History, the Concatenation of Human Experiences :: European Europe History

History, the Concatenation of Human Experiences In June 1961, I left Berlin, Germany, with my parents, my sister, and my Swedish cousin enroute to Sweden for what was to be two weeks of Scandinavian fun. The Russian soldiers who processed us through the checkpoints were impeccably dressed in jodhpurs and the shiniest black riding boots I had ever seen. It was obvious they had been carefully selected for this job, which entailed a goodly measure of public relations; the Communists displayed only their best. The soldiers were not only good looking and efficient, processing our papers quickly; on that day they were noticeably relaxed, with genuine smiles on their faces. A week earlier than planned, my family returned to Berlin, driving through the same checkpoints. This time the atmosphere was tense. There were no smiles. Passports and other papers were scrutinized slowly, creating long delays, much to our discomfort. What had caused the change? An event that will be taught in history classes for hundreds of years. An event that even a thousand years from now will be at least a footnote in the history books. The East Germans had erected a wall, dividing one of the world’s most famous cities in two. Barbara Tuchman would argue—correctly, I think—that it is too soon to write the history of the Berlin Crisis. This contemporary generation, born and raised in the tensions of the Cold War, will record the facts and write the narrative, but we are too close to have a good perspective on it (Tuchman 27-28). For the interpretation of those facts, we will have to wait for the generation now being born, a generation which will have few, if any, emotional attachments to the event and therefore be better able to analyze it with some objectivity—or ignorance, as Edward H. Carr would call it (9). This is how history is written. It is a process—a recording of facts and later an interpreting of those facts to relate them to the future generations. The question, of course, is what history our descendants will write. Human beings are by nature egocentric. In the West we assume future historians will see the crisis as we do. The wall was not constructed for noble reasons; it was a manifestation of the evil empire, was it not?

