing heat around the world.   Evaporation from the oceans forms the moisture that results in rain on land.   The plankton in their uppermost layers helps stimulate cloud formation due to the chemicals they naturally emit. This plays a crucial role in temperature regulation of our planet. Food sources.  The oceans provide food for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Storing carbon.  Oceans act as the largest store of carbon on the planet, drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and trapping it. Energy.  We obtain oil and gas from under the sea bed. Offshore wind farms also provide a source of renewable energy, and waves and tides provide a further potential resource. Building materials.  We use marine aggregates such as sand and gravels as building materials. Transport.  The marine environment also links us to the rest of the world. In 2007 24.8 million passengers took international journeys by ship and UK ports handled 582 million tonnes (Mt) of freight traffic. Recreation.  Our seas and coasts provide a place for a wide variety of leisure activities from sailing and scuba diving to swimming and surfing. In 2007, we took over 20 million trips to the seaside in England.   Because our seas are wide supplier in many different ways its important to take care of such a source. Thats why is so hot topic on political agenda to save it, as it isnt in the best its form at the moment and continues to come under pressure from man, as we increasingly make use of its goods and services it provides. (http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/marine/default.aspx) Task 2: Examine selective aspects of UK Governments Environmental policy from 1970, and state how environmental policy impacts on say housing or transportation. Englands marine environment is not as well understood or protected as the terrestrial environment. It requires particular attention and focus to develop the evidence, protection, sustainable use, understanding and appreciation of our seascapes and marine biodiversity. Englands seas are protected and managed in a number of ways: Legislation and policy The marine environment is protected through a variety of national and international legislation and policies. Divided in two levels European and national. Site protection Site protection is afforded though a number of designations. Together these will form a network of  Marine Protected Areas  Ã‚  Special Areas of Conservation  (SACs) under the Habitats Directive,  Special Protection Areas  for birds (under the Birds Directive),  SSSIs  which occasionally cover sub-tidal areas and in future  Marine Conservation Zones  under the Marine Bill. Management of activities Activities in the marine environment are regulated by a licensing regime and within European marine sites by the Habitats Regulations. Natural England advises developers and regulators on the environmental impact of activities. The  Marine and Coastal Access Bill  will include provisions for establishing a system of marine planning, a new  Marine Protected Area  designation, and fisheries management, marine licensing and establishing a new marine management organisation. England Biodiversity Strategy Natural England leads on the marine workstream of the England Biodiversity Strategy, which is responsible for ensuring delivering the marine  Biodiversity Action Plans. Through Marine Programme, DEFRA is working to improve the state of the UKs marine environment and fisheries and achieve our vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. The UK has an important sea fish industry with one of the largest fishing fleets and fish processing industries in Europe. Freshwater fisheries is also a major leisure industry in our rural areas. In the UK, Defra is the lead department for fisheries and plays a major role in EU and international negotiations, as well as in managing and implementing fisheries policy. Fish stocks are national and international resources that have to be husbanded sustainably. If we lose them from over-fishing, they may take many years to regenerate. We also have to protect all marine species from sea pollution which could wreck their ecology. Figure 5 Flow chart of capture (wild) and farmed fisheries products from aquatic primary production. Numbers refer to 1997 data and are in megatons (million metric tons) of fish. Thicker lines refer to direct flows of aquatic primary production through capture fisheries and aquaculture to humans. Thin lines refer to indirect and minor flows. Red lines indicate negative feedbacks on the aquatic production base. (Modified from Naylor et al. 2000) Figure Ecological links between intensive fish and shrimp aquaculture and capture fisheries. Thick blue lines refer to main flows from aquatic production base through fisheries and aquaculture to human consumption of seafood. Thin blue lines refer to other inputs needed for production (e.g., agro feed, fish meal, seed stock, etc.). Hatched red lines indicate negative feedbacks. (Modified from Naylor et al. 2000) This approach removes doubts as to what exploitation regulations will be put into practice in coming decades, and focuses on the added impacts that climate change is likely to cause, and on the subsequent additional risks and vulnerabilities to human societies. Legislation restricts fishermen in what and where they can fish. The most significant legislation with respect to fisheries s the European Union Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) but legislation on fisheries matters comes from three sources: The EU The Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), or Scottish Executive (SEERAD) in Scotland Sea Fisheries Committees for local legislation in England and Wales# There are around 280 ports, harbours and creeks around the UK where fish is landed, the major fishing ports in the UK in terms of value of fish landed are: Peterhead chiefly haddock, cod, monkfish, mackerel, nephrops, herring Lochinver blue ling, ling, nepherops Fraserburgh haddock, herring, mackerel, nephrops. Sources: Statistics of fish landings into ports in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by port 2001, Defra website. UK Seafood Industry Annual Statistics 2001, Sea fish. Scottish Fishery Harbour Background Study, Sea fish Policy and Economic Unit.

