Cell phones and brain cancer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Cell phones and brain cancer - Research Paper Example That is nearly one in two people in the globe have a cell phone attached to their identity. This statistic makes it clear that cell phones have become inevitable to our lives. A link has been identified between some kinds of electromagnetic radiation and some cancers. These forms of electromagnetic radiation include â€Å"ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays. They are dangerous because they may break covalent chemical bonds in your body. Breakage of certain covalent bonds in key molecules leads to an increased cancer risk.† (Leikind) It is claimed that Radio Frequency (RF) waves employed by cell phones are not in the same grouping as these harmful radiations. RF is a type of electromagnetic radiation that falls between â€Å"FM radio waves and those used in microwave ovens, satellite stations, and radar†. (Leikind) Those who defend the safety of cell phones point out that the device does not emit ionizing radiation, which has the potential to create chemical changes to molecules in the human body. In other words, in the absence of ionizing radiation, the human DNA will not be damaged by cell phone usage. It is argued that cell phones â€Å"emit nonionizing radiation, which has lower energy and a longer wavelength than ionizing radiation. Nonionizing radiation is not strong enough to change an atoms structure, but it can heat tissue. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) places a limit on the amount of RF energy that can be absorbed from a cell phone into the users local tissues--the specific absorption rate (SAR)--at 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg).† (Liberatore 70) Hence, those cell phone devices that abide by FCC regulation on heat limit should be safe for usage. This is backed by recent research evidence as well, which suggest that short-term exposure to cell phones might cause no harm whatsoever. But in terms of long-term usage, results from a review of 18 studies on cell phone use of

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror Research Paper

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror - Research Paper Example From the research it can be comprehended that post 9/11 era is an entirely different era as it changed many dimensions of the way international politics and security issues are being perceived now. The brutality with which this event was carried out by the group of terrorists gave a wakeup call to the free world to re-examine its priorities and its security infrastructure to make world more secure. There is a growing concern now to improve the existing physical security infrastructure as well as a need for a coordinated effort to curb the financing of the terrorism at the global level. One of the key objectives of America’s war on terror was to deny sponsorship to the terrorist organizations and weaker states. This objective therefore also necessitated that systems and procedures must be developed to ensure that terrorist funding is restricted. The subsequent experience in the Iraq War signified the role of combating the financing streams of the terrorists to cut off their vit al source of survival. There is therefore a greater need to properly assess the financial threat terrorism can actually pose and how law enforcement agencies can actually achieve the objective of gathering credible financial intelligence to block the sources of finance for the terrorists. The corruption in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan is also resulting into indirect funding for the terrorists and terrorist organizations and as such... However, in order to capture maximum scenarios and comprehend a different array of risk events, it is important that a combination of both may be used. (Anderson, 2008) Financial threat assessment in the wake of the war on terrorism and how it can impact the overall effort by the world powers to curb terrorism therefore can be critical and requires a holistic approach and the involvement of different public sector entities to play their part. It is also critical to understand that this type of risk assessment should be part of the greater doctrine of the overall war. The financial threat assessment in the wake of the current war on terror therefore seems to have proper ideological backing to be carried out. (Amoore & de Goede, 2008) Methods One of the widely used financial instruments and methods of transferring funds is the use of cash as well as the negotiable bearer instruments. The use of cash is an obvious choice as it allows the terrorists to shy away from using the traditional banking channels and therefore avoid the risk of being detected. The use of cash and currency notes therefore leave no audit trail and thus virtually securing terrorists from being detected. The impracticality of holding large amounts of cash is also overtaken by the use of bearer negotiable instruments as they are easy to carry and are almost as good as cash is. One of the key features of bearer instruments is that they entitle the possessor of the instrument to receive the value written on the face of the instrument therefore bearer negotiable instruments are being easily used for the financing of terrorist activities. Not only the use of cash is

Zimbabwe Taxation Essay Example for Free

