progressive america :: essays research papers

Progressive America? The early 1900’s can also be referred as the progressive movement because of the many reforms and improvements that occurred during the era. 2005 is much like the earlier progressive movements and can be classified as a progressive era. 3 out of the 4 goals of progressivism are being practiced during the 21st century. Social welfare, economic reform, and moral improvements are still being practiced to try to improve the quality and fairness of life in the U.S. Social welfare improvements are occurring right now to try and better our country as a whole. Bush’s new plan calls for standardized testing and education reforms to try and improve literacy in the U.S. much like during the 1900’s when woman’s groups were fighting for better education standards in schools. In fact standardized testing was first suggested in the early 1900’s to try and improve schools. Many in the 1900’s were advocates for child protection such as Florence Kelly who helped establish child labor laws and set up schools. In the progressive period we first saw the salvation army and attempts to try and improve living conditions for many Americans, groups like the YMCA help build safe communities to keep kids out of trouble. In 2005 Bush recently tried to improve poverty by modernizing social security to keep retirees from going broke. Bush also plans to update Medicare provide tax relief to those who need it. Just like in the early 1900 ’s aid groups are on the rise and have broadened there boundaries to help more people (doctors without borders, red cross, operation smile). During the era we witnessed a climb in the birth of many of these groups but in 2005 we are seeing a rapid increase in the number of non-profit organizations much like those simpler ones we saw in the past. The need to keep children safe has also sprung to life again as it did in the progressive era the need for children to â€Å"stay of the streets† as fueled many people to open/found teen centers and other hangouts where kids can be under adult supervision. Economic reform was and is very important to the survival of this country during the progressive period and directly indicates that 2005 is a progressive era. During the progressive era economic improvements was basically just revealing corrupt companies and trying to give the workers more rights and powers.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21

Chapter 21 â€Å"You make a very attractive woman,† Rumi said from the comfort of his pit. â€Å"Did I tell you that my wife has passed on to her next incarnation and that I am alone?† â€Å"Yeah, you mentioned that.† He seemed to have given up on us getting his daughter back. â€Å"What happened to the rest of your family, anyway?† â€Å"They drowned.† â€Å"I'm sorry. In the Ganges?† â€Å"No, at home. It was the monsoon season. Little Vitra and I had gone to the market to buy some swill, and there was a sudden downpour. When we returned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged. â€Å"I don't mean to sound insensitive, Rumi, but there is a chance that your loss could have been caused by – oh, I don't know – perhaps the fact that you LIVE IN A FUCKING PIT!† â€Å"That's not helping, Biff,† Joshua said. â€Å"You said you had a plan?† â€Å"Right. Rumi, am I correct in assuming that these pits, when someone is not living in them, are used for tanning hides?† â€Å"Yes, it is work that only Untouchables may do.† â€Å"That would account for the lovely smell. I assume you use urine in the tanning process, right?† â€Å"Yes, urine, mashed brains, and tea are the main ingredients.† â€Å"Show me the pit where the urine is condensed.† â€Å"The Rajneesh family is living there.† â€Å"That's okay, we'll bring them a present. Josh, do you have any lint in the bottom of your satchel?† â€Å"What are you up to?† â€Å"Alchemy,† I said. â€Å"The subtle manipulation of the elements. Watch and learn.† When it was not being used, the urine pit was the home of the Rajneesh family, and they were more than happy to give us loads of the white crystals that covered the floor of their home. There were six in the family, father, mother, an almost grown daughter, and three little ones. Another little son had been taken for sacrifice at the festival of Kali. Like Rumi, and all the other Untouchables, the Rajneesh family looked more like skeletons mummified in brown leather than people. The Untouchable men went about the pits naked or wearing only a loincloth, and even the women were dressed in tatters that barely covered them – nothing as nice as the stylish sari that I had purchased in the marketplace. Mr. Rajneesh commented that I was a very attractive woman and encouraged me to drop by after the next monsoon. Joshua pounded chunks of the crystallized mineral into a fine white powder while Rumi and I collected charcoal from under the heated dying pit (a firebox had been gouged out of the stone under the pit) which the Untouchables used to render the flowers from the indigo shrub into fabric dye. â€Å"I need brimstone, Rumi. Do you know what that is? A yellow stone that burns with a blue flame and gives off a smoke that smells like rotten eggs?† â€Å"Oh yes, they sell it in the market as some sort of medicine.† I handed the Untouchable a silver coin. Go buy as much of it as you can carry.† â€Å"Oh my, this will be more than enough money. May I buy some salt with what is left?† â€Å"Buy what you need with what's left over, just go.† Rumi skulked away and I went to help Joshua process the saltpeter. The concept of abundance was an abstract one to the Untouchables, except as it pertained to two categories, suffering and animal parts. If you wanted decent food, shelter, or clean water, you would be sorely disappointed among the Untouchables, but if you were in the market for beaks, bones, teeth, hides, sinew, hooves, hair, gallstones, fins, feathers, ears, antlers, eyeballs, bladders, lips, nostrils, poop chutes, or any other inedible part of virtually any creature that walked on, swam under, or flew over the subcontinent of India, then the Untouchables were likely to have what you wanted lying around, conveniently stored beneath a thick blanket of black flies. In order to fashion the equipment I needed for my plan, I had to think in terms of animal parts. Fine unless you need, say, a dozen short swords, bows and arrows, and chain mail for thirty soldiers and all you have to work with is a stack of nostrils and three mismatched poop chutes. It was a challenge, but I made do. As Jo shua moved among the Untouchables, surreptitiously healing their maladies, I barked out my orders. â€Å"I need eight sheep bladders – fairly dry – two handfuls of crocodile teeth, two pieces of rawhide as long as my arms and half again as wide. No, I don't care what kind of animal, just not too ripe, if you can manage it. I need hair from an elephant's tail. I need firewood, or dried dung if you must, eight oxtails, a basket of wool, and a bucket of rendered fat.† And a hundred scrawny Untouchables stood there, eyes as big as saucers, just staring at me while Joshua moved among them, healing their wounds, sicknesses, and insanities, without any of them suspecting what was happening. (We'd agreed that this was the wisest tack to take, as we didn't want a bunch of healthy Untouchables athletically bounding through Kalighat proclaiming that they had been cured of all ills by a strange foreigner, thus attracting attention to us and spoiling my plan. On the other hand, neither could we stand there and watch these people suffer, knowing that we – well, Joshua – had the power to help them.) He'd also taken to poking one of them in the arm with his finger anytime anyone said the word â€Å"Untouchable.† Later he told me that he just hated passing up the opportunity for palpable irony. I cringed when I saw Joshua touching the lepers among them, as if after all these years away from Israel a tiny Pharisee stood on my shoulder and sc reamed, â€Å"Unclean!† â€Å"Well?† I said after I'd finished my orders. â€Å"Do you want your children back or not?† â€Å"We don't have a bucket,† said one woman. â€Å"Or a basket,† said another. â€Å"Okay, fill some of the sheep bladders with rendered fat, and bundle the wool in some kind of hide. Now go, we don't have a lot of time.† And they all stood and looked at me. Big eyes. Sores healed. Parasites purged. They just looked at me. â€Å"Look, I know my Sanskrit isn't great, but you do know what I am asking?† A young man stepped forward. â€Å"We do not want to anger Kali by depriving her of her sacrifices.† â€Å"You're kidding, right?† â€Å"Kali is the bringer of destruction, without which there can be no rebirth. She is the remover of the bondage that ties us to the material world. If we anger her, she will deprive us of her divine destruction.† I looked at Joshua across the crowd. â€Å"Do you understand this?† â€Å"Fear?† he said. â€Å"Can you help?† I asked in Aramaic. â€Å"I'm not good at fear,† Joshua said in Hebrew. I thought for a second as two hundred eyes pinned me to the sandstone on which I stood. I remembered the red-stained gashes on the wooden elephant statues at the altar of Kali. Death was their deliverance, was it? â€Å"What is your name?† I asked the man who had stepped out of the crowd. â€Å"Nagesh,† he said. â€Å"Stick out your tongue, Nagesh.† He did, and I threw back the cloth that covered my head and loosened it around my neck. Then I touched his tongue. â€Å"Destruction is a gift you value?† â€Å"Yes,† said Nagesh. â€Å"Then I shall be the instrument of the goddess's gift.† With that I pulled the black glass dagger from the sheath in my sash, held it up before the crowd. While Nagesh stood, passive, wide-eyed, I drove my thumb under his jaw, pushed his head back, and brought the dagger down across his throat. I lowered him to the ground as the red liquid spurted over the sandstone. I stood and faced the crowd again, holding the dripping blade over my head. â€Å"You owe me, you ungrateful fucks! I have brought to your people the gift of Kali, now bring me what I ask for.† They moved really quickly for people who were on the edge of starvation. After the Untouchables scattered to do my bidding, Joshua and I stood over the bloodstained body of Nagesh. â€Å"That was fantastic,† Joshua said. â€Å"Absolutely perfect.