Political Dynasty, Is It Acceptable or Not?

University of Perpetual Help System DALTA FCL 6 Jerome B. Rustia BS-AE 1. ) Political Dynasty, is it acceptable or not? * Political Dynasty is not acceptable for me because it is not fair to other people who deserve in such position in politics. Give chance to other to have a good leadership. Not only in one family the true/wise leader will come, every family/dynasty have it. 2. ) Must there be an absolute separation of church and state? Church and state must have no absolute separation because church is commanded by God through the use of priest/pope, on the other hand in state it is head by an president, prime minister etc. . Those politicians are also choose by God also to help such people, to produce good things in our society and it is again commanded by God by different purposes. 3. ) Is same sex marriage acceptable in our modern society? * No, it is not acceptable in our modern society because as a Christian people and one of the Christian country in Asia, God only created 2 g ender which are the men and women.You can love your same gender as friend or companions but marrying them are not acceptable in the eyes of many people and in our God. 4. ) Was the Pope’s resignation beneficial or detrimental to the church? * No, because when you were choose by God as a Pope you must served God forever whether you have some deficiency. God has a purpose so you must stand on it. 5. ) Conflict in South China Sea or West Philippines, a failure in leadership or a historical dilemma? It is a failure in leadership because that island is Philippine territory it is closer to the Philippine than other country. . . so what are president do? He just talk to the Chinese President then what is the result? Like in what I saw in the television lately, the wild life resources that the Chinese caught in Philippine sea was not back yet in us. Why did the president do on that problem? He just sat there and waiting for the help of United Nation. We are independent country so the first move must be on us not in our alliances.

Political Risk in Venezuela

The political climate in Venezuela is very unsettled, this is because of the course of action the president decides to take. However the biggest risk is to industry –type company’s that have major operations in Venezuela. This is exemplified in the operations of foreign oil companies and mining companies with operation in or with Venezuela. The greatest risk in conducting business is straightforward expropriation. Another major risk that foreign companies face while operating in Venezuela is increased income tax. The tax rates tend to be subjective and can change depending on the revenue and size (growth) of the company. The largest risk facing any foreign company such as the proposed from class is converting the local currency (Bolivar) to outside currency. This is mainly because of the bureaucracy involved exchanging the currency, which is governed by the Central Bank of Venezuela and the National Exchange Control Administration. This is especially applicable to the U. S. currency because of current relations. * The additional expenditures accumulate because of time and resources required to transfer money abroad. Venezuela's democracy is broken according to the standards of the OAS Inter-American Democratic Charter. This may mean that changes to the political climate to further burden the operations of business will prove to be futile. Living Conditions Venezuela has a national poverty percentage of 52% according to the World Bank. There is considerable income inequality, especially in densely populated areas. This becomes a concern because Venezuela has had massive economic growth compared to historical percentages. The unemployment rate is 6. 6% at the year-end of 2009. This is considered to be low when factoring in that many people engage in subsistence farming and small-scale trade, which is not considered part of the unemployment count. There is a large gap in income where the population is considerably wealthy or poor to very poor. The population averages out to upper middle class income. The World Bank states that the GNI per capita in Venezuela is $12,370 USD in 2009 (The World Bank). However with 95% literacy rate we can deduce that many Venezuelans are well educated. This widens the market segment for products that involve interaction with the individual. One such example would be exercise products that come with routines by book and/or video. Inner city residents live in apartments, condominiums and small houses, which are in close proximity. The cost of living increases closer to the city center especially in large cities such as Caracas. The inner city residents are mostly middle class to upper middle class. Upper class Venezuelans live outside the city usually in the hills in gated communities. The lower class lives in slums located in the perimeter of the cities and use public transportation to go to the city center. The lower class may also live on estates and work for the upper class in large numbers especially on large farms. Reference http://data.worldbank.org/country/venezuela-rb www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35766.htm

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example ents disagree that the Direct Method is the most appropriate technique and 86% do agree that carefully planned translation activity can play a useful role in the L2 communicative classroom†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Druce, 2012, p.1). The information created in the journal article provides much information to teachers. Teachers are required to enable students to acquire a second language with much ease. The article introduces attitude management and translation. In interpreting this article, one may point out that teachers are required to enable students develop positive attitudes towards their second language acquisition experience. It may be made successful by putting in place mechanisms that recognize social and cultural fluency. However, the recommended strategies may have numerous limitations. One limitation is that translation may hinder the effectiveness at which a student develops fluency in the new acquired language. This assumption hinders the credibility of the article. The article has presented my idea on teaching on second language acquisitions. Attitude development in the classroom setting has been cited as a requirement that was not considered in prior mechanism of teaching. Second language acquisition is based on the ability of a person to acquire an internal memorization of a new language (Donesch-Jezo, 2011). The main argument created by the article is that input and output of language properties are mandatory for a person to acquire a new language. The article is of the assumption that tutors are usually keen to provide input and not vigilant to monitor the output by students. The article addresses language output as the main topic. The article asserts that, â€Å"†¦another component which is required for successful second language learning is output†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Donesch-Jezo, 2011, p.11). In addition, in order for a tutor to teach a new language, they must understand how it is acquired by the learners. In regards to relevance, the article introduces an important aspect

Case studies AED Wk 8 DQ 1 Replies Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case studies AED Wk 8 DQ 1 Replies - Coursework Example There should be a record on the development of the student since their birth so as to project the future thus the requirements of Brandon. The strengths of the child are particularly necessary. Brandon has the capacity to pursue his future with a little help. Exceptionalities in this case include class work, social behavior, and self esteem. The information given was adequate to give feedback that has no bias. The interest affinities of the child form a positive side thus supremely necessary. The child can improve his profile by participating in class work thus improving his level of intelligence (Wong, 2008). Exceptionalities include the social life of the child, school work and the talents of the child. There should be information regarding the level of literacy of the child because William has difficulties in reading and writing. The areas of interactions in school and at home were necessary to give feedback. The child has a bigger positive side rather than a negative side. Exceptionalities include school work and development behavior. There should be more details on the capabilities and behaviors of the child. The strengths of the child is necessary for evaluation. The child with a little help can focus and learn complex topics (Wong,

Commercial Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Commercial Contracts - Essay Example Unless the seller can proof that all the goods were defective, the buyer is entitled to decline such a move and seek for legal redress. Watchtower vs. Classic Gift Ltd The two partners entered into a contract, where Watchtowers Ltd was supposed to supply Classic Gift Ltd with both the antique watches and the cleaning oil. The latter owns several shops that specialize in the sale of such watches. The managing director of Classic Gift Ltd agreed on a contract with Matthew Achbold, who was the sales director at Watchtower. It is this contract that was supposed to bund the two parties, in ensuring that everything happened according to the stipulations therein. The challenge After the delivery of the goods to Classic Gift, it was found that some of the oil provided had some defects. According to the letter addressed to the sales director of Watchtower, the oil led to malfunctioning of some watches, which were cleaned. It is because of this issue that Julie Fitz thought that they were enti tled to compensation because of the losses incurred. In their reply, the Watchtower indicated that indeed one of the batches of oil supplied may have been contaminated or had defects. The sales director however appeared to defend the fact that the rest batches were up to standard. However, according to the letter addressed to the supplier (seller), the buyer wanted full refund of the money used to make the purchased. In addition to that, the seller insisted that they need to be compensated due to the number of watches that had been affected. For that, reason, apart from refunding the total amount of purchase, there was need to further pay 2,000 pounds. Discussion Prior to the purchase of the materials, Watchtower provided Classic Gift Ltd with a document 1, which provided the terms and conditions that would make the contract legally binding. Some of the stipulations were that for the contract to remain binding, both parties had to address each other in writing, and within some stipu lated period of time1. Secondly, the seller was supposed to ensure that he supplied goods that were free of any defects to the buyer. However, to facilitate this provision, the buyer on the other hand was supposed to inspect the goods sent to ensure they were of the required standard and quality, upon detection of any anomalies, the buyer is obligated to address the buyer in writing, giving their dissatisfactions in the goods2. However, such a complaint was supposed to be done within the first 14 days. If these days elapse, the buyer was not entitled to any compensation. As part of ensuring that the seller was compensated, the terms and conditions stipulated that, the seller would either get partial or full refund. In addition to that, the seller may be provided with another butch of goods that meet the required standard. From the above explanation, it is clear that Classic Gift Ltd was entitled to compensation. The letter addressed to the supplier was made within 14 days. The lette r highlighted the losses that the company had suffered due to the contaminated oil. According to Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, it is imperative to ensure that the buyer of the goods proof reasonably that there was actually a loss that was incurred. Such a loss must be linked to the mistake done by the seller. In the above issue, it is outright that the seller was entitled to remedies. Firstly, it appears that the buyer may have had the knowledge that some of the oil supplied was defective.

Revolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Revolution - Assignment Example They also sought to control commemorations of events marking the Revolution, politicizing memories of British colonial oppression to their purpose. Another example was the Massacre oration, which replaced the Stamp Act protest and Pope’s Day that were mainly days commemorated by the ‘mob’ (Young, 2001). The Whig leaders were able to do this because they dominated the newspapers and town meeting, had support from dissenting church clergy, and lacked any credible rivals that could sustain alternative memories of the Revolution. In the 1800s, when there was a massive shift in these commemorations towards the veterans and battles of the Revolutionary War. By the mid-1820s, jubilee commemorations of local military Revolutionary events were observed with fervor. The Whig leaders and the elites were also becoming more comfortable with commemorating war events because of the ambiguity and controversy surrounding pre-Revolution events, as well as the consensus these war commemorations brought between the leaders and the people (Young, 2001). Although the Conservatives still orchestrated Revolution-related ceremonial rituals, the popular side of the Revolution became increasingly central to the commemorations as the festive rituals became democratized. This democratization of the Revolution’s memory led to increased veneration of Revolution veterans, who had been the popular side of the Revolution. Moreover, newspapers and books began to increasingly focus their attention on the re-war revolutionary activit ies that had popularized the Revolution among the popular side in the first place (Young, 2001). Finally, this democratization of the Revolution’s memory also brought back the popular side through the subsequent new, radical movements claiming the Revolution, including the popular destruction of the tea movement. The destruction of the tea and the Revolution’s place

Louise Slaughter Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Louise Slaughter - Research Paper Example The term Congress in the United States has two applications (Kura, 2001). First, Congress refers to the Senate or national bicameral legislature. Secondly, Congress refers to the House of Representatives. In the Senate, members are referred to as senators while Representatives are the members in the House of Representatives (Heath, 1999). Persons who are members of both the Senate and House of Representatives are members of congress. Representatives are also referred to as congressmen or congresswomen. The current congress is the 113th and was elected in November 2012. The House of Representatives has 435 members while the Senate has 100 members. The members of US congress are elected to represent people in fifty states. Since the congress representatives are elected, it is possible to have a Congress whose representatives have unequal racial representation. The two Congress chambers are separate. However, they both participated equally in the enactment of legislation. The congress m ust hold one joint meeting in a year to agree on the convening and adjourning dates and count the presidential votes. The ability of the Congress to enact laws is the sanction of that effects other congress actions. The discussion in this paper focuses on the congresswoman named Louise Slaughter. In the discussion, Louise Slaughter is analyzed for her key achievements, voting records, important committee assignments, and leadership positions. Current position of Louise Mclntosh Slaughter Louise was born on 14 August 1929. Today, Slaughter is the New York’s representative for 28th congressional district. She has served in this position since 1993. The political party membership is Democratic Party. Slaughter’s district of representation is found in Rochester, New York. This district partially comprises of counties of Orleans and Monroe in New York. Since 1987 to 1993, Slaughter represented New York’s 30th District. The United States Congressional elections were h eld in November of the year 2012. In these elections, Slaughter’s victory was over Maggie Brooks who had been county representative since 2004. Her representation is now in the restructured 25th District. This District is entirely found in Monroe County except for Rush, Mendon, Hamlin, Wheatland, and part of Clarkson. Slaughter has formerly been the chairperson of the House Rules Committee. Her leadership in this Committee lasted from 2007 to 2011. Other membership roles include ranking minority member as from 2011. After her reelection, Slaughter vowed to fight for issues of Medicare and Social security. She also vowed to fight for the Violence against Women Act renewal (Alaimo, 2012). In most of her career, Slaughter has spent time fighting for the safety, opportunities and health. In addition, Louise is the co-founder of the Bi-partisan Pro Choice Caucus and Co-author of violence against Women Act. Slaughter has also greatly advocated for the protection of the nationâ€⠄¢s troops by ensuring that troops have the needed armor. According to slaughter, she feels that those responsible for protecting the nation should also be protected. Louise has been considered as a true reformer. For now, Slaughter is fighting to pass the Stock Act in her efforts to clean up Washington. Through this act, Congress members will not be in a position to make money in the stock market using insider information. This move will protect million of citizens since her support will not be

Law specialism Incorporated - legal firms and internships Essay

Law specialism Incorporated - legal firms and internships - Essay Example (See Appendix I – Summary of Allen & Overy’s Requirements on page 11) Clifford Chance offers 4-weeks summer and winter intern schemes to all students who are enrolled in Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Master of Laws (LLM), and Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) courses at the universities in England (Clifford Chance, 2013a, 2013c). Basically, the 4-weeks summer and winter intern schemes facilitate the law students to learn more about how it is to work for Clifford Chance. Even though Clifford Chance is encouraging both law and non-law students to apply for internship during their final year; a significant part of their recruitment and selection process and qualification is to complete their degrees (Clifford Chance, 2013a). After completing the internship programme, students are anticipated to submit their application for trainee solicitor contract (Clifford Chance, 2013b). Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer offers 3 summer vacation schemes (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, 2013a). ... In case the applicant is not a law degree holder, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer requires the applicant to enrol in Graduate Diploma in Law prior to LPC (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, 2013c). To qualify for the 4 weeks internship program at Linklaters, the applicant should be at least on the 4th or 5th year in law-related courses (Liklaters, 2013). In general, working for long hours can be harmful to one’s health (Stevens, 2013). Even though all members of the â€Å"Magic Circle† has their own unique formal policy when it comes to the recruitment and selection process of law students who wish to apply for an internship programme, only Linklaters requires the applicants to let their parents sign the parental consent form (Social Mobility Foundation, 2013). Likewise, only Linklaters clearly stated the no smoking and drinking during the internship period and anyone who will be caught misbehaving (i.e. fighting, etc.) will automatically be disqualified for the said progra mme (Social Mobility Foundation, 2013). For applicants who wish to apply for the 2-year training contract at the Slaughter and May, applicants are required to complete their law degree or pass the GDL or Common Professional Examination (CPE) on top of the Postgraduate Certificate of Laws (PCLL) (Slaugther and May, 2013a). The recruitment and selection process of the â€Å"Magic Circle† members are done formally. These firms require all applicants of training contracts to be on their final year in school. Interns’ salary or wages varies from one firm to another. For instance: Both Linklaters and Slaughter and May offer ?300 per week for their summer vacation programmes whereas Clifford Chance offers