Zimbabwe Taxation Essay The tax system currently enforced in Zimbabwe under the authority of the Income tax Act Chap 23. 06 with Acts like the Capital Gains Act Chap 23. 01, Finance Act Chap 23. 04 and the Excise duties Act as complimentary. The system evolved from traditional ideologies perpetuated from pre pre-colonial era up to now. The incidence of tax from a traditional perspective occurred from as far as the Rozvi State who was allowed to maintain their power and control by the Portuguese Traders which resulted in the development of the tributary system. In which tribute was to be paid in form of farm produce, animal skins, fish and various goods. Every person under the protection of the kingdom and within the chief’s jurisdiction was to pay tribute from their occupational activity. This tributary system was mainly instigated by military control and any person revoking this tradition was punished. This traditional view is reflected in the modern tax system as there are some synonymous traits which have of course been duly developed over time. The presence of the British settlers saw the tax system being inclined towards politics and social classes or race in other words. In 1894 Hut Tax was introduced and was set at 10 shillings per hut and this tax was imposed on each adult male. The tax was paid to the British South Africa company which was the agent of the colonial government in the area even though it was initially authorised by the Colonial Office in London. Hut Tax was paid in the form of money, labour, grain or livestock and the colonial Authorities in this case the British were the beneficiaries. This tax benefited the white minority as they raised money, enhanced their economy’s liquidity (cash wise, thus supporting the currency), facilitating further development of the white minority. The whole purpose of a tax system to benefit the people at large through the services provided by the government was rather defeated as the greater proportion of tax was paid by the black majority for the benefit of the white minority. Poll tax was also another type of tax introduced by the colonial authorities again aimed at the male adult. It was set at 1 pound per male adult; 10 shilling tax on each excess wife was also introduced. Administering of tax policies was mainly set to compel the African to surrender his labour power to the settler economy so as to depend on them for the money with which they could meet their tax obligation. Initially Blacks owned the most cattle, sheep, had a bigger population thus consumed more meaning more sales tax was expected to be paid. Under the bid to frustrate black expectations of prospering and to reduce the chance of them gaining economic advantage over the whites a host of other taxes were recommended by the Southern Rhodesia Native Affairs Committee (these were later approved). The recommendations were made up of a plot to: * Introduce Dog tax * Implementing the taxation of all cattle * The continuation of poll tax * Progressive taxation of polygamous wives * A marriage fee of 5 pounds was to be set to be paid by the husband with an allowable remittance of 5 shillings for every month worked for a European Employer. (African Heritage,pg 65) At face value without any need for a comprehensive analysis it is quite evident that accumulating more of anything from cattle, increase in consumption, children and even another wife meant more tax due to be paid to the colonial authorities. Cattle tax was to be paid on the cattle owned by the people and dog tax likewise had to be paid for every dog kept. Penalties were applied through acts of confistication of cattle on most cases. The Southern Rhodesian Tax Ordinance of 1918 was not very different from the tax policies which were implemented in South Africa and the United Kingdom, though the income tax rates were not very high. Deductions were allowable for the contributions that were made to the pension funds and also generous primary abatements for dependants and as well as the secondary abatements for dependants. Insurance premiums and medical expenses were also allowed as a deduction The Pay as You Earn (P. A. Y. E) system of collecting Tax income was also adopted and it mainly operated with reference to an employed person. The definition of person in this regard mainly focuses on the natural person as it is the natural person and not the Juristic (for example Companies) that earn the employment income on which P. A. Y. E will be charged. Companies were also taxed in their own capacity and were required to pay a standard rate of 7s. 3d. n the ?. Special incentives for investment and exports were also given to benefit international trade and encourage investments in the companies established in the Zimbabwean Economy. Personal tax obligations were payable by individuals on a sliding scale ranging from  £2 per annum to  £12 per annum, this range was dependant on the income Death duties were relatively low by world standards, and were payable on a sliding scale rising to a maximum of 2s. 6d. in the pound currency, which is reached on a taxable amount of approximately  £42,000. Stamp duties were set on numerous documents recording transactions between persons and on services provided at various registries. These included a transfer duty at the rate of  £1 per cent, for the first  £4,000 of the value of property transferred and  £2 per cent, on the excess over  £4,000. Customs duties were imposed in a single column tariff on the bulk of the goods that were imported into Rhodesia. The customs duties covered protective duties for Rhodesian industries and revenue duties over a wide range of consumer goods. Almost all raw materials for industry had a 0 % duty (that is they were free of duty), as were the variety of capital goods. Excise duties were imposed on all wines, spirits, beer, cigarettes, manufactured tobacco, and motor spirit produced in Rhodesia. The consumption based sales tax, was mainly levied at the retail stage, and was the buying and selling actually occurred. The tax rate charged was 8d. Some goods were exempted from tax and thus immune to tax, these include basic food stuff, raw materials for production and capital goods for use by the industry Motor vehicle tax ranged from  £12 per annum for ordinary passenger vehicles to  £72 per annum for the heaviest public service vehicle with a charge of  £144 for diesel-powered vehicles. The Motor Vehicle tax could be paid in three instalments at the beginning of each licensing term of four months. Tax was also imposed on minor duties like trading activities, betting, and television and wireless receivers. The local government of the colonial authority attested that the tax will be confined to the field rates on the property. The accumulation of the tax payable by blacks on everything and every income that accrued to them led to an uprising (among other causative factors) resulting in the Chimurenga war which ended in 1980 the year in which Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. The tax system