Descriptive Essay - On Mothers Peonys Essays - Flowers, Peony

Descriptive Essay - On Mother's Peonys When I was a child,my mother had the most beautiful peony bushes in the county. The huge, superb, pompoms of white, pink, and burgundy, spectacularly embraced an entire corner of our yard. When the breeze came to dance among the blooms their intoxicating aroma beckoned with a long finger that reached all the way into the house. In May when the honey scented peonies bloomed in concert with the fragrant lilacs, dozens were gathered and brought into the house. For weeks, every room of our house brimmed with blooms. Any container that could hold water was temporarily transformed into a vase. After the flowers gave up their velvety petals they were made to last a bit longer when gathered into several wicker baskets to dry. These dried petals made excellent potpourri to be enjoyed during the cold winter months. Each year progressed this way until one summer when no one seemed to have time to tend the peonies after they bloomed. Vicious weeds crept into the bushes and soon the normally well-tended corner of our garden was a thicket of neglect. One evening, after the supper dishes had been cleared, my father and I went outside to play catch. His faded overalls showed the wear of hard work as he stretched to throw the ball in my direction. As I tossed the ball back to Dad, my cat, Inky, startled me as she twirled herself between my bare feet. I threw the ball wildly as chills spiraled from my ankles to the nape of my neck. The large, red orb darted past my father and landed in the overgrown corner of the yard. Dad retrieved the ball and tossed it in my direction, then silently walked to the garage and returned with the faded green lawn mower. With a cough and a sputter, the metal beast roared to life and Dad attacked Mom's peony patch. He pulled and he pushed until he had consumed every square inch leaving no stem more than an inch tall. I watched in horror as Dad placed the machine back into the garage. Didn't he know just how heartbroken Mom would be when she discovered her flowers of spring had been destroyed? I did not question Dad about his actions but merely followed him inside the house as the once brilliant, now dim, sunset signaled my bedtime. All night I thought Dad must not have remembered that those peonies were planted, years ago, by my grandmother. I thought of how disappointed everyone would be next spring when the lilacs bloomed unaccompanied. But Dad knew something that I did not. The following April, I tagged along as Mom checked on spring's progress in reclaiming our property. We picked at the daffodils that peeked through the cool earth and peeled a few lilac buds to see how soon we could expect the tiny fragrant flowers. Then Mom walked toward for her favorite corner of the yard. She bend over the area where the peonies had been ravaged so many months before. ?Veronica, look at these bushes,? Mom exclaimed. I though she was joking. Surely there was nothing to look at. As she rose and walked towards the house she called out, ?I think we'll have a bountiful crop this year.? Puzzled, I slowly turned and looked down at ground. I saw hundreds of tiny red and green sprouts fueled by the warmth of spring, reaching up to kiss the sun. That year the peony bushes were the best in memory. The neighbors shook their heads and declared that Mom sure knew the secret to tending flowers. I can still recall the sweet aroma of the pinks that scented my room. A few ago I planted my own peony bushes. I, too, am learning the lessons of nature. There is a time for growing, a time for blooming and a time for harvesting. There is even a time for mowing down the weeds and starting over again. So it is with people, who, like peonies, are firmly rooted in soil. We must grow, bloom and sometimes start over again when our lives have become tangled in weeds. The results can be amazing. Creative Writing

Antonio Vivaldi Essays - Operas, Antonio Vivaldi, Anna Gir

Antonio Vivaldi Essays - Operas, Antonio Vivaldi, Anna Gir Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4th, 1678. Through ordained a priest in 1703, according to his own account, within a year of being ordained Vivaldi no longer wished to celebrate mass because physical complaints ?tightness of the chest? which pointed to asthmatic bronchitis, or a nervous disorder. It is also possible that Vivaldi was faking his illness. There is a story that he sometimes left the alter to jot down a musical idea. He had became a priest against his own will, because priesthood was often the only way possible for a poor family to obtain free schooling. Vavaldi wrote many memorable concertos, such as the Four seasons and the opus 3, he also wrote many works for students. People and students still play these pieces all over the world. Vavaldi was employed for most of his working life by by the Ospedale della Pieta. Often termed orphanage, this Ospedale was in fact a home for the female offspring of noblemen and their numerous dalliance with their mistresses. Many of Vavaldi?s concerti were indeed exercises which he would play whith his many talented pupils. Vavaldi?s relationship wth the Ospedale began right after his ordination in 1703, when he was named as the violin teacher there. Until 1709, Vavaldi?s appointment was renewed every year and again and after 1711. They think between 1709 and 1711 Vivaldi was not attached to the Ospedale. They think he might started working for the Teatro Sant? Anngelo an opera theater. He was still was a composer though, in 1711 twelve of his concertos were written and and published