Explain why Perfectly Competitive Industries are Considered to be Essay

Explain why Perfectly Competitive Industries are Considered to be Efficient in the Short and Long-Run - Essay Example There are pros and cons to both yet all reside on one opinion that the key to efficiency is competition. In order to present a concrete conclusion, we have to get into a profound discussion so as to compare pros with cons of perfectly competitive market and also discuss the variance it has with monopoly structure. Perfect Competition and Efficiency: According to Adam Smith perfectly competitive market works under â€Å"invisible hand† in which each individual in society seeks out for the personal interest. However, in order to preach it, he/she has to trade off his belongings with the individual who is willing to get benefited from it. This ultimately leads to benefit of society intentionally or unintentionally. Theoretically; there are many buyers and sellers, identical products, no barriers to entry as well as exit (Thomas E. Woods, 2011). Buyers and sellers both have the perfect information and hence they are the â€Å"price takers† which results in a perfectly elast ic demand curve. This means that if a firm wants to maximize its profit it should sell its product at market price. This means that efficiency is required to keep the cost down and increase the net profit margin. Efficiency is realized when all opportunities to make someone better off without making anyone worse off are exhausted. It is also called ‘Pareto Efficiency’ in most of the global conceptions (Books Llc, 2010). Under ideal conditions in a perfectly competitive market or any other market which is functioning well, the market equilibrium maximizes the difference between the benefits society gets from the good and services and what it costs society to produce. A perfectly competitive market would always focus on the maximum net social benefit. Benefit is not only considered by the monetary return achieved from investments but also the implicit gain realized by the society as a whole. An efficient allotment of resources is accomplished if increment in societyâ€⠄¢s overall level of satisfaction by more of one good and less of another good is not possible. This is why competition is preferred as it mostly leads to favorable outcomes. Competition urges players to perform better than their rival which ultimately leads to better market mechanism. Such efficiency is realized by entities if the price of a good is equal to the marginal cost of the product. An elaboration of the above mechanism is as follows: We know from the above discussion that market supply shows the marginal cost of society of producing the good or service. Moreover, the demand curve is the marginal benefit to society from consuming the good or service. Therefore, the net social benefit would be maximized if the marginal social cost is equal to the marginal social benefit (Tucker, 2010). Considering the cost allocated to society, the market supply is the horizontal sum of each firm’s MC curve or in other words it shows what it costs to produce one additional unit of go od. Economist says that if all the costs are digested by the firms, then supply equals the marginal social cost (Lambert M. Surhone, 2010). On the other hand, economists’ measure benefits in terms of the willingness of consumers to pay therefore, the market demand would be a representation of the total sum of willingness to pay for a unit of good at each level of consumption. The market demand mechanism focuses on maximization of social benefit illustrated below: All consumers whose WTP (willingness to pay) exceeds P will buy a good (or more

Marketing Employability Portofolio Personal Statement

Marketing Employability Portofolio - Personal Statement Example As emphasized on one of the business courses I am currently taking, I need to think strategically in order to ensure the achievement my specific goals and objectives. Thus, I have already set my vision which is to pursue a rewarding career and maximize my full potential. In light with this, my specific objective is to gain a position in the insurance industry which is equally challenging and fulfilling. The employability assessment enabled me to craft the specific strategy required in the attainment of my objectives. I need to accept my ignorance and misconceptions about the UK and international job market. Undertaking the first and third tasks of the assessment revealed these to me. I have also learned that the situation of the UK economy which is slowly integrated with the international market through globalization has a direct impact on the attractiveness and prospects of the labor market. Thus, I need to be imbued with a thorough understanding of the current issues, trends, and development in order to equip myself with the challenges posted by the larger environment. Noting the changes in the business arena, I also enhanc... For example, my position in Laiki Insurance Office has instilled in me customer orientation skills, teamwork, and better communication. The employability tasks enable me to better know myself by revealing my current skills and the ones which I need to improve on. Currently, I am commercially aware, flexible, adept in numerical analysis, has established a professional image, able to listen, attuned to customer needs, and has basic IT skills. Though these skills are primary in gaining a good position in the job market, I also recognize that I also need to be imbued with more especially that the current labor market and employers require their employees not only to specialize in a field but build my strengths and to become multi-tasking. Thus, I am highly motivated to develop various skills including leadership, analysis, research, written communication, planning and organizing, and oral communication. I have committed myself in taking action as soon as possible and be able to acquire the aforementioned skills before the year ends. I also recognize that the best way for me to develop these capabilities is by exposing m yself to situations where these skills are needed. I also plan to write a daily journal where I keep track of my development each day. This way, I will not lose my passion in striving for excellence. One of the most exciting tasks in the employability assessment is the hands-on experience on finding job vacancies, making the appropriate resume, preparing an accompanying covering letter, and getting ready for the interview. I have learned that this is not as easy as it seems and needs a thorough planning ahead of time. These tasks teach me the importance of

Area of knowledge Essay Example for Free