applied by the new regime and government was not very different from the one administered in the colonial era except that it was altered to shift the benefit to the black majority at large. Taxation cannot be divorced from economic conditions and indicators and to some extent politics. The post independence period was highly characterised with many developmental projects implemented by the Zimbabwean government through provision of social services, drought reliefs, subsidies for companies owned by the government. However this government expenditure engineered a budget deficit which had a negative impact on the tax as higher taxes were now required to meet the expenditures. Tax rates in the 1980s additions The tax system evolved gradually being influenced by economic conditions that occurred like the hyper inflationary era in 2007, 2008. The evolvement of Zimbabwe’s Tax system has seen the emergence of the Department of Taxes and the Department of Customs and Excise to form the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in Jan 2001 but which started operating in September 2001. ZIMRA was established to enhance revenue collection and trade facilitation. (FORE 2006, pg 3) Currently, the Ministry of Finance is directly responsible for the fiscal management and thus have a direct impact on the tax system. In reference to the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Sec 102 and 201) all fees and other public revenues are paid to the Consolidated Reserve fund. The proceeds from this fund enable the government to meet its expenditure, provide services to the people. The legal framework, the administration of tax policies and the collection of taxes has been placed under the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in the authority of the Commissioner General. The tax system under the provisions of the Income tax Act stipulates that tax is not levied on profits as in some countries but it is levied on taxable income. Zimbabwean Tax system use a source based approach in which tax is levied from income whose source is deemed to be from Zimbabwe. Not every income of every person is taxable; income from Local Authorities or institutions like POSB, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is exempt from tax this is according to sec14 of the Income Tax Act. Dividends from a company incorporated in Zimbabwe are also exempt from tax. The government has implemented reactive approaches towards taxation rather than a proactive one this is seen y the Fiscalisation of cash registers in order to reduce the losses in Value added tax (VAT) Collection as VAT is the major contributor of tax revenue mainly because it is consumption based, and orrowing from principles of micro economics it can be proven that people consume whether they have income or not from the marginal propensity to consume concept . The fiscalisation of cash registers can increase the amount VAT collected from businesses as the transactions incurred can be monitored through a memory card placed in the registers which are linked to the revenue authorities. The Value Added Tax Act [Chap 23. 11] is the main authority which governs the collection of VAT Tax bands are used on individual income in countries like South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. The use of tax bands makes PAYE a progressive tax which is redistributive. This leads to the reasoning that the proportion of tax revenue from PAYE should be higher than that from the non progressive taxes such as VAT and customs duty. In Zimbabwe tax is classified under proportional tax, progressive tax, regressive tax and direct tax. Individuals’ income from employment is taxed using tax bands, while income from trade or investment has been taxed at the same rate as that for corporate tax which was a flat rate 30% in 2009 and has gone down to 25% in 2010. The tax free band for income from employment was set at US$150 a month when the economy was dollarized in 2009 and was increased marginally to US$160 a month The advent of the Inclusive Government in 2009 in the post inflationary period where the tax and revenue base were dwindling resulted in the implementation of tax reforms to revive the tax system. This was difficult especially in the collection of corporate tax as most companies were operating below capacity. Corporate tax currently charged at 25% . Since tax is highly linked to development, tax incentive to foreign companies willing to invest in the country have been made so as to alleviate development. Tax concessions under special mining licences are also given, windfall gain tax is also charged in the mining sector. The holder’s of special mining rights are charged at a lower rate of 15% and are subject to Windfall Gain Tax which is levied on the additional profits. This profit is not attributable to production but occurs when the price of a certain commodity rises above a certain level (AFRODAD 2011, pg19). This tax charge is currently set at 31. 176%. The government once made an attempt to exempt ZIMPLATS from paying tax on additional profit tax but ZIMRA never implemented this action and still went on to collect tax from it. The Income Tax Act is revised and reformed from time to time this is the responsibility of the Tax Steering Committee which was set up soon after the Inclusive Government was established. This Committee comprises of the minister of Finance Mr. T Biti, some representatives from the private sector and ZIMRA itself. The committee aims to solve the challenge faced by tax authorities in Zimbabwe of trying to broaden tax base and at the same time simplify tax collection and easing the debt burden. The Final Deduction system is also a notable development of Zimbabwe’s tax system. It is a system in which the employer is required to deduct P.  A. Y. E from the employee’s income in a way that it becomes the final tax. The final deduction system (FDS) was implemented in 2000 but it was initially introduced in 1997/98 (AFRODAD 2011, pg 18). The directive governing the deduction of P. A. Y. E under the F. D. S system is taken from the 13th schedule of the Income Tax Act. There is then no need for the employees to submit tax returns at the end of the tax year.

