Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Film Review Dracula By Bram Stoker Essay - 1789 Words

Whenever a novel is published, there usually is a movie to follow, but one may wonder why they are so different. Some believe filmmakers make changes in order to shorten the book into a movie. Trying to keep the film watchers engaged, there are many ways to change a novel into a completely different story, whether it has to do with changing the roles of the main characters, scenes, theme, time period, or even the overall story. After reading the gothic book Dracula written by Bram Stoker in 1897, it is amazing how the storyline is similar to the 1931 horror film, Dracula directed by Browning, starring Bela Lugosi. However, they differ in many key characteristics confusing the audience. Although the Dracula novel and the film are similar in many aspects, the directors of the 1931 Dracula give different roles to the main characters, exclude major sexual content, and amplify the character of the Count to bring out the monstrosity in an attempt to better fit the time period. Throughout the 1931 film, Dracula the filmmakers change the roles of the main characters in Bram Stoker’s novel. After understanding the storyline of the book, one might be very confused when watching this film. The directors take the characters from Bram Stoker’s book and switch them around, giving the main roles to other individuals. One may say the filmmaker does this to prove the monstrosity of the Count in the 1931 film. As Reinfield leaves the castle he is all messed up and confused due to Dracula’sShow MoreRelatedFilm Review : Dracula By Bram Stoker Essay1743 Words   |  7 Pagesdue to having to shortening the novel into movie. Trying to keep the film watchers engaged, there are many ways to change a novel into a completely different story, whether it has to do with changing the roles of the main characters, scenes, theme, time period, or even the overall story. After reading the gothic novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker in 1897, it is amazing how the storyline is similar to the 1931 horror film, Dracula directed by Browning, starring Bela Lugosi. However, they differ inRead MoreAbraham Stoker and Theater1231 Words   |  5 PagesAbraham (Bram) Stoker began his life bedridden, weak, and helpless. Stoker, third of seven children, was born in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin, on November 8, 1847 (Whitelaw 9). His parents were Abraham Stoker, from Dublin, and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley, who was raised in County Sligo (â€Å"Bram Stoker†). He spent most of his early childhood laying in bed, watching his brothers and sisters play outside through a dusty old window. â€Å"As a child, he wondered if he would get sicker--if he would endRead MoreAbraham Bram Stoker: A Brief Biography705 Words   |  3 PagesAbraham Bram Stoker, born in Dublin on November 8, 1847, was an Irish novelist, theatre critic and short story writer. As a child, Stoker was often ill and he spent most of his time in bed. His mother, who was as a charity worker a nd a writer, told him horror stories that, most likely, had influenced his later writings. The ones he found most interesting were the stories about the cholera epidemic in 1832, which killed thousands of people in Europe and North America. In 1864, Stoker enrolled at theRead MoreEssay about Bram Stoker1449 Words   |  6 PagesBram Stoker Bram Stoker unleashed his horrific creation on an unsuspecting world over one hundred years ago. One could hardly imagine that his creature of the night would delight and inhabit the nightmares of every generation between his and ours. Count Dracula has become an icon of evil, and is perhaps the most widely recognized bogeyman in all of world literature. To date, there have been over one hundred films made about Dracula or other assorted vampires, not to mention countless novelsRead MoreBram Stoker : Father Of All Vampires1786 Words   |  8 PagesEric Ruiz Mrs. Cahill English 5/7/2017 Bram Stoker: Father of All Vampires There are a lot of new horror movies coming soon to theatres this 2017, and they have tons of hype building up from people all over the world. There was also a recent social media phenomenon that took place where random people would roam the streets in the dark, dressed as evil clowns, only to terrify and spook the public. The popularity of the horror genre is only increasing and advancing as the years go by, but who wereRead MoreHow Dracula Is The Most Famous Literary Vampire1658 Words   |  7 Pages An Immortal Soul: Why Dracula is the Most Famous Literary Vampire The title character and antagonist of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula is an easily recognizable character in the Western canon. Without ever reading the book or watching any of the countless movie adaptations, people will craft vampire characters with feelings and behaviors nearly identical to those of Dracula. However, Dracula’s success is not because it was the first novel of its kind. Vampiric literature had been around forRead MoreSubverted 19th Century Traditional Social Mores and Norms in Dracula1059 Words   |  5 PagesMores and Norms in Dracula Bram Stoker’s Dracula remains one of the more recognizable novels of its genre despite being published in 1897. A classic horror story which has been retold and produced over and over again since its original publication, Dracula was especially disturbing when it originally