How the Colonization Era affected Authors Essay -- English Literature

How the Colonization Era affected AuthorsThe atmosphere of which a writer adapts to affects his/her works. The writers environment, and the churnings of history that feed the writer, gives him the material whereby he merchant ship construct, and create in. History, in this instance the colonization of the American continent, dictates what and how he is to write. Authors such as John metalworker, William Bradford, and St. Jean de Crevecoeur are all examples of this. The atmosphere or social club these authors were in directly affected the attitude, tone, genre, etc. of their works. This can be shown both by facts in history and their actual writings of that period. During the 17th century Pilgrims, which were a group of Separatist Puritans, disliked being in England and wanted to go to America for the right to practice their religion freely (and in 1620 they received a patent from Virginia which allowed them to settle in New England aboard the Mayflower). In 1606, King James I grant ed a charter authorizing overlapping grants of land in Virginia to two separate joint-stock companies, one based in London and the other in Plymouth. Captain John Smith planned to conquer New Englands goodly, strong, and well-proportioned (Indian) people and establish an English colony there. He then led the Virginia Company of London to successfully establishing the colony. His work The General History of Virginia, New England, and the summer Isles told about his colonization process and explorations, as he described America as a utopian society. As mentioned in his work, Smith maintained copacetic relations with the Indians, as shown by his letter to Queen Anne when he says That some ten years ago being in Virginia, and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan their chief King, I received from this great savage exceeding great courtesy, especially from his son Nantaquaus. . . .And his sister Pocahontas, the Kings most dear and well-beloved daughter, being only if a child of twel ve or thirteen years of age, whose compassionate pitiful heart, of my desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect her. . . . Smith prevented Virginia from disintegrating. This is shown in his piece, as he tries hard to persuade people to come to America as shown by his statement And surely by reason of those sandy cliffs, and cliffs of rocks . . . . who can save approve this a most excellent place, bo... ...erican slaves were worked very hard (many times they were worked to death). They were treated brutally and unfairly. Slavery was the biggest factor in economic prosperity because they obliging the cash crops. The independence of the colonies was gained when, after a colonial conflict in reaction to British taxes like the Tea Act, the second continental congress state independence and wrote the Declaration of Independence. Thus all of these events leading to the colonization of America influenced writing during, and after, that time period. The works of Smith, Bradford, an d de Crevecoeur serve as a basis for proximo writings on the history of colonization. The atmosphere created in these works is reflected by the society during that time. Thats why the environment an author is in so greatly affects his/her pieces of literature. For example, Smith might not be able to write many of the things he did in his work in todays time because todays society might oppose or disdain some of his ideas or his stylistic approach to his conclusions. Therefore, the society or setting present at a specific time is indicative of pieces of literature, as in the colonization of America.

Instrumental Rationality and the Instrumental Doctrine :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Instrumental Rationality and the Instrumental DoctrineABSTRACT In opposition to the instrumental ism of tenability, I argue that the logicality of the end served by a strategy is a necessary condition of the rationality of the strategy itself means to ends cannot be rational unless the ends are rational. First, I explore cases-involving proximate ends (that is, ends whose exertion is instrumental to the pursuit of both(prenominal) more fundamental end) where even instrumentalists must concede that the rationality of a strategy presupposes the rationality of the end it serves. Second, I hurtle attention to the counter-intuitive consequences in cases involving non-proximate ends of substituting (allegedly more manageable) questions about de facto ends for questions about the rationality of ends. Third, I argue-against Nozick that it is a mistake to suppose that the only question dividing instrumentalists from non-instrumentalists is whether the instrumental doctrine needs supp lementation. Finally, I try to show that questions about the rationality of ends need not be viewed as impossibly daunting.According to the instrumental doctrine of rationality in the version relevant to the argument of this paper, an action (decision, policy, strategy, etc.) is rational provided it is an telling and economical means to the achievement of some de facto objective. If we formulate the instrumentalist position in terms of the familiar doctrine of the practical syllogism, the crucial thesis is that the action which forms the conclusion of the syllogism is rational provided (1) the major enter identifies a de facto objective of the agents, and (2) the minor premise shows the action to be an effective and economical means to the achievement of that objective. The typical noninstrumentalist position, by contrast, would be that for the action in the conclusion to be one it is rational for the agent to perform, it must serve an objective it is rational for the agent to pur sue the major premise must identify a rational objective of some sort, not simply an objective the agent happens to have.I. The Instrumental Doctrine and Proximate EndsOne way of denting the instrumentalist position is to explore cases where the action said to be rational is an effective and economical means of enabling the agent to achieve an end he or she is prosecute only because its achievement is (held to be) indispensable to effective pursuit of some more fundamental objective. These are cases where the agent is pursuing (what we might call) a proximate end, an end which is thought to be worth pursuing only because its achievement is a means to effective pursuit of a more basic end.

Collaborative Leanrning And Architecture Education :: Learning Education Essays

collaborative Leanrning And Architecture Education IntroductionTwo major questions that instruction faces nowadays are how adequate it is to use group dynamics in class to stick out students achieve particular proposition goals and if the efficiency of this technique is acceptable for all(a) the branches of knowledge. Architecture, because of its most important qualities (professional pee-pee in teams, practical skills and creativity) appears to be an area in which it is potential that the teamwork technique can demonstrate its most important strengths. doubting Thomas Kuhn (1996) severalised knowledge as intrinsically the common property of a group or else nothing at all, apologizeing that the discoveries of sciences or the products of arts to be recognized as it shall be shared between the members of a certain fellowship. What Bruffee (1995) called the social reflection of knowledge, has become the base to encourage the use of group work techniques in different levels of ed ucation. However there are still many critics to this method, basically referring to the difficulties to love the classroom and its adequacy to different areas of study. The debate over teamwork in colleges and universities hasnt delivered a clear answer yet. This research paper will first explain the virtues and weakness of the Collaborative Learning method in pose to establish finally its possible application to Architecture Education. The Strengths of the MethodBackgroundSince the early 70s, educators characterized the traditional approach to Education (Ventimiglia, 1994) as universe professor centered, considering that the educative process depended exclusively on the knowledge capacities of the teacher, who decided what kind and what measure of information should be deposited into students minds. This was strongly criticized by Freire (cited by Ventimiglia, 1994), for being passive and not stimulating critical thinking. From then educators have researched new methods cap able of ameliorate academic results and preparing students to transform their societies creatively. This is how what Foyle (1995) called Collaborative learning, appeared as a possible answer to educational dilemmas. DEFINITIONCollaborative learning, as well as concerted and active learning are terms used to describe new procedures in education, intended to help students learn by working together (Bruffee, 1995). correspond to Ventimiglia (1994) collaborative learning is the process in which a community formed by students and teacher establishes common goals and participates as partners in the building of knowledge, following specific steps and accepting precise responsibilities. Group work is thusly one of the various tools involved in the execution of the method, however they should not be considered as synonyms.Collaborative Leanrning And Architecture Education Learning Education EssaysCollaborative Leanrning And Architecture Education IntroductionTwo major questions that e ducation faces nowadays are how adequate it is to use group dynamics in class to permit students achieve specific goals and if the efficiency of this technique is acceptable for all the branches of knowledge. Architecture, because of its most important qualities (professional work in teams, practical skills and creativity) appears to be an area in which it is likely that the teamwork technique can demonstrate its most important strengths. Thomas Kuhn (1996) described knowledge as intrinsically the common property of a group or else nothing at all, explaining that the discoveries of sciences or the products of arts to be recognized as it shall be shared between the members of a certain community. What Bruffee (1995) called the social construction of knowledge, has become the base to encourage the use of group work techniques in different levels of education. However there are still many critics to this method, basically referring to the difficulties to manage the classroom and its ad equacy to different areas of study. The debate over teamwork in colleges and universities hasnt delivered a clear answer yet. This research paper will first explain the virtues and weakness of the Collaborative Learning method in order to establish finally its possible application to Architecture Education. The Strengths of the MethodBackgroundSince the early 70s, educators characterized the traditional approach to Education (Ventimiglia, 1994) as being professor centered, considering that the educative process depended exclusively on the knowledge capacities of the teacher, who decided what kind and what amount of information should be deposited into students minds. This was strongly criticized by Freire (cited by Ventimiglia, 1994), for being passive and not stimulating critical thinking. From then educators have researched new methods capable of improving academic results and preparing students to transform their societies creatively. This is how what Foyle (1995) called Collab orative learning, appeared as a possible answer to educational dilemmas. DEFINITIONCollaborative learning, as well as cooperative and active learning are terms used to describe new procedures in education, intended to help students learn by working together (Bruffee, 1995). According to Ventimiglia (1994) collaborative learning is the process in which a community formed by students and teacher establishes common goals and participates as partners in the building of knowledge, following specific steps and accepting precise responsibilities. Group work is therefore one of the various tools involved in the execution of the method, however they should not be considered as synonyms.

Same Sex Marriages Should be Legal Essay example -- Argumentative Pers

Same Sex Marriages Should be Legal Flowers, candles, and music are all lineament of a wedding. As the organist plays Here Comes the Bride, I notice this is where the similarities end. The bride, who is a woman, is marrying a groom, who is also a woman. Single-sex marriages are only allowed in a few states. However, single-sex marriages should acquire legal so that couples could enjoy the advantages of marriage. Legalizing single-sex marriage would create more family units and create more tolerance from society, allowing single-sex couples a legal way of expressing their love to each other. unrivaled of the major complaints of heterosexuals against homosexuals is that homosexuals are involved in many sexual relationships instead of a monogamous relationship. If the country would allow same-sex marriages, the people involved would feel as if they could seek out life-long companions. The couples relationship would have a goal that is accepted by society. This goal is the same as he terosexual couples goal, which is to find that special some 1 to spend a lifetime with until death do us part. Sheila and Annette, friends of mine, have lived together since high school. Sheila and Annette would marry if they were allowed the opportunity. Sheilas concern is that the gay lifestyle is encouraged to be permissive because of societys rejection of same-sex marriage. She has a friend, Alice, who has had thirty different partners. Alice says that changing so often is allowable because there are no legal binding cartels to hold one in a relationship. Alice feels that if same-sex relationships had some sort of binding contract, she would be more careful in entering into a serious relationship. So, if the country would legalize same-sex m... ...want a family, and want to be accepted by society just as heterosexual people want that special person, want to raise children, and want to be accepted by society. So, as I watch the happy couple stroll down the aisle with smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts, excited round their future together, I am happy that at least this state allows same-sex marriage. Hopefully in the future all states will allow people immunity to choose who they want to be with for a lifetime. The positive outcomes could be beneficial not only to the homosexual community by allowing them a binding contract of marriage, but also to many children who could grow up in an atmosphere of two adults loving and interacting together as a family unit. Love is what all military man want and need, whatever package it may come in. Society needs to relax and permit people to love whom they want.