whistleblowers :: essays research papers

Because of certain events and media scandals that have surrounded the business community a former forgotten kind of employees has regained importance they are called the whistleblowers. Their importance has reached such tremendous heights that they were named in Time magazine’s 2002 Persons of the year because of their crucial involvement in the Enron case and many others that followed after that. The dictionary definition states that whistleblower as â€Å"One who reveals something covert or informs against another person†. Whistleblowers can get their title no matter what position of the company they occupy as long as they have reliable information any employee can inform of unethical procedures or illegal that the company they are working for might be engaging. There are many cases where whistleblowers have been the key part in the prosecution of CEOs directors, financial consultants, etc. that had been engaging in illegal procedures and that if there have not be because of the whistleblowers aide the authorities would have never even notice those felonies. There are many examples one that is cited on the article is the case of James Alderson a chief financial officer in a small hospital that sued the company that acquired the hospital a large medical company called Quorum Health Group Inc. part of Columbia/HCA Company because he found out that the kept two sets of books for preparing healthcare costs for Medicare patients one that was sent to the Federal government with highly inflated costs and the other one that detailed actual cost of operations. The case started in 1990 and ended until 2003 we also have to consider that in 1990 the business environment did not have the huge concerns that we have today over the management of financial information and there were not many laws to aide whistleblowers in their cause. But since that time new policies and laws have emerged to support whistleblowers and there is a greater focus of executives over ethical issues. By blowing the whistle Alderson knew that he was jeopardizing his career and he did he had to finance the whole case with his checkbook, he lost his job and had

Women Slaves in Rum Distillation and Domestic Roles :: American History

Women Slaves in Rum Distillation and Domestic Roles Women slaves were also employed in rum distillation and domestic roles. Much like mill-feeding, women basically ran the rum distillation operations from cleaning machines to lifting and distilling. They were trusted more so than men to do this job because owners believed that women would be less likely to steal the rum and drink it themselves. However, a negative aspect of being employed in rum distillation is that owners would often substitute the alcohol for meat and other nutritious and essential dietary components, which could only lead to worse stages of malnutrition. In regards to domestic work, the elite slave and plantation owners had a tendency to employ more domestics than they actually needed. This of course was not negative since domestic and household work was regarded as being of a higher rank than field work and it was the only other position in which females had a chance to escape the tedious, back-breaking work of the fields. Because the nature of this work was much lighter, those slaves who were given it were envied by those who had to work in the field or the sugar mills or rum distillation factories. Both males and females began work as servants from the young age of 7 or 8. Domestic occupations ranged from cook, servant, washerwoman, laundress, seamstress, nurse, midwife, and doctress. Cooks especially were held in high regard because food was such a powerful weapon on the plantation since it was so scarce and regulated. The females basically managed the household while men were found to be cooks. Nurses and midwives were especially admired and coveted, even by the owner, because they were crucial to maintaining the slave population. Further, midwives were considered to increase the number of live births so they were highly regarded because this too increased the slave population. Research by Rhoda Reddock (in Kleinberg, 1988) demonstrates that many of the female domestic tasks, such as cooks and servants, were actually performed by males. Furthermore, the number of females in the field still outnumbered the number in household tasks. Extending to the household this dominance of males in more prestigious positions continued where males were head servants and women were still relegated to lower ranks. Reddock examines the composition of the slave population in the British Caribbean and still, the same trend is seen where females outnumber males after 1825.

