Lord of the Flies: The Beastie Essay

From the start of the novel, we are made to believe that there is a beast on the island that the boys are situated on. The boys gradually become more and more afraid of the â€Å"Beastie† as the novel unravels however there is no physical evidence to prove that a beast does in fact exist. But however, there are events which lead up throughout the novel, which would lead you on to believe that there is a beast from the boy’s point of view, but we as the readers are told things that the boys are not, and therefore we know that there is no beast, only a beast that exists in themselves, which becomes more sinister and evil as we progress. In chapter one, we discover that the boys are stranded on an island by themselves with no adults. Although this seems good at the very start, as there is no authority, so they can do what they want, it later becomes a reason to fear as with no adults, there’s no protection – they are vulnerable to the outside world. There is no one to keep them safe at night, no one to fend for them or provide food, and to make matters worse, they can’t be rescued if no one knows they’re there, which is soon realised – â€Å"No body don’t know we’re here†. So with no protection and no means of rescue, fear slowly starts to develop and spread among the boys – â€Å"We may stay here until we die.† They soon realise that a structured society is needed for them to survive. A reason to be scared provides more reason to fear things, as we find out in chapter two. A rumour of a beast, which is described as a snake, is started by one of the little uns – the one with the birthmark. One of the older boys states what the boy with the birthmark describes as he lacks confidence in front of other people – â€Å"A snake thing – ever so big, he saw it†. This rumour strikes fear into the boys, and spreads like a rumour to. An idea surfaces from one of the wiser and older boys. â€Å"He must have had a nightmare, stumbling among all those creepers.† This shows that creepers here are something to scare people – a symbol of fear. This is because to the younger ones, creepers look similar to snakes (or â€Å"beasties†), and although to the older boys they might not look like something to fear, they are still a little afraid as the fear spreads around the little uns and up towards the big uns. As the fear of the beast begins to take hold of the boys, they feel a need for shelters to protect them. However the older boys believe that the shelters will make the little uns feel safer, but really they are just creating a self illusion, as they need the shelter as much as the little uns, but are scared to admit it. A shelter in their eyes is a home, and a home symbolises security, protection a place to feel safe, so without a shelter, or a home, the boys are exposed to the elements and the beast. With the shelters built, the boys feel a little bit more secure, and Jack, in his own way, reassures the group with his speech about how stupid everyone is by being afraid of something that doesn’t exist. However he says that if a beast did exist, he would have hunted it down and killed it by now, which sounds like Jack is not afraid to the others, but he must have some kind of doubt in his mind if he’s thinking about it being there. The boys don’t see through Jacks illusion and take the reassurance. However just when the boys are feeling better about the beast, the little un called Percival speaks up about his experience. He says that the beast doesn’t live on the island, it lives in the sea – which quickly squashes any assurance they just gained. The idea of a beast that could be anywhere around them, as after all they are trapped on an island, gives more fear – not knowing where it is, when it could strike. They are the prey, open and vulnerable, and the beastie is the predator, hidden and invisible. At least before, they had a rough idea where it was, but now they will have to watch their back more than ever – if the rumour is correct. The fear spreads even more and a sense of paranoia grips the boys. However Simon, who is viewed by us, the reader, to be the â€Å"helper† or â€Å"Christ-like† character, expresses a very deep point of view. He talks about how there is no beast, not physically any way. The beast is a figment of the boys imagination – as after all that’s what they are boys, who typically have vibrant imaginations. He believes that because there is no adults, no authority who usually do the protecting, and that their all alone, they have come up with this paranoid delusion which we know to be the beast. Simon, being one of the most mature on the island, in my opinion seems to be the closest to really understanding what the beast actually is. In chapter six, we the reader, are told about a parachutist who was shot down we presume. We are told that he parachutes down to the island and is dragged around, giving the impression of a puppet to the wind, limp and lifeless – in other words dead. However we know about the parachutist, but the boys on the other hand don’t. So when Sam ‘n Eric are looking after the fire and the spot the parachute flopping up and down – as if it was a living being, the two boys instantly believe it’s the beast. The boys didn’t have a reason to fear the beast, until they thought they saw something which they believed to be the beast. They jumped to a conclusion straight away, because of the rumours of the beast. And when the boys got back, they told the other boys, and once again the fear spreads around. However the â€Å"beast† was sighted near the fire, which means that the boys have no means of rescue without fire, unless they confront their fears. The boys, under the leadership of Jack, go up to the fire to confront the beast with weapons. They begin to fight fire with fire, and themselves gradually become a beast on their own. If another person, unknown to they boys was to accidentally stumble into their camp, the boys would surely mistake him/her for the beast and kill them. The boys have become ruthless in order to survive, and have become savages. Ironically Jack himself said â€Å"We don’t want to become savages†, yet he is a key reason as to why the boys have become the evil savages that they are now. In chapter eight, Jacks hunters leave a gift for the beast, in hope that it will acknowledge them and leave them alone. However they are contradicting themselves, as they said that they did not believe in the beast. This shows that they have become more afraid of the beast as time has passed. Yet as the hunters become more aware and afraid of the beast, Simon on the other hand becomes less afraid. He already believed that there was no beast, but his â€Å"fit† showed him more clearly that there was nothing to be afraid of. He realises that a â€Å"pig’s head on a stick† is nothing to be frightened of. Jacks group eventually split from Ralph and the others, and ultimately split from civilisation to. The conch represented civilisation, and without it, the boys become savages. The beast that they once feared has grown inside of them, and now they are the beast of the island. The novel refers to them as â€Å"savages†, indicating that they themselves have become what they feared the most – monsters. Living in fear of the beast has made them more ferocious and brutal towards unknown beings. They become more like a tribe and start chanting – â€Å"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!† they have become evil.