Color :: essays research papers

What is Color?You are wondering what it is to be a color? Are you a color if you paint yourself white? Is color bonny an exterior or is it an interior as well? Is the color you are on the outside, the color you are on the inside? Think about it this way, some people in our culture pretend to be something that they are not, just another white man, or just another black man. The particular of deportment is that you are what you are, and that you cannot, excluding major reconstructive surgery change what you look like. So basically pull out your box of Crayolas and color yourself whatever color you motive to be, because everybody is different in their own way. As Websters dictionary explains, color is defined 10 different ways. First color can be defined as a visual attribute of bodies or substances that depends upon spectral composition of the simulating the retina and its associated neural structures. So basically what I am trying to say is that no one color is exactly the same in anyones eye. But is it fair to judge a book by its cover, or is it fair to scoop that every Twinkie has a different flavored filling, so to speak. In our school alone it is safe to say that there are roughly seventy-five different cultural backgrounds and probably ten different main sects of religion. But its unfortunate that people even today are judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character as Martin Luther King Jr. has said. Even though this is true I feel that it is equally bad that we as a demesne group people together stereotyping one person in a group as all the people in a group. So in order to reach new heights as a nation we must come together to show that color isnt everything, and in fact color isnt anything at all.

Color :: essays research papers

What is Color?You are wondering what it is to be a likeness? Are you a color if you paint yourself white? Is color just an exterior or is it an interior as well? Is the color you are on the outside, the color you are on the inside? Think about it this way, many multitude in our culture pretend to be something that they are not, just some other white man, or just another black man. The fact of life is that you are what you are, and that you cannot, excluding major reconstructive surgery change what you look like. So fundamentally pull out your box of Crayolas and color yourself whatever color you want to be, because everybody is different in their own way. As Websters dictionary explains, color is defined 10 different ways. First color can be defined as a visual attribute of bodies or substances that depends upon spectral composition of the simulating the retina and its associated anxious structures. So basically what I am trying to say is that no one color is exactly the same i n anyones eye. But is it fair to judge a book by its cover, or is it fair to assume that every Twinkie has a different flavored filling, so to speak. In our school alone it is unattackable to say that there are roughly seventy-five different cultural backgrounds and probably ten different main sects of religion. But its unfortunate that people even today are judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character as Martin Luther King Jr. has said. Even though this is unfeigned I feel that it is equally bad that we as a nation chemical group people together stereotyping one person in a group as all the people in a group. So in order to reach new heights as a nation we mustiness come together to show that color isnt everything, and in fact color isnt anything at all.

Africa

This achievement was done because of their positioning in Africa which gave them better trade networks. More, the Gush broke for Egyptians and moved to More in 590 BCC. They lived some(prenominal) hundred years off of farming, iron, mining and trading. Oromo, The Oromo people spent lot of time looking for better land to settle. Finally they conquered land ruled by the Gaze and Solomon, they became very wealthy depending on trade of coffee. Great Zanzibar, The amalgamation of the Bantu helped Great Zanzibar. Along with other cities they prospered by sending goods to theIndian cost. The people of Zanzibar relied not only on trading but also cattle herding, and agriculture. Exam Oromo More Great Zanzibar Social First king Second Nobles, soldiers Third citizens cash in ones chips slaves Gad system, which helped all citizens First king or queen Second priest, soldiers Third Merchants, Artisans, Farmers. Last Enslaved people. Very strict and marrying somebody In a incompatible class was not liked. Economic traded Ivory, exotic animal skins, gold and more with other countries Mainly agriculture of several crops Paid taxes annual to the king. Anomy ground on cattle husbandry, crop cultivation, and the trade of gold political Used their gained power from trading to keep a centralized state and their people tightly controlled. Gad government developed by citizens, we do not know when the system emerged. Different from Egypt. Political freedom Some political problems was the Racial break up and economic interest. Religious descendants of the Hebrews, and adopted Christianity There are three main religions in Oromo, Roomier, (their traditional religion), Islam and Christianity.Greatly influenced by Egyptians , but also introduced their own Gods, nigh important Epidermal, a lion God A firm monotheistic faith. Landmarks or Monuments More Pyramids of Sudan= located in the North- eastmost of Sudan near the banks of the Nile, almost two hundred pyramids in a relatively s mall area. Exam Stella= built for a religious purpose. Most likely a funeral monument Horn of Africa= peninsula in the East of Africa National Monument= approximately 30 km from Amassing Summary Exam, a combination of Arabs and Africans who settled in the Red Sea Exam became err effectual even being the wealthiest of the kingdoms in the first century.This conquered land ruled by the Gaze and Solenoids, they became very wealthy depending on trade of coffee. Great Zanzibar, The migration of the Bantu helped Images historic Importance All four cities are so important for what they have in their past. What they left us with, like the Exam with the Stella. An old man or old woman die is like losing a library. Learning how our ancestors survived and worked together is important to never forget. Visiting this places is something you will never forget and never regret.

Early Childhood Education/ A.S Degree Research Paper Essay

An Early Childhood Education/ A. S. degree is perfect for people who love children. There are legion(predicate) career choices and even choices within those careers that you choose just by getting this degree. It is important to know totally(a) of your options before picking a degree that pull up stakes determine the career you will sire for the rest of your life. Early childhood education is a term that refers to educational programs and strategies geared toward children from birth to the age of eight. This enchantment period is widely considered the most vulnerable and crucial stage of a persons life (Beth Lewis).It is the teaching of young children by people international of the family and outside of their home. Some career paths you can take with this degree are being a classroom aide, ECE teacher, site supervisor, program director, preschool teacher, kindergarten teacher, resource and referral professional, social military service worker, youth and family service worker, camp counselor, recreation leader, foster care provider, mental health paraprofessional, or child advocate and even more (Mason, Janet).Though all of those seem elicit, a preschool, teachers aide, and kindergarten teacher are the three career paths I find most interesting so I decided to do my enquiry on them. A preschool teacher is a possible career choice from getting your early childhood education degree. Preschool teachers take care of young children while educating them. They do not teach the children how to read or write yet, scarcely they explain reading and writing. They also teach some science and social studies but only of what a child can understand at that age.Children in preschool mostly learn through play so they do a agglomerate of that in preschool. Preschool teachers are supposed to watch over them. The ages of the preschool children that the teacher cares to is anywhere from 3 to 5. These are the ages of children who have not yet entered kindergarten. An associ ates degree is all that is undeniable to become a preschool teacher. The normal pay is $25,700 per year, which is $12. 35 per hour (bls. gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/preschool-teachers).Employment of preschool teachers is expected to grow by 25 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Growth is expected due to a continued focus on the importance of early childhood education and the growing population of children ages 3 to 5 (bls. gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/preschool-teachers). Another job you can get through this degree is a teachers aide. With this job, you will be responsible for assisting a classroom teacher in habitual supervision and management of the kids.You mustiness be 18 years of age or older, and have an early childhood education degree. With this job some things you must do are assist in planning and preparing the learning environment, watch the classroom when the teacher is out of the room, pay attention to the ch ildren, and clean up the classroom. The median expected salary for a typical teachers aide in the United States is $20,588 (salary. com). You can also become a kindergarten teacher with this degree.The average salary for a kindergarten teacher is $48,800 per year (bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers). You acquire a bachelors degree and a state-issued certification or license. To be a kindergarten teacher you need to be very observant. You need to be able to evaluate a students abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.You have to plan lessons that teach students things like reading and math. Benefits of becoming a kindergarten teacher is that you get two months onward in the summer, and over a period of time you get tenure. Which means after a certain number of years of teaching, the teacher can have some job security.The early childhood education/ A. S. degree has many career options that come with it. A preschool teacher, teachers ai de, and kindergarten teacher are three very interesting professions. You must love children to be in these professions. Being a kindergarten teacher is what appeals to me the most. Though finding these jobs may be tough to do due to the frugal state we are in, I know that if I truly want to become a kindergarten teacher and work hard enough to get it, I will be able to get a job some way or another.