Native American Women :: American America History

Native American Women On few subjects has there been such continual misconception as on the position of women among Indians. Because she was active, always busy in the camp, often carried heavy burdens, attended to the household duties, made the clothing and the home, and prepared the family food, the woman has been depicted as the slave of her husband, a patient beast of encumbrance whose labors were never done. The man, on the other hand, was said to be an loaf, who all day long sat in the shade of the lodge and smoked his pipe, while his overworked wives attended to his comfort. In actuality, the woman was the man's partner, who preformed her share of the obligations of life and who employed an influence quite as important as his, and often more powerful. Native Americans established primary relationships either through a clan system, descent from a common ancestor, or through a friendship system, much like tribal societies in other parts of the world. In the Choctaw nation, " Moieties were subdivided into several nontotemic, exogamous, matrilineal 'kindred' clans, called iksa." (Faiman-Silva, 1997, p.8) The Cheyenne tirbe also traced their ancestry through the woman's lineage. Moore (1996, p. 154) shows this when he says "Such marriages, where the groomcomes to live in the bride's band, are called 'matrilocal'." Leacock (1971, p. 21) reveals that "...prevailing opinion is that hunting societies would be patrilocal.... Matrilineality, it is assumed, followed the emergence of agriculture...." Leacock (p. 21) then stated that she had found the Montagnais-Naskapi, a hunting society, had been matrilocal until Europeans stepped in. "The Tanoan Pueblos kinship system is bilateral. The household either is of the nuclear type or is extended t o include relatives of one or both parents...." (Dozier, 1971, p. 237) The statuses and roles for men and women varied considerably among Native Americans, depending on each tribe's cultural orientations. In matrilineal and matrilocal societies, women had considerable power because property, housing, land, and tools, belonged to them. Because property usually passed from mother to daughter, and the husband joined his wife's family, he was more of a stranger and yielded authority to his wife's eldest brother. As a result, the husband was unlikely to become an authoritative, domineering figure. Moreover, among such peoples as the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Pueblo, a disgruntled wife, secure in her possessions, could simply divorce her husband by tossing his belongings out of their residence.

Julio Nieto

Cede knew the athletes were losing vital water and minerals, so he mixed salt and potassium into a balancing drink. ) After players spit out the first, foul-tasting samples, Cadet's wife suggested adding lemon juice and sweetener. (5) The rest Florida Gators stopped wilting and roared Into a winning streak. (7) The new drink was named in is history. (6) Sipping the new beverage, the their honor. (8) Other Florida teams are the Hurricanes and the Seminole. (9) Today 8 million bottles of Storage are consumed dally. Paragraph 2 ) Technology enables people like the famous physicist Dry. Stephen Hawking to continue working despite serious physical disabilities. (2) For more than 45 years, Dry.Hawking has lived with Lou Gearing's disease, which attacks the muscles, but his brilliant mind works perfectly. (3) He can no longer walk, speak, or feed himself. (4) Nevertheless, a high-tech wheelchair with computer attachments allows him to continue his research and stay in touch with friends and colleagues around the world. (5) His computer is hooked up full-time to the Internet. (6) To speak, he chooses words displayed on the computer screen. And then an electronic voice machine pronounces each word. (7) A pressure-sensitive Joystick even lets Dry.Hawking make his way through traffic. 8) In his home, Infrared remote controls operate doors, lights, and his personal entertainment center. (9) He has three children with his first wife, Jane, and one grandchild. (10) Dry. Hawking continues to search for new ways to overcome his problems through technology. And connect with a community of people who â€Å"speak from the heart. (7) Poetry slams are gaining popularity as schools, arts organizations, and groups of young writers start poetry clubs or sponsor contests. 8) Now, as online videos of the winning performances reveal the power of poetry slams, the excitement has spread worldwide. Chapter 2 Cross out any prepositional phrases in each of the sentences below. Then either ci rcle each subject and underline each verb or highlight the subject and verb in different colors. * 1. Do you watch videos on Youth? * 2.This hugely popular website grew quickly out of an invention by three friends. * 3. One night, Steve Chem. shot a video of his pals Chad Hurley and Jawed Karri. * 5. Surprisingly, the three buddies could find no easy way of sharing this video online. * 6. Their solution was a video-sharing website. * 7. Their friends loved it and inspired the young men to launch Youth in 2005. * 8. Within two years, Youth had attracted millions of visitors and millions of dollars from investors. * 9. Very easily, users can view or post videos on the site. * 10.Today, Youth's millions of videos inspire creativity, news reporting by everyday people, and some engaging craziness. Chapter 31 practice 2, 3, and 4 The first sentence of each pair that follows contains an irregular verb in the past tense. Fill in have or has plus the past participle of the same verb to compl ete the second sentence. * 1. Sean took plenty of time buying the groceries.