American Centennial Exposition

The Centennial Exposition of 1876 was America’s first official world’s fair. This fair was held in Philadelphia for celebrating 100th anniversary of the â€Å"Declaration of Independence†. This fair was really important in the history of America as it portray an image of progressive American society, culture and economy on an international platform. This Centennial Exposition was not only celebrated America’s hundred years of independence, but it was also held to showcase the recovery of the country form its reconstruction phase after its independence and the emergence of the nation as an internationally significant industrial super power.This paper will make an attempt to analyze how the Centennial Exposition of 1876 represented the identity of America and how this exposition provided a narrative of American history. The main focus will be on the nature of the exposition which is known better known as a platform where America’s image transformation was made. Thus the thesis statement of this paper can be as follows: The Centennial Exposition of 1876 gave the country a new progressive image in socio-cultural and economic field of America.This thesis statement will be illustrated throughout this paper using several primary sources relating to the American Centennial Exposition of 1876. The focus will be on how the exposition portrayed America’s emergence as a big economic power in world, and how it depicted socio-cultural progress of the nation in terms freed slaves and increasing women contribution in the society. Apart from these, this paper will also discuss how the exposition highlighted the future of America. American Centennial Exposition:The American Centennial Exposition was actually an official exhibition of Manufactures, products of mine and soil, and arts on an international platform. A large section of American population attended the fair. Approximately twenty percent of the population at that time visited t he fair. While in one hand, the fair is memorable for the publication of various Centennial and other poems and music, on the hand, this exposition was designed to showcase America’s innovative progress in the industrial arena. The planning for this exposition had taken as many as ten tears to give it its final shape.The primary sources relating to the American Centennial Exposition including guide to the Centennial, its images, its roadmap, and various articles like â€Å"illustrated History of the Centennial exhibition, held in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of American independence† by McCabe portray the features of the exposition and how the exposition had captured the American history and created a new image of the nation to the world. From the photos, Centennial souvenir, and guide to the exposition, it is found that the focal point of the exposition was to showcase its industrial progress.The main attraction of the fair was its Machinery Hall whi ch was decorated with excellent engineering wonders of that age. It showcased electric lights, strongly powered elevators, printing presses, locomotives, mining equipments, magic lanterns, along with introducing some completely new engineering products to the public like mechanical calculator, typewriters, the telephone which was invented by bell, and the telegraph invented by Edison. All these engineering products show the bright industrialized future of the country. Apart from the Machinery building, there were also a number of other attractions in the exposition.For example, significant number of visitors used to visit the Main Building of the fair which was devoted to manufactures of different nations including America. Apart from this, there were also the Memorial which showcased fine arts and the Horticulture Hall which was actually a conservatory for displaying of various native and exotic plants. One of the most excellent things about this first international fair of America was that it presented everything in a very systematic way in the sense that every item was classified in the exposition by departments, like Manufactures, Horticulture, Agriculture, Mining, Education and science and so on.Not only that, there were also various sub-classifications, and sub-sub-classifications on the basis of a logical scheme. The Centennial Exposition produced significant impact on the image of the United States. Prior to 1876, the US was generally considered as a not-so-developed country which was not yet entitled for joining the category of first-class nations. The people living in America in the post Civil War period had gone through a very difficult phase as all those years were marked by various heinous political scandals along with inferior leadership. Although progress in the field of agriculture, industry, etc.had been taking place remarkably on the land of America, it had never been highlighted to the rest of the world. It was the Centennial Exposition whic h for the first time gave an opportunity for the visitors as well as businessmen from other nations to have a close look and get astonished at the sparkling industrial productivity of the America along with its creativity and progressiveness in the field of industry and agriculture. It was only after this fair, when America was started to be hailed as the land of progress which was also thought of becoming one of the most significant economic superpower in future.The exposition gave the people living in America at that time pride in their present situation and lots of confidence on their even brighter future. (University of Delware library, 2009). The American utilized the platform of the Centennial to highlight their innovations in industrial and agricultural areas as at that time they were on the verge of beginning its global economic presence amidst the then economically powerful nations. Representatives of other countries, who came to the fair to showcase their own thing, also g ot the opportunity to purchase things from American firms.The engineering marvels created by Native Americans impressed the visitors. Americans showcased huge engines and machines having complex system that would become the economic future of America by producing industrial products. Primary sources like the photos and Guide to the Exposition show that American did not participate in the fair only to represent America as a whole; instead in a number of cases they represented various states of America. For example, there was Delaware Building in the fair which represented this various crafts of this state.Delaware put its focus on its potentials for developing with a strong economy. It emphasized towns, its transportation facilities along with educational facilities. (University of Delware library, 2009). As far as the socio-cultural field is concerned, this fair also showcased its culture to the rest of the world by introducing around 53 native tribes. They were brought to the fair and they made their camp within it and became one of the most popular display of the fair. The motive behind showcasing them was to introduce the original inhabitant of the nation and their mode of life.These tribal people were considered to be the most deprived and backward segment of the population. But without their progress, the overall economic progress could not have been achieved. The purpose of putting special focus on them was to send message to the rest of the world that the American government was quite aware of the progress of these native people without exercising any bias towards a particular advanced group of people only. (â€Å"People & Events: The Centennial Exposition of 1876†) Finally, the exposition also represented the contribution of women to the American society for the first time in the history of America.Various primary sources like the articles, such as â€Å"illustrated History of the Centennial exhibition, held in commemoration of the one hundredt h anniversary of American independence† by McCabe, â€Å" Declaration and Protect of the Women of the United states† by National Woman Suffrage Association , etc showed that at the time of planning of the fair a committee for women protested the male dominated nature of the fair and lobbied for creating a women’s building in the fair. This committee also raised fund and gained support for constructing their own building.They also showcased women’s contribution in the areas of arts, science, humanities and so on. The members of National women Suffrage also made an attempt to read a declaration or their rights. But they were not permitted to do so for which they showcased huge protest. Conclusion: The American Centennial Exposition can therefore be characterized as a platform where Americans tried to change their image to the rest of the world. In practice, the Americans were able to properly utilize the big platform of the fair to create their new identity as a progressive economic power which had a bight future.The wonderful narratives of its historical development through exhibiting its progress in industrial, agricultural, and socio-economic sector attracted huge number of visitors across the world and changed their vision regarding the nation. Reference: 1. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE LIBRARY. (2009). PROGRESS MADE VISIBLE: THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, PHILADELPHIA, 1876. Available at http://www. lib. udel. edu/ud/spec/exhibits/fairs/cent. htm ( accessed on 26th August, 2010). 2. People & Events: The Centennial Exposition of 1876. Available at http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/amex/grant/peopleevents/e_expo. html ( accessed on 26th August, 2010). :