was released because of how Stoker attacks Victorian era social mores and norms throughout the entire novel. Stoker subverts traditional 19th Century social mores and norms in Dracula through the portrayalRead MoreComparing Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the 1972 Film Blacula Essay1917 Words   |  8 PagesBram Stoker’s Dracula is not only a classic story of men and monsters, but a dramatic reactionary work to the perceived threats to Victorian society in nineteenth century England. In modern times there have been many film adaptations of the novel, each developing a unique analysis or criticism of the literary text within the framework of the society and time period in which it was created. T he 1972 film Blacula is one of the most culturally specific variations on the story of Dracula, and highlightsRead MoreBram Stokers Dracula: A Variation of a Classic Work in Modern Time1509 Words   |  7 Pagesdeath of his one true love, as he chose to become the undead. Director, Francis Ford Coppola, in his work, â€Å"Bram Stoker’s Dracula†, reaches beyond the words to prove Dracula was more than a monster in creating the movie. Coppola focuses on Dracula as a man, as well as a knight, who is both deeply in love with his church and his bride. The historical elements in the writings of Bram Stoker come to life more so in Coppola’s work with the movie, than in the book. My goal of this paper is to prove howRead MoreEssay on The Effects of Modern Vampires on Society1980 Words   |  8 Pagesbought the first book because I was wondering why this genre is so famous. I was surprised and I continued reading. Then I researched further. I was a kind of skeptical, b ut also addicted reader. Finally, I made a conclusion that Bram Stoker, the author of the novel â€Å"Dracula† is certainly turning over in his grave. After I got used to the fact that in this century vampires in literature are vegetarians, spark in the sunlight, all of them are attractive creatures with a 17-year-old body, but with a 104

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Supply Chain Management of VF Brands

Question: Discuss about theSupply Chain Management of VF Brands. Answer: Introduction VF Brands Company is renowned for serving consumers with more than 30 brands trough several medium of distribution. Several brands of the company includes Jeanswear, image wear, contemporary brands, sportswear and outdoor and actions sports (Yu and Tseng 2014). The firm is focused on achieving sustainable, extended term growth driven by constant geographic expansion long with the companys wholesale partners and owned retail, acquisitions and product innovations. The objective of the report is to describe VF Brands supply chain along with its activities, partners, relationships and shareholders. Moreover, the two major brands or products of the along with the business needs of its consumers will be evaluated through assessing the effectiveness of its supply chain in meet business requirements (Gemp et al. 2014). The report evaluates the supply chain strategy of VF Brands international supply chain strategy. It was gathered that the company has employed a combination of in-house manufa cturing along with traditional arms-length sourcing arrangements. Illustration and Description of VFs Supply Chain Importance of VF Supply Chain Activities and its Link with Strategic Goals VF Brands has recently modified its supply chain strategy in which the company focused on producing apparels from its own plants and its huge suppliers network. Outsourcing strategy is one among the major supply chain activities of the company. This activity of VF Brands is focused on ensuring flexibility (Yang et al. 2015). Outsourcing activity also offers strong incentives for its suppliers in decreasing costs for competing with its upcoming contracts. Sourcing activities was developed for every single product of the company. This had to be done on several levels of its supply chain and not only for the final garment assemblage (Annese et al. 2014). Outsourcing supply chain activity facilitated VF Brands to identify its sources for raw materials, accessories and fabrics so that they are produced in cost effective manner and as per the demands of its consumers internationally. The company in consideration to their managerial also selected suppliers and technical capabilities along with expertise in particular garment segments of the brand (Tajabadi and Kazemi 2016). Another major activity of VF Brands supply chain is strategy of traditional sourcing and in-house manufacturing. This unique operations strategy offered the company a competitive advantage as all its competitors completely relied on outsourcing rather than any internal manufacturing (Altmann 2014). Such supply chain activity ensured that Brands internal manufacturing plants were observed to be among the best all over the world in respect of reliability, quality and efficiency. Building a superior quality supplier network is the third major supply chain activity of VF Brands. Under this activity, the prospective suppliers were required to be visited and their production capabilities were carefully evaluated. Such activity helped the company to meet its strategic goals of maintaining a strict policy of conducting business with the suppliers those followed globally renowned standards for employee safety and protection (Annese et al. 2014). This major supply chain activity facilitated the company in maintaining efficient