Early Reading Program Essay Example for Free

Early Reading Program Essay The article Experts Eschew Narrow Reading of Early-Literacy Study by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo discusses an important topic, focused on promoting programs for pre-schoolers that will enhance their reading skills by the time they reach their elementary years. â€Å"A long-promised review of early-reading research concludes that teaching the alphabet and letter sounds in preschool strengthens children’s chances of success in learning to read later on† (Manzo, 2009). This is an interesting article because it clearly demonstrates how these children will benefit the early literacy programs since these will help them read better and faster. The programs will help secure these children a good future because these will ensure them of a good education that can train them as early as their pre-school years. However, these early literacy programs present problems for children, as well as to educators. For the children, these programs might put too much pressure on them. Their freedom to learn things at their own pace will be taken away. At such an early age, children will be exposed to structured learning and might become used to this type of education, which is not a good thing since not all academic institutions offer the same type. For the educators, the challenge will be to design the programs in such a way that the children will not lose interest, at the same time will be beneficial to them. Education is a significant part of securing a good future. It will improve ones chances of obtaining jobs that can support him or her financially. It can also help a person realize what he or she wants to do in life and maximize his or her potentials to the fullest. Early literacy programs should be carefully planned such that minimal problems will be met along the way. This is important in order to not jeopardize the childrens academic lives and ultimately, their future. Reference Manzo, K. K. (2009, January 21). Experts Eschew Narrow Reading of Early-Literacy Study. Retrieved June 5, 2009, from http://www. edweek. org/ew/articles/2009/01/08/18read. h28. html

Toyota Philosophy of Kaizen

Toyota Philosophy of Kaizen In the bend of the seventies, the scientific management (Taylorism and Fordism) appears in gap growing, out of step with the new standards of the society. Henceforth markets require diversified and reliable (even individualized!) products. That implies flexibility, reactivity, innovation. These constraints require the implication, the motivation, the versatility, the initiative and the ability to react from the employees, to the detriment of strict submission and obedience. A new logic of production (adaptation of the productive system to the requirements of the market) was required: Toyotism appeared. Toyota Motors Corporation is today the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world. Toyotas success is due to two mains techniques created by Taiichi OHNO (1912-1990), a former president of Toyota in order to compete with the American car industry (Ford particularly). He invented the TPS: Toyota Production System, also named Toyotism and the JIT: just in time. This model was implemented by Toyota since 1962. Those working organization forms were then broadcasted to the USA and Europe. First we will define what is Toyotism, then we will study the evolution of the Toyotism forms and finally, we will see how Toyotism lead to Toyotas management today. About Toyotism Major principles Toyotism has two major principles: the just in time system and the autonomation system. The just in time system which means production in just in time conditions contributes to eliminate inventory. Indeed, stocks are very expensive for the company because it is necessary to conserve goods in perfect shape in huge buildings. Indeed, some goods require a special preservation system which can also be very costly. You also need to pay for storage building. Moreover, the produced goods have generated costs (especially in a country like Japan were space is limited), that are not compensated by sales. More precisely, inventory reduction relies on the Kanban method that consists in producing when demand manifests itself. We start from the command sent to the company to go back upstream to the fabrication level. Thus, it is the final consumer that launches production. Production is then said to be in tight management or in tense flows, contrary to Fordism. Indeed, thanks to just in time (the approach of continuous and forced problem solving via a focus on rapid throughput and reduced inventory), products or raw materials necessary to production arrive when and where they are needed. No more waste and no more delays, so it reduces costs! Thus, the JIT production helps reducing cost by eliminating waste, removing variability and improving throughput. Autonomation (= autonomy + automation) or auto-activation is the second Toyotism principle. The kaizen perfectly describes the principle of continuous improvement of the system. The kaizen is the principle of empowerment of the teams to define standard durations of production and to divide up the diverse manufacturing operations of a product, in order to work more effectively and faster. Empowerment is based on the despecialisation and on the flexibility of the workers. For instance, simple and cheap stop devices are equipped on machines, which allow the supervision of several machines by the same operator. In case of a breakdown or a defect, the worker stops the assembly chain and tries to solve the problem himself. Thus, the employee has to be versatile and qualified enough. Machines are more automated and workers are more autonomous! They improve the human aspect of autonomation. A new working organization form Through those two innovations: the just in time system and the autonomation system, Toyotism aims at obtaining the 5 zeros, also qualified as Lean Production in USA. The Toyotism method consists in reducing production costs, avoid overproduction, reduce delays and produce the best quality possible. So the five conditions are: 0 delay (Just in time production. This method consists in waiting for the commands before producing but they need to be very reactive.) 