Americans and Materialism Essay Example for Free

Americans and Materialism Essay The 1960s represented an era of significant economic growth for Americans. Some economists argue that the early 1960s began the consumerism that defines American culture today. To what extent did American materialism that is, the beliefs in the accumulation of personal wealth make Americans afraid of communism? The chances of a communism in America were extremely small; Americans loved their democratic capitalist government. They would have not traded it in for being communist. In reality we as Americans are consumed by things we see and hear on TV, by what we see our neighbors have, and by what many people think is important in life. Materialism is a huge problem in this country. It appears to get worse as technology increases and new gadgets are invented and easily obtained; but because some people become obsessed with having and they lose self-control of it. Discussion topic #2: Based upon your reading materials for this unit, do you agree or disagree that more government intervention is needed in the capitalist system? Please justify your response with concrete examples. Yes, there should be government intervention in to capitalistic system with some extent. I my opinion markets cannot exist without a government to protect property rights, enforce contracts and settle disputes all of which is intervention. This would benefit the economy in variety of ways. Firstly, government regulations allow businesses to remain in the private hands while removing some of the worst abuses of pure capitalism. Extremely wealthy people or companies have the ability to control large sections of the economy because smart business dealings. Only Government involvement can fix that. When a producer has a monopoly, the consumer is no longer autonomous, prices are not set by supply and demand, and therefore the system cannot function effectively. As a mixed economy there is competition between companies but we need government regulation to ensure that these types of monopolies do not exist. A safe amount of government intervention would result in higher incomes, production and employment, which would then lead to expansion. Limited government involvement prevents crises such as inflation, unemployment and depression. Without government the strong will take what they want from the weak and there will be no reason to voluntarily exchange good and services which is the sole purpose of buying and selling. (Harrison, chapter07). Harrison, Brigid C. and Thomas R. Dye. (2008) Power and Society. Cengage Learning. Mason, Ohio

The Importance of Blake in Today’s World :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Importance of Blake in Today’s World      Ã‚   William Blake, who lived in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, was a profoundly stirring poet who was, in large part, responsible for bringing about the Romantic movement in poetry; was able to achieve "remarkable results with the simplest means"; and was one of several poets of the time who restored "rich musicality to the language" (Appelbaum v). His research and introspection into the human mind and soul has resulted in his being called the "Columbus of the psyche," and because no language existed at the time to describe what he discovered on his voyages, he created his own mythology to describe what he found there (Damon ix). He was an accomplished poet, painter, and engraver.    Blake scholars disagree on whether or not Blake was a mystic. In the Norton Anthology, he is described as "an acknowledged mystic, [who] saw visions from the age of four" (Mack 783). Frye, however, who seems to be one of the most influential Blake scholars, disagrees, saying that Blake was a visionary rather than a mystic. "'Mysticism' . . . means a certain kind of religious techniques difficult to reconcile with anyone's poetry," says Frye (Frye 8). He next says that "visionary" is "a word that Blake uses, and uses constantly" and cites the example of Plotinus, the mystic, who experienced a "direct apprehension of God" four times in his life, and then only with "great effort and relentless discipline." He finally cites Blake's poem "I rose up at the dawn of day," in which Blake states,    I am in God's presence night & day, And he never turns his face away (Frye 9).    Besides all of these achievements, Blake was a social critic of his own time and considered himself a prophet of times to come. Frye says that "all his poetry was written as though it were about to have the immediate social impact of a new play" (Frye 4). His social criticism is not only representative of his own country and era, but strikes profound chords in our own time as well. As Appelbaum said in the introduction to his anthology English Romantic Poetry, "[Blake] was not fully rediscovered and rehabilitated until a full century after his death" (Appelbaum v). For Blake was not truly appreciated during his life, except by small cliques of individuals, and was not well-known during the rest of the nineteenth century (Appelbaum v).