in Amsterdam. In 1713 Vavaldi was given a months leave from the Ospedale to stage his first opera, it was called Ottone in ville. He did this opera in Vicenza. He produced another opera in the period between 1713 and 1714. Thse highest part of Vavaldi?s life was the end of 1716. In November he managed to have the Ospedale perform his great oratorio, it was called the Juditha Triumphans devicta Holofernis barbaric. This piece was about the victory of the Christians over the Turks in August of 1716. Vavaldi Moved to Mantua in the late 1717 for two years in order to take up his post as Chamber Kapellmeister at the court of Landgrave Philips van Hessen Darmstadt. His task there was to provide operas, cantatas, and perhaps concert music, too. Vavaldi in 1720 returned to Venice where he again staged new operas that he wrote himself. In Mantua he had met a singer by the name of Anna Giraud, she moved in with him Vavaldi said that she was just a housekeeper and agreat friend, just like her sister, Paolina, who also moved in. Anna Giraud was young, born in Venice. She was daughter to French wigmaker. She was?nt beautiful, though she was elegant, a small women with beatiful eyes and a fascinating mouth. She had a very small voice, but she could speak many languages. Vivaldi taught her how to sing and stayed with her until he died. Vavaldi wrote works for commission from foreign rulers, such as the frech king, Louis XV. He serenaded La Sena festeggiante at the festival of the Seine. The bad thing is that they can not date this music, but they know it was written after 1720. In rome Vavaldi found a patron in the person of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a great music lover, who earlier had been the patron of Arcangelo Corelli. Vavldi himself was asked by the pope to play the violin for him at a private audience. He totally loved it, it also was a great time in his life. Despite his stay in Rome and other cities, Vivaldi remained in the service of the Ospedale della Pieta, he was nominated the Maestro di Concerti. He had to send two concertos per month to veniceand he received a ducat per concerto. His presence was never required. He also remained dictator of the Teatro Sant Angelo, as he did in the 1726, 7 and 8 seasons. Between 1725 and 1728 eight opera were made by Vavaldi. In three months Vavaldi composed three operas, two for Venice and one for florence. During these years Vavaldi also extremely active in the field of Concertos. In 1725 the publication of Il Cimento dell?Armenia e dell?invenzione and opus 8, appeared in Amsterdam. this consisted of twelve concertos, seven of which were descriptive: The Four Seasons, Storm at Sea, Pleasure and The Hunt. Vivaldi transformed the tradition of descriptive music into a typically Italian musical style with its unmistakable timbre in which the strings play a big role. These concetos were enormously successful, particulary in france. In the second half of the

Melation and Aging Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Melation and Aging - Research Paper Example The level increases up to optimum when we are youths and latter starts declining. Many theories such as that from Hajak et al. (2003) have been put forward to explain the relationship between aging process and melatonin but none has explicitly explained the connection. This paper will explore some of the major issues involved in the hypothesis that melatonin can prolong and bring back the youthful memories. But in my findings, melatonin is just but a drug which can boost the melatonin hormone level in our body but not able prolonging or supplementing age. Introduction Melatonin is a hormone secreted in the brain from the amino acid tryptophan within the pineal. It is a naturally occurring compound and found in animals, human beings, plants and microbes. It was discovered in 1958 by Aaron Lerner and his colleagues. It is also called hormone of darkness simply because it is produced in darkness, highest percentage produced during night hours at bed side. It aging on the other hand mean s or it refers to post-maturational process that leads to decrease in homeostasis and increased vulnerability of the organism more so diseases. There has been close study on the relationship between the melatonin and the aging whether it improves or not. Zhdanova et al. (2006) claim that melatonin percentage in the body decreases as we grow old and their claims are just based on mere observation that older people do sleep less compared to younger ones. Their study also has explored other functions of melatonin not only the hypothesis but also what they termed as â€Å"a supplement to the aging but as a medicine to boost sleeping in aged people and also as treatment in† (pp. 899–907). Melatonin and Aging People all over the world wish to remain youthful and the issue of aging brings many problems and any solution to it will be gladly welcomed. Dollins et al. (2006) agree that theories and speculations relating melatonin and aging have been put forward but none of them h ave fully or clearly given their relationship. This compound no doubt is very vital in human life and one of study in the university of Granada, Spain carried out by Stone (2005) has proved that melatonin assist in controlling weight gain, also improves the blood lipids profile by reduction in triglycerides which increases level of good cholesterol HDL and at the same time lowering negative cholesterol called LDL. The general levels of melatonin vary greatly throughout one’s life span. The first time melatonin is created is when a child is three months old and that is when most people start to sleep. There is a rapid increase in the level and it peaks between the age of three and four years of age, this level fall back to a plateau and it remains constant throughout adulthood. The level starts to decline as we age up. The graph below shows circadian profiles of serum melatonin concentrations in human at various ages. Areas marked with black indicate period of darkness. By the time we are approaching seventies, the melatonin level decreases in our body to about a quarter of the original normal level when compared with time when one is young. It is thought that the drop may be associated with calcification of the pineal gland as we age

