The novel, Fahrenheit 451 reflects Ray Bradbury’s concern for decline of individual thought among his society

The novel, Fahrenheit 451 reflects Ray Bradbury's concern for decline of individual thought among his society. According to Captain Beatty, the head of the fire station â€Å"technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick† of replacing independent thought with conformity and finally leading to censorship (Bradbury, 58). Bradbury wants readers to notice these potential hazards in his fictional world and to beware of them in their own society. Technology in Fahrenheit 451 and today is seen as a great threat to individual thought. Even though the society that Bradbury depicts in the novel is very extreme, it warns the reader of the dangers of technology. Mildred, Montag's wife is taken over by the media and escapes form her life through the modern technologies. According to Clarisse, people no longer think or talk about anything important, â€Å"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or swimming pools mostly and say how swell. But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else† (Bradbury, 31). Similarly today many have turned into mindless human beings by sitting in front of the television or computer. The fast cars, loud music, advertisements and other forms of technological advances have created a lifestyle with too much stimulation in which no one has the time to think. (http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/451/themes. html) For example, Beatty explains that when zippers replace buttons â€Å"a man lacks just that much time to think while dressing at dawn† (Bradbury, 57) In Fahrenheit 451 minority pressure plays an important role in the decline of individual thought. This issue is still relevant today. For instance various pressure groups' campaigns against sex and violence on television or hard rock music have great influence on the types of programs and music people watch and listen to. Beatty explains to Montag that in the past pressure groups were influential in ending free expression, which eventually allowed the government to begin censoring its citizen. â€Å"Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don't step on the toes of the dog lovers, cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans†¦ (Bradbury, 57). Despite the obvious role of minority pressure in the decline of thought, the novel suggests mass exploitation to be the more serious problem. While minority pressure comes from a few members of the public, exploitation comes from the majority of the population. â€Å"Publishers, exploiters, broadcasters† sense the public's desire for relaxation and pleasure and exploit mindless types of entertainment for profit (http://ipl. ulis. ac. jp:8001/cgi-bin/ref/litcrit/litcrit. out. pl? ti=fah-198. This suggests that even more dangerous than the pressure groups is the public's desire for comfort and pleasure. Beatty's discussion of minority pressure is very explicit and clear however, his discussion of mass exploitation is more implicit and is scattered through ten pages. Mass exploitation speeds up the decline of thought even more directly than minority pressure. While pressure groups may manipulate people to avoid gaining knowledge, entertainment provides an alternative to any difficult thought (http://www. pinkmonkey. om/booknotes/monkeynotes. com) The types of entertainment exploited in Fahrenheit 451 are only produced for the public's relaxation and pleasure. The simplification of intellectual challenges and use of drugs are the most basic kinds of exploitation in the novel, which are still common in today's society. Beatty explains that intellectually challenging works were made easier so that they would appeal to a larger audience. This is similar to the way Hollywood producers have produced many simplified motion pictures of famous pieces of literature. Films like Romeo and Juliet and Gone with the Wind are more appealing to the new generation than reading the work itself. Another type of thought destroying mass exploitation in Fahrenheit 451 as well as the real world is the common drug use. When Mildred, overdoses by taking too much sleeping peels the medics, who replace her blood tell Montag, â€Å"We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built† (Bradbury, 15), which suggests that use of drugs is common. It is obvious to see that Bradbury recognizes drugs as a threat to individual thought. Montag smokes early on in the novel (Bradbury, 24), but as he becomes wiser his habit disappears, which shows that smoking was partially responsible for his ignorance in the beginning. Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates the author's extreme sensitivity to any attempts of restricting freedom of expression. He uses a dystopian setting to warn people of the dangers of technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure and considers them as threats to individual thought. Moreover, Fahrenheit 451 is an excellent social critique novel, which contributes to positive changes in society.