Later Adulthood Development Essay

During our life time it is inevitable that we will grow older. People 65 an older are living longer lives. This age group has been increasing over the years with the help of new technology. During this stage in life we will go through many life transformations. First we will change not only physically, but mentally, and emotionally, and socially. Our roles in life will change drastically and if not prepared it will not be a smooth transition. If a person was once very independent in their younger years and now will need to be dependent on others for assistance it could become a big problem. They may need help with basic daily health needs such as bathing, cooking or may need help getting around town. There are many assistant living facilities that will assist them if needed. Another issue in aging is they may become victims of crimes. Elderly people have physical limitations that will make it harder for them to defend themselves. Discrimination will now become another issue that they will have to face. It may be hard for them to land a job at this age because many companies might be worried that they will constantly be out of work or can’t physically do the job. Compare living accommodations such as accessibility and the need for health care: There are numerous nursing facilities for the elderly to live in. In the past these facilities were ran like institutions and less like a home. The new facilities are well equipped with everything they would have in their own homes. Facilities provide entertainment, social gatherings, everything you would need to enjoy your elderly years. Many elderly people would prefer to live and maintain their own households with their spouses and not have to resort to facility living. Health care is important to the elderly generation because they are more apet to have health problems. Because of the increasing cost of health care Medicare and Medicaid programs were put in place to reduce the cost of health care for this age group. Another medical issue for the elderly is that Physicians are primarily  trained in treating young people and the elderly does not receive the quality care they need. In that age group medical care is crucial for their survival because they are more frail and sick than the younger generation. The transition from work to retirement is a major part in anyone’s life. Mandatory retirement was once created for people age 65 an older, it was meant to abolish the oversupply of available workers. Congress eventually stopped this law because it was discriminating towards the elderly. Retiring is a major adjustment in life for those who worked there whole lives. One of the many adjustments are living on a smaller income, and no interaction from fellow coworkers. Social Security benefits is a financial assistance program for retired people 65 and up but it was never intended to make a person financially independent. It is impossible to live comfortably just off of social security checks alone. About 95 percent of older adults receive Social Security; for 18 percent of them, Social Security is their only income. Americans who did not prepare themselves finically will need to work for the rest of their lives. Those who did not prepare themselves for retirement will have to worry about money and possible have to rely on government assistance. Those who did prepare themselves financially will not have to worry about money an can enjoy their leisure time and enjoy the many things that they weren’t able to do while working such as traveling, golfing, etc. Many people at this stage will get bored an unfulfilled without a job to go too. Volunteering their time and possible a part time job are a few ways an elderly couple can do to stay productive and be a contributing citizen. Older people volunteering their time can also lead to a higher feel of worth and self-esteem. Many changes go in in marriage, family, and peer relationships when we grow older. Older people are married they are happier than the non-married ones. When we age we will have to understand that one spouse will have to take care of their spouse. The caretaking spouse will get frustrated, angry, overwhelmed with caring for their spouse. When a spouse is ill this can drain the family savings and add more stress over finances. When a spouse dies it can be very emotional for the spouse that is left behind they will begin to experience loneliness’, depression and will have more things to take care of on their own. The surviving spouse will have to be emotionally ready to move on with life without their mate. Peer relationships will also change beca use  friends are sick and dying and reminds