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Had you been practicing all that time we were in the monastery?† â€Å"You didn't see me push the pressure point in his neck then?† â€Å"No, not at all.† â€Å"Gaspar's kung fu training. The rest, of course, was from Joy and Balthasar.† I bent over and opened Nagesh's mouth, then took the ying-yang vial from around my neck and put a drop of the antidote on the Untouchable's tongue. â€Å"So he can hear us now, like when Joy poisoned you?† Joshua asked. I pulled back one of Nagesh's eyelids and watched the pupil contract slowly in the sunlight. â€Å"No, I think he's still unconscious from me holding the pressure point. I didn't think the poison would work quickly enough. I could only get a drop of poison on my finger when I loosened my sari. I knew it would keep him down, I just wasn't sure it would put him down.† â€Å"Well, you are truly a magus, now, Biff. I'm impressed.† â€Å"Joshua, you healed a hundred people today. Half of them were probably dying. I did some sleight of hand.† My friend's enthusiasm was undeterred. â€Å"What's the red stuff, pomegranate juice? I can't figure out where you concealed it.† â€Å"No, actually I was going to ask you about that.† â€Å"What?† I held my arm up and showed Joshua where I had slashed my own wrist (the source of blood for the show). I had been holding it against my leg and as soon as I removed the pressure the blood started spurting again. I sat down hard on the sandstone and my vision began to tunnel down to a pinpoint. â€Å"I was hoping you could help me out with this,† I said before I fainted. â€Å"You need to work on that part of the trick,† Joshua said when I came to. â€Å"I might not always be around to fix your wrist.† He was speaking Hebrew – that meant for my ears only. I saw Joshua kneeling above me, then beyond him the sky was blotted out by curious brown faces. The recently murdered Nagesh was in the front of the crowd. â€Å"Hey, Nagesh, how'd the rebirth go?† I asked in Sanskrit. â€Å"I must have strayed from my dharma in my last life,† Nagesh said. â€Å"I have been reincarnated, once again, as an Untouchable. And I have the same ugly wife.† â€Å"You challenged master Levi who is called Biff,† I said, â€Å"of course you didn't move up. You're lucky you're not a stink bug or something. See, destruction isn't the big favor you all thought it was.† â€Å"We brought the things you asked for.† I hopped to my feet feeling incredibly rested and energized. â€Å"Nice,† I said to Joshua. â€Å"I feel like I just had one of those strong coffees you used to make at Balthasar's.† â€Å"I miss coffee,† said Josh. I looked at Nagesh, â€Å"I don't suppose you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We have swill.† â€Å"Never mind,† I said. Then I said one of those things that as a boy growing up in Galilee, you never think you'll hear yourself say: â€Å"Okay, Untouchables, bring me the sheep bladders!† Rumi said that the goddess Kali was served by a host of black-skinned female demons, who sometimes during the feast would bring men to corners of the altar and copulate with them as blood rained down from the goddess's saw-tooth maw above. â€Å"Okay, Josh, you're one of them,† I said. â€Å"What are you gonna be?† â€Å"The goddess Kali, of course. You got to be God last time.† â€Å"What last time?† â€Å"All of the last times.† I turned to my intrepid minions. â€Å"Untouchables, paint him up!† â€Å"They're not going to buy that a burr-headed Jewish kid is their goddess of destruction.† â€Å"O ye of little faith,† I said. Three hours later we were again crouched beneath a tree near the temple of Kali. We were both dressed as women, covered from head to toe by our saris, but I was looking much lumpier under mine due to Kali's extra arms and garland of severed heads, played tonight by painted sheep bladders filled with explosives and suspended around my neck by long strands of elephant tail hair. Any observers who might get close enough to notice my protrusions were quickly deterred by the smell coming off of Joshua and me. We had used the goo from the bottom of Rumi's pit to paint our bodies black. I didn't have the courage to ask what the substance had been in life, but if there was a place where they allowed vultures to ripen in the sun before pounding them into a smooth paste and mixing it with just the right amount of buffalo squat, then Rumi called it home. The Untouchables had also painted huge red rings around Joshua's eyes, fitted him with a ropey wig of oxtails, and affixed to his torso six pe rt little breasts fashioned from pitch. â€Å"Stay away from any open flame. Your tits will go up like volcanos.† â€Å"Why did I have to have six and you only had to have two.† â€Å"Because I am the goddess and have to wear the garland of skulls and the extra arms.† We'd made my arms from rawhide, using my primary arms as models, then drying the molded arms in place over the fire. The women made a harness that held the extra arms in place under my own, then we painted the arms black with the same black goo. They were a little wobbly, but they were light and would look realistic enough in the dark. It was still hours from the height of the ceremony at midnight, when the children would be hacked to death, but we wanted to be there in time to stop the revelers from cutting off the children's fingers if we could. Now, the wooden elephants were empty on their turntables, but the altar of Kali was already filling with gruesome tribute. The heads of a thousand goats had been laid on the altar before the goddess, and the blood ran slick over the stones and in the grooves that channeled it into large brass pots at the corners of the altar. Female acolytes carried the pots up a narrow ladder at the back of the great statue of Kali, then dumped them through some sort of reservoir that fed it through the goddess's jaws. Below, by torchlight, worshipers danced in the sticky shower as the blood flowed down upon them. â€Å"Look, those women are dressed like me,† Joshua said. â€Å"Except they only have two breasts each.† â€Å"Technically, they're not dressed, they're painted. You make a very attractive female demon, Josh. Did I tell you that?† â€Å"This isn't going to work.† â€Å"Of course it's going to work.† I guessed that there were already ten thousand worshipers in the temple square, dancing, chanting, and beating drums. A procession of thirty men came down the main boulevard, each carrying a basket under his arm. As they reached the altar, each man dumped the contents of the basket over the rows of bloody goat heads. â€Å"What are those?† Joshua asked. â€Å"Those are exactly what you think they are.† â€Å"They're not the heads of the children?† â€Å"No, I think those are the heads of strangers who happened down the road we were on before Rumi came along to pull us into the grass.† After the severed heads were dispersed across the altar, the female acolytes came out of the crowd dragging the headless corpse of a man, which they laid on the steps leading to the altar. Each one mimed having intercourse with the corpse, then rubbed their genitalia against the bloody stump of its neck before dancing away, blood and ochre dripping down the insides of their thighs. â€Å"There's sort of a theme developing here,† I said. â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick,† Joshua said. â€Å"Mindful breath,† I said, using one of the phrases that Gaspar was always barking at us when we were learning meditation. I knew that if Joshua could stay with the yeti for days at a time without freezing to death, he could certainly conjure up the bodily control to keep from throwing up. The sheer magnitude of the carnage was all that was keeping me from vomiting. It was as if the atrocity of the whole scene couldn't fit in my mind all at once, so I could only see just enough for my sanity and my stomach to remain intact. A shout went up in the crowd now and I could see a torch-lit sedan chair being carried above the heads of the worshipers. On it reclined a half-naked man with a tiger skin wrapped around his hips, his skin painted light gray with ashes. His hair was plaited with grease and he wore the bones of a human hand as a skullcap. Around his neck hung a necklace of human skulls. â€Å"High priest,† I said. â€Å"They aren't even going to notice you, Biff. How can you even get their attention after they've seen all this?† â€Å"They haven't seen what I'm going to show them.† As the sedan chair emerged from the crowd in front of the altar, we could see a procession following it: tied to the back of the sedan chair was a line of naked children, most of them not more than five or six, their hands tied together, a less ornately dressed priest on either side of them to steady them. The priests began to untie the children and take them to the great wooden elephants lining the boulevard. Here and there in the crowd I could see people beginning to brandish edged weapons: short swords, axes, and the long-bladed spears Joshua and I had seen over the elephant grass. The high priest was sitting on the headless corpse, shouting a poem about the divine release of Kali's destruction or something. â€Å"Here we go,† I said, pulling the black glass dagger from under my sari. â€Å"Take this.† Joshua looked at the blade shimmering in the torchlight. â€Å"I won't kill anyone,† he said. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, drawing long red lines through the black and if anything making him look more fierce. â€Å"That's fine, but you'll need to cut them loose.† â€Å"Right.† He took the knife from me. â€Å"Josh, you know what's coming. You've seen it before. Nobody else here has, especially those kids. You can't carry all of them, so they have to have enough of their wits about them to follow you. I know you can keep them from being afraid. Put your teeth in.