Capitalism versus Socialism Essay

Budget deficit is just one of the many factors that negatively affect the provision of most of the government projects in the society. Without the sufficient amount of government funds, building of infrastructures and other public goods would be delayed or underprovided. As we can remember, there are some goods and services that can only be provided efficiently if the government is the one who supply it instead of the private firms to protect the rights and welfare of the consumer group. If there exist under provision of these public goods, the societal welfare would negatively be affected. In this regard, there is a question on whether what should prevail in our economy, capitalism or socialism? One may say that this debate between capitalism and socialism is already a cliche, but we cannot set aside the arguments and points of each side which could give us guide us in understanding what is happening in the real world. Let me discuss first capitalism. Capitalism promotes the concentration of the government in the provision of security in the society and not to intervene in the business world. Some capitalists say that, with the intervention of the government, person who wants to establish a business enterprise is being deprived due to the policies that are being implemented by the government. For instance, legal monopoly that was given by the government to some companies hinders other people from starting their own water/electric company. This failure of other people to start their own utility business, as capitalists believe, is a violation to their freedom. Socialism, on the other hand, is extremely the opposite of the capitalists thinking. Here, government intervention is very much welcome and the society is recognizing the ability of the government to efficiently handle companies and to equally distribute whatever the goods or service that they produce to their citizens. One good example to this is the provision of government of medical services and education. Since not all individuals can afford the costs of schooling provided by private firms, what the government does is they establish public schools charging at a minimum amount. As for the medical services, the government establishes public hospitals and clinics that would provide its citizens cheaper medical services and medicines for less capable people. With this, the basic right of human, to have education and access to medical services, is being fulfilled by the government. The reason why government provides efficient goods and services is due to the fact that they are providing the said goods and services at a reasonable price unlike private firms, especially monopolists, that charges above what is socially acceptable price. Now, based from the points of these two ideologies, therefore, it depends on the situation if whether a certain government intervention is good to the society. If the government interferes in the market in order to protect the welfare of its citizens, then, there is no room for capitalists to say that they are being deprived by the government to put their own business. In addition to that, establishing another utility business, like electric company, would be very costly due to the high fixed costs that they must face. This is the reason why it would be efficient if only one would continue ‘monopolize’ the production of electricity in the country. In this regard, if there would be an under provision of public goods like education, electricity, medical services and security due to budget deficit of the government; societal welfare would surely be greatly devastated. More people would be deprived with their basic human rights and might suffer to private firm’s abusing power. Only during instances wherein the private firms abuses their power and charge high to their customer by providing inelastic goods the government initiate actions to regulate the situation. Good Economics versus Good Politics One could say that an act promotes good economics if it aims for the maximization of the satisfaction of the society or market (Sharma, 2007). On the other hand, one could say that an act promotes good politics if it is backed up by a good policy for the welfare of the majority. Most of the analysts say that good economics leads to good politics and vice versa. Others believe that it’s the other way around. The point of the latter is that, making policies that promotes the no personal interest would lead to good economics since promoting the interest of the majority is tantamount to saying that they are maximizing the satisfaction of the society or they are after for the optimal level of societal welfare (Gittins, 2004). In order for each of the said ideals to exists, it must ensure the survival of one another. It seems hard for the politicians to set aside their personal political interest for the public interest but it should be done in order to attain what is really best for the economy and for the country. One way to promote the public interest is to lessen the burdens being imposed to the public like- tax (Gruen, 2007). Minimizing the tax rate would require a long battle and endless debate but the thing is, if all of the politicians would set aside their personal interest everything is possible for the government and they could act efficiently for the betterment of the economy. In this regard, there is no point arguing what is the best for the society- good economics or good politics, since one is needed for the existence of the other. Invisible Hand Principle Advocated by Adam Smith, invisible hand supports capitalist’s view. According to Adam Smith, the government must not intervene in the market and focus only on providing security and justice system to the society. They also believe that government lessens the societal welfare with their imposition of taxes. Taxes just add up to the operational costs of the businesses that in turn being passed to the consumers. In short, the burden of the taxes that are being imposed by the government goes to the end consumers. Adam Smith believes that market systems has its own mechanism to ‘heal’ itself and move back again towards the equilibrium condition even without the intervention of the government. By satisfying the ‘selfish’ motives of producers and consumers, they are unconsciously helping each other. Therefore, increasing the taxes rate collection of the government to cover the budget deficit would be an unwise idea since it would only add up to the burden of the consumers or the public. Government intervention must have the right timing and, as much as possible, impose less burden to the consumers. As what have been cited a while ago, government intervention depends on the situation and the condition between the private firms and the consumer group. Government intervention would only be sufficient if it uplifts the welfare of the consumer group with less negative effects on the private firms. But as for the increasing tax rate scenario, it seems that, although unintentionally, the government negatively affects the welfare of the consumer group while leaving the private firms unharmed since they only pass the taxes to the consumers. In this case, it would be better if the government let the ‘invisible hand’ or the free market system to put back into order the economy. Production Possibilities Curve There are some instances wherein private firms are being restricted in passing the added costs of government intervention to their consumers. Like for instance, the imposition of tariff on importers, tariff is another income generating activities of the government aside from taxation. With the extra expenses of the importers on every unit of goods that they are importing to the country, they can now only afford to buy less of the said imported goods depending on their allotted budget. In this scenario, the business would be producing below its production possibilities curve or PPF. This means that with the existence of higher tariffs on imported goods needed by local industries, the companies could only buy fewer imported raw materials and, therefore, producing fewer number of finished products than with the optimal level of production. This situation is treated to be inefficient, but since tariff is a form of income generation of the government, the only thing that the government could do is to find the efficient level of tariff rate wherein businesses could still produce closely to their PPF. With this, the value of the efficiency that is lost from the private firms would be justified and would return to them in a form of infrastructures in a form of roads and bridges which could alleviate the efficiency of their operation. In reality, it is pretty hard to produce within the PPF due to the existence of various intervening variables and tariff is one of them. The least thing that businesses could do is to produce closer to their PPF or their optimal level of production based on their capacity and capability. Opportunity Costs With the possibility of under provision of important government services, the government cannot afford to make it happen due to the high opportunity costs involved in the case. The government might forego the value of the welfare of its citizens in exchange of the improvement of the welfare of the corporations. If the welfare of the corporations and consumer group is to be calculated, the welfare of the consumer group is surely larger than with the welfare of the corporations in the market; and in the first place, it is the duty of the government to protect and prioritize the safety and welfare of the majority- citizens of their country. Just imagine the number of students that might stop schooling with the cutting of the budget for education; the number of sick and less capable citizens that only relies on the help of the government for cheaper medical services and/or medicines from public hospitals and clinics. To make the situation worst, the government prioritizes the welfare of Iraqis than with its own citizen. It was aired in the news that the government raised the amount of budget for the ‘peace keeping role’ of the government to Iraqi people. It is not bad to help other people, but ‘think first about the welfare of your own people before the others’ since that is the right thing to do. The point here is that, the reason why the government suffers to budget deficit is due to their wrong priorities. The government must not set aside the welfare of its citizen since it would bail them higher opportunity costs.