them that the end is near. This can lead to elderly people staying in the house and distancing themselves from other people and family. Some elderly begin to live with family and like the idea that they are around their loved ones. Others do not want to put a burden on to their family and decide to move into a nursing facility instead. Living with someone else can become a major shock because they are used to living on their own. The social policies that affect the older adults are Medicaid, Medicare, social security benefits, and the older Americans act of 1965. Medicare was created to assist older people with the cost of health care. Everyone 65 and older will be eligible for this service. Everyone in the United States is eligible for some sort of social security benefit after retirement age if they worked. This Money is paid into the social security system from taxes from employees and employers. It is a certain amount of money given every month to offset the cost of living. Some elderly people live off just social security alone because they did not plan correctly for the future. If a person does not have any pensions, savings and other income it will not be enough to live comfortable off of. . The Americans Act of 1965 is a law and its amendments and they are the basis for federal aid to states and local communities to meet the needs of the older generation. This law assists with an adequate income, physical and mental health, housing, employment opportunities. The final service made for the elderly is Medicaid. It provides services for low income families, and those who need public assistance. Each state is different with the Medicaid benefits. When we age we will all change mentally, physically, physically and socially it’s all a part of this life cycle. With proper planning and research growing older can be a smooth transition in life. Financial planning, family support, resources are all positive can contributions to everything an older adul t needs. References Dale, O., Smith, R., Norlin, J. M., & Chess, W. A. (2009). Human behavior and the social environment: Social systems theory (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

House and Apartment: Similarities and Differences Essay

A home is a place that makes us feel secure and comfortable. So, it should be a place that is the most suitable place for us to rest after did many activities at the day. However, as the time goes by, there has been built an apartment which is has the same function as a house, that is a place to live in. Unlike a house, an apartment usually located at the center of city which is give an extra benefit for business utility. â€Å"Your apartment is your home, and you should be able to enjoy it to the fullest† (Ron Leshnower, 2010). Nonetheless, some people think that living in house would give the maximum comfortibility. There are 2 similarities between a house and an apartment. First of all, both of them would make you spend the same living cost. When you decide to live with luxurious life style, wherever you live, you would stay to live with that kind of habit. Second of all, whether it is a house or an apartment, it has a big role as a place to live in. In the other hand, there are 3 differences between living in a house and apartment. Firstly, living in a house would spend more money rather than an apartment. If you think that someday you would buy a house, first thing that you need to purchase is a land. A land is primary requirement to build a house. Thus, it should be really expensive especially if it is close by the city. And next, you need to buy the raw materials and hire someone to build a house. However, if you decide to buy an apartment, all you need to do is be ready for the money. â€Å"It is cheaper then living in a traditional house and paying different kinds of fees I am not familiar with.† (IELTS Essay Task 2: Apartment Or House, paragraph 2, http://www.goodatesl.com/ielts/writing-ielts/ielts-writing-task-2/ielts-essay-task-2-apartment-or-house.html, 2010). Secondly, living in apartment would give you feel secure and that is real. â€Å"Most apartment buildings offer 24 hour security and security cameras throughout the facility to ensure that tenants do not have to worry about their persons or property being victims of terrorism or theft† (Apartment Living in Jakarta, paragraph 7, http://www.expat.or.id/info/apartmentlivinginjakarta.html). Compare with a house, you need to make sure you lock all doors and windows before you go to sleep and check everything before you go to somewhere. Thirdly, living in a house would never give you a full satisfaction. For example, if you want more, you need to spend more.

