Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Ethics - Essay Example Thus, when studying western ethics, it is incredibly important to be able to understand not just one but several ethical codes. Three of the most important ethical codes are virtue theory, deontological ethics, and utilitarianism. Virtue theory is an ethical code that rests on the intrinsic virtues of an individual. This theory has, in some ways, a highly internalized locus of control, and in other ways an externalized one. This is because one can evaluate virtue either on the individual level (meeting one’s own expectations of virtue) or on a societal level (mirroring societal constructs of virtuous behavior). The most important thing about virtue theory is that it is almost completely unrelated to individual action taking (Crisp & Michael, 1997), focusing more on the internal character of a person than background or consequence of actions. Virtue ethics remind me of times in which I try to improve myself for no reason other than being a better person – holding doors open, for example. Deontological ethics differ greatly from virtue ethics on a number of levels. The fundamental idea of deontological ethics is that one must comport one’s self in a method that complies with a set of rules. The origins of these rules can change drastically from philosopher to philosopher, ranging from highly variable understandings of rules as basic obligations to uphold certain philosophical principles, to highly restrictive understanding of rules such as those in moral absolutism, in which certain actions are either considered unambiguously moral or amoral. This philosophy obviously seems prone to an externalized locus of control. This kind of philosophy reminds me of occasions when, as a child, I would behave in a certain way (eating my vegetables, for instance) out of an obligation without necessarily agreeing with that action. The final major mode of ethics discussed in this paper is utilitarian ethics.