Verba and Non-Verbal Communication Theories

In all communication events, unless there is a relationship between actions and words, the message can be wrongly interpreted. I observed a conversation between a bartender and a customer in busy and crowded bar. The customer wanted the buy one more double bourbon but the bartender refused to sell to him. This resulted in a series of communication theories, which will be analysed later. In order to analyse the communication theories that provide most insight into understanding the dynamics of the observed event, it is necessary to define what communication is and examine the different communication models and theories used in the observed event. In the context of the observed event, verbal and nonverbal communication, paralanguage, noise (psychological and physical), attribution errors, body movements (emblems, illustrators, affect displays and regulators) are the communication theories that will be examined to show how they all combine to give more meaning to messages. Communication is a process of which information flows from one source to a receiver and back. ( who) communication is a two way process which is complete only when the receiver gives feedback that he or she has understood the message. When people use words to communicate, they do not just listen to what is said in order to understand the message. They also look at the person who is speaking to see what their body is doing and listen to the way they are saying the words to understand their full message. For example, in the observed event, 80% of the communication has been made before the customer even opened his mouth to speak. The customer staggered to the bar and verbally asked to be served one more double bourbon. The bartender refused to serve him because he knew the customer is already drunk and according to the NSW law, should not be served any more drinks. The question is how did the bartender know the customer was drunk? As opposed to the verbal message, the bartender was able to decipher the nonverbal messages being sent by the customer – the disturbed balance in his movement, his glassy eyes, smell of alcohol, sweat on his face, and the muddled speech. ll these indicated to the bartender that this customer is drunk. When his request was denied, the customer became defensive saying he was not drunk. He refused the alternative non-alcoholic drinks offered by the bartender and became instantly aggressive, yelling and abusing the bartender. One could read the evidence of paralanguage in the customer’s voice. ‘Paralanguage is the vocal (but nonverbal) dimension of speech. (reading 2. 2) one could read from the high pitch of his voice, and the angry tone of his voice which was becoming loud that the customer is beginning to get angry and aggressive. One could also see the angry look on his face; this is called affect display which is any emotional response in a communication. There are also different body movements by both the bartender and the customer that all gave more meaning to the conversation. For example, when the customer could not be controlled, the bartender called the security staff by raising his hand palm up and establishing eye contact with him. The security understood immediately that his service was needed at the bar. This nonverbal body movement is called emblems. According to ( textbook p. 69) ‘emblems are those gestures that have a specific verbal translation. Another body movement was the way the bartender was shaking his head side to side at the same time he was declining the customer’s request. This type is called an illustrator. Illustrators are all those gestures that go along with our speech. ’(textbook p. 70) There was also the evidence of repetitions of messages in the observed event. the bartender had to explain to the customer over and over again why he would not serve him more alcohol because the customer kept saying he should be served now. Here, there was difficulty getting the message across to the customer and this could be due to a particular barrier to communication called noise. Noise is any distortion factor that blocks, disrupts, or distrusts the message being sent to the receiver, interfering with the communication process. (textbook p. 7) In this context, the noise could be psychological due to the emotional state of the customer (being drunk) or physical noise stemming from the loud music in the club and also the presence of many people. Not getting the message across easily could also be due to attribution errors which are errors people make because they assign a certain meaning to something that was not intended. In this event, the customer is of Indian origin; so it could be that he understood the bartender’s shaking of head to be a ‘Yes’ instead of ‘No’. This is because a slow shaking of head in India means ‘Yes’. The presence of regulators such as ‘pauses’ that occurred throughout this conversation indicate opportunities for feedback and responses to be sure the other person is listening. To conclude, communication, which is the exchange of ideas, knowledge, information and attitudes, is much more than words. Although verbal and nonverbal communication are similar in that they both convey meanings and different in more ways, both of them put together provide complete meaning of the message. Even though they work together, it is nonverbal communication that accounts for 65 to 93% of the total meaning of communication. (birdwhitsell, 1970; mehrabian, 1981). This means that what is not being said in a communication determines the success or failure of that communication. Due to the dynamic nature of communications, it is important to master nonverbal behaviours especially in service industries like tourism and hospitality for effective communication. The bartender being able to know the customer was drunk was due to the nonverbal symptoms of drunkenness. Most symptoms of drunkenness are universal irrespective of age, gender, culture or origin and can be easily identified. Thus the different communication theories used in this communication event: verbal and nonverbal communication (vocal and nonvocal), the different types of body movements, noise (physical and psychological), attribution errors all combine to provide the most insight into understanding the dynamics of the observed event.