Safeguarding Adults Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Safeguarding Adults - Outline Example nt that social workers receive better advice in addition to further knowledge on criminal justice matters in order to handle criminalization of vulnerable adults that is on the increase. Safeguarding Reg and Lisa is a responsibility for everyone. Every person including Reg has a right to live his or her personal life free from exploitation, abuse, and neglect. This explained why Anne did not have another option but to move in with his father after his accident that affected him both physically and mentally. This right is envisaged by the role on public agencies in the Human Rights Act (1998) to get involved adequately to protect the rights of people. They include Article 2: ‘the Right to life’; Article 3: ‘Freedom from torture’; and Article 8: ‘Right to family life’. Legally, the responsibility became even bigger when Reg lost his wife. The law provides that people with disabilities such as Reg and Lisa have a right to exercise their political, civil, cultural, and economic rights equally as others. The Health and Social Care Act 2008: This calls on registered providers to take ‘reasonable steps to identify the chances of abuse and prevent it before it occurs’ They cover all types of disability whether transitional, terminating, or terminal (Gann, 2003, 147). The two Reg and Lisa have the following rights; the right to non discrimination, equality in the eyes of the law, equality in chances available to them, accessing independent living, integration into the society and family fully, as well as safety and protection. All these are in Human Rights Act 1988, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004.The law uses equalization of opportunities as the clarion call for holding the right of the disabled. Anne and the rest of the society including the state has an obligation of us ing resources at their disposal to make sure that Reg and Lisa have equal opportunities within the family and community. Anne is in a double

MrsFields case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MrsFields - Case Study Example LPB was a large company; their formulations of baking from the frozen dough the croissants, bread, hot soups and sandwiches, taken from Fields extended cookies business, had a different style. Technological processes at Fields were not changed to make adjustment with the working of LPB. Fields wanted to get the benefit of their in-practice MIS system, which was not customized to assimilate the management functions of LPB like Fields had done when it acquired Chocolate Chip Company, and made changes in the MIS system. Fields assumed that that it would be able to benefit from its current MIS system for adapting different overhead functions of PBS. Working in a totally different management hierarchy would not have been easy particularly when no job orientation was given. Things could have gone haphazard without any staff reporting to the senior level, affecting performance in all segments of the organization. As per Randy’s statement, the organizational structure at LPB was not similar to the functioning at Fields who has been using IT to manage business functions across the globe efficiently. The impact of discharging 50 human resources from their duties of the acquired company and without providing the training of the work processes of the new organization structure, I would have felt crippled as a manager. Reporting of store managers at Fields was straight to all senior and middle level managers culminating in final reporting to Debbie and Randy. The change for the store manager’s rank was sudden from a traditional way of functioning to remaining available for seamless exchange of information horizontally and vertically on the vast communication network. Chances of failure had been more than success as store manager. In my opinion, it would be wrong to say that business at LPB was same in kind as it was at Fields in different aspects like products, customers, and business challenges. Although bakery was the major business at LPB but it offered other