The Development Of Hip Hop Music Essay

The Development Of Hip Hop Music Essay The hip hop musical genre developed at the same time with the hip hop culture which we can define by stylistic elements such as Raping, Djing, The hip hop music was born at the Bronx of New York city in 1970s basically from African Americans and Jamaican Americans. Often the word rap is used as same meaning with the hip hop but hip hop has an entire subculture. Usually rapping is also called Mcing (emceeing) which is a vocal style in which the artist speaks lyrically in rhyme and with the company of an instrumental or synthesized beat. Beats mostly are created by looping and mixing portions of other songs. The roots of hip hop are found in African-American music and ultimately African music. The griots of West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets who are part of an oral tradition dating back hundreds of years. Their vocal style is similar to that of rappers. The African-American traditions of signifyingHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signifyin', the dozens, and jazz poetry are all descended from the griots. In addition, musical comedy acts such as Rudy Ray Moore and Blowfly are considered by some to be the forefathers of rap. Within New York City, griot-like performances of poetry and music by artists such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and 1970s. Hip hop arose during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, especially in the Bronx. Block parties incorporated DJs who played popular genres of music, especially funk and soul music. DJs, realizing its positive reception, began isolating the percussion breaks of popular songs. This technique was then common in Jamaican dub music and had spread to New York City via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community. A major proponent of the technique was the godfather of hip hop, the Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc. Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), also known as Kool Herc, DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Herc, is a Jamaican-born DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music, in the Bronx, New York City. His playing of hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown was an alternative both to the violent gang culture of the Bronx and to the nascent popularity of disco in the 1970s. In response to the reactions of his dancers, Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat-the break-and switch from one break to another to yet another. Hip hop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United States prior to the early 1980s. During that decade, it began its spread to every inhabited continent and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries. In the early part of the decade, break dancing became the first aspect of hip hop culture to reach Germany, Japan, Australia and South Africa, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Meanwhile, recorded hip hop was released in France and the Philippines (Dyords Javiers Na Onseng Delight and Vincent Dafalongs Nunal). In Puerto Rico, Vico C became the first Latino rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton. Japanese hip hop is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing Hip-Hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop generally tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, taking from the eras catchy beats, dance culture, and overall fun and carefree nature and incorporating it into their music. As a result, hip hop stands as one of the most commercially viable mainstream music genres in Japan, and the line between it and pop music is frequently blurred. Hip hop has globalized into many cultures worldwide, as evident through the emergence of numerous regional scenes. It has emerged globally as a movement based upon the main tenets of hip hop culture. The music and the art continue to embrace, even celebrate, its transnational dimensions while staying true to the local cultures to which it is rooted. Hip-hops inspiration differs depending on each culture. Still, the one thing virtually all hip hop artists worldwide have in common is th at they acknowledge their debt to those African American people in New York who launched the global movement. While hip-hop is sometimes taken for granted by Americans, it is not so elsewhere, especially in the developing world, where it has come to represent the empowerment of the disenfranchised and a slice of the American dream. American hip-hop music has reached the cultural corridors of the globe and has been absorbed and reinvented around the world. Hip Hop music has had many different effects on teens since its inception in the late 1970s. When most people think of rap music today, they immediately think of the gangster or thug mentality that has infested suburban teens with an attitude that reflects the heart of the ghetto. This may normally be revealed through a change in language or slang, as well as a change in appearance or dress. Rap nearly paints a picture to a child of what is going on in the streets. It has a much bigger influence on suburban teens because children who live in poverty strictened areas already have an idea of what that life is really like. Lots of times it comes down to children wanting to be considered cool. As a cultural movement, hip-hop manages to get billed as both a positive and negative influence on young people, especially on Black and Latino youth. On one hand, there are African American activists, artists and entrepreneurs, such as Russell Simmons, who seek to build a progressive political movement among young hip-hop fans and who have had modest success with voter registration efforts. On the other hand, theres no shortage of critics who denounce the negative portrayals of Black people, especially women, in hip-hop lyrics and videos. Recently, a few critics in major U.S. newspapers took note of a well-publicized marketing firm study that cited the cultural influence of hip-hop and reported on sexuality among African American youth in households earning less than $25,000 per year in 10 cities. The study revealed that Black adolescents are becoming sexually active at ages younger than other youth and are suffering from HIV/AIDS at a rate higher than other groups. Political hip hop (also political rap) is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed in the 1980s. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy were the first political hip hop group. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released the first well-known sociopolitical rap song in 1982 called The Message, which inspired numerous rappers to address social and political subjects. Explicitly political hip hop is related to but distinct from conscious hip hop because it refers to artists who have strong and overt political affiliations and agendas, as opposed to the more generalized social commentary typical of conscious hip hop. It can also be used to include political artists of all ideological stripes, whereas the term conscious hip hop generally implies a broadly leftist affiliation or outlook. There are hundreds of artists whose music could be described as political. Black HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalismNationalism was one of the driving ideologies behind the militant wing of the North American civil rights movement in the 1970s and early 1980s. It played a major role in early political hip hop and continues to be a major animating force for many contemporary political hip hop artists. Prominent Black Nationalist artists include Tupac Shakur, Public Enemy, Paris, and many others. Marxism has long been a major animating force in social movements worldwide and is no less so in Hip Hop. Without a doubt the two most overtly Marxist groups in the english language have been Marxman and The Coup. Both groups also incorporate(d) Revolutionary Nationalism into their message, Irish Republicanism for Marxman and Black Nationalism for the Coup. For these artists, as with Marxism in general, class struggle and anti-imperialism are major recurring themes. Anarchism has been a major motivating ideology for popular movements around the globe for over a century and is just as relevant in Hip Hop culture. Like Marxist hip hop, class struggle and anti-imperialism are major themes in anarchist hip hop music along with Anti-parliamentarianism and a strong emphasis on intersectionality and the connections between different movements. The need for community-level grassroots organization and opposition to political hierarchy and illegitimate authority are also common themes. Unlike Marxist acts, several of which have been signed to major labels, anarchists artists have generally followed a DIY ethos which has led them to remain independent.Many other artists object to Capitalism in general but prefer not to explicitly identify with either Marxism or Anarchism and instead advocate various other forms of Socialism. The most prominent hip hop acts that describe their politics as socialist are Dead Prez, Blue Scholars, SNIPED, and Sun Rise Above. Immortal Technique identifies himself as a socialist and supports Castro and Leninism. Looptroop Rockers is an anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist hip-hop project from Sweden. Askari X, a rapper hailing from Oakland, CA, has also expressed his loyalty to the African People Socialist Party. Other political hip hop artists advocate a wide range of positions, and often disagree with one another, as can be expected from an extremely diverse global scene. Zionist hip hop acts like Golan and Subliminal, and Palestinian nationalists like the Iron Sheik have obvious fundamental disagreements about a wide range of issues, but both use hip hop music and culture as a vehicle to express themselves and spread their ideas. As hip hop becomes increasingly widespread, artists from many different countries and backgrounds are using it to express many different positions, among them political ones. The nature of hip-hop (as with much music) as an opposing force to the establishment lends itself to such a use. Listening to rap has not been shown to increase suicidal ideation and anxiety or adversely affect self-esteem among college-aged men and women. Oddly enough, students listening to a nonviolent rap song experienced more depressive symptoms than those who listened to a violent rap song. Overall, rap songs are more inclined to generate angry emotions than heavy metal songs. Every so often a new style of music emerges that takes America by storm and comes to represent the generation that grows up with it. In the 50s it was rocknroll, followed by the Motown sound of the 60s. The 1970s brought folk music and disco, and in the 80s it was rap. Perhaps no other form of music has crossed as many boundaries and become a bridge between Americas many cultures as rap has I believe that hip-hop is bringing the cultures together. The sound of hip-hop is one element that shows that our work can be less divided and more united. I support the joining of artists to create unique styles of music. I think that shows that people are more open to change these days. Anymore, most people do not see the differences in colors or backgrounds. This generation has not only grown up with the rap music, but it has grown up with many different cultures. My peers and I grew up and went to school with many black children. From the very beginning, my generation has accepted the differences in body color. Its not strange to see an interracial marriage or two children of different races that are best friends. Hip-hop has pushed the sounds of the different ethnic backgrounds together to speak to all people.