working relationships with suppliers. The supply chain activities of VF Brands also included expansion of its product lines internationally with constant replenishment of fresh designs. The product designers of the company totally focused on generating a new range of fashion products that has the capability to address new consumer expectations (Lee and Kashmanian 2013). Business Requirements of VF the Brands Consumers have towards its Supply Chain The supply chain strategy of VF Brands is observed to be aligned with its major business requirements. The consumers of some of the major brands of VF Brands Company have certain business requirements that the brands must have towards the companys supply chain. Lee and Wrangler are deemed two major brands of VF Brands Company whose consumers have several business requirements from the supply chain of these brands (Lee and Kashmanian 2013). Because of the globalization of the supply chains of these two brands, VF Brands faced challenges regarding finding suppliers, coordinating product flows and managing sourcing relationships. The consumers of these two Jeanswear brands expected the companys supply chain offer fully integrated services to them. The consumers of these brands demanded quick service. In consideration to such expectations of the consumers of its lee and wrangler Jeanswear brands, VF Brands decided to manufacture 60% of its jeans in-house (Yang et al. 2015). These brands were greatly targeted within the US market that needed extremely quick response times and sourced a great range of the products under the brands internally. The consumers of these brands expected the companys Jeanswear brands such as lee and Wrangler to present classic product lines with new designs every year. To address such business requirements, VF Brands outsourced its supply chain activities such as raw materials gathering and manufacturing in order to minimize its inventory costs despite of presenting newly designed Jeanswear as per consumers expectations. The VF Brands attained huge experience with sourcing for its two major brands (Lee and Wrangler) (Annese et al. 2014). Considering this, its management team also started to realize that the companys supply chain network offered a considerable platform for business growth for these brands. Because of the considerable differences in the consumers product requirements for these brands across several regions of the world, all through the season VF Brands supply chain ensured to be extremely responsive to these needs. To address different needs of consumers in different regions, VF B rands supply chain management had developed planned internal and external capacity, managed inventory and streamlined manufacturing processes and product designs needed to go from fabric to finished goods on its entire stores shelf (Yang et al. 2015). Sourcing Arrangements and their Strategic Implications The Third way can be deemed as a partnership model, which includes arrangements of traditional sourcing and certain aspects of outsourcing and collaboration. It is revealed that the objective of such supply chain strategy is to develop a sourcing relationship that consist certain virtues of vertical integration with the sourcing flexibility (Kashmanian and Moore 2014). One among the three sourcing arrangements under the third way strategy is cut and make contracts. Under this sourcing arrangement approach, VF Brands tend to strike distinct contracts for its suppliers at every stage of the manufacturing process (components fabric, cutting, sewing, finishing, and washing) (Delke 2015). VF Brands Company owned the inventory and along with that, the suppliers were paid for the value added of their specific step. The Company was also accountable for coordinating the products flow from one supplier to another. The benefit of such approach is that it facilitated the company to maintain a gr eat control on the costs at every stage. CM contracts were mostly employed for heritage lines out of the Central American along with Carrabin suppliers and were managed in accordance with internal production operations (Papadopoulos et al. 2017). The second approach is package sourcing under which the suppliers of the company, an individual supply accepts of the responsibility for the overall process from the raw materials to the finished products and shipping them to the market. They were paid based on every single manufactured piece and had the responsibility of paying their sub-contractors, suppliers of raw materials along with logistic expenses (More and Subash Babu 2012). In such situation, VF Brands Company did not have any kind of materials ownership along the production process. Full package sourcing is the third approach that was generally used for the companys lifestyle brands all through its business units in Asia, Northern Africa and Europe. The third approach was to enhance the quality and reliability of the companys service that they received from the sourcing (Yu and Tseng 2014). These three sourcing arrangements within the VF Brand companys Third Way strategy is very effective in bringing down the expenses through continuously expanding the base of suppliers to the lower cost locations. An increasing focus on the low cost sourcing has enabled the company to attain its total corporate margin targets (10-15%) (Delke 2015). However, it is also believed that in consideration to its major sourcing arrangements VF Brands Company requires to shift its attention