Historical Portrayal of Genghis Khan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Historical Portrayal of Genghis Khan - Essay Example The rivalry of Mongol tribes propelled him to conquer other tribes and dynasties. His thirsty for power was evident at a younger age as he claimed to be installed as the chief of his clan at the age of 9. However, he was less more different from other rulers of early and modern civilizations where accumulation of scarce resources is the main motivating factor that drives conflicts and wars (Ratchnevsky, 1993). Genghis Khan was a good planner; likewise he adopted policies and laws that later shaped the strategies of most ancient civilizations. Religion was the unifying factor in the Mongol Empire, and he referred himself as the religious leader of the people which become the motivating factor for his military. In addition, some of the Genghis ideas were great beyond those of revolution era of 1900s. For example; he allowed religious tolerance in his empire where people practiced different religions without interruptions. Religious intolerance was common in early civilizations like the Roman Empire and Soviet. Furthermore, the conquest of the Chinese Empire opened the east to the west, making him a historical icon. The administrative system of Mongol ruler is clearly modern especially because of recognizing merit in promoting his staff just like a typical bureaucracy (Ratchnevsky, 1993). In short, Genghis mastered the policy of strengthening the tools of domination that enables an individual or a group of people to conquer and subdue others. He mainly used the military and accumulated land territory thus making powerful.

Totalitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Totalitarianism - Essay Example Totalitarianism is defined as a political organization in which the state strives to control all aspects of public and private life of its citizens. Totalitarian regimes stay in power by employing widespread use of violence, disseminating propaganda through state controlled media, political oppression, denial of freedom of speech and control over the economy. However, Hannah Arendt perceives totalitarian as a system where the state transform class into mass movements, have the national police assume the role of the military to instill terror in people and establish a foreign policy with the intention of domineering the whole world (Cohen & Fermon 575). Arendt argues that totalitarian movements established by totalitarian governments depend on the sheer force of numbers and not proportionate strength like other political parties. With this understanding, it is clear that communism, socialism, liberalism, feminism, conservatism and fascism are totalitarian ideologies. This paper is int ended to show that in the idea of Hannah Arendt, Benito Mussolini; a fascist, Vladimir Lenin; a communist, and Emma Goldman; anarchist and feminist, were all totalitarians. At the end of the First World War, Italy was found entangled in economic and political challenges. Public servants went on strike in urban centers while, in the rural areas, landless peasants grabbed the property of rich landlords. Benito Mussolini used this unrest as an opportunity to climb to power. He formed the fascist party which supported hard line nationalism, and condemned democratic system of government on the belief that competitor parties separated the state. They also reject communism and embraced personal property ownership. In the early 1920s, Mussolini and his supporters had worn the support of most Italian citizens by attacking the communists and socialists. In1922 Mussolini led Italians on a protest march on Rome supposedly to prevent a communist revolution but in a real sense to scare the government into appointing him as the prime minister of Italy. Immediately he was in office he enlarged his power by appointing Fascists to high positions, censoring the press, org anizing secret police, and outlawing condemnation of the government. He controlled the army and the schools making Italian citizens embrace the slogan â€Å"Everything in the state and nothing outside or against the state† (Cohen & Fermon 571). Mussolini’s Italy was dominated by one party; Fascist party and all opposition parties were wiped out. Mussolini also had a lot of power over this party, until people argued that the party had no part in running of the country but Mussolini himself. He later decided that he wants to run the country for himself and that the party is no longer important for anything else than doing what he wanted. Mussolini believed in making Italy great by making Italians go to war by all means. On his coming to power, he made Italians to belief that he was their savior considering hard times they were facing. He replaced the class society with the masses so that he can avoid criticism and later ruled them with the iron fist. For this, his action s constituted totalitarianism as defined by Arendt. Mussolini faulted the American democracy arguing that people do not know what they want and the best for them. He swore that someday America will know that democracy is only beautifully theoretically but a fallacy practically (Cohen & Fermon 532). Mussolini would have been right here when he said that people do not know what they want during voting in leaders. It has always been known that most of the leaders win elections because of their influence and not their ideology. The best people with good ideologies are normally left out. Vladimir Lenin believed in a