Business ethics Essay Example for Free

Business ethics Essay Introduction Todays world is continually shrinking due to many factors, not the least of which is the rapid growth of international business. Four specific interlinking phenomena are occurring which present new problems to international business: a) the increase in offshore banking transactions; b) the continuing growth of multinational corporations (MNCs); c) the increasing instances of outsourcing business activities offshore and d) the equally increasing instances of locating and using suppliers of goods and services in developing countries. All four of these phenomena are fueled by economics and they show no sign of abating anytime soon. Two aspects dealt in this paper are: a) the existence of perceived corruption in international business, including graft, kickbacks and preferential treatment and b) workplace conditions that are considered unethical by generally accepted world standards. There are many other aspects of international business which lend themselves to ethical examination, but they are not appropriate here. The approach taken is to examine some of the principal ethical philosophies of the last two hundred years in relation to international business, as follows: a) Immanuel. Kants Categorical Imperative; b) early mercantilist philosophies; c) Distributive Justice; d) Ethical Relativism; e) Integrative Social Contracts Theory; f) Virtue Ethics; g) Confucian and Islamist ethics and h) pragmatic approaches to international business ethics. Then, by way of local comparisons, several local national situations are presented in order to clarify the problem. Finally, in order to address workplace ethics specifically, the SA 8000 Social Accountability standard is presented and analyzed as one approach to remedy a widely recognized situation which required positive attention. Furtherj this standard is presented as a possible entry point toward developing a customer/supplier dialogue which may hole the promise of formulating a wholly new code of international business ethics, not simply another Western concept grafted onto the developing world. 1 Key ethical theories and concepts Kants categorical imperative: Immanuel Kants Categorical Imperative has become a mainstay in the study of ethics for the past two hundred years and has stimulated a considerable amount of both support and objection. His assertion to act only according to maxims which you can will also to be universal laws^^ was seen to be in direct reaction to the relativist philosophies being propagated at that time and can also be seen as a defense of free will which was being called into question as well. Marias^^ points out that Kants purpose was to personalize ethics, not necessarily to institutionalize ethics. Kants ethics describe a moral person; not necessarily a moral society which is a key point in attempting to apply Kantian ethics to our world. Significant problems have been found to exist not within Kants ethics but in its applications. Calder* perceives the lack of degrees of wrongness in Kants Categorical Imperative, stating that this is a major flaw in his ethics. Calders interpretation of Kant is that an act is either right ot wrong in a universal sense, not allowing for varying degrees. This would be a valid objection to Kantian ethics were it not for Kants intention to personalize ethics and to make the individual person responsible for his or her own actions. In this sense, Kants ethics are indeed universal in the sense that each person must decide what is right and what is wrong. An argument could be made that in this sense, Kantian ethics can be applied universally, but with a less than satisfying sense of having identified a code of ethics that would fit like a sort of template over our world. It should also be noted that at the time Kant lived in the late 18 Century, our world was just being discovered as highly diverse. European ethnocentrism was still very much in force and the uncivilized world was seen generally as a very undefined place.The intertwining effects of the growth of world trade, the rapid increases in colonialism and the onset of the industrial revolution stimulated additional efforts to address the people of the world at large. Early mercantilist philosophy: The various mercantilist philosophies which emanated from the growth of colonialism and world trade presented a somewhat different viewpoint to (11)Advances In Management Vol. 5 (3) Mar. (2012) ethics. In the minds of the mercantilists, civil society would contain markets which would be self-regulating and government, business and nonprofit organizations would unite to create social accountability systems which would contain self-enforcing codes of conduct reinforced by the concept of shareholder and stakeholder pressures. These concepts tend to continue to the present day in many business textbooks. However, these early mercantilist philosophies, propounded in the heyday of expansionism by the worlds trading nations, pointedly did not consider what effects mercantilism would have on the rest, of the world. These mercantilist philosophies provided a basis for the development of utilitarian ethics which would become popular in the following century with the writings of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart MilP^ and which would eventually become the unofficial political philosophy of the British government throughout the colonial years and up to the present day. Distributive Justice: The rapid growth of complex economic systems together with the shrinking of the social world gave birth to the concept of distributive justice. The concept has its origins in David Hume and John Locke and continues today in the writings of modern philosophers John Rawis and Robert Nozick. ^ The internationalization of the world economy has further spurred discussion concerning how distributive justice might be applied to international business. Unlike the ethics of early mercantilist philosophies and classical utilitarianism which both fit uneasily in the world of international business, there has been quite a lot of discussion concerning the ethics of distributive justice in this context. The principal questions tend to revolve around how (or whether) gains from international trade get distributed both within and between countries* and whether or not basic human rights are observed in the practice of international business. This second question has also been expanded to discuss whether international business as a function has the obligation to offer help to the inhabitants of developing countries within which they do business. Both concepts would seem foreign to the mercantilists and would pose awkward questions to the utilitarians. Ethical Relativism: The next logical stage of development in the thinking of international business ethics was termed ethical relativism. To put the best face on it, this concept developed as a realization of the multifaceted cultural and social nature of todays world and of the inherent difficulties todays international business person experiences in attempting to deal with these differences. ^^ However, as many authors have pointed out, ethical relativism can be seen as moral approach to business, using cultural differences as an excuse to practice unethical behavior which might not be acceptable in ones own society. ^ The ethical relativism stage of international business ethics exists but does so in a weakened position due to criticisms leveled against it. Integrative Social Contracts Theory: An effective response to ethical relativism in international business has been a blending of ethical relativism and universally recognized ethical principles at least universally recognized in the Western world into a concept that has become known as integrative social contracts theory (ISCT). -^-* Under this concept, certain universal ethical concepts would provide the basis for an ethical code of conduct for international business with the recognition of the validity of certain local ethical practices with the provision that in the event of conflict between the two, universal ethical principles would take precedence. This blending of ethical concepts satisfied most participants in international business activities but not all. One criticism leveled against ISCT is the problem of using empirical methods to discover and define what the authentic norms of a particular culture might be^. The approach taken by most ISCT practitioners lays open to question the overall effectiveness of a purely empirical approach, subject as it is to misinterpretation and lack of complete knowledge and understanding. As a result, critics of ISCT tend to call for a revival of the universal ethical principles that ISCT has largely replaced, causing discomfort particularly in the developing world which has never been completely comfortable with espousing the universal ethical code of former colonizing powers. Virtue Ethics: One possibility of a usable ethical code is the application of virtue ethics to international business. This concept would formulate ethics based on the moral character of the people involved in international business. Clearly, virtue ethics appeals to those who wish the right thing to be done consistently and studies have attempted to apply the concept to the international business arena. * Virtue ethics has also been proposed as a tool that international organizations could use to fight corruption. Nonetheless, it remains undeniable that virtue ethics is grounded in ones own culture and moral beliefs and would necessarily provide a weak tool to formulate any sort of international business ethics code. Confucian and Islamic ethics applications: One has only to look at the major cultures of the world to discover old and well developed codes of ethics. One such ancient culture China has adhered to Confucian ethical concepts for centuries. Magee^* notes that philosophy, including ethical thought, proceeded in China unhindered by established religions, as was the case in the West and therefore developed a thoughtful ethical philosophy deeply seated in Chinese culture. Yew Chan^*^ points out that while most Confucian ethical thought parallels Western ethical thought, there are some significant divergences. Interestingly, one of the principal differences from the Chinese point of view has to do with the West placing results ahead of ethical concerns. Also, the importance of social harmony which takes on a characteristic of ethics in Confucian culture is emphasized in China while downplayed in the West. (12)Advances In Management Vol. 5 (3) Mar. (2012) Another old and well established body of ethics is found in the Middle East, northern Africa and southeast Asia in the ethical traditions of Islam. The Islamic tradition highly values such concepts as trust and benevolence and makes a major point of including justice and social balance in its code of ethics. Most of these concepts have their basic roots in pre-Islamic Arab culture based in turn on Bedouin culture, but they are reinforced by both the Koran and Sharia. Pragmatic approaches The various conflicts resultant from culture meeting culture in the international business world and the typical result of developed societies coming out on top (with the notable exception of the international petroleum industry) has generated a movement termed the United Nations sustainable development initiative. ^ This convergence of business, political and ethical concerns and interests is the most recent attempt to make things right in the international business world in the face of increasing world poverty and hunger and undeniable global inequality. The most recent ethical solution proposed to begin to set things right internationally is called the language of rights. *,This solution which flnds its roots in distributive justice, identifies the multinational corporation as one of the principle change agents and focuses on the capabilities of all concerned rather than on finding blame. The emphasis is on denning and promoting the positive rights of all concerned. International Business Applications From a practical point of view, however, all of these concepts are somehow found wanting. The realities of wide chasms between the developed world and the developing world which in many instances is not developing at all, relatively speaking tends to make nonsense of any attempts to formulate and superimpose any sort of universal ethical code on the whole world. In the old days of colonialism, the Western powers and Japan simply took what they wanted through dint of force and in the present day of neocolonialism these same powers in the persons of international business carry on that tradition in an updated manner. Appeals to post-conventional moral reasoning, in efforts to induce multinational corporations to develop mature corporate ethics in dealing with developing countries, have met with mixed results. Claims of widespread corruption in international business has stimulated a considerable amount of activity both in academia and in international organizations, although strong arguments have been made that bribery and corruption are not cultural characteristics, as they have so often been called, but symptoms of cultural breakdowns under the pressures of a malfunctioning economy. The local gift-giving customs in some cultures has been thoroughly examined and seem to be finally recognized as local custom and not necessarily as a form of graft. ^ One viewpoint sparsely practiced in the search for some resolution of the international business ethics conundrum is viewing business practices from the perspectives of other cultures. Both Confuciani. st and Islamic ethical systems were very briefly noted above and cases drawn from the business experiences of people from a few speciflc countries are now examined by way of comparison in order to better understand the cultural diversity in todays international business environment. Post-apartheid South Africa presents an