British vs. moghuls

India, the jewel in the crown, earns a skepticism that concludes divergent views. The end result is often an argument, which raises the questions regarding whether or not the imperial rule of the British Raj was justified. The title (British Raj) itself seems to juxtapose east with west, with an ironic rhythmic harmony. Where the Koh-e-Noor of India symbolized the political pride of the already great Britain, eyes of the writers never overlooked the individual price that the British had to pay on personal basis.Adventure or alternate, what ever the mission to India represented, individuals found themselves paying more than taking from it. A passage to India raises the question regarding the possibility of a harmonious co existence of the two nations, the English and the Indians. The answer to which comes as more negative than affirmed. Confined by their own narrow mindedness, the colonists mostly remained reserved and unappreciative towards India’s splendor and grandeur.Their racial prejudices, cultural superiority complex and inability to grasp its diversity, barred them to reap the intellectual and artistic harvest that the Moghuls enjoyed and multiplied as its more benign rulers. Coming from Kabul, the Moghuls approached the land with more open mindedness than the British. Nevertheless, they too considered the natives as ignorant and recessive; they focused on adopting the land rather than raping it like the later invaders. They presented themselves as symbols of interracial, multicultural harmonious co existence, only to be reproached by the fundamentalists.Compared to them, the British remained aloof and alienated in their own colonies. They despised the masses in general for their ugliness (determined by their skin colors), unsanitary and unhygienic living conditions, indiscipline and ignorance. More often than not did they succeed in imprinting their racial superiority in the colonized minds, yet they failed in winning over their empathy. On an in dividual level, the British could not open up to welcome the variety of people and cultures, whole heartedly.Thus, limiting themselves in experience and growth. Under the yolk of imperialism, the colonists served two purposes mainly, i. e. , economics and politics. There main concern for the land at best was self centered. They on the one hand, wanted to keep it as a factor market providing raw material for their growing industrial capitalism, while on the other; it laid patterns of a consumption oriented society that promised long term profits. Either ways, it was in the interest of the British to exploit natives in their related markets.They confiscated vast areas of agricultural personal properties on one pretense or another and implemented heavy tithes on agricultural produce. To make their policies more effective, they reinstated Zamindara Nizam, through which it became more feasible to exploit the local peasants by their privileged counter parts. Compared to the British, the M oghuls had been more liberal with their economic policies. In a broader sense the Moghuls seem more giving than taking from India. After conquering major parts of Punjab, the Moghuls chose to settle in Delhi and Lahore, making Punjab their home land.The Moghul emperors Akbar and Shah Jahan implemented policies that determine economic and intellectual growth and India was on its highest economic ebb under their rule. Their strategies flourished Indian architecture and arts industry, in particular. However, the Moghuls remained unattracted towards industrial and mechanical innovations, partly because of their own ignorance of the growing industrial disciplines and partly because of the empathy for the poor masses, which were structured to earn income by old traditional manners.Even if the economic policies of the Moghuls were less mechanized and modern, they were more popular with the natives as compared to those of the British. The later development strategies of the British however, were effective yet they earn more credit than due. The development of the British Indian railways, the canal network and the consequent development and rehabilitation of the Chenab colonies are viewed as highly effective development strategies. However, the principle interest again remained personal.The empire needed to mobilize the masses in order to deal with the growing unemployment and the consequent disturbances in the urban areas; secondly by cultivating the long neglected vast arable lands, they fed their own industries dealing with the agricultural produce. With in a short period of time six millions of large arid waste was turned into high yielding cultivable land. In a social context, the British, as it suited their own interests, aggravated the hatred between the two dominant sects in India, namely Hindus and Muslims. Their divide and rule policy focused on bringing disharmony between them.The Hindu Muslim unity proved to be a great threat to the newly built oppressive g overnment. The first alarm of which was realized in 1857, the War of Independence. Also known as the Sepoy’s Mutiny, the rebellion started within the lower ranks of the Indian army. Despised by both Hindus and Muslims, the cartridges, lubricated by the fats of cows and pigs, became the bone of contention between the government and army. Even though the rebellion was suppressed shortly afterwards, it left the British with a life long lesson that together, the Indians can be a big threat to their authoritarian rule.Later on they implemented policies in which the Hindus were comparatively privileged as compared to the Muslims. This left a kind of resentment and jealousy on the Muslims behalf. Hindus as it suited them, made full use of the British policies. The British henceforth succeeded in dividing the two nations and eventually ruling them. Thus, gone were the efforts of Akbar, Amir Khusraw, Kabir and the other Sufi poets like Bullah Shah, Shah