Development of Communities

Communities, handle tribes, were tradition eithery considered to be the second stage of human grouping, set after families. They that now mean assorted things to polar pile, making the definition of association too broad and incapable of clear description. The picture of union, as per the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined to be the people of a country (or district) as a whole the frequent body to which all told a exchangeable belong. This definition is however largely inadequate, considering the many contexts in which the word is purposed today.At one level communities stand for crowds of persons, larger than families, who atomic number 18 related by specific common features like the language they speak, the gods they worship, the ethni city they belong to, the traditions they practice and the place they stay in. Again whilst communities represent human groupings that argon more populous than families, many ex persisted families like the tribes that people the is lands of the Indian Ocean can easily qualify to be treated as communities.Communities ar further known to necessitate the uniform social standards, on the face of it discernible structures and come from specific locations. Communities are powerful entities and restrain on many occasions achieved remarkable goals in self determination and the pursuit of autonomy, ergo the many struggles for independence in Asia and Africa in recent decades. The prolong struggle of the Tamil alliance in Sri Lanka in the face of the most horrendous red captures the essential resilience of conjunction feeling and the extent to which it binds society members.Much of this internal strength comes from the sense of solidarity, identification and support that exists within these structures, the instilling of social values, and the cultivation of attitudes and common strengths. The growth of terrorism is clearly linked to the influence of alliance attitudes and values the London bombers, for examp le, owe their religious fanaticism to community feelings, which superseded the influence of factors like education and financial and social sound substructure and led them to take plainly irrational decisions.Whilst the notion of community has attracted attention and debate from the time of Aristotle, the social, economic, and semipolitical maturations that have occurred on the global platform since the 1980s have put the relevance of community into sharper focus. Globalization, a phenomenon that took off in the 1980s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and entailed the breakdown of physical, economic, and trade barriers amidst peoples of different regions has truly made the world a much bittieer place.Apart from the much greater interconnectedness that has happened in areas of business, trade, economics, education, travel and former(a) areas of human activity, globalization has likewise led to substantial migrations of peoples from their native lands, Bangladeshis into I ndia, East Europeans into the UK, people from South and Southeast Asia into the US and UK, and an ever increasing stream of Mexicans into the US.Spurred on by the desire for better living standards, people from economically backward and politically unstable countries are lamentable into neighboring or distant areas, putting up base, and settling down, changing topical anaesthetic anesthetic anaesthetic demographic structures, interacting with the original inhabitants, bringing their farming and tradition with them, influencing and macrocosm influenced by their adopted lands.By no means is this phenomenon restricted to the affluent countries, (viz.global magnets like the USA and the UK), which have traditionally attracted the deprived with their economic affluence and individual freedoms. Bangladeshis, Tibetans and Nepalese, for instance, have crossed their porous borders with neighboring India and spread out all all over the country, offering cheap labor at construction sites , restaurants, and to security companies, changing local equations, provoking sympathy as well as hostility and resentment.The United States, which has for long been known to be a multicultural and wel attack haven for the unequal and indigencey of the world is now home to millions of people from the Latin speaking countries of South America, Asia and the Pacific Rim, who have settled down in large poesy and significantly changed what was essentially a society dominated by uncloudeds, with peripheral roles played by African Americans. The inflow of these outsiders has led to the administration of communities, where people with commonalities cluster together, sustaining and supporting each other, and interacting in unhomogeneous paths with the larger society around them.This study examines the issue of survival of such communities in the era of globalization, utilise readings from two distinguished and well known books, Becoming neighbors in a Mexican American Community (2004 ) by Gilda L. Ochoa and The Politics of Diversity Immigration, Resistance and motley in Monterey Park, California (1997) by John Horton. Commentary and Analysis Gilda Ochoa, a professor of sociology at the California State University at Los Angeles picks up an intriguing subject, the relationships and fundamental fundamental interaction between Mexican Americans, for detailed investigation and analysis.Referring to a variety of sources like have interviews, observations from participating in group discussion sessions, minutes of board meetings of local schools, and other relevant papers, Ochoa presents a vivid and disturbing picture of the relationships that are emerging between established Mexican Americans and the new immigrants from Mexico, who are pouring in, de jure and illegally, from across the southern border of the United States in hundreds of thousands every year.Whilst the two communities of Mexican origin do have common historical, cultural, ethnical and religious t raditions, their relationships and interaction are think ofd by a number of contradictions and insecurities that include sympathy, helpfulness, and cooperativeness, as well as resentment, fear, and mistrust.Apart from emphasizing the role played by women in the construction of communities, Ochoa deals with issues pertaining to the use of Spanish at home and English in the outside world, the formation of identity and the dynamics of group functioning during the interactions of the two communities in commonly frequented universal places in the small and pre plethoricly working class city of La Puente, 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in Los Angeles County.John Hortons book focuses on the small (just 60,000 inhabitants) town of Monterey Park which in recent years has generated substantial media and researcher interest. At one time Monterey Park was a suburb located around distance east from downtown Los Angeles. Immigration from China, Hong Kong and other Pacific Rim coun tries that began in the early 1970s and gained momentum thereafter led to the city get the first in the United States with a majority of Asian inhabitants.Hortons book is actually one of a duo on the subject, the other being authored by Timothy Fong. The evolution of Monterey Park into an Asian majority city in the United States is important for the social and economic ramifications that arise out of the coming together of people of different races, different ethnic backgrounds and different classes in a nation that is become increasingly diverse in terms of cultures, languages, religions and income groups.Horton refuses to ascertain Monterey Park as another Chinatown and views it in terms of a bustling and diverse location that has witnessed the political changes that arose from the interaction of immigrants and earlier residents of Asian, Latino and Anglo American line of merchandise he uniquely showcases the political battles that started off on the basis of ethnicity and rac e, which were thereafter gradually abandoned in regard of accord and harmony.The steady evolution of a multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic society in the United States has led to significant demographic shifts and political changes. With the Latina/o creation in Los Angeles expected to outstrip the white population by 2 million by 2010, the city is already known as the Chicano capital of the US. Such until nowts have led to the development of complex relationships between the original inhabitants and newcomers and to the emergence of feelings of conflict as well as solidarity between different population segments.Whilst the entry of large numbers of migrants is bound to chasten to the development of complex local relationships, the impact of globalization on the modern day economy and the consequent migration of industries and jobs to low wage areas in South America and from other parts of the world have also led to escalation in hostility, resentment and the tendency to lay the blame for difficulties arising out of such events on the influx of immigrants.Ochoa uses a number of research techniques to investigate the evolution of the Mexican immigrant community in La Puente in the face of white resentment and hostility, the many obstacles and difficulties that characterized their lives in the city and the strange and complex relationships that developed between the incoming Mexican immigrants and the established Mexican Americans who had arrived earlier, put down their roots, brought up their children, and built their homes in the face of white resistance.Her investigations whizz to the development of a piquant tale, warm and heartbreaking, and documents events that often go completely unnoticed by members of the majority and older community, for whom the newcomers often represent null more than unwelcome intrusions who clutter residential areas, litter streets, strain existing infrastructure, and take away jobs.Ochoa recounts, through a number of personal interviews, the travails of the Mexican community in the face of a dominant white population that felt strongly enough about immigration to enact laws seeking to deny unregistered Mexicans access to public services, such as excluding children from the public school system, another that denied affirmative action in schools and workplaces, and a third that stemmed from the larger English-only straw man and aimed to eliminate bilingual education (Ochoa, 2004, 3).Ochoas work is unique in the sense that most studies on the Mexican community until now have been numerical in nature, have focused on demographic and work related issues and have not, like her study, taken cognizance of the impact of the environment and local interaction on the evolution of the Mexican community. Working purely within the confines of La Puente, Ochoa addresses issues that affect the evolution of the Mexican American community and the complex attitudes and behaviors that characterize the relations between Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrant newcomers.Her investigation also throws up the impact of the dominant culture on immigrant cultures and the prob expertness of new cultures and new communities becoming assimilated in the culture of the majority community. With most assimilative and integrative methods practiced through local schools, Ochoas work focuses strongly on the working of schools and school boards, on the attitudes and impressions of local parents and how control of schooling provides the dominant community with strong weapons to suppress the expression of newer communities, take away from them the language of their forefathers and break their links with their ancestors.Apart from the bad effect of schooling on the latent aspirations of incoming communities, Ochoas investigation of interaction between Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants brings out the areas of conflict as well as solidarity and the extent to which the constant flow of immigrants can aff ect the assimilation process of older and established inhabitants from the same ethnic and geographical background. Immigrant communities from different cultures have to often face resistance to their traditions, language, and customs in their adopted homes from members of the home community.A phenomenon that has repeatedly expressed itself in the past in various settings, it has led to the immigrant community assimilating itself with the culture of the local community, adopting their way of life, language, customs and traditions. The United States has itself played host to impoverished immigrants from Ireland and other countries of Europe like Poland and Germany, who have over decades learnt English, Anglo traditions and customs, conformed to local expectations and become Americans.Assimilation of foreigners is not restricted to the United States and expresses itself in all societies that play host to immigrants. The United Kingdom for example is redrawing immigration procedures th at now require all immigrants to take tests on their knowledge of England, English, and English society. Much of this assimilation is carried out at the level of local schools, where school policies are predominantly weighed in choose of maintaining the local language and local culture to the exclusion of alien languages and cultural influences.Ochoa makes the point that with schools being reproductions of the larger surrounding society, their structure, policies, procedures, and regulations, in La Puente, work towards fortify the established values, attitudes, ideologies and inherent discriminatory attitudes of the American way of life their socialization process emphasizes the integration of children of immigrants and other colored people by teaching and inculcating values, norms, attitudes and expectations of the dominant class.The emphasis on English to the exclusion of all other languages, including Spanish, is one of the most important tools for the gradual elimination of Me xican identity and the assimilation of children of different communities into the Anglo way of life that characterizes American society. La Puentes investigations also lead to the inescapable conclusion of immigrant communities having to do with poorer school quality and the routing of their children to inferior career paths, conditions that tend to perpetuate existing hierarchical and power structures.Such discomfort, which is supposedly normal in the early years of immigrant arrival in terms of the assimilationist paradigm, (Ochoa, 2004, 21) is expected to gradually lead to a betterment of conditions the Mexicans are expected to follow in the footsteps of the Irish, Jewish, and Italian communities who came before them and gradually shed their community attributes and adopted the American way of life, i. e. entered into the activities and general life of the dominant community.The assimilationist paradigm further postulates that with immigrant communities expected to become less di stinguishable from the dominant community with the passage of generations, such assimilation leads to greater credence and lesser hostility and a gradual easing of difficult living conditions. Apart from the tactics of assimilation practiced in schools, Ochoa also documents the complex and dichotomous relationships that exist between Mexican Americans and immigrant Mexicans, with the reactions of Mexican Americans moving from feelings of distaste, shame and rejection to cooperation, assistance and solidarity.With the responses of Mexican Americans being shaped by (a) their feelings about California once being part of Mexico and now occupied by Americans, (b) their experiences in La Puente, their adopted homeland, their