Vertical Marketing System

Vertical Marketing System 1. Describe the concept of a Distribution Channel and what is a VMS (Vertical Marketing System)? A marketing channel is a series of marketing organizations that leads a product from producer to final user. A distribution channel consists of firms that have combined for their common good. Each channel member depends on the others. Distribution channels move products and services from businesses to clients and to other businesses. Also known as marketing channels, channels of distribution consist of a set of interdependent organizations such as wholesalers, retailers, independent producers and sales agents involved in making a product or service available for use or consumption. For example, a Ford dealer depends on Ford to design cars that meet consumer needs. In turn, Ford depends on the dealer to attract consumers, persuade them to buy Ford cars, and service cars after the sale. Each seeks to maximize its own profits, and there is little control over the other members and no formal means for assigning roles and resolving conflict but if all of them cooperate with each other, they can more effectively serve and satisfy the target market.Marketing channels perform many key functions such as some help complete transactions by gathering and distributing information needed for planning and aiding exchange, by developing and spreading persuasive communication about an offer, and by entering into negotiation to reach an agreement on price and other terms so that ownership can be transferred. Vertical marketing systems (VMS) is a distribution channel that provides channel leadership and consists of producers, wholesalers, and retailers acting as a unified system and consist of Administered, contractual, and corporate marketing systems. One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they all cooperate. Corporate VMS integrates successive stages of production and distribution under single ownership.Contractual VMS consists of independent firms at different levels of production and distribution who join together through contracts to obtain more economies or sales impact that each could achieve alone. Administered VMS, the leadership is through the size and power of one or a few dominant channel members. 2. What is a PUSH strategy as opposed to a PULL strategy in distribution channel management? A push strategy involves pushing the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward channel members to induce them to carry the product and to promote it to final consumers. Personal selling and trade promotions are often the most helpful promotional tools for companies such as Nokia for example offering funds on the handsets to persuade retailers to sell higher volumes.In pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer promotion) towards final consumers to induce them to buy the product. If the pull strategy is effective, consumers will then demand the product from channel members, who will in turn demand it from producers. Example Kraft products use heavy advertisement and consumer promotion to pull its products. 3. Define Retailing and Wholesaling. How do the two interact and describe the different types of wholesaling? Retailing includes all activities that are involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for their personal, non business use. It plays a very important role in most marketing channels. It is also undergoing so much change today due to factors like store size, price competition, and demographic shifts. Therefore retailers operate in a harsh and fast changing environment which offers threat as well as opportunities. Some of the trends in retailing include the rapid growth of nonstore retailing, retail coverage, the growing importance of retail technology etc. Department stores, like Burdines and Macys, discount stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, are all examples of retail stores. Wholesaling includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to those who are buying for the purpose of resale or for business use. Wholesalers add value by performing functions such as transportation, Selling and promoting, Buying and assortment building and Warehousing etc. Like retailers, wholesalers should target carefully and position themselves strongly. Wholesalers continue to increase the services they provide to retailers like retail pricing, cooperative advertising, marketing and management information reports, online transactions etc. Wholesalers benefit from retailers because they serve as their advertisement. If a retailer is happy with his wholesaler, he/she has a high chance of telling his/her friends about it; thus, word-of-mouth advertising. Wholesalers then get to have more customers and more sales, earning them better reputation, quality and more profit. Without retailers, wholesalers would just have their stocks inside their warehouses, untouched. They would not be able to get back their expenses if they would not sell their merchandise to retailers, and hence would not get any profit. In the same way retailers benefit from wholesalers because they are the ones who give them material to sell. If a wholesaler is satisfied with the retailer, he/she might give them more concession and benefits, and give them better deals so they can both thrive in their own businesses. Different types of wholesalers are: * Merchant wholesalers are the largest single group of wholesalers, accounting for approximately fifty percent of all wholesaling. Merchant wholesalers take possession of the goods. They include full-service wholesaler (wholesale merchants and industrial distributor) where they provide a full line of services like carrying stock, maintaining a sales force and offering credit etc. and limited service wholesalers (cash-and carry wholesalers, truck wholesalers, drop shippers, rack jobbers, producers cooperatives, and mail order wholesalers) – these wholesalers offer fewer services to suppliers and customers. * Brokers and agents do not take title to goods and their main function is to facilitate buying and selling, for which they earn a commission on the selling price. A broker brings buyers and sellers together and assists in negotiation. Whereas agents represent buyers and sellers on a more permanent basis. * Manufacturers and retailers branches and offices are wholesaling operations conducted by sellers or buyers themselves rather than through independent wholesalers. Separate branches and offices are dedicated to either sales or purchasing. 