Abdul Lateef Bhatai and Sultan Bahu, to spread the message of religious tolerance and humanity.Had the British been apprehensive towards the observations and experiences of the early missionaries, they should have adopted policies less oppressive and more humane. The early settlers seem impressed by the new culture that they acquainted in India; however, they seemed unhappy with the religious bigotry and few rituals which by their very nature were offensive, like suttee. Had the British superseded their capitalist interests, they would have approached India with great reforms and eventually had been more welcomed by the natives.But their preoccupations with their colonial interests resulted in the implementation of strict and oppressive governing techniques, which so far widened the gaps between the two nations and eventually won hostilities towards the ruling elites from the poor masses. To bridge the gaps between themselves and the natives, while operating at a safe distance, the British aimed at patronizing th e natives in their own image. Macaulay’s suggestion regarding Indian educational reforms is of significant importance.He summarized his suggestion in few lines, â€Å"We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population. † (1835).At educational institutions the natives were taught to believe and obey the racial and cultural sovereignty of the colonizers. Thus, grooming the natives as babus. Uprooted from the rest, but not welcomed whole heartedly by their patrons, the babus somewhat remained a suspended entity between the two opposite s. It is this realization of the oppressive methods of ruling India by the British, that the answer to the question raised earlier in the movie, A Passage To India, based on a novel by E. M. Forster, is that Indians and the Englishmen can make friendly relations only after the British leave India.A happy co existence between the oppressors and the oppressed is not a possibility. Though, attracted by the educated young Indians, the English cannot over come their conditioned response towards other nations as inferiors and undisciplined. Their reservedness either make them skeptic and insensitive like Heaslop or other wise make them vulnerable like Adela. The liberals like Mr. Fielding are just too few yet even he admits that any long term healthy relationships cannot be expected between the two, with the presence of the British in the country.Therefore, the friendship between Fielding and Aziz becomes a symbol of the possibilities and limitations of the relationships of the two nation s. The ups and downs in their relationships show the inevitable threat that any such relationship suffers by the difference of social backgrounds. Similar themes were selected by other post colonial English writers like Kipling and Paul Scott, who emphasized that the English at best can make relationships with the Indians which are potentially vulnerable.Though they have been a great asset to the empire, the colonizers felt uprooted, isolated and limited in the alien land which was there to serve them but was not really there own. From: Eva March Tappan, ed. , The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), Vol. II: India, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, pp. 169-179. From: Henry James Coleridge, ed. , The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, 2d Ed. , 2 Vols. (London: Burns & Oates, 1890), and Vol. I, pp. 151-163; reprinted in William H.McNeil and Mitsuko Iriye, eds. , Modern Asia and Africa, Readings in World History Vol. 9, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 4-11. From Thomas Babington Macaulay, â€Å"Minute of 2 February 1835 on Indian Education,† Macaulay, Prose and Poetry, selected by G. M. Young (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1957), pp-721-24,729. Ahsan, aitzaz: Indus Saga and The Making of Pakistan. Oxford University Press, 1997. David Gilmartin: Migration And Modernity. People On The Move. Ed. Ian Talbot and Shinder Thandi: Oxford University Press, 2004.

An Indigenous understanding of Reciprocity

Reciprocity is an underlying principle expressed throughout Aboriginal societies. Outline and Illustrate the Importance of this fundamental concept In the economic, social, spiritual and political spheres of Aboriginal life (refer to reciprocity In the index to Edwards 2005). The word reciprocity's conjures up a feel good image of ‘caring and sharing' (Schwab 1995: 8). However according to Peterson (1 993: 861) there is a darker more sinister side to this word when applied to Indigenous Australians.He defines it as ‘demand sharing' rather than reciprocity and he states hat Blurter Jones (1 987: 38) labels it tolerated theft. Peterson (1993: 860) goes on to assert that little ‘giving' Is purely altruistic because the giver might simply be protecting themselves from ‘pay-back† if they do not give, or be expecting some mutual benefit. Edwards (2004:76) espouses that white Australians disregarded the reciprocity of traditional territorial rights and misunder stood the code of mutuality in social relationships.They also failed to identify the privileges and responsibilities central to Aboriginal society based on relationship and reciprocity (Edwards 2004: 24). In order to enter a discussion on reciprocity with regard to our Indigenous culture, It must be looked at on two levels. First how reciprocity Is a central principle that has pervaded Aboriginal societies for millennia and secondly the impact that reciprocity with the Western culture has had on this Indigenous community, since the advent of Colonization.The Western way generally requires the borrower to formulate a case of need, whereas the Aboriginal approach is slanted towards the giver having to explain why he cannot give (Schwab 1 995: 8). However there is an increasing recognition that mutual benefit worked better within the Indigenous community when Aboriginals were hunter gatherers