0 stock (No overproduction so no inventory cost.) 0 paper (No intern paperwork and hierarchy weakening.) 0 default (No good has to be faulty, so as to avoid reparation costs and to satisfy the client) 0 weakening (Thanks to a regular and rigorous maintenance, machines have no defect.) Any activity or decision that does not add value in the customers mind  is considered a waste. Indeed, it is the customer who defines the value of the product. Waste reduction is an effective way to increase profitability. Therefore, Taiichi Onho identified seven categories of wastes: Overproduction (as seen above, overproduction requires inventory  which is a waste of money) Waiting (idle time, storage and waiting are wastes: indeed, if an employee has to queue for his material to start working, you pay him at doing nothing but waiting! Also if a good is neither being transported nor being processed, it is waiting and a good kept waiting is a good that is not being sold, so its a good that does not generate revenue.) Transportation (every time you move a product, you take the risk that it can be damaged or lost or delayed. Moreover, transportation is expensive and it is a real cost that does not add a special value to the product.) Inventory (inventory represents an outlay because your raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), or finished goods are not producing any income or added value.) Motion (unnecessary movements of equipment or people) Defective products (new extra costs are incurred when your products are faulty: you have to face returns, warranty claims.Sometimes you are also obliged to change all the components or to reschedule the whole production! Defects are a waste of time and money.) Overprocessing (doing work that adds no value in the eye of the customer, or using very precise, complex and expensive manufacturing machines when they are not necessary, is a waste.) To sum up, Toyotism principles are the continuous improvement of the processes (kaizen) by the engineers of production and by the operators themselves, and a production running downstream. Indeed, the buyers orders are given to the production center then executed. It authorizes a lot of flexibility and eliminates stocks; the production that is made in tense flows. Toyotism combines the principles of versatility and autonomy of the operators to improve the productive efficiency. Toyotism seems to reconcile productivity and efficiency, and considering the human factor, to propose richer and more developed tasks. But all these aspects require to produce quickly very diverse cars of excellent quality. Thus, it is important to determine a work organization that can reconcile speed, flexibility and quality. Indeed, despite of its evident successes, Toyotism is today disputed by the workers themselves. It seems that productivity gains in the Japanese factories were obtained by a stress management, it is to say by a tension, a permanent pressure from executives and engineers on the workers. Finally, the employees implication and motivation is obtained by stress. Evolution of Toyotism Toyotism dissent Inquiries on the working conditions have highlighted that the application of the Toyotism, far from leading to self-fulfillment of the workforce, was, on the contrary, translated into work intensification. Indeed, the work is often less repetitive than in the past and certain painful physical tasks were able to be mechanized, but other constraints have appeared. The production running downstream means that the production has to react to the requests of the clients. In a company such as Toyota, these requests are obviously indirect: they express themselves through the variety of the production in answer to the demand of the distributor. As an example, Toyota factories can build eight different models on the same production line and the company proposes 60 different models in Japan, without counting the specific versions in the production units outside Japan. The subcontracted parts, such as seats are ordered to the supplier once the car has entered the production line, and are delivered in a few hours. So the deadline constraint is intensified by the production in tense flows. Previously, the operators negotiated their rhythm or their working time with the Direction. In the new organization, it ensues from interactions with the clientele. A commercial constraint is added to the industrial constraint. The impact of the work organization is increased by the use of information and communication techniques which deepen the commercial constraint. For example, the devices of traceability allow the customer to know at any time at what stage is his order is, and who deals with it! More and more employees have standards and deadlines to meet, in order to answer quickly to the demand requirements. Besides the extension of the work under cadence, we observe an increase of the repetitive work. The versatility consists, for an operator, to perform several successive elementary operations of a manufacturing line. So the versatility remains confined in elementary tasks: the worker must be able to adapt himself to the new simple and repetitive tasks imposed to him. It corresponds more to a flexibilisation of the tasks than to an enrichment. The polyactivity doesnt imply an important increase of the qualification of the operator: the autonomy is to be put into perspective. Furthermore, the part of the individual decision-making