Is the Customer Really King? Essay

The marketing world, much like the financial world, has been in considerable flux. But one thing seems fairly clear, and it has to do with the shifting balance of power between the companies that produce the goods, the retailers that stock and distribute them, and the consumers who are counted on to buy what’s provided. For a good many years, the world largely belonged to the manufacturing and marketing powerhouses that dominated consumer demand through the twin powers of promotion and product development: They sold, you bought. But a few decades ago, there was a sea change in which power transitioned to the retailers. The major retailers controlled what was featured in the stores and what appeared on the shelves and thereby determined what was available for the shopper to buy. Marketplace control went from Procter & Gamble and Sony to Walmart and Best Buy. But now we’re told that we’re in an entirely new age — the â€Å"new normal† — when neither the manufacturer nor the retailer is in charge. Today, the story goes, the customer finally runs the show. There’s a good deal of evidence in support of this. Not too long ago, mighty Walmart reportedly was forced to reinstate about 300 items that the company had eliminated from its shelves in an attempt to streamline its operations. Walmart shoppers apparently weren’t pleased with the disappearance of some of their favorite brands, and they let the company know it. The lesson learned, in the words of former CEO Lee Scott: â€Å"Rule No. 1 in retail, don’t aggravate your customer.† Of course, Walmart isn’t alone in recognizing the need to pay closer attention to customers, whose loyal patronage can’t simply be assumed. Other retailers are also responding to the emergence of the newly empowered consumer. For example, Walgreens announced a renewed emphasis on â€Å"customer centric retailing,† redesigning up to 3,000 of its stores to make them easier to shop and more enjoyable for their shoppers. In the words of one leading industry advisor, retailers today have to take a different approach; they must â€Å"focus on exactly what the customer wants.

Advantages of Economic Growth

Advantages of Economic Growth Economic growth can be defined as a process for indicating the increase or decrease in per capita GDP. There are a lot of other factors such as increasing in aggregate income of the individuals reflect economic growth. Economic growth is usually calculated as the rate of GDP changes in a particular period. The total of goods and services produced considered as a reflection for economic growth in the country. It can either be negative or positive in depend on the decrease or increase compared to data of previous years. Negative growth is often indicated to economic recession. When the GDP of a country increases means there is a economic growth existed in the country or the global economies Advantages of Economic Growth. Standard of living of the people will increase Economy growth is an important point to bring better living standards and lower rates of poverty. The average income of people can said that increases and indirectly people able to consume more and motivate the economic growth increasing. Rising Employment Economic growth stimulates employment. The economic growth produces more vacancies for job and bring better standard of living to them. Increased capital investment. Economic growth can used to increasing the capital investment. Benefit to Government Economic growth brings advancedÂÂ  tax incomes for the government, Because of this, the government spends less unemployment benefits. Superior public services. Due to government got government income as economy growth, it can spend more on public services like education for contributing in superior public services. EnhancedÂÂ  businessÂÂ  confidence Economic growth creates positive effect as encourage people running their businesses. As profits of small firms and business increase with economic growth, their business confidence and will to grow up to meet more challenges. Disadvantages of Economic Growth. inflation Potential High and rising inflation will occur due to demand grows faster than long run productive. It may destabilizing for an economy as interest rate may increase and can cause a loss of competitiveness in international markets Regional disparities Although average living standards may be rising, there is a gap between rich and poor. It can widen the issues of poverty and make a wide gap between different regions. Pollution Economic growth never separated from environmental issues. Rapid growth of production and consumption may create environment pollution such as sound and air pollution and road congestion. Environmental damage may bring negative effects on our quality of life. For the example, road congestion will produce more Co2 in a high density area. The health of residents in that area will been affected. Relationship between unemployment and economic growth. How does unemployment affect your economy? Wealth drainage The government need provides monetary assistance when someone unemployed, so a high unem ployment rate means that it has to pay more fund to help a large number of unemployed people. It is creating a heavy burdenfor a government. Wealth is drained for unproductive purposes and economic growth slows down. Slack in flow of money Unemployment slows down the circular flow of income by the lack of money inflow and outflow. When money does not pump into the economy, its growth becomes slowed down even stuck.

