The Tory governments in the period of 1822-30 Essay Example for Free

The Tory governments in the period of 1822-30 Essay How accurate is it to describe the Tory governments in the period of 1822-30 as liberal Tory. Some historians believe that in this period of history the Tory government were liberal as they intended on reforming some aspects of how the country was governed and run. While other believe that the Tory governments were not liberal at all and there was only a few liberal Tories while many didn’t want any such reform such as catholic emancipation or parliamentary reform. In 1822 Liverpools decided on a catholic reshuffle in government, this meant that new men were brought into the government to replace the ones who had either lost there jobs or died or who had received other jobs. The new men that came into the government who brought new ideas which could have been passed through the cabinet and there ideas could have led to them becoming more liberal. This is because people such as Peel came from rich middle class families in the city who wanted to see that industrialists could have more a say in the running of the government. The cabinet reshuffle was liberal as it was a clear change in personnel in government, suggesting a change in think and policies. Also the new men who were brought into were less aristocratic that the old, they weren’t lords who owned large amounts of land they were more upper middle class; a different background meant different views. Finally there views were more liberal for example Canning wanted more religious freedom while Robinson wanted free trade. However all of the new members of he cabinet were still part of Liverpools government before 1822 and supported repressive policies, supported anti-radical legislation. Also the new people were only brought in due to practical reasons. Liverpools felt that he had to bring Canning into government as he had many supporters. The ideas that were introduced during 1822 the ideas had already been spoken about before this time. Finally the government was really unpopular and they wanted to change there image, no clear movement in a liberal direction. Overall the cabinet reshuffle isn’t any proof of a move towards liberalism as it was only done for practical reasons and even if people such as Canning wanted change he would have been outvoted in the cabinet anyway. During the period of 1822 – 27 the country saw a strong economic growth, some people believe that this was a key reason why radical ideologies decreased during this time as they was better living standards and more jobs circulating in the economy. During this period the government undertook a number of important economic reforms which suggested that the government was moving away from protection and towards free trade. The Tories were moving more liberal as Liverpool himself was known to be a supporter of some of these ideas and in one speech admitted that there needed to be a reduce on tariffs and taxes on imports. One of the reforms that were introduced was the reduction of custom duties on imports, this encouraged demand and stimulated the economy. It benefited the new manufacturing industries and increased employment. Another reform was the introduction of the reciprocity of duties act 1823, this allowed trade agreements with individual countries. There was also changes to the navigation laws which also improved trade as it meant that Britain as the ban with Holland stopped. Most importantly there was a relaxing of the Corn Laws, this allowed foreign wheat to enter the country without any duty once the price of British wheat rose. On the other hand it could be argued that the implementation of these liberal reforms are more of an example of continuity of government policy rather than a clear break with the past, the government didn’t really embrace the idea of fair trade and they only saw it as a way of making more money for themselves. Even though the Corn Laws were changed they weren’t really amended to suit the poor. Overall I think that the Tories were liberal in there economic reform as it didn’t successfully increase trade and profit and reduced tariffs on many good, however they could of done much more and it seemed that many of the reforms that were introduced the ideas had already been spoken about before. Peel tried to reform the home office in this period, one of the ways in which he intended on doing this was reforming the penal system. The penal code was far too severe over 200 offences including minor ones like stealing a loaf of bread, damaging Westminster Bridge and impersonating a Chelsea pensioner were punishable by death. Another 400 were punishable by hard labour in the convict settlements of Australia. In practise the system broke down because the juries often refused to convict if it meant execution for a trivial offence and many criminals went unpunished. Peel seemed to be a liberal reformer as the death penalty was abolished for over 180 crimes and it was left for the judge to decide whether the death penalty should be imposed. Punishments for other offences were less severe. The barbaric practise of burying suicides crossroads with a stake through the heart was abolished. He was open about his motives and he understood the need for change. On the other hand Peel relied much on the work of Henry Hobhouse, the diligent and experienced under secretary he had inherited from Sidmouth. If Peel opened the way to the Whig reforms which reduced the number of capital crimes he did so unintentionally. Only noticeable change in the criminal law arrived only in