Machiavelli Ruler Essay

Elizabeth’s religious and political policies displayed her cunning characteristics of being both loved. Her use of justification by force rather than law was effective and was a main reason for her success. The Queen surrounded herself with shrewd and wise advisors but also carefully questioned the motives of her closest consultants. In Machiavellian style, Elizabeth’s religious policy fluctuated between toleration and repression according to the needs of the present time. But despite the conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants, Elizabeth still pursued a middle way between the feuding religions. In the Elizabethan Settlement, Elizabeth and Parliament required conformity in the Church of England but allowed people to worship Protestantism and Catholicism privately. In the Thirty-Nine Articles, Elizabeth defined the Anglican Church as following the Protestant doctrine but keeping the Catholic hierarchy. The Queen abolished presbytery structure and other corrupt church practices but kept a centralized figure head (monarchy). Elizabeth as well showed little mercy to anyone who threatened her rule. Religious extremists such as Puritans and Catholics were given a choice to reform or be exiled in Elizabeth’s Conventicle Act. Because of these actions, Elizabeth is also considered a politique: she put political over religious matters. Another example of Elizabeth following the Machiavellian concept is her refusal of marriage to King Philip II of Spain. Elizabeth was married to her country and did not want a King to come along and change the religion and take all her power. In her foreign policy, she was systematic because it was designed to keep her in power. One example of a threat to Elizabeth’s power was Mary Queen of Scots. Many of Elizabeth’s Catholic enemies wanted to see her replaced by Mary. Because of the many threats Elizabeth received from her, Mary was executed, despite being Elizabeth’s relative. Elizabeth killed Mary for the good of England and did not let any person interfere with her ruling. Although Elizabeth dealt horribly with those who tried to overthrow her, Elizabeth’s people loved her even after her death because of her strong command of respect and loyalty. By following the Machiavellian style, Queen Elizabeth I became seen as one of the most influential ruler who led England successfully. In French history, Prince Henry of Navarre is known as being Machiavellian. Prince Henry, who although was Protestant, converted to a Catholic for the good of France. Since the Bourbon Prince was Protestant and a legal heir to the French throne, it posed a problem because of France being strongly Catholic. Although there was an attempt by Henry III to grant Huguenots almost complete freedom in the Peace of Beaulieu, it fails and Henry III seeks aid from Henry of Navarre. After Henry III dies, Prince Henry of Navarre succeeds him and becomes King Henry IV. Because Spain was intervening in other matters, Henry IV became stronger in his rule. He was widely liked by France and did what was best for the country. The King put his politics and image with the French people before his religion. He converted from Calvinism to Catholicism to please the masses of France. In the Edict of Nantes, Henry made a formal religious settlement for the Huguenots. The Huguenots received religious toleration and private worshipping outside of Paris. The Edict was considered a truce rather than religious tolerance as it gave the Huguenots protection. King Henry issued the edict in order to save the national unity of France. He saved France from religious turmoil even if it meant for him to give up his own religion. â€Å"Paris is worth the mass† is one of his famous sayings. He asserts that it is more important to secure the unity and safety of a nation than to not be stubborn and not follow the mass. King Henry IV was one of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign. He showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. King Henry sacrificed a great amount for the good of his country by putting political over religious matters and doing whatever it takes to reach success. Machiavelli has had enormous influence on the world’s successful rulers. People like Queen Elizabeth I and King Henry IV ruled their country with great attention. These rulers were war wise, noble, brave, strong, and kept faith in others at a minimum. Elizabeth and Henry did what was best for their country, even if it meant sacrificing religion. They used any means to stay in power. Elizabeth I and Henry IV truly displayed Machiavellian characteristics through the way they used their power.