4. What are the four promotion mix elements and explain how each are utilized. What is the major difference between Advertising-Publicity-Sales Promotion. A companys total promotion mix also called its marketing communications mix consists of the specific blend of advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising includes broadcast, print, internet, and outdoor etc. Sales promotion – is a short term incentive to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. It helps to stimulate demand for a product. Sales promotion includes discounts, coupons, displays and demonstrations. Personal selling means personal presentation by the firms sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relations. Personal selling includes sales presentations, trade shows, and incentive programs. Public relations is building good relations with the companys various publics by obtaining favorable publicity , building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories and events. Public relations include press releases, sponsorships, special events and Web pages.Direct marketing involves making direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships through the use of direct mail, telephone, direct-response television, e-mail, and the Internet to communicate directly with specific consumers. Some of the major differences are as follows: Difference between Advertising and Sales Promotion * Advertising uses the media to inform and convince; whereas sales promotion is the offering of an enticement to tempt a customer into a purchase. * The time frame for advertising is long term where as for sales promotion the time frame is short term. * The primary objective of advertising is to create a stable brand image whereas for sales promotion the primary purpose is to get sales quickly. * In case of advertising requests are emotional or purposeful in nature where as in the case of sales promotion appeals are reasonable or logical. Difference between Advertising and Personal selling * According to personal selling it involves personal interaction between two or more people, so each person can observe the others needs and characteristics and make quick adjustments. Advertising is impersonal and cannot be as directly influential as can company sales person. * Advertising can carry on only a one way communication with the audience but according to personal selling both have to communicate in order for business to run. Difference between Advertising and Public Relation/Publicity * The public relation exposure received is only spread once. An editor wont publish the same press release two or three times in their magazine. Since one pays for the space, one can run the ads over and over for as long as one has the funds to pay for it. * Publicity is a kind of interaction, which is communicated through the mass media. The purpose of publicity is to demonstrate attention to a company and its products without having to pay the media for it but for advertising huge costs are incurred. 5. Describe the five international product and promotional strategies which are Straight Extension, Communication Adaptation, Product Adaptation, Dual Adaptation, and Product Invention. Five strategies for adapting product and marketing communication strategies to a global market Straight product extension means marketing a product to all countries without any change. For example Kellogg cereals and electronics like Black Decker tools and cameras are sold successfully in about the same form around the world. Straight extension is appealing because it involves no additional product development costs, manufacturing changes, or new promotion. Product adaptation involves changing the product to meet local conditions or wants in overseas markets. The adaptation of the product is carried out for reasons such as to meet the local regulations, to meet the customer needs and wants such as size; packaging preferences, quality; appearance and also to meet the beliefs of the consumer like McDonalds, for example, adjusts its menu for each foreign market, vegetarian hamburgers in India as many people dont eat non-vegetarian due to religious beliefs, mutton pot pies in Australia, and McSpaghetti in the Philippines. Burger King also has tried to adapt the market and satisfy their customers. Product invention consists of creating something new for a specific country market. It might also mean to maintain or reintroduce earlier products forms that happen to be well adapted to the needs of a given country. For example, Brewing companies have sold alcohol free beer in countries where sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Communication adaptation is a global communication strategy of fully adapting advertising messages to local markets. Coca-Cola for example sells its low calorie beverage as Diet coke in North America, the United Kingdom, and the Middle and Far East but as Coke light elsewhere.Another example is Marlboro cigarettes; essentially use the same message in their international promotion programs. Dual adaptation involves altering both the product and the communications to reflect differences in both product function and use. Slim-Fast for instance get used to both product and promotion and abide by varying government policies around the world. 6. Describe the emergence of social media ( twitter, facebook, blogs ) and how marketers have adjusted and utilize it to connect with consumers. Social media is a term used to illustrate the type of media that is based on interaction between people online. Social media have been updated to reach consumers through the internet. In the early days of the internet, conventional forms of media (magazines, newspapers, and marketing brochures) were simply moved from print to online; interaction is still primarily one way. Forums and blogs began to change that, allowing prospective buyer to ask issues of dealer, and of each other. Now, Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media tools have exploded this means. Conversations are less expensive than broadcasting from a media standpoint. This type of media has become appealing to big and small businesses. More and more people are using social media sites like Twitter and Face book to talk about companies and products with their friends and colleagues. The success of sites such as Face book and Twitter has confirmed that people feel the pull of social media globally. Social media is rapidly launching itself as a direct marketing channel and as such should be regarded as a valuable tool for any brand and marketing savvy company. Reliable brands are making the most of social media to reach customers and to build or retain the reputation. For example PepsiCo and even Starbucks look at social media as the best way to get direct dialog with their fans and for the company to hear from those fans without filters. As social media continue to grow, the ability to reach more consumers globally has also increased. Twitter, for example has expanded its global reach to many countries. This means that brands are now able to advertise in multiple languages and therefore reach a broader range of customers and clients. Social media can be used as a marketing tool but it requires concentration, supervision, practical knowledge and experience of the subject. One has to deliver materials in a customized way to suit the marketing needs of the clients. By using twitter, these brands through research and testing are learning and understanding more about social media and their customers. Marketers make links by adding value like putting some interesting resources or things that attract the consumers on their site and then they try and build trust and later build the relationship, so that the consumer feels comfortable and buys the product. Be it blogging, face booking or twittering, the same principal in understanding how to reach customers are similar. For example, HR Block reaches out to twitter members who have questions about taxes and need someone to support as customer service for those dissatisfied with their HR Block experience. The purpose for those who make contacts on Face book may vary. Some people are there to promote their businesses while others are there to become fashionable and get known like public figures, band, businesses and associations of all types who have created face book pages, where they often want to share a status update, a photo, a product or an event with many supporters. Famous personalities possibly will want to share special news or donations may want to put out calls for help to both their Face book fans and their Twitter followers, all at the same time. The main goal for using social media marketing is to increase buyer commitments, gather supporters to drive word-of-mouth and to increase brand loyalty.