in the daily activities of the operator remains very limited. All these arguments can explain why the workforce quickly contested Toyotism: improving this new production logic was imperative. New forms of Toyotism In order to answer and react to the growing dispute and to be more productive, Toyota developed and improved new working organization forms. These innovations are implemented differently depending on the production site. Quality circles Quality circles are meetings held outside working hours and on a voluntary basis, to solve certain problems and perfect the production process. Its a workgroup consisting of operators and executives, established around the kaizen activities, which covers questions of quality, maintenance, safety, cost price. Besides, it allows to defuse conflicts, which are sources of losses for the company. By favoring the communication between the employees, through regular meetings, the mobilization and the motivation of the employees are increased, and the quality of products improves. The post rotation It consists of a workforce rotation on the various posts of the same assembly chain, to break the dullness of the work. However, the rotation did not really become widespread, probably because not so much needed by the company. The task extension It consists in grouping together various tasks for the same workstation. The task extension contributes to limiting the horizontal division of the work. The task enrichment It consists in improving the workers motivation by augmenting the interest of their work, by adding for example tasks considered more developing such as the control, the maintenance The tasks enrichment contributes to limiting the vertical division of the work. The participative management It consists in associating the employees to the process of decision regarding the organization of the daily work, the evolution of the results The management by objectives The superiors assign objectives to their subordinates, without defining precise modalities, and they will be evaluated on the difference between the objectives and the obtained results. The semiautonomous teamwork It consists in constituting a group of workers whose members are in charge of defining by themselves the working modalities allowing them to reach the company objectives. This mode of organization relies on the auto-organization and the self-regulation of the group, because the group is collectively responsible for the production. During the 70s, Toyotism was seen as the key to assert in competition. Indeed, the decline of costs, the productivity and quality improvements were more organizational innovations than technological innovations. But the functioning conditions of Toyotas productive organization cannot be pushed farther, in particular as regards the tension on the flows of supply and on the working strength: the intensity of the work cannot be any more increased! Management in Toyota today Management development and learning organizations Since the 80s, the set up system meets certain limits (seen above) and, confronted with new elements such as the decline of the dollar and the increase of the yen, as well as the sourness of the international competition, Toyota had to opt for new strategies. Thus, Toyota adopted an offensive strategy but also a defensive strategy. The defensive strategy consists in favoring a policy of internationalization of the production. Major principles are that products, production centers and management must be adapted to the working local conditions. Furthermore, the local profits must be reinvested locally. Nowadays, Toyota really focuses on understanding the consumer needs and his wants. As an example, today, most of Toyotas plants are outside Japan. They implanted their manufactures where the demand was, in order to better to satisfy it and to reduce transportation costs. Moreover, transportation does not add any value that the customer is eager to pay for. Instead, the customer is willing to pay the product less, whereas, because of transportation, the price increases. This is a concrete example of Toyotas new management. Toyota can easily satisfy the demand because Toyota is where the demand is. The offensive strategy consists in looking for a diversification in production. As an example, a branch of Toyota dashed into Research Development and into electronic production (integrated circuits). In the book Toyota Way written by Jeffrey Liker, 14 management principles are identified. According to the author, those principles make Toyota the worlds greatest manufacturer. Become a Learning Organization is one of these principles. Its possible to summarize Toyotas learning organization in three key elements:   Identify root causes and develop countermeasures. By asking the question why as many times as possible, Toyota determines the root cause of a problem. Use Hansei: responsibility, self-reflection, and organizational learning. Hansei is a concept that Toyota uses as a practical improvement tool like Kaizen: improvements are fed back into the organization and then disseminated. Utilize policy deployment (Hoshin Kanri) This method consists in fixing strategic goals, measuring todays success and planning the future: Toyota wants measurable and concrete objectives. Toyota has well understood that the learning by the practice (learning by doing) allowed every car to be more effectively produced than the previous one. The learning by the practice is the increase of the knowledge bound to the exercise of the productive activity. The continual evolution of the organization is justified for any complex process because the problems and the ideal solutions do not appear immediately at the stage of the conception of the process of production; it is also the consequence of the adaptation to the market. Toyotas culture: the Toyota way The Toyota