Discrimination Complaint

Many employees, especially in America are faced with discrimination either in schools or in work places. The case at hand is about John. He, being a federal employee files a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against his employer, who heads the agency he is working for. He takes this initiative because as per the Code of Federal Regulations, each employee has a right to file complaint for an equal employment opportunity with the agency.A charge filed with EEOC will also automatically be filled with Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) since they work hand in hand to avoid effort doubling-up of charge processing. Moreover, it is determined within a short period of time (EEOC, 2009). In John’s case, since he is the aggrieved person, prior to his the case filing, he will first consult with an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) officer in an attempt to decide the discrimination matter casually. During the forty five days EEO proc ess, John is mandated to have his own representative, probably an attorney.During this period, the counselor should be neutral to both the employer agency and John. The counselor will offer John a variety of the available legal choices. After having gone through his rights and responsibilities list provided by the counselor, John has to raise a counseling matter; otherwise the formal EEO complaint is discharged. If a concrete resolution is not realized, then this paves way for the aggrieved person, in this case John, to file a formal EEO complaint with a federal district court.This is because all the available administrative remedies have been exhausted. However, before John can file a formal complaint, he must have received a notice of final interview from the EEO counselor. Moreover, he must be provided with an apposite official of his employer agency. The right to file a formal complaint has to be effected within Fifteen days after receiving the aforementioned notice (Bernnett & Hartman, 2007). When John is filing this complaint in person, he has to go to the meeting with any papers or information that will aid the EEOC figure out his case.This may include a letter or notice indicating his performance evaluations and also that he was kicked out of the job. Moreover, he will bring with him names of fellow employees, who have sufficient information of what went on with their contacts included. On the other side, he can send a letter containing his personal details, the employer’s details, a brief explanation of the proceedings that he believes were bigoted, the date when these discriminatory events took place and the number of the employees in the company.The inequitable dealings have to be unambiguous, for instance, John has to state whether he was fired, harassed or demoted. Additionally, he has to give the reasons as to why he believes he is facing discrimination such as sex, religion, genetic information or even age. Importantly, John has to make s ure that he signs his letter to give EEOC the go-ahead for investigations. This information is assessed and a follow up questionnaire may be sent to John if additional information is required from him. John has to be timely and follow the aforesaid EEOC procedures so as to avoid from being dismissed off his complaint.Later on, the information is got into in a certified EEOC charge form. Both John and his lawyer are conducted to sign the form. In the acknowledgement letter issued to John by his employer, he (the employer), will be required to indicate the EEOC office’s address in which the complaint is to be heard, the time that the employer requires to conduct an appropriate and impartial investigation of the complaint filing by John and the employer’s right to appeal to the ultimate pronouncement arrived or dismissal of John’s grievance.In case John has more similar claims over or related to those of the earlier pending complaint, he has the mandate to add the same. This is referred to as amendment of the pending complaint. For John to be in a position to amend the complaint, he must write a letter addressed to the EEO director of his employer. In this letter, John has to explicitly give detailed information about the new occurrence(s). Furthermore, he is entitled to affirm his intend to amend the complaint by including the new incidents.On receiving the letter, John’s employer or his EEO director will carefully assess the amendment request with the aim of determining the handling correctness of the complaint amendment. However, if John’s existent claim offers adequate support to the additional claims and does not birth a new claim or if the arising claim is closely related to the former, there is no need for a new EEO counseling. John’s new claims qualify to be part and parcel of the investigation and the same is communicated to him.A comprehensive and inclusive investigation of John’s employer then commences. This ought to be developed without prejudice and must be factual in all its recordings. The aim of it being factual and impartial is to ensure that the conclusions to be drawn at the end will be reasonable as to whether John was discriminated by his employer or not. During this process, the investigators are consented to with oaths administrations, witness testimonies and proper documentation. Moreover, they must not have a conflict of interests with the aggrieved party during their investigation.Besides, they should congregate pertinent substantiation that will be employed as a fact-finder in determining whether or not the employer had been involved in a discriminatory act against John. Once the investigation process is over, the employer will provide John with a copy of file in which the complaint had been recorded, the investigation report and the notice of the right to ask for either the on the spot employer’s final decision or an EEOC hearing. The federal district court thus, after the EEOC resolves to file a civil action, handles John’s discrimination complaint entirely as a new case.Moreover, the assumption that arises is that no findings were conducted by the EEOC. The principal purpose behind the court’s take to handle the case as above mention is to ensure that no biasness during the process of issuing a judgment (Cornell, 2009). Moreover, new and more thorough investigations take place. Irrespective of EEOC denying John a right-to-sue-letter, he still bears this right to file a court case. However, John can fail to receive a satisfying resolution of his case or the judgment might not be to his favor.If he has sufficient basis to appeal his case, John may further opt to file his appeal with the U. S. Supreme court. In conclusion, although John is very conversant with the legal actions that he can follow in his complaint, he has to consider the expenses he will incur in this process. Besides, his employer agency has more resource s than him. So long as EEOC helps protect employees from prejudice, the surety that he will receive a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC is only he is in a position to substantiate the earlier mentioned bases of discrimination. References Bennett-Alexander, D. & Hartman, L. (2007). Employment Law for Business. New York: McGraw Hill Cornell, (2009). Employment Discrimination: An Overview. Retrieved on 24 July 2010 from < http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/Employment_discrimination> EEOC, (2009). The Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law. Retrieved on 24 July 2010 from   < http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/digest/xx-1.cfm>