from searching the lower cost suppliers to better management of its suppliers base. Conclusion The objective of the report was to describe VF Brands supply chain along with its activities, partners, relationships and shareholders. The report evaluated the supply chain strategy of VF Brands international supply chain strategy. It was gathered that the company has employed a combination of in-house manufacturing along with traditional arms-length sourcing arrangements. It was gathered from the report that the major activity of VF Brands supply chain is strategy of traditional sourcing and in-house manufacturing. This unique operations strategy offered the company a competitive advantage as all its competitors completely relied on outsourcing rather than any internal manufacturing. It was also revealed that the objective of such supply chain strategy is to develop a sourcing relationship that consist certain virtues of vertical integration with the sourcing flexibility. Evaluation of the supply chain strategy finally depicted that VF Brand Companys Third Way strategy is very effe ctive in bringing down the expenses through continuously expanding the base of suppliers to the lower cost locations. Reference List Altmann, M., 2014. A robust optimization approach for de-signing an environmentally conscious supply chain with consideration of cus-tomer-specific environmental product.Supply Management Research: Aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse 2014, p.185. Annese, V.F., Biccario, G.E., Cipriani, S. and De Venuto, D., 2014. Organoleptic properties remote sensing and life-time prediction along the perishables goods supply-chain. InProceedings of the 8th International Conference on Sensing Technology. Annese, V.F., Loseto, G., Ruta, M., Di Sciascio, E. and De Venuto, D., 2014. Wireless Sensor Network and On-line Shelf-Life Prediction in Perishable Goods Supply Chain through First-Order Kinetic Model.Proceedings of SCORE@ POLIBA, pp.3-5. Delke, V.F., 2015. The Resource Dependence Theory: Assessment and Evaluation as a Contributing Theory for Supply Management. Gemp, I., Mahadevan, S. and Liu, B., 2014. Solving Large Sustainable Supply Chain Networks using Variational Inequalities. Kashmanian, R.M. and Moore, J.R., 2014. Building greater sustainability in supply chains.Environmental Quality Management,23(4), pp.13-37. Lee, T. and Kashmanian, R.M., 2013. Supply Chain Sustainability: Compliance?and Performance?Based Tools.Environmental Quality Management,22(4), pp.1-23. More, D. and Subash Babu, A., 2012. Strategic approach to manage supply chain flexibility: a proposal.International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management,11(4), pp.492-521. Papadopoulos, T., Gunasekaran, A., Dubey, R., Fosso Wamba, S. and Childe, S.J., 2017. World Class Sustainable Supply Chain Management: critical review and further research directions. Tajabadi, F.Z. and Kazemi, A., 2016. To develop an integrated model for green supply chain.Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences,8(3), pp.1340-1365. Yang, T., Fu, C., Liu, X., Pei, J., Liu, L. and Pardalos, P.M., 2015. Closed-loop supply chain inventory management with recovery information of reusable containers.Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, pp.1-27. Yu, V.F. and Tseng, L.C., 2014. Measuring social compliance performance in the global sustainable supply chain: an AHP approach.Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences,35(1), pp.47-72.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Similies and metaphors Essay Example

Similies and metaphors Essay At San Antonio he was like a man hidden in the dark. This is a simile which means that Jack Potter feels like a criminal. Thus, he believed that â€Å"He had committed an extraordinary crime.† This statement means that Jack believes that his method of marrying is similar to the way a criminal may act. A criminal will be hidden in the dark to kill his prey. Therefore, Jack went far away from Yellow Sky to meet his bride and actually get married. He got married in a place that is figuratively hidden from his town and his friends. Second, the simile may also describe his willingness to defend his love against everything that his friends and towns people will say against it. He has a knife, according to the simile, and he is willing to use this knife â€Å"to sever any friendly duty, any form†. Unfortunately, this feeling of ease existed only while he was far away from Yellow Sky. We will write a custom essay sample on Similies and metaphors specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Similies and metaphors specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Similies and metaphors specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Potters mouth seemed to be merely a grave for his tongue. This means that he was unable to speak. The tongue is usually associated with the ability to speak. The mouth is also necessarily for speaking because people move their mouth when they speak. However, Jack was unable to move his mouth to speak. The tongue just lay at rest inside his mouth. It is compared the unmoving state of a corpse inside a grave. The grave has no other purpose, but to house the corpse. Similarly, Jack’s mouth, at that time, served no other purpose but be a place where his tongue may be located. He sat with a hand on each knee, like a man waiting in a barbershop. This means that he is feeling a combination of being relaxed and impatient. A