Smoking Should Be Banned Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smoking Should Be Banned - Research Paper Example But is it about making money or ensuring good health for everyone in the society? Human beings should be able to choose life and health than unnecessarily expensive addictions like smoking and that’s why smoking should be globally banned. The human population is categorized into smokers and non smokers. Smokers are known to infringe on the rights of non smokers in the society (Cunningham 14). Their open smoking in public places like playgrounds, parks and beaches triggers coughing or asthma attacks from the passive smoking by in non smokers. The stench that comes out of the lit cigarettes also makes the open air ridiculously unbearable. Smoking increases the chances of sudden infant death syndrome (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein 42).Sudden infant death is when there is an explained death of an infant usually between two and four months. Smokers however forget that smoke is in gaseous form and therefore easily reaches children whose lungs have not properly developed. Smoki ng leads to lung, mouth, larynx, ladder, liver and other common cancers. It is also known to be largest cause of cancer deaths. For these reasons, there should be a decree that prohibits smoking. Banning of smoking is the basic move to make to show respect for every human beings right to free movement, association and right to admission to public places (Hudson 19).with this they are easily able to move freely without being scared of inhaling smoke that have adverse effects on their health. Air pollution is one the effects of smoking globally, it is the governments initiative to ensure that smoking is banned to ensure a balanced ecosystem for every living organism, including the smokers themselves. â€Å"The release of dangerous chemicals into the environment by smokers is the best definition of a selfish move† (Hudson 27). If the government is able to bar smoking, it will prompt the smokers to slow down, cut back and probably quit smoking because it will be harder to smoke o n the rise of a smoking urge. It makes sense for people to stop smoking all together because it a financial and health benefit to them. Smoking evidently is an expensive addiction. The most addicted smokers use up to two packets of cigarette daily, which will round up to an average of forty cigarettes in a day. Clearly this is not a cheap addiction to venture in. Smoking helps you save the money and spend on vacation with your family or live larger. In any case, a Wisconsin-based study carried out in 2002, 16%of the light smokers do it for recreational reasons. This will be the first to bail out in case of a ban. In as much as smokers think banning smoking is an infringement on their liberty as citizens, and that the government should not dictate how they live especially with the hefty amount of taxes they pay, it still stands that making laws that disallow smoking is beneficial to the society in that it protects patron and staff at a work place. Most employees have picked up smoke related diseases from their work places, sometimes because their workmates smoke. There is no law that [protects such people and that is why smoking should be banned. Usually in such cases, the employer sucks the employee in question and hires a â€Å"smoke tolerant person† leading to unemployment and one more addition to baseless decision ever mad because nobody is smoke- effects –proof (Hanson et al 20). As vague is sometimes sounds to most smokers, the bother of ones hair and

The book of money ball

The book of money ball Main points of the reading The book of Money ball is mainly concern with the idea of explaining way the Oakland Athletics (Oakland As), one of the poorest teams in baseball, won so many games in 2002. The main character of the book, is Billy Bean, the manager of the Oakland As. Billy with the help of his assistant Paul DePodestas and inspire by Bill James tries to find ways to rethink the game of baseball and create new knowledge that helps as a basis to measure the baseball players and determine their respective value. Billy wanted to change the way traditional baseball has been thought until this moment. He hired Paul DePodestas, a Harvard economics graduate a and mathematician, with his help, both started analyzing statistics of baseball to decide which players are the most undervalued. The Scouts tendency was to analyze players for what they could see with their own eyes and predict their future (including the way they physically look. Ex: Jeremy Brown), in the other hand Billy and Paul thought that a player is not what he physically looks like or what they might become in the future, but rather, the players are what they have done. Billys first contact to knowledge baseball was in 1993, when he joined the front office of the Oakland As manage by Sandy Alderson (an educated lawyer from San