interesting case study as the only developed economy on the African continent and as the principal trading partner of many African countries. South Africa also presents a model for global multinational corporations in how to deal effectively with developing economies. ^ Through a mixed strategy of business promotion and social involvement in these countries and by limited political involvement with government ministries. South Africa has developed a favorable reputation throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa by remaining pragmatic in dealing with local custom. Within that region, Nigeria has developed a version of virtue ethics based on a communitarian notion of ethics which seems to work well for Nigerian businesses. ^^ Considering that Nigeria is the most economically successful of the black sub-Saharan economies and is the dominant force in West Africa, this application of communitarianism is having a positive effect on its culturally similar neighbors and holds out hope for a type of regional ethical code in business. The case of Jordan, a relatively poor country located in the Mashriq area of the Middle East, shows mixed results when business ethics are examined. Similar to other countries in the region, Jordanian businessmen tend to bend their ethical activities toward what is practical under the pressures of reality which makes them not much different than other businessmen throughout the world. However, the active effect of Islamic ethics, as previously noted, has an ameliorating effect on Jordanian business practices. India presents a more interesting ethical picture. ^* While being largely Hindu in religion with significant minority groups, India is a country comprised of people speaking twenty-six different languages within two large ethnic groups. To consider India as a single culture through which one can examine Indian business ethics would be completely misleading. As a result and considering the existence of under cultures throughout the Indian population, international business performed in India would need to carefully examine the various ethical codes in practice throughout the country in order to understand the culture and begin to apply any sort of integrative social ethical theory. Finally, Australia presents another interesting case study. Australia is a large country approximately the same (13)Advances In Management Vol. 5 (3) Mar. (2012) size as the forty-eight contiguous states in the United States but with the total population of not much more than Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California combined. Rich in natural resources but isolated from the rest of the world by geography, Australia finds itself an essentially Asian country but with a European political, social and cultural tradition. As a result, Australian businessmen have had to learn how to do business with Asian cultures not by choice but of geographic necessity. ^ Adjustments to doing business in Asian cultures has always been a problem for the Australian businessman, particularly when faced with unfamiliar or uncomfortable ethical situations. ^ As a result, Australia can be seen in this sense as a microcosm of what international business people face. Social Accountability International As described above, the applications of ethical codes to international business have been spotty at best. The reasons for this are varied, but seem to have a great deal to do with attempts to formulate universal ethical principles, albeit with the effort to formulate ISCT in order to accommodate at least some local cultural practices that might affect business ethics. A major reason behind this failure may very well be that the various attempts have all been based on Western philosophical thought. Both Confucian and Islamist traditions possess functioning and effective ethical codes which seem to work well in those cultures. In 1997, Social Accountability International (SAI) published Social Accountability 8000, a voluntary standard that attempts to ensure humane workplaces worldwide. The standard was revised and updated in 2001. Rather than using the exhortative approach attempted up until that time by the International Labor Organization (ILO), SA8000 is a frank, open attempt to convince companies that it would be in their best business interests to become registered to this standard. It is based on international workplace norms of ILO conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (saintl. org). It is an auditable certification standard and those companies which pass an initial audit and which also maintain compliance through successful semi-annual surveillance audits are included in a published list of SA 8000-registered companies. Audits are conducted by thirdparty auditing organizations accredited and overseen by Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS). ^ Provisions of SAAS a) Child labor: No workers under the age of 15; minimum lowered to 14 for countries operating under the ILO Convention 138 developing-country exception; b) Forced labor: No forced labor, including prison or debt bondage labor; no lodging of deposits or identity papers by employees or outside recruiters; c) Health and safety: Provide a safe and healthy work environment; take steps to prevent injuries; regular health and safety worker training; system to detect threats to health and safety; access to bathrooms and potable water. d) Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining: Respect the right to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; where law prohibits these freedoms, facilitate parallel means of association and bargaining; e) Discrimination: No discrimination based on race, caste, origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union or political affiliation, or age; No sexual harassment; f) Discipline: No corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse; g) Working hours: Comply with the applicable law but in any event, no more than 48 hours per week with at least one day off for every seven day period; voluntary overtime paid as a premium rate and not to exceed 12 hours per week on a regular basis; overtime may be mandatory if part of a collective bargaining agreement; h) Compensation: Wages paid for a standard work, week must meet the legal and industry standards and be sufficient to meet the basic need of workers and their families; no disciplinary reductions; i) Management systems: Facilities seeking to gain and maintain certification must go beyond simple compliance to integrate the standard into their management systems and practices. The SA 8000 standard is a rather obvious carrot-andstick approach to flght the more blatant workplace abuses by creating a type of international honor roll of companies which have successfully undergone certification. Its introduction was greeted by a mixed reception^ amid fears that it was just another expensive piece of bureaucracy. However, within a few years the value of the SA 8000 standard was becoming apparent. Further, studies have shown that successful implementation of this standard as well as other similar standards have had the effect of improved international business in developing countries. The SA 8000 approach admittedly does not address all ethical concerns inherent in international business but it does address what can be considered the heart of the problem by attempting to bring workplace conditions in line with generally accepted international standards. As discussed, the issues of corruption in the exercise of international business are being addressed in part by the application of cultural ethical standards, such as Confucian and Islamist practices and the more heinous practices have been so roundly (14)Advances In Management r Vol. 5 (3) Mar. (2012) condemned that they are either fading away or have been made well-publicized examples throughout the world. The hope is if workplace conditions can be brought up to an acceptable level, then the concept of discourse ethics can be put in play under which multinational corporations in partnership with their developing country suppliers can provide a theoretical justification for opening and maintaining a moral discourse which can then establish and mutually maintain ethical principles based on agreement and cooperation. ^ This would be a truly revolutionary development and one which would create a wholly new code of international business ethics involving the customer and the supplier as cooperating partners. Conclusion In the wake of Enron, Tyco and other recent scandals which have severely shaken the publics faith in our business leaders, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a serious topic of discussion in the business world. ^Â ° In addition, the popularity of such recent and graphic films as Lord of War, concerning arms dealing in Africa, Blood Diamond, also concerning this topic in Africa and The Constant Gardener, concerning corruption in the international Pharmaceuticals trade and once again in Africa, has raised the publics awareness of business corruption in developing countries. In addition, the rapid movement by Western companies to developing countries as a source of supply based on cheap labor has accentuated the previously invisible problem of working conditions in these areas. ^* Recent health threats concerning tainted pet food and leadbased toys from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) have served to magnify the situation. American consumers, once complacent concerning the products they bought as long as they were cheap and worked, are becoming more concerned with the quality and inherent safety of these products and a connection seems to have been made in the publics mind with workplace conditions in the countries of origin. The challenge is to keep these issues out in the open until they are resolved. The success of the SA 8000 standard is a good beginning toward instituting a true international discourse which has the potential of creating a new international business code of ethics which all people can buy into and follow a code of ethics which was not exported from developed countries, but one that would truly be an international code of ethics developed in partnership between customer and supplier. Such a mutually developed code of ethics would be-much more easily understood, would stand a much better chance of acceptance because the subjects would also be the formulators and would therefore offer a significantly higher chance of success. References 1. Al-Shaikh F. N. , The practical reality theory and business ethics in non-Westem context: Evidence from Jordan, The Journal of Management Development. 22 (7/8), 679-693 (2003) 2. Beekun R. I. and Badawi J. A. , Balancing ethical responsibility among multiple organizational stakeholders: The Islamic perspective. Journal of Business Ethics. 60 (2), 131-145 (2005) 3. Bendana A. , Shifting Paradigms of thought and power. Development. 47 (1), 22-26 (2004) 4. Beschomer T. and Muller M. , Social standards: Toward an active ethical involvement of businesses in developing countries. Journal of Business Ethics. 73 (1). 11-21 (2007) 5. Bruyn S. T. , The moral economy. Review of Social Economy, 57 (1), 25-46 (1999) 6. Calder T. , Kant and degrees of wrongness. Journal of Value lnquiry. ,39 (2), 229-244 (2005) 7. Chung K. Y. , Ethical perceptions of business students: Differences between East Asia and the USA among Confucian cultures! Journal of Business Ethics. 79 (1/2), 121-133 (2008) 8. Derig Shengliang, A new look at ethics in International business. The International Executive. 34(2), 151-165 (1992) ;l 9. Everett J. , Neu D. and Rahaman A. S. , The global fight against corruption: A Foucaultian, virtues-ethics framing. Journal of Business Ethics. 65 (1), 1-13 (2006) 10. Falkenberg A. W. , When in Rome moral maturity and ethics for international economic organizations. Journal of Business Ethics. 54 (1), 17-32(2004) 11. Flynn G. , The virtuous manager, A vision for leadership in business. Journal of Business Ethics. 78 (3), 359-372 (2008) 12. Gilbert D. U. and Rasche A. , Discourse ethics and social accountability: The ethics of SA 8000, Business Ethics Quarterh, 17 (2), 187-216(2007) 13. Hartman C. L. and Beck-Dudley C. L. , Marketing strategies and the search for virtue: A case analysis of The Body Shop, International Journal of Business Ethics. 20 (3), 249-263 (1999) 14. Hellston S. and Larbi G. A. , Public good or private good? The paradox of public and private ethics in the context of developing countries. Public Administration Development. 26 (2), 135-146 (2006) 15. Hutchings K. and Murray G. , Family, face and favours: Do Australians adjust to accepted business conventions in China? Singapore Management Review. 25 (2), 25-57 (2003) 16. Husted B. W. , A critique of the empirical methods of integratiye social contracts theory. Journal of Business Ethics. 20 (3), 227-236 (1999) 17. Jackson K. T. , Global distributive justice and the corporate duty to aid. Journal of Business Ethics, 12 (7), 547-553 (1993) 18. Kapstein E.B. , Distributing the gains: Justice and international (15)Advances In Management Vol. 5 (3) Mar. (2012) trade. Journal of International Affairs. 52 (2), 533-566 (1999) 19. Lee M. and Ruhe J. A.. Ethical mindsets of Christianity and Confucianism: A comparative study. International Journal of ValueBased Management, 12(1), 13-28(1999) 20. Leonard D. , Strong foundation solid future. Quality Progress, 41 (3), 30-36 (2008) 21. LeVeness F. P. and Primeaux P. D. , Vicarious ethics: Politics, business and sustainable development. Journal of Business Ethics, 51(2). 185-197(2004) 22. Limbs E. C. and Fort T. L., Nigerian business practices and their interface with virtue ethics. Journal of Business Ethics. 26 (2), 169-180(2000) 23. Magee B. , The story of philosophy. New York, Dorling Kindersley (2001) 24. Malan D. , Corporate citizens, colonialists, tourists or activists? Ethical challenges facing South African corporations in Africa, The Journal of Corporate Citizenship. Summer. 