man in a barbershop is relaxed because he has nothing else to do. He is also impatient because he is waiting for his turn to have his hair cut. Thus, he merely sits waiting with â€Å"a hand on each knee†. This is how Jack looks like while sitting in the couch. He looks and actually is relaxed and impatient. He is relaxed because he is married. He is impatient because he has to tell his town about his marriage. It was a heavy and muscle-bound business, as that of a man shoeing his first horse. It means that it [fumbling a coin and giving the coin to the porter] was very difficult for Jack to do. A man shoeing a horse for the first time does not have the benefit of experience to make the task easier. This is made harder by the natural tendency of a horse to be restless and uncooperative to such tasks. This shows the level of difficulty that Jack had to endure. However, the difficulty referred to may be psychological or emotional, rather than physical. METAPHORS She was a slave to hideous rites gazing at the apparitional snake. This means that Jack’s wife is unable to move and do anything. When a slave is offered to a god or is witness to a hideous rite to appease the gods (such as gods coming in form of snakes), the slave is unable to do anything. This may be due to a combination of shock or lack of power. He was a simple child of the earlier plains. This means that Scratchy found it hard to adjust to the fact that Jack was already married. Like a child of the earlier plains, his knowledge about the aspect of Jack marrying a girl is very simple. Therefore, the marriage becomes a very big surprise. It involves something unfamiliar. It is like something that people will not normally see in earlier plains. Therefore, when faced with these new things, Scratch, like a simple child of the earlier plains, found it difficult to believe and adjust to them. This difficulty in adjustment caused the confusion felt by Scratchy and his inability to give proper reactions.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

The Story of Suicide Sal by Bonnie Parker

The Story of Suicide Sal by Bonnie Parker The infamous couple of  Bonnie Parker  and Clyde Barrow were American criminals during the Great Depression who attracted a cult following during their days alive which has lasted to today. They died a gruesome yet sensational death together after a round of allegedly 50 bullets were fired at them during an ambush. Bonnie Parker was only 24 years old. While Bonnie Parkers name is more attached to the image of her as a gang member, arsenal  thief, and murderer, she was also a poet. The Story of Suicide Sal Bonnie showed an interest in writing at a young age. In school, she won prizes for spelling and writing. She continued to write after she dropped out of school. In fact, she wrote poems while she and Clyde were on the run from the law. She even submitted some of her poems to newspapers. Bonnie wrote The Story of Suicide Sal on pieces of scrap paper while she was held in the Kaufman jail in spring 1932. The poem was published in newspapers after it was found during the raid on  Bonnie and Clydes  hideout in Joplin, Missouri, on April 13, 1933. Dangerous Life Decisions The poem tells the story of a pair of doomed lovers, Sal and Jack, who are desperadoes driven to criminality by circumstances outside of their control. It can be assumed that Sal is Bonnie while Jack is Clyde. The poem is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, who then retells a story that Sal once told in the first person. From this piece, readers can glean some details about Bonnies life and thoughts. Beginning with the title, The Story of Suicide Sal makes it clear that Bonnie recognized her highly dangerous lifestyle and had premonitions of early death. A Harsh Environment In the poem, Sal says, I left my old home for the cityTo play in its mad dizzy whirl,Not knowing how little of pityIt holds for a country girl. Perhaps this stanza conveys how a harsh, unforgiving and fast-paced environment made Bonnie feel disoriented. Maybe these emotions set the scene for Bonnies turn to crime. Love for Clyde Then Sal says, There I fell for the line of a henchman,A professional killer from Chi;I couldnt help loving him madly;For him even now I would die....I was taught the ways of the underworld;Jack was just like a god to me. Again, Jack in this poem most likely represents Clyde. Bonnie felt passionate about Clyde, regarding him as a god and willing to die for him. This love probably prompted her to follow him in his line of work.   Lost Faith in Government Sal continues on to describe how she gets arrested and is eventually imprisoned. While her friends are able to rally some lawyers to defend her in court, Sal says, But it takes more than lawyers and moneyWhen  Uncle Sam  starts shaking you down. In American culture, Uncle Sam is a symbol that represents the U.S. government and is supposed to inspire patriotism and a sense of duty- a noble figure, so to speak. However, Bonnie paints Uncle Sam in a negative light by describing violent actions, like shaking you down. Perhaps this phrase speaks to Bonnie and Clydes belief that the government system had failed them. Bonnie/Sal continues to paint the government in a negative light by saying, I took the rap like good people,And never one squawk did I make. In describing herself as a good and compliant person, Bonnie implies that the government and/or the police are unfairly vilifying citizens trying to hustle and make ends meet during the Great Depression.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Ice Hockey- The North American vs. The European Style of Play Essay