† Joshua nodded and slipped the row of crocodile teeth attached to a piece of rawhide under his upper lip, leaving the teeth to protrude like fangs. I put in my own false fangs, then ran into the dark to circle the crowd. As I approached the rear of the altar I pulled the special torch I'd made from under my girdle of human hands. (Actually my girdle of human hands was made of dried goat's udders stuffed with straw, but the Untouchable women had done a pretty good job as long as no one bothered to count fingers.) Through Kali's stone legs I could see the priests tying each of the children on the trunk of a wooden elephant. As soon as the bonds were tight, each priest drew a bronze blade and held it aloft, ready to strike off a finger as soon as the high priest gave the signal. I struck the tip of my torch on the edge of the altar, screamed for all I was worth, then threw my sari off and ran up the steps as the torch burst into dazzling blue flame that trailed sparks behind me as I ran. I hopped across the array of goat heads and stood between the legs of the statue of Kali, my torch held aloft in one hand, one of my severed heads swinging by the hair in the other. â€Å"I am Kali,† I screamed. â€Å"Fear me!† It came out sort of mumbled through my fake teeth. Some of the drums stopped and the high priest turned around and looked at me, more because of the bright light of the torch than my fierce proclamation. â€Å"I am Kali,† I shouted again. â€Å"Goddess of destruction and all this disgusting crap you have here!† They weren't getting it. The priest signaled for the other priests to come around me from the sides. Some of the female acolytes were already trying to make their way across the dance floor of decapitations toward me. â€Å"I mean it. Bow down to me!† The priests charged on. I did have the crowd's attention, though unfortunately they weren't cowering in fear at my angry goddessness. I could see Joshua moving around the wooden elephants, the guarding priests having left their posts to come after me. â€Å"Really! I mean it!† Maybe it was the teeth. I spit them out toward the nearest of my attackers. Running across a sea of slick, bloody heads is evidently a pretty difficult task. Not if you've spent the last six years of your life hopping from the top of one post to another, even in ice and snow, but for the run-of-the-mill homicidal priest, it's a tough row to hoe. The priests and acolytes were slipping and sliding among the goat and human heads, falling over each other, smacking into the feet of the statue, one even impaling himself on a goat's horn when he fell. One of the priests was only a few feet away from me now, trying not to fall on his own blade as he crawled over the mess. â€Å"I will bring destruction†¦oh, fuck it,† I said. I lit the fuse on the severed head I held in my hand, then swung it between my legs and tossed it in a steep arch over my head. It trailed sparks on its way into the black goddess's open maw, then disappeared. I kicked the approaching priest in the jaw, then danced across the goat heads, leapt over the head of the high priest, and was halfway to Joshua at the first wooden elephant when Kali, with a deafening report, breathed fire out over the crowd and the top of her head blew off. Finally, I had the crowd's attention. They were trampling each other to get away, but I had their attention. I stood in the middle of the boulevard, swinging my second severed head in a circle, waiting for the fuse to burn down before I let it sail over the heads of the receding crowd. It exploded in the air, sending a circle of flame across the sky and no doubt deafening some of the worshipers who were close. Joshua had seven of the children around him, clinging to his legs as he moved to the next elephant. Several of the priests had recovered and were storming down the steps of the altar toward me, knives in hand. I pulled another head from my garland, lit the fuse, and held it out to them. â€Å"Ah, ah, ah,† I cautioned. â€Å"Kali. Goddess of destruction. Wrath et cetera.† At the sight of the sparking fuse they stopped and began to backpedal. â€Å"Now that's the sort of respect you should have shown before.† I started whirling the head by the hair and the priests lost all semblance of courage and turned and ran. I hurled the head back up the boulevard onto the altar, where it exploded, sending a spray of real severed goat heads in all directions. â€Å"Josh! Duck! Goat heads!† Joshua pushed the children to the ground and fell over them until the pieces settled. He glared at me a second, then went on to free the other children. I hurled three more heads into different directions and now the entire temple square was nearly deserted but for Joshua, the children, a few injured worshipers, and the dead. I had built the bombs without any shrapnel in them, so those who had been injured had been trampled in the panic and the dead were those who had already been sacrificed to Kali. I think we pulled it off without killing anyone. As Joshua led the children down the wide boulevard and out of the temple square, I covered our exit, backing down the boulevard, my last explosive head swinging in one hand, my torch in the other. Once I saw that Joshua and the children were safely away, I lit the fuse, whirled the head around and let it fly toward the black goddess. â€Å"Bitch,† I said. I was out of sight when it exploded. Joshua and I got as far as a limestone cliff overlooking the Ganges before we had to stop to let the children rest. They were tired and hungry, but mostly they were hungry, and we had brought nothing for them to eat. At least, after Joshua's touch, they weren't afraid, and that gave them some peace. Josh and I were too jangled to sleep, so we sat up as the children lay down on the rocks around us and snored like kittens. Joshua held Rumi's little daughter, Vitra, and before long her face was smeared with black paint from nuzzling his shoulder. All through the night, as he rocked the child, all I heard Joshua say was, â€Å"No more blood. No more blood.† At first light we could see thousands, no, tens of thousands of people gathering at the banks of the river, all dressed in white, except for a few old men who were naked. They moved into the water and stood facing east, heads raised in anticipation, dotting the river as far as the eye could see. As the sun became a molten fingernail of light on the horizon, the muddy surface of the river turned golden. The gold light reflected off its surface onto the buildings, the shanties, the trees, the palaces, making everything in sight, including the worshipers, appear to have been gilded. And worshipers they were, for we could hear their songs from where we sat, and although we could not discern the words, we could hear that these were the songs of God. â€Å"Are those the same people from last night?† I said. â€Å"They would have to be, wouldn't they?† â€Å"I don't understand these people. I don't understand their religion. I don't understand how they think.† Joshua stood and watched the Indians bowing and singing to the dawn, looking occasionally to the face of the child that slept on his shoulder. â€Å"This is testament to the glory of God's creation, whether these people know it or not.† â€Å"How can you say that? The sacrifices to Kali, the way the Untouchables are treated. Whatever they might believe, in practice their religion is hideous.† â€Å"You're right. It's not right to condemn this child because she was not born a Brahman?† â€Å"Of course not.† â€Å"Then is it right to condemn her because she is not born a Jew?† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"A man who is born a gentile may not see the kingdom of God. Are we, as Hebrews, any different from them? The lambs at the temple on Passover? The wealth and power of the Sadducees while others go hungry? At least the Untouchables can reach their reward eventually, through karma and rebirth. We don't allow any gentile to do so.† â€Å"You can't compare what they do to God's law. We don't sacrifice human beings. We feed our poor, we take care of the sick.† â€Å"Unless the sick are unclean,† Joshua said. â€Å"But, Josh, we're the chosen. It's God's will.† â€Å"But is it right? He won't tell me what to do. So I'll say. And I say, no more.† â€Å"You're not just talking about eating bacon, are you?† â€Å"Gautama the Buddha gave the way to people of all births to find the hand of God. With no blood sacrifice. Our doors have been marked with blood for too long, Biff.† â€Å"So that's what you think you're going to do? Bring God to everyone?† â€Å"Yes. After a nap.† â€Å"Of course, I meant after a nap.† Joshua held the little girl so I could see her face as she slept on his shoulder. When the children awoke we led them back to their families at the pits, handing them into the arms of their mothers, who snatched each child away from us as if we were devils incarnate; they glared over their shoulders as they carried the babies back to their pits. â€Å"Grateful bunch,† I said. â€Å"They are afraid that we've angered Kali. And we've brought them another hungry mouth.† â€Å"Still. Why did they help us if they didn't want their children back?† â€Å"Because we told them what to do. That's what they do. What they are told. That's how the Brahmans keep them in line. If they do what they are told, then perhaps they will not be Untouchables next life.† â€Å"That's depressing.† Joshua nodded. We only had little Vitra to return to her father now, and I was sure that Rumi would be happy to see his daughter. His distress over losing her had basically been the reason he had saved our lives. As we came over the sandstone rise we could see that Rumi was not alone in his pit. Rumi stood on his sitting rock, stark naked, sprinkling salt on his erect member as a large humpbacked cow, which nearly filled the rest of the pit, licked at the salt. Joshua held Vitra so she faced away from the pit, then backed away, as if he didn't want to disturb the moment of beefy intimacy. â€Å"A cow, Rumi?† I exclaimed. â€Å"I thought you people had beliefs.† â€Å"That's not a cow, that's a bull,† Joshua said. â€Å"Oh, that's got to be your super-bonus abomination there. Where we come from whole cities get destroyed for that kind of thing, Rumi.† I reached over and put my hand over Vitra's eyes. â€Å"Stay away from Daddy, honey, or you'll turn into a pillar of salt.† â€Å"But this is my wife, reincarnated.† â€Å"Oh, don't try that one on me, Rumi. For six years I lived in a Buddhist monastery where the only female company was a wild yak. I know from desperate.† Joshua grabbed my arm. â€Å"You didn't?† â€Å"Relax, I'm just making a point. You're the Messiah here, Josh. What do you think?† â€Å"I think we need to go to Tamil and find the third magus.† He set Vitra down and Rumi quickly pulled up his loincloth as the child ran to him. â€Å"Go with God, Rumi,† Joshua said. â€Å"May Shiva watch over you, you heretics. Thank you for returning my daughter.† Joshua and I gathered up our clothes and satchels, then bought some rice in the market and set out for Tamil. We followed the Ganges south until we came to the sea, where Joshua and I washed the gore of Kali from our bodies. We sat on the beach, letting the sun dry our skin as we picked pitch out of our chest hairs. â€Å"You know, Josh,† I said, as I fought a particularly stubborn gob of tar that had stuck in my armpit, â€Å"when you were leading those kids out of the temple square, and they were so little and weak, but none of them seemed afraid†¦well, it was sort of heartwarming.† â€Å"Yep, I love all the little children of the world, you know?† â€Å"Really?† He nodded. â€Å"Green and yellow, black and white.† â€Å"Good to know – Wait, green?† â€Å"No, not green. I was just fuckin' with you.†