Area of knowledge Essay It can certainly be argued that though language and emotion play vital roles within any area of knowledge, it is within history that it manifests itself the clearest. History as an area of knowledge presents an opportunity to explore the implications of both language and emotion, and their effect on interpreting history. The understanding of such information is integral to resolving one of the key knowledge issues regarding history: the question of whether it is possible to attain or communicate knowledge through history that is free from filters and biases. The answer to this question is crucial to the further comprehension of what is history as a whole. But before examining language and emotion in the context of history, it is important to define what exactly these words are describing, and understand the values and limitations of both of these ways of knowing separately. Language is defined as a rule-governed, intended form of communication and is one of the main ways of attaining information of the external. It is useful for conveying concepts that are intangible, such as that of history. However, it is merely a tool, a vehicle by which information can travel, and is subject to ambiguity, vagueness, and bias. Emotion as a way of knowing is often defined as a mechanism which gives intuition and helps decision making, but is also commonly cited as an obstruction to knowledge. These two ways of knowing have a great impact upon the acquisition of knowledge in history. One could argue that without language, there would be no history or historical knowledge. Such a bold statement can be made for a variety of reasons, one being primarily that unlike emotion and sense perception, two others way of knowing, language is the most able tool in the transfer of knowledge across time. And unlike reason, language can qualitatively describe as well as outline the experiences of individuals in a way that reason cannot fully emulate. One does not need to be (or rather, cannot be) at the decisive Battle of Iwo Jima to know there was an Allied victory, knowledge that sense perception and emotion could not derive. The utility of language is that it enables us acquire knowledge of the external efficiently. This is not to say that language is the perfect mechanism for knowledge transfer in history. As stated above, language is a tool that, once interpreted, will lead to biases as both the sender and receivers paradigm will contribute to a certain predisposition regarding any topic spoken. It allows us to label and generalize, to set up a conceptual framework based on relativity. Arbitrary time frames can be set up within history, such as Before Common Era, which when considered seem quite useful in that it allows for quick citation, but is also perplexing. How exactly did people define the Common Era? To refer to a date in relation to the death of one man allows us to further question why this particular man was chosen. Again this ties into the bias with language, as anyone referencing BCE is undoubtedly predisposed towards Western thinking. Even I retain these biases as well, always confused momentarily whenever I am exposed to the time frame established in Thai culture, such as 2553 (which is coincidentally also referenced to the death of another man). It appears that although language can and does lead to historical knowledge in methods that other ways of knowing cannot, language can never lead to truly objective information precisely for the same reason that it is useful: it is all relative to the paradigm which one is under. The impact of labeling and generalizations also touches upon the realm of emotion and its effects upon history. The age-old adage proclaims that history is written by the victors1 and the victors will more often than not think positively about themselves but not of their opponents. For example, during my Thai history class, my teacher will go at great lengths to explain the courageous nature of the Thai people and the savagery of the Burmese for invading our land, and yet do a complete about face and call the occupation of Malaysia and Cambodia as a noble conquest. This invocation of pride and patriotism is a variety of emotion known as nationalism. And it is this nationalism, or a similar emotional feeling of loyalty, that has fueled much of current history. If language is the tool with which we talk about history, emotion is what caused us to talk about it in the first place. The statement that is being suggested is that the course of human civilization for the past ten thousand years can be charted with the emotions, on the basis that humans are not perfectly rational. Emotional attachments to kingdoms, countries, or governments caused many to go to war; scientific advances were fueled by the undying joy associated with innovation; Adam Smith proposed capitalism to compensate for the inherent greed within us all. Indeed, a more specific event would be the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001AD. The attack upon the US caused uproar, an escalation of foreign policy security, and a worsening of relations with the Middle East. The many religious motives for such an event leave no doubt that it was based off of emotion, but it remains unclear what the main cause was for. Again, it appears that to mark history as objective facts becomes increasingly hard as the subjective emotions that one has muddle the cause for events. One cannot state that a certain event in history occurred because of another singular event; rather, one must say that it was the amalgamation of these that caused any event. In essence, it appears that emotion and language both play a key role in history, one for it and one about it. However, it seems that these two ways of knowing interact with history in such a way as to make the objective deduction of historical knowledge difficult. Though one can argue that the imposition of conceptual frameworks and the emotionally fuelled decisions are not mutually exclusive with an objective history, it remains that within any human society there will exist a paradigm, a filter, a bias. And in these items will lay prejudice. A quote by Friedrich Nietzche summarizes this: To the extent that man has for long ages believed in the concepts and names of things as in aeternae veritates he has appropriated to himself that pride by which he raised himself above the animal: he really thought that in language he possessed knowledge of the world. We may pride ourselves on being more civilized than animals and for having language, but it is foolish to assume that with only these tools that we have gained any knowledge of the world apart from our own.