Research and journalism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research and journalism - Article Example Research on the other hand is a more long term longitudinal study based on foresight regarding future trends or events over a period of time. This is one of the most basic differences that makes journalism and research take on divergent roles. The collection of data is crucial to both journalism and research. According to Sedlmeier et al (1989), research is not a copy of record, as opposed to journalism. Here, it may be seen that journalism acts as a record of facts on which public opinion is molded and set forth. Yet, research is based on longitudinal studies that depend on the careful selection of subjects as well as focus groups upon whom analysis is conducted for a logical conclusion. To begin with, one has to understand research design in context of philosophy as a style of writing or expressing ideas. This has a nexus with positivism as well as interpretivism in understanding how knowledge is gathered and used. Johnson et al's text (2000) starts with a study of innate notions. This portion of the book is a study of the elements that lead to speculation and a subsequent formation of perspective. This points to positivism. Throughout this part, the authors have managed to hook the reader on to the idea that speculation is an element that must be used in very discreet doses as more of it can damage the practical side of things in one's mind. (Johnson et al, 2000) As a philosophical notion, this is an ideal that is true to writing. In writing, it is imperative to stick to a certain balance between factual information and a small amount of speculation. This holds on to people's imagination and memories. Therefore, in this part of the book, the authors have merely de scribed a style of writing that has to do with organising ideas and information or interpretivism. This sets the stage for understanding and differentiating between epistemology and ontology. Further into the book, one will find ideals that are connected with principles in the mind. The mind is an organ that churns out thoughts and expressions of the same. These expressions are a part of the basic mental setup of the person concerned. This quality, in turn, springs from an ability to form a successful marriage between imagination and the overall truth surrounding a person. Therefore, these principles work towards defining a certain kind of writing and research design that can be applied by any person for means of appropriate self expression. (Johnson et al, 2000) The second part of the book is about Ideas, which relates to journalism rather than research. Journalism is a field where ideation is an important phase before one begins to actually put the ideas down on pen and paper. Where does this ideation happen' It happens during one's life experiences. These life experiences revolve around the garnering of values and ideals in life. One's writing often depicts the state of one's belief system. Thus, in describing ideas, Locke has managed to show what a person's preliminary research in writing is based on. This preliminary research comes from what is within oneself. (Locke, 2007) Therefore, as far as data collection is concerned, positivism is the approach used by research, while interpretivism is the appr

Israel and the Middle East, Jerusalem center for public affairs Research Paper

Israel and the Middle East, Jerusalem center for public affairs - Research Paper Example Not if it is your own history; remarked Abdullah and continued saying; and you have a brother lost in it. Oh, I am sorry to hear about your bother, I have lost quite a number of my friends and family members and I know how it feels like. But what history are your reading? Asked Paul. Well, it is the history of Palestine and Israel. So, you must be a Palestinian. Not, Exactly, My father is from Palestine but my mother is Egyptian, I was born and grew old in Egypt. Now, my father wants me to leave for Palestine and lay my life for Jehad, which I do not understand why is going on. All the bloodshed and the stories of war have always intrigued me to find out what actually is going on, why are people fighting over a small piece of land when they both can live peacefully. Paul has understood the point and with a small smile asked; what is your name? Abdullah. Listen Abdullah, It is not just a matter of land between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It is all about religion, it is about le gacy and it is about home, not for one but for both sides. How long have you been reading the book? About two hours. And what did you read? Not much, all the stories that I have heard and what I see in the news channels and what I have read in the book may seem easy to read and listen to, but not that easy to digest. It all becomes contradicting. Everyone seems to be on the right side of the gun and then everyone seems to be doing wrong. It is all mixed up. I do not know why exactly did my brother die. Was it for right or just a waste of life. Hmmm†¦. Tell me what you have read and what you know then I might be able to help clear up the confusion you are having, Paul said. Well, first of all the Jews lived in this region, then the region was over taken by the Muslims under whom the... The Jews did not ask the Muslims to leave at first, but after the war, the Muslims were rioting all the places, the Jews had not other choice other then ask them to leave, Commented David. What do you think is the solution to all the blood shed that is going on now in these states. There are lives on both sides that are being wasted, asked Abdullah. The solution my friends lie in the commitment to mutual peace. Both sides have to come to common terms and conclude peace and that is only in the forms of accepting the recommendations of the UN. But both sides are adamant on wanting the complete land which I believe is not ever possible. The result will be that the blood shed will continue on the both sides. Until and unless both the communities do not talk on the humanitarian basis this, all will remain for the next generations to suffer. The only way out is speaking above religion, above ego and above nationalism and the peace will prevail. It is not what I feel, it is what I have seen , concluded Paul.