18, 49-61 (2005) 25. Marias J. , History of Philosophy, New York, Dover Publications (1967) 26. Miles M. P. and Munilla L. S. , The potential impact of social accountability certification on marketing: A short note. Journal of Business Ethics. 50 (1). 1-8 (2004) 27. OECD, Bribery: Does the OECD convention work? OECD Observer, 246/247, 20-21 (2005) 28. Olsen W. , Pluralist methodology for development economics: The example of moral economy of Indian labour markets. Journal of Economic Methodology. 14 (1), 57-82 (2007) 29. Pedigo K. and Marshall V.. International ethical dilemmas confronting Australian managers: Implications for the training and development of employees working overseas, Journal of European Industrial Training. 28 (2-4). 183-198 (2004) 30. Rohitratana K. , SA 8000: A tool lo improve quality of life. Managerial Auditing Journal. 17 (1/2). 60-65 (2002) 31. Social Accountability International, Social Accountability 8000, New York (2001) 32. Thaler-Carter R. E. , Social accountability: A social guide for companies or another layer of bureaucracy? HR Magazine. June. 107-112(1999) 33. Thompson Jr. A. A. , Strickland III A. J. and Gamble J. E.. Crafting and executing strategy: Text and readings. New York. McGraw Hill, Irwin (2007) 34. Van Dijk E.. Ethical relativism: Escaping accountability. Financial Week, July, 35 (2007) 35. Velasques M. G.. Business ethics: Concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River. NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall (2006) 36. Wettstein F., Lets talk rights: Messages for the just corporation transforming the economy through the language of rights. Journal of Business Ethics, 78 (1-1), 247-264 (2008) 37. Wolff J.. An introduction to political philosophy. New York. Oxford University Press (2006) 38. Yew Chan G. K. , The relevance and value of Confucianism in contemporary business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 77 (3). 347-361 (2008). (Received 8^ December 2011, accepted lO February 2012) Advances In Management Individual Subscription Fellow Membership Indian Rs. 20,000/- US Dollar 2000 Life Membership Indian Rs. 10,000/- US Dollar 1000 Annual Membership Indian Rs. 3000/- US Dollar 300 Institutional Subscription Fellow Membership Indian Rs. 30,000/- US Dollar 3000 Life Membership Indian Rs. 15,000/- US Dollar 1500 Annual Membership Indian Rs. 4000/- US Dollar 400 Please send your cheques / drafts in name of Advances In Management along with Membership Form at above address. (16)Copyright of Advances in Management is the property of Advances in Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holders express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Pros and Cons on Money Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons on Money Essay This is a very sad image that has been painted of the human race. Not all people are money grabbing bankers. in fact the majority of people are good-hearted, who are prepared to give away increasingly small small amounts of spare cash to help charities. They are willing to help. You cant blame corporations and bankers for doing what they are supposed to and that is make money and turn a profit. In all exchanges someone is selling a service and someone is buying a service. There is no rule that says you cannot make money from the transaction. What we can do though is to change the environment in which banks operate. For example laws stipulating how much profit can be made, how much of profit needs to go back to society. We can take responibility for our own destinies instead of money leading us by the nose. As we develop technologically, research and development which leads to breakthroughs in all spheres of society cost money. The companies spending that money should surely be entitled to a return on their investment. Without an incentive, there may be fall off in development. So, instead of only a few bastards getting away with doing nothing for money, now we will have everyone doing nothing for money. Sounds great, until you realize that the resources to run that scheme will soon run out and people will be forced to create value by the motivation of fear and coercion, rather than by the desire to better their condition. This is exactly what derailed all socialist states. What would such alternatives be? In the field of Economics, they have tried to measure Gross National Happiness as opposed to GDP and it created even more problems. Only one country in the world has this as an index, due to problems of comparison between individuals happiness levels, measuring happiness and the fact that happiness levels are so easily influenced by personal situations. The lack of any other sensible, comparable and ordinal alternative has meant that money is the only current measuring unit. What does greed got to do with money? Even without money, greed still exists.,wom an,man,love. Well, I doubt that its true though. First let us consider the point that money is of no real value. What about Gold? Gold itself is considered money. Money itself is divided into Fiat money and Commodity money. Even without fiat money(paper money), people will still be able to use commodity money. Something similar to barter trade. Does crime still exist? i bet it will. Much more than it is now if fiat money is not used. What causes poverty itself is not the lack of money. It is the mentality of the people thats saying that i am poor, i wont become rich, i dont need money, money is the root of all evil. These are the mentality that causes poverty. And besides, i think u should clearly understand what all mean,it means nearly everything or everything.So,first of all,theres no doubt that you can not count how many evils are there in this world,that means your 90% is impossible to prove your point;and if you are right,is that also mean you agree withtheres no evil during the time when the money havent been invented?KIDDING! Money can be donated to a good cause. Like it or loathe it, civilized society cannot function without money, therefore it has to stay. Money can also be used to do alot of good also. For example, millions of Britains donate money to various charities each year to help those that are less fortunate. Comic Reilef raises tens of millions of pounds for its causes, therefore money is not all about pursuing it for the individual, many people activley share thier wealth, redistributing it to those that really need it. If money does not exist, barter trade does exist which will also leads to donation if one have an excess of goods and services. Therefore i dont think that the word donate will not occur No, because some evil clearly nothing to do with money There are many roots to acts that would be considered evil I will assume this means actions that harm others or denigrate the self, but the concept of evil itself is by no means straightforward that are nothing to do with money. For instance, a murder might be motivated by anger, a rape by uncontrollable lust, bullying and discrimination by ignorance. You dont need money to commit a crime. You need a big rock or stick to murder someone. You need the other person not to notice to steal something from someone. Crime has been happening before a monetary system. Religion has also led to a lot of destruction since a long time. Not only this even the greatest of problems dont have their root cause as money.The biggest example being Taliban.Why are they attacking people, they are not getting money from it but it is because they want blood, killing of Indians and Americans. This is called racism. So money is not the root cause of all evil. No, because Money is not the root of all evil. The lack of money is the root of all evil. I respect both sides and I understand why many people believe that money is the root of all evil. But I have to disagree. The lack of money is the root of all evil. Back in the history of mankind, before money was invented, we bartered. Money was the result of hardworking process. Bear in mind that criminals are all born in poverty and some of them live in poverty. The fear of lacking money haunts them constantly. It is the fear of not being able to feed themselves and their families that make them commit unthinkable crimes. If money is evil, could you live in a world without money? If greed or desire is evil, have you ever wanted something that is not yours? Any of you ever want an Iphone? Any of you can live without computer, electricity and all of modern comfort? If you think money is the root of all evil, Id like to recommend the Communist Manifesto for you. Marx talked about an utopia society in which people work based on their ability and get rewarded base on their needs. Money would not be necessary. I like to ask those who think money is not necessary to point out a successful communist example. Im from a communist, aka socialist, country. And we are moving toward a capitalistic market. I strongly believe that if you dont work for yourself, nobody will. Money motivates people to work harder, smarter. Would there be light bub if Edison work for just bread and milk only? You might say those riches keep getting richer without giving away their money to the poor. Id like to ask you Why the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer? If you find the question somewhat interesting please spend sometimes read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It changed a poor college students way of thinking, I hope it will be helpful too. Money is not the root of all evil. The lack of money is the root of all evil. Money represents positive value It is a great American contribution to world culture, that they have coined the phrase to make money. Money is made, by effort of muscle, willpower, and intelect. There can be no society composed entirely of thieves, as there will be no value to steal. Money represents the confidence of parties that the value of their efforts can be traded for the value of others efforts. It is a recognition of the importance of society based on trade, rather than the only real alternative: violence. To be clear, money contributed to charity is also traded, for the value of achieving a social goal this in contrast to taxes, which are forcefully taken. No, because Money is the end product of what you did Money is the end product of something that you did that you think its enjoyable to you. For example, if someone started invest into a company or firms, it is because of the excitement not because of money. It is the excitement that make people invest and this excitement will leads to the end product, money. Therefore there is no reason to say that money is the root of all evil. Money is just the end product of what you did that excite you No, because Originally, Money was the solution to the problems(/inefficiencies in transactions) arising out of barter exchange system. Read on the history of money. Originally, Money was the solution to the problems(/inefficiencies in transactions) arising out of barter exchange system. Ex: In barter exchange there had to be a double co-incidence of wants. A man selling milk who wanted to buy rice had to find someone selling rice wanting milk. GOOD LORD! Just imagine how time-consuming frustrating. Also, there was a need for a standard to objectively measure the value of all types of goods like cows, milk, foodgrains, clothes, ornaments, etc. Imagine feelings of doubt being cheated arising out of selling 1 kg rice in exchange of 3 litres milk (when later you met someone offering you 4 litres in exchange for the same value)! Moreover, money is the best most liquid store of value has legal tender so you sue someone legally if cheated. Money solved the problem also avoided all the confusion. Money is an indispensable part of our lives. Money has to be earned! The root of evil is people who want the unearned money. Saying MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL is like blaming your tools; its very embarrassing. A similar statement: Computers (or tech) is a curse. Ex: You condemn the car for it lead to a terrible accident you landed up in hospital. So is car the cause of the accident? Or are there other things to consider- like did you repair maintain it regularly? Why did you buy it? Were you drunk? Were you daydreaming while driving? Did another car hit yours? Id say that anyone with minimal level of intelligence should get the gist of it should be in a position to discern the fact that car per se didnt create the problem. In the accident scene, car was the passive factor while the man driving it was an active factor another car hitting it was the causal factor. Money too is a passive factor. How you approach it makes all the difference! Just as how you use Internet Computer decides whether it be a curse or a boon. My smartass opponent may say car was purchased with money- so again money is the root of all evil. Alright then, could you dispense with your car? Could you dispense with anything else having money value? But this is different issue altogether. No, because Money cant be dispensed with see the essence of of what I mean by money anything that is or acts as money i.e. anything that performs the recognized functions of money or serves the recognized purpose of money. Id quote a definition Money is a good that acts as a medium of exchange in transactions. Classically it is said that money acts as a unit of account, a store of value, and a medium of exchange. Most authors find that the first two are nonessential properties that follow from the third. In fact, other goods are often better than money at being intertemporal stores of value, since most monies degrade in value over time through inflation or the overthrow of governments. Now think can you do without money? Do you wanna go back to the days for barter system? Imagine no banks, no recognized/ standard medium to transact. No, because Theres no such thing as the root of evil! Evil can take different forms types and also has different causes most of them-psychological.