Way describes the promoted values that comprises Toyotas culture and guides the daily decision making of its employees. It rests on 2 fundamental pillars: Challenge: seeing problems as challenges will help improving the global performance. Kaizen: continuous improvement which is embedded in the belief that employees should come to work each day with the goal of becoming better than the day before. Genchi Genbutsu: going to the source to find the factors that can help make the best decisions, build consensus and achieve goals. As an example, a solution is easily built around arguments based on facts rather than relying on hearsays. Respect: expressing different opinions in ways that respect others, emphasizing everyone for their skills and knowledge, trying to understand and listen to each other, building mutual trust Teamwork: sharing knowledge, maximizing individual and team performance, putting the firms interest before individual interests. The goal of such an organization is to match people with tasks that inspire them and that best utilize their abilities. It is also to design tasks and strategies that can cope with environmental demands and opportunities. The firms culture should reinforce these efforts. One of the reasons Toyota has been so successful for so many years is the alignment among these aspects. Toyotas culture is very strong and it is a real strength for the company, the Toyota way will hopefully help sustain their success in the future: until today, no other company could have the same specific culture. Toyota tries to combine adaptation and quality within an organization leading to qualification. Conclusion Toyota was a formerly small company that outwitted bigger competitors to become the worlds largest automaker, thanks to the philosophy of continuous improvements. The expectation of this philosophy is that empowered employees will work with a committed management to build systems that respond to customers with ever-lower cost and higher quality. Their current success in not their final achievement, they are never satisfied and always want to improve their actions. Toyota wants to discover and improve better alternatives, rethink their accomplishments, investigate future possible successes: they commit to improve continuously!

Theories of Third World Development

Theories of Third World Development Post-development calls for development of theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries. Discuss whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development and if so how? To begin the discussion on whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries as propagated by post-development could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development, it is imperative to understand the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘post-development’. The following table provides a basic overview in the form of comparison, between the two concepts: Development has increasingly become an unsettled concept. From the initial decades of the development era providing a clear agreement on the need for some sort of development, despite an array of positions, we have come to a decade where the status of development has become difficult to ascertain. What makes development knotty is the tension between the universe of those who study the Third World and the universe of those who inhabit this world. Development is touted to be a pervasive cultural discourse with intense consequences for the production of social reality in the so-called Third World. This has been largely due to the problems that are associated with universal theories of development: Authoritarian and specification of goal and processes: Development, by virtue of a universal scale on which it can be measured, leading to the identification of â€Å"developed† and â€Å"less developed† (or â€Å"underdeveloped† or â€Å"developing†) units, specifies the existence of a particular goal (development itself) and dictates the processes needed to achieve that goal, i.e. economic growth, industrialisation, and modernisation through the transfer of capital, technology, and knowledge from the North/West. The fact that these theories are based on one particular conception, which is then assumed to be universal (while ignoring/subordinating other conceptions) they make development authoritarian as they prescribe interventions in people’s lives that these people themselves may disapprove of. Ethnocentrism: Universal development theories entail emulating Western History and are synonymous with Westernization. These theories give a ready-made development recipe from the west and at their heart is the idea that economic growth can be stimulated in any country, by following a US/European model. This recipe was driven by behaviorist, positivist and empiricist approaches in the mould of â€Å"scientific model† that prevailed in western universities and Research Centres and assumes that Western societies as ideal models and are complete in contrast to other societies of the Third World countries, the â€Å"less developed† ones. These theories have been accused for viewing Third world countries as inferior versions of the European countries, because the standards of a good society are assumed to be both universal and identical with particular (European) standards. It is also believed that colonial tutelage gave way to diffusion of development (development aid/proje cts, etc.), but retained the purpose by providing Europe’s past formula for development as the only workable one. In other words, development is like a phoenix rising from the ashes of imperialism. Decontextualisation and Generalization: Another problem with universalization is that it groups all Third World countries into one category and ignores differences among them in an attempt to overgeneralize. Indians, Kenyans, Mexicans, etc. are