Fayols 4 Functions of Management

Fayols 4 Functions of Management Henri Fayol (1841-1925), praised as father of modern administrative management, focused on general and attitudes theories of managers practice. Fayol was the first to discover the specific managerial functions of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling (Davidson et al, 2009 p.42). However, it has comprised of only four functions nowadays (planning, coordinating, leading and controlling). These functions have become the solid foundation and core management process, playing important roles in diverse organisations. Accordingly, this essay will further elaborates the Fayols functions and convince of its great influence within the contemporary management practices. However, errors and biases decision making such as overconfidence and sink costs might cause corporate crisis and scandal (Robbins et al, 2009 p.232). Port Klang Free Zone project (PKFZ) in Malaysia, has bring on a failure planning. Advisory firm Pricewaterhousecoopers (2009 p.11) has revealed PKFZ project actual cost had rose up from RM1,957 billion, predict to reach RM12,453 billion cumulative deficits in over time. Report further indicated that failure planning included weak governance and project management, lands purchased exceed market value, low project actual occupancy and so on. It is apparent that the management team are holding unrealistically positive view, tend to obtain reward and to avoid immediate costs. PKFZ project also failure to adjust adequately for subsequent information. Thereby, decision-makers ought to not be heuristics thus simplify. Fayols coordinating function still emphasises in current management practice. Coordinating linking and allocating the organisational activities and resources to ensure efforts are effectively (Davidson et al, 2009 p.280). Coordinating approaches consist of job specialisation, departmentalisation, allocating authority and also organising activities. These purposes are to maximising performance practices, and establish sustainable competitive advantages. For this example, Malaysia former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has a great effort on coordinated civil servants. He initiated civil service reform in his governance time, suggested paradigm shift needed from the civil servants in their attitude and approach towards their duties. Hereby in Mahathir theory, stated that civil service should more customers focused, responsive, results and performance oriented, accountable and innovative, with the capacity and capability of providing quality services (Ho and Chin, 2001 p.22). As a result, reform has increased the efficiency and effectiveness in the civil service administration and management. Besides, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) was another example to demonstrate the important of coordinating. Reformation MAS adopt to join global airline alliance to cut short their deficit flight lines and feed to alliance airline (Sia, 2007). Simultaneously, collaborate airlines would also allocate the regional flights to MAS. Therefore, both have equal advantages, despite MAS flights reduced but made more money. Leading is another element of Fayols function. Organisational manager should have leadership skills to lead employee. Robbins (2009 p.577) stated that a good leader should have clear goals, relevant skills, mutual trust and support, negotiating skills and unified commitment. Furthermore, effective communication increase productivity and avoid distrust between employees. As Mahathir (2004 p.118) outlined that explanations is one of the important jobs of a leader, because leader (manager) have to sell the idea to people (subordinates). Thereby, good communication should a leader have. However, Milne and Mauzy (1999 p.3) argued that the most important leadership traits are not discernible by looking at the leader alone but by looking at interactive leader-follower relations. It makes clear that leader should also be sensitive to what followers think. For instance, Asia leading low-cost carrier, Air Asia, has an extraordinary leading style. The management prefers casual and team-work approach, with less authority symbolises and allows employees to share opinion (AFP, 2004). The crew members clean the plane without regard for rank, and the top manager frequent get down operations with subordinates. CEO Tony Fernandes has further explained this is a way to motivate his staff (Kang, 2003). The forth Fayols functions are controlling. Controlling means restricting organizational activities to same targeted element of performance remain within acceptable limits (Davidson et al, 2009 p.318). Controlling is an indicator and it helps to ensure the process of implementing goal was in right direction, with comparing and evaluating its performance. In reality, due to goal perform is an ongoing process, contingency are often surround and occur during process, therefore, controlling provide the critical link back to planning. Well controlling will make productivity efficiency and achieve effectiveness goal. Air Asia as a low-cost airline has to constant looking of their cost and expenses. For example, Air Asia decides buying single type aircraft, which is Airbus A320. CEO Tony Fernandes (2007) make clear that Airbus A320 is cost economics than others aircraft, superior reliability and fuel efficient. Due to this, keeping single aircraft type reduces maintenance fees and staff training expenses. It is apparent that Air Asia has made effective control through cost-efficient. On the other hand, organisation without control managing ignoring of the target and what future happens to take, lastly cause failure management. Port Klang Free Zone project (PKFZ) as stated above, was also result in weak finance controlling. The report (2009 p.40) has illustrated PKFZ purchased land with exceeds market value, and twice to accept higher interest rates loan than originally contracted without reason, despite management team discovered financial statement facing deficit. In sum, overwhelming evidences make clear that Fayols functions involve great influence to contemporary organisational management practice. Planning, coordinating, leading and controlling are incurred reciprocal condition, interdependent and interaction. Managers have to engage in different activities and different management process well simultaneously. Without Fayols functions nowadays, Malaysia Airlines might be termination, dissolution or take over by others. Also, entirely low-cost airlines organisations even many low-cost industries cannot survive. PKFZ project is not without planning, but a weakness planning and controlling. If plans and controls in satisfactory, it might be a flourish regional trade, distribution and procurement centres. Hence, it could therefore be concluded with practice well of Fayols functions, although goal cannot assure be success but can minimise the challenges and drawbacks among the approach.

Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers

"[Trembles] with hate, unable to utter a word... in a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo's machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body." (204) This is a graphic illustration of Okonkwo?s desperate last attempt to reassert his manhood and to make a statement to the tribe. Regrettably for Okonkwo though it was a failure, and Okonkwo knew that the tribe would never stand up and fight, like he wanted them to. This incident is directly related to Okonkwo?s obsession with not looking weak like his father. Some people might say that Okonkwo was just trying to protect the tradition and cultural of his tribal village but in actuality this is far from the truth. When Okonkwo cut down the guard, he made the swift assumption that his clansmen were as passionate about fighting colonialism as him and would follow him into war. When he found otherwise, he could not understand what had happened to his village. The next place he was seen was hanging from a noose in a selfish show of hypocrisy. In the end, Okonkwo's status among his tribe counted for nothing because his own despair over the colonization of his village led him to kill himself. His whole life Okonkwo strived to not to look weak like his father, but in the end he took the cowards way out, suicide. Suicide was a great sin against the Earth. Because he took his own life, Okonkwo, a great leader of Umuofia, had to be buried by strangers. All of his work and perseverance amounted to nothing because of what he had done. Another claim that people might make is that he is justified because he was just finishing what the white people had started by imprisoning him and his fellow villagers. This may be true, but is revenge a very good justification for murder suicide? Though the corrupt court messengers were in the wrong for what they had done, Okonkwo had no right to do what he did either. Okonkwo failed to realize that two wrongs don?t equal a right, he thought that he could solve every thing with brute violence and war but he paid for his mistake with his life. Okonkwo made a fatal mistake by being so quick to war and to diplomacy. Okonkwo?s life mission was to be every thing his father wasn?