the 1830’s under the Whig government. Another reform in the home office was the prison reform this was because the conditions in prisons were poor. They were overcrowded. Filthy, insanitary and disease ridden; child offenders were put with hardened criminals. The jailers were unpaid and were paid only by the prisoners themselves. The jails act removed some of the worst abuses of the prison system. Magistrates were to inspect prisons at least three times a quarter. However there was nothing liberal about this reform, Peel did little about the shortcomings in penal provision. Peel believed that evil should be punished and he supported the use of corporal punishments such as the whip and the treadmill. In other words, his aim was not to liberalise the prison regime. Rather, his aim was to make it work in a more uniform manner. Also, he was merely building on his experience as chief secretary of Ireland where in 1814 he had established an efficient police system. Gash points out that the 1823 jails act had been prepared by parliamentary committee and accepted by the government in 1821, he was simply implementing legislation that had been accepted by the government three years earlier. At first it seemed that the new reforms were very liberal as there seemed to be much change, however Peel was after more convictions and wanted to gain more control in certain aspects of the home office. Peel also wanted to amend the trade unions the combination laws got rid of the ban on trade unions; they had been banned since 1799 because it was felt that they posed a threat to the stability of the state, especially when unity was needed during the middle of the Napoleonic war. The amending act 1825 permitted trade unions to exist for the purpose of negotiating about wages and hours of work, but they were not allowed to molest or obstruct. It seemed that Peel was trying to be more liberal as he was going against traditional views by allowing trade unions and it gave workers many more rights and made there bosses give them a fair wage, suitable hours and acceptable living conditions. Conversely, the amending act was much less liberal than the previous act and certainly restricted such liberties so the Tories cannot be seen as liberal on this front. When this act was passed the government introduced a second committee which recommended the tightening of the law. Even though the act was passed the trade unions were still restricted of freedom of action. Also as soon as it became clear that workers would take advantage of the new legislation the government backtracked and passed the amending law. This suggests that the aim was to restrict rather than to encourage union activity. It was, in other words, an illiberal rather than liberal measure. During this period of history there was much discrimination against Roman catholics. Roman catholics in the UK were regarded as second calls subjects as they didnt have the same rights and freedoms of conformists. In Ireland all land and wealth was in the hands of a small group of Protestants. The wealth and status of the Anglican Church stood in stark contrast to the positions of the Catholic Church which relied on the contribution, of its congregations. Some Catholics could vote if they held enough land but they were prohibited from holding any public office, this meant that they could not change the existing situation. Catholic emancipation would be the government giving the same right stand freedom as conformists; this would mean that they would be able to become MPs or to work for the government. This would mean that they no longer were second class subjects and had the same rights as Protestants. On the face of it, it seemed that the some Tories supported it and it gave more rights and freedom to catholics. However, it was only passed to stop a civil war and even after the emancipation the Tory party split over it, which shows that all Tories were not liberal and they didn’t want change. There was growing demand for parliamentary reform in the 1820’s the new middle class wanted representation. As the old system was out of date and the distribution of seats did not reflect the population changes in the country. There was also no secret ballot which meant that the franchise was open to corruption and bribery. Some Tories were in favour of parliamentary reform, as people such as Canning were brought up from an industrial background and because of this wanted to see them areas get more of say in the running of the country. Surprisingly also some Ultra Tories eventually supported reform as they could see that there was no other way they were going to stay in power unless there was some slight reform. But some Tories were completely opposed to reform, and they opposed even the slightest amount of reform. Some Tories only supported reform as they wanted to bring down Wellingtons government because they thought it would produce a parliament opposed to catholic emancipation. Overall I believe that the Troy government during this period was not liberal. This is because that some of the reforms they did implement were for just practical reasons and they were just a continuity of ideas that had been mentioned in years before. There were no huge changes that could suggest that the Tories were liberal and also only some Tories supported reform while some didn’t want to see any change. But during this period there was slight change in the government and it could be seen that the Tories were gradually becoming more liberal and if they had won the next general election they could have pushed on with liberalism.