Francisco). Anderson with the help of Erik Walker and inspired by Bill James began to analyze and understand the knowledge of baseball. Bill James is considered the father of Sabremetrics (The study of truth and reality of baseball), he started publishing since 1997 the Baseball Abstract, where he included statistical information of baseball. James thought that courting things was the only way to understand the truth in baseball, he wanted to change the way baseball statistics where measure today, they were one time established by a British Journalist called Chadwick. James created a model to predict how many runs each team makes: This model was focus in the value of walks and extra base hits, instead of batting average and stolen basis. Bill James also concluded that â€Å"college players are a better investment than high school players† In 1983 Bill James also described the law of competitive balance in his baseball abstract: 1.-Every form of strength covers one weakness and create another, every form of strength is also a form of weakness, 2.-The balance of strategies always favors the team behind, 3.-Psychologytends to pull winners down and push the losers upward. There were other people interested in baseball, which also focus in the evaluation of the sport. Cramer and Palmer also created another model. Cramer demonstrated that baseball players didnt perform different in different circumstances Pau fund two statics that correlated mostly in a winning percentage that is based in the on base-percentage and the slugging percentage. He concluded that an extra point of the on-base percentage is worth more than 3 times an extra point of slugging percentage. This helped evaluate the offense. The method to analyze the defense arose from financial market. Mauriello and Armbruster created a method evaluated the defense by quantifying every event. The Oakland As got the system and analyze it pitfalls to understand in a better way the value of the defense. With all this new knowledge, they replaced the loos of Damons defense with more offense. The knowledge help Billy and Paul realized that if they could not afford a player, they could replace it by recreating its aggregate. Another strategy that the team made was to replace Giambi with Hatterberg, who later in 2002, became the best offense in baseball. Hatterberg believe that every hitter had a weakness that needs to be found. Another important part of Billys success, was his ability to trade. The Oakland As had a strategy for the second half of the season, that consist in the acquired of players whose price declined due to the reduce in cost of other teams who had lost. Billy had 5 principle rules in trading that he always applied: Change is always good, the day you say you have to do something you are screwed, because you are going to make a deal, Know exactly how much every player worth, Know what you want and go after it, Every deal will be criticize by public opinion. Billy Bean made other changes and trades, like replacing Giambi by his brother Jeremy, trading with Omar Minaya, the Montreal Expos General Manager ( Arrojo, Seung-jun Song and Youkilis-The god of Walks). The book also mentions the story of Chad Branfords to introduce a way of analyzing pitchers. Branford was an undervalue player. Paul started being interested in him after reading the work of Voros McCracken (A paralegal in Chicago) who analyze baseball statics and came up with a measure called DIPS (defense independent pitch statics) to analyze pitchers. In the regular season of 2002 the As won 103 games in the American League West. This showed that even with the lowest payroll a team can become successful. Billy bean and his new management style in baseball changed the way baseball organization is managed. The regular season of 2002 the As won 103 games in the American League West this proved that even though the players with the lowest payroll can get the best players if they know how to choose. Billy Bean and his new management style, change the way organizations are being managed. An example of this is the Blue Jays and Red Sox, who adopted the Sabremetrics science. Practical implication As seen in the course, Jeff Hawks define intelligence as predictions, then business intelligence can be describe as the use of the data to better predict the future. We can see through Moneyball that Bill James, Billy Bean, Paul DePedesta and some others have used business intelligence to understand and predict the future of their players in the baseball game. The book demonstrate that organizations with a data-driven culture and the use of business intelligence (BI) tools are able to create a competitive advantage. Taking the book like a basis we can see how Billy Bean went through a process of rational decision making that along with the use of BI applications led the Oaklands to succeed. The rational decision process that he followed was the following Identify a problem.-The Oakland As cannot afford recognize player, but they need to find ways to succeed Think up alternative solutions.-Look for players that can create value for the team Evaluate alternatives and select a solution.