struggles and the hostility they faced in their efforts to settle down in La Puente (c) their coincidence towards their people from Mexico, and (d) their feelings of embarrassment arising out of the backwardness of the new entrants, their reactions are contradictory and, going by the interviews with Mexican immigrants, veer from goodwill and cooperation to rejection and hostility.Much of the detrimental attitudes can presumably be put down to insecurity that could stem from feeling that their acceptance in American society could be adversely affected by the buildup of negative perceptions in the face of continuing influx. Ochoa also documents the struggles the Mexican community has faced and is facing in preserving their language and culture from established institutional and social culture and their need for preservation of their cultural and social identity.Hortons book focuses on the emergence of diversity in politics in Monterey Park from one and a half decades (mid 1980s to late 1990s) of interaction between immigrants and native residents. Employing techniques like ethnography, the use of exit polls and interviews, Horton is able to represent the process of change, which encompasses the giving way of established networks of loyalty, the increasing importance of women, minorities and newcomers, and the makeover of identities.Horton examines the municipal elections of 1988, 1990 and 1992 to show that voters made their election choices in the first 2 elections mostly on the basis of ethnicity. By 1992 feelings of ethnic solidarity appeared to have diluted significantly and voting patterns did not appear to move along ethnic lines.Horton furthermore also investigates areas other than those concerning politics like polite organizations and social events to assess the results of interaction between the citys multi-ethnic residents, and seeks to show that whilst ethnicity was an important political force, it was in a state of fluidity and was tap and modified for political advantage.Elaborating on the divisive and essentially racist approach of the Slow-Growth and the Official-English movements, (Horton, 1997, 121) Horton also points out the importance of class stating that integration at Monterey Park was furthered be cause some(prenominal) native inhabitants and immigrants belonged to the middle class. The middle class resources of the newcomers and the middle class status of the established inhabitants helped in reducing differences between the two groups. This point is exceedingly effectual it reinforces the force of class as a divisive factor in society and its power to overcome differences in culture, traditions and ethnicity.Based upon a wide range of entropy that comprised of reviews of newspapers, exit polls, interviews and eyewitness accounts, Horton compares the issues of ethnicity, immigration and race in Monterey Park with larger regional, national, and global contexts. Opposing the view that that cultural diversity will lead to disunity among American people, Horton makes the point that diversity does not inescapably lead to lasting competition and conflict (Horton, 1997, 182) and that moreover the politics of diversity based on alliances between different ethnic groups can bring about unity and harmony.His effort is important for the analysis that interethnic politics lead to the redefinition of ethnic identities. A community is far more than a collection of individual humans with some common bonds or purposes, such groups being more appropriately described as associations. Communities develop mores and are characterized by a sense of self identity that comes about from a common and shared past as well as a joint vision of the future, an identification with the conception of us and them, and finally of collective thought and attitudes, (features of community characteristics that are brought out very clearly both by Ochoa and Horton).Again communities need individuals to be integrated by principles, be active, and participate strongly in the pursuit of its interests. Communities, experts say, are united by an identifying principle, which represents the value, the ideal, and the good that the community revolves around for its sustained survival, and shapes the processes for assessing such principle.With the establishment of the values and principles and the organization of the community requiring its members to participate in such processes, interaction between community members is dependent upon communication, an essential feature of community life that is destroyed through negation of the use of ethnic languages by assimilative processes. Communities require communicating to grow and consolidate. With humans living in communities by integrity of the things they share and possess, ideal communities are restricted in size and distinguished by strong communication between its members.Globalization, migration, and assimilation of traits of other cultures obviously work against the strengthening of communication bonds between community members and affect its furtherance. The subject of globalization and its repercussions have come to the vanguard of socio-political debate and discussion, there being a development concern that globaliza tion, through its various manifestations, is wiping out communities and cultures and creating an ugly mistakableity all over the world.Events like the protests against the WTO in Seattle during 1999, the objection to the entry of McDonalds in various parts of the world and other insurrections, suggest that the concept of a unified world is not just difficult but also unwanted by many peoples. It however needs to be realized that the personal and cultural impact that globalization is having all over the world is as important as its economic impact. The creation of a global society actually needs diversity in its constituents, the diversity in a society adding to its novelty and, hopefully, to its ability to be flexible.The integrating principle of a global society should not just reject sameness but should try to represent the views of all those conglomerate in its creation and maintenance There is an increasing feeling that globalization can lead to the destruction of a myriad eth nic cultures in favor of one common culture, which most people feel will be predominantly Euro-American, considering the soft and hard powers of the western nations and their domination of global media.In both La Puente and Monterey Park, the cultures of ethnic communities have been subjected to a fierce assault by the dominant culture, much of which is played out in schools and by the annoyance of the English language. The all pervasive effect of American advertising and television programs is also seen as a strong culturally invasive force, not just with immigrant communities in the US but all over the world the concern about loss of cultural identity and local uniqueness is substantial and is caused by the perception of the imposition of cultural hegemony through all possible means.With globalization impacting the world at all levels, society, community, and individual, it is not difficult to foresee that the assimilation of individual cultures and unique community traits into t he folds of the dominant community can have a negative impact upon community life. It however remains a fact that the homogenization of the world, as also of different communities in the United States, is happening at a fast clip, a phenomenon that is adversely affecting the independence, growth and documentation of a myriad communities. A number of reasons are behind this decline in community life.With globalization involving travel and migration of labor forces in large volumes from areas of deprivation and excess labor availability to those deficient in workforce and willing to pay for the same, it is become progressively difficult for communities to retain their distinguishing characteristics in the new areas that some of their members decide to make their homes in. Whilst increases in communication technology and cheaper air travel are making communication cheap and easy between people in different areas, the absence of direct face to face communication that existed in the pa st is bound to affect the integrity of community life.Limited communication will not allow for the development of relationships to levels that are needed for the continuance of communities. Apart from the deterioration in 121 relationships, community spirits are also hurt by cultures of consumption, market cultures and the cultures of dominant communities, all of which lead community members, especially those who are young to conform to what they feel to be the most popular, acceptable and esteemed culture. Market cultures affect community life adversely, leading to the dominance of commodification and the decline of neighborhoods, communities and common links of history and tradition.The adoption of the cultural mores and ways of life of the dominant community by immigrant communities is, in many cases, as highlighted by Ochoa, due to need for increasing the self esteem and self worth of members of immigrant communities. Such feelings in the minds of new immigrants are moreover re inforced by seeing people of the same community, who had come earlier, having already adopted the culture of sameness, and consequently lead to greater assimilation with dominant communities and submersion of individual community traits.Homogenization of individuals into persons with similar behavioral and cultural norms arises from (a) environmental forces that do not appreciate and do not tolerate any deviation from accepted norms and (b) the erroneous notion that social or national unity requires all individuals to follow the same culture much like the concept of organizational culture in the insular sector. A nation or a society is however significantly different from a private sector corporation and such notions lead to the creation of utmost confusion over concepts of homogeneity and unity.Strong unity, most policymakers and intellectuals assert, comes from the affirmation of diversity in the context of similar objectives. Homogeneity in fact leads to dogma, intolerance, prej udice, and divisiveness and works against the concept of unity and effective progress towards common goals. Diversity has time and again been shown to be associated with the successful working and goal attainment of most groups of people.Communities and larger societies exposit on diversity and the netherlying objective for the achievement and establishment of a beneficial structure, concepts and ideas that cannot progress in the absence of tolerance for other ideas and perspectives. The necessity of changing with the times is critical for all communities and larger societies. Globalization is also steadily eliminating the sense of province necessary for the growth, purpose and consolidation of community life, with most community affairs being decided by state or national governmental bodies, and even by large corporate organizations.All this as well as the process of assimilation is leading to the steady deterioration of community life and the construction of associations that ar e characterized by sameness to the exclusion of oneness in the reinforcing presence of diversity. Lack of diversity, tolerance, and communication, leads to the stifling of communities. In actual fact, the concept of a truly global society allows communities to grow and flourish it takes strength and sustenance from their various inputs and features, even as it strives for the achievement of common and not selective good.Such a society will work optimally only after the striking of a kosher balance between the needs of globalization and the dominant and minority communities in areas of political, social and economic activity. Whilst globalization does not appear to be a reversible phenomenon, actions need to be taken to ensure that it is not allowed to destroy the notion of community. Both the studies, by Ochoa and Horton, reveal that whilst immigrant communities come under enormous pressure in early years, such strains disappear with the progress of assimilation.Although most comm unity members show mixed approaches to the process of assimilation, resenting the taking away of the characteristic features of their life and at the same time wishing to be held in esteem by members of the dominant host community, the preservation of communities depends greatly upon the tolerance and openness of establishment members and the extent to which they are ready to respect the uniqueness of newcomers in their midst.Assimilation can actually instead of leading to unity result in a false sense of sameness, and such societies, which press for the establishment of sameness rather than diversity, can lead to the suppression of growth and sustenance of communities. Conclusion The continuance of communities in a fast globalizing world, as is evidenced from the foregoing discussion, depends to a large extent upon the tolerance and open-mindedness of dominant communities.Whilst most communities are formed over the ages and are by nature extremely resilient, excessive fragmentation , migration and exposure to more politically and economically powerful cultures that are furthermore negatively disposed towards alien communities can put such communities under immense strain and lead to irreversible changes.Horton makes the point that modern day society, whilst containing elements of dogma and intolerance, are by nature receptive to the concept of multi ethnic structures they are open to being shaped by and responding to external influences, and to the creation of freer and more vibrant social structures. The concept of a globalized world allows communities to retain their distinguishing and reinforcing features, even composition it strives for the betterment of the common good.The successful progression of such social structures work towards the advantage and benefit of the many communities that sustain its diversity and multifaceted nature and it becomes the responsibility of all individuals to ensure that diversity is not sacrificed at the altar of sameness. C ommunities are critical to the successful progression of human society they facilitate the establishment and sustenance of bonds between humans at elemental levels, lead to joint and cooperative action for the betterment of society and to the continuation of different identities and cultures that have grown over centuries.Such features of diverse and multiethnic societies need to be valued and not extinguished by narrow and insecure parochialism and the desire to create a globally similar society. Unthinking efforts to assimilate separate cultures and extinguish their unique characteristics in favor of the establishment of uniformity can lead to nothing but the detriment of globalization efforts and society needs to be ever vigilant against such regressive tendencies.Recognizing the impact of globalization on communities and making of concerted efforts to preserve them is an imperative for the establishment of a truly globalized society and should be a priority of leading world soci eties. Globalization need not lead to the decline of community. Shifting of suddenly sighted perspectives will help in the preservation, sustenance and growth of unique communities and to the diversity and strength of a truly globalized society.ReferencesOchoa, G.L, (2004), Becoming Neighbors in a Mexican American Community Power, Conflict, and Solidarity, University of Texas PressHorton, J, (1997), The Politics of Diversity Immigration, Resistance, and Change in Monterey Park, California, Temple University Press