Business E-solutions for Small Construction Companies

Business E-solutions for Small Construction Companies BUSINESS E-SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL CONSTRUCTION  COMPANIES AND FREELANCERS Sergiu Catinas Florin Matei Abstract.There is a direct correlation among number of employees who work in construction industry and the average productivity of the construction workers. A first notice when these two factors are compared simply resides from the annual charts that follow these two factors. It is quite obviously that the average productivity of the workers depends primarily on technologies used, but depends on some other factors as well. The link among technologies used and productivity is not a subject to discus in this paper. Even though it is well known that construction industry requires a big variety of skills it is well known that some of the construction jobs are completed by workers with multiple qualifications. Also a principle of productivity clearly states that productivity of a worker is grown once the area of qualification is restrained. Therefore, in order to create a better productivity of the construction workers it is necessary to create workers with super high qualification in one small area and allow movement of the working force among construction sites. Most of the construction company has a great deal of mobility, but the most sensitive problem remains the problem of getting together the needs of labor with the suppliers of labor services. The main purpose of this paper is to underline the needs of a better link among construction actors. Also the paper proposes an e-solution for a better connection of construction players through implementing/changing an internet based site and shows some of the proposed benefits. Keywords: e-solution for construction business G14 A12 E60, construction average productivity D61 B22, construction companies’ mobility M54 C12, publically provides goods H44 D60. 1. Introduction By definition the average productivity is defined as in (1). Please note that an average productivity can be expressed with respect to marginal productivity as Saari1 said and as seen in as in figure 1. Figure 1 average productivity and marginal productivity with respect to real output/input As expressed by Harris2 the main economical factors that influence the productivity in construction industry are mortgage and accountants, fraud, cash flow, estimators and the cost engineers. By analyzing these factors and the influence of these factors over the total cost of a construction project, a solution is to be created in order to address the influence of factors like fraud and cash flow as well as the other three factors. Out of statistics offered by US Department of Labor the average construction manager contractors and the number of construction output in 2012 in US are almost the same (450 000-number of construction managers and 480.000-number of output construction in US according to US Department of Construction). Also by considering the top 5 US contractors and the number of their projects ongoing over the number of the contractor’s company employers the rate is over 0.08 in all cases, according to ENR.Construction.statistics. This leads to the idea that the big general contractors don’t have more than 12 of their own employees on the site. More over the second observation is that the big general contractors use the working labor of the subcontractors in order to complete their jobs more than their own workers. An internet based solution in order to reduce the general cost of the construction project is the proposal introduced by the present paper. The solution presented tries to m inimize the importance of the general contractors by implementing an internet based program that will allow small contractors and freelancers to bid for their project with no respect the general contractors. This system will bring significant benefits for small contractors and freelancers and will increase the average productivity of construction labors. 2. Main Concept As expressed above, the main idea is to implement a system based on the internet application that allows creating a strong connection among actors from construction industry. As a historical data it is important to mention that similar attempts were made outside Romania, but this kind of projects are not very popular. Also a similar model was build for tracking industry in USA. The system proposed would generate business revenue for all three categories involved in the construction industry, being a â€Å"triple win† system. The winners would be the owner of the site through charging money for any contact established, the general contractor or owner of the construction site and the freelancers or contractors that execute jobs because they can find jobs for their own. Never the less a major winner for this system could be the government through a better control of the labor black market and the society in general because this system would develop very effective companies and fr eelancers with high standards of safety and quality. More over a quality control can be implemented through expressing a relevant history data of every participant and through offering solid warranties for executed projects. 