Literature reviewe (Technology adoption) Thesis

Literature reviewe (Technology adoption) - Thesis Example The developing countries have now started embracing technology to offer e-government services to the citizens but it has not been adapted globally at the same rate. The factors responsible for low penetration of technology is developing nations could vary across nations and regions. However, to make the services fruitful and to enhance adoption by consumers, various researchers have formulated and developed theoretical frameworks to understand and explain the process of technology adoption. Agarwal (2000) defines technology adoption as the use, or acceptance of a new technology, or new product. In Information Technology and Information system (IT/IS) research, numerous theories have been used to study users adoption of new technologies. Various models were developed including Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)(Davis, 1989), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)(Ajzen et al., 1980) , Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), and recently, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Te chnology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) which have all identified factors that affect an individual’s intention to use or the actual use of information technology. 3.2 Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) The theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, Ajzen et al., 1980) is well-accepted model that has been used successfully to explain behaviour across wide variety of settings (Chau, 1996, Chen et al., 2002, Davis et al., 1989, Venkatesh, 1999). According to TRA, an individual’s behaviour is best predicted by his/her behavioural intention which, in turn, is determined by the person’s attitudes and subjective norm (social influence) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). This implies that individuals consider the implications of their actions before they decided to engage or actually engage in any given behaviour. This theory focuses on behaviour intentions rather than on attitudes that influence behaviour (Al-Quesi, n.d.). However, an individual may not always consider the implications of his actions. This too may differ across individuals and across situations. According to TRA an individual’s intention to perform behaviour encompasses two factors – attitudes the performance of behaviour and subjective norms. Behavioural intention refers to the strength of one’s intention to perform a specified behaviour (Davis et al., 1989). Attitude is defined as the degree to which an individual makes a positive or negative evaluation about certain behaviour (Alzharani, n.d.). It is a set of beliefs about the object under consideration. An individual’s attitude towards any object can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy if the researcher has knowledge about the individual’s beliefs about the attitude object and the evaluation aspects of these beliefs (Al-Quesi, n.d.). If an individual believes that e-banking is risky or cumbersome or economic, his action would depend upon the evaluation of the attribute, Subj ective norm is defined as beliefs about what others will think about the behaviour (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). It is also the social norm to perform or not perform behaviour (Alzharani, n.d.). That is, if an individual believes that most of people who are important to him perceive the outcome of performing the behaviour as positive, he/she will be more likely to perform the behaviour. Hence it can be defined as the individual’s perception of what most people would like, especially people who matter to him. The subjective norms are generally determined by

Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Response Paper - Essay Example The author’s argument on debts is valid from a moral perspective but not from a legal perspective. Moral values such as beneficence and nonmaleficence require that actions result in benefits or at least minimize harms to people and offering credits that can increase economic burdens on borrowers fails the morality test. Similarly, a utilitarian perspective to ethics requires optimal benefits. The relative number of lenders and borrowers, however, identifies concentration of benefits in the hands of a few individuals while majority borrowers bear the burden of refinancing loans and even consequences of defaults. A legal perspective, however, identifies equal responsibilities between lenders and borrowers because of their roles in creating contracts; and this is consistent with deontology ethics. Credits are, therefore, legal as long as both parties consent to it and though resistance to credit may be necessary, especially to protect vulnerable populations, awareness among the p opulation and social bargaining is the most suitable approach because it is likely to induce moral soundness in the credit system that is based on legal frameworks and profit motive (Ross

Advances in asthma management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advances in asthma management - Research Paper Example Most of the patients develop symptoms in early childhood. 80-90 percent of them experience symptoms before 6 years of age (Morris, 2014). But, the clinical presentation can occur at any age. If left unattended and in the presence of severe symptoms, asthma can contribute to morbidity and mortality. Asthma is an incurable disease and individuals with this condition will need regular follow-up and monitoring of symptoms. In this essay, advances in asthma will be discussed with reference to a case scenario. The most common symptoms of asthma in an adult are are wheezing, cough, nocturnal or exercise-induced cough, breathlessness, tightness of chest and sputum production (Morris, 2014). The symptoms may be perennial or seasonal, continuous or intermittent, or during the day or night. Some of the precipitating or aggravating factors include viral infections, intense emotions, environmental irritants, exercise, pets or carpets at home, drugs like aspirin, additive foods, weather changes, stress and certain diseases like gastrointestinal reflux, sinusitis and rhinitis (Morris, 2014; Hamilos, 1995). Many patients have a family history of asthma or other allergy conditions. Based on the history of frequency and the severity of acute exacerbation, asthma is classified into four types. They are mild intermittent asthma, mild persistent asthma, moderate persistent asthma and severe persistent asthma. It is important to ascertain the severity of asthma in a patient because; treatment of asthma is based on the severity and frequency of symptoms. In mild intermittent asthma, the symptoms occur less than twice a week. The flare-ups are brief and the intensity vary. Night symptoms occur less than 2 times a month and no symptoms occur in between flare-ups. FEV1 is atleast 80% of normal values. The variability of peak flow is less than 20 % (SIGN, 2009). In mild persistent asthma, the

Reflaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflaction - Essay Example In an effort to achieve the high standards of masculinity set by sexism and heterosexism alike, men fall short of engaging in anti-violence efforts (Grove 287). The thesis of the article is persuasive given that it highlights the true nature of the society, especially regarding men and anti-violence efforts. While society expect men to hold their masculinity standards as high as possible, supporting efforts against violence becomes a daunting task given that the two run parallel with each other. It is quite impossible for a man to remain masculine in the eyes if the society while at the same time supporting efforts against violence. The article further presents possible strategies of engaging men in anti-violence efforts such as engaging men in activities that challenge both sexism and heterosexism while providing them with an entry point that support their male identity (Grove 285). The second article lays emphasis on the creation of alternate community based intervention to violence. The efforts contributed by the existing interventions to violence are not adequate to mitigate the violence to a tolerable level. It therefore suggests the creation of community based interventions as a solution to violence. It cites the lack of implementation of alternative frameworks on the ground as a major problem facing the fight against violence. The efficiency of the community based intervention to violence lies on engaging the community in taking active role in actually intervening violence (Mimi 293). The alternative intervention to violence proves to be an effective way of mitigating violence given it approaches the problem from the grass root in addition to actually involving the community in an effort to fighting violence. The strategies outlined in community based intervention programs heighten chances of success of the intervention. The paper has enlightened me on alternative intervention

Coyote and Geronimo Accounts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Coyote and Geronimo Accounts - Essay Example Coyote caused the buffalo to result in a stampede and escaped via rear fence to his people’s advantage (Welker). Conversely, Geronimo was a peaceful Indian prior Mexican soldier invaded their camp while they had traveled to trade in the Old Mexico. They terminated their people were among them was his family and a mother beside looting. This brewed hatred that prompted him to take revenge against his adversaries, for almost a decade. Protagonists Coyote and Geronimo despite emanating from different accounts bear comparable traits that are evident in their unfolding events. Coyote and Geronimo depict determination that is evident in their actions. Coyote after summoning the people and brainstorming how they will attain the buffalo, he volunteers to undertake the mission but fails on the initial occasion. This did not demoralize him where he tried the second instance as a dog and succeeded in  accessing the homestead to chase the buffalo out. Similarly, Geronimo’s determination is evident when after finding that Mexican soldiers have terminated his family, he joined Apache and led his followers to avenge themselves on Mexicans (Native American Legends). Coyote and Geronimo, their heroic actions illustrate strong leadership skills. Coyote summoned his followers after fours days to brainstorm how to get the buffalo from Humpback. The followers lacked any idea, but he devised excellent tactics as a leader, which he contemplated would be successful and even choosing to undertake it. Likewise, Geronimo due to the hatred that resulted from having his family and people terminated, choose to spur hundreds of Apaches for revenge (Cantley 54). Coyote in his actions depicted trickery, contrary to his counterpart Geronimo in his mission.  

Critical management perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critical management perspectives - Essay Example When 70 percent of the surveyed individuals prefer to buy Company A’s products and services over the Company B’s competing products and services, Company A’s products and services has more value over the value of Company B. Value includes the value of the supply chaini. Academic theory /literature to justify my idea One research shows that the company must exert efforts to create and enhance business valueii. For the business entity, value equates to the quality of the services offered. A company that delivers the same product within two days has a lower value when compared to another company that offers to deliver the same product or service within a lesser time period. The research shows that value includes quality of the factors that contribute supplying the immediate needs of the company’s current and future customers. The factors include the suppliers’ delivery of the company’s raw materials and other quality supply needs on time. Furthe r, another research states that value creation and enhancement includes implementing the best alternative marketing and management plansiii. The research shows that value creation in the contemporary business organization is complex and many-phased topic that incorporates changing factors. For example, outsourcing will increase the company’s revenues. ... Economic principles dictate that as the demand for the company’s products and services decrease, the current and future customers demand for the company’s products and services increaseiv. Furthermore, another research indicates that business value investing and improvement should be prioritizedv. The value investing and improvement included companies are forecasted to have high value. There are many factors that contribute to increasing and retaining the company’s high business value. The factors include the company’s historical revenue trend. The company that shows it generated three prior year’s high revenue will have a higher business value compared to the company that has a tract record of three years of lackluster (low) revenue outputs. Additionally, the company that has shows it generated net profits for the past three years has a higher business value compared to a company that had generated net losses for the past three years. Moreover, bus iness combinations contribute to higher business valuevi. When a big company acquires a smaller company, the business value of the smaller company is catapulted to higher levels. Normally, big companies merge or combine with some of its competitors in order to increase its market presence. The increased market presence increase the company’s revenues and profits. Often, the fair market values of the separate companies are used when determining the higher business value of the merged or combined company. Further, the merger or consolidation of the two companies includes adding one company’s goodwill or good name in the new combined company’s higher business value. Goodwill can be defined as the popularity of the company’s name among