The Role of Quality Assurance in Education

The Role of Quality Assurance in Education Providing quality education at a higher level is the need of an hour. Much emphasis has been given to the basic education in the recent past, but providing quality education at a higher level has received ignorance. Quality dimensions seem to have two implications i.e functionality of the output and meeting the basic standards. Hence, the quality of a higher education system may be seen from the point of view of norms and standards, which may evolve depending on the need of an hour. Sustaining quality in teacher input like: curriculum design and development; evaluation of learners performance and progress vis-à  -vis curriculum evaluation and quality management practices become crucial. Therefore, sharing of the experiences among institutions on quality issues may generate ideas for evolving norms and strategies for their quality assurance of management processes, curricular inputs and practices and the evaluation system as well. Of late, various developments have been witnessed relating to quality assurance mainly through intervention of information and communication technologies in education, like networking of open learning system with traditional Universities interdisciplinary interactions at intra-institutional and inter-institutional level, incorporating self financing in their financial management, creation of different statutory and regulatory bodies and national level. Recommendations: Curriculum Planning and management should be studied in the perspective of knowledge management. Integrated approach by involving experts from different fields with major focus on sharing of experiences. Multidisciplinary curriculum must be developed with a view to cater to the needs and fulfillment of expectations of learners, teachers, parents, employers and society in general. Decentralization must be encouraged with a broad frame work of University system. Every University must have its own curriculum. Context, specificity and inquiry oriented experience must be reflected in the curriculum. Curriculum construction should transact in an authentic and real environment. Knowledge and skills must be developed with a view to provide relevance and meaningfulness. Learners involvement must be encouraged to link previous experience with present learning. Teachers should plan mentors of guiding learners to learn instead of directing them. Learners must have ample scope of formulate their own queries and have multiple interpretations of knowledge through self search and experimental learning. Assessment and Accreditation The higher education system of India needs to be expanded to a much greater scale to serve to the needs of Indian youth. Majority of the higher education institutes do not come anywhere near the level of average institutions of higher education in the advanced countries. This vast gap in standards and facilities has been a cause of constant anxiety and concern to the policy makers. The issue of accessibility of quality higher education needs to be addressed in the light of vast economic and social disparities, cultural and linguistic diversities together with the aspirations and capacities of potential students. The accessibility of quality higher education needs to be expanded from elitist to mass education. This issue has significant implications in the sense that it demands redefinitions of the aims of higher education. Recommendations: Accessibility and quality up gradation are inseparable dimensions of higher education. Both should be emphasized equally. The quantitative expansion of higher education for a sub continental size country is of paramount importance to mitigate disparities across regions, gender and social strata in education. Along with quantitative expansion improving quality of higher education is equally important. Emphasis on quality parameter becomes all the more necessary in the light of mushrooming of private institutions with opening up of Indian economy. Setting up of NAAC has sent the right and positive signals for generating and promoting awareness of urgent need of quality up gradation of Colleges and Universities. Quality upgradation is not a one time phenomenon. In view of this, post accreditation complacency must be arrested by evolving quality assurance mechanism for self regulation. The setting up of Internal Quality assurance cell is on such. Effectiveness of quality up gradation in higher education largely depends on quality of primary and secondary education. Institutional mechanism on patterns of NAAC may be set up at these levels. Periodic assessment should be conducted. Workshops/ Seminars/ Conferences and orientations/ Refresher courses should be organized during lean periods in institutional academic work so as not to upset the teaching schedule. More and wide parameters should be identified for assessing the quality of institutions. Assessment and accreditation work should be moved further to the level of teaching and research departments within Universities/ Colleges. While restructuring the syllabi and courses efforts should be made to develop an optimal combination of acquisition of theoretical and practical skills. In restructuring of syllabi, all stakeholders such as students, teachers and users of services should be involved. Examination reforms for regular and continuous assessment of students performance should be made. The critical review of activities of higher educational institutions