Will Google Glasses Replace Other Multimedia Devices Research Paper

Will Google Glasses Replace Other Multimedia Devices - Research Paper Example Generally, Google Glass does not require users to install apps because they command Glassware to communicate with the device and it has a high-resolution that can help in sending contextual information, images and videos thus acting as a new and different kind of device. Interestingly, â€Å"Users can ï ¬ eld phone calls, text messages, e-mails, etc., without reaching into a pocket or bag† [1]. Google Glass provides an answer to almost anything someone would want to know by bringing information quickly and seamlessly to people’s lives. The glass presents extremely useful information to the users and the limitless applications of the device tend to change the fabric of living such as an update on traffic accidents and freeing hands and eyes. With the introduction of Google Glass, people do not need to worry about fumbling with their phones or other digital devices because Google Glass is ready at a moment’s notice. Google Glass has further helped in taking the p hysical out of technology and brings the world more closely while maintaining the benefits that new social and digital technology offers. Moreover, the device can help in sharing what one has with friends through instant streaming such as catching favorite song at a concert. Google Glass is likely to fundamentally transform other human-computer interactions as well as other media because it makes communication and interaction more intimate and is a marvel of integration and miniaturization. Google Glass began a few years ago in the secret off-campus R & D center known as Google X and for a long time, people did not know that the prototype existed until around 2011. However, it is worth noting that Project Glass was not an easy thing, especially convincing people. Google admitted that the initial prototype was fairly bulky although current prototypes are also not still very early.  

Is the character Crake a hero or a villain in Margaret Atwood's Oryx Essay

Is the character Crake a hero or a villain in Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake - Essay Example of annihilation also involved the establishment of a new world inhabited by a peaceful, herbivorous, environment-friendly variety of human-like beings. He created them and kept them safe in a dome and then set out to annihilate the entire race of mankind. His friend Jimmy, the narrator-protagonist of the novel is spared to take care of Crake’s new creations called ‘Crakers’. My contention is that with all his super-human brain powers and wisdom Crake is ultimately a villain, not a hero. Crake, unlike Jimmy, is not open-hearted. He is treacherous though in his own way affectionate towards Jimmy, even appreciative of his essential goodness. But he has no qualms in using Jimmy for his own ends. He betrays the trust Jimmy puts in him. Jimmy loses his mother under curious circumstances at a very young age. His father, an outstanding genographer who works happily for an organ-producing multinational firm, exerts only a mild impact on him. He is more attached to his mother, an embittered microbiologist who in disillusionment throws away her job and becomes an activist, demanding a going back to nature. Crake is Jimmy’s one and only best friend in the whole world, even after the holocaust and his killing of Crake, Jimmy regards him so (Oryx and Crake, 391). Jimmy shoots him in panic, shock and confusion. But he never lets go the responsibility Crake thrusts on him and never blames him. In contrast Crake keeps him under constant surveillance from the very beginning a nd entraps him quite cleverly into his own schemes, using him and his innate peculiarities to benefit his own schemes (376). He is a failure as a friend, though Jimmy-turned-Snowman is still clinging to his memories. Crake is a betrayer. His treatment of Oryx, just like that of Jimmy is a pathetic testimony of his deep-rooted harshness of mind. He has advanced methods of surveilling the activities of others. Oryx is not aware of it. He tells her that his Blyss Pluss Pill would pave the way to the