than It seems to In today's welfare society. Schwab (1995: title page) leans towards this real ization in his discussion paper short titled â€Å"The Calculus of Reciprocity†, where one could interpret the meaning of ‘calculus' to be the study of changed {mathematical}.He outlines an accepted act of generations of give and take, to one that is gradually changing to take' and either delayed ‘giving back or not at all. In the past the food or other goods ere shared out until they were all gone (Schwab 1995: 3-4) but Increasingly a ‘complex yet subtle calculus Is employed on a dally basis as Individuals decide which expenses (or gifts) require immediate attention and which can be deferred' (Schwab, 1995: 15). Reciprocity influences the political climate of Aboriginal society, especially the law, which was, is now, and always will be.According to Needing, Davis and Fox (1986: 42) an Elder sums it up when he says the Aboriginal Law never changes, â€Å"always stay same† while conversely, Western law Is â€Å"always changing†. There Is an Inte rconnectedness of all things, an agelessness which bears witness that spoilt exists now, as it did before and that creation exists as an historical fact and also has present currency and will into the future. In Colonial times, the principle of reciprocity was enigmatic to the Westerners and a constant source of acrimony – politically, legally and culturally.The Aboriginal philosophy of reciprocity encompassed the idea that if the balance of life was disturbed, there must be a ‘corresponding action' to repair the Imbalance and the status quo must be preserved aboriginal life and this essay will discuss the importance of reciprocity with regard to economic, political, social and spiritual spheres of Aboriginal life, although it is difficult to compartmentalize Aboriginal society due to its complexity, as there is an overlap and interconnectedness in all things.The economy is interwoven with politics, as social life is melded with spirituality. Pre Colonially, the concept of reciprocity had ensured the survival of Indigenous Australian peoples' lifestyle as a distinct economic style for thousands of years (Sermons, H. 2005: 70). In more recent mimes, colonial interference with its autocratic removal and relocation of key individuals and whole groups resulted in virtually a complete collapse of the traditional Aboriginal economy.As hunting and gathering is no longer possible for city dwellers, the concept of reciprocity becomes even more important, from an economic point of view, due to the nature of extended families all co-habiting in one small dwelling because of mutual obligation or reciprocity. According to Smith (1991) household structure has to stretch to encompass the extra-household fiscal networks it now accommodates. One must consider the concept of reciprocity or mutual benefit to obtain an understanding of domestic expenditure patterns.To better understand the impact of reciprocity on a single family, here is an example from the Lacuna c ommunity (Wallpaper people), which is currently representative of many Aboriginal communities (Sheathe, E 2005: 151). This anecdote illustrates how (poor) Aboriginal health is indisputably linked to their economic situation and that reduced eating patterns (feast or famine Schwab 2004: 5) are encouraged by the government welfare system.Elizabeth and David are out shopping for their extended family,4 hen Emily approaches and asks for food explaining her welfare money has run out, she is given quite a large amount of food. Elizabeth explains ‘l like to shop Just before it closes, because there are fewer people here †¦ In the mornings there are too many hungry people waiting for you' (Sheathe, E 2005: 152). This means Elizabethan family will eat well for a few days and then when the food runs out (earlier than intended because she has given some away) they will have to eat sparingly, or not at all, until the next welfare payment.At the same time David has been approached by Steve to use his gun and ammunition. David is reluctant to give up his gun fearing Steve will damage it, but willingly gives ammunition. David says ‘All the time people want things from you. It is no good. ‘ Later Steve returns and gives David a very small proportion of his ‘kill' (Sheathe, E 2005: 1 53); this is representative of a refused reciprocation. Stave's exchange is small because David did not share his gun. In the case of Emily, one can assume that if she has spent her welfare money before 1 1. 5 am on the day she received it, then it is doubtful she will reciprocate Elizabethan ‘gift' NY time in the future, as Emily has demonstrated she is unable to budget within her own economy. So, while reciprocation might have worked pre-colonization, it can be seen that in the present welfare economy, it is no longer a system of reciprocation, but rather a system of using and abusing one's kin because reciprocation is seen as a ‘right' and seemingly no l onger has to be ‘repaid', however the ‘shame' involved in not paying back (especially if the person has the means) has not changed (Schwab 2004: 6).The substance abuser, or the drunkard still have to be supported by their kin but hey are an economic threat to the household and possibly provide no means of return of the traditional arrangements of reciprocity while advocating that Indigenous people accept more responsibility so a sound economic base can be rebuilt for Aboriginal Communities. Both Elizabeth and Davit's self-protectionist attitudes seem to reflect the ‘modern' interpretation of reciprocity, that it is their kin's right to take', while sadly, they conceivably no longer expect them to repay in kind.Therefore the economy of this single household is skewed by having to support the immunity in general, instead of specifically their own family. In the past this would have been balanced out by equal trade-off, from Emily and Steve (or their immediate