Ownership of Land Memo Example

Ownership of Land Memo Example MEMO From:  Jessica Smith To:  Mary Rhodes Re:  The Daniels Family Planning Permission The case of Price Ors v Leeds City Council [2005] EWCA Civ 289 is distinguishable from the situation of our clients on the basis that in that case it was not disputed that the local authority had title to the occupied land whereas here the Daniels are the owners of the land having purchased it from Norman Guild. However, Price remains significant in that it raises the issue of the operation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which enshrines the right to the respect for everyone’s â€Å"private and family life, his home and correspondence† and provides that: â€Å"(2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right, except such as in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country†¦..or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.† While the issue here is not the same as in Price where Article 8 was being raised as a potential defence to a claim for possession which was undeniable on other grounds since the gypsies had not been granted a licence or any other right to occupy, it may be argued that the requirement that the Daniels vacate or be served with an Enforcement Notice restraining their use of the land for residential purposes is a similar infringement of Article 8. Mid-Bedfordshire DC v Thomas Brown Ors [2004] EWCA Civ 1709 turned upon the question of the appropriateness of suspending an injunction requiring land to be vacated for so long as would allow practical compliance but not until determination of a planning application. However, it is of assistance in that it applies the principles established by the House of Lords in South Bucks DC v Porter [2003] 2 AC 558 followed and applied by two decisions of the Court of Appeal in Davis Ors v Tonbridge Malling DC [2004] EWCA Civ 194 and Coates Ors v South Bucks DC [2004] EWCA Civ 1378 and details the competing interests and discretionary principles which a court in deciding whether to grant such an injunction should weigh: the practical problems of enforcement facing the court if an injunction is breached, the council’s position on the planning merits, the possibility that the council might come to a different planning judgment, the planning history of the site, the degree of flagrancy of the breach of planning controls, the availability of suitable alternative sites, the right granted by Article 8 and, of particular significance in this case, humanitarian considerations of health, safety and education in particular, those adversely affecting any children involved. In the light of these criteria, our clients are assisted here by the special needs of Charlene and the health of Michael and Jane particularly in view of the fact that the restricted availability of suitable alternative accommodation will lead to a fragmentation of the family unit with adverse implications for the care of the elderly couple. On these principles it is possible to recommend that our clients obtain an injunction suspending any attempt to remove them pending determination of a planning application by them. The principles to be applied in determining such a planning application are set forth in South Cambridgeshire DC v First Secretary of State McCarthy Ors (2004). In the first instance the planning inspector will be required by s.54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to weight the relevant material considerations against the relevant local development plan and policies. In R (on the application of Evans) v First Secretary of State Anor [2005] EWHC 149. Here Newman J held that as a matter of principle where an application for planning permission was made in respect of greenbelt land (where residential development would ordinarily be presumed against) gypsy status alone could not be determinative of any case. Therefore, our client’s case will have to be considered on its individual merits with the presumption against greenbelt development being weighed against the rights bestowed by Article 8 and a consideration of the availability of alternative accommodation. Given the strength of our clients’ Article 8 rights, the issue of alternative accommodation is likely to be critical. In Robert Simmons v (1) First Secretary of State (2) Sevenoaks DC [2005] EWHC 287 it was common ground that the development of a gypsy site in a greenbelt area was inappropriate. It was held that for such development to be allowed â€Å"very special circumstances† were required to justify it. In that case, the planning inspector allowed a defence to the Enforcement Notice on the basis of a lack of alternative sites. This was challenged by the Secretary of State who was criticised by Newman J for basing his decision upon a lack of evidence of searches for alternatives by the applicant. Thus in the case of our clients there will have to be â€Å"clear evidence† from empirical sources available to the local authority of a lack of alternatives. We should be encouraged by the concession that there is currently only one space available on local authori ty sites in the area but it must be acknowledged that this fact alone will not be conclusive of a complete lack of reasonable alternatives. Our clients’ case is weakened by the fact that residential care or bed and breakfast accommodation is available for Michael and Jane. In Leanne Codona v Mid-Bedfordshire DC [2004] EWCA Civ 925, it was held that a local authority might escape violation of Article 8 by offering bed and breakfast accommodation provided that this was of reasonable quality and duration. If, in addition, the site available to Henry and Sandra allows Charlene to continue to attend William de Ferrers school, the local authority may succeed in refusing planning consent to our clients without violating their Article 8 rights or the other principles governing the grant of permission to gypsies for development on greenbelt land. School Exclusion Assuming that the school from which Dean has been excluded was a maintained school, the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 will apply. Section 64 of the Act allows the head teacher to exclude a pupil for one or more fixed periods up to a maximum of 45 days in any one school year. There is therefore nothing objectionable in principle to an exclusion of 5 days. Since the exclusion does not exceed 5 days, the headmaster is not under the duty imposed by s.65(4) to inform the LEA and the governing body of the exclusion and afford the governor’s the opportunity to consider the exclusion under the procedure laid down in s.66 and Schedule 18 of the Act unless by being so excluded Dean has lost the opportunity to take a public exam. However, such exclusion is subject to s.68 of the Act which requires a head teacher to â€Å"have regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of Stateâ€Å". This guidance is currently contained in DfES Circular 10/99. Dean’s Head Teacher would appear to be in breach of this guidance. His decision to send Dean home â€Å"on the spot† and failure to inform his parents contravenes paragraph 1 of Annex D of the Circular: â€Å"A head teacher who excludes a pupil should make sure the parent is notified immediately, ideally by telephone, and that the telephone call is followed by a letter within one school day. An exclusion should normally begin on the next school day [emphasis supplied].† Paragraph 6.2 of the Circular states that â€Å"exclusion should not be decided in the heat of the moment unless there is an immediate risk to the safety of others in the school or the pupil concerned†. While Dean’s use of violence is sufficiently serious to warrant exclusion, the head teacher has failed to abide by para.6.3 which requires him to consider â€Å"all the relevant facts and firm evidence†. In particular, he is obliged to â€Å"check whether an incident appeared to be provoked by racial or sexual harassment†. Dean’s parents should have been informed of their right to state their case to the Governing Body’s Discipline Committee. Paragraph 7 of Annex D is ambiguous in Dean’s case. It states that â€Å"if the exclusion is fewer than 5 days† the Discipline Committee cannot direct reinstatement but should consider any statement from the parent; reinstatement is available for exclusions of â€Å"more than 5 days in a term†. Nonetheless, our clients should state their case to the Discipline Committee. Even where reinstatement is not available (which given the duration of the exclusion and the fact that Dean will be back at school before the Committee can be expected to meet) they will be enabled to give their views and the Committee (para.11) can consider whether to add information to Dean’s record (para.16). Thus, even though the â€Å"damage has been done† by the exclusion, the full circumstances of the incident can be explored and Dean’ s record corrected accordingly.

Tiger Woods: The Making Of A Champion :: essays research papers

Tiger Woods: The making of a Champion Matt Buyan C-period 1-1-97 TIGER WOODS THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION BY: JOHN GARRITY Eldrick Tiger Woods was born in Brooklyn, NY on December 30, 1975. His parents names are Earl and Kutildra. Earl is a  ¼ American Indian, a  ¼ Chinese and half Black. Kutildra is a  ¼ White, a  ¼ Chinese and half Thai. Both of Earl's parents were dead by the time he was 13. He named his son "Tiger" after his Vietnam War partner Nguyen Phong of the South Vietnamese army. He nicknamed him Tiger for his iron will and bravery. Around 1967 or 1968 they lost contact and never spoke to one another since. Earl hopes that 1 day Nguyen will see his son' s name either on TV or in a paper and contact him, so they can reunite. Tiger was first introduced to golf by his father who bought him a junior golf set as a kid. Tiger and his family now live in Cypress, California and he stands a tall 6'4 and weighs a lean 155. Now about his golfing days. Tiger won the 1991, 1992, and 1993 U.S Junior Amateur championships. When winning his third he brought out a record attendance of over 15,000 spectators. Woods was also the first African- American to win the U.S Juniors. He quotes " when I am up at the tee all I think about is where I want my ball to go". During this whole time Tiger attended Stanford college and maintained straight A's in his sophomore year. He had originally planed to graduate from Stanford before going pro, but when Nike offered him a 42 million dollar deal to wear their clothes for 5 years he couldn' t resist. This was not the only reason he decided to go pro. After an excellent finish in the British Open, Tiger felt that he also had enough mental strength to go pro. His parents are very supportive of him and felt fine with this. Wood' s first pro win was the Las Vegas invitational. At the Honors Course in Texas he brought out an enormous crowd. Of the 14,694 tickets sold, 14,000 were fans wanting to see their Tiger. If you were to ever meet Tiger Woods for yourself he would probably be the nicest person you will ever meet. He signs just about every autograph and is never mean to fans. Tiger and his father gave out free golf lessons to caddies and junior golfers. Many of you may no his nickname the "Come Back Kid", he got Tiger Woods: The Making Of A Champion :: essays research papers Tiger Woods: The making of a Champion Matt Buyan C-period 1-1-97 TIGER WOODS THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION BY: JOHN GARRITY Eldrick Tiger Woods was born in Brooklyn, NY on December 30, 1975. His parents names are Earl and Kutildra. Earl is a  ¼ American Indian, a  ¼ Chinese and half Black. Kutildra is a  ¼ White, a  ¼ Chinese and half Thai. Both of Earl's parents were dead by the time he was 13. He named his son "Tiger" after his Vietnam War partner Nguyen Phong of the South Vietnamese army. He nicknamed him Tiger for his iron will and bravery. Around 1967 or 1968 they lost contact and never spoke to one another since. Earl hopes that 1 day Nguyen will see his son' s name either on TV or in a paper and contact him, so they can reunite. Tiger was first introduced to golf by his father who bought him a junior golf set as a kid. Tiger and his family now live in Cypress, California and he stands a tall 6'4 and weighs a lean 155. Now about his golfing days. Tiger won the 1991, 1992, and 1993 U.S Junior Amateur championships. When winning his third he brought out a record attendance of over 15,000 spectators. Woods was also the first African- American to win the U.S Juniors. He quotes " when I am up at the tee all I think about is where I want my ball to go". During this whole time Tiger attended Stanford college and maintained straight A's in his sophomore year. He had originally planed to graduate from Stanford before going pro, but when Nike offered him a 42 million dollar deal to wear their clothes for 5 years he couldn' t resist. This was not the only reason he decided to go pro. After an excellent finish in the British Open, Tiger felt that he also had enough mental strength to go pro. His parents are very supportive of him and felt fine with this. Wood' s first pro win was the Las Vegas invitational. At the Honors Course in Texas he brought out an enormous crowd. Of the 14,694 tickets sold, 14,000 were fans wanting to see their Tiger. If you were to ever meet Tiger Woods for yourself he would probably be the nicest person you will ever meet. He signs just about every autograph and is never mean to fans. Tiger and his father gave out free golf lessons to caddies and junior golfers. Many of you may no his nickname the "Come Back Kid", he got

