Karl Marx Essay Example for Free

Karl Marx Essay Karl Marx who was christened ‘the father of modern communism’ was a well renowned philosopher whose ideologies in the political, economy as well as social perspectives were very significant. To Marx, the issue of inequality in society was a major concern and a central point in his ideologies. He blamed the inequality in society on the economic production. (Healey J 2006). He placed more emphasis on the means of production which simply implied the tools or materials used in order to ensure that goods and services were produced and distributed. To Marx, the means of production could vary depending on the prevailing economic system. In cases of agricultural societies, land would be an important means of production while for the industrial society the machinery and equipment, factories as well as the transportation system were the means of production. Marx further noted that societies were dominated by capitalistic tendencies in spite of them being agricultural or industrial. To him there are two major social classes who are in continued struggle or conflict over the means of production. The two major classes are the bourgeoisie who not only own but also control the factors of production and it is also the ruling class. (Healey J 2006). The other class comprises of the proletariat or the working class. Marx believed that conflicts between the two distinct classes were eminent or rather inevitable. The resultant effect was that the proletariat class would over throw the bourgeoisie and an equitable society would be attained. In the new society exploitation and coercion would be a thing of the past. The new society would be a class less society and inequality would be erased and social change would be attained. Marx presented a conflicting society that was characterised by continued class struggle. (Healey J 2006) Healey in ‘Race, Ethnicity, Gender and class’, noted that Max Weber a German sociologist was a major critic of Marx ideologies. He argued that Marx ideology of inequality in society was a very narrow one. To Weber, the inequality problem in society was complex and not as simple as Marx presented it. He was quite categorical that inequalities in society could not be wholly blamed on economic forces. In this regard he noted the cases where people may belong to the elite class in society but lack wealth attached to it or vice versa. Some people may have the wealth but lack the self esteem. (Healey J, 2006) Marx and Weber agreed on the issue of inequalities in society. Weber expounded on Marx ideologies and he in fact adopted other stratification mechanisms regarding inequalities with ownership and control of factors of production which was similar to Karl Marx’s class ideology. Secondly, he brought about the idea of ‘prestige’ where the amount of honour or self esteem given to people by others was highlighted. To Weber, factors like class, family lineage as well as physical appearance affected the amount of prestige or honour to be placed on people by others. The third stratification according to Weber was power or the ability to influence or control others. A person’s stand in political organisation determined how powerful they were in the society. To Weber, the three groups had similar characteristics in the sense that wealthy, prestigious were likely to be more powerful when compared to the poor people in the society. (Healey J, 2006). Both Marx and Weber agreed that the development of capitalism was as a result of accumulated capital. However, they differed on how the accumulation was ensured. Marx was convinced that ‘owners of the means of production or the ‘bourgeois acquired immense capital through expropriation and exploitation of the working class or the proletariat. On the other hand Weber perceived a society where the accumulation of capital was attributed to the dedication, self denial and hard work of the capitalists. As Etzioni – Halevy in ‘Social change’ noted, Weber viewed ‘social change in society as caused not only by the economic factors but also by values and ideas’ (Etzioni – Halery E). Notably, Weber did not underestimate the role of or importance of economic factors in as far as social change in society was concerned. Some of Weber’s viewpoints earned him no fame as they just blended what Marx had earlier presented. The main distinction pertaining his ideologies was his emphasis on the fact that the ‘advent of modern capitalism could not be wholly blamed on the economic factors’. (Etzioni-Halevy J, 1981). To him, values had a very significant role to play and to this regard had to be considered with the same intensity that was attached to economic factors. Important values cited by Weber included achievement – oriented values which worked to motivate the entrepreneurs to work devotedly while negating from consumption to embrace investment. He perceived a society where entrepreneurs would instead of consuming their profits re-invest to earn more profits. (Etzioni-Halery J, 1981) To Marx, social change would be realised when the two conflicting classes were no more or when the working class overthrew the ruling class over the means of production. Weber rejected this view point on the argument that social change was a complex aspect which was affected by the class groupings as well as the varying or diverse status. (Allan K, 2005) The working class according to Marx earned a living by selling their labour to the owners of the means of production or capitalists. There was an eminent exploitation between the two classes in the society. Marx coined the term ‘pauperization’ to mean the process through which the rich became richer as the poor grew poorer. The exploitation was due to the fact that the wages paid to the working class by the capitalists was not equitable to the work or output they produced. Apart from receiving poor pay, the working class in poor conditions that negatively affected their mental as well as physical well being. (Giddens A and Griffiths, 2006). Weber backed Marx idea that the society was characterised by conflicts for power as well as resources. On how the society was structured Weber negated from Marx ideology that economic factors alone had a role to play in its determination. In contrast he noted that other important aspects like status as well as party had a role in class differences. According to Weber they could emerge from other aspects rather than economic forces. He noted that economic differences could arise from other resources rather than property for instance skills, qualifications or credentials. Taylor G and Spencer S, 2004). Weber argued that capitalism was not necessarily the critical factor triggering alienation and deprivation of the working class. Consequently, elimination of the private ownership would not suffice in resolving the inequality issue in the society. Weber blamed the alienation to ‘the omnipotent structures of the bureaucratic rule’ (Hamilton P, 1991). Weber rejected socialism as a way of resolving the problems associated or linked in capitalism.