3. Details about techniques of implementation The internet page should provide valuable information about potential contractors or subcontractors. First this page would provide references wit previous jobs done so far by the contractors. This can provide solid knowledge about the quality, timing and safety rules applied by the contractors. According to this it can be created a scale ranging from 1 to 100 that would give a good view about an opportunity to create business relation with a specific contractor/freelancer. The internet page proposed by this idea can create a good point of view about the payment conditions, contract forms and eventually any history data for the beneficiary institution/person. Very often the government has that data offered but the private entities are not capable of showing any data related to their capabilities of assuming contractual obligations. The owner of the internet page, which can be a private entity or the government can charge both the contractors/freelancers and the developers/private owners or government agencies. Due to a good administration of the internet page it is recommended for the government to create and own such a business. The charge can be enforced only when the contact is established and an extra charge can be enforced when a contract is signed through this internet connection. Once the need for a job is expressed in details by the developer an auction that can last for 10 days can be started in order to allow the contractors and freelancers to put their best offer online, similar with the e-bay system. The winner would have to make a written contract with the developer and enforce according to the terms established in the description provided by the developer and the applicable law. To mention that a similar system exists in Romania, but with no history data for none of the sides and not very popular. Also the actual system is not open for private jobs. More over the actual internet page called â€Å"www.licitatia.ro† is for contractors only and not for small enterprises or freelancers and sometimes the value of contracts is not affordable for small companies. The main idea for this site is to create opportunities for small companies to cooperate with big contractors. A great disadvantage for the internet page that already exists is that the winners of the auctions are most of the time big construction companies and the execution of the job is done through small contractors/freelancers by subcontracting the job. T he main idea of this site is to allow the investor to create a working plan and graphic and according to that graphic to connect directly to small contractors/freelancers and decrease the cost of the labor. 4. Technical motivation for the propose As expressed by Harris2 the main important economic factors for a construction project are: fraud, mortgage and accountants, cash flow, estimators and cost engineers. Figure 2 Labour productivity growth in US, measured by GDP per hour worked (indexed) Fraud can’t be expressed mathematically by any formula and can vary a lot from a project to another. The Romanian construction industry is marked by so called underground black market of workers/labors. The rate of construction workers in Romania that are not hired legally is over 28% according to INS Bucharest. Apparently these workers represents a cheaper work force for the employers, but the long term run shows a different situations when accidents on the site construction happened and in our country the percentage of workers injuries and fatalities is double among black market according to Business Inside Magazine statistics. Therefore is hard to deliver any precise formulas or data regarding fraud in Romanian construction industry or elsewhere but we surely know that black market in construction is significant. For the mortgage and account factor the situation is expressed in detail by Nigrini4. The problem comes from the underestimation of the project and the lack of money to complete the jobs contracted. One of the solutions is implemented by creating smaller jobs and that is a main source of inspiration for the present paper and the idea proposed. Cash flow can be defined5 as the movement of money into or out of a business/project and it has three aspects: operational cash flow, investment cash flow and financing cash flow. Also cash flow factor is one of the great advantages that can be obtained through introduction of the idea presented in this paper. Estimators can get greater attention through introduction of the present idea. The error introduced by estimators is as Amos6 said in (2) and (3). (2) (3) Where is the parameter being estimate and is the expected value of the estimator. Please note that the error, â€Å"e†, depends not only on the estimator (the estimation formula or procedure), but also on the sample. Estimator engineers are engineers in charge with an estimation of the projects to be executed. The estimator engineers will have a greater implication by applying the present idea and their contribution should be linked to the estimators through trying to eliminate the errors margins as Amos6 proposed in the mathematical formulation expressed by (4) that shows how far, on average, the collection of estimates are from the expected value of the estimates. (4) 5. Example of the benefits of implementing the present idea. Consider a large construction project in Romania, in the city of Cluj-Napoca of a total value 54.00 million euro. The general contractor that was award the contract was a big general contractor with good experience in similar jobs. The second bid offer was as big as 92.10 million euro and the beneficiary was the institution of prefecture. The project was to build a sport complex in the city of Cluj-Napoca. Due to a court decision the project was stopped in the construction phase for over 18 months. The court decision was issued as a complaint by the general contractor who made an offer of 92.10 million euro. The time spent from the moment of interruption due to the court decision and the moment of the re-awarding the job to a bidder involved big amount of financial losses for both of the general contractors. Not to mention the financial losses suffered by the contractors, but to mention the difference of the bids amount will result as a margin profit of 37.90 million euro. If the exa mple above is not relevant for the profit margins obtained by general contractors let’s take the revenues of the top general contractors from US in 2012 and divide it by number of contracts completed by the same amount of time. This would generate revenue of 1.08 million dollars per project and considering an average medium project of 1.78 million dollars. These data are obtained from US Department of Construction Statistics. By applying the dates in our specific case we would obtain revenue of 19.87 million dollars. By considering dollars to euro ratio as 0.76, the revenue for