-Find the KPI or indicator that gives the best on base percentage and slugging percentage (measures to evaluate baseball) The process of rational decision making along with quantitative tools can be used by many enterprises to become more efficient and improve their performance finding valuable indicators to analyze their resources. The book shows how Billy Bean changes the subjective analysis to an objective one. Two important aspects of the book and lessons can be applied to any kind of business and industries: It is very important to take into account the informations that is hidden behind the business and find the data that will led to generate knowledge. Business change is many times very difficult and complicated. Is hard for enterprises to change their habits and way of doing things. The problem that many enterprises are facing nowadays is that we as people tend to relay in rules of thumbs, habits or traditions instead of finding ways to improve their organizations and to obtain knowledge through our data. Even though these organizations are reluctant to change, every time is more evident that change is imperative and analysis of the data will avoid subjective thinking and will bring success. Due to the advance in technologies there has been and increment in the amount of tools in the market that help to create analytics and business intelligence, this makes it easier for more organizations to implement the idea behind the Moneyball book. The future of business intelligence is very promising, many industries like health care, government, education and many more starting to understand the benefits of this tools and the importance of acquiring new type of knowledge. Based in a news article (Gartner Reveals Five Business Intelligence Predictions for 2009 and Beyond, 2009) the future of business intelligence is expected to be as followed: By 2010 20% of the organizations will have a BI tool. Trough 2012 there is an estimated of more than 35% of the top 5,000 global companies, will falter in the decision process due to a lack of BI tools. By 2012 the budget allotment for business intelligence tools will be at least of 40% Opinion and comments The book of Moneyball is really interesting and made me reflect a lot. Even though it is a little bit technical and some parts where hard to understand, the book broadens my perspective of the importance of using data and business intelligence as a resource to understand some hidden aspects of business without matter what type of industry business are in. I believe that now that I am on my last semester of my MBA and Im about to enter a professional world, it is really important to be aware of the benefits that statistics and analytical tools bring in a business environment. This awareness, will help me focus on the aspects of business intelligence, mainly the data gathering and statistic and quantitative analysis to create KPI that help in the measure of business performance The book left on me the desire to analyze something new, to look for patterns in everything around me, in an effort to understand the world with a different perspective and create a change in peoples life. In God we trust; all others must bring data. W. Edwards Deming Works Cited Gartner Reveals Five Business Intelligence Predictions for 2009 and Beyond. (2009, 01 15). Lewis, M. M. (2003). Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. New York.

Global Media, Global Culture Essay

‘The boundaries that separate one nation from another are no more real than the equator. They are merely convenient demarcations of ethnic, linguistic and cultural entities. They do not define business requirements or consumer trends.'(IBM). Boundaries delimit countries. Or, at least, this is their function. Boundaries separate traditions, languages, governments, currencies, people, economies and cultures. But, is this true? Nationalisms are rising in a world that tends to the globalization. Is it so that we are all equal for the multinational companies? There are a lot of definitions of globalization. Most of the definitions (to not say all of them) are related with the capitalism system. According with Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez globalization has three steps in the history until arrives to the actual situation: â€Å"We can understand globalisation in two senses. In a wider sense, it means the expansive tendency that took place in the capitalist system. This concept talks about the power that drove capitalism to go across the boundaries to look for raw material and new markets. In a strict sense it means a concrete phase that begins with three concrete historical facts: the success of the neo-liberal powers such as USA or United Kingdom (Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher), the foreign debt in the Third World (1982) and the fall of Berlin’s wall in 1989†. Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez (1999), p. 12 All of us (I’m referring to the develop countries) are connected between computers and internet, press, radio, television and cinema. We can learn new traditions or new ways of life with each media. Everybody knows who is Nicole Kidman or Gucci. We can drink a Coke with a Big Mac in somewhere. There are not boundaries for information or products. We can see the same advertisement in US or in India. But are not they different? Don’t they have different culture, tradition or language? New ways of advertisement can overcome the boundaries. Only have to show images and sell the products without words. The media configures our lives, our way behaviours, our minds. They make us. They are cultural factories. They make the perfect target to the products, the perfect consumers’ trends. The national identity is threatened. â€Å"Young people drink the same soft drinks, smoke the same cigarettes, wear identical branded clothing and shoes, play the same computer games, watch the same Hollywood films and listen to the same Western pop music.