Ice Hockey- The North American vs. The European Style of Play - Essay Example Ice hockey is generally played indoors on rinks, which are usually 200 feet wide and 85 feet wide in North America while outside the country, the rinks are 200.13 feet long and 98.5 feet wide. These are always surrounded by fences called boards with shatterproof glass affixed on top, in order to ensure that the puck stays within the limits of the rink and does not find its way outside, where it may be harmful for the spectators. However the size of the rink does not depend upon the age of the players (like in junior and adult soccer) or on the skill involved. These rinks are partitioned into two exact halves by a red line, while blue lines are drawn at a distance of 60 feet from each goal and demarcate the end zones. The area that lies in between the blue lines is referred to as the neutral zone. At the very center of the field is a blue spot which signals the spot where the play begins when the game starts for the first time, however at a distance of about 24 feet from the boards th ere are red spots located which signal the spots from which the play re-starts after interruptions (Loftus, 2005). The rink is curved at its outer ends and a another red line appears at the point where they begin to curve and the goal is situated at the middle of this goal line. The goal itself is an iron frame that is 4 feet high and 6 feet wide and has curved bars extending down to the surface of the ice. Stretched across these bars are mesh nets and the goals are held in place by dint of short pegs that are firmly embedded in the ice. In front of the net is the crease which is a painted half circle. Within the limits of this crease, players attacking from the opponent team are not permitted to make contact with the goalie, since this would constitute a foul. In order to reduce the likelihood of injury from collision with the net, the pegs and goal posts separate, and play must be stopped mandatorily whenever a net is

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Nike Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nike - Essay Example I will further elaborate on the financial performance with the help of the following ratio analysis. For the ratio analysis, the figures have been taken from the 2008 and 2009 financial statements. The current Ratio evaluates the liquidity of the company. It represents a safety net for the creditors. Nike has improved its liquidity over the last year. It now holds $3 for every $1 of its short term debts as compared to $2.7 of last year. In comparison to the relevant industry, it is one of the most liquid companies’ (Bloomberg, 2010). The analysis further shows that Nike holds an excess of the working capital in current assets which should be invested in the marketable securities for generation of further income. The Quick Ratio is another measure of solvency and measures the liquidity of the company. This ratio removes the inventory and prepaid from the current assets as they are not as liquid as others. Nike has improved its liquidity position in the market with a ratio of 2.4 as compared to 2.1 in 2008. It now holds $2.4 for every dollar of short term obligations to the creditors. The analysis further shows that more than 50% of the assets are help up in the receivables and hence, the company depends on the collections for meeting of the obligations. Compared to the industry, Bloomberg again reflects on the liquidity position of the company as one of the better company’s income (Bloomberg, 2010). The Debt to Equity ratio indicates the strength of the balance sheet rather than the growth and earnings prospects. Nike has reduced its debt ratio from 6% to 5% in 2009. Even though, the company increased the lending but at the same time, it also increases its equity in the market. Nike has always maintained its strength in the balance sheet because of the less leverage. Nike generated $0.05 in addition to a dollar in equity. Industry comparison shows that the company is least risky but it must add on its debt more so that it can generate

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Understanding Society - Classical Liberalism Essay Example for Free

Understanding Society Classical Liberalism Essay The individualism that Durkheim sees and defends as the ethic of our time is an ethic not just of the individual hut of the individual as man. This is an absolutely fundamental point, and not as obvious and straightforward as, at first sight, it might seem. It involves a dualism, in which an ideal of individuality is part of the ideal of humanity (Miller, 1996 96). The dualism’s Durkheimian explanation concerns the development of the division of labor, such that there are increasingly only two fundamental identities we can have, the identity of the distinct â€Å"individual† and the identity in common of â€Å"man† (Hamilton, 1995 136). However, it also concerns the development of modern society such that it demands a Universalist ethic of â€Å"the person†. This means, amongst other things, insistence on every individual’s same basic moral status and rights to respect and regard. Indeed, an ethic of the person is the only way to extend this status to every individual, and to oppose reactionary individualisms that withhold it. The modern