our specific case would be 15.1 million euro. And this calculus does not include any losses due to the court decision that put a brake on the project. If the estimator engineers made a mistake according to (2),(3),(4) that error can be estimated from statistics as an average of 17% of the total value of the project after the project is finished according to Corps of Civil Engineers from US. In our spec ific case the average error of the estimator engineers for the project from Cluj-Napoca is 9.18 million euro. The difference of 5.92 million euro can be estimated as profit margin that can be linked to the present paper idea by creating small jobs to be done and the saving of the 5.92 million euro could be achieved. Please note that in the example above the cost of implementing the idea was not mentioned but according Brynjolfsson7 in the current practice the cost of IT development could not be more than 5 % of the total amount of the project, so a profit margin is still available. 6. Conclusions As expressed above the main idea of this paper is to express the need and procedures of creating an internet page that allows the beneficiaries of the construction structures to create a working plan and implement this plan. This working plan is technically known as Gantt plan and contains dates regarding each article of work and labor needed and the time allocated for that process. The site would create an auction system for every job/article that needs to be done. This system would benefit the contractors and small freelancers, the beneficiary of the construction structures as well as the government agencies and the general welfare. This internet application would create a triple win situation for government, contractors and beneficiaries of the construction structures. Moreover, another benefit would be due to high specialization class of small contractors and freelancers and the safety measures that would be strongly estimated and evaluated. The internet page proposed is subject to have a special section reviews regarding safety measures enforced. Regarding the safety of the labors and workers the government can enforce in a more efficient manner the black market control. Obviously the government agencies would have a better idea in what specific areas of construction the number of accidents is bigger and can enforce better safety rules. Also by knowing the contracts signed the government can put a better hand on the quality of the work in the most sensitive areas and can control the construction sites on the exact time when the most sensitive work and companies are on the site. References [1] Saari, S., Productivity. Theory and Measurement in Business,: European Productivity Conference, Espoo, Finland, 2006, pp. 44-69. [2] Craig, C.; Harris, R., Total Productivity Measurement at the Firm Level, Sloan Management Review, Feb-March 1973, pp13–28. [3] Hollmann, John, K., Total Cost Management Framework, AACE International, Morgantown WV, 2006, pp113–147. [4]Nigrini, M., Forensic Analytics: Methods and Techniques for Forensic Accounting Investigations. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley Sons Inc., June 2011, pp 206-235. [5]Strong, R., Portfolio construction, management, and protection, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio, 2009 , pp.527-537. [6] Amos, S., Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering,-Fifth Edition, AACE International, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004, pp 109-127. [7] Brynjolfsson, E., The productivity paradox of information technology.Communications of the ACM International, Mason, Ohio, 2003, pp 66–77.

Nielsen Ratings :: essays research papers

FOX Marketing; The following information is pertinent to the vitality and success of the FOX 24 cable-programming national network. It is necessary to discuss the importance of the ratings and shares system to enable FOX to increase viewership in the local TV market of 247,780 (.235% of US). This market is highly competitive among the affiliates of the other major networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. The target demographics for FOX include an average age of 28 years with a $55,000 annual income. 56% of viewers are male while 43% are female, and of these only 37% have a college degree. Due to such specifics, it is imperative that keep a variety of shows that appeal to a wide range of young adults. The FOX Family Channel is more oriented towards children and families. The data compiled by the Nielsen Media Research is essential to TV programming across the United States and in Canada. It monitors television ratings and estimates audience sizes by providing the highest quality of accuracy, allowing the television marketplace to function effectively. This information provides programmers and commercial advertisers with the awareness of people’s viewing habits. Depending on air times and the popularity of certain shows, the station calculates the advertising fees that generate a majority of its revenue. All TV shows are ranked in order each week according to their ratings. Ratings are simply a tally of how many viewers watched a specific TV program and are surveyed nationwide every minute of every day. The "sweeps" are four months out of every year (November, February, May and July) when Nielsen measures every local TV market in detail in addition to the ongoing national surveys. The rating system involves mathematical statistics with a focus on percentages. For example, there are 100 million homes in the world with TV sets. A rating aims to answer the direct question, "What percentage of the television homes in the world is watching a particular telecast?" A rating of 15 means 15%, or 15 million homes, were watching. At certain slow times during the day and night it is difficult to get viewers. The total viewing audience, the homes who are actually watching their television sets, is called the HUT, or Homes Using Television. At 8 p.m., the daily peak for t elevision viewing, the HUT is approximately 70. That is, 70% of the television homes in the world are watching something.