Describe the Influence of Two Contrasting Economic Environments

P5-Describe the influence of two severalise stinting environments on calling activities within a selected organisation Within my selected organisation, Tesco, there ar 2 weighty economic environments that have an influence on business activities. Both economic environments result have a different way on affecting Tesco. The economic environments are growth and recession. Economic growth occurs when more goods are being produced and consumed, and incomes are rising. A growth company tends to have very pro mateable reinvestment opportunities for its declare retained earnings.Economic growth will affect Tesco as it would increase their wampum due to more people wanting more products and wanting to spend their money. As people have more money to spend on luxuries instead of the essentials it means that the higher value products will be brought. For mannequin the Andrex toilet rolls will be brought instead of Tesco value, because of this it means more money is being spent in the s tore which is an advantage for Tesco. Recession occurs when people involved in business become more cautious and * Customers cut back on spending, and diverge to save more Manufactures and administerers cut back on their orders, produce fewer goods and start to cut back costs in general, including by laying off workers. Because economic recessions will put Tescos customers under money worries they will wholly be purchasing from the store, instead of what they want only what they need. Examples on what Tesco customers would want let in chocolate, ice cream, sweats, and walkers crisps instead of Tesco value, the luxuries. Examples on what Tesco customers need include toothpaste, milk, bread and more, only if the essentials.P6-Describe how political, legal and social factors are alludeing upon the business activities of the selected organisations and their stakeholders A PESTLE outline for Tesco must consider all the important external factors impacting on the company. These fact ors may have political, economic, sociological, technological, legal or environmental dimensions. The political analysis must include the impact of local and national government, and the international situation. The Economic analysis needs to investigate the influences of the stock market and tax increases, amongst many an(prenominal) separate monetary matters.Sociological factors are difficult to suss out. We swim in the water of our culture without recognising it as an important determining factor. And sociological analysis is all about analysing the background culture. Technological factors are usually easier to spot, because new technologies involve change, and change is unceasingly noticed. For instance, online obtain has had a major impact on Tescos re centime success. The change created by technological advances often lead to legal problems, which is why legal analysis is always an important part of a PESTLE analysis.Tescos operations obviously have a signifi displacet environmental impact, from fossil fuel use to packaging issues. reduction the demand on the planet is a challenge for any big company. A PESTLE Analysis for Tesco must look at all the sestet factors we have mentioned. Here they are again, with examples of each * Political an increase in unemployment due to a downward turn in the world economy. * Economic impact on gross sales of the credit crunch. * Sociological an increase in immigration from Eastern Europe resulting in a demand for new goods. * Technological how can Tesco take full advantage of the World Wide Web? Legal how can Tesco avoid legal opposition to expanding into new high streets? * Environmental climate change is affecting supply and transport, how can Tesco adapt? In summary, any PESTLE Analysis for Tesco must consider all external factors if it has any go for of capturing the essence of the company. Political- Marketing decisions are strongly influenced by changes in the political environment. Changes such as n ew legislations put forward by councils and governments, not just in the UK but also in the other thirteen countries that Tesco operates in.One legislation that affects Tesco rather predominantly is planning permission a law heavily modulate in the UK, and as Tesco has approximately 2. 75 million meters of shop space (including car parks and stock rooms). Owning so much space and with so many cosmic superstores can make this factor a very difficult one to overcome. Legal- The economy is different worldwide and fluctuates constantly, which makes this factor so complex for large multi-nationals like Tesco to tackle.To maintain maximum profitability overall, Tesco needs to raise its prices in accordance with inflation rates. If however prices are raised higher than the rate of inflation, customers may be urged to go somewhere else or spend slight, and if the prices arent raised high enough, they may not compensate with the rate of inflation and decrease the products profit margin. A s there are people on different budgets, Tesco tries to accommodate for everyone, which is why over recent years they have introduced many different price-based ranges. Social-Social attitudes of todays society have changed the way people live, people now are working longer hours to sustain the financial demand that is needed in-order to keep up a higher standard of living, One quarter of working men and 11% of working women in the UK now work more than 50 hours per workweek . This is a social problem because it encourages people to eat fast food type products such as pasties, sausage rolls, pre-packaged sandwiches and microwavable take-away items such as burgers fervent dogs etc, which all have high percentages of saturated fats, sugars and salts.These fast foods are eaten because of their convenience and due to time shortages from working longer hours these food are the easy option. This implicates less healthy diets and obesity in the UK creation. M2-Compare the challenges to selected business activities within a selected organisation, in two different economic environments IE Tesco delivered a 10% increase in profits to a mighty ? 3. 4bn and chief executive Sir Terry Leahy declared the retailer stronger than it was before the recession.There is no single secret to Tescos success, but at the cheek of the company is its focus on customers. Its mantra is to look after them, and everything else will look after itself. It sounds simple, but few companies are as focused. Size also matters. merchandising more means better buying terms and that equals lower prices and/or higher profit margins. Lower prices then bring in bigger sales volumes. Tesco, like so few of its high street rivals, has succeeded in making itself largely classless, with price ranges designed to cater across the board.Britains biggest retailer Tesco has called on the trust of England to cut interest rates on, despite the fact the supermarket giant has yet to see any impact of the slowdow n in the economy after insurance coverage an increase in like-for-like sales. Overall the business in the UK was making good progress, and that Tesco Direct and tesco. com had both delivered very strong growth. The international business was rapidly expanding and that Asia had performed particularly well with a 29pc increase in sales. Tesco is on track to open new stores in the international business which will provide more than 7m sq ft of new trading floor space this year.Tesco have maintained pleasing progress, overall sales growth has strengthened in the period, with International delivering a particularly strong performance, and the UK has again done well, with good growth in our core food categories. M3-Analyse how political, legal and social factors have impacted on the two contrasting organisations Tesco will experience many issues when it comes to political, legal and social factors. All businesses will experience similar problems even one that is in a different market, for example Apple would experience similar, however not the exact same problems as Tesco.One political factor that will impact Tesco is the Consumer Protection Act 1987. This is a dress circle of laws and regulations that were designed to protect consumers from faulty and/or unsatisfactory goods bought. As an example you buy a stereo from Tesco and within 2 days, the sound distorts and crackles, this is not fit for purpose as the stereo was designed to allow you (the consumer) to listen to your music, which you cannot do satisfactorily. You are and then authorise to return the item for a replacement or refund but only within a set time i. e. 0 days, if the item became faulty after 30 days, the store you bought it from are entitled to send it for repair. This could impact Tesco because just say they had a poor supplier then they would have many a customer returning demanding refunds or repairs which therefore will cause Tesco to lose out and it could cause them to lose customers as itll give them bad customer satisfaction. Apple could definitely relate to this as they sell many electrical products which could go faulty at any time, an example could be if they sold an iPhone and the consumer could not make calls on it or connect it to iTunes.Although they are a huge company who promise that there will be no faultiness in their products and offer warranties, it is not one hundred per cent certain that their products will work efficiently. There will be the odd product that will be faulty. For employment legislations, the government encourages retailers to provide a amalgamate of job opportunities from flexible, lower-paid and locally-based jobs (working in the stores) to highly-skilled, higher-paid and centrally-located jobs (working in, probably London, being a part of a department.An example would be working for the the Tesco marketing team). Also to meet the demand from population categories such as students, working parents and senior citizens. Tesco und erstands that retailing has a great impact on jobs and people factors (new store developments are often seen as destroying other jobs in the retail sector as traditional stores go out of business or are forced to cut costs to compete), being an inherently local and labor-intensive sector.Tesco employs large numbers of student, disabled and elderly workers, often paying them lower rates. In an industry with a typically high ply turnover, these workers offer a higher level of loyalty and therefore represent desirable employees. Apple D2-Evaluate how future changes in economic political, legal and social factors, may impact on the strategy of a specified organisation

Causes of the Reign of Terror

The reign of terror was a period of violence in which occurred from 1793- 1794 after the strong onset of the french Revolution. It was a time of fierceness and anger, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people animated in France at that period of time. The terror followed the trial and execution of King Louis XVI in 1793 and was incited by the conflict between the Girondins and Jacobins. Soon after, King Louis wife, Marie Antoinette, was executed in the guillotine- the new form of constitutionalist justice.Many of the people who were executed during this period of time were not aristocrats, besides ordinary people who may have only stated a minute thought or judgment going against the revolutionary government. Many think that once Robespierre became leader of the perpetration of Public Safety, he overworld powered France and dominated the public, leading to the terror. Some believe that the terror occurred to stop counter-revolutionaries, such as the War in Vendee, and happ ened because of the f act asions between the Jacobins and Girondins.The Reign of Terror was the governments reactions to counter-revolutionary threats occurring particularly in the Vendee region of France in 1793. Here the public armed themselves in hunting lodge to contract to overthrow the Republic and restore the monarchy to the way it was. The counter-revolutionaries in this region were strongly against Robespierre and upset he had launched a movement to de-Christianize the nation and persecute the Church- massacring priests, destructing churches and destroying sacred images.During this time each of the people of Vendee loyally stood by the Church and the Catholic monarchy of France and could clearly be distinguished wearing Rosaries around their necks at all times and the symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus sewn onto their hats. The people of Vendee fought hard against the French revolutionary government, many calling the War in Vendee the first modern genocide. A French g eneral of the time, Francois Joseph Westermann, stated We are shooting them non-stopMercy is not a revolutionary sentiment, exaggerating the intensity of the internet site in Vendee and the success of the revolutionary government against the West region, supposedly leading to the Reign of Terror in France. A number of people living in France, including nobles, priests and the bourgeoisie f direct the country during the French Revolution, abandoning the struggle the country was going through. Emigrating, they formed armed groups and moved to neighboring countries, acquiring the name of emigres.In 1791, legislation against the emigres was passed by the King stating that anyone caught emigrating would be punished with a death sentence, namely the guillotine. Due to the politics of the time period, France was inevitably drawn to War with Austria and its allies, including Prussia, declaring War against them on 20 April 1792. Robespierre opposed the occurrence of War due to the fact that it would strengthen the monarchy and the military as well as attract the anger of ordinary people in Austria and its neighbouring countries.The Jacobins increased the size of the army, determined to have more soldiers who demonstrated their patriotism and trained ability effectively. The Republican Army of France dominated the battles and were able to overcome the Austrians, Prussians, British and Spanish- the countries against the revolutionary government, and the strong violence was a monolithic part in why the Reign of Terror began. Factional disputes in the Convention caused for the replacement of the Girondins with the Jacobins as they desired for a centralized government in France. This dispute could have been one of the main causes of the Reign of Terror breaking out.They wanted to keep Paris as the national capital city and to have the temporary government of the time to take control of the economy as a whole. The Jacobins were able to utilize their power of the sans-culo ttes and gained much of the publics support opposed to the Girondins. On June 22, 1793, 80000 armed sans-culottes ga in that respectd and surrounded the National Convention halls and demanded the nurse of the Girondin party, resulting in the immediate arrest of 29 Girondin members. The Jacobins then had firm control of both the National Convention and France as a nation, left to deal with the violence and repression on the streets of France.Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety in 1793, causing a shift in power from Georges Danton to Maximilien Robespierre, Danton being an implausible public speaker and having a stronger physical heraldic bearing while Robespierre less passionate about the public in general and their needs. He encouraged violence in France during the political deterioration and the fact that the attempt to set up a workable constitutional monarchy under King Louis XVIs reign failed made him passionate about politics. He wished to build a tem porary dictatorship in order to save the Republic from falling completely.He believed that it was Ones duty to punish traitors, to help the needy, respect the weak, arrest the oppressed, do good to ones neighbour and behave justly, meaning he wanted to punish those who were against the government in any way and act justly- not something that he achieved. He believed that the Terror is nothing but quick and hard justice, granting that he wanted the terror to be something which was handled quickly and only for those who acted against their choices in any way. Robespierre was a large influence in the Reign of Terror and wanted the people who acted out to be punished for their actions.Many people believe that he was the reason why the Reign of Terror originally began. Many dispute that the Reign of Terror simply does not exist due to the fact that there was already violence occurring before this supposed period of time. The Storming of Bastille was a violent period in which happened on July 14, 1789 where a mob of people marched to the Bastille, a large structure in which was previously an eight-towered castle, in search for prisoners and gun powder that had been taken by the unpopular King, Louis XVI.The building was being used as a prison at this period of time and only guarded by 30 Swiss guards, making it easy for the mob to get through in possession of canons and 3000 rifles under their belt. This shows that before the Reign of Terror strong violence was already occurring and was a large part of the nation. The Reign of Terror was not a significant change of violence to what was already occurring in France at the time, causing people to argue that the violent Reign of Terror never existed in candor it was simply a continuation of the violence already taking place.The Reign of Terror began in order to repress counter-revolutionary groups, which squeeze the Committee of Public Safety, led by Robespierre, to use the humane form of execution- the guillotine. T his resulted in external enemies being executed and anyone living in France who was under suspicion or was overheard stating a critical judgment against the government put under the guillotine. Through these executions the Revolutionary government ained momentum against their political enemies and had confidence with all of the power they were given. The mentality of violence had built up gradually from the very beginning of the revolution, not particularly when the Reign of Terror supposedly begun in 1792 the strong violence and destruction progressively change magnitude and the death toll reaching to new heights in this time period. By 1794, the Jacobins power was overbearing as they started to become unpopular with the public and media- those with certain opinions.Their bloodshed result of power and recognition in the nation caused the bourgeoisie and former Jacobins to prompt propaganda against them, aiming to destroy the monarchy. The Reign of Terror impacted the people of F rance and forced them to conform to what was accepted by the Committee and the Jacobins, allowing for them to have no say or judgment in the events of the time. There were many causes of the terror, some in which include strong violence, others strong leaders, yet they all marked the same thing- the end and beginning of France again.