Discuss an economics-, business- ,or finance-related book you have Essay

Discuss an economics-, business- ,or finance-related book you have read all the way through and its influence on your thinking - Essay Example This information is vital as it expands on the investment knowledge that I learnt in class. Apart from sharing the financial information with the three young people, Roy, the main character offers financial advices to his customers at the barber shop. Roy had a plan of becoming a lawyer when he was growing up, but he later changed his mind. He takes over the barber shop that belongs to his father and begins running it well after a visit to Mr. White, who was one of the wealthiest individuals in the town. The financial advice he gets from Mr. White opens up the way for the accumulation of wealth. After reading the book, I realized that I don’t need a lot of money before I can begin investing. Saving and investing ten percent of my monthly income for a long term can enable me to accumulate a lot of money (Chilton, 8). I was able to understand that it is better to pay off non-tax deductible debts rather using the same amount of money in other investments. The best investment begins with paying off loans and other debts. An individual should start paying off loans that have high-interest rates. I have realized that in order to be wealthy, I have to ensure that my money works for me. These is because, my salary is quite smaller compared to less amount of money invested over time. In order to keep track of finances, an individual needs to write down all the expenditure in a month. I was able to understand that the financial assessment can help identify areas of wastage and thus plan for the money effectively in future (Chilton, 10). Additionally, the book offers knowledge on how to save more tax money. Most people require assistance from a tax expert or an accountant so as to able to identify how to save on tax. Even though, the experts can be of help in offering advice, it is important for a people to fill the 1040 long forms by themselves so as to

Learning Agreement Essay Example for Free

Learning Agreement Essay In R Tours, I was assigned in the Inbound Department and I learned a lot from there. One of the main duties in the department is the inbound operation. The inbound operation consists of several tasks. First to create interesting and excellent tour packages, then, promote them locally and internationally and finally handling them. We may receive request or booking by telephone, fax, letter or email from individuals, local and international groups. Most of the time a normal booking will have information on the type of tour package chosen, the length of stay, the number of people and additional services required such as a buffet set up instead of an a la carte menu or providing the welcome drink in the airport instead of the hotel. Normally we reply by thanking the person or the foreign company involves and we include all the necessary information such as the detailed itinerary, the cost of the tour and most important our confirmation for handling the tour. Then we will wait to get a confirmation from them before starting to make all arrangements and preparations. The confirmation includes the date and time of arrival, the flight number if they are arriving by airplane, names plus passport numbers of clients and the rooming list. It is only after receiving the confirmation that we begin to work on arranging and preparing the booking of hotels, restaurants, transportation vehicles, museum tickets and sometimes airlines tickets if they are intend to fly to the south of the country. We also, arrange the visas and prepare the travel insurance. We assign people who are going to take care of the group such as tour leader, tour guide and driver. Then we prepare the reservation forms and we send them to our suppliers. The reservation form includes the services requested and the number of pax and sometimes more information according to the kind of supplier. In a case of a hotel for example, the reservation form will include extra information such as the date of checking in and out, the number and what type of room and type of payment. Suppliers may be hotel, resort, motel, museum, restaurant, theme park, car rental, motor-coach company, a marina, a diving center or anything else. During peak season we have difficulties in getting the right accommodation or some other services that was mentioned in the tour package, in this kind of situation we, must think of an alternative and inform the client about the changes and finally when both of us agree we proceed with the arrangement. The next task is to handle the group from the first day to the last day. The most important rule with the western group is being punctual because they are used to it and they do not like to wait for anything or anybody even from their own group. Make sure everything goes according to the itinerary timing. All the employees and suppliers involve must take this into consideration. In case of lateness they may complaint and even ask for refund for that particular service. All the time make sure that everything is ready in advance. For example, during the arrival day, the tour guide and the motor coach must be present at the airport at least one hour before the plane lands and provide the tour guide with a small board having the name of the group to make it easier for the group to find him. We need to monitor the group every single day and keep in touch with the tour leader. All the international groups have their tour leader and building an excellent communication or relation with him or her is really important because the tour leader is the one in charge of the entire group and he or she plays a very important role to insure that the tour is conducted as planned. Carrying daily briefing with him or her helps to find out what happened the day before and if any change has to be done for the next day. In the department we need to carry meetings to resolve any kind of problem during the tour. I learned to build strong relation with our suppliers to minimize the problem and complications. In the beginning I was facing many problems of getting what I wanted and it used to take days of negotiation before getting it. I realized that certain suppliers such as five star hotels or dine dining restaurants were not responding positively to our request because they were preferring to deal directly with the customers or with reputed tour operator company. According to their opinion, we were not qualified or capable of bringing much business and I was really disappointed by their discrimination and behavior but my personal and communication skills helped me to accomplish whatever I wanted from them. It is sad to realize that they are used to work this way, they dont easily cooperate with small companies and I needed to win their trust. Finally they decided to really do business with me and everything was working smoothly after that. I think and believe that these hotels or any other suppliers should cooperate and build a better relationship with the small tour operators in order to benefit from each other. I definitely agree that we were not in the same level as those large tour operators such as Z Tours but we proved to these hotels income as well. However, I was pleased that after many months of hard work, we were able to increase the number of bookings with them month after month. During my time spent in R Tours, I learned to better understand the procedure of handling tour packages. Now I am more confident of myself and well prepared due to all the experience that I had acquired while working there. I would like to conclude by saying that inbound operation is about using your capabilities, trying your strength in all the different tasks involves and be able to solve any problem happening during the tour by relating to your learning experience at the work place.