Essay about Utilitarianism The Greatest Happiness Principle

Utilitarianism was first brought up along the nourishing of â€Å"The Greatest Happiness Principle† introduced by Jeremy Bentham and further developed by John Stuart Mill, who was a follower of Bentham (Sweet, 2013). Based upon its principle, Utilitarianism states that to be good is to generate the greatest possible amount of happiness for the greatest number. In contrast with rational egoism, Utilitarianism focuses more on maximizing the overall net happiness of the majority. When facing a decision to make, utilitarianism provide us the evaluations of actions taken based upon their consequences (Sweet, 2013). By weighing the consequence, the model often produces more practical results. Since Utilitarianism judges the decision by weighing the†¦show more content†¦In the case of the doctor and patient scenario, act and rule utilitarianism might provide you different moral guidelines. An act utilitarian will say that lying is good because it protects the patient and his family from heartbreaking at the moment and the greatest amount of happiness is generated during the process, while a rule utilitarian would say that lying causes more harm. Making decisions according to the predicted consequences gives us the opportunity to foresee what the best option is. Moreover, when dealing with a dilemma a utilitarian considers everyone equally important. In this way, the methodology of utilitarianism often generates the best results for the benefits of the majority which corresponds to â€Å"The Greatest Happiness Principle† (Hooker, 2011). This is one of the reasons that concepts of utilitarianism are generally accepted and applied during the passing of a gover nment policy or statement of law in the form of majority vote. As a result of this, people would be willing to follow rules. Nevertheless, absolute utilitarianism does not exist nowadays. The conditions required to apply true utilitarianism are extremely limited. This is mainly caused by the conceptual idea of utilitarianism. Since the theory evaluates the success of an action based on the amount of happiness brought about by it, it is crucial to define what happiness exactly is. Thus, it comes toShow MoreRelatedUtilitarianism, Or The Greatest Happiness Principle1407 Words   |  6 PagesUtilitarianism, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, states that the morality of an action should be judged based on the extent to which it produces happiness, or the opposite of happiness—an action is good as long as the result is happiness, and deemed bad if it results in pain. A clearer understanding of what Utilitarianism is can be gained by John Stuart Mill’s characterization of what it is not. He states, â€Å"I believe that the very imperfect notion ordinarily formed of its meaning, is the chiefRead MoreUtilitarianism : The Greatest Happiness Principle1574 Words   |  7 PagesUtilitarianism is best referred to as the â€Å"Greatest Happiness Principle.† This means that when one considers himself as a utilitarian, he believes it is only right to judge the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences. In other words, â€Å"actions are considered moral when they promote utility and immoral when they promote the reverse† (Nubcaek 2011). The principle of utility helps to capture an idea of the good is that which produces the greatest benefit, greatest advantage, orRead MoreUtilitarianism : The Greatest Happiness Principle1176 Words   |  5 PagesUtilitarianism John S. Mill describes utilitarianism, also known as â€Å"The greatest happiness principle†, as a philosophical theory of morality. This theory is focused on the end result (a consequential theory) rather than the motive behind it. It argues that the morality of the action is solely dependent on the action’s results. The action is morally ethical as long as it produces the greatest happiness for the majority of people involved. Mill mentions, â€Å"†¦ the greatest happiness principle holdsRead MoreUtilitarianism : A Workable Moral Theory? Why Or Why Not?958 Words   |  4 PagesUtilitarianism: A Workable Moral Theory? Why or Why Not? Utilitarianism is one of the most commonly used ethical theories from the time it was formulated by Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mill in the nineteenth century. In his work, Utilitarianism, Bentham â€Å"sought to dispel misconceptions that morality has nothing to do with usefulness or utility or that morality is opposed to pleasure† (MacKinnon, 2012, p. 53). To simplify the utilitarian principle, which is one of utilityRead MoreArguments Against Utilitarianism1450 Words   |  6 PagesAs a philosophical approach, utilitarianism generally focuses on the principle of â€Å"greatest happiness†. According to the greatest happiness principle, actions that promote overall happiness and pleasure are considered as right practices. Moreover, to Mill, actions which enhance happiness are morally right, on the other hand, actions that produce undesirable and unhappy outcomes are considered as morally wrong. From this point of view we can deduct that ut ilitarianism assign us moral duties and varietyRead MoreJohn Stuart Mill Is Considered One Of The Most Influential1099 Words   |  5 Pagesphysiological following of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism in a nutshell, is the ethical philosophy in which the needs of the highest number of people in a society over the needs of the lowest number of people is considered the ultimate choice. Mill’s interpretation of utilitarianism is that everything that is desirable is desired because of the pleasure they provide or because they help reduce pain. This interpretation would be later referred as the â€Å"Greatest Happiness Principle†. Today, there is muchRead MoreConsequentialism And Its Effects On The Greatest Happiness Principle1527 Words   |  7 Pagesmovie: enjoying the movie. Utilitarianism is a form of Consequentialism based on the Greatest Happiness Principle. This principle states that actions are right in proportion as they promote happiness and wrong in proportion as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Utilitarians apply this principle in their belief that one should consider every possible action they may take and choose the one that produces the greatest overall happiness in the world. Utilitarianism is different than ConsequentialismRead MoreThe Concept Of Utilitarianism And Utilitarianism1216 Words   |  5 Pagessatisfaction. Combining the subjects of torture and utilitarianism can cause a large moral dilemma. I believe that torture can be justified by the utilitarian principle, and the example given is acceptable. Yet, I believe that the concept of utilitarianism is idealistic but not realistic. Often related to utilitarianism is the term, hedonism. Utilitarianism is considered to be a type of hedonism. Utilitarianism is all about creating the greatest amount of happiness for the majority of people (Geninet,2015)Read MoreUtilitarianism, By John Stuart Mill1365 Words   |  6 Pages In John Stuart Mill’s book Utilitarianism, he argues for the defense of utilitarianism, an age old theory originally developed by Jeremy Bentham that states the proper course of action is the one that maximizes happiness. The course of action that maximizes general happiness is also the only true standard for moral assessment. Mill also introduces the idea of ‘first principle’ which states that it is not acceptable for individuals to characterize actions as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’, because it isRead MoreEssay on Utilitarianism1031 Words   |  5 PagesUtilitarianism Utilitarianism is mainly associated with the principle of Utility summarised by Jeremy Bentham, a social reformer, in 1768. This principle was to apply ‘the greatest good of the greatest number’ theory to all situations that may arise. This theory was that which is good is the act which provides the greatest

Sacrifice in A Tale of Two Cities Essay example - 1037 Words