Leonardo Da Vinci :: essays research papers

1452-1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist, probably the supreme example of Renaissance genius. Born in Vinci, Tuscany, he was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl. His precocious artistic talent brought him to Verrocchio's workshop in 1466, where he met Botticelli and Ghirlandaio. The cul mination of his art in this first period in Florence is seen in the magnificent, unfinished Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi), with its characteristic dramatic movement and chiaroscuro. In c.1482 Leonardo went to the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan and there composed most of his Trattato della pittura and the notebooks that demonstrate his versa tile genius. The severe plagues in 1484 and 1485 drew his attention to town planning, and his drawings and plans for domed churches reflect his concern with architectural problems. In 1483, Leonardo and his pupil Ambrogio de Predis were commissioned to execute the famous Madonna of the Rocks (two versions: 1483-c.1486, Louvre; 1483-1508, National Gall., London). The now badly damaged Last Supper (c.1495-1498; Milan) was executed during the period when he was experimenting with the Fresco medium, and this partly accounts for its damage. Despite this, a sublime spiritual content and power of invention mark it as one of the world's masterpieces. Leonardo's model for an equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza was never cast, and in 1500 he returned to Florence, where he did much theoretical work in mathematics and pursued his anatomical studies in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. As a military engineer for Cesare Borgia he studied swamp reclamation and met Niccolà ² Machiavelli. In c.1503 he executed the celebrated Mona Lisa (Louvre). Then, as architect and engineer in Milan to the French king Louis Xii, he continued his scientific investigations into geology, botany, hydraulics, and mechanics. In 1510-11 he painted St. Anne, Mary, and the Child (Louvre), a work that exemplifies his handling of sfumato-misty, subtle transitions in tone.

The Use of Drugs by 1950s Artists Essay -- Illegal Drugs Speed Narcoti

A movement arose among the artists of 1950s America as a reaction to the time's prevailing conformity and affluence whose members attempted to extract all they could from life, often in a strikingly self-destructive way. Specifically, the Beat writers and jazz musicians of the era found escape from society in drugs and fast living. But what exactly led so many to this dangerous path? Why did they choose drugs and speed to implement their rebellion? A preliminary look at the contradictions that prevailed in 1950s American society may give some insight into these artists' world. At the end of World War II, American culture experienced an overhaul that ushered in a period of complacency beneath which paranoia seethed. A generation that had lived through the privations of the Depression and the horrors of world war was now presented with large suburban homes, convenient and impressive appliances, and pre-packaged entertainment. Such wonders so soon after extended hard times were greeted enthusiastically and even treated with a sense of awe. They may have encouraged few distinctions among the middle class -- the houses in a suburb were generally as identical as hamburgers at McDonald's -- but they represented a wealth to which few had before enjoyed access. Life became automated, with dishwashers cleaning up after dinner and air conditioning easing mid-summer heat. The new conveniences left more time for families to absorb the new mass culture presented through television, records, and Spillane novels. Excitement over the new conveniences and entertainment led America to increasingly become an acquiring society. To my parents' generation, childhood in the 50s was a time when people were generally pleased with themselves and with the... ...McNally, Dennis. Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America. New York: Random House, 1979. O'Neil, Paul. "The Only Rebellion Around". Life 47 (November 30, 1959): 115-116, 119-120, 123-126, 129-130. Parkinson, Thomas, ed. A Casebook on the Beat. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1961. Peretti, Burton W. Jazz in American Culture. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1997. Rigney, Francis J. and L. Douglas Smith. The Real Bohemia. New York: Basic Books, 1961. Tytell, John. "The Beat Generation and the Continuing American Revolution". American Scholar 42 (1973): 308-317. Van Den Haag, Ernest. "Conspicuous Consumption of Self". National Review VI (April 11, 1959): 656-658. Wakefield, Dan. New York in the Fifties. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. Woideck, Carl. Charlie Parker: His Music and Life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996.