Bowing to Seniority :: Documentary Journalism Sports Basketball Papers

Bowing to Seniority With the dearth of good centers in college basketball, one would expect that Xavier University would want David West, their All-American center who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior, to return for his senior season. But West did not feel so welcome. â€Å"Honestly, it felt like they wanted me to leave,† West said. â€Å"Not Coach [Thad] Matta specifically, but most people seemed to be pushing me out the door [to the NBA].† Eventually, West decided to return for his senior season, and then became part of a dying breed: college seniors who get drafted in the first round of the NBA draft. In the last two NBA drafts, high school players and college underclassmen outnumbered the college senior first round picks 19-13, with only four college seniors going in the first round in the June 2004 draft. In 1999, 13 seniors went in the first round. The number of lottery picks (teams who do not make the playoffs, the first 14 picks of the draft) shows the disparity more clearly with more underclassmen being drafted in the lottery by an 11 to 5 margin. Before the New Orleans Hornets took West with the 18th pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, he had a successful senior season at Xavier, where he was an All-American and the Associated Press Collegiate Player of the Year. As little as eight years ago, West probably would have been a top five pick; as prospects were still valued more for their ability to contribute right away rather than their â€Å"potential.† But because of what Mississippi State University Coach Rick Stansbury calls a â€Å"disturbing trend,† that of underclassmen entering the draft with greater and greater frequency, West fell completely out of the lottery. Some argue that the slide through the draft of seniors like West has to compete with not only the increase of college underclassmen entering the draft, but also international prospects who have the â€Å"upside† to be superstars, even though many teams have seen very little of them actually play. However, West does not think that the international players have affected the draft that much. "If you can play, you can play," said West. "I'm not worried about what (European) guys can do. American guys have shown what they can do. In the end, if you can play, they're not going to let you go." Over the past 10 years, the mindset of the NBA prospect has changed.