kin) bu t now days, due to issues such as alcoholism, homelessness, lack of education and substance abuse, true reciprocity is not as ubiquitous as it once was.A displaced sense of entitlement on the part of the taker' seems to be replacing the traditional sense of reciprocity and a certain wary counting of the cost seems to be reflected in the ‘giver's' calculus where the whole concept seems to be becoming a social burden Schwab 2004: 8). Indeed, Peterson (1993) in his article ‘Demand Sharing: Reciprocity and the Pressure for Generosity among Foragers' asks the question â€Å"Why is there a positive enjoyment to share if sharing is commonly by taking rather than giving? † (p. 861).When it comes to establishing the economic basis of a family, it becomes very difficult to measure their actual income due to people moving in and out of households, but Western society dictates that families meet eligibility criteria in order to qualify for welfare. The ideology of traditional reciprocity is not taken into account ND Schwab (1995: 16) suggests that politics, or policy makers ‘accommodate rather than contravene' these monetary instabilities and the ever changing family support arrangements. Western politics or law is generally not taken on board by Aboriginal society, or if it is, it is with reluctance and resentment.With this in mind, Schwab (2004: 2) wrote his discussion paper â€Å"The Calculus of Reciprocity' to further a ‘better understanding of the principles of reciprocity in contemporary Aboriginal communities' in the hope that it would better inform government policy makers, at a local, state and national level. There are two sets of politics (law) that the Aboriginal people must abide by. On the one hand there are the Politics and Law of Australia and then there are their own laws and politics as illustrated by The Dreaming, where explicit moral lessons transmit the ideology of didactic human behavior (Schwab 2004: 3).There is outra ge in Australia at the suggestion that certain individuals seek to impose elements of Shari law, but we turn a blind eye, or have a lack of understanding of Indigenous people carrying out their version of reciprocity when it comes to breaking their own laws. Some of the punishments imposed by Aboriginal Law include, death, spearing or other forms of corporal punishment (e. G. , burning the hair from the wrongdoer's body), individual ‘dueling with spears, boomerangs or fighting sticks, shaming, public ridicule, exclusion from the community or total exclusion (Australian Law Reform Commission ND: 1).The code of reciprocity controls the mutual rights and kinship obligations of the individual and encompasses the cultural norm of ‘payback for wrongdoing (Fryer-Smith, S 2002: 2. 18). As well as an understanding that reciprocity means the sharing of tools and food, there is also a oral principle of reciprocity with its negative forms encompassing retribution and revenge (Alkali and Johnson 1999, in Burbank 2006: 7). Burbank (2006: 7) stated that be killed, then reciprocity can be satisfied by the killing of another family member as due to the intricacies of kinship they are considered one and the same.This viewpoint would be considered barbaric in Western culture and would not be tolerated. As Edwards (2004: 73) states, the person who breaks the law must serve the sentence and for another person to pay the penalty would not be Justified or even permitted in Western law. In indigenous land management, the politics of reciprocity (between Western and Indigenous) should involve knowledge and understanding but the white Australian man tries to impose his vastly different practices onto the Aboriginals who have been practicing successful land management for millennia.Disappointingly much of the thousands of years of Indigenous knowledge are often disregarded by Whitefishes' (Baker, Davies, Young, 2001: 158). To illustrate the disparity of understanding of the principles of reciprocity in Colonial times, Edwards (2004: 73) outlines the anecdote where the Elder showed he settler a waterhole and then considered it a reciprocal action to later kill a sheep for food when the settler used the waterhole to water his flock.This Aboriginal would then be dealt with by the police and the courts and he would be mystified as he could see no Justice in a system such as this where reciprocity did not play a part. In his law, laid down by The Dreaming it would be sanctioned behavior to take the sheep as pay back for food for his clan. Western politics plays a part in the downfall of the concept of reciprocity, firstly by taking away the dignity of Indigenous people ho cannot reciprocate for their welfare payments in any quantifiable way.Secondly because life has so drastically changed for the indigenous people since Colonization, they now find themselves stripped of their place and their land and instead find themselves in the undignified position of be ing passive welfare recipients. So many have fallen by the wayside and become victims of alcohol and substance abuse due to their once well organized and purposeful life being ripped away. This has made them reliant on their relatives generosity, which leaves them no self-respect and minimal fiscal, physical or emotional resources to pay back with.Therefore the notion of reciprocity as a system of checks and balances to maintain social equilibrium (Bourne and Edwards, 1998, 100, p 106. In Fryer-Smith, S 2002: 2. 