not seen as being diverse and non-comparable, but as somehow lacking in terms of what has been achieved by the advanced countries. It assumes that all Third World countries have the same problems linked to a lack of capital, knowledge, technology, productivity, institutions, etc. which can be solved with technocratic solutions, unconcerned with politics, relations of power and conflicts of interest, solutions that are rational and that no one can object to. It also neglects the differences between the supposed beneficiaries such as farmers and landless labourers, rural and urban poor, men and women, wage labourers and company owners, ruling elites and marginalised groups, etc. Universal development theories also do not take into account that t he underdevelopment in the Third World is a result of Western Capitalist Explanation. Thus, when their starting points and journeys aren’t the same, how can the future discourse of the Third World ape the past of the First World? The ‘a priori’ approach of development for the developing and underdeveloped make it infeasible as the decision of the route is based on circumstances that are no longer there. For formulating bankable processes of upliftment, it is important that these nations be viewed as very different constructions of societal, economic, political, and cultural structures. Their progress into democratization or economic success will not come from mirroring the histories of the First World but must instead be unique to the needs, cultures, traditions, and prior establishments of each individual country. Exogenous Nature: The theories were developed by a body of so called experts who merely drew from their own personal thinking in their task of changing the Third World countries, making it external. Can a theory or method be forced upon people without first engaging in a conversation with the subject? If so, is the â€Å"product† created from this exercise of value? Can years of lived experience be erased through a series of strategic planning sessions, or campaigns not rooted in any significant way to the reality of the subject being trained or required to participate in the activity? These are the question that the paradigm of post-development answers in the negative. Theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development because of the following features of post development and thus of these theories: Non-authoritarian with flexible goals and processes: The primary concern of post-development is to look for alternatives to development through an interest in culture and local knowledge by promotion of localized, pluralistic grassroots movements and its strength is in its anti-authoritarian sensibility. It also believes that there are numerous ways of living a good life and every society is free to invent its own and involves responses given by a group of people to particular problems or direct instances of power. Thus, post development is neither imposing a goal nor a process and distances itself from technocratically pre-defined standards and universal models. Therefore, the theories emanating from the Third World within the ambit of post development respect alterity and anonymity in the construction of subjectivities, with each society asserting its right to define its own path. These theories allow the subjects to use their own tools, and to go alone to not only develop answers, but also its own questions. Cultural Relativism: Since these theories are based on the struggles and cultures of the people of the third world countries, local culture, artistic aspects and communal aspirations are often important concerns. These theories are generally deeply interested in the history of their communities and the place they occupy in regional or national contexts. Post-development takes into account people’s self-definitions as a crucial part in its inquiry and tends to create a new awareness of cultural difference, which contributes to the breakdown of ethnocentrism and universal values. Therefore, these theories entail discourses on difference, particularly cultural difference. Contextualisation: Post-development is related to the visibility of the grassroots and entails local contexts. It situates itself within the context of local struggles and the linkages of local people in the world systems, lending it relevance and usability to people of the Third World in their daily lives and struggles. It encompasses a plurality of collective actors and revolutions at the micro level, with their own spheres of autonomy. The theories emerging from the Third World with applicability to the Third World presuppose an adequate understanding of the different social, political and economic structures of these countries and their respective histories. Endogenous Nature: Post-development heavily relies on the knowledge of the Third World countries and this knowledge occupies an important role in the creation of theories for them and the decision making processes. It involves intellectuals from the Third World, alongside grassroots activists. Post-development counters the problems of universalization of development theories by instating faith in theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries, taking into account their needs, wants, desires, histories, structures, etc. An example of a theory arising from indigenous knowledge is presented in Jane C. Horan’s (2002) study of indigenous economic development. In this, female textile producers in the Kingdom of Tonga received money as part of a ‘Women in Development’ aid-funded credit scheme. Though it was anticipated that the loans would be used to produce textiles for the local tourist economy, the women produced indigenous koloa textiles for the Tongan ceremonial economy which, according to Horan, enabled a â€Å"greater range of ideological, spiritual and material gains including