Modern Life Has Improved Since the 1950’s Essay

Modern life has improved since the 1950’s. This period is quite memorable for a lot of things, the more famous of which being the flared trousers Elvis Presley, the icon of rock and roll and pop music, brought into style. There were many positives and negatives of living in the 1950’s, but it is clear that modern life has been a great step forward from those times. Firstly, the general aspects of life such as money, crime, racism and drugs, were viewed very differently in the past. Secondly life today may not be as simple as the 1950’s, but huge leaps have been made in technology, medicine and education. Finally, the word ‘community’ has developed a very different definition to the past, as we have overcome the racial, religious and gender inequalities that separated us as people; modern life has improved in leaps and bounds since the 1950’s. In the 1950’s certain aspects of life including money, crime, racism and drugs, were viewed very differently compared to the modern day. Petrol prices could be found on the McDonald’s loose change menu, and a kid could go down to the corner store, empty his pockets and buy the groceries before walking the way home safely. Drugs and smoking were regarded the same way we would a morning jog today: harmless and good for the system. Racism was just a part of life: the blacks sat at the back of the bus, the whites at the front, and that was that. Nowadays, if petrol was that cheap, the earth would be run dry and pollution levels would greatly increase due to mining and car exhaust. Crime rates may be much higher than the innocent 1950’s but along with with the higher stats the modern police force is further advanced and more successful than the past. Racism is still a part of our lives, but there is a general understanding that no matter the colour of our skin, we are equals, and opportunities for ‘blacks’ have been improved far beyond better seating positions on buses. Thank goodness times have changed – while we may not be living as simply as before, the modern day is aware of saving the planet, good health and human rights; other areas of living have also been greatly improved during the last half century, especially education, medicine and technology. The frontiers of science and technology have taken education and medicine far beyond what the 1950’s could have dreamed of. Without internet and mobile phones, the 1950’s must have been a quiet life: but consider the fact that technology today is enabling our world to communicate faster and better than ever before. Most schools have access to computers, such as Friends, with each individual person owning a laptop that is vital for their education. Education can now be more efficient and fun with the new technology spreading world-wide. A leap in technology is supporting a huge economy and has opened up many job opportunities as well as developing frontiers such as science and medicine. Polio scares rocked the 1950’s with over 257,455 related deaths, but thanks to medicine advances nowadays polio is just a term many people confuse with a pool game (Marco Polo! ). In the 1950’s the life expectancy was much, much lower than it is today – is that a wonder with the many cigarette adverts that declared the health benefits of smoking? Medicine has been advanced to the point of bringing people back to life after death, and is often one step ahead of what nature throws at us. This is evidence that modern life has improved greatly since the 1950’s; but our culture has also developed to be stronger, more equal and empathic than the 50’s. The definition of community has greatly evolved since the 1950’s: community in the 1950’s went by the motto love thy neighbour, except the neighbours who don’t believe in your religion or those of different race; the term community in the 21st century is referring to equals who share their culture with one another. Children stayed children for longer in the 1950’s, neighbours new everything about each other, a hello was said to every passer by on the street and it is said there was never a greater time of peace than in those years. However, amongst the idealistic community life, it was black and white: literally. Blacks were discriminated far beyond what is accepted in Australian communities today, with over 50% of families living below the poverty line as a result of racism. Without the many new laws and rights other races are now entitled to (that have developed since the 50’s), many people would still suffer unjustly, and blacks would still sit at the back of the bus. Religion could lower your worth just as quickly as the colour of your skin: schools only taught by the Bible, and ‘good’ people believed in the Christian faith. Discrimination against women was also still in practice. An obedient wife was not to be unished, but the occasional wife-beating was completely in-line with the law. The phrase ‘kitchen bitch’ may have originated in the 1950’s, where the women were expected to work around the house, doing the everyday chores such as cooking for their husbands. Many women did not begin to demand recognition for their rights to work until much later, and in modern times, women are regarded as equals in Australia. The 1950’s were the calm ‘after’ the storm, the storm being World War II. Peace may be a word which is almost lost to the entire world, with conflict present at all times in many countries, such as Iran and Afghanistan. This may be the only aspect of life that has worsened since the good ol’ 50’s, but even so, the countless improvements to our beliefs, everyday life and sense of community balances this issue. In conclusion, though the 1950’s are remembered as a peaceful, simple and straight-forward period of time to live in, behind the scenes racism, lack of knowledge and inequality ruled. Modern times have greatly improved on these factors and many others since the 1950’s, with gender equality, medicinal knowledge, and new technology being just a few of the more major developments. Nevertheless, the past was vital in shaping our daily lives and culture today, and it’s impossible to brand the 1950’s as a wasted part of our history; our modern world evolved out of the 20th century. It is clear to see that life today has greatly changed since the 1950’s, for the better.