Ethnography Essay

The late night diner is one of the many staples of urban areas – they act as beacons to all those with no place better to be. Whether the bar has long since closed, or staying home just isn’t an option any more, 24 hour eateries are the place to be when all else fails. I recently made an educational trip to a 24 hour IHOP for some middle of the night hash-browns and ethnographic field notes. I was escorted to one of the largest tables in the room by a tired looking but albeit enthusiastic young man, and was surprised by how many people were actually there. It was three in the morning, so I’d half expected to not see a soul, but there were always at least four tables being served. Among the clientele was a couple; a group of hoodlums whom I could only guess had been band geeks in another life; and, my personal favorite, a group of middle aged drunken sushi connoisseurs. Being seated closest to the sushi lovers, I got to eavesdrop on their conversations – and creepily bond with them, unbeknownst to them. Unsurprisingly, almost everyone in the room was varying shades of inebriated. The conversation was fairly educational in the sense that they were all very proud of their sexual endeavors and had decided to meticulously compare notes. They were surprisingly comfortable with themselves, as well as those within ear shot. It was sort of a contagious comfortable-ness – there was almost a community in the grungy little IHOP. Every one there had probably been kicked out of somewhere else because of closing time, or discontentment – all of us came together not only for diner eggs and pancakes, but for a place to be. Closing time had become the great equalizer, bringing people from all walks of life – from star crossed lovers to raucous sushi lovers – into their local IHOP, more for a place to be than anything else. Many forces were at work in that IHOP. The waiters were trying to make as much as they could off of tips, iHop stayed open late to facilitate all those who just weren’t ready to go home yet during the witching hour, and the establishment’s patrons were filling many societal expectations. All of these worked together to create a very different aesthetic than one would see in the daylight. People were more uninhibited because of the late hour and whatever they’d been a part of earlier, yet certain societal standards and ideals were being held up – while others, such as quietness, were generally thrown to the wind. Meanwhile, my incredibly exhausted waiter worked to be as professional as possible while exerting the least amount of work possible – granted, that isn’t necessarily that different from the daytime. This reflected the corporate values of IHOP that were at play. It caters to a very specific demographic – the less wealthy, and very hungry. IHOP is also one of the only places in its suburban zip code that offers 24-hour service. Which, I admittedly found surprising – I would have assumed there would be more places to go in the middle of the night, but realized very early into my pre-dawn adventure that there wasn’t much for one to do past midnight. This proves not only that nothing good happens after 2am, but also that nothing interesting will happen either. IHOP was the only place with its doors open after last call, after the kitchens had closed, and after the kids still couldn’t head home but had to something anyways. It’s interesting how so few places were there for the people who weren’t ready to head home for the night – and how many people stubbornly refused to go home. All the factors played together to set the scene for a bad Romantic Comedy (which undoubtedly could have been playing itself out in the corner booth, where the very young and very passionate couple were paying more attention to themselves than to their pancakes. All of the behaviors in the restaurant came together to form a cultural idea of the late night scene that one might get from the movies. People were far more uninhibited whether from lack of sleep, or intoxication, but they all still played their roles in the scene. There was a delicate balance between outlandish behavior and the rules of interaction between wait-staff and customers at play. Multiple expectations came together to form a very unique dynamic. It is worth saying that people were in the IHOP at that ungodly hour to be seen. They at least subconsciously knew that they were performers in very large scale production, and decided to stay out because of their role in social norms. They chose not to hide away in their homes until dawn, because someone needed to uphold the night owl character. Mumford argues in What is a City? That the city requires and creates drama, unlike the suburbs – which is interesting in regards to the very slim options one has in the suburbs past midnight beyond just going home. The percent of the population who want drama and tension (which in this sense are played out through late night excursions) is far lower in the suburbs, not because of the difference between structures in the city and the suburbs but because of the difference in mindset between these two areas (which also yielded the different structures). The characters in the story at hand are therefore outliers, in a sense. They seek out an experience that one generally only sees –though is not exclusively- in the city, and have a more unique experience because of it. There was a surprising amount of diversity in the demographics that night (really, no matter what tax bracket you’re in, you’re not going to find a place open in Aurora at 3am beyond Wal-Mart and the very occasional late night eatery), which created even more forces at play in the room. With every now demographic came a new set of ideas that were being prescribed to and upheld. Many sponsors played into the behavior of the performers. Societies’ concept of morality is a very large factor here. Many of the patrons had ducked in to iHop as a way to pass the time while sobering up and moving on with their life – which was caused by society’s laws and idea of moral behavior. While having a night out, they also were influenced not only by their preconceived notion of behavior that one is to have in the night, but also by the behavior that is not acceptable in society generally. Being overly drunk in public is generally frowned upon, as well as driving under the influence, which explains why many people ducked in to the restaurant – it was the best place to go so their night out wouldn’t have to end, but so they could also start to sober up. A variety of laws are in place that work to discourage public intoxication and bad behavior that might happen during intoxication, but there are at the same time a plethora of ideas at play constructed by the media about youth and the role of alcohol and late nights into the youth culture. It all plays into an equilibrium between two different sets of expectations and guidelines for behavior. The economy is also a sponsor of the performance. It is in the economy’s best interest that every performer takes on the role of the consumer, and consumerism is marketed from every angle possible so that every person will feel the need to participate. The need to stay out and continue the adventure is an idea partly concocted by the economy and media to influence people to connect the idea of leading an interesting life with products and experiences that can be profited off of. By staying open all night, IHOP offers an experience to a select group of customers, who for whatever reason need to stay up late and have eggs and coffee. Performers, for a variety of reasons, all take part in consumerism as a means to the experience of staying out late, or getting away from something. The late night patronage of IHOP is indicative of much larger forces and ideas that influence society as a whole. Customers from all walks of life participate in a late night performance that reveals influences from the economy and society as a whole. Each performer has a different reason for being there but plays into the greater whole of societal norms and expectations. A suburban 24 hour restaurant seems at first like an unlikely place for big ideas to be at play – especially when the place is sort of dead, and the customers look worn-out and inebriated, but every component of the large whole has meaning in its own way – and is essential for the bigger picture to exist.