† Ellwood, W. (2001): pp.53. Governments make pacts about laws and economy. The European countries are being united in the European Union (EU). Although the citizen of each country have different tradition, they culture is very similar and is almost like the American one. These countries share currencies, economics’ politics and, in soon time, laws. â€Å"The challenge of producing and marketing in many countries, with many currencies, has fed the creation of modern international money market and currency trading.† Davis, J (1999): pp.38 Countries member of the European Union share a European Parliament, Justice Court of the European Communities, European Central Banc, Committee of the Regions and so on. The products of each country can transfer boundaries without taxes. These products are sold without differences in each country. It doesn’t matter if are German or Italian. The products are sold like if they were from the same town. They share a new globalizated culture. Somehow this globalizated culture has adopted elements characteristics from each country. In this way the globalizated culture can survive. â€Å"Business are in the business of government and governments are in the business of business.† Sivanandan, A. (1999): pp.9. Sivanandan makes a perfect summary of as the governments are in disposition of the great companies. And these companies want to make only one market around the world. In this way, they only have to make only one marketing campaign. Helped by mass media and governments, multinationals can obtain their objectives. Governments take profits of the business and help to the great companies to develop their plans. Countries depend on the others in the production of their products. They have decentralized the production of the products in different countries looking for a cheap manual labour. â€Å"This stretching of the boundaries of the economically possible by new technologies happens at al points of the circuit of capital – in production, and in the circulation of commodities and money. As companies, driven to expand profits, take advantage of the new boundaries, the components of â€Å"globalisation† take shape.† Davis, J (1999), pp.38 But in this world where culture and business are globalizated, nationalism take more popularity around the countries. Nobody wants to lose his identity. They mixed the globalizated culture (American culture) and the traditional culture. French person will keep it traditions and way of life but will wear the same cloth, will drink the same drink, will eat the same food and will see the same films than a Cyprus or Turkey person. In conclusion, globalization is a process that shows two faces: the first one shows the differences between countries and the diversity around the world, creating a nationalism and pride to belong to a country. And on the other hand shows how the countries depends on the others and there are similitude between countries, cultures and markets. In this way, I agree with the topic of the assignment: boundaries only delimit ethnics, languages and cultural entities. Marketing, mass media, governments and multinationals have made disappear the boundaries and the great differences between the cultures creating an only and great world-wide market. Reference list: – Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez, V. M. (1999) Globalizacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, nuevas tecnologà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as y comunicacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n. Madrid: Ediciones de la Torre, pp. 12 – Davis, J (1999) â€Å"Race & Class: The threat of Globalism† (Vol.40, no.2/3, 1998-1999), London: Institute of Race Relation, pp.38 – Sivanandan, A. (1999) )†Racism, culture, markets†, London: Institute of Race Relation, pp.9 – Ellwood, W. (2001). The no-nonsense guide to globalization. London;Oxford, pp.53 Bibliography: – Marà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ez, V. M. (1999) Globalizacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, nuevas tecnologà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as y comunicacià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n. Madrid: Ediciones de la Torre – (1999) â€Å"Race & Class: The threat of Globalism† (Vol.40, no.2/3, 1998-1999), London: Institute of Race Relation – Sivanandan, A. (1999) )†Racism, culture, markets†, London: Institute of Race Relation – Ellwood, W. (2001). The no-nonsense guide to globalization. London;Oxford – Gabriel, J. (1994) Racism, Culture, Markets. New York: Routledge

American life at 1920s Essay

The sound of bullets abroad ended, but the ring of change in America blasted as large as a bullet. As the Great War ended, change manifested America and it was never to be the same. With a stock market boom, consolidation of businesses, and an increase in buying power, American life became modernized. The automobile was introduced as it ushered in a new era of society and increased freedom. Family pressures diminished as children began to explore the world as their own through being a flapper, dancing to jazz, or living the glamorous life that authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald idolized in the twenties. These changes did not arrive without a continuous longing for a prewar era of control, laissez faire government, and a sense of normalcy. These tensions were manifested in ideas like the Red Scare and the prohibition. Although change survived, the difference in ideas between old and new ways created tensions within American society that was eventually manifested to form a new, modernized culture. From the new advances in technology and in business (1), a new culture of youth usurped the traditional voice of