Mexico’s Experience after NAFTA

The question whether Mexico has benefited from NAFTA is still under discussion and constant debates. Some claim that since NAFTA there is a significant increase in poverty rates, whereas others provide the opposite information. Apparently, in broader terms, the country has benefited from free trade agreement and NAFTA is surely good for Mexican population, although it leads to inevitable changes in agricultural sector. However, changes don’t mean turning situation for worse. In particular, two-way trade between the United States and Mexico swiftly grew up and amounts up to $231 billion in 2002 compared with $81 billion in 1993. It means that Mexican modest trade deficit is turned into trade surplus of about $37 billion. (Williams 2004) Further, country’s export grew as well up to 80% during 1985-1993 after accession to GATT. Since NAFTA the growth rate has even doubled. Mexico’s export of end-products amounts about 90% of total exports. It leads to creation of more jobs and higher paying. The next moment to mention is that the annual growth of gross domestic product (GDP) is 5.4% in 2000 compared with 3.9% during 1990-1994. Many economic analysts say that both export and international trade are keys to accelerating country’s economic and financial recovery after crisis in 1995. During 2001-2002 GDP growth slowed down because of economic woes in the USA, but since 2002 it has been increasing. (Gruben 2001) Agricultural export has also certain benefits since accession to NAFTA. Previously, the country’s annual deficit was about &1.5 billion with the USA, but since NAFTA agricultural export has doubled as well – in 2002 growth of agricultural exports was about 9%. The next benefit is lower costs inputs for country’s food processing due to increased competition and free trade. Moreover, decreased inflation rates for food products provided excellent opportunities for stabilizing inflation since 1990s. It may seem that increased competition would destroy some business, but the positive moment is that the dollar value of country’s agricultural production has increased – for pork up to 24%, for beef up to 13%, for chicken up to 60%, for fruits up to 27%, for sorghum up to 85%, and for vegetables up to 36%. (Williams 2004) Despite increased competition, many of Mexico’s sectors remain competitive with the US sectors: fresh fruits, vegetables, live cattle, tomatoes and avocado. Moreover, export of horticultural has also increased by 120%. Mexican debate in agricultural sector is how to offer more protection from imports. However, some claim that party simple seeks ways how to capitalize relations with the rural poor. For example, David Williams writes that â€Å"NAFTA provisions coupled with the U.S. Farm Bill, often have been portrayed as portending certain doom for Mexico's agricultural sector; however, U.S. producers absorb costs that Mexican producers do not, such as high labor costs, costs of compliance with strict environmental and worker safety regulations and taxes†. (Williams 2004) Actually, Mexico faces domestic structural problems which can’t be addressed by NAFTA. Creation of new jobs, lower consumer prices and deceased inflation rates allowed farmer not to feel dependent from agricultural sector mainly. Transition from agricultural sector is inevitable even without NAFTA. Summing up, Mexico has benefited from NAFTA, and nowadays about 20% of country’s GDP is â€Å"attributable to trade made possible by NAFTA provisions†. (Williams 2004) Country’s rural regions also benefited from NAFTA as free trade ensured creation of thousands of new jobs along with higher payments. Mexican government announced that poverty rates had decreased in urban and rural areas since 1995. So, Mexico revealed that free trade was necessary for accelerating economic and financial development and transitions to competitive manufacturing sectors. Future Mexico’s policies are to focus on generating more jobs, developing more trade opportunities and improving productivity of those businesses which have the competitive potential. (Sandronsky 2006) References Gruben, William. (2001). Was NAFTA behind Mexico’s High Maquiladora Growth? Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DKI/is_2001_3/ai_82092014 Sandronsky, Seth. (2006). Mexico after NAFTA. Retrieved January 11, 2008 Williams, David. (2004). Mexico's NAFTA Experience – North American Free Trade Agreement. Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3723/is_1_16/ai_114328142/pg_2                  