as well as their budgets needs to be conducted to Phase out obsolete activities. Methods of Up gradation In the higher education system goal of providing quality can be achieved only by the realization of our internal and imperishable being. Our aim in higher educational system at promoting environmental protection, universal peace and internal co-operation, harmony and unity in external space can best be realized through internal purification and perfection. Our education system Endeavour to promote harmonious relationship between both the inner and outer dimensions of the individual environment and the cosmos. Our objective in higher education in not only to promote equality and social justice but also to provide the right kind of work ethos, professional expertise and leadership in all work of life. Above all our endeavor is to foster among teachers and students and through them in society generally integral development of various inherent in physical emotional, rational, aesthetic, ethical and spiritual education. For the higher education such as in technical education we arrange major programmes which are related to review and renewal of the curriculum for education and training of engineer and technicians, modernization of the laborites and workshops and removal of obsolescence and establishment of community polytechnics. For the higher education UGC is established and in addition the UGC has established NAAC to carry out periodical assessment of universities and colleges in the country. For the higher education Open University system such as IGNOU and Kota distance education council has been established so that the higher education gets much simpler and convenient. For the higher education a scheme of career orientation to education has also been launched and for this a number of institutions have introduced career oriented courses in different subjects. For this open learning systems and distance education courses have also contributed significantly to the diversification of courses so that the field of professional stress has come to laid on new areas of studies which have direct relevant to new industry. For the higher education in the field of diversification some selected committees or commission has also launched a TV programme for general awareness in natural science, social science and arts. For the higher education there are number of measures have been taken for quality improvement. These include the development of infrastructure, curriculum, human resource and research. In the higher education system we have to reform the examination system. There is also a programme for reform in the examination system and various experiments have been conducted to ensure that the students are freed from the burden of annual examination and are encouraged to continue to study throughout the entire period of study. Government should make a firm commitment to higher education institutes to make efforts to raise their own resources by raising the fee level, encouraging private donation and by generating revenue through consultancy and other activities. By the higher education we have to develop the national and social education development. The education should have: Address the problems of national development particularly issues concerning self finance, economic growth, employment and social and national integration. Should relate to the life, needs and aspirations of the people and held improve the productivity. Emphasis should be on work experience, vocational studies and improvement in scientific and technological education and research. Inculcate social, moral and spiritual values in the students and thereby society. Role of NGO in education A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government and a term usually used by governments to refer to entities that have no government status. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some wider social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term intergovernmental organization, the term non-governmental organization has no generally agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are called civil society organizations or referred to by other names. NGO plays a very vital role in growth of higher education particular in the present scenario of competitive world. There should be partnership between higher educational bodies and NGO in various activities such as: NGO conduct orientation programmes for training of new teacher and also refresher courses in various disciplines for in-service teachers to enable them update their knowledge by some selected members of NGO. NGO helps to enrich the quality of higher education, a country wide classroom programme was launched. In higher education programme NGO also helps in some schemes such as a special films on various subjects are prepared and telecast for the benefit of students and teachers. For the higher education NGO also set up to produce special films and a large numbers of video tapes are being product for transmission on the national T.V. network. NGO helps participating in and contributing to major debates concerning the direction and future of society is seen as a major task. NGO helps to improve productivity by emphasis-sing work experience vocational, improvements in scientific and technological education and research and in many other wide areas. Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Higher Education in India What is PPP? Public-private partnership (PPP) describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies PPP involves a contract between a public-sector authority and a private party, in which the private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risk in the project. Need for PPPs The provision of schooling is largely provided and financed by governments. However, due to unmet  demand for education coupled with shrinking government budgets, the public sector is developing  innovative partnerships with the private sector. Increased private investment is thus imperative to expand infrastructure and provide greater access to quality higher education in India. EY FICCI report emphasizes that PPPs (Public Private Partnership) could be an effective mechanism for attracting much needed private sector investment in the Indian Higher education system without diluting the regulatory oversight of the Government and other regulators Common Misconceptions about PPPs Public private partnerships are the same as privatization By entering into a public private partnership, public sector loses control over the provision of  services Public private partnerships apply only to infrastructure projects The principal reason for government entering into public private partnerships is to avoid debt Public sector employee will lose under public private partnerships The cost of service will  increase to pay for the private partners profit There are only two partners in a public private partnership Few Figures Indias enrollment figures in higher education remain abysmally low at a mere 11 % compared to that of the US and Canada, where over 60 % of college-age students access higher education, highlighting that public-private partnerships are critical for wooing investment in Indias higher education system. This shortfall in the number of young who are eligible for higher education and the existing infrastructure presents Indias unique challenge, in terms of the sheer scale of its population. India has over 400 universities and more than 20,000 colleges with an enrollment of 14 million students, yet it is grossly inadequate. Partnership Formats in Education This study while covering the concept of public-private partnerships, presents the basic modes of  partnerships that can exist between the government and the private sector in the field of education. PPPs involve the government and private players to work hand-in-hand for providing public infrastructure and other services, while jointly sharing the risks, rewards, investments and responsibility associated with the activity. Partnerships are established for varied reasons including construction, financing, design and maintenance of public infrastructure. PPP in social sectors such as health and education are sometimes referred to as Public-Social Private  Partnership (PSPP). A number of PPP models can exist that range from simple management contracts to BOOT formats. These formats vary in the kind of benefits they yield, few of such formats are Public Private Financing of Higher Education Science / Research Parks   University owned companies Research Focus The research focus is on Public-Private financing of higher education. Let us see this through couple of cases as mentioned below The Melaka-Manipal Medical College PPP Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) India entered into an agreement with Joint Venture Medical  College Corporation (JVMC) Malaysia to start a private medical college in Malaysia. The key objective was to provide additional doctors for Malaysia and offer opportunities for students in the region to study medicine at a cheaper cost than in the West. The agreement led to partnership between the State Government of Melaka, the Manipal Group and members of Indian Diaspora in Malaysia. The local government provided teaching staff, supervisory services along with financial assistance to students. It also allowed use of local government hospitals for training and teaching purposes On the other hand, the private partners contributed to the infrastructure for the Melaka campus with a provision of patient care service and training of staff in the health centers. The private partners also contributed by partially conducting the program in their India campus, as there was a shortage of faculty for basic sciences in Malaysia Benefits Creation of the new college was a step in the direction of increasing the doctor : population ratio. It also led to decreased financial burden for the government as infrastructure costs were borne by the college. The private partners on the other hand, gained an opportunity to establish a college leading to increased overseas exposure, establishment of global reputation and brand name. Funding Through Endowments In November 2008, Indian School of Business (ISB) signed an agreement with the Government of Punjab (GOP) to set up its second campus in India at the Knowledge City, Mohali. The cost of the project is INR 3000 million. To fund the project, ISB succeeded in getting four endowments of INR 500 million each from its founder supporters the Bharti Group, the Max Group, the Hero Group and the Punj Lloyd Group. In return for the endowments, ISB would set up four specialist centers for excellence named after its founder supporters, Max India Institute of Healthcare Management Bharti Institute of Public Policy BML Munjal Institute of Manufacturing and Operation Excellence Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management These centers of excellence would promote research in their specific fields