New Wark or New York A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a story of great sacrifices being made for the sake of principle. There are many examples of this throughout the book made by many of the characters but some or more evident than others. In Book The First, entitled â€Å"Recalled to Life,† the most obvious sacrifice for the sake of principle was made by Dr. Manette. He is imprisoned for eighteen years in the Bastille, for no apparent reason. Another noticeable sacrifice made for the sake of principle was made in Book The Second, entitled â€Å"The Golden Thread,† also by Dr. Manette. Charles Darnay reveals the truth about himself and about his family history. He tells Dr. Manette his real identity and that he is heir to the Marquis†¦show more content†¦Later the Patriots look up to Dr. Manette as a type of role model because he took the pain for those eighteen years to set an example for those who thought that the revolution would come easy. He of course did not know this nor did he have a choice to be imprisoned. But nonetheless his captivity in the Bastille served as a prime example of what the peasants of France must go through in order to achieve their goals. This sacrifice does not become known until later in the book when his time spent gives him a leadership quality over the Revolutionists. In â€Å"The Golden Thread,† Dr. Manette makes another great sacrifice when he disregards the fact that the man who is to marry his daughter is the same man who family is responsible for those eighteen years of pain and suffering in the French Bastille. He does not know of this until later in the story but still even before finding out proclaims his desire of keeping her daughter happy. â€Å" ‘I give the promise,’ said the Doctor, ‘without any condition. I believe your object to be, purely and truthfully, as you have stated it. I believe your intention is to perpetuate, and not to weaken, the ties between me and my other and far dearer self. If she should ever tell me that you are essential to her perfect happiness, I will give her to you. If there were-Charles Darnay, if there were-.’ (124) Despite his sense of revenge towards the people who imprisoned him he sacrifices his own feelings for theShow MoreRelatedA Tale of Two Cities-Sacrifice728 Words   |  3 PagesIn the melodramatic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses the theme sacrifice. He shows that sacrifice is important in his story because some of his characters must give up their lives for another. Miss Pross dedicates herself to Lucie because she wants Lucie to have a brighter future than she did. Then, out of his love and devotion for Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save a life she loves. The sacrifices Miss Pross and Sydney Carton make expressRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities: the Theme of Sacrifice1002 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout the book, A Tale of Two Cities the theme of sacrif ice is used to help the reader realize the cost of life, as well as to develop the plot through the effects of those sacrifices. Through the characters of Sydney Carton, Dr. Manette, and Ms. Pross the theme of sacrifice is developed. The theme of sacrifice brings key aspects of the plot together, and Cartons sacrifice brings the novel to closer in the end. br brSydney Carton paid the highest cost of sacrifice with his life, and in doingRead MoreSacrifice for Love: A Tale of Two Cities876 Words   |  3 Pagesmere 6 years before the French Revolution began. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is set during the French Revolution for about half of the novel. Dickens focuses on a theme involving sacrifices made by certain characters right before the French Revolution and during the Revolution using many examples to develop the theme. He developed the theme of sacrifice for others in the name of something or someone throughout the book through the sacrifices of Manette’s sani ty for Lucie Manette to marryRead MoreSacrifice for Love in a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens968 Words   |  4 Pagesbetween 1789 and 1799 when the lower class overthrew the aristocracy. A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens in 1859 occurs during the French Revolution. In the desperate time of the French Revolution, especially in this novel, individuals were willing to make sacrifices for the love of their families, their safety, and their country. Dickens represents this throughout the novel. In A Tale of Two Cities, many sacrifices, such as Dr. Manette sacrificing his sanity to save Charles Darnay, MissRead MoreSacrifice in A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens1778 Words   |  8 Pagesstory in which these events take place is called A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens. The central idea of A Tale Of Two Cities is that sacrifice is exemplified by the heroic power that the character demonstrates by surrendering his or her own life or a p ossession, that of which results from the struggles he or she faces. Furthermore, sacrifice is also exemplified by Charles Darnay, Dr. Manette, and Sydney Carton. First of all, sacrifice is exemplified when a character gives up his ownRead MoreCharles Dickens Use of Sacrifice in A Tale of Two Cities Essay1032 Words   |  5 Pagesbrought an end to the monarchy, including many lives. Although A Tale of Two Cities was published in 1859, it was set before and during the French Revolution and had over 200 million copies sold. The author, Charles Dickens, is known for being an excellent writer and displays several themes in his writings. Sacrifice is an offering of an animal or human life or material possession to another person. Dickens develops the theme of sacrifice throughout the story by the events that occurred involving DrRead MoreSydney Carton, A Complex Character1216 Words   |  5 PagesSydney Carton, a Complex Character Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, reveals a person that is so complex that students of British Literature still have not fully understood Sydney Carton’s character. Dickens introduces him to the reader as an arrogant, frustrated, no account barrister who lives through the lives of others. Yet throughout the novel one can see that he is a brilliant barrister who does not realize his worth, a man changed through love and devotion, and a self-sacrificingRead MoreChristianity in a Tale of Two Cities Essay1701 Words   |  7 PagesChristian Value Reinforcement in A Tale of Two Cities In this essay, I will argue that one of the underlying motives in Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is the reinforcement of Christian values in 18th century Victorian England. Dickens was very concerned with the accepted social norms of industrialized England, many of which he felt were very inhumane. Christian values were challenged, largely due to the recent publication of Darwins Origins of a Species, and philosophyRead MoreTale Of Two Cities Theme Analysis725 Words   |  3 PagesPatrick Bayeh Bayeh 1 Mrs. Lebeda English 2 Per.7 October 16, 2017 Theme of Resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities is an artistic expression of Charles Dickens fundamental belief in the resurrection and reformation of man and society. Though set against the backdrop of the turbulence of the French Revolution, the story gives a message of hope and renewal by presenting a vision of a better tomorrow. While Dickens condemns the outrageous atrocities committed by the French aristocracyRead MoreDuring the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens948 Words   |  4 PagesA Tale of two cities is a compelling tale written by Charles Dickens. The tale takes place in London and Paris. Main characters Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and the Defarges are chronicled before the French Revolution and when the revolution begins throughout France. The author Charles Dickens explores the economic disparity between rich and poor within in the two cities and topics during enlightenment such as revolution in political thinking. In addition to establis hing

A Short Story - 1072 Words

Smelling stale and musty, a thin layer of dust covered every shelf and the books that it held. Snow rested on the window sills letting a small amount of light in, while above fluorescent lights flickered on occasions. Down a little way there was a light humming letting indicating that one was potential going to go. Tell me why again we are in this book store. Swiping a finger on the edge of the shelf disgustingly a small layer coated her finger. Placing the book onto the shelf, he tried not to disturb the large amount of dust. That seemed to have accumulated over time. Well if you didnt go and use your book, as a coaster then you didnt have to come here. â€Å"Hey, it’s not my fault. If they are not supposed to be a coaster, then they†¦show more content†¦Everything she does made her mad, she once got detention for sneezing in class, ‘interrupting’ her class and the fellow students. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Caleb decided one more aisle. Passing around the corner the sun caught something in his eye. Following the flash, it was unsurprising a book. Removing it from the shelf he tried not to disturb the dust that encrusted the others. Resting it in his hand, hardly any dust was on the surface while a gold belt buckle held it firmly shut. Tilting it slightly the spine had gold runes engraved into the white leather. There was a small film of dust that was on it. That as he moved it around to get a better look, blew directly into his mouth. Instantly, his mouth dried up like a raisin causing him to go into a coughing fit. Peaking around the corner, due to strange noises, she found Caleb hacking like a cat with a hair ball. Pressing her lips together she tried to stifle her laughter. Though the sheer sight was making her control deteriorate rapidly. Before long she was buckling over, her arms wrapped around her chest and tears brimming. Around the corner Mikael stuck out his head telling them to play nice, but he too started to chuckle at Caleb. Finally, with saliva moistening his mouth, his hacking fit subsided. He is glancing toward Haley to see her whipping away a few tears from her eyes. Not funny, not funny at all, glaring at them due to their lack of sympathy.Show MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. Four MajorRead MoreThe Short Stories Ideas For Writing A Short Story Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pageswriting a short story. Many a time, writers run out of these short story ideas upon exhausting their sources of short story ideas. If you are one of these writers, who have run out of short story ideas, and the deadline you have for coming up with a short story is running out, the short story writing prompts below will surely help you. Additionally, if you are being tormented by the blank Microsoft Word document staring at you because you are not able to come up with the best short story idea, youRead MoreShort Story1804 Words   |  8 PagesShort story: Definition and History. A  short story  like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), â€Å"the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. Because of its shorter length, the characters and situations are fewer and less complicated than those of a novel.