Examine the distinguishing features of HRM in Europe Essay

Examine the distinguishing features of HRM in Europe - Essay Example Cray& Mallory (1998) say it was a reaction against the more functional approach embodied in personnel management. Relative to this phenomenon is another growing trend which is globalization. Organizations and businesses have become global as a result of technological innovations, and the introduction of more development in communications and transportation. The internet and information technology have revolutionized the way organizations and businesses work. Globalization is not new. This has been with the world business and economy since the centuries after Columbus and da Gama started their voyages from the Mediterranean. Globalisation has revolutionized businesses and organisations. A commonly accepted definition of globalization by economists, says Van Der Bly (2005, p. 875), is that it is the â€Å"international economic integration that can be pursued through policies of ‘openness’, the liberalization of trade, investment and finance, leading to an ‘open economy.† The importance of borders between different countries is reduced, and similar events and phenomena in countries throughout the world are more easily linked. 1.) HRM is now considered the determinant factor in the success or failure in international business (Black et al., 1999, cited in Scullion & Paauwe, 2004), and also the success of global business depends most importantly on the quality of management in the MNC (Stroh and Caligiuri, 1998, cited in Scullion & Paauwe, 2004); â€Å"HRM emphasizes that employees are critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage; that human resources practices need to be integrated with the corporate strategy, and that human resource specialists help organizational controllers to meet both efficiency and equity objectives† (Bratton, 1999, p. 11). One of the first explicit statements of the HRM concept was made by the Michigan School (Fombrun et al, 1984, cited in Armstrong, 2006, p. 4), which held that HR systems and the organization

POVERTY AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

POVERTY AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS - Article Example This article looks at very important issues which are important to note in every way. The paper also tackles some issues which are very pertinent in the issue of poverty and education. It looks on the issue of social services, the definition of poverty and the need to protect families from indigenisation arising from depending on social services. This paper was written in the knowledge that of all the issues which affect the students such as race and ethnicity, poverty is the most difficult to understand because it is not discreet. In this regard, it becomes very difficult to know exactly when a child requires help in order to help them to not be affected by poverty. One of the major and most important factors which come out from this paper is the fact that it was revealed that the issue of poverty cannot be solved by money alone. In the Gift of Education Project, it become apparent that just giving the students financial aid did not help in making the students to be able to overcome the challenges poverty was giving them. This is a very important finding as it has very far reaching implications and to which solutions must be developed on order to make sure that it is possible to develop good solutions about the issue of poverty. ... r shows that it is necessary to understand that poverty is not just the absence of money of economic necessities, but rather that poverty is something that goes way beyond the issue money. This is important for policy makers in government in order to help them develop better ways of addressing the issue of poverty in schools. The authors also look at the relationship between poverty and race as well as locale. This is an important element and may be a good platform to create solutions to deal with the issue of poverty. The paper defined and determines some very strong links relating the economic abilities of families and their race as well as the location of a school or the students. This brings a new element to the issue of race and it is necessary to identify the need deal with poverty in a different manner. This study took a quantitative way of looking at the issue of poverty. Although 17% of all children under the age of 18 were in poverty, the study broke the numbers down to ind icate that children from African-American families were the most affected by poverty with as much as 33% of them being from families in poverty. While it is good to identify race related numbers with regard to student poverty, the authors however have not clearly indicated why these numbers are necessary and how why these numbers cna be utilised to punch out these issues. More importantly, the article tackles the issue of the difficulty of identifying big academic talent from poor families. The authors indicate that it is not easy for authorities to be able to identify those students with high academic potential who would then be given the support they need in order to prevent the academic talent from going to waste. While this is true in some ways, the authors have not been able to be