Political Extremism and the Internet

Being able to reach voters n such a wide scale has had an astounding effect on politics in this country. The internet has allowed political extremism to flourish in the past decade. Those on the left side of the ideological spectrum as well as those on the right are able to access sites that share similar views, while simultaneously having the ability to block out opposing views. The impact that this has on the outcome of elections is something that simply cannot be ignored. The web is now one of the most effective tools in campaign arsenals.Those who do not use the internet for political reasons have also tarted to realize the ramifications that the internet can have on political extremism as well as politics in general. The increase in overall internet usage is leading to a rise in political extremism and is having a profound effect on the political discourse in America. Voters tend to have somewhat conflicting views on the use of the internet for political purposes. Most believe t hat the internet has the ability to present several different views on a particular issue, yet others believe it is hard to sort through all of the different sources (Smith).Some see it as a hindrance to the olitical process because of the way that inaccurate information seems to circulate freely (Smith). However, most people would agree that it is up to each individual reader to make the determination as to what qualifies as an accurate and reliable source. Fifty-six percent of all adult internet users say that they have difficulty determining which political stories are true and which ones are false (Smith). However, many users also find it convenient to connect with those that share similar political views (Smith).Left wing media outlets maintain a strong presence on the World Wide Web. Such sites tend to report both major and minor news stories with a left-leaning bias. This allows readers of these particular sites to only see one certain viewpoint on a story. The Huffington Pos t is one of the most popular liberal news outlets. It is run by Arianna Huffington who is the former wife of a republican congressman; she switched her political beliefs in the late 1990s (Huffington). The Huffington Post was recently purchased by AOL in 2011 for over three hundred million dollars (Huffington).The sale has not slowed the site though, as it remains as popular as ever. The Huffington Post covers a vast array of topics ranging from politics to comedy (Huffington). While there have been some attempts to produce a conservative website in the same style as The Huffington post, these efforts have not seen the same success as the Huffington t (Top 1 ) It maintains a large readership due to this wide variety that users have access to. However, political topics tend to dominate the front page, and are thereby seen by additional traffic from those Just using the site for entertainment purposes (Huffington).The way in which the Huffington Post displays its content creates a use r-friendly environment hat keeps readers interested. Its use of catchy, and oftentimes misleading, headlines allows readers to skim the front page of the website and get an over view of the leading stories of the day. However, the most serious issue with sites like the Huffington Post is their refusal to cover stories that portray liberals in a negative way. This bias was pointed out by Lee Stranahan who is actually employed by the Huffington Post (Stranahan).He was particularly troubled by the way that some stories were simply ignored by several liberal news media (Stranahan). He expressed he belief that this tactic is one that is harmful to nearly all voters, as it only fuels partisanship (Stranahan). It allows ignorance to perpetuate which is detrimental to all parties involved. However, the practice of selective Journalism seems to plague an equal number of both liberals and conservatives. Sites that promote news with a conservative slant tend to be somewhat more prevalent than those that have a more liberal leaning.This can be attributed to the belief held those on the right feel that the mainstream media is promoting a liberal agenda (Stanley). One of the most opular conservative websites is the Drudge Report. The Drudge Report was started by Matt Drudge in the late 1990s and consistently has over thirty million hits daily (Drudge). He has been able to achieve this success with a fairly low-tech website that relies on a religious-like following from his readers. Drudge first gained notoriety when he broke the Monica Lewinsky scandal during the Clinton Administration.He has maintained this success by grabbing viewers' attention with clever headlines that link to other websites that offer varying political views (Drudge). The Drudge Report is onsidered by many political insiders as the major driver of political news discussions in America as it directs its readers to other news sites (Sullivan). This leads to greater exposure for stories that are linked on Drudge (Stanley). However, it still is seen by many Journalists and political pundits as being biased.