† In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s DictionaryRead MoreShort Stories648 Words   |  3 Pageswhat the title to the short story is. The short story theme I am going conduct on is â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber (1973). In this short story the literary elements being used is plot and symbols and the theme being full of distractions and disruption. The narrator is giving a third person point of view in sharing the thoughts of the characters. Walter Mitty the daydreamer is very humorous in the different plots of his dr ifting off. In the start of the story the plot, symbols,Read MoreShort Stories1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe themes of short stories are often relevant to real life? To what extent do you agree with this view? In the short stories â€Å"Miss Brill† and â€Å"Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding† written by Katherine Mansfield, the themes which are relevant to real life in Miss Brill are isolation and appearance versus reality. Likewise Frau Brechenmacher suffers through isolation throughout the story and also male dominance is one of the major themes that are highlighted in the story. These themes areRead MoreShort Story and People1473 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Title: Story Of An Hour Author: Kate Chopin I. On The Elements / Literary Concepts The short story Story Of An Hour is all about the series of emotions that the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard showed to the readers. With the kind of plot of this short story, it actually refers to the moments that Mrs. Mallard knew that all this time, her husband was alive. For the symbol, I like the title of this short story because it actually symbolizes the time where Mrs. Mallard died with joy. And with thatRead MoreShort Story Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesA short story concentrates on creating a single dynamic effect and is limited in character and situation. It is a language of maximum yet economical effect. Every word must do a job, sometimes several jobs. Short stories are filled with numerous language and sound devices. These language and sound devices create a stronger image of the scenario or the characters within the text, which contribute to the overall pre-designed effect.As it is shown in the metaphor lipstick bleeding gently in CinnamonRead MoreRacism in the Short Stor ies1837 Words   |  7 PagesOften we read stories that tell stories of mixing the grouping may not always be what is legal or what people consider moral at the time. The things that you can learn from someone who is not like you is amazing if people took the time to consider this before judging someone the world as we know it would be a completely different place. The notion to overlook someone because they are not the same race, gender, creed, religion seems to be the way of the world for a long time. Racism is so prevalentRead MoreThe Idol Short Story1728 Words   |  7 PagesThe short stories â€Å"The Idol† by Adolfo Bioy Casares and â€Å"Axolotl† by Julio Cortà ¡zar address the notion of obsession, and the resulting harm that can come from it. Like all addictions, obsession makes one feel overwhelmed, as a single thought comes to continuously intruding our mind, causing the individual to not be able to ignore these thoughts. In â€Å"Axolotl†, the narr ator is drawn upon the axolotls at the Jardin des Plantes aquarium and his fascination towards the axolotls becomes an obsession. InRead MoreGothic Short Story1447 Words   |  6 Pages The End. In the short story, â€Å"Emma Barrett,† the reader follows a search party group searching for a missing girl named Emma deep in a forest in Oregon. The story follows through first person narration by a group member named Holden. This story would be considered a gothic short story because of its use of setting, theme, symbolism, and literary devices used to portray the horror of a missing six-year-old girl. Plot is the literal chronological development of the story, the sequence of events

Role of Information System Flows †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Role of Information System Flows. Answer: Introduction Information system is a specific type of organized system that is solely utilized for the purpose of communication, storing, managing and collecting information. The several operations of data can be easily with the help of the information system (Bajdor Grabara, 2014). My Health Record is one such information system that is going to start by the Commonwealth Government of Australia. It would be launched for storing the information of patients in all over Australia. This report features a particular vision document of the project of My Health Record. The responsibility of making a vision document is given to the business analyst of the project. This vision document comprises of problem, capabilities and benefits or advantages of the project. The Commonwealth Australian Government is going to launch an information system for each and every citizen of Australia. They have decided to name this information system as My Health Record (Wu et al., 2013). It is an online summary of health information and is extremely safe and secured. The patients of Australia could easily fetch their information from all the previously existing health records and do not have to repeat the entire process over and over. The hospitals or the health experts do not have to depend on the manual information system regarding their patients. The most requirement of My Health Record is that it would be continuing the processes for reforming as well as driving the system efficiencies in health industry (Nazi, 2013). The main problem in hospitals or health care centres is the huge expenses that are incurred in the process. The patients do not have to take admission in the hospitals and they could easily manage as well restrict their data entry. My Health Record has various significant capabilities within it. Due to these capabilities, the citizens of Australia would be enjoying important benefits regarding their health information (Arvidsson, Holmstrm Lyytinen, 2014). They will never tell their health problems over and over and once they will tell it would be stored within the system. The first and the foremost capability of My Health Record is that it will be an extremely safe and secured system. Since, the information is related to health, the security of this system is highly required. The second important capability of the My Health Record is that once the details are being told for the first time, it would be solely stored within the system. The third significant capability of the information system would be that the hospitals and the health experts could easily utilize the information whenever required. The next capability of the information system is that there would not be existing any type of manual data entry (De mir Krajewski, 2013). My Health Record would also do the data filtration. This eventually means that when any particular patient would die or not be needing any type of medical assistant, his data would be removed automatically. This would also be the combination of database and information and communication system. However, this system would not be at all complex and everybody could be utilized by all. My Health Record is the particular type of information system that would be launched by the Commonwealth Australian Government. There are several significant benefits or advantages of this information system (Nazi, 2013). They are given below: Managing Information: The first and the foremost benefit of this information system would be that it helps to manage and control the bulk data or information easily regarding patients of Australia. Inexpensive: Another significant advantage of the My Health Record would be the cost effectiveness. It does not incur huge cost. Easy to Implement: The entire procedure of implementing the My Health Record would be very easier (Laudon Laudon, 2016). Data Centrality: The fourth benefit of this system would be that the access to the data through the information system is centralized and thus data searching is very easy. Automatic Data Handling: The data handling is done automatically and does not require manual assistance. Conclusion Therefore, from the above report it is concluded that, information system is any particular system used for storing and manipulating the data of any particular organization. It is considered as one of the most secured methods of securing data or information. The Commonwealth Government of Australia has decided to launch a secured online information system for all citizens. The most significant benefit of the particular information is that it will be storing all types of health details about the patients. They have decided to name this system as My Health Record. For launching this project, the business analyst is supposed to create a vision document that would contain the problem, capability and benefit of the project. This particular report has given a clear demonstration of a vision document of the My Health Record project. References Arvidsson, V., Holmstrm, J., Lyytinen, K. (2014). Information systems use as strategy practice: A multi-dimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use.The Journal of Strategic Information Systems,23(1), 45-61. Bajdor, P., Grabara, I. (2014). The Role of Information System Flows in Fulfilling Customers Individual Orders.Journal of Studies in Social Sciences,7(2). Demir, I., Krajewski, W. F. (2013). Towards an integrated flood information system: centralized data access, analysis, and visualization.Environmental Modelling Software,50, 77-84. Laudon, K. C., Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education India. Nazi, K. M. (2013). The personal health record paradox: health care professionals perspectives and the information ecology of personal health record systems in organizational and clinical settings.Journal of medical Internet research,15(4). Wu, A. W., Kharrazi, H., Boulware, L. E., Snyder, C. F. (2013). Measure once, cut twiceadding patient-reported outcome measures to the electronic health record for comparative effectiveness research.Journal of clinical epidemiology,66(8), S12-S20.