The Unschooling Movement Essay -- Education, Growing Without Schooling

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, last year almost 50 million American students enrolled into public school, with nearly 6 million attending private schools. A growing number forgo either of those, as over 2 million students were homeschooled. Lumped with the latter group, however, is an educational movement unlike traditional schooling at all – unschooling. Like any movement, way of thought, or lifestyle, how people define it varies greatly. It can be described as child-led learning, natural learning, and interest-led. In his newsletter Growing Without Schooling, John holt defined unschooling â€Å"as allowing children as much freedom to learn in the world as their parents can comfortably bear.† It’s a philosophy in which parents allow their children to live and learn in the way that works best for them, through day-to-day experiences and opportunities, without forced curriculum. The fundamental drive behind it is the thought that children are naturally curious about the world; they seek out activities and adventures that interest them and learn on their own. Children are given the freedom to spend their days in whatever ways excite them or give them pleasure, as well as something even more important. Their parents give them their trust in allowing them to pursue their own interest; they get trust in the assurance they will learn the things they need to know, when they need to know them. This, of course, brings up one of the major criticisms of unschooling. It’s argued that children, being young and inexperienced, aren’t intelligent or wise enough to know what knowledge will be necessary later on in life. Only skilled educators and administrators should decide what needs to be learned and by what age.... ...t, economics, etc. Even discounting channels like Discovery, television can be a wealth of information. Exploring the creek at the end of the street can be a valuable lesson in science and biological ecosystems. Parents and their willingness to involve their children in the world around them are what make the difference between educational and uneducational. John Holy, regarded as the father of unschooling, wrote in his book How Children Fail, It is as true now as it was then that no matter what tests show, very little of what is taught in school is learned, very little of what is learned is remembered, and very little of what is remembered is used. The things we learn, remember, and use are the things we seek out or meet in the daily, serious, nonschool parts of our lives. Works Cited Holt, John. How Children Fail. New York; Pitman Publishing Company, 1964.

The Emh, the Financial Crisis and the Behavioral Finance

The EMH, the Financial Crisis and the Behavioral Finance 1. Introduction The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) that was first proposed by Fama (1965, 1970) is the cornerstone of the modern financial economic theory. The EMH argues that the market is efficient and asset price reflects all the relevant information concerned about its return. The genius insight provided by the EMH has changed the way we look at the financial crisis thoroughly. However, the confidence in the EMH is eroded by the recent financial crisis.People can not help to ask: if the market is efficient and the price of assets is always correct as suggested by the EMH, why there exists such a great bubble in the financial market during the recent financial crisis? Apart from that, the EMH has even been criticized as the culprit of the recent financial crisis. (See Nocera, 2009 and Fox, 2009) Actually after the EMH was proposed, many anomalies have been found in the financial market and financial economists have develo ped many theories in order to explaining these anomalies.Among these the most influential one is the so called behavioral finance, which argues that the complex human behavior plays an important part in determining asset prices. The rest of the essay is arranged as follows. Section 2 explains what the EMH implies and its limitations. Section 3 emphasizes on explaining the usefulness of the EMH in the context of the recent financial crisis. Section 4 focuses on interpreting the behavioral finance. Section 5 concludes the essay. 2. The implications of the EMH According to Ball (2009), the implication of the EMH can be summarized as follows.The implication of the EMH can be decomposed into two parts. The first insight of the EMH is related to the most profound insights of classical economics, that is, there is no excess profit in a complete market, which is due to the fierce competition in the market. If there exists excess profit in such a market, then the entry of new producers will eventually eliminate it. The second insight is that information is symmetric dissemination, which implies that information can flow freely in the market without cost and time lag.Putting these two parts of insights together, the EMH implies that the market is efficient and asset prices reflect all the relevant information concerned about its return, and that investors can only get commensurate return with the cost of exploiting information due to the competition in the market. According to the EMH, people can only expect to get average return in the stock market and it is impossible to beat the market continuously. Note that it is futile to exploit information in order to get abnormal return does not mean that no one should act to exploit information.As a matter of fact, the EMH is a natural result of the fierce competition in the market—if there is no competition in the market, the market can not be efficient. In other words, asset price can not reach its equilibrium level a utomatically. Ice-cream producers face fierce competition from other producers in the market and it is impossible for them to get abnormal profit, but it is foolish for ice-cream producers to stop making ice-cream because they will get nothing if they do not work.Fama (1970) classifies the market into three categories: the weak form efficiency, the semi-strong form efficiency and the strong form efficiency. In the weak form efficiency market, asset prices reflect all the historical information, so it is impossible to obtain abnormal return using historical data and technological analysis is useless. In the semi-strong form efficiency market, asset prices reflect all the information that is publicly available, and thus it is impossible to get abnormal return using publicly available information.In the strong form efficiency market, asset prices reflect all the relevant information, including all publicly available information and inside information, so investors can only get average return and it is impossible to beat the market. 3. The performance of the EMH in explaining the recent financial crisis During the recent financial market, the stock market fell sharply, banks went bankrupt and the financial system was damaged seriously. This financial crisis has eroded the confidence in the EMH.The validity of the EMH and the existence of the efficient market are questioned broadly. If asset prices are always correct and reflect all the relevant information concerning about its return just as the EMH has suggested, why there exists such a great bubble in the financial market during the recent financial crisis? If the market is efficient, why the market fails to predict the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stern and other large financial institutions? Overall, the EMH fails to answer such questions.Moreover, the EMH also performs poor in explaining other financial crisis. One example is the Tulipmania that occurred in the 17th century. The prices of the tulip bulbs reached extremely high level which seriously deviates from its fundamental value that was suggested by the EMH. This apparent bubble is contradicted with the prediction of the EMH. In fact, the explaining power of the EMH becomes pale when confronting financial crisis. The EMH does not assume that investors are rational, but the EMH does assume that the market is efficient. But the reality may not be that simple.Investors may exhibit a lot of irrational behaviors in the real life, such as overconfident in their ability, following others readily, making wrong decisions when in exuberant state, and so forth. These irrational behaviors of investors without doubt will weaken the explaining power of the EMH. Apart from that, the EMH assumes that information is symmetric dissemination and can flow freely without cost and time lag, but information in the reality may not be symmetric disseminated, information may not be able to flow freely, this will also affect the validity of the EMH in explaining asset prices in the real life.Besides, factors such as sociological factors also play a part in determining asset prices. In author’s opinion, asset price is just like a glass of beer. At the lower part of the glass is the real beer, representing the intrinsic value of the asset that can be explained by the EMH. At the upper part of the glass is the foam, representing values that can not be explained by the EMH. In other word, the EMH can not explain bubbles, which is the systematic deviation of asset prices from their fundamental value.The EMH has even been criticized as the culprit of the financial crisis. In Nocera (2009) and Fox (2009), both of them believe that the notion of efficiency was responsible for the financial crisis. They argue that since the market is efficient and asset prices reflect all relevant information, the investors and supervisors feel it is unnecessary to look into the intrinsic value of assets, and so fail to be aware of the asset price bubbles, thus the financial crisis occurs.Actually, not soon after the EMH was first proposed, scholars have found many anomalies that contradict with the prediction of EMH. De Bondt and Thaler (1985, 1987) found that investors tend to overreact to unexpected news and events and such irrational behavior affects stock prices; Jegadeesh and Titman (1993) found that investors using trading strategies that buying past winners and selling past losers can get abnormal returns during the period 1965 to 1989. De Long, Shleifer, Summers and Waldman (1990) argue hat some anomalies such as the excess volatility of asset prices, the mean reversion in stock prices, and so forth, can be explained by the notion of noise trader risk. These studies have challenged the validity of the EMH. 4. The behavioral finance As has been described before, there are many anomalies that can not be explained by the EMH. Objectively speaking, these anomalies give impetus to the development and breakthrough of finan cial economic theories. Scholars so far have developed many models so as to explaining there anomalies, among which the most influential one is the behavioral finance.The behavioral finance takes psychological factors into account when determining asset price. According to Fuller (2000), the behavioral finance can be described in three ways. In the first way, he thinks that the behavioral finance is the integration of psychology and decision making science with the classical financial economic theory. In the second way, he views the behavioral finance as an attempt to explain the anomalies that have been observed and reported among current literatures in the financial market.In the third way, he thinks that the behavioral finance is a discipline that studies how investors make ‘mental mistakes’ in investment decision making process. The traditional asset pricing theories are developed under the assumption that investors are rational and thus can make right decisions, th at is, investors will not hurt themselves when making decisions. But the behavioral finance theory is developed under the assumption that investors are not always rational and human behavior is irrational at some time and that the financial market is sometimes inefficient.This assumption is much more reasonable than that of the traditional asset pricing theories. Ritter (2003) summarizes some irrational behavior of human beings, such as people tend to follow ‘heuristics’ or rules of thumb, which sometimes lead to biases, people are overconfident about their abilities, people act slowly to adjust to changes, people sometimes separate decisions which should be combined together in principle, and so forth. He argues that these irrational behaviors of investors will lead to misevaluation.Another important assumption made by the behavioral finance is the limits to arbitrage. In a market where arbitrage can be carried out without limitation, mispricing of asset will be elimin ated quickly. But if there are limits to arbitrage, for instance, short sale is not allowed in the financial market, the misprcing of asset may not be eliminated. Under the circumstance that the mispricing of asset is seriously, arbitrager will even choose to give up arbitrage due to the huge risk involved in the arbitrage.This assumption implies that the market is inefficient when there are limits to arbitrage. De Long, Shleifer, Summers and Waldman (1990) maintain that in an economy where rational and irrational traders are mixed, the behavior of noise traders can have huge continuous impact on asset prices, because the huge risk arbitragers confront made arbitrage less attractive. The first scholar who stresses the importance of psychological factors in investment decision making is Keynes.Keynes argues that the ‘animal spirits’ of investors is the psychological foundation of irrational exuberance and crash. Kahneman and Tversky’s (1973, 1979) description on t he belief and preference of investors under uncertainty lays the theoretical foundation for the behavioral finance. After that, the behavioral finance develops rapidly and gradually become the most important branch of financial economics.By economic intuition, since that the behavioral finance takes psychological factors into account when determining asset prices and that these factors do have important impact on the decision-making behaviors of investors, we can say that in the short run the behavioral finance provides a better for the behavior of investors and the financial markets than the EMH. But in the long run, investors will eventually realize and correct their irrational behavior, and the EMH will perform better than the behavioral finance. . Conclusion Under certain assumptions, the EMH maintains that asset prices reflect all the relevant information about the asset, thus it is impossible for investors to get abnormal return and beat the market. The EMH implies that there is no unexploited profitable opportunity in the financial market. Although the EMH provides a useful insight through which we look at the financial market, the EMH fails to explain the more and more anomalies in the financial market.The EMH provides little useful explanation about the recent financial crisis. The validity of the EMH is questioned and the confidence in the EMH declines. Moreover, the EMH has even been criticized as the culprit of this financial crisis. Given the criticism the EMH suffers, scholars have developed varieties of theories so as to explain the anomalies in the financial market. Among these the most influential one is the behavioral finance.The behavioral finance studies how the behavior of human beings affects asset prices and the financial market. Based on the assumption that investors are sometimes irrational and the market is inefficient and that there are limits to arbitrage, the behavioral finance overall gives better explanations concerning the anoma lies in the financial market than the EMH. The behavioral finance is a rapidly developing field in the financial economics. Reference Ball, R. 2009) ‘The global financial crisis and the efficient market hypothesis: What have we learned? ’, forthcoming in Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1502815 (Accessed: 10 March 2010) De Bondt and Thaler (1985) ‘Does the stock market overreact? ’, Journal of Finance, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 793-805 De Long, Shleifer, A. , Summers, A. S. and Waldman, R. J. (1990) ‘Noise trader risk in financial market’, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98, No. 4, pp. 703-738 Fama, E.F. (1965) ‘Random walk in stock market prices’, Financial Analyst Journal, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 55-59 Fama, E. F. (1970) ‘Efficient market hypothesis: A review of theory and empirical work’, Journal of Finance, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 383-417 Fuller, R. J. (2000) Ã¢â‚¬Ë œBehavioral Finance and Sources of Alpha’, forthcoming in Journal of Pension Plan Investing, Vol. 2, No. 3 Fox, J. (2009) ‘The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward and Delusion on Wall Street’, New York: HarperCollins Jegadeesh, N. and Titman, S. 1993) ‘Returns to buying winners and selling losers: Implications for stock market efficiency’, Journal of Finance, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 65-91 Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1973) ‘On the psychology of prediction’, Psychological Review, Vol. 80, pp. 237-251 Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1979) ‘Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk’, Econometrica, Vol. 47, pp. 263-291 Nocera, R. (2009) ‘Poking holes in a theory on markets’, New York Times, June 5, 2009 Ritter, J. R. (2003) ‘Behavioral finance’ ,Pacific-Basin Financial Journal, Vol. 11, pp. 429-437