Decline of Myspace Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decline of Myspace - Annotated Bibliography Example The author explores the experience of the company as impacted by changing trends and tastes among target consumers which have contributed to its decline. Additionally, the effect of falling performance and impending failure has had on employees as well as how the loss of internet celebrities, such as Tila Tequila, has further depressed myspace’s outlook. Ultimately, while this article dissects the various factors contributing the companies decline in some limited detail and depth, more focus is dedicated within the article to discussing the possibility of an upcoming sale by news giant News Corp. or last ditch redesign of the site intended to revitalize the companies flailing popularity. Hudson, John. â€Å"The Decay of Myspace.† theatlanticwire.com. Jan. 12, 2011. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Web. Retrieved Nov 14 2011: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/01/the-decay-of-myspace/21532/ This article, initially written during the period in which facebook surpassed myspace in popularity and profits, traces the first stages of the companies decline and the efforts of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch to dispel concerns over the future of the site. Revealing the facts beneath Murdoch’s optimistic pronouncements, the author explores early changes int eh marketplace and projects continued future decay of the company’s popularity following their re-organization and layoff of staff. It is made apparent in the course of the article that though even this event is characterized by spokespeople as a voluntary change, the company has begun to experience the strain of decreasing popularity. The author notes myspace’s lackadaisical performance in tech, ad and user rates, and the company’s inability to match the speed of technological evolution achieved by rival facebook. Overall, this article is a negative projection for the company’s future in light of their miscalculations in strategy

Adam Smith Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adam Smith - Term Paper Example The behaviour of the economy and its interaction with the agents and actors of the economic system of a particular country has been noted and studied by various economists. This paper shall discuss one of the most noted and prominent economists, along with his contribution, background, and school of thought for the subject. Adam Smith Adam Smith has been one of the most prominent and noted economists of his time. He was born in Kirkcaldy Scotland in 1723, and, later, went to Oxford at the age of 17. In the year 1951, Smith was appointed at Glasgow as a professor of Logic, and within one year, he was made the Chair of Moral Philosophy. Besides being a Scottish social philosopher, Smith was also the founder of the political economy. He had proven to be one of the chief personalities of the Scottish Enlightenment, and had also authored some major academic works including An Inquiry into the Nature, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759, and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776. His spec ial achievement, The Wealth of Nations, is generally regarded as the very first of the modern works in the contemporary economic society these days (Butler, Eamonn, 2007). Through this work, Adam Smith has attained huge respect and reputation, this works has been ranked the most prominent, and significant works ever published in the field of economics. Smith is broadly known as the father of capitalism and modern economics. Later, in the year 2009, the Scottish television channel (STV) ran votes and the economist and writer, Adam Smith, was ranked as the 'Greatest Scots' of all time. School of Thought There are various challenging and competing schools of thoughts commanding different opinions and viewpoints of the economic philosophies. The chief division in the classes of schools of thoughts includes the Classical and Neoclassical schools. Adam Smith was the pioneer of the Classical school of thought, which fundamentally stressed upon the notion of creating economic value and dist ributing the wealth of the economy between various classes including the capitalists, landlords, and the workers. One of the prominent branches of the Classical school is the Marxist school of thought. Economic Theories Just like all other economists, Adam Smith also held his own viewpoints and perceptions regarding the economic cycle that moves the world around. Due to his emerging thoughts on the subject of economic, he introduced the economic theories which included one of the significant economic theories, the Invisible hand theory. The Invisible Hand Theory Adam Smith believed that there was an â€Å"invisible hand’ in the marketplace which has always operated in order to make the markets of a self-regulating nature. This metaphor stated that all the consumers have a free will to select what to purchase and each manufacturer is free to decide what to produce and sell. Such a marketplace sets the distribution of the products and the prices which are of benefit to the ind ividuals in the community and to the community in a collective manner. This is the involvement of self-interest which forces the actors to behave in a beneficial way. The profits are maximized using efficient methods of production. Revenues are maximized through charging lower prices and the returns are maximized by investing in the urgently required industries. Thus, all the effects in the markets occur automatically and dynamically, and this occurrence, Adam Smith has mentioned, exists due to the ‘benevolent invisible hand’. All these effects take place dynamically and automatically (Helen, 2001). Contribution to Economics Adam Smith gave major contributions in the field of economics through

Based on your analyses of The Catcher in the Rye and two films Essay

Based on your analyses of The Catcher in the Rye and two films demonstrate one lesson developed in these texts about the role of - Essay Example The characters of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the many characters in John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, and Kat and Bianca Startford in Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You all struggle to maintain relationships with their parents while discovering their own identities, yielding different results in each situation. From the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, it is evident that Holden Caulfield’s relationship with his parents isn’t quite what it is supposed to be. Holden discusses how he has been kicked out of school and yet, his parents are entirely unaware of it. He also expresses that he has no desire to come home. Right there, it was evident that Caulfield had a disconnect from his parents. Part of this disconnect may have been related to the fact that Caulfield was sent away to boarding school for so much of his life. Not only did he go to boarding schools, but he went to multiple boarding schools due to failin g out of one after the other. It is clear that he is a deeply emotionally disturbed individual throughout the novel, and yet his parents are insignificant figures in his life, as seen in the novel. Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield were not entirely to blame for this, of course. The family had gone through a great deal of emotional turmoil outside of Holden’s personal circumstances. Outside of the novel’s action, Holden’s older brother Allie, who serves as the family’s â€Å"golden child†, passed away from leukemia. Of course, this had an effect on Holden, his parents, and the relationship between them. As parents who are in mourning, their other children may not be on the forefront of their minds, as unfortunate as it may be. The consumption of their attention by the death of their child does not mean that they love their other children any less. Rather, they are preoccupied by the situation at hand. Consequently, the remaining children may feel as though th ey have been forgotten or are unimportant. In Holden’s case, he feels as though he’s living in the shadow of his deceased brother. Studies show that â€Å"Most children are resilient when bereaved, and their adaptation is facilitated by positive and authoritative parenting,† (Dowdney). Unfortunately for Holden, his bereavement process has not been facilitated. Rather, he has been in boarding school, where he has no choice but to sort things out for themselves. Coupling this with general teenage angst, it is extremely difficult for Holden to establish his own place in the world, let alone establish a healthy relationship with his parents. Each character in John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club has an intricate relationship with their respective parents. Their difference in social status also further the complexity of these relationships, as well as their behavior as a result of these relationships. In this film, the parent-child relationship is explored in a way in which we see how it effects the individual’s search for them true selves. In John Bender’s case, he adopts his tough guy persona as a way to mask the feelings he has over being physically abused by his father. Studies have shown that â€Å"Adolescents are at risk of academic failure, school drop-out, delinquency, and substance abuse. Some investigators have suggested that a history of family violence or abuse is the most significant difference between