18) is stymied for some. Traditionally social stability has been maintained within the Aboriginal society because reciprocity has functioned as a means of equilibrium. Reciprocity has been important throughout all social and family relationships, where a complex system of kinship lines exists. This system relies heavily on the responsible and reciprocal participation of all members from the give-and-take of tools and hunting weapons, to the sharing of food.As one Elder expla ined: â€Å"Sharing Just a way of life for Aboriginal people, probably in our genes or something. Might be left over from the old days when we were hunters and that .. . All Aboriginal people know what it's like to be hungry. We Just can't turn away someone who says he's hungry †¦ I guess white people have a hard time understanding that one† (Schwab 1991: 145), whereas Western society is built on capitalism, meaning that some of its central values are totally opposed to the tradition view of Aboriginal culture (Richardson J 2006: 144). Moieties subtle and often invisible to some (Schwab 2004: 3). Indigenous societies place emphasis on social identity and the obligations individuals have to conform to the expectations their society has mapped out for them, whereas in Western societies the emphasis is on the individual and the rights and freedoms of that individual and there is no expectation that people will conform (Edwards, 2004: 52). Almost any behavior is accepted, as long as their actions do not harm others.Aboriginals believe there is a balance within ourselves that incorporates our social lives and our spiritual lives and to integrate ourselves into the ecology and consciousness of this oral, we need to intertwine these two worlds in our daily existence (Lower 1991 : 49). The requirement of reciprocity underpins most aspects of spiritual life, including ritual, ceremony and the protection of sacred sites (Fryer-Smith, S 2002: 2. 18). If one gives to the ancestor's by way of ceremony, song, ritual and dance they reciprocate by giving the strength, power and knowledge of the spirits (Lower 1991 P: 48).Likewise if one honors the earth, the earth will reciprocate with an abundant harvest. An Aboriginal had/has a responsibility to perform the rituals that released the creative rowers that abide in the land and if these rituals are not performed, great harm could befall the land. Even today, Aboriginal land management techniques rely on understandi ng the religious links between the Indigenous peoples and the land (Baker et al 2001: 113). Western society puts its faith in science and technology, while keeping an eye on the weather, to reap the finest harvest.They do not pray or perform religious services to interact with the land. Indigenous people believe the whole environment is formed by The Dreaming, there is a sense that all things partake in the sacredness of life. For millennia, Aboriginal people have co-existed with spiritual beings in their daily life. The essence of spirituality is present throughout the material world and through a cryptic sense of time; Aboriginal People seamlessly connect with the Dreaming origins of their spiritual being (Edwards 2004: 86).Aboriginal religion is bound up in The Dreaming and dictates that responsibility consists of acting in accordance with a few moral principles. For Aboriginal people, being deprived of their land means a â€Å"deprivation of access† to The Dreaming and th e severing of a certain life-force which breaks the link with The Dreaming. It is this very real deprivation that has broken the spirit of many an Aboriginal person, leaving them empty and heartsick (Triggering 1988: xv-xvii).Aboriginal people base their claim to ownership of the land on their belief that the spiritual forces which shaped the land also created them and still inhabit this land today (Edwards: 19). Rose (2004: 42) points out that earth is the initial mother, the mother of everything. She goes on to say that all knowledge and all living beings in their diversity are ultimately born of earth. Non-indigenous Australians often countryside the significance of the land to Aboriginal people; however The Aboriginal Land Rights and Native Title movements have increased awareness of this issue.As Rose (1987) says in her article â€Å"Consciousness and Responsibility in an Australian Aboriginal Religion†, if people protect the land by burning, using the country, performin g ceremonies to increase the bounty and by protecting the dangerous Dreaming sites so that no harm escapes, the land will repay them by reciprocal relationship that ensures the continuity of life for all involved, the land, humans, animals and the plant life (peg. 262). Partaking in this exchange of life will lead to balance for the land and its inhabitants. DRP.Pollinate in â€Å"Looking after our Spirit† (Pearce, M 2012) states that we have a duty of care to engage in reciprocity with the earth and to ensure that the environment we have inherited is left in the same, if not better condition, than when we got it. This is an ideal philosophy, but unfortunately the greed of many non-indigenous ventures such as mining for minerals and gas in many traditional lands has caused an imbalance and to the eyes of the Indigenous peoples, many landscapes are now out of balance and the aim of cooperation has been pillaged.Non-indigenous ventures plunder the land and they take, but they d o not reciprocate by giving anything back, although Western conservation laws are beginning to address this situation. As this essay has demonstrated, reciprocity is an economic means of survival and the Indigenous political system is built on the presumption of reciprocity, while the Australian Judicial system has been influenced by Aboriginal philosophy. Such documents as ‘Aboriginal Customary Laws and Sentencing, Aboriginal Customary Laws and the Notion of ‘Punishment† by the Australian Law Reform Commission, (ND) and theAboriginal Bench book for Western Australia Courts (2002) by Fryer Smith have been distributed to foster an understanding of the concept of reciprocity that Aboriginal life is founded on. Society is based on complex kinship lines where reciprocity is expected and accepted but is open to exploitation as demonstrated by those abusing the passive welfare system and who no longer honor the traditional social norms. A fulfilling spiritual life revolv es around maintaining relations with the Dreaming Spirits.