cash† (2002, p.206). Though â€Å"the default rate on the loans was low, and the women were engaged in a Tongan notion of development known as fakalakalaka, the funders and the critics of the schemes were either unable to or would not recognise development taking place† (Horan, 2002, p.210). The study acknowledges what people are doing vis-à  -vis what development doctrines expect them to d o. Other instances are indigenous movements originating from the south of Mexico, the south of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, picking up also in Peru because of anti-mining protests. These are social movements in which the indigenous component is stark, but there is also a black, Afro-Latin American component in several countries, and also a peasant one represented by those connected to Via Campesina, a federation of peasant movements who are opposing free trade and the privatisation of seeds. What one needs to understand is that since development and post-development are at the extreme ends of the spectrum, therefore the problems of universalization as seen in development are not seen in the paradigm of post-development due to its highly localized nature. However, post-development (thus by extension the theories propagated by it) has its own set of problems, even though it forces us to confront the failures of the development agenda. Critiques of post-development believe that it overstates its case and neglects all the possibilities of positive development interventions, such as techniques of modern medicine raising health and life expectancy of people, by taking an extremely homogenized view of development. Further, it romanticizes local communities and at times, legitimizes oppressive traditions, and becomes just as paternalistic as the chastised development paradigm. It ignores the local forms of oppression and violence and is accused for being indifferent to the viola tion of human rights. While the movement towards cultural sensibilities that accompanies post development is a welcome shift, the plea for people‘sculture, indigenous culture, local knowledge and culture, can lead if not to ethno-chauvinism, to reification of both culture and locality or people. Furthermore, by propagating thinking local and acting local, it tends to avoid global structures of inequality. Though, the second wave of post-development counters a few of the aforementioned shortcomings by suggesting alternatives like the conception of communal solidarity, direct democracy, social movements, indigenous knowledge, etc. and state that the it is not the aim of post-development to offer a normative, new solution, the loopholes aren’t still completely plugged and will not be till the time a viable alternative to development is proposed by this school of thought. In the absence of a feasible solution put for by it, post-development remains merely deconstructive of an existing paradigm. In today’s world, what is needed is a middle way, something between development and post-development that can incorporate the positives of universalization as well as localization. Till the time such an approach is developed, the choice pertains to choosing the lesser evil of the two. References: Horan, J.C. (2002) Indigenous wealth and development: micro-credit schemes in Tonga, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 43(2), 205-221.

Mellor on the Chances of Effects :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Mellor on the Chances of Effects* ABSTRACT: In the Facts of Causation (1995), D.H. Mellor includes, as a part of his theory of causation, an account of the chance that a cause gives its effect. He proposes that this chance can be analyzed as a certain kind of conditional, a closest world conditional with a chance consequent. I show that there are problems with Mellor’s account, but also attempt to show how these can be remedied. This analysis highlights important issues concerning the concept of components of single case objective chance. Mellor takes the chance he is concerned with to be objective single case chance measured by the probability calculus. It is not frequency nor credence, although it has important connections to both frequencies and credences.(1) According to Mellor facts which have chances can have more than one chance, for example, by having them at different times. Suppose we have two unstable atoms A and B in close proximity, each of which has a low chance of decaying, and suppose that atom A, if it decays, may bombard atom B with its product, thereby driving atom B into a state in which its chance of decaying is quite high- much higher than otherwise (see figure 1). Suppose this in fact happens, and let us consider the chance E that atom B will decay at a later time tE, when an observation will be made. The chance of E changes—increases, in fact—at tb, the time at which B is bombarded. Thus E has two chances, at different times. Mellor also holds that chances are contingent, but not on the fact that they are "chances of" (in our example, E), since they can exist when that fact does not. Atom B may not decay at t0, but it still had a chance of doing so prior to that time; so the chance existed but the state of affairs that it was about never did. Since chances are contingent, they must therefore be properties of other facts, facts without which they would not exist. The chance E that atom B will decay at time t0 is a property of facts about the structure and nature of that atom, together with facts concerning the nature and proximity of atom A. Mellor writes this chance as "chQ(E)" where Q is the fact or conjunctive fact of which the chance is a property. Applying this to the case of causation, the chance of the effect is a property not of the effect but of another fact, the cause C or the conjunction of C and S, where S is the circumstances in which C causes E.

