King vs. Walker essays

King vs. Walker essays Fear is the essence of the unknown. In an article by Stephan King called Why We Crave Horror Movies, he claims that we all crave an inner fear. He claims that we all crave for the worst, and at times this seems to be a scary truth. However, in an article by Alice Walker, Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self, her fear is of not being accepted by people as an externally beautiful person. Although they may at first seem different, both authors are actually talking in contrast about the same thing. Fear is present in us in two forms: fear of the unknown, which King indulges in his writings, and the fear, which always lives within you whether good or bad as Walker writes about. As King writes, We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is initially conservative, even reactionary. Freda Jackson as the horrible melting woman in Die, Monster, Die! Confirms for us that no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Redford or a Diana Ross, we are still light-years from true ugliness. (456) When we are afraid, it gives us a feeling we experience as false sense of helplessness. We are never helpless. Fear is the decision to relinquish our powers. The relinquishment is always a conscious act. If we subject ourselves to see a horror movie purposefully our reaction is to fear the worst, then afterwards we feel more comfortable because the worst is over. When we prefer to be afraid, it is always because we wish not to be responsible for our actions. I imagine anyone who's enjoyed a Stephen King movie has experienced a similar moment where, if only briefly, horror and reality blur. The unsettling force of King's powers of persuasionmaybe there really are monsters outside the windowmay have sent some readers scurrying back to the more secure, safe place in there lives. Others, like myself, get hooked on the intensity of bei ...

Causes Of The Great Depression Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Causes Of The Great Depression Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Causes of The Great Depression The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The maldistribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the maldistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The "roaring twenties" was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929(end note 1). However, the rewards of the "Coolidge Prosperity" of the 1920's were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%(end note 2). That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all(end note 3). Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford provides a striking example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million(end note 4) in the same year that the average personal income was $750(end note 5). By present day ezdards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,500(end note 6), Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This maldistribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a stupendous 75% increase in per capita disposable income(end note 7). A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32% in manufacturing(end note 8). During that same period of time average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%(end note 9). Thus wages increased at a rate one fourth as fast as productivity increased. As production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained conezt, the bulk benefit of the increased productivity went into corporate profits. In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%(end note 10). The federal government also contributed to the growing gap between the rich and middle-class. Calvin Coolidge's administration (and the conservative-controlled government) favored business, and as a result the wealthy who invested in these businesses. An example of legislation to this purpose is the Revenue Act of 1926, signed by President Coolidge on February 26, 1926, which reduced federal income and inheritance taxes dramatically(end note 11). Andrew Mellon, Coolidge's Secretary of the Treasury, was the main force behind these and other tax cuts throughout the 1920's. In effect, he was able to lower federal taxes such that a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,000(end note 12). Even the Supreme Court played a role in expanding the gap between the socioeconomic classes. In the 1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital, the Supreme Court ruled minimum-wage legislation unconstitutional(end note 13). The large and growing disparity of wealth between the well-to-do and the middle-income citizens made the U.S. economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In an economy with such disparate distribution of income it is not assured that demand will always equal supply. Essentially what happened in the 1920's was that there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus products of industrialized society were

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Human Resources Management - Essay Example In keeping with the theme of globalisation, the expansion of a business depends largely on the integration of the organisations operations with the prevailing culture of a region. Strategic planning is an essential form for the management of the business in accordance with the derived objectives. The planning helps in deciding the goals of the organisation, making management of resources for the future along with observing whether the structure is aligned to meet the needs of the business (Lawrence, n.d.; Free Courseware Project, 2008). Human resources management is important for recruiting the right person, managing the talent within the organisation and also handling the performance of the management and the employees. This would help the company to progress in the economically volatile marketplace and expand the business in the global market for long-term sustainability. Moreover, the business model used by human resources management to coordinate the design, talent management and many strategies effectively is useful for the purpose of expansion. The HR management takes considerable steps to manage the employees effectively and motivate them which lead to the increase in the organisations’ growth. A proper management style followed within the organisation, along with its effects on the internal and the external environment facilitates a business to expand. Human resources management acts as a mediator which manages the perspective of the employees and the goals of the management by understanding the needs of the organisation for its success. The effectiveness of the HR management will certainly facilitate to retain the talented employees and empower a pool of employees to take up challenging roles and responsibilities which in turn would assist the organisation to achieve its goals regarding expansion in the global market with profit and sustainability (Mohrman, 2007; Tan & Mahoney, 2012; Pearson Education Ltd, 2013). The objective of the study is to evaluate the role played by strategic human resource management in augmenting the responsibility of human resources’ for monitoring the external environment. The implication of the human resource strategies and policies on the organisation is evaluated in lieu of the internal and external contexts. The study evaluates the effect of strategic HRM on the HR management practices of three of the leading organisations based in the United Kingdom namely Unilever plc, BT plc and GlaxoSmithKline plc. The successful implementation and the negative effects of the organisations’ strategic HR management practices are also evaluated in the study Review of Pertinent Literatures According to Schuler and Jackson (2008), â€Å"in recent years, the evolution of strategic human resource management has meant that human resource’s responsibility for monitoring the external environment has grown.† The statement is feasible to a certain extent for the effectiveness as the mana gement resources must be capable of understanding the objectives of the people and the organisation. Moreover, it leads to the increase in the effectiveness of the organisational performance. Human resources management of every organisation depends essentially on planning, staffing, performance appraisal, compensation and the retention of labour. As affirmed by Rioux & et. al. (2000), the HR management not only maintains the internal environment but also manages the culture, organisational design, and other