society and questioned the roles thrust upon them (2), but it also created a racist and nativist country (3). In post WWI, the technology in American homes became more advanced due to the modernization of America’s economy and business. After a recession that began in the twenties, the stock market boomed, reflecting the growing prosperity of America (EV 712). In the pre WWI era, laissez faire capitalism and the support of big business was how the government ran the economy. Throughout the war, the government intervened in the economy, doing away with big business, and enlarged their presence to the delight of reformers. There was an increase in strikes from workers asking for higher tariffs. After the war, the government imposed high tariffs such as the Fordney-McCumber Tariff and Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which were enacted to protect growing business and prosperity of domestic manufacturers (EV 713). They also encouraged the consolidation of big businesses, and even if companies did not merge, the companies cooperated in price fixes and markets (EV 714). Because of the given protection and consolidation, businesses were able to create mass produced goods and lower the prices of their goods to sell to their consumers which was defined by one word: Fordism (EV 714). The methods provided luxuries that past generations were unable to obtain as they decreased production time, cost, and created leisure time. The companies,  led by Henry Ford, began to increase the pay of their workers (EV 714). This increased pay led to greater buying power of the workers who were also the consumers (Doc E). Strikes decreased and unions, like the AFL and the IWW, declined in membership because of the pay increase, inability to cope with new manufacturing abilities, and the desire of management to use ways like the â€Å"American Plan† to destroy unions (EV 716). From the pay raise and continuous decline of prices and manufacturing, the technology increased. The greatest achievement of the twenties that was manifested from the new business system was the automobile. Led by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the automobile led the way in changing America (EV 712). The new, affordable invention created a new America by giving the youth independence while bringing families together (EV 721). Cars created an easier way to get around, creating a more modern society (Doc F). It embodied the change in America as an offspring of the tensions from big businesses as society realized it needed this new version of buying on credit, merging businesses, and leisure time to sustain a contemporar y culture and technology. The technology adapted in this era fell away from the idea of all work and no play as workers were now able to escape their feeble lives through conveniences, like movies, radios, and television. Through this new technology and advancement in business, Americans broke from traditional ideas and changed into a new and modern culture. Societal changes between youth, women, and culture emerged in the post WWI era. The children and teenagers of the era before the war were ignored and restricted. They lived a Victorian lifestyle that meant that they were seen, but not heard. As the war emerged, the youth felt they had reached adulthood much faster than their parents due to the responsibility that was thrust upon them (Dear Parents). This shocked the older generation because of the activities that the younger generation enjoyed. With an increase in entertainment, movies and music, the youth broke traditional ties. The old tradition was to court someone that was appropriate to marry; the new idea was to date with no intention of marriage. Things like petting and necking became mainstream, and the youth became much more open about their sexual lives, a topic condemned before the war (Doc. B). In addition to the youth, women made a more prominent role in society. Women began to break away from ideas of separate spheres during the war. Before the war, women were meant to fulfil  their motherly duties by teaching others the good and bad of society, like smoking (Doc. J). But during the war, women stepped up and replaced the men in the jobs they left vacant. As they took men’s jobs and roles in society, they established a greater confidence in themselves. This confidence allowed them to stand up to men and led to an increase in divorce rates (Doc. K). Their heightened presence in the workforce made it an excellent time to increase their political might. Organizations like National American Woman Suffrage Association and Woman’s Party fought for the right to vote (EV 658). The 19th amendment was enacted in 1920 allowing women the right to vote which gave women the chance to voice their opinions and establish independence (EV 673). With their increased political influence, women increased their educational standards. More women started going to college, becoming more liberal and breaking traditional ties (Doc. D). Through the liberal ideas and the haze of post war, the flapper movement emerged. A flapper was a liberal woman who displayed w ild fashion and modern ideas (Dear Parents). With all these changes occurring in youth and women, culture began to modernize. The mentality before the war was to make a life before living life (Dear Parents). The idea was to save money, but as people began to see the lives that were being lost at the front, they started to live their life to the fullest as shown by Lindbergh flying across the Atlantic and putting â€Å"ethics† above the desire of money (Doc. I). There was much more leisure time as