Education Business Partnership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Education Business Partnership - Essay Example Schools on the other hand supported the initiative unanimously. At the time of the bid, Newham was the most deprived local authority in England, and deprivation in three of the wards in the zone was worse than elsewhere in the Borough. Consequently the aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of partnership and the quality and impact on education in Newham. Burke J (1995) By establishing a strong working relationship with a wide range of partners. The business partners are committed to improving education in the area and also making a vital contribution to the zone's work. Schools are frequently working in clusters and as a result head teachers and governors are increasingly responsible for deciding how the zone's resources should be used. This has led to an increase in the number of initiatives, despite justifiable complaints from teachers that there are already too many. Although communications between clusters are not as good as they should be, attainment is improving at a better rate than elsewhere in the country, even if results remain well below national averages in external examinations for 16-year-olds. This improvement is, in part, the result of zone initiatives. Buss D (1995) Attendance is now close to the national average in primary schools and teachers are confident about the improvement in behavior that has been achieved substantially by the zone initiatives. At the secondary school attendance is improving, even among pupils with a history of persistent absenteeism. Green away D & Tuck J (undated) Professional development includes training in lesson observation, and this is improving the quality of teaching and learning in general. Attainment in ICT has improved because teachers are better trained and pupils have access to more and better equipment. At first the activities to promote social inclusion were unsuccessful but the new arrangements are having more impact. Modest expenditure on the arts has raised standards and improved pupils' attitudes to education. Zone support for its one secondary school has been substantial and helped move it out of special measures. Buss D (1995) Increased Enrolment Over recent years there has been a significant change in the population of the area, with a growth in the number of families of minority ethnic background and of refugees and asylum-seekers. One zone school, for example, has over 60 languages represented. At the same time there has been substantial regeneration, including a new exhibition centre and housing redevelopment, bringing with it a mix of residents. From the outset the zone included two nurseries, one infant, 16 primary, and one secondary school. Three of the primaries are church schools. A new primary school, Britannia Village, was added in June 2000, shortly after it opened. Burke J (1995 At the time of the bid three of the primary schools and the secondary school were in special measures and one primary school was judged by its inspection to have serious weaknesses. At the time of the inspection three different schools were in special measures and four had been judged to have serious weaknesses. When the zone started, attainment in its schools was below the national average but broadly in line with those in other LEA schools for pupils aged seven. At ages 11, 14 and 16 attainment was

The Big Five model Essay Example for Free

The Big Five model Essay The Big Five model is an inventory tool which is very helpful in assessing one’s personality by evaluating five dimensions; these attributes are conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Although these five dimensions alone cannot explain the human personality in its entirety, psychologists have agreed that these dimensions do encompass both heredity and environmental factors. This model has proved to be quite effective in evaluating potential candidates for jobs since the measure of its dimensions can be correlated to performance outcomes of various job roles (Tyler Newcombe, 2006). Conscientiousness is a dimension of the human psyche which emphasizes the need to be disciplined and goal-oriented. Individuals who have a high level of conscientiousness are usually very duty-bound and organized. Openness to experience is a personality trait which influences the extent to which an individual is open towards new and abstract concepts and thoughts. Individuals who are well-endowed with this trait are very creative and outstanding in problem-solving due to the ability to expand their horizons. Extraversion is an inclination to socialize and interact. People who posses a high level of extraversion are out-spoken and tend to easily mingle with new people. Agreeableness is a quality of being accommodative of other people’s actions and opinions. People who posses this quality are cooperative and work extremely well in groups. Neuroticism is a tendency to frequently and suddenly experience negative emotions such as depression, anger, anxiety or fear (University of Wisconsin). Neurotic individuals exhibit unpredictable behavior and mood swings due to the inability to keep their emotions under check. Samantha’s decent score in openness to experience signifies her willingness to experiment with new ideas. Her moderately high score in agreeableness implies that she is quite unbiased, fairly analytical and does not take things personally. Samantha’s excellent score in conscientiousness suggests that she is a very dependable and self-motivated person who is capable of gaining the respect of her associates. Her outstanding scores in extraversion vouch for her dynamic personality and indicate that she is free of inhibitions. She also has low neurotic scores, which implies that she is a calm and composed person. All these are indispensable qualities of a good leader and would certainly make Samantha an excellent manager. Reference: Tyler, G. and Newcombe, P. (2006). Relationship between work performance and personality traits in Hong Kong organizational settings. International Journal of Selection Assessment, 14, 37-50. University of Wisconsin. (n. d. ). A Quick Overview of the Big Five Model of Personality. Retrieved 28 January, 2007 from http://www. uwmc. uwc. edu/psychology/big_five. htm