Free Handmaids Tale Essays: The Red Motif :: Handmaids Tale Essays

The Red Motif in The Handmaid's Tale In the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" written by Margaret Atwood, the recurrent appearance of the color red draws an interesting yet perverse parallel between femininity and violence. The dominant color of the novel, red is associated with all things female. However, red is also the color of blood; death and violence therefore are closely associated with women in this male-dominated ultraconservative government. We are first introduced to the color red when the narrator is describing how she gets dressed: "The red gloves are lying on the bed. Everything except the wings around my face is red; the color blood, which defines us." Here, we are unsure if Atwood is referring to blood as menstrual and feminine, or as the result of disobedience and the violence which results. The women of "Handmaid" are cloaked in red as a reminder of their fertility. However, in the context of Gilead, red is not just menstrual blood or blood resulting from birth; the red is a threat of death. Offred would later say, "I never looked good in red, It's not my color. "Red tulips are also a recurrent image in "The Handmaid's Tale." Tulips, often seen as llonic symbols in many works, can be interpreted this way also. Tulips are women, and red tulips are women cloaked in red, red blood. On page 12 Offred narrates: "The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there." If a deeper interpretation of this thought is warranted, I would think the place where the tulip meets the stem in the neck of the woman, and as the government came in and stripped them of all power they "cut off their heads" in a way by depriving them of money, reading materials, and any type of education. Tulips, like the cloaks, are symbols of violence against females in the perverse world of Gilead. A blatant use of red to relate women with violence can be seen on page 32: "But on one bag there's blood, which has seeped through the white cloth, where the mouth must have been. It makes another mouth, a small red one. . . This smile of blood is what fixes the attention finally." The men who are hanging are meant to scare, as Atwood clearly states, yet meant to scare who?