Americas Role in the Cuban Revolution :: American America History

America's Role in the Cuban Revolution The revolution in Cuba was not a result of economic deprivation, nor because of high expectations in the economy, it was the political factors and expectations which evoked the civilians to revolt. The Cuban economy was moving forward at the time before the rebellion but the dominant influence of the sugar industry made the economy "assymetrical" and encouraged no "dynamic industrial sector". Because of the dependance on sugar, the unemployment rate ranged between 16 and 20% rising and falling with sugar prices, ebbing and flowing as the season changed. The rural wage levels were incredibly unsteady and unpredictable; the standard of living was low. Dependance on the sugar industry did not retard the economy of Cuba, just the wages of its workers. It was the leaders of the nation who reaped profit from this dependance, and it was the leaders of the nation who insisted on keeping the nation the way it was. By the mid 1950's, however, the middle class had expanded to 33% of the population. Democracy, as we know it, broke down: the large middle class did not assert democratic leadership, there was no social militancy in the working class ranks, and the people found order preferable to disarray. Batista could no longer legitimize his regime. Failure in the elections of 1954 showed the discontent of the people, and failure in communications with the United States illustrated its discontent. Finally, opposing forces confronted Batista's power: there were street protests, confrontations with the police, assault, sabotage, and urban violence. This began the revolution in Cuba. America, with its stubborn ideas and misjudgements of character, forced Castro to turn to the Soviets for alliance and aid. When Castro visited the United States in April, 1959, there were different respected individuals holding different views of him and his future actions. Nixon believed Castro to be naive, some others thought him a welcome change from Batista, still others called him an "immature but effective leader, without a well formed view of how to lead a revolutionary movement and not overly concerned with abstract of philosophical matters" (p. 55). Why, then, did the United States impress nit-picky ideals like "there should not be communists in the Army or in labor", or "Cuba's approach to the Batista trials is totally unacceptable, too casual, too nonchalant" on this "forming" leader? Castro was like an inexperienced murderer with a gun in his hand: any rustle in the background could set off his nervous trigger

Hobsons choice-How did hobson lose control? Essay

Henry Horatio Hobson is one of the principal characters of the play and his conflict with his daughters, particularly Maggie, provides the basis of the story line. Hobson is a 55-year-old middle-class man very old fashioned values.This causes the reader to instantly dislike Hobson thanks to the language Brighouse uses when exposing Hobson’s mannerisms to the audience for the first time. He is a ‘single parent’ since his wife’s death and although in a different situation this could have been seen as quite heroic, instead he is shown to be quite the opposite, in the way that he constantly reminds his daughters that he considers them to be uppish, and that they have,†grown bumptious at a time when they lack a mother’s hand.† Throughout the play Hobson is portrayed as a character who wants to be dominant, from as early as act one Hobson can be seen addressing his daughters so called â€Å"uppishness†. â€Å"I’m talking now, and your listening†¦.Girls grow bumptious, and must have someone to rule, but I tell you this, you’ll none rule me.† This shows that Hobson thinks he understands his daughters actions, and thinks that their actions are normal, but the reality is that his daughters are tired of Hobson’s way’s , and want Hobson to allow them some independence. Hobson is portrayed as his daughters oppressor in the way that he describes the way that Alice and Vickey dress (who are avid followers of fashion).†It’s immodest†. â€Å"To hell with the fashion†. Hobson shows a lack of understanding or care for his daughters feelings and is clearly not worried about offending them. Hobson’s lack of warmth and inability to empathize contributes towards his downfall. Despite Hobson’s many imperfections, he still remains in control of his daughters, that is until, Maggie sets her mind of marrying Hobson’s most skilled worker, the working class, uneducated, son of a â€Å"workhouse brat† ; Willie Mosses. Hobson initially Laugh’s at the idea of marriage claiming that he will choose who his daughters marry. â€Å"Didn’t you hear me say that I’m doing the choosing when it comes to husbands?† The fact that Maggie goes on to Marry Will demonstrates the eventual shift of power in the play. Brighouse is very clever when choosing Hobson’s words, rather than having Hobson disagree with the idea in an ordinary way; he demonstrates Hobson’s arrogance by having Hobson’s question Maggie’s ability to listen. Hobson’s actions in act three cause the reader to feel a strong feeling of irony when Hobson is diagnosed with alcoholism towards the end of act four. In the middle of act three Hobson can be found warning his daughters never to come home.† Don’t you imagine thereby be room for you when you come home crying and tired of your fine husbands. I’m Rid of ye and it’s a lasting riddance.† In conclusion, the main cause for Hobson’s loss of control was That Hobson underestimated his Daughters, Particularly Maggie. Throughout the play Brighouse uses Hobson a representation of a middle class and proud stereotype. Hobson’s loss o control is underlined at the end of the play when he is forced to give will half of his shop and agrees to have no say in the shop’s affairs. Brighouse uses irony in the form of the â€Å"Son of a workhouse brat† Will mossop.   