Anti C1q Antibodies and Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells

Anti C1q Antibodies and Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells The complement system is one of the major effector mechanisms of the innate immune system and it plays an important role in immune defense. The biological functions of complement are opsonization and phagocytosis, stimulation of inflammatory reactions by anaphylatoxins and complement-mediated cytolysis of microbes, especially encapsulated bacteria. The complement system is formed by an enzymatic cascade composed of plasma proteins that, once stimulated, can achieve tremendous amplification and effectively fight the invading microorganisms (Abbas et al., 2009). Under certain conditions, a pathological immune reaction may develop against complement components, which on one hand reflects an underlying autoimmune process and may lead to inflammation and tissue injury on the other (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). The first component of the classical pathway of complement activation, C1q, plays a crucial role in the clearance of immune complexes and apoptotic bodies from the organism. Autoantibodies against C1q (anti C1q) have been found in a number of autoimmune and infectious diseases. They have been best described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, where they are thought to play a pathogenic role in lupus nephritis (LN). Their high negative predictive value for the occurrence of active proliferative LN, as well as their possible ability to indicate a renal flare as soon as 6 months in advance, have rendered anti C1q antibodies a novel non-invasive tool in the detection of active LN (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). The Complement C1q and Its Antibodies C1q is the first component of the classical pathway of complement activation. Together with the enzymatically active components C1r and C1s, C1q forms the C1 complex. Binding of C1 to immunoglobulins in the form of immune complexes leads to activation of protease function of C1r and C1s and further activation of the classical pathway of complement (Schumaker et al., 1986). C1q is a glycoprotein belonging to the collectin family with a molecular weight of about 410-462 kDa. It is a hexamer composed of globular heads attached to collagen-like triple-helix tails (Fig. 8). The globular heads of C1q specifically bind to the constant heavy (CH2) domain of IgG molecules or the CH3 domain of IgM. Each heavy chain of the immunoglobulin molecule contains only one binding site for C1q. Since C1q must bind to at least two heavy chains in order to change its conformation and activate C1r and C1s, its activation ensues only after binding to immunoglobulins in the form of immune complexes bound to multivalent antigens (Schumaker et al., 1986). Most complement proteins are synthesized in the liver by hepatocytes. However, macrophages can synthesize early complement components of both the classical and alternative pathways and can provide sufficient local tissue complement for opsonization without recruiting plasma complement (Colten et al., 1986). C1q is unusual, for a complement protein, that it is synthesized by tissue macrophages but not hepatocytes (Loos et al., 1989). In addition to being the first component of the classical pathway of complement activation, C1q has many physiological roles. C1q can directly opsonize apoptotic cells (AC) for phagocytosis. In vitro, C1q binds to surface blebs on AC but not normal host cells (Korb and Ahearn, 1997). C1q binds to calreticulin (CRT) in AC blebs and opsonizes AC for enhanced phagocytosis through C1q interaction with CD91. C1q can opsonize AC also indirectly through complement activation (Lu et al., 2008). Consistent with this, the finding that C1q-deficient mice have been shown to have an accumulation of apoptotic bodies in the kidneys (Botto et al., 1998); and macrophages of C1q-deficient mice and humans have a decreased ability to clear apoptotic bodies in vitro (Botto, 1998; Taylor et al., 2000). In this way, C1q promotes the clearance of autoantigens, preventing stimulation of the immune system and disruption of this process may lead to development of autoimmunity (Botto, 2001). C1q-opsonized AC also regulates DC production of cytokines, but data from different studies are not entirely consistent (Lu et al., 2008). Apparently, most studies report C1q inhibition of IL-12 production from DCs and that AC stimulated macrophages produce more IL-10 and less IL-12. This suggests a tolerogenic property of C1q which is consistent to the development of autoimmunity at C1q deficiency (Botto et al., 1998). C1q has also miscellaneous roles in regulation of multiple macrophage activities, in DC differentiation, activation and antigen presentation and in granulocytes, mast cells and fibroblasts regulation (Lu et al., 2008). There are several autoantibodies to complement proteins that interfere with the physiological regulation of complement activation in vivo, and each of these has been associated with the development of SLE. These antibodies are C3 nephritic factor, anti-C1 inhibitor autoantibodies, and anti C1q antibodies. In each of these cases, there is a chicken and egg dispute, since it could be argued that development of the anticomplement autoantibody is itself part of the SLE process. However, in the case of C3 nephritic factor, which stabilizes the C3bBbC3 convertase enzyme of the alternative pathway, 8 cases of SLE have been described )Sheeran et al., 1995; Walport et al., 1994). In each of these, the onset of SLE occurred many years after the development of the main clinical phenotypes associated with the presence of C3 nephritic factor, supporting the idea that the C3 nephritic factor was the egg rather than the chicken. History and epidemiology of anti C1q antibodies: Binding of monomeric IgG to C1q was first described in 1971, in sera from patients with SLE with