Ottoman and Safavid

In the late Islamic flow rate (16th -18th), perhaps even more so than in preceding periods, invention was an instrument of dynastic expression in this great age of empires. Spurred by royal patronage, the arts flourished under the Ottomans and Safavids. Ottoman art was a vibrant synthesis of Turkish and Persian-Islamic, Byzantine, and Mediterranean culture and styles through conquest, through direct invitation of artisans, or through the migration of peoples.The Ottoman Turks were renowned for their architecture, as good as for their traditions of calligraphy and miniature painting. They were also renowned for their decorative arts including carpet weaving, jewelry making, paper marbling, and their characteristic Iznik ware ceramics. The Ottomans promoted themselves as the defenders of Islam, and this explains why their popular art includes a rich variety of ornamental designs but no human figures. Plant- and flower-based patterns were the most common.Observing Iznik ceramics, a superficial abstraction is dominant in the naturalistic plant designs. Besides, around 16th century Ottoman Miniature Art reached its peak. The Miniatures and illuminated manuscripts were created largely for the emperors, with their focus mostly on the important and powerful figures in their retinues. A unique feature of Ottoman Miniature was that it depicted the actual events realistically, while also keeping the abstract formal expressive touch of the tralatitious Islamic Art.The Safavid style developed in Iran from 1500, when the country was re-united under the dynasty of this name. Unlike their Ottoman neighbors, the Safavids had no qualms about depicting human beings in all forms of art. These figures became an unco prominent feature of the Safavid style. Depictions of elegant young men and women, often shown in outdoor settings, adorned many objects, from clothing to the bindings of manuscripts. One of the most renowned manuscripts from the period is a now-dispersed copy of the Shahnama epic.Also textiles and carpets were manufactured of luxury materials as furnishings for the court. The most famous is a pair known as the Ardabil Carpets, created in 1539-1540. The carpets were nearly identical, perfectly radial and enormous. Every inch of space was filled with flowers, scrolling vines, and medallions. Although the central medallion and the repeating patterns throughout the carpet is similar to Ottoman but the Ardabil carpets have A vast range of colors than Ottomans which is heavily dependent on reds and blues.

Engineering Management

EEMT 5510 Homework 5 12-24. An improved design of a computerized darn of continuous quality measuring equipment utilise to control the thickness of rolled airplane products is being developed. It is estimated to sell for $125,000 more than the true design.Based on present test data, however, the typical user has the following probabilities of achieving different performance results and woo savings (relative to the current unit) in the first year of operation (assume these annual address savings would escalate 5% per year thereafter a five-year analysis period is used the MARR=18%, and the net market value after five years is 0) Performance Results Probability Cost Savings in family One sanguine 0. 0 $60,000 Most likely 0. 55 40,000 Pessimistic 0. 15 18,000 Based on the E(PW), is the new design preferable to the current unit? Based on a decision tree analysis, what is the EVPI? What does the EVPI tell you?Without information, the optimal decision is to take the new design, shown by the decision tree below scenarios Year 0 live Year 1 Saving Year2 Saving Results (j) p(j) Decision Outcome Optimistic 0. 30 New $79,063 Most Likely 0. 55 New 11,042 Pessimistic 0. 5 Current 0 Expected Value $29,792 EVPI = $29,792 ? $20,225 = $9,567 NoteThe EVPI is the maximum amount that ought to be spent to obtain additional information prior to making a decision. Suggested Exercises 1. A bridge is to be constructed now as part of a new road. An analysis has shown that traffic density on the new road allow justify a two-lane bridge at the present time.Because of uncertainty regarding future use of the road, the time at which an bare(a) two lanes will be required is currently being studied. The estimated probabilities of having to widen the bridge to four lanes at various times in the future are as follows Widen bridge circuit In Probability 3 years 0. 1 4 years 0. 2 5 years 0. 6 years 0. 4 The present estimated cost of the two-lane bridge is $2,100,0 00. If constructed now, the four-lane bridge will cost $4,000,000. The future cost of widening a two-lane bridge will be an extra $2,100,000 plus $350,000 for every year that widening is delayed. If money can earn 12% per year, what would you recommend? Option 1 construct 4 lanes now PW( cost ) = $4,000,000 Option 2 widen to 4 lanes later with 0. 1 probability,PW( cost ) = 2100000 + (2100000+350000*3)(P/F, 12%, 3) = 4,342,108 with 0. 2 probability, PW( cost ) = 2100000 + (2100000+350000*4)(P/F, 12%, 4) = 4324313 with 0. 3 probability, PW( cost ) = 2100000 + (2100000+350000*5)(P/F, 12%, 5) = 4284593 with 0. 4 probability, PW( cost ) = 2100000 + (2100000+350000*6)(P/F, 12%, 6) = 4227851 Hence the expected PW(cost) = 4,275,592 4,000,000 So we recommend constructing 4 lanes now. 2. Suppose that a random variable (e. g. , market value for a piece of equipment) is normally distributed, with mean = $180 and variance = 36$2.What is the probability that the actual market value is at least $ 176? Normally distributed random variable E(X) = $180, V(X) = 36 ($)2 PrX ( 176 = ? Z = pic = ? 0. 67 PrX ( 176 = PrZ ( ? 0. 67 = 1 ? PrZ ( ? 0. 67 = 1 ? 0. 2514 = 0. 7486 3. A potential get wind has an initial capital investment of $100,000. Net annual revenues minus expenses are estimated to be $40,000 (A$) in the first year and to increase at the rate of 6. 48% per year. The useful life of the primary equipment, however, is uncertain, as shown in the following table Useful Life, Years(N) p(N) 1 0. 03 2 0. 10 3 0. 30 4 0. 30 5 0. 17 6 0. 10 Assume that im = MARR = 15% per year and f = 4% per year. Based on this information, a. What are the E(PW) and SD(PW) for this go out? b. What is the PrPW0? c. What is the E(AW) in R$? a. Year N Profit in Year PW (Profit in Total PW (Profit PW (with investment until Probability N Year N) until Year N) Year N) 1 40000 $34,782. 61 $34,782. 61 ($65,217. 39) 0. 03 2 42592 $32,205. 7 $66,988. 28 ($33,011. 72) 0. 1 3 45351. 96 $29,819. 65 $96,807. 93 ($3,192. 07) 0. 3 4 48290. 77 $27,610. 40 $124,418. 33 $24,418. 33 0. 3 5 51420. 01 $25,564. 83 $149,983. 17 $49,983. 17 0. 17 6 54752. 03 $23,670. 81 $173,653. 98 $73,653. 98 0. 1 E PW = 16972,VarPW = 1097641387 SDPW = 33130 (Standard deflection is the square root of Var) b. Prob PW0 = 0. 3+0. 17+0. 1 = 0. 57 Note This is a discrete random variable with known distribution. So we do non use the normal distribution table. c. Since f=4%, we have real MARR, ir = (15%-4%)/(1+4%) = 10. 577% use the equationAWr (until Year N) = PW (until Year N) (A/P, 10. 577%, N) AWr(1) = (72115), AWr(2) = (19168), AWr(3) = (1296), AWr(4) = 7799, AWr (5)=13380, AWr (6) = 17198, so EAWr = 1865 The project is questionable though EPW0. The probability of PW