Free Essays on Kafkas Metamorphosis: True Essence of the Metamorphosis :: Metamorphosis essays

Upon completion of Kafka's Metamorphosis I was immediately drawn away from the conclusion of the novel and back into the second section.   It seemed to me that the true essence of the novella resided in the thoughts and observations revealed in this portion of the story.   After watching the video adaptation I was once again intrigued by these events.   I re-read the second section and found the first strong impressions of the grotesque were evident here.     Kafka used the constant setting of the Samsa household to show the true repercussions of the metamorphosis.   It is here that Gregor is truly dehumanized.   No longer can he stand the taste of what used to be his favorite dish.   He is reduced to a vermin who feeds on rotted, decaying food and who finds the presence of fresh food repulsing.   The very means by which he sustained himself is not fit for a human, but rather for a dependent beast.   Gregor's eyesight begins to fail him.   As his former self, he would spend hours looking out the window, studying, and reading; however, he now finds nothing more than a skewed perception of reality when doing these things.   The whole worlds now looks and tastes different for Gregor.   The world's perception of him drives him away, and now his perception of the world drives him away even further.   Alienation feeds upon itself.   With the taste of moldy cheese in his mouth and the sight of nothing but a desolate gray   expanse in front of him, Gregor's leisurely activity of snacking and staring out the window has been reduced to a sentence of feeding and suffering.   As his senses dwindle and alter, he also finds that his comfort zones do the same thing.   Unlike a normal person who lies upon a couch or bed and fears what may lie under it, Gregor resides underneath the couch and hides from those who would normally rest atop.   His world has been turned upside-down.   He no longer roots himself to the floor, but clings to the ceiling.   Gregor has metamorphosed and is now truly the unguers ungerzeifer.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Sadly, Gregor's family treats him like the beast that he truly has become.   Seeing the damages as irreparable, they strip him of his worldly possessions and leave him in a "naked den fit for a beast."   The struggle that he puts forth when his furniture is taken is symbolic of his struggle to return to human form.

Karl Marx :: essays research papers

The late 1800's was a time period where new ideas, theories, and philosophies ran through the minds of many young people. Amongst them was a man be the name of Karl Marx who stood out in the crowd. Known as a man of great integrity and intelligence, Marx was thought to be one of the greatest thinkers of all time. "Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx: 2nd Edition" by Robert C. Tucker is a book about Marx and his philosophies. Robert C. Tucker in this book ventures out to critique and give an interpretation of Marx's philosophical thoughts. Marx's was the man who was responsible for the well known and highly acclaimed philosophy of Marxism also known as Communism. Karl Marx was born in the German Rhineland to a well-cultured family, one that was not revolutionary. As a young man he received a classical education. Marx entered the University of Berlin where he read law, majoring in history as well as philosophy. His years at the university was the time period that was a turning point in Marx's life. From his early school days, philosophy had been a subject that sparked interest in Karl Marx. He was greatly concerned with humans' freedom and reviving the ancient concept of communism. The University of Berlin was where Marx had first become acquainted with the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel's ideas known, as Hegelianism was the concept where the main focus was a self- alienated man. Man should worship himself as a Superior Being. What attracted Marx to Hegel was his "surmounting of the characteristic difficulty of idealism." However, when Marx was later introduced to the philosophies of Feuerbach, his thou ghts completely changed. According to Feuerbach,"man has so far in history lived primarily a life of religion, and that the essences of religion is man's estrangement from himself," At the same time of Marx becoming acquainted with these thoughts, he was jumping from one place to another causing his family to live in wretched poverty. Later on, using both the concepts of Hegelianism and of Feuerbach, Marx arrived at the formulation of his own philosophical anthropology. He first states that the primary determinant of history is economics where the history of society is viewed as the history of class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. The bourgeoisie are successful by extracting money from the proletariats for profit.