hypocomplementemia (Agnello et al., 1971), and in 1978, precipitation of C1q by monomeric IgG was documented in the hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis syndrome (HUVS) (Marder et al., 1978). In 1984, anti C1q antibodies were found in patients with SLE (Uwatoko et al., 1984). Since then, occurrence of anti C1q antibodies has been described with varying prevalence in patients with autoimmune and also some infectious diseases (Wisnieski and Jones, 1992). Anti C1q antibodies were mostly of the IgG subtype with IgG1 and IgG2 being the predominant subclasses (Siegert et al., 1990). The prevalence of anti C1q in the general population varies between 2% and 8% (Potlukova et al., 2008). As is the case with other autoantibodies, the occurrence of anti C1q increases with age (Ravelli et al., 1997; Siegert et al., 1993). The mere positivity for anti C1q antibodies in an otherwise healthy individual does not appear to bear any pathological or prognostic significance (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). Pathogenic role of anti C1q antibodies: Anti C1q antibodies have high negative predictive value for active lupus nephritis (LN) suggesting a pathogenic role in SLE patients. In addition, the elimination of anti C1q antibodies from circulation by repeated plasmapheresis or C1q immunoabsorption brought alleviation of the patients symptoms (Berner et al., 2001; Grimbert, et al., 2001). The binding of anti C1q antibodies to C1q is mediated via Fab fragments and in contrast to immune complexes, anti C1q antibodies do not bind to globular heads of the C1q molecule but to its collagen-like tail (Fig. 8). The binding is very weak in the liquid phase, but achieves high affinity in the case of a conformationally changed C1q in the bound state exposing new antigenic determinants. Thus, any possible pathogenic role of anti C1q antibodies probably remains confined to local deposits of C1q in tissues (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). Another intriguing mechanism of the pathogenicity of anti C1q antibodies might be a switch from non-inflammatory recognition of apoptotic bodies by C1q and its receptors to inflammatory recognition when C5a and other complement activation fragments are generated during enhanced complement activation due to anti C1q antibodies at sites where C1q is recognizing nuclear antigens (Holers, 2004). Fig. 8: A simplified scheme of the binding of anti C1q antibodies to the molecule of C1q. Anti C1q antibodies per se do not seem to activate complement; however, their binding to C1q may amplify complement activation by increasing the amount of the bound IgG in a vicious circle manner. Furthermore, they might attenuate the physiological functions of C1q, including the capacity to activate the classical pathway of complement and to clear immune complexes and apoptotic bodies. Taken together, several different mechanisms seem to be involved in the pathogenicity of anti C1q antibodies (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). The presence of anti C1q antibodies in lupus is typically accompanied by a number of clinical and serological features. The complement profile is similar to that seen in HUVS, with very low levels of C1q, C4, and C2, and, to a lesser extent, C3. Anti C1q antibodies tend to remain positive in SLE for prolonged periods, and there is associated prolonged hypocomplementemia. This differs from anti-double-stranded DNA antibody levels, which tend to fluctuate in concentration, together with inverse changes in complement levels (Pickering et al., 2000). Â   Â   Anti C1q antibodies in infectious diseases Anti C1q antibodies have also been found in some infectious diseases Prohaszka et al. (1999) have found an increased occurrence of anti C1q antibodies in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: 13% of infected patients were positive when compared with 5% controls. Furthermore, the levels of anti C1q antibodies significantly decreased during a follow-up period of 65 months. Interestingly, sera with detectable anti C1q antibodies were more likely to neutralize HIV than sera without them in in-vitro experiments. Saadoun et al. (2006) have reported an increased prevalence of anti C1q antibodies in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), with 26% being positive. Contrary to expectations, the occurrence of anti C1q antibodies did not differ between HCV-infected patients with and without mixed cryoglobulinemia indicating that immune complexes do not cross-react with the anti C1q assay and proving also the abundant presence of immune complexes in the circulation does not seem to be sufficient to provoke generation of anti C1q. Further studies are needed to elucidate their role and clinical relevance in other diseases. Measurement of anti C1q antibodies In the past, radioimmunoassay based on the binding of immune complexes to C1q fixed to a solid phase was mainly used to determine the concentration of immune complexes (Hay et al., 1976). Later, the solid-phase C1q binding assay was modified into an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For this purpose, either whole C1q or the collagen-like region of C1q was employed. However, the use of individually prepared ELISA kits with differently set cut-off limits for positivity led to a rather large disparity between the results of clinical studies. Nowadays, measurement of anti C1q antibodies in serum has become easier; thanks to commercially available and standardized ELISA kits using the whole C1q molecule as antigen (Potlukova and Kralikova, 2008). The main pitfall in the measurement of anti C1q antibodies consists in a possible binding of circulating immune complexes to the solid-phase bound whole C1q. However, it has been shown that the use of high ionic strength conditions in the incubation media inhibits any similar unwelcome binding and it renders the ELISA reliable for clinical use (Kohro-Kawata et al., 2002).