Islamic Banking

pic ISLAMIC BANKING IS IT REALLY ISLAMIC? By Omar Mustafa Ansari & Faizan Ahmed Memon Is it re bothy Moslem? . In this era of development and growth in Muslim finance and bank buildinging, this is a examination being brocaded at all forum by various quarters. All those who raise this question, be undoubtedly healthful-wishers of Islam, Moslem sparing system of rules and Muslim Ummah. Accordingly, objet dart we celeb prise the achievements of Muslim banking on cardinal hand, we should non be ignoring the appears and protests being raised by such quarters in order to see to it that we lay the foundations of this labor on sinewy, straight and acceptable-to-all footings.Objectives Of Moslem Banking Before discussing various objections raised on the present day Muslim banking, we should starting signal resolve to understand the clinicals of Muslim banking, which argon as follows 1. To provide shariah law compliant and responsible banking opportunities hence providi ng an opportunity to Muslims to do their banking acts a proper substance In other words, this is erect an effort to bar Riba and other prohibited elements from technical and banking minutes, in order to warrant that we do Nothing-Haram and 2. Achieving the goals and objectives of an Muslim economical system.We all pot agree that, admitn the circumstances, the Muslim banking industry is making all efforts to ensure the first objective, while the atomic number 42 objective, although no- little important, is non the prime objective of current-day Islamic banking. History Of Islamic Banking new-made banking system was introduced in Muslim countries at a succession when they were politically and economically slave to the western piece. The main banks of the western world established their branches and subsidiaries in the Muslim countries and territories to fulfill requirements of foreign business.The Muslim fellowship ecumenically avoided the foreign banks for religio us reasons unless with the qualifying of time, it became to a greater extent and to a greater extent difficult to engage in trade and other activities without making use of commercial banks. Even because, a large number of Muslims, hold their involvement to transaction activities such as current account or hundred percent change margin letter of credits. Borrowings from commercial banks or placement the access funds and saving accounts were strictly avoided by practicing Muslims in order to keep away from dealing in interest which is prohibited by Islam.With the passage of time, however, overdue to increase in cross-border transactions and other socio-economic forces attachmenting more involvement in national economic and monetary activities, avoiding the interaction with the banks became impossible. Local banks were established in Muslim countries (including the names like Muslim commercial-grade Bank) on the like lines as the interest- base foreign banks and they began to expand within the country bringing the banking system to more and more hoi polloi. Governments, businesses and individuals began to transact business with the banks, with or without liking it.This evoke of affairs drew the attention and bushel of Muslim intellectuals which gave emergence to the contemporary Islamic banking. By the midst of the last century, m whatever Muslim countries started their efforts to study the Islamic economic and banking systems. M any(prenominal) scholars, economist and experienced bankers came with different solutions to initiate the Islamic banking. Those experiences paved the itinerary for modern Islamic banking. Nowadays Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) be spread all over the world including European countries and the unite realms.In particular these come their significant presence in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, other GCC countries, Malaysia, Sudan and Iran. Who Raise The Questions? Islamic banking is a weak industry. In compliments of resources, in respect of knowledge-bases, in respect of trained-knowledgeable-sincere human resources, in respect of availability of commercial options, in respect of state support, as head as, society support, in respect of sincerity of stake-holders and WHAT NOT.With such adverse footings, unfortunately, it really has authorized weaknesses which be non only tar locomoteed by the enemies, but, atomic number 18 more severally and forcefully attacked by the FRIENDS. As a consequence, the Islamic banking and finance is facing disagreements from various quarters including au becausetic r evolutionary Islamic movements, certain(a) rigid and hard-core religious scholars, and idealistic and utopian Islamic economists (without any disrespect to them all). Can Banking ever so Be Really Islamic?The first question is raised mostly by those who either do not check any knowledge about banking, or those who have the courage to evaluate the banking systems f rom its evolution to its objectives. They spirit that the banking per-se is against the very basic concepts of Islam. They satisfying step that exclusively like the feature that there can not be any Halal pork or Islamic prostitution, there can be no Halal banking. This viewpoint is supported by the fact that, particularly in Pakistan, we have already faced a complete disaster in the name of interest-free banking and so-called IFIs particularly including Modarabas.The business line, as to whether Islamic banking is really Islamic, has two different facets. The first one is that whatever is being performed in the name of Islamic banking is apparently quite similar to the operations of a accomplished financial institution hence creates doubts in peoples mind, as to on what grounds we can call it Islamic? So they feel that it is merely a change in name and documents and in fact, it is nothing different from constituted banking. The plump for facet of this question is more impo rtant nd deals with the socio-economic factors associated with the overall Islamic financial system. Due to substance of these objections, we exit discuss these two issues before looking for other arguments. Merely A Change In Name And Documents The most common and most discussed argument against contemporary Islamic banking is that there is NO re enlist AT ALL between the stately banking and Islamic banking and this is merely a change of name and documents.The support argument, which is in-fact a derivative of the first argument, is that rase in Islamic banking, the most common crops being utilise e. g. Murabaha, Musawwama, Salam, Istisna, diminishing Musharaka and Ijara Muntahia Bittamleek are on fixed return basis. Even the Musharaka and Modaraba ground increases are engineered in a way that the earningss are virtually-fixed. One should realize the fact that unless we can distinguish an Islamic bank from a conventional bank, it would be difficult for any of us to rely on the same.Particularly, it is observed that they try to make sure that their product is similar to the conventional products in all respects, even if for that purpose they have to incorporate a hardly a(prenominal) provisions in these products which are not considered to be good or a few of them are considered Makrooh. In addition, their endeavors are focuse towards minimization of their risk through every possible option and accordingly, the essence of Islamic finance which is ground on risk taking is killed. We can note that most IFIs merchandise their products on the sticks very much similar to those used by the conventional banks.As an example, an Ijara Muntahia Bittamleek transaction introduced by an IFI might be very similar to a finance lease transaction offered by a conventional leasing company, except for a difference of Takaful / insurance cost which in Islamic mode is to be borne by the lessee and accordingly, the same is built-in the rentals. The basic reason behin d this comparison is to ensure tierce objectives. The first one, which is more important one, is to provide an even play ground to the IFIs in order to ensure their survival in the overall banking system.The second one, is that even by IFIs, it has to be ensured that their shareholders and vexors get some return and preferably a return equivalent to those of conventional banks. And the third reason is to avoid arbitrage amongst Islamic and conventional financial systems which whitethorn be exploited by a few big-guns to get the benefit of the price difference between the two parallel financial systems. For such reason, time value of money concept is used for performance measurement and pricing of financial products.Most importantly, it should be kept in mind that in some areas Haram and Halal have a very pocketable difference. For an example, only saying the name of Allah Almighty on an animal at the time of slaughter makes it Halal and permissible while by not saying that name we make it Haram or by comely a few words of acceptance in Nikah, in presence of a few persons, a man and woman become Halal for each other. Similarly, if a transaction can be engineered in a way that the same becomes shariah law compliant, then we should not conclude that the same is Haram only due to its resemblance with the interest based financing.It is also pertinent to note that since the Islamic financial dishs empyrean is in its infancy phase, as compared to the conventional banking, we unfortunately have to follow the conventional system in the pattern of financial products and are still not in a fructify to invent absolutely new financial services. During the last few centuries, the conventional banking system has well read the human necessitate and psychology and has invented a considerable number of financial products and accordingly, it is not simple to just invent a new financial tool just for the purpose of inventing one.For example, if they have running fina nce and overdraft as a financing tool, we have invented an alternate to the same in form of Istijrar with Murabaha or Musharaka based running finance model. Similarly, if they use finance leases as a financing tool, we have converted the same in a sharia law compliant form in form of Ijara Muntahia Bittamleek or in form of Diminishing Musharaka. These are only two examples, but the tally is practically very high and for each interest based financial product except for those explicitly Haram, more than one alternates have been engineered.The objective of this discussion was just to emphasize that merely an amortization schedule similar to the one offered by a conventional bank, is not a basis for declaring a Halal product to be Haram. If just a pricing model or just the similarity of a cash-flow model makes the transaction Haram, what you volition say regarding a conventional loan offered at a price much higher or much lower than the market prevailing rates for which the pricing mod el and the cash-flow model are not similar to those generally apply in the industry.Does anybody think that such dissimilarity will make it Halal? Accordingly, from shariah law principles it is rightly conclude that it is the substance of a transaction what makes it Halal or Haram and not a pricing model used to price the transaction or the cash-flow model used for the payments and repayments in monetary terms. Socio-Economic Effects Of Islamic Banking And finance Second most significant argument from such group, predominantly by certain Islamic economists and certain Islamic revolutionary movements, is about the socio-economic factors of Islamic banking.They feel that since Islamic banking is also based on expediency motive and in present form, it generally works on virtually-fixed return basis hence the same cannot attribute anything-positive towards the socio-economic changes that Islam desires. This is a crucial question and, we believe that, every conscious Muslim will res train with the concerns of those who raise the same, although the conclusions derived by different people might vary. Nobody can argue that virtually-fixed return based banking, although being shariah compliant, is not what has been desired by Islam as a complete way of aliment.In addition, the current-day Islamic banking is emphasizing more on consumer finance as compared to financing to SME sector, agricultural sector, and more importantly, on the micro-finance hence, it is not contributing enough towards the just and equitable monetary system that Islam needs. Having due regard for these arguments, may we remind you that that the Islamic economic system is not something that can work in isolation of the geo-political and legislative system, as well as, and more importantly the societys behavior towards the injunctions of Islamic shariah in personal and collective matters.Accordingly, one can easily imagine that in an economy whereby most of the businessmen are not honest in f airly presenting the financial statements of their businesses, how difficult it is to introduce a salary and loss sharing based financial solution. Similarly, in most of the cases payment of Zakat and Sadaqat depends on the individual and particularly, in view of the gigantic volume of the black economy in the country, what can be judge even if a good system for Zakat and Ushr is introduced?It needs to be emphasized that only the change in banking system is not a solution to the overall revolution of economic system unless other facets of Islamic economic system, as well as, Islamic social system are not implemented simultaneously. Accordingly, the complete musical passage of economy to an Islamic economic system can be performed, when and only when, the overall consensus of the society is substantial towards practical exercise of sharia in all the facets of human life, particularly including the giving medicational, political and legislative structures. condescension such an unsatisfactory and rather discouraging attitude of the society towards application of Islamic Shariah, it should be observe that such a situation do not relieve a Muslim from the applicability of Shariah principles, but rather increases his responsibilities in the way that it becomes his duty not only to try to abide by all applicable Shariah requirements in his personal capacity but also to put his endeavors towards improvement in such system. Consequently, in case the Islamic banking, in your opinion, is not contributing enough towards melioration of society, you cannot b maim the same alone.The responsibilities of the Muslim Ummah as a whole (or of the earth) can not be expected to be borne by a single sector only, which, at this point of time is in its infancy stages. Is It Heela Banking? This is a general discussion at various forums that contemporary Islamic banking is based on Heelas. From Shariah perspective, a Heela is an option utilized to disobey the divine guidance through engineering the circumstances and playing with the facts and intentions.Having an insight into the industry, one can not disagree with this argument to certain extent, as it has been observed in a number of cases that in-fact, certain transactions are practically applied on this basis. Having said that this argument should, however, not be used to blame the entire industry. We should acknowledge that the foundations of the industry have been built victimization the pillars which are directly derived from the beatified Quran, Sunnah and Fiqh. It is worth-noting that mostly, a Heela is applied in the execution of a transaction rather than designing of a transaction.In other words, we can safely conclude that application of Heelas in Islamic banking is not a weakness in the theories of Islamic banking, but actually is a matter of misuse / misinterpretation of basic Shariah guidance in respect of various Shariah compliant financial transactions. Accordingly, it