The Popularity of Video Games and Their Benefits

Introduction/Background/Tentative thesis One of the foremost aspects of a post-industrial living is the fact, during the course of recent decades; the progress in the field of informational technologies has attained a clearly defined exponential momentum.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on The Popularity of Video Games and Their Benefits specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its turn, this naturally causes the lives of people in Western countries to become ever more technologically intense, while simultaneously prompting Westerners to adopt a number of qualitatively new existential attitudes. The validity of this suggestion can be well explored in regards to the phenomenon of video games becoming increasingly popular with not only adolescents, but with grown up adults, as well (Walker 57). However, just as it always used to be the case, throughout the course of history, the introduction of new technologies into peo ple’s everyday lives causes the advocates of ‘traditional values’ to resist the process. Partially, this explains why, ever since playing video games became an integral part of the conventional entertainment-culture in the West, this technologically intense form of entertainment began to be referred to as being utterly counter-productive (Levin Carlsson-Paige 428). This point of view, however, cannot be considered as such that represents an undeniable truth-value, but rather as such that can be well referred to in terms of an urban myth. In my study, I will aim to substantiate the validity of this thesis at length, while specifying the already identified benefits of playing video games and elaborating on what accounts for these benefits’ objectiveness.Advertising Looking for proposal on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Questions While conducting this study, I will seek to address th e following set of research-questions: What can be considered objective preconditions for video games to be potentially capable of benefiting players? What accounts for the foremost benefits of playing video games? What accounts for the technical aspects of how video games benefit players? Are the benefits of playing violent video games, on the one hand, and the benefits of playing pro-social video games, on the other, can be considered qualitatively different? What causes many people to adopt strongly negative attitudes towards the very activity of playing video games? Method The research-method that I choose to utilize, within the context of conducting this study, is the review of discursively relevant academic literature. The rationale for opting in favor of this particular method reflects the qualitative nature of the researched subject matter. Given the fact that the activity of playing video games has a number of strongly defined controversial connotations to it, the explora tion of this activity’s possible benefits should not be affected by the potentially concerned parties’ perceptional subjectivity. The analysis of discursively relevant literature will provide us with the opportunity to define the objective (scientifically proven) benefits of playing video games. In its turn, this will allow us to ensure, whatever the controversial this study’s implications may sound, they nevertheless would logically supported. Timeline Week 1: I will familiarize myself with the discursive aspects of what accounts for the perceived significance of the activity of playing video games. Week 2: I will conduct a preliminary research on the technical aspects of video gaming. Week 3: I will play two pro-social video games (Super Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on The Popularity of Video Games and Their Benefits specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wee k 4: I will play two strongly violent video games (Grand Theft Auto III, Manhunt). Week 5: I will review relevant academic literature, in regards to what are being commonly considered the negative effects of playing video games. Week 6: I will review relevant academic literature, in regards to what are being commonly considered the negative effects of playing computer games. Week 7: I will synthesize the acquired knowledge and write the preliminary draft. Week 8: I will refine the preliminary draft methodologically, structurally and conceptually. Week 9: I will reread the study’s final version and apply necessary adjustments, if proves necessary. Purpose The foremost purpose of this research is to dispel the myth that playing video games is by definition a counter-productive activity, which necessarily results in the committed players becoming socially withdrawn, cognitively aggressive and physically unfit.Advertising Looking for proposal on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More I believe that by doing it, I will be able to contribute to the process of people slowly getting rid of their moralistic prejudices, in regards to what they perceive as the ‘threatening’ manifestations of a modern living. Research paper The benefits of playing video games (Literature review) When it comes down to analyzing positive or negative effects of just about any type of people’s activity, it is important to adopt a proper analytical approach towards reflecting upon their actual significance. In its turn, this requires analysts to understand what accounts for the activity effects’ discursive subtleties. Therefore, while researching the proposed subject matter, it will be thoroughly justified to provide a conceptual framework for categorizing the beneficial effects of people’s exposure to video games. These effects can be classified as confirmed – supported by many empirical studies, suspected – supported by relatively few empiric al studies, and speculative – those that require an additional scientific inquiry (Barlett, Anderson Swing 378). Confirmed benefits Enhancement of visual attention As it is being shown in Green and Bavelier’s study, playing video games contributes substantially to the concerned individuals’ ability to cope with a number of different visual attention tasks.  After having conducted a series of experiments on the sampled participants, authors concluded that, as compared to what it is being the case with individuals that do not play video games; game-players appear more capable of rapidly switching their attention from one cognitive task to another. Such Green and Bavelier’s finding is being thoroughly consistent with what psychologists know about the very principle of how people address these tasks.  Apparently, people can only remain focused on coping with a particular task on one-at-the-time basis, which is why it proves impossible for them to be simu ltaneously processing two unrelated types of information. Nevertheless, individuals can well gain a proficiency in switching the focus of their cognitive attention to such an extent that to the outside observers, they may appear being capable of indulging in two unrelated cognitive activities at the same time.  In this respect, playing video games comes in particularly handy, as it helps individuals to learn how to apply their mental powers most effectively. Green and Bavelier explain technical aspects of their study’s findings by pointing out to the fact that playing video games naturally causes individuals to learn how to ‘conserve’ their attentional resources, â€Å"When the target task is easy, spare attentional resources ‘spill over’ to the distractor, processing it to some extent and thereby inï ¬â€šuencing target processing.  As the target task becomes more difficult, fewer attentional resources remain to process the extraneous distracto r† (534). Therefore, it can well be suggested that the activity of playing video games does in fact increase one’s chances to attain a social prominence, as it amplifies the extent of his or her ‘quick-mindedness’ – hence, causing the concerned individual to be more capable of scoring high, while IQ tested. Enhancement of spatial reasoning Another confirmed positive effect of playing video games is the fact that it substantially increases the effectiveness of the concerned individuals’ spatial thinking. That is, as opposed to those individuals who do not play video games, players have been proven much more capable of properly arranging two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects within the given space-frame.  The validity of this suggestion can be illustrated in regards to the empirically obtained findings of De Lisi and Wolford’s study. According to the authors, children that play Tetris game substantially outperform their non-play ing peers, while addressing Mental Rotation (MR) tasks. De Lisi and Wolford explain this finding by suggesting that people’s exposure to pro-social video games, such as Tetris, does help them to improve their analytical abilities, concerned with a spatial reasoning, â€Å"After the children played ‘Tetris’ for a number of weeks, a significant association between final ‘Tetris’ scores and the MR posttest was evident† (280). Because the integrity of one’s spatial reasoning is one of the foremost preconditions of him or her being able to qualify for pursuing a number of highly prestigious careers, there can be very few doubts as to the fact that playing video games may indeed come in particularly helpful, in this respect. Moreover, because the integrity of people’s spatial reasoning has been well-established as such that correlate with their ability to properly identify a dialectical relationship between causes and effects, the acti vity of playing video games can be also be referred to as such that helps the concerned individuals to adopt an adequate stance, while facing particularly tough real-life situations. Facilitation of the learning process As of today, it became a commonplace assumption among educators that video games can well serve as the particularly effective tool of learning. In its turn, this assumption is being thoroughly consistent with what we know about the very essence of how people acquire knowledge. Apparently, in order for just about anyone to be able to not only memorize newly acquired information but to also ‘digest’ it cognitively, he or she would have to relate to this information emotionally. Given the fact that the activity of playing video games would not be considered appealing by players if it was not emotionally charged, it does not come as a particular surprise that people’s exposure to video games is being potentially capable of serving a number of educatio nal purposes. One of the reasons why, as it was noted, playing video games can be well considered a particularly effective educational tool is that this activity is being thoroughly interactive. By remaining in full control of the computer-generated action, players become an integral part of the virtual realm, which in turn helps them to gain a better awareness of what accounts for the adequateness of their reactions to different stimuli. There is also another aspect to it – as opposed to what it is often being the case with conventional forms of learning, playing educational video games appears systematic, which in turn increases learners’ chances to