Ernest Hemingway

If Ernest Hemingway sole legacy were his theory of omission and nothing more or nothing else, he still arguably would be the singe most influential writer of his generation and all the great writers who followed. It is a rarity to find any writer worth his salt who has not been influenced the theory that the writer could and may be should take the liberty of omitting some things in his narrative as long as he was confident of them and the reader would feel them as strongly as though the reader had narrated them.Though Hemingway often countered the existence of and the significance of The Lost generation( a term he even had ridiculed as â€Å"splendid bombast† on the part of Gertrude Stein, to whom goes the credit of coining the term), yet he has been inseparably linked with it and considered by many as the leader of the movement. The Lost Generation, so vividly brought to the fore of the reader’s knowledge in â€Å"The Sun also Rises† describes the generation whi ch faced the World War I and discovered that the right deeds did not always beget good results.No longer able to rely on their traditional beliefs that gave a completeness and meaning to life, a whole generation became morally, and psychologically lost. Their whole life is a meaning less wandering almost like an aimless journey they stagger through, hiding their un-understood anguish in alcohol and false boisterous ness of Jazz( as depicted by Scott Fitzerald). Zelda and Scott Fitzerald seem to be the characters on which the caricatures of Cohn and his domineering girlfriend are depicted in TheSAR, throught the eyes of Jake.The themes, which are dealt with in the unique Hemingway style in â€Å"The Sun also Rises† are The aimless ness of the lost Generation, Male Insecurity, The Destructive ness of sex. Though the underlying sympathy towards his times is evident the themes that are dealt with in A Farewell to Arms are The Grim reality of War, The seemingly cause and effect re lationship between Love and Pain, and Illusions and Fantasies. To make the comparison and the contrast clearer it is better to look at the two works one at a time.In A farewell to Arms, as the title is indicative the novel deals with the process by which the Protagonist Frederic Henry removes himself from it and leaves it behind. The novel contains unparalleled descriptions of the brutality and meaningless ness of war without the romanticism associated with the regular genre of War novels. The scenes dealing with the retreat of the Italian Army, where along with the loss of columns of soldiers, there is a general loss of moral judgment and nerves.The moral ambiguity of Henry shooting the engineer for refusing to help free the car is a symbol of the inexplicable escalation of violence (more in the mind, where it originates) and the disorder of the war. The game of Love that Henry and Catherine begin as a distraction from their respective pains and troubles, Henry to detach himself fr om the troubling reality of a meaningless war and Catherine to put the loss of her Fiance behind her are symbolic of the emotional bankruptcy that is the results of turbulent times. Soon their Love turns from a distraction to the very core of their being.Henry’s understanding of the strength of his love for Catherine helps him over reach the empty ideals of honor in a war that never belonged to him. This enables him to flee the war and seek her out and they plan an idyllic life that is meant to be a salve for both their troubled life. However, the tragedy of the novel rests in the fact that in a world plagued by problems that are mostly unexplained and incomprehensible, even true love can only be temporary. The most convincing expression of tragedy comes when Henry says â€Å"If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them.The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places† In the Sun also Rises, the entire overwhelming aimless ness of a whole generation who never seem to take their lives, emotions, love or goals, as anything important is the all-pervading theme. Though Hemingway never explicitly mentions the aimless ness, it is for all to sense in the way each of the character tries to fill hi/her days with drinking, dancing and debauchery as though they were the very essence on which their existence hinged.The novel also deals in symbols and through technique, the confusion over the entire idea of Masculinity. The ambiguity brought about by the World War where against the common perceptions of men, soldiers were required to huddle in trenches and pray more for luck than anything else was totally against the masculinity the world had understood till then. In making clear through subtle conversations that Jake is rendered impotent by the war, Hemingway also goes ahead and picturizes the other characters be it the womanizing Cohen, Drunkard Mike or Bill i n ways that do not convey the masculinity associated with them.â€Å"I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it. † Says Cohen in a sudden moment of clarity, which pretty much seems to sum up his entire generation. The motifs in The Farewell to arms are Masculinity, Games and divertissement in relations and loyalty versus abandonment. Where as in The Sun also Rises, he deals primarily with lack of communication (no primary character, unless either drunk or in an extremely painful situation ever conducts a communicating conversation, preferring to brood and languish in the non-comprehension.), Excessive drinking and False Friendships. Rain is a powerful symbol for pain and loneliness and helplessness in The Farewell to arms where as in The Sun also Rises it is the Bullfighting that is a poignant symbol of masculinity, the romanticism inextricably attached to cruelty. It is pertinent to note that the Personal life of Ernest Hemi ngway seeps through most of his novels, his beliefs, his confusions in life, his pain and suffering and his compromises or the lack of them.One can see and speculate on the Hunter, the fond Fisherman, soldier and reporter and the writers who populate his novels as depictions of the various stages of Hemingway’s life. There is rarely another write in American Literature who can justifiably lay claim to have seen, touched and felt about most circumstances that he is writing about (or in Hemingway’s case indicating but omitting). Hemingway lived the life of several of his protagonists and many who read his biography rarely come up with a question as to why he had to commit suicide.A person who lived life mostly on his won terms and felt so deeply for human suffering in times of turbulence, and clung on to a value system he wanted to survive in spite of the vagaries of the war, could not have possibly let fate decide his end. From Three stories & ten poems to The Old man a nd the sea through the path breaking For whom the bell tolls or the two other works discussed in these pages, Hemingway has enriched this period of American literature with his writings. Books referred to but not quoted Ernest Hemingway A reconsideration by Philip Young Penn state Press 1966

There is a general discord among stakeholders on the...

There is a general discord among stakeholders on the definition of irregular warfare and where the term and concept fits within the joint and the individual services’ doctrine. The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review report uses the term â€Å"irregular† only once in its one hundred and five pages and only in terms of a focus on building the joint force’s capability and capacity to deal with irregular warfare while maintaining a clear conventional and nuclear global superiority. Currently, the definition is ambiguous and results in conflict or duplication of efforts across Department of Defense stakeholders. For the purposes of this paper, the stakeholders discussed are the Army and the Marine Corps. Stakeholders must reach a consensus and clearly†¦show more content†¦These threats are a combination of regular forces that are governed by the law of land warfare, military custom, tradition, and unfettered forces that act with no limitations on violence or th eir targets to reach their objective. Further, the players may involve state actors that employing protracted forms of warfare through proxy non-state forces using operational models and technological capabilities usually associated with formal states. Such diverse elements allows hybrid threats to exploit vulnerabilities with the exact capability to make them particularly effective. U.S. Army Doctrinal Publication (ADP) 3-0, Unified Land Operations, provides the basis for Army support of unified action by governmental and non-governmental entities through land operations. Army forces wage regular and irregular warfare against both conventional and hybrid threats via synchronized offensive, defensive, and stability operations, or defense support of civil authorities. Through Decisive Action, the Army the Army conducts warfare against conventional and/or hybrid threats, regardless of any joint doctrinal definition of irregular warfare. GEN Charles Krulak provides the best example of how the Marine Corps conceptualizes irregular warfare as fused together with traditional warfare. In the 3 Block WarShow MoreRelatedSSD2 Module 4 Notes Essay28478 Words   |  114 Pagesspecific culture is necessary. Individual characteristics and personalities vary greatly within one culture. To attribute one characteristic to everybody in a culture is called stereotyping. Cultural relativism is critical for understanding the locals among whom you work, but some cultural differences, particularly regarding ethics, cannot be brushed aside. Things we hold to be fundamentally wrong—abrogation of human rights, for example—may require us to impose our outsiders ethical standards on locals