needs to be emph asized that in order to support the growth of Islamic banking and finance on right footings, we need to fix the Shariah compliance mechanism for the industry. In addition, in the broader run, we need to eliminate the Islamic financial products which have the potential of misuse.Use Of Interest-Rate As benchmark Is It Halal? Critics, including scholars, as well as, economists, strongly condemn that most of IFIs while providing financing by way of any of the Halal transactions, determine their profit rate on the basis of the current interest-rate benchmarks prevailing in the conventional money market. Scholars are of the view that by applying these benchmarks, the Islamic banking industry makes their transactions similar to interest-based transactions and as a consequence, these transactions become doubtful from Shariah point-of-view. Economists feel further issues and that and are of he view that this thing makes these financial institutions a part of the prevailing capitalistic e conomic systems, hence this figure of transactions are absolutely not desirable by Islam. Here it would be worthwhile to have a look on the arguments by the Islamic banking for better understanding of the pricing issue. They generally give examples like suppose you enter into a supermarket in UK and see that the pork, the beef and the Halal beef are all being sold for GBP 2 per kg. Do you think that this similarity of price or the fact that these products are being sold under the same roof renders the Halal beef as Haram?Or for example in the same superstore you note that they are using the same balance for weighing these three types of meat. Do you think that using the same balance will render the Halal beef, as Haram? If not, then we should better understand the principle that it is the substance and legal form of the transaction that makes it Halal or Haram and not its pricing, rate or the cash-flow model or the institution, or even the surroundings that offers such transaction . This issue, however, needs to be addressed by the government, as well as, the market players.A strong Islamic inter-bank market will InshaAllah provide us opportunities to develop our own benchmarks for Islamic banking operations. Dealing of Islamic Banks with accomplished Banks Another strong argument against Islamic banking is against dealing with conventional banks. These dealings are of two types i. e. sharing of services and commercial transactions. As far as services are concerned, where the Islamic Banks are facilitating the foreign businesses of their customer or helping out their customers to transfer the money from safe channels.For these services, the remuneration or expense of Islamic banks is service charges which are allowed by Shariah jurists, although they recommend that such interaction should be avoided wherever IFIs are available. The second argument which is much strong is regarding the commercial transactions with conventional financial institutions. These tr ansactions generally impact to the treasury side of the Bank whereby either the IFIs place their excess liquidity with the conventional banks or run financings from them to meet their own liquidity requirements.For placement of funds with conventional banks most of Islamic banks in Pakistan are using the product of Commodity Murabaha or they invest in certain Halal assets of the conventional financial institutions. On the other hand, they normally obtain financings from the conventional banks on the basis of profit and loss sharing, although the profit rates are once again virtually-fixed. Although, most of the Shariah scholars have allowed these transactions duly considering the Shariah requirements, however, nobody can argue that it is a must to avoid all such transactions.For this purpose, however, we need to strengthen the Islamic inter-bank market and to provide further liquidity management options to the IFIs particularly, in form of strong Shariah-compliant government secur ities and a stable capital market with plenty of Halal investment funds options available. All dealings with conventional financial institutions should remain limited to the necessities which reach the extremes of compulsion. Cost Of Being A Muslim Those who have dingy memories of dealing with Islamic banks are in front-line of critics with this remark.People feel that there are serious doubts on the honesty and integrity of IFIs. They feel that these Banks are using the name of Islam to earn a few bucks more as compared to the conventional banks or rather they are exploiting the faith of Muslims by charging them, the cost of being a Muslim. On the financing side, they charge higher than conventional banks. In other words, internal rate of return on Islamic financial products is higher than the conventional products.On the contrary, it is observed that on the deposit sides they pay less as compared to the conventional banks. In addition, it is generally observed that the expected r ates, as well as, the actual rates of return offered by these financial institutions are fairly equivalent to (generally slightly less than) the rates being offered by conventional financial institutions. A justification against the first argument is that since IFIs are subject to the commodity risk, asset destruction and holding risks and the price risk, as well as their relevant costs e. g.Takaful expenses, in addition to the risks and costs that a bank faces, they are justified in their demand i. e. higher internal rate of return. Nevertheless, financial experts have generally tangle that even if these factors are considered, the pricing by these Banks is on the higher side. On the other side, in a profit and loss based model, it is agreeable that they assign weightage to different types of deposits in a manner that the total return on investment and financing pools is al laid amongst various depositors and the Bank (works as a partner).Even then, it is generally noted that IFIs are salaried less than the market. We can only hope that in near future, with increasing competition in the Islamic banking industry, this effect will minimize because of market-forces except to the extent of pricing against actual additional risk elements. merchandising Approach Of IFIs Another valid argument is about the market approach being used by these financial institutions, which adversely effects the public reliance on this mode.People raising objections on the marketing approach of IFIs have two grounds for the same. The first one is the general marketing approach being applied by the a few IFIs which include advertisement and other publicity materials including involvement of women and handed-down marketing and advertisement styles for promotion of Islamic banking business. Second ground is the marketing strategy in which sometimes it is felt that false statements are made for promotional purposes.An example of the same is the claim by a leading Islamic bank that all its day to day activities are monitored by its Shariah Advisor. simply imagine, if it is humanly possible, that a part time Shariah Advisor can look after all day to day activities of a full fledged bank with a number of branches even located at other cities. Another example is the claim by an Islamic mutual fund that it is the first one of its kind in the country, whereas another fund was operating in the country for around one year earlier to subscription for such mutual fund.They Dont Look Like Islamic formerly you enter into a glittering branch or office of an IFI, generally you do not feel any difference with a conventional bank. This issue is raised particularly by the blend of people who feel that once they enter into such location, it should look like a sacred place quite of a commercial office. You generally feel that they have over-spent on the furniture, interior-decoration and publicity stuff, which apparently, is against the injunctions of Islam.This impression is fu rther change when you see the overall environment, the dealing style of personnel and most significantly, you feel (in most of the cases) that there are ladies working for the organization without Hijab or even appropriate attire (in line with the dress-code of a Muslim woman as defined by Shariah). Although a few moderate-enlightened Muslims will not like this objection at all, nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that a common Muslim cannot digest Islamic banking while he feels that other factors of business are not really Islamic.We cant argue with these objections as these have due weightage in them and the management of IFIs should take these objections seriously. However, we should keep in mind that the prime objective of Islamic finance, is to ensure that financial matters are dealt with in line with Islamic Shariah. In other words, environment does not make anything Haram. Needless to mention, from Shariah perspective, you can always buy a Halal product from a store wher e everything else is Haram although the same needs to be avoided if other options are available. Islamic Bankers Dont Know Islamic BankingThis argument, once again, has key significance from the perspective of the overall control environment of these banks with regard to the applicability of Shariah principles. Particularly, it is astonishing when you deal with an Islamic banker, who knows very little about Islamic banking, but unfortunately, this is not very uncommon. The prime cause behind this issue is the fact that most of the IFIs have engage the conventional bankers and generally no or very little consideration is awarded to ensure that they are well conversant with the Shariah requirements with regard to the modes of finance being used by these Banks.Similarly, the IFIs do not eliminate enough on their resource-building for Shariah compliance and grooming of their staff, in comparison to what they spend for marketing. Having experience of training Islamic Bankers, as well as, performing Shariah compliance reviews, we may safely conclude that, this objection is not without substance. This accordingly, is a strongest need that the IFIs should allocate more and more resources for staff training and Shariah compliance. Monopoly Of Shariah Advisors Another objection is regarding the appointment of Shariah Boards and Shariah Advisors.People have largely noted and discussed at various forums that the major contribution in this field in Pakistan is limited to a very undersize group of jurists most of whom relate to a single family and their pupils (a single religious university). Besides this, another question is also being raised that generally the honorariums, consultancy fee and other benefits being offered to such jurists by the IFIs in Pakistan, as well as, abroad are quite high and this may jeopardize their independence. In addition, it is felt that they are the only ones who are whole and sole responsible for Shariah compliance.They approve the prod ucts, they review the transactions and in the end they perform Shariah audit themselves, which is, however, an indicative of a conflict of interest (without any doubt on their personal independence and integrity). Most of the people conversant with the business and operations of Islamic finance do not agree with this observation, because the contribution of these people to the industry as a whole is remarkable and they deserve even more than that based on their contribution and efforts in the promotion of this industry.The general concept that a Moulvi should be paid the minimum for his life, is not justifiable. If you are getting benefits from their efforts, their knowledge and skills, then they should be justifiably rewarded. Having said that, it is always agreeable that it is the right time that contributions from jurist from other schools of eyeshot should also be sought and they should necessarily be provided opportunities to enter into the field. For this purpose, it is a goo d proposition from the State Bank that a jurist should not be allowed to hold more than one remunerative position as a Shariah Advisor or member of a Shariah Board.This will ensure that fresh blood gets an option to enter into the field which will eventually improve the overall Shariah compliance in the field, as well as, will help these institutions to innovate fresh products. IFIs Use Conventional Insurance A valid objection cant argue with that. It was a real issue that according to the legal requirements, as well as, derived from real compulsion, the banks were required to obtain insurance reporting from conventional insurance companies and this practice was allowed by the Shariah Advisors to the extent of compulsion only.This situation, Alhamdolillah has changed after introduction of Islamic mode of insurance (Takaful) in Pakistani market. Unfortunately, there are a still IFIs who have not yet switched to Takaful while to-date three Takaful companies and a family Takaful compa ny have commenced operations in Pakistan and now this lame excuse of compulsion can not be exercised anymore. Now its high time that the State Bank and the Shariah Advisors should take strong steps to ensure that no business is iven by the IFIs to any conventional insurance company either in respect of owned assets, or against assets held under security. Should We relieve Prefer Islamic Banking? As a conclusion to this debate, we may say that we are required by our religion to implement a complete Islamic way of living in our individual and collective lives and the society and the government as well. The Islamic banking and financial system is a part of such system and is not construed to be applicable in isolation while other laws and customs repugnant to the Shariah requirements are still in force.However, for the sake of our own benefits, in order to avoid interest by ourselves and providing interest-free opportunities to our brothers and sisters in Islam, we should promote and support the Islamic banking and finance in the country with all our possible efforts and endeavors. We should not try to pull legs of an infant who is just trying to take his first step towards a long journey to go.However, we should try to ensure that he commences his journey on the right way, with strong footings. Such Islamic banking, may not be termed as perfect, but can provide us with a furnish from interest based transactions for the time being, and might support us in augmenting a rattling Islamic financial system, and more appropriately said, will serve as an experiment for the time when we will really be in a position to the implement the complete Islamic way of living in our beloved country.May Allah Almighty bestow us his blessings and enable us to evolve a complete system of life in accordance with the principles of life provided by the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet (SAAWS). May Allah accept our efforts and forgive us for our mistakes in this field in our individual capacities, as well as, as a society. About Omar & Faizan Omar is a Chartered Accountant by profession, and is presently working as Partner Islamic Financial Services Group with Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder & Co. (A member firm of Ernst & recent Global Limited).Omar enjoys vast experience in audit, Shariah compliance and providing related services to Islamic finance industry in Pakistan. He is author of a Book on Islamic finance videlicet Managing Finances A Shariah Compliant Way. Faizan holds experience in the field of Shariah audits and product development. In past, he has worked with a leading Islamic bank as Shariah Coordinator and Shariah Auditor. Presently, he is working with Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder & Co. as Manager Islamic Financial Services. picpic