be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice. As it was pointed out by Gentile and Gentile, â€Å"Video games are well sequenced in levels of increasing difficulty, complexity or pace, with success at subsequent levels contingent upon competencies mastered at previous levels† (129). Therefore, it is fully ex plainable why the majority of adolescents do prefer studying within the format of playing video games. It is not only that by doing it they never get to experience the sensation of boredom, but they are also able to receive an emotional satisfaction out of being put in a position of controlling all the phases of their academic progress. Suspected benefits Enhancement of hand-eye coordination Even though that, as of today, only a limited number studies have been conducted on the subject of whether people’s continuous exposure to video games improves the integrity of their psychomotoric functions, the available empirical data, in this respect, does imply the legitimacy of this suggestion. For example, according to Griffith et al., as compared to what it is being the case with their peers that do not play video games, children that do play video games exhibit a much better hand-eye coordination. Despite the fact that in the mentioned study, the authors did not elaborate on the t echnical aspects of how game-players are able to improve the integrity of their psychomotoric functions, it does not represent much of a challenge to hypothesize what accounts for the concerned technicalities. After all, in order for just about anyone to gain a proficiency in playing a particular video game (especially the one that features much of a real-time action), he or she would have to be able to ensure a complete precision of its bodily motions, which control the movements of characters in the game. In its turn, the individual’s ability to thoroughly coordinate its hand-eye reactions to the input stimuli is being indispensible in a number of professions, such as surgeons or watchmakers. This is the reason why, people that plan to pursue the earlier mentioned careers are being often advised to spend time playing action-packed video games. Enhancement of communicational skills One of the foremost qualitative aspects of modern video games is the fact that most of them of fer multiplayer options. What is means is that, while playing a particular game, players can now communicate with each other in a real-time mode. Moreover, whereas, even as recent as ten years ago, the computer-mediated communication (CMC) between players used to primarily take place in the form of people exchanging typed messages, the majority of most up-to-date video games allow players to use voice, while interacting. As Williams, Caplan and Xiong have noted, â€Å"People engaging in CMC over the Internet can thus interact with one another via voice, instead of or in addition to text. VoIP is inexpensive, can connect with existing phone service, and allows for many-to-many communication† (428). The socially relevant implication of this observation is quite apparent – given the fact that modern video games do encourage players to indulge in close and personal communication with each other, made possible by the multiplayer feature; their communicational skills are exp ected to improve in the exponential progression to the amount of time, spent playing. In its turn, this explains that contrary to the assumption that particularly committed video game players tend to be socially withdrawn individuals; this is far from being the actual case. Quite on the contrary – the fact that video game players spend much time, while tackling simulated but conceptually genuine life-challenges and reflecting upon the particulars of their progress, in this respect, via the medium of Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), naturally increases the extent of their comfortableness with a number of different socialization-related activities. Thus, the activity of playing video games does not only represent a socially appropriate form of entertainment, but it also benefits the concerned individuals by increasing the extent of their social comfortableness. This simply could not be otherwise, because the activity of playing video games is being thoroughly consistent wit h the discursive aspects of today’s living, associated with the process of informational technology growing to define the very workings of people’s psyche. In other words, by playing video games, people are able to gain a better awareness of the actual subtleties of the surrounding socio-political reality. Speculated benefits Contribution to the emotional/physical well-being Given the fact that, as time goes by, video games become increasingly popular with more and more people, this state of affairs can be best discussed as such that has been dialectically predetermined. In other words, by being exposed to video games, people are able to improve the state of their emotional and very often physical well-being. Therefore, there is nothing odd about the fact that, as of today, many health care professionals often refer to video games in terms of a ‘psychological cure’, the application of which proves thoroughly appropriate within the context of clinicians pre scribing their patients with the so-called ‘distraction therapies’. According to Michael and Chen, â€Å"Video games have been used to distract patients during painful medical procedures as well as to improve motor skills in physical therapy and to speed recovery for certain operations and conditions† (181). Apparently, while playing a particular video game, people are often able to lessen the acuteness of their depression-related anxieties. After all, as it was mentioned earlier, humans are only able to address one cognitive task at the time, which means that, while engaging with the computer-generated action, players become literally embraced by it, which in turn leaves them with no option but to forget about their real-life concerns for the time being. Thus, there is indeed a rationale to refer to the activity of playing computer games as being psychologically therapeutic. Reduction of aggression As it was pointed out in the Introduction, many people believe t hat one’s affiliation with particularly violent video games can be seen as the predictor of this individual’s tendency to act in a socially-inappropriate manner. Such point of view, however, contradicts the recent discoveries in the field of genetics, which leave very little doubt as to the fact that the qualitative subtleties of people’s behavior only indirectly reflect the environmental specifics of how they were brought up. What it means is that there is very little rationale in believing that violent video games are the actual cause of a real-life societal violence. Instead, violent video games should be seen as the instrument of anger management. And, as psychologists are being well aware of, in order for subliminally violent people to be able to of refrain from resorting to violence, as the mean of addressing their deep-seated anxieties, they must be provided with an opportunity to release their anger in a socially-appropriate and publically safe manner. A s Golden pointed out, â€Å"The goal in anger management is to increase the options you have to express anger in a healthy way†¦ A person who has learned a variety of ways to handle anger is more competent and confident† (26). One of the most effective and safe ways of releasing anger, which one may consider, is causing havoc and destruction within the boundaries of a computer-generated virtual realm. Conclusion I believe that the provided line argumentation, as to the fact that there are indeed a number of good reasons to consider the activity of playing video games objectively beneficial to the concerned individuals’ well-being, is thoroughly consistent with the initial thesis. As it was illustrated earlier, playing video games does enhance players’ ability to think logically and to address the simulated life-situations in a thoroughly rational manner – even if there is the element of violence to it. Moreover, people’s exposure to video game s also helps them to recognize the sheer erroneousness of a number of sophistically sounding but essentially meaningless politically correct notions. In its turn, this makes people more capable of adopting a proper stance, while tackling life-challenges. It is needles to mention, of course, that along with the earlier outlined beneficial effects to this particular activity, there are many counter-productive ones, such as the empirically tested fact that strongly committed game-players do risk the chance of neglecting their societal duties and the logically substantiated assumption that people’s continual exposure to video games is being potentially capable of causing them to experience the lack of social empathy. This, however, does not justify the suggestion that playing video games should be discussed in terms of an essentially fruitless and even socially dangerous pursuit. Moreover, given the fact that, as it was mentioned earlier, the activity of playing video games can b e considered an integral part of a technologically extensive post-industrial living, it will only be logically sound to hypothesize that, as time goes by, the detrimental effects of this pursuit will be gradually deprived of their discursive acuteness. Apparently, the growing popularity of video games suggests that humanity may well be standing on the threshold of a new trans-human era. Works Cited Barlett, Christopher, et al. â€Å"Video Game Effects –  Confirmed, Suspected, and Speculative: A Review of the Evidence.† Simulation Gaming,  vol. 40, no. 3, 2009, pp. 377-403. De Lisi, Richard and Jenifer Wolford. â€Å"Improving Children’s Mental Rotation  Accuracy with Computer Game Playing.† Journal of Genetic Psychology, vol. 163, no. 3, 2002, pp. 272-282. Gentile, Douglas and Ronald Gentile. â€Å"Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A  Conceptual Analysis.† Journal of Youth and Adolescence,  vol.   37, no. 2, 2008, pp. 127-141. Golden, Bernard. Healthy Anger: How to Help Children and Teens Manage  Their Anger. Oxford UP, 2003. Green, Shawn and Daphne Bavelier. â€Å"Action Video Game Modified Visual  Selective Attention.† Nature no.  423, 2003, pp. 534-537. Griffith, Jerry, et al. â€Å"Differences in Eye-Hand Motor Coordination of Video-Game Users and Non-Users.† Perception and Motor Skills  vol. 57, 1983, pp. 155–58. Levin, Diane and Nancy Carlsson-Paige. â€Å"Marketing Violence: The Special Toll  on Young Children of Color.† The Journal of Negro Education,  vol. 72, no. 4, 2003, pp. 427-437. Michael, David and Sandra Chen. Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train,  and Inform. Course Technology, 2005. Walker, Jesse. â€Å"Birth of a Medium.† Reason,  vol. 35, no. 3, 2003, p. 57. Williams, Dmitri, et al. â€Å"Can you hear me now? The impact  of voice in an online gaming community.† Human Communication Research,  vol.   33, no. 4, 2007, pp. 427-44 9. This proposal on The Popularity of Video Games and Their Benefits was written and submitted by user Ricky R. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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