as well as provide specialisation  options for management students Benefits For ISB, success in raising a large part of its project costs through endowments enabled achievement of its  growth plans. ISB also recieved commitments from its supporters to provide internships and recruit students from this campus On the other hand, the founder supporters were able to further research in areas of interest to them, as well as  attract more management students to focus and specialize in these areas. They also furthered the cause of improving the quality of education in their home state by attracting a leading management institution Recommendations Encourage private sector funding of higher education Introduce innovative PPP models which encourage high quality players from the private  sector to invest more in the higher education sector Provide tax incentives and simplify norms to attract private investments Enhance impact of Government funding Introduce a mechanism of performance based funding by the Government Encourage HEIs to move towards higher self generation of funds to meet operational expenses, so that Government funds are spent increasing on capacity expansion and quality improvement Rationalize tuition fee and build strong financing structures Rationalize tuition fee structures to internationally accepted levels (~25% of income) which would enable self sustenance of HEIs and reduce strain on public funding Differential pricing may be accorded for students belonging to economically weaker  sections Create robust financing system to support rationalized fee structure through encouragement of scholarships (public and industry sponsored) and increasing student loans coverage through special schemes Support raising of revenue through alternate sources Encourage higher education institutes to identify and develop innovative sources of income other than fees and grants, such as monetization of IP (research patents, licenses), organizing seminars/ public events, consulting etc. For this purpose, set out model practices, incentivize faculty through revenue sharing, and institutes through higher grants for better performance on these factors Develop supportive guidelines and norms to increase utilization of existing assets/land banks of higher education institutes Encourage industrial houses/individuals to give endowments to both public and private HEIs, by providing a 125% weighted tax deduction to all endowments to recognized universities, preferential allotment of seats etc. Improve management of finances at HEIs Support HEIs to obtain access to best in breed finance professionals Conduct seminars and short term courses to share best practices in management of operations at HEIs in order to improve utilization of available finances

The Importance of Joseph Conrad’s Congo Journey Essay -- Biography Bio

It was the year 1868. A young boy of about nine years of age stood looking at a map of Africa. The boy raised up his hand and stuck his finger directly into the middle of the â€Å"dark continent.† â€Å"When I grow up I shall go there,† said this boy with great enthusiasm (Conrad 13). Little did he know that some years later his childhood wish would come true. Joseph Conrad grew up to become quite the sailor, starting as an apprentice on a French vessel in 1875 and working his way to become a master of English ships from 1878-1889 (Jean-Aubrey 19). He spent fifteen years at sea, traveling to destinations all over the globe. After much traveling he returned home to Europe. While there, he tried desperately to find a new ship to command, but there were none available. He spent months searching and still could not find a ship to call his own. It was then, while stuck in Europe with nothing to do, that Conrad wrote Almayer’s Folly, his first novel. When Conrad was presented with the opportunity to go to the Congo in 1889, he did not hesitate. After months of correspondence between himself and members of the Societe Anonyme pour le Commerce du Haut-Congo in Brussels and the killing of a steamboat captain by natives in the Congo, Joseph Conrad was ready to journey deep into the heart of Africa. The first part of Conrad’s trip would take him to Brussels, where he would sign the final contract, obligating himself to serve for three years as an officer on river steamboats in the Congo. Conrad was to sail on the Ville de Maceio to get to â€Å"Boma, seat of the Government of the Independent State of the Congo since 1886† (Jean-Aubry 46). On the steamer, he traveled with a man by the name of Harou. He was a â€Å"Belgian officer who had mad... ...e, including â€Å"attacks of fever and gout† (Jean-Aubry 73). But, more importantly, the trip had changed who Conrad was. The best way to describe this change would be to quote his lifelong friend Edward Garnett who said, â€Å"Conrad’s Congo experiences were the turning-point in his mental life and that their effects on him determined his transformation from a sailor to a writer† (Garnett 8). Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. A Personal Record. New York: Harper, 1912. Garnett, Edward. Letters From Joseph Conrad 1895-1924. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1928. Jean-Aubry, Georges. Joseph Conrad in the Congo. New York: Haskell, 1973. Karl, Frederick Robert and Laurence Davies, eds. The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Vol. 1-6. New York: Cambridge U., 1983. Najder, Zdzislaw, ed. The Congo Diary and Other Uncollected Pieces. New York: Doubleday, 1978.