A risk that paid off

The greatest and most accomplished men in any age are those who launch out boldly into the unknown, not fearing what the untried paths ahead held in store for them, but believing, even beyond belief, that there was a great prize awaiting them at the end of their endeavors.The journey of life itself is about taking risks and I have never been afraid to press towards my own uncertainties in the hope that the result, though undefined, would either make or break me. There was one considerable risk that I took in my life that turned out to be quite profitable and which has contributed significantly to my development.Some years ago I took on the challenge to invest in some real estate in the hopes that I could reap some financial benefits in either the short or medium run. It was a bit difficult for me deciding to invest my personal resources into purchasing a house that was in need of significant amounts of repairs.When the opportunity presented itself I at first considered that I was not in a very secure financial position at the time that would allow me to recover if I encountered losses as a result of the investment I was contemplating. I weighed the odds and had considerable input from my closest of friends and family in helping me to arrive at a decision.The situation was going to be a challenge to me and I have not been known to back down from a challenge. However, launching out into real estate investment was an uncharted path for me and I therefore feared that things wouldn’t go as well as I desired.In situations like these, when contemplating whether or not to take on risk, Wee and Morse (2007) advise that the equation between the possible successes and failures be weighed carefully. Whatever option I examined in making my decision was a great challenge for me. I feared that if I purchased the property and did the improvements I   would end up losing considerably at the end of the day.On the other hand I also feared that this project was the breakt hrough that I have been begging for for so many years and that I would miss out on a wonderful opportunity. It was Collin Powell who had said â€Å"You never know what you can get away with until you try† (as cited in McGowan, 2007, p. 105) and I wasn’t about to miss out on potentially my only chance by shying away from the challenge. Therefore, my reservations aside, I decided to purchase the property.McGowan (2007) suggests that once prudence is exercised in critical risk-taking situations and once proper planning is in place then the prospect of failure, in any endeavor, is significantly minimized. My attack plan with the real estate investment, was therefore to undertake the improvements to the property I purchased at as minimal a cost as possible so that if the returns on sale were not favorable I would not have lost too considerably.In order to ensure that the improvements remained within budget I had to undertake all of the work on my own. The property needed si gnificant amount of work in terms of tiling, painting and landscaping and I undertook these tasks independently. Of course it was taxing on my energy, time and resources to undertake this on my own. However, each day when I saw the improvements I was comforted that my efforts were not being wasted.Gradually I was able to accomplish all the repairs and produced my own work of art. I was really impressed with the way I was able to face up and kept focus on the task during this critical stage of my investment. My motivation was the prospect that the returns I obtained would be considerable and my efforts would not have all been in vain.The long and short of the story is that I was able to double my investment on the property. When I placed the property on the market it was not long before I got calls from eager customers willing to pay me way above what I had initially invested in the project. The improvements I had undertaken really made a significant difference to the point where I w as able to double the money I spent on the property. Indeed the success of my venture proved to me that, according to Wee and Morse (2007), those who are wiling to launch out and try something new, are the ones that achieve in life.Had it not been for this risk-taking activity my life would have been significantly different to date. For me, aside from the financial gains from the investment, the most important benefit of that single venture is being able to take some time off from work and return to college.For some time I had been considering going back to college but given my work situation I knew I would not have been able to afford the tuition and additional costs any time soon. I am where I am today because of the opportunity afforded me by that single venture.

Process Analysis - 934 Words

Changing your engine oil is one of the single most important vehicle maintenance acts you can perform. Over time the oil breaks down and no longer performs its job the way it did when it was new. Your engine s oil helps absorb heat from the engine and lubricates moving metal parts that would otherwise grind together. As you drive, the oil pump circulates oil within your engine and the oil filter catches the deposits that build up over time. The oil filter performs its own type of car maintenance by keeping the oil clean. But as the oil gets older, the number of deposits in the oil continues to build and the filter is unable to extract all of the material. When this happens, the color of the oil changes and it indicates the oil should be†¦show more content†¦Typically, most engines take between 4 and 6 quarts. Use a funnel to channel the oil to keep it from spilling out onto the engine. Once you ve added the correct amount of oil, lower the car off of the ramps or car jacks. It may take a few minutes for the oil to reach the bottom of the pan because it s cold and moves slower than hot oil. The oil level should be just below the full mark on your dipstick.Once you ve determined that you have the correct amount of oil added to your engine, turn the car on and run it for about five minutes to allow the oil to circulate. Once you ve done this, check for any oil leaks before you clean up. That is how you change your oil a simple process that saves you money and keeps your car running for as long as you needShow MoreRelatedQuality, Process, And Location Analysis Essay1432 Words   |  6 Pages Quality, Process, and Location Analysis Without success there is no business. The goal for any organization is be successful. In order to be a successful business, it is essential to explore the use of process management functions within the operations management (OM) processes. Nissan, like most companies, has had their high and low moments. 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