Responses to blogs that I will put below Article

Responses to blogs that I will put below - Article Example While it is a great idea to implement such a law, I am skeptical that people would like to actively participate in the effective implementation of such a law until they find certain incentives in doing that. I think that such a law can be made more effective by developing a lottery scheme in which, people who have generated more material for recycling compared to others should be entitled to some rewards. It is up to the government to establish the minimum limit for such a competition and the rewards. In addition, government also needs to create awareness among the public on the benefits of recycling through tv programs and other forms of media so that people understand the importance of recycling and fulfill their responsibility toward the nation. Enforcing stricter punishments to discourage the act of littering is a very effective strategy to minimize littering. Punishment and fines are what people really care about and tend to avoid, and can thus be forced to deter from littering. However, in addition to implementing this law, an additional thing that the concerned authorities can do to decrease the amount of litter is installation of more trash bins. There is no doubt that there are a lot of trash bins everywhere in the US, but still if people are littering, this means that no matter how many of them have been installed, they are still not enough. People certainly need more trash bins to prefer using them on littering. Nobody would like to litter if a trash bin is in approach. In addition to this, government should introduce a scheme according to which people that have collected maximum litter throughout the year should be rewarded. It is up to the government to establish way of finding this out as there can be plenty of w ays. The law you have proposed serves to safeguard just one animal in particular whereas the medicinal benefits obtained provides health

Case Effective law office solutions, INC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Effective law office solutions, INC - Essay Example Given the threat of existing rivals, the company ought to strategize and change customer relations which have been marked as the key cause of the deterioration. The current strategy of ELOS embraces more on advertising and sales promotion. The management has overlooked quality assurance and customer satisfaction and thus the failure. Note that the management has already noticed an increase in the number of complains. Markedly, lack of precise mode of receiving customer feedback has worsened the situation. As a counter measure, ELOS can consider instilling Customer relationship management (CRM) harmonizes sales, marketing and customer service (Goldenberg, 2008). Customers differ, have different tastes and expectations and thus the only way to satisfy them equally is to give them an opportunity to actively participate in decision making. It’s to my opinion that, an online platform that is managed from the main head-quarters can build a strong customer rapport. Essentially, the customer buyer interface should set standard that ensure high quality communication skills as well as accuracy and consistency of information. ELOS, marketing has been marked as successful and thus the management needs to shift some effort towards quality assurance. Legal offices need quality as most of their printings are official documents forwarded to their seniors. The clients need to maintain their reputation and a thus will put off any less quality printing regardless of the previous experience with the company. Therefore, ELOS ought to capture each client’s experience with immediate effect and correct if need be. Notably, a fault spreads more than a good doing (Johnston, & Marshall, 2013). Therefore, ELOS services should be focused on the customer needs rather than the organizations objectives. Quality should never be compromised with cost. Poor customer relation and quality deterioration has been marked as the cause of sales

Mid Term Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mid Term - Essay Example 2. The novel is a book written in prose where the writer tries to sketch a picture of ordinary life. The novella is considered a shorter piece of prose, also referred to as a short novel. The difference between them is not the content which can range from the different genres of fiction: romance or history, but the size of the work. Thus, both the novel and novella seek to present a prose piece of work that is different only in its size. 3. Tolstoy presents his character in a light that is despicable for the reader. This character sketch can only be drawn because of the sequential turn of events in Ivan Ilych’s life. The momentum set up by the writer is vital in achieving the true goal of the story: a revelation into the life of Ivan Ilych. Had the story been written differently with the colleagues and wake scene being given last the epiphany that is reveal too Ivan would have been lost. The story allows for the reader to better understand the character’s change in opinion about life. 4. The suspense of the novel originates from the reader’s desire to better understand the reason behind Ivan’s death. As the story continues the reader notices the suffering in Ilych’s life. While the character had to understand his life’s failures now it’s coupled with physical pain which worsens with his loneliness and hatred. The suspense is created with because of the beginning which makes the reader wonder: will Ivan reconcile with his death or will the story end happily. 5. An instance of the torment Ivan puts his family through is evident in his widow’s description of his last days â€Å"He screamed unceasingly†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Oh what I have suffered!† A grieving widow should remember the good qualities instead she chooses to remember the relentless nights she suffered with her husband’s illness. Peter Ivanovich on the other hand is mortified by the idea of death itself â€Å"death was an accident natural to Ivan Ilych but certainly not to