Imagine a Brave New World Essays -- Brave New World

Imagine a Brave New World  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Imagine living in a world without mothers and fathers, a place in which all those around you are human clones with no personality, a vast array of people that are not seen as individuals but a social body. This society results from the absence of spirituality and family, the obsession with physical pleasure, and the misuse of technology. The society described above, becomes a reality in A Brave New World, a novel depicting how the advancement of science effects humanity. A Brave New World takes place in 632 A.F.(after Henry Ford, inventor of assembly lines), many years after civilization started to be controlled. Civilization is reconstructed into a new society after a global nine year war. The war was so brutal and tiresome, that the people decide to control the world's actions through means of science. The society predetermines human embryos to certain levels of intelligence, and chemically eliminates becoming sick or old. Children are placed in different castes to decide divisions in labor. The five castes are Epsilons, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Alphas, with Alphas being the highest caste. To determine which caste they are placed in the children are given or denied certain skills and capabilities. The controllers rule the civilization though conditioning, behavioral engineering, and certain mind altering drugs called 'Somae'. The Ten controllers of the world states determine all the rules of the society. The societies dictorial government has chos en machinery, medicine and happiness over God. The citizens choose happiness and stability over freedom and individuality. Without sin and imperfection the citizens are nothing but robots in this Utopian world,a society built on b... ... dilemma in exchanging happiness for freedom and art to gain stability and control over the people of A Brave New World. A Brave New World is very enlightening and thought provoking as it talks about what it means to be human. The price that many people must give up in order gain absolute happiness and stability is freedom, love and religion, aspects of life too precious to omit. There is no war or disease to deal with, but the people don't have the chance to experience art, love and history. Through sacrificing and eliminating these aspects of life, a citizen is robbed of the opportunity to enjoy a well-rounded, mistake-making, lesson-learning, quality life. The aspired goal achieved from giving up freedom, love and religion seems appealing and rewarding, but the reality of the effects on humanity is proven devastating in Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World.   

Hinduism and Buddhism, and Their Respective Elements

Two known eastern religions and philosophies shared the area of India for centuries, which probably lasts up to this date. These two are Buddhism and Hinduism. Since both concept of Buddhism and Hinduism originated from a single source, it would be possible to identify similar concepts between the two, or at least some form of derivative of a concept belonging to one of the two mentioned religions and philosophies. The focus of this paper primarily entails the comparison between the two great religion philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism. There is bound to be a difference between them, as one of them originated earlier than the other.One cannot simply judge that the latter one is a mere copy of the one that existed before it. In relation to death and the afterlife, there are two concepts which can be identified in both Buddhism and Hinduism: Reincarnation and Samsara, the Wheel of Life wherein rebirth is usually based. For now, it is best if the both Buddhism and Hinduism be discern ed and identified as a separate entity. The Two Eastern Religion Philosophies: Buddhism and Hinduism As mentioned earlier, the two primary religions and philosophies that proliferated in India were Buddhism and Hinduism. Both of which had a significant amount of followers.Buddhism and Its History. Basically, Buddhism is the basic religion to which its disciples and members follow the scriptures and teachings of Buddha. After Buddha's death, its followers—mostly monks—congregated in order to discuss which scriptures and teachings would fit best to the aims of Buddha and the proliferation of Buddhism around India, and in other parts of the world. Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism after witnessing a carnage he produced. After being converted, he dedicated his life and a whole lot of structures to Buddhism, and to Buddha—his life and death.He ordered the construction of numerous pillars which contained the scriptures and teachings of Buddha, spreading it through these stone pillars (Boeree 1999). It was Emperor Ashoka who allowed Buddhism to proliferate across India and beyond its borders, sending messengers to promote Buddhism within those areas. Hinduism: a Brief History. It has been mentioned by historians that Hinduism dates back around 5,000 years ago, proving that it is a much older religion than Buddhism. The word was actually derived from the river â€Å"Indus†, from an area of which it originated (Kolanu 2009).The daily practices of the area's inhabitants gradually turned into a religion or concept, upon which it revolves around the peoples' religious, philosophical, and cultural practices native to the Indian sub-continent (Kolanu 2009). It has had many names before Hindu. However, many of its followers would prefer to call it as Hindu, after the name—or at least a close version of it—of the place wherein it originated. It would be later known in history as one of the main religions in India, which is still qu ite true today—Islam is the second main religion during the contemporary