innovations took over menial jobs. The increase in leisure time caused an increase in entertainment, like the radio and movies (EV 724). Also, family time was a cherished event before the war, but with the emergence of cars, a new sense of freedom emerged (EV 721). With this new sense of freedom, prohibition became a joke. Before the war most of the country, besides immigrants, backed the idea of temperance and a law to stop the consumption and distribution of alcohol. So the 18th amendment was enacted in 1919, which was prohibition (EV 673). But almost three years after the law was enforced, people began to ignore it. From the beginning the Volstead Act was weakly enforced and underfunded, and New York was the first state to repeal it in 1923 (EV 736). Places like night clubs began to spring up to thwart the act (Doc. A). The rate of intoxication arrests increased (Doc. C) and gangs emerged rivaling to control the liquor business (EV 737). This modernization in culture brought upon the questioning of  truth. The traditional view was that God created mankind and everything was based on the Bible. In the 1920s though, advances in science and research was encouraged. People began to believe Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. This created a clash between the old and the new. The people who believed in the biblical ideology called themselves Fundamentalists and wanted to ban the education of evolution in schools. William Jennings Bryan endorsed this cause (Doc. G) and so did fundamentalist Aimee McPherson who enco uraged many to join her side through her charisma (Doc. L). John T. Scopes, a believer in evolution, went against this law and taught evolution to his class. This led to the Scopes Trial which found Scopes guilty, but led to a change in thought and a break from biblical ideas. Through the changes of youth from traditionalism to liberalism, their ideas changed reflected in the rebellion against the prohibition and the change of women’s roles. The idea of control was seen to be diminished as the questioning of ideas once unquestioned, like evolutionary versus biblical, were thrown into the limelight. These fears of change and control made the society into a contemporary thinking, but led to the nativism and Americanism that prevailed American thought. In the post WWI era, nativist sentiments and racist tendencies were rampant. Up to 1890, immigrants mainly came from the Northern and Western parts of Europe, Americans welcomed them and attempted to help them in the Progressive Era. But, as immigrants started coming from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia, they didn’t assimilate and the melting pot ideology was ending (Doc. Q). The popular sentiment now was 100% Americanism partially due to major propaganda efforts during the war. These nativists believed that there was sufficient population and immigrants were overcrowding the country (Doc. O). This popular movement resulted in a shift in the government’s policies to support the people’s wants. The government enacted a quota limit act on May 19, 1921 and an Immigration Act in 1924 which limited the number of aliens of a nationality to 2 percent of the population (Doc. M). Many organizations, like the American Legion, backed the government in their decisions (Doc. N). With the government executing the laws, the Supreme Court enforced them through their cases. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti exhibits the Court’s bias towards nativists(Sacco Vanzetti). More anti-immigrant sentiment was created when the new Bolshevik regime took over in Russia(EV 706). This Russian Revolution caused the Red  Scare to take over in America, in which nativists believed Russian-Americans were trying to instill communism in the government(Doc. P) and deported them through the Palmer raids (Red Scare). Along with the immigrants, African Americans were being alienated. After Reco nstruction, African Americans were trying to blend in with the whites, but this became difficult because of the Jim Crow laws creating segregation(EV 655). Even as they fought in WWI, the armies were segregated by race(EV 690). Because of the segregation, African Americans had to create their own identity. With the spread of jazz music (EV 726) and their great migration north for better jobs, the Harlem Renaissance was born in the 1920s (EV 728) which allowed blacks to become confident in themselves and their race (Doc. H). But this confidence did not help their circumstance with the whites as shown through the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, which now targeted blacks and immigrants (EV 734), and the mass race riot of Rosewood (Doc. R). The emergence of the KKK caused people like Marcus Garvey to urge black independence and summon them back to Africa (EV 735). Immigrants and African Americans were trying to find a home in the nation called the melting pot, yet they were rejected by Americans because of the new sentiment caused by the war. It was through the changes and the tensions in the twenties that changed society through its manifestations. The automobile prevailed as the leader of the changes as it increased the freedom of the youth that lead the change from traditional conservatism to liberalism that affected all branches of society, including the mistreatment of immigrants and minorities. All of these tensions felt within this era manifested in a way to make America brilliantly prosperous and live the legend of the roaring twenties that is always glorified. But it was through these ideas that America would eventually succumb to through a Great Depression.