individualist ideal is and has to be, for Durkheim, humanist and republican, its aspirations find expression in 1789’s â€Å"liberty, equality, fraternity† (Miller, 1996 97). â€Å"Liberalism is neither a vague Zeitgeist nor the outlook of modern man, but clearly identifiable set of principles and institutional choices endorsed by specific politicians, publicists, and popular movements. The early history of liberalism cannot be detached from the political history, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, of England and Scotland, the Netherlands, the United States, and France† (Berkowitz, 1999 256). As for the main character of the discussion, liberalism for Durkheim remains part of the egoistic nature of man towards his environment. Discussion Durkheim published a response entitled, Individualism and the Intellectuals, wherein he discussed â€Å"the argument, always refuted and always renewed,† that â€Å"Intellectual and moral anarchy would be the inevitable result of liberalism. † Some varieties of liberalism, Durkheim conceded, are egoistic and threaten the common good of societies by encouraging the individual to become excessively preoccupied with self-interest. However, there is a strand of liberalism, Durkheim argued, that is moral and social. This form Durkheim called â€Å"moral Individualism† and he claimed that â€Å"not only is moral individualism not anarchical, but it henceforth is the only system of beliefs that can ensure the moral unity of the country. † In industrial, democratic nations such as France, moral virtue and unity are promoted by the liberal practices and ideals of moral individualism. France’s modern moral traditions are largely constituted by liberal institutions and values (Hamilton, 1995 124). Durkheim asserted chat â€Å"all communal life is impossible without the existence of interests superior to those of the individual. † From the outset of his career, Durkheim insisted that in modern Industrial society’s happiness and freedom are achieved in the context of moral beliefs and practice, embedded in vital traditions and institutions. Durkheim sees in the modern ideal â€Å"all the values to which he adheres most: equality, liberty, justice, fraternity†. Moreover, it is important to emphasize, he sees them as coming together in an inseparable package. It will not do to insist on a definition of freedom that in effect writes off other modern ideals, and that camouflages, behind a lot of philosophical talk, a recipe for a minimalist police state and an anemic and oppressive class-divided society (Berkowitz, 1999 257). It is a recipe for such things if only because the other ideals, which the libertarian state has to trample on, will not go away but are part of the modern world (Miller, 1996 97). Similarly, it will not do to insist on conceptions of equality and community that in effect write off freedom, in a recipe for a â€Å"despotic socialism†. Durkheim’s project is a commitment to a continuing, developing search to work and rework the human ideal’s different aspirations, which, whatever the tensions between them, must combine into a whole. It is bound to be a dispute-filled search, if only because of the nature of the human ideal, with its commitment to individualism and free thought, but also, in Durkheim’s account, because of the nature of modern individuality itself. However, his appeal to the division of labor as a basic source of our individuality can at the same time obscure the point about individuality itself as a source of differences and disputes (Miller, 1996 98). Critics of liberalism tend to be the more aggressive, eager to portray Hobbes as a paradigmatic liberal theorist whose geometric method, materialist metaphysics, mechanistic psychology, and atomistic vision of society exemplify the poverty of the liberal spirit (Tucker, 2001 68). Meanwhile, when confronted with the image of Hobbes as one of their own, liberals often react sharply; pointing to Hobbes’s theory of indivisible and inseparable sovereign power and insistence on state supervision of university curriculum and church teaching, they emphatically declare that Hobbes cannot be understood to be a liberal in any meaningful sense (Hamilton, 1995 138). As often happens when passions flare and partisans draw sharp lines in the sand, the truth in its complexity and fine-grained texture becomes the first casualty, in the debate over Hobbes’s relation to liberalism, each side errs not so much in what it points to as in what it fails to acknowledge in Hobbes’s political theory (Berkowitz, 1999 257). In their efforts to present Hobbes as liberalism’s torchbearer, liberalism’s critics abstract from the fact that Hobbes’s political science does little to insure the protection of traditional liberal freedoms and rejects the need, made thematic by the liberal tradition, to limit government power through careful institutional design (Pickering 2001 196). At the same time, liberals who wish to deny any relation whatsoever to Hobbes overlook the fact that Hobbes’s doctrine of absolute sovereignty is explicitly established for the limited purpose of securing and maintaining peace, while subjects’ obligation to obey the civil law is limited, according to Hobbes’s theory, by the natural and inalienable right to self-preservation (Hamilton, 1995 139). Hobbes argued that human beings are fundamentally equal and endowed with certain natural and in-alienable rights, defended the idea of a state based on the rule of law: maintained