period.The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths is one of the basic doctrines that Buddhist follow. It basically involved the dispossession of material things, which Buddhist do not really need. The First Noble Truth entails the realization that every aspect of existence is unsatisfactory as these are all subjected to birth, decay, disease, and death (Lorentz 2007). The Second Noble Truth is the cause of dukkha. The Third Noble Truth entails the freedom from dukkha, wherein one is required to remove the craving of the senses.The Fourth Noble Truth leads to the end of the dukkha by following the Eigthfold path: Perfect understanding, Perfect Thought, Perfect Speech, Perfect Action, Perfect Livelihood, Perfect Effort, Perfect Mindfulness, and Perfect Concentration (Lorentz 2007). India's Caste System. Hinduism entailed a social hierarchy in which identified their society, based on social ra nkings upon which was born into, or had been reborn into. When the Aryans came to the Dravidian-occupied Indian subcontinent, they implemented a caste system which separated them from the Dravidian.It composes of four major components wherein the bottom was reserved for the Dravidian people. The topmost was known as the Brahmin class, made up of religious officials. The second was the Kshatriya, which was reserved for warriors and rulers. The third was the Vaishya, which was reserved for artisans and other skilled workers like farmers. The last one was the Shudra, wherein they serve the higher castes (Flesher 1997). Intermarriage was disallowed because they believe that it will reduce their rank. One is also required to perform well, and promote goodness in order to maintain the rank or move upward when they are reincarnated.The opposite happens to those who promote evil. It has also been mentioned that some Buddhist from other areas practice the same Caste system implemented by the Aryans. However, they implemented new ideas in order to promote equality among the classes, which is a chief principle of Buddhism. The Life of Buddha: Who was He anyway? Buddha was said to have been born in the body of Siddhartha Gautama, the prince of Kapilavastu which was near the Indian-Nepalese border, during the fifth century B. C. (Delattre 2009).At around this time period, India had a prolific spiritual heritage, with Hinduism at the forefront. It has been described in spiritual scriptures—probably from Hindu sources—that an ascetic will be born and become the greatest spiritual teacher. This ascetic would also realize the ultimate truth (Lorentz 2007). It has also been mentioned in Hindu scriptures that after the prince was born, seven Brahmin priests observed the baby, concluding that the baby will become a great spiritual leader who will leave his royal status behind him; the basic principle of Buddhism.However, his father wished for him to become a Great K ing, giving him the best education which a prince deserved. His curiosity of the world beyond the walls of their palace urged him to sneak out and realize the truth about the world they lived in. After this realization, he vowed to help the people by living life as an ascetic, leaving his royal status behind. While on his spiritual quest, he went under the wings of great teachers, to which he was able to surpass. Realizing that there is still dukkhas to be flushed away, he left his teachers and practiced by himself.He was able to attain his complete spirituality without the practice of extreme asceticism. For the next four or so decades, he ordained new followers and taught them what he had learned from his spiritual quest (Lorentz 2007); he became Buddha. End of the World at the Presence of Seven Suns In Buddha's sermon of the Seven suns, he envisioned that Seven suns would appear on the sky and wreak havoc towards the Earth, through a series of cataclysmic events (Jayaram 2007). T his will occur after many hundreds and thousands of years in the future; as do all â€Å"end-of-days† prophecies.In Buddha's version, the presence of the seven suns will cause the following: first sun would cause severe drought; second sun will evaporate streams and ponds; third sun will evaporate great rivers like the Ganges; fourth sun, after a long lapse, would evaporate the great lakes; After another long lapse, a fifth sun will gradually drain oceans; After yet another long lapse, a sixth sun will scorch the earth and cause volcanic eruptions; After another long interval, the seventh sun will turn the earth into a ball of flame and then explode and disappear. A Slight Taste of Death and the AfterlifeBoth Hinduism and Buddhism believed in reincarnation, as the caste system which they followed required reincarnation to reward or punish people. However in Buddhism, one must attain Nirvana—enlightenment–in order to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation. If the person failed to do so, he or she will be reborn into one of the following six states of life: Heaven (has 37 different levels), Human life (under the caste system), Asura (Demi-Gods), Hungry ghost (taken literally), Animals (those who have killed animals), and Hell (the lowest level) (Tang, Urbandharma.org 2002). References Boeree, C. G. (1999). The History of Buddhism. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Delattre, M. (2000, November 18). The Illustrated Life of the Buddha. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Flesher, Paul. (1997, February 8). Social Organization: The Caste System. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Jayaram, V. (2007). Buddha's Discourse on the End of the World.Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Kolanu, P. (2009). The History of Hinduism. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Lorentz, M. (2007). Buddhism. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from Tang, T. H. (2002, March 22). Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from