Paterfamilias

Jack DeSantis Western Civilization 3/4/13 The Roman Family â€Å"Familia†, the Latin word for family. This word played a very large role in that of that Roman society. The Roman family is essentially the basic component of Roman society and could also be the archetype of political authority. Without a strong connection and bond in your Familia your family name could not be respected. Everyone in the family had to play his or her own part and had a specific role or purpose to fulfill in order to be a successful family.Whether you were the head of the family, a wife, or a daughter or son, everyone had their own role and duties to execute. There was a very specific hierarchy and structure in which the Roman family was set up. It started with the oldest living male and stemmed down to the children. At the top of the social hierarchy was the oldest living male, usually the father, known as the â€Å"paterfamilias. † This paterfamilias had supreme power within the family, not only in terms of respect but also legally and politically. He held the right to sell family members if he deemed necessary (although rare).Regardless of age, a son was always legally subject to obeying any living Paterfamilias and was also in charge of fulfilling said duties if the current Paterfamilias passed away (eldest son would become the paterfamilias). Although their legal capabilities allowed them to kill a child, wife or any member of the family, most fathers only used this ability as more of a threat than an action. The idea of a strong family bond proved to be valid throughout most familial in that the Paterfamilias for the most part was an affectionate, caring, and kind father.The respect for the Paterfamilias came from the idea of respect for their elders and ancestors. Every patrician belonged to gen, which was essentially a group that lineage back to common ancestor. With that being said all patricians were required to include their â€Å"third name† which ind icated their gens. All Roman males had a person and a family name, yet only the elite and well off would have a middle name. This basically set them apart from everyone else and would indicate their wealth. Similar to most societies of their the time the Roman woman never became independent from their familias.For the most part woman would be considered more of an object than a member of a family. Instead of receiving a personal name like men, a daughter would be referred to by her fathers’ gens. The paterfamilias was only responsible for the first-born daughter in the family. He would be responsible for his wife, son, and daughter yet if second daughter were to be born he could legally renounce her and let her die. Although for the most part abandoned daughters would survive and be raised as slaves.Not only did the paterfamilias have the ability sell his daughter to slavery, kill her either by abandoning her or by actually sentencing her to death as punishment, but he also r eserved the right to marry her off to whomever he pleased. Although it seems that the paterfamilias would not really treat his daughters with respect, for the most part fathers still loved and cared for their daughters. Once married off to other familias, the wives would commonly be among the rest of the family during meals. Unlike classical Greece, woman had much more influence behind the scenes.Husbands would often look to their wives for advice on certain issues being that wives were taught to take an interest in their husband’s lives outside the realm of the household. Divorce was very common among Romans throughout the existence of the empire. Without question if a divorce were to occur the father would retain custody of the children. An article titled â€Å"Roman Family Structure† quoted that, â€Å"In later years, women had the choice of retaining loyalty to their birth family or their husband's family. They also had expanded rights to seek divorce themselves; but, the children still remained with the father's family. In later years is in reference to the fact that women’s status underwent changes throughout the Roman empires period of domination (750 BC to 480 AD). The son was given the responsibility of carrying on the family name by marrying a woman (most likely in the same social class) and reproducing an heir. A son was also given the responsibility of carry out any and all tasks his paterfamilias asks of him. If the paterfamilias were to pass away (usually around ages 30-40) the eldest son would take on the responsibilities of the head of the family.This would only take place if he were the eldest male member of the family. Not only did blood relatives take part in the familia. Almost every Roman household contained a large family but also at least one slave. Whether you were a patrician or a plebian it was seen as a necessity to own a slave. Most slaves would be in charge of taking care of household tasks. Such as cooking, c leaning as well as gardening. If intelligent enough and actually literate (not common) slaves would also tutor children and help them with their studies. In some households slaves would be treated like family and given certain rights.Most Romans believed in the idea that if a slave were treated well they would work harder than if they were treated poorly. Although all the statistics point to the paterfamilias having supreme right over everyone, only in times of need and punishment would the paterfamilias use their rights. Otherwise he would be a loving, caring father figure who also tried to do what was best for his family. This is all thanks the Roman morals as well as beliefs that through a strong family bond, they could acquire and hold power. Many of these beliefs as well as morals have been passed down to our society today such as a strong family bond.