Morality of a Fetus

Is It All About the Morality of the Fetus? Today in the United States as well as all around our world, one of the most contested and debated issues, that everyone has some sort of opinion on is the subject of abortion. There are many different thoughts, ideals, and opinions on whether or not abortion is right, wrong, or even morally sane to do. There are clinics and hospitals that perform the procedures and at many of these locations there are groups who will hold protests against the operation as well as those who support it.But all of those issues are not what this essay is going to be about, this is going to inform you about whether or not all arguments about the subject abortion come down to the question of what is the moral status of the fetus. To first examine whether or not all arguments come down to the moral status of a fetus, we must first know what the definition of moral status is. The argument of the moral status of a fetus involves whether or not the fetus has the same standing or has the same legal status as a born and living human being.The moral status of any human can be legally developed and justified but does a fetus carry this same status with it? In this essay I want to show that not all arguments about abortion come down to the moral status of a fetus, although it can be one on the forefront, it is not the bottom line and where all arguments can come down to. One of the most prolific examples of arguments about abortion is the Roe vs. Wade lawsuit in the state of Texas.Prior to this court suit, it was illegal, in most states, for a woman to receive an abortion during the first trimester of a pregnancy. â€Å"The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without legal restrictions, and with legal restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy† (Lewis, J). Ultimately it was decided that most laws against abortion violated a constitutional right to privac y, and it overturned all state laws outlawing or unduly restricting abortion.To this day it is one of the most controversial decisions in US Supreme Court history (answers. com). Was the moral status of the fetus brought into question during this example, I am sure it was but, it was not what the argument was about, the issue was the privacy of the mother. Another example that comes to mind is a story told within a discussion in our class, one of our classmates tells a story about a young lady who was raped in her teens. This teen wanted to have an bortion however; the perpetrator or rapist in this case was found guilty and forced by the court that he would have to pay support for the baby once it was born. This caused the courts to also decide on whether or not once the individual was released from prison, would he have visitation rights to the child. The courts answer was yes and the mother carrying the fetus was not legally allowed to abort the pregnancy because the father would not agree, he had a right to the fetus he had fathered.Although there may have been some arguments about the moral status of the fetus contained within the court’s decision, I would have to think that the father’s rights came more into play as opposed to the mother’s and in this case I certainly disagree to this decision. Whether a person chooses to abort a pregnancy, it should be up to that person alone. It is there burden to live with for the remaining years of their lives, not ours. If a woman is raped, should they have to live with carrying that fetus to term and have to decide whether to raise the child with love or to give that child to adoption?I believe that the first argument is what the abortion would do to the mothers well being, is it for medical reasons that the abortion is needed? There are many different arguments for or against abortion and I do not think the moral status should come into question or come down to the moral status if there are oth er subjects to view first. As one can imagine there are many different arguments for or opposed to abortion, not all come down to the moral status of the fetus.It is going to be a subject of scrutiny and arguments for many years to come. Issues with its legality as well as its morality will be raised for years, and it is my hope that the final decision will stay with the woman who is pregnant and she does what is best for her. Works Cited Lewis, J. J. â€Å"Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision. † Web. 18 Jan. 2013. Retrieved from http://womenshistory. about. com/od/abortionuslegal/p/roe_v_wade. htm http://www. answers. com/topic/moral-status#ixzz2IM8JfrRr