Absolutism under Louis XIV

Louis XIV lived from 1638- 1715 and became the king of France in 1654. At the time he became king, France was financially ruined, politically corrupt, and divided between warring nobles and private armies and under the threat of riots from the people, especially in Paris. Louis XIV was an absolute monarch. Absolutism is the system of rule that allows one or more rulers to maintain absolute power over everything in the land. There is no higher power and even the Parliament could not overrule Louis’ decisions.As absolute monarch, Louis XIV set about reforming the state politically, economically and culturally. Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy had three components: †¢ Centralization- this meant that the monarchy was the center of everything. All decisions from the monarchy were undisputable and final. All counties and villages were expected to follow this rule to create a united state and a centralized leadership. †¢ Economic reforms- â€Å"Under the guidance of Je an-Baptiste Colbert (1619-83) a â€Å"modern† system of accountancy and yearly state budgeting was introduced.Colbert also supervised systematic attacks on corruption, removing, punishing, or paying off office holders. He also introduced tax reforms – ending exemptions, tax-farming, and military collection of taxes – and state support for industry, science, trade, and the arts. As regards the operations of the state, Colbert raised government income to the point when it could pay for quite massive expenses. Government subsidizing and directing of industry and manufacture increased productivity, raised wages, and brought France into the trade wars with the English and the Dutch.Colbert, like many French officials, repeatedly remarked that the inhabitants must pay the tax not only because it would raise additional funds, but also because paying the levy was ‘the obedience which is due His Majesty. † †¢ â€Å"Theater of Monarchy†-this is the public representation of royal power and glory. Under the theory of absolutism, sovereignty is grounded in God, not the people. The glory of the monarch is, as it were, the earthly point at which is expressed both the glory of the state – as a social whole ordered around and dependent upon the monarch – and the glory of God from whom the monarch derives power and role.It was therefore important to show, through royal events and presentations, the state as personified by the king. Louis XIV distinguished between â€Å"nature as it ought to be†, as ordained by God, and â€Å"nature as it is†, disrupted by human activity. As the new, distant and mysterious God no longer intervened directly in the natural order, it fell to the monarch to uphold â€Å"nature as it ought to be† and prevent it disintegrating into disorder. One of his reforms began with the acquisition of the providence of Roussillonnais in 1659, which was inhabited by a specific ethnic g roup known as the Catalans.Louis XIV understood that there can be no shared political allegiance without shared cultural values. Thus a government, if it is to exercise its political authority in an area, must first make the region culturally homogeneous with the ruling nation. Louis XIV undertook to replace the Catalan ethnic identity with the French one, mandating the foods, clothing, legal system, language, educational institutions, and religious traditions that should be used in the province. The Catalans did not agree with Louis and made it clear with smuggling, legal battles and even open rebellion.They wished to maintain their own culture and laws and did not want to accept the monarchy as their ruler. Like all peasants, they were reluctant to pay taxes to the monarchy and many turned to smuggling as an alternative. By the 1680’s, however, Louis XIV and his government were successful in achieving their goal of political assimilation. The Roussillonais had accepted Fran ce as their political rules but continued to conduct their legal, commercial, judicial, and religious business in the Catalan language, continued to dress as Catalans, to give their children Catalan names, and to celebrate traditional feasts.They were quite firmly French in a political sense, and equally firmly Catalan in their culture. A trend that began in the 17th century was for the ruler to govern from one location versus the many homes and palaces of the past. Louis XIV was one such ruler, moving from the royal palace of the Louvre in Paris to a permanent home in Versailles. It was from this location that he ruled France for his entire reign. Louis XIV was also known as the â€Å"sun king† due to his use of the symbol as his personal emblem.As the highest star, now accepted by science as the centre of the universe, the sun was an obvious choice to symbolize absolutism’s claim to constitute the political centre of earthly life. The sun was both terrifying and awe inspiring, dazzling through its brightness, yet also warming and beneficent, and without its presence all life would whither away. One of the ways a monarch distanced himself from his subjects was to show his magnificence and largesse. This came in the form of elaborate operas, lavish banquets and court music.It was not uncommon to have fountains with slowing wine, roast oxen, coins minted for the occasion and bread handed out to the masses. This was to show the generosity and benevolence of the ruler and assure the people that their trust in the monarchy was well placed. It also served to reiterate the idea that the monarch was the center of everything and should be respected as such. Not everything regarding absolutism was beneficial, especially for the peasants of the land.The taxes imposed by