From dependence to independence Essay

From dependence to independence – To what degree does Jo mature during the play and become less dependent on other people? Jo was a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve young schoolgirl, dependent on her unreliable mother Helen, never knowing her father. She was trapped between school, her mother and grotty little bedsits, never really having an outside life. This kept her young, so she was often childish and had a fear of the dark. Jo was desperate to leave her mother and spread her wings. Her life is a roller coaster and the play shows her life with its ups and downs. From meeting the black sailor, to getting ready to give birth, we see her mature and become independent. In Act 1, Scene 1, we find out about Jo’s schooling and talents. When she arrives, she wants to find somewhere to plant her bulbs. As she says, â€Å"It’s nice to see a few flowers.† Helen also finds some drawings that Jo had done and gives her a rare compliment by saying, â€Å"I didn’t realise I had such a talented daughter.† Jo replies by saying, â€Å"I’m not just talented, I’m geniused.† Jo is also intent of leaving school – and Helen – at Christmas. She seems to think that she is mature enough to do so. She hates the flat and when Helen says, â€Å"This is the place,† Jo replies, â€Å"And I don’t like it.† She hates life and doesn’t realise how good it can be because she is always on the move. She also seems lonely. This is most likely because she is never in one place long enough to make any friends. Her mother gives her very little support so she must seek affection from other sources. She is sarcastic, but witty and is always answering Helen back. Although she seems to hate Helen, Jo is very dependent on her and – to a certain extent – Helen is dependent on Jo. She is always making Jo do things for her (getting drinks, cooking, etc). Jo and Helen are mother and daughter but someone who didn’t know them, might think that they were strangers that abhorred each other. The pair are constantly bickering and Jo even says, â€Å"I’m sick of you. You’ve made my life a misery.† Jo blames Helen for her misfortune and, in truth; most of it is Helen’s fault. There is no typical mother / daughter relationship between them. They mainly communicate through bickering and rasied voices. Jo is desperate to leave her mother as soon as she has the chance. The teenager is always criticising Helen and vice versa, although Jo does a lot more, for example, â€Å"You’re knocking it back worse than ever.† Jo never calls Helen ‘mother’. This is probably because Helen never acted like mother and cared for her daughter like a mother should. Even Helen says, â€Å"I know, I’m a cruel, wicked woman,† not using the word ‘mother’. Towards the end of the play, Helen comes back to live with Jo. The readers then think that she has decided to be a good mother before her child deserts her. Instead we see that Peter has thrown her out and Helen has become the dependant party, not Jo. There is total role reversal here as Jo has matured but Helen is immature – perhaps naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve – thinking that she can just move back in with Jo and return everything back to how it was. Peter is a brash car salesman with an eye patch. Helen moved again to get away from him but he tracked her down. He wants her to marry him but Helen declines the first time but agrees when he persists. Jo seems to hate him and even asks if he’s already married. She seems spiteful and full of hatred towards Peter. They are both fighting for Helen’s love. Jo asks Peter, â€Å"Do you fancy me?† and he responds, â€Å"Not yet.† He also has photographs of all his ex-girlfriends. Jo teases him quite a bit, asking about his eye and why he’s marrying Helen. Jo also has a fear of the dark, â€Å"I’m not frightened of the darkness outside. It’s the darkness inside I don’t like.† This could be that she is only scared of her future and not what’s happening to everyone else. Jo lives in a poor, sad life and her needs are not important to Helen and the terrible mother neglects Jo a lot, for example, leaving her alone for a weekend while she runs off with Peter. Helen also makes no attempt to help Jo when she’s pregnant. Because of the lack of motherly love, Jo is determined to become independent. She plans to move out, get a job and marry a black sailor. Her mother disapproves but that makes Jo even more single-minded. She is only sixteen so we see that she is pretty independent for her age. She is growing less dependant on Helen, which is a good thing. Readers may think that she is doing this because she has realised that Helen will never love her as much as her many boyfriends. Jo had a brief love affair with a black sailor. Readers never find out his name but Jo calls him Jimmie. It is a quick relationship as he has to leave but the relationship is quite odd. They both say that they love each other but are very relaxed with each other and Jo doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t come back. Jimmie offers quite a lot of comfort. He is older than Jo and they could move in together if he wasn’t always on the move. He also asks Jo to marry him. She jumps at the opportunity, probably because it means she can leave Helen. As I said, Jo appears to love the sailor but doesn’t expect him to return and doesn’t panic when there’s no sign of him. This could be because her life is so bad anyway, that she becomes pessimistic and doesn’t expect her life to improve in any way. She has had her taste of honey and it has gone forever. Her ideas about him do change. Jo says, â€Å"Last Christmas I had him,† and she realises that she loves and misses him but only when the baby is due. It seems to her that it was all a dream and she can’t remember the reality. The trouble is, the dream left her pregnant with an unintended baby so it must be real. While Helen’s away, Jo meets Geoff, a gay, art student and the pair move in together, without Helen knowing. In today’s society, there is nothing wrong with this but homosexuals were frowned upon in the 1950’s. Geoff is an ideal best friend for Jo. She is no longer dependent on Helen but is instead dependent on Geoff, probably more than she was on her mother. Jo even says, supposedly to the baby, â€Å"Let’s see what big sisters making us.† Geoff is a friendly carer and is totally different from the sailor. Whereas the sailor wants a sexual relationship, Geoff is content with caring for Jo and making cakes. Geoff even asks Jo if they should get married and also asks her what she’d do if he started something. Jo replies, â€Å"In my condition, I’d probably faint.† He adores babies but Jo is less keen on them. Geoff seems to want, more than anything, to be the father of Jo’s child. To begin with, Jo treats Geoff with little respect, joking around and saying things that could hurt him. As their relationship progresses and they get to know each other better, Jo respects Geoff more and more. Jo eventually realises that the baby will need a father figure and decides to let Geoff stay, but they wouldn’t get married. Jo has mixed feelings about becoming a mother. She is intent on keeping the baby at first because she thinks it is cruel to have them aborted. She does, though, have some doubts. For example, she doesn’t want to breast feed her baby. Geoff brings her a doll to practice holds on. She says the colour’s wrong – the father being black – and explodes. She screams, â€Å"I’ll bash its brains out! I’ll kill it! I don’t want to be a mother,† which makes us think that she may have an abortion after all. Previously though, the baby kicked her and she was overwhelmed. All of these details then leave us wondering if she is ready for motherhood. It is more likely that she is ready to become a mother because she has matured a lot since the beginning of the play when she was dependant on Helen. As the play progresses, we see Jo turn from a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve young girl to a mature woman. She is no longer dependant on anyone and, although she is probably destined to a life living in small flats and houses, the prospects are bright and, as she sings at the very end, a glimmer of hope shines through and we think she may have a happy life.