Cigarette Oligopoly

Cigarette Oligopoly Market Chayleen Marquis Benedictine University Author Note This research is being submitted on May 2, 2010, for Professor Raymond Bell’s MBA 611 course at Benedictine University by Chayleen Marquis. The cigarette market is one that is known to everyone. From magazine advertisements to constructive commercials people have been exposed to this market starting at a young age. The constant visuals of the advertisements as well as the free advertising that occurs daily with people smoking outside their office, in their car, and outside the night life scene the cigarette market has a benefit of using the free advertising as a benefit to their company at no cost. The cigarette market is a clear example of an oligopoly market because it is mostly run by a few large firms such as Philip Morris USA, Commonwealth Inc, Lorillard Inc and Reynolds American Inc. Due to the fact that an oligopoly market is hard to not only come into but also basically controlled by these large firms any new competitor is going to have a difficult time entering this market, being profitable in comparison to these firms and really having any type of say in the price or the output. A benefit of being an oligopoly is the fact that the prices are not determined for them but the larger firms more or less make the prices in reflection of the coordination amongst each other. Essentially the large firms come together and decide what price they would like to see and then all of the cigarettes cost the same amount across the board. Of course one concern that oligopoly’s must make sure that they are not be involved with is price fixing. Price fixing is when the competitors of a market fix the product price to avoid competition within their market, while at the same time not being fair to the consumers of the product in regards to the price. The price fixing does not always happen between the competitors but it also can be a factor between manufacturers and distributors. So as an oligopoly the firms must ensure that the price fixing is not occurring at any levels of their production. Most people look at an oligopoly market and think that they act as a monopoly because the main firms completely control the market. However in an oligopoly the main firms each have a distinguished product brand that sets them apart from their competitor even f it is in the smallest difference. These brands allow each firm to stake claim on consumers in a memorable way to keep consumers coming back for more. In reference to the cigarette oligopoly most consumers have smoke Marlboro’s from the beginning of their smoking career and have never strayed from the product that they know. In an oligopoly market if one firm drops their prices another firm is more likely to drop their prices as well to not only stay competitive but to also retai n their market share. However if a firm were to increase their prices the other competing firm will not like raise their prices obviously to try and maintain as well as try to increase their market share. Price increasing is not something that occurs often in an oligopoly market which in turn makes the market inelastic in regards to price change. The use of the game theory is commonly used in oligopoly markets such as the cigarette industry. Making moves in the market without fully knowing how your competitors are going to respond and knowing that if one move that is made can definitely benefit all firms is a tough task to attempt. Making a decision that could help out the companies is not always going to be perceived by the other companies and can back fire on the company who makes the initial decision which in turn would leave them more than likely with a net loss. In the cigarette oligopoly market I see promotion as a game theory used between the competing firms. Many different events are held and it seems that the cigarette firms are there to give away free samples of their new products, free t-shirts and of course creating a bond with the consumer which makes them stay a loyal customer and even gets some consumers to switch products. An example would be from Camel cigarettes to Marlboro cigarettes. As mentioned before advertisement is something that drives the cigarette oligopoly. With the promotions being such a market to get more and more people daily to advertise freely for the company cigarette firms use every opportunity to do so. Primarily during these promotion periods the cigarette companies will use the foot traffic to do the free advertising for them. This is an extremely smart move because in reality who does not want a free t-shirt. The competing firms do not know when competition is always having a promotion such as the ones mentioned above and could see a decrease in sales during a competitor’s promotion or even right after one. Another example of the game theory used in the cigarette oligopoly market is when purchasing a regular firm product giving out a free ull size sample of a new product to get consumers to try it, which then leads to the consumer not having to purchase their product for a longer period of time. In the cigarette industry I believe that profit has been maximized. There are not a lot of changes that can keep occurring in this industry that can great greater profits than the ones occurring right now. There is only so much change that the cigarette market can endure and change that I believe the market has no new product line to go to. The cigarette market is such an intricate market with a product that has been sold the same way for years and year’s people don’t want it to change. The only profit the cigarette industry is going to see is when prices rise slowly due to inflation. Other than taxes being enforced by states and the federal government the price for a pack of cigarettes is not going to change drastically by any firm in caution of losing its market share. The competition in the cigarette market is beneficial to the consumers because of the promotions they provide with all of the free merchandise. Unlike other oligopolies the cigarette market is not elastic so price changes that would occur in other oligopoly markets that affect the consumer don’t not occur in the cigarette market. Competition in other oligopoly markets can directly negatively affect the consumer but because the cigarette market is a market that change rarely happens, prices are the same regardless the brand the competition is a benefit. In conclusion the cigarette market oligopoly market is a pretty stable very profitable market that has proven to stand the test of time, anti-smokers protests and even recessions. This market has a proven track record and has no intent to go anywhere. With the ability to use consumers for free advertising this market has saved money in the marketing department which usually helps fight law suits but still keeps its consumers coming back for more each week. The amount for a pack of cigarettes today is between four and five dollars and for the amount of smokers that casually smoke to the addicted smokers who go through a pack a day the cigarette market is not going anywhere and profits they are seeing are simply astounding. References Thomas, C. R. , & Maurice, S. C. (2008). Managerial Economics (9th ed. ). New York, NY : McGraw-Hill Irwin. Market Information-Philip Morris USA. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 26, 2010, from http://www. pmusa. com/ed/ cms/Company/Market_Information/default. aspx

Brief Analysis Of Historical Inaccuracy In Literature

Brief Analysis of Historical Inaccuracy in Literature Literature is among the most important sources of historical and cultural education; it is arguably much more essential to the public before the prevalence of motion pictures. Hence, the core idea, the depiction of background and even the most trivial details in literature can somehow shape the readers' understandings of a person, an ethnicity group, a nation and a form of culture. Therefore, literature has the burden of being historically accurate.In the case of many German tales about anti-Semitism, cultural intolerance and ethnically discrimination against Jews are explicit. The tales depict Jews as blasphemers, murderers and liars, but the more interesting phenomenon is the fate of all these Jews in the tales, where they are labeled, expelled and executed. If we review the history of Jews during WI, in which they were first forced to wear the Star of David as symbol, then expelled from normal activities and driven to ghettos, and finally persecuted in concentration amps, we can find the strong similarity between the tales and the reality.Perhaps, part of the motivations behind the Holocaust is the negative understandings or hostility cultivated with these anti-Semitic tales. In my childhood, watched the movie of Cleopatra and started to consider Octavia as a negative image, despite that Augustus was the greatest emperor of Rome. Similarly, many German children's understandings of Jews as villains from the tales would have profound impact on their future. Furthermore, tragic and catastrophic events tend to create a deeper negation, which is why literature referring to tragic events should be more cautious regarding historical accuracy.For example, children's sympathy of the girl in The Girl Who Was Killed by Jews can create considerable hatred against Jews. Likewise, when I saw a review to a book about Battle of Outburst saying that Germans are all murderers because their ancestors were all butchers, know another hatred against Germans is being cultivated with inaccurate or biased literature of Vowel.