Louis XIV and his government went far to provide funds for the monarchy and various military skirmishes, but The accumulative effect of these taxes was well observed by the royal commission ers sent to investigate the collection of taxes in the Orleanais and Le Maine in 1687 who observed that: there are hardly any peasants that own property†¦there are only small farmers who own nothing. The proprietors must furnish them with cattle, advance them money on which to live, pay their tallies and take in payment the peasant’s entire portion of the harvest. Even this is sometimes insufficient to cover his debts.Thus the small farmers earn nothing; they leave the land as destitute as they came to it. What cash was left they said went into paying taxes so that there was almost no money left for individuals; from this comes the decline of commerce. As a result, riots and rebellions by the peasants were common. Tax collectors met with violence or even death in some instances. It was not until Louis XIV’s General Controller of Finance†, Jean-Baptise Colbert changed the way things were done regarding the taxes. Colbert's everyday management of the taxes was intelligently conceived precisely to reduce the difficulties experienced earlier.Much effort went into collecting existing taxes as equitably as possible, into preventing the accumulation of arrears (those of the final years of the war being formally cancelled), and into making the most unpopular forms of coercion a last resort. 94 Although the revenue from indirect taxes was greatly increased this was achieved without creating new levies. The significance of this policy was emphasized when financial pressure was increased after the renewal of war in 1672, with the new duties of 1675, the marque d'etain and the papier timbre, setting off the last major rebellions of the ancient regime.Under Louis XIV’s absolute rule, France enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous era. Colbert reformed the taxes and they dwindled down to custom duties, a tax on salt and a tax on land. He also encouraged trade and commerce by the merchants and inventors of the land and sought to decrease the Frenchà ¢â‚¬â„¢s dependence on foreign goods. These acts stopped the internal civil wars until almost a hundred years later. During Colbert's ministry the position of the laborers was doubly affected, by more stringent tax assessment and by a sequence of good harvests which resulted in low grain prices.Since these trends favored the mass of poor peasants, there was little prospect of uniting communities in revolt behind an unpopular minority of the rich, whose difficulties were in any case only relative. It was not until Napoleon that France had internal discord again. Other areas of improvement were the legal reforms Louis XIV implemented. The major legal code instituted at this time was the basis of the Napoleon Code which in turn is the basis for the modern French legal codes.The War of Spanish Succession began when the King of Spain, Charles II, bequeathed all his possessions to Philip duc D’anjou, who was the grandson of Louis XIV. This made Philip the king of Spain. Aside from the fact that others wanted to claim the throne for themselves, the crowning of Philip assured Louis XIV of a Spanish alliance in his quest to expand. Other countries joined the side of the Holy Roman Empire, who wanted to stop France from expanding any further. Philip and Spain sided with Louis XIV and France. The war was fought both in Europe and in North America, where it was known as the â€Å"Queen Anne’s War.† The war lasted for over a decade and as a result, Philip was removed from the line of succession for the throne of France. This made the opposition happy since a union of France and Spain was now impossible. In the end, Louis XIV’s numerous wars and extravagant palaces and chateaux effectively bankrupted the State (though it must also be said that France was able to recover in a matter of years), forcing him to levy higher taxes on the peasants and incurring large State debts from various financiers as the nobility and clergy had exemption from payin g these taxes and contributing to public funds.Yet, it must be emphasized that it was the State and not the country which was impoverished. Before his death in 1715, Louis XIV determined that his five year old grandson, Louis XIII would succeed him to the throne. He is alleged to have told the child â€Å"Do not follow the bad example which I have set you; I have often undertaken war too lightly and have sustained it for vanity. Do not imitate me, but be a peaceful prince, and may you apply yourself principally to the alleviation of the burdens of your subjects†.Although Louis XIV did make some mistakes during his reign, he had many victories as well. His display of absolute monarchy set an example for many of the European princes, who followed his examples of art, food and political systems. Absolutism fell out of favor among the monarchy not long after Louis XIV died but the gains that he made provided a stable base for France to prosper in the future. Louis XIV had been ma rried twice and fathered both legitimate and illegitimate children, none of whom followed in his footsteps of absolutel rule.Works Cited Briggs, Robin. Communities of Belief: Cultural and Social Tension in Early Modern France. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Parker, David. â€Å"French ‘Absolutism'. † History Review (1997): 14+. Stewart, David. Assimilation and Acculturation in Seventeenth-Century Europe: Roussillon and France, 1659-1715. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Wilson, Peter H. Absolutism in Central Europe. London: Routledge, 2000.