a basic distinction between the public and the private; envisaged a sovereign who respected personal freedom by permitting his subjects the liberty of commerce and contract, as well as the choice of profession, where to live, and how to raise their children: held that a primary task of a good government was to secure a rudimentary welfare for all citizens; affirmed that civil laws govern actions, not inner faith or conscience, insisted on the utility of toleration (Berkowitz, 1999 258). Adam Smith, on the other hand, introduced two forms of liberalism, specifically economic liberalism and social liberalism. Economic liberalism is primarily about efficiency, whereas social liberalism is primarily about freedom. In modern politics, they often appeal to quite different people (McLean, 2006 314). Economic liber als are often social conservatives, and vise versa. People who believe that the state should get out of the market often believe strongly that the state should police morals (Hamilton, 1995 141). The individualization of altruism thus connects with all the emphasis on how we each become an â€Å"autonomous source of action† and a centre of thought in which â€Å"the very materials of consciousness have a personal character† (McLean, 2006 315). It increasingly involves, around this â€Å"common faith†, ways of thinking and feeling that are â€Å"very general and indefinite† and that let in â€Å"a growing multitude of individual disagreements (McLean, 2006 323). Dissidences, even if including the differences of organic cohesion, must also refer to the conflicts involved in pluralism, factionalism and the freedom in which we each have our own â€Å"opinions, beliefs, aspirations† (Miller, 1996 99). Moral individualism, wrote Durkheim, is â€Å"the individualism of Kant, Rousseau, of the spiritualities — the one that the Declaration of the Rights of Man attempted, more or less happily, to formulate and that is currently taught in our schools and has become the basis of our moral character (Pickering 2001 194). This type of individualism is â€Å"profoundly different† from the egoistic type. Far from making personal interest the object of conduct, this one sees in all personal motives the very source of evil (Tucker, 2001 68). According to Kant, the individual is only certain of acting properly if the motives that influence the person relate, not to the particular circumstance in which the person is placed, but to the equality as a man in abstract (Holmes, 1995 89). On the other hand, Rousseau’s concept of the general will is an authentic expression of justice insofar as it is constituted not by personal interest, but by public goods and concerns (McLean, 2006 326). Durkheim concluded, thus, for both these men, the only moral ways of acting are those that can be applied to all men indiscriminately, which are implied in the notion of man in general duty consists in disregarding all that concerns us personally in order to seek out fellowmen (Pickering 2001 195). It is perhaps more accurate to say that Durkheim’s moral individualism invented this tradition as much as It belongs to it (Holmes, 1995 86). Durkheim attempted to piece together his own â€Å"communitarian† account of his favorite varieties of liberalism (Hamilton, 1995 142). A set of liberal, democratic traditions already existed; however, Durkheim was well aware of competing communitarian traditions, such as those of the Royalists and the conservative Roman Catholics, as well as of competing liberal traditions, such as those of the classical economists and utilitarians (McLean, 2006 320). Durkheim attempted to show that in the vocabulary of moral individualism there is no fundamental opposition between individual rights and the common good. He first advanced what he considered to be the necessary communal, social Interpretation of the Kantian autonomous Individual (Pickering 2001 193). Conclusion Egoism is equated with individualism wherein Durkheim defines it in terms of â€Å"sentiments and representations which are exclusively personal†, and indeed just talks of it as â€Å"individuality†. This does not sound as if it can just be a matter of organic diversity, of differences that are complementary and cohesive rather than conflicting nor is it. The crucial passage comes earlier on, when Durkheim discusses the nature of the modern conscience collective and of the human ideal at its core. From the perspectives of other liberal philosophers of Adam Smith, liberalism is in the aspects of economic and social strengths wherein the society and industry are in continuous interplays of identities; Hobbes emphasized the universal right to personally convene a decision as the basic form of individuality. Rousseau and Kant exemplified liberalism in the form of rights of man to achieve utmost happiness as the form of individuality. Bibliography Berkowitz, P. (1999). Virtue and the Making of Modern Liberalism. Princeton University Press. Hamilton, P. (1995). Emile Durkheim: Critical Assessments. Routledge. Holmes, S. H. (1995). Passions and Constraint: On the Theory of Liberal Democracy. University of Chicago Press. McLean, L. (2006). Adam Smith, Radical and Egalitarian: Radical and Egalitarian. Edinburgh University Press. MIller, W. W. (1996). Durkheim, Morals and Modernity. McGill-Queens Press. Pickering, W. F. (2001). Emile Durkheim: Critical Assessments of Leading Sociologists. Routledge. Tucker, K. H. (2001). Classical Social Theory: A Contemporary Approach. Blackwell Publishing.