Education policy Essay Example for Free

Education policy Essay Security, quality education, access to healthcare, prospects of a reasonable job on merit and sound economy are the ingredients to be provided by the state to its citizens to run the state and the society smoothly. Growth of successful nations is denoted particularly to the education. There was a time when people believed that higher education should be available to people of all social classes and, obviously, it was freely available to all who wanted it. The fact that it is not, that public education was once available and now it is very hard to access is indicative of deep problems in Pakistan. Encouraging colleges and universities to raise their own resources by charging higher fees has clearly excluded a significant section of students belonging to poor sections of the society. Education in Pakistan is now so expensive that poor can’t even imagine of their children becoming doctors and engineers. Our education system is passing through a very bad phase now and it is regarded as perhaps amongst the poorest in the world. Cream of the Pakistani brain is either becoming idle due to non-availability of ever rising cost of education or going to other countries. UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS Article 1 provides; every child has the right to have equal access to an education, irrespective of their color, creed, nationality, ethnicity, or social and financial status, so they may obtain gainful employment and contribute to the growth of their society, being born free and equal in dignity and rights. Life for a common man in Pakistan in this so called â€Å"democratic† regime has already become difficult owing to the all-round price rise across the country. Inflation, combined with policies of privatization, has caused a complete deterioration in living standards of the people. Frankly speaking, there is no such thing as democracy in Pakistan. This type of â€Å"democracy† has often left the common man in constant struggle for survival. Majority of Pakistanis are living in poverty and unsustainable economic conditions; when they are struggling for their livelihood education loses its utility in their eyes and it becomes far from their desire. But for the riches and powerful corrupt politicians, things are very rosy. Pakistan is suffering terribly for that, with socio-political and economic crises strewn all over the society like a straw hut in a typhoon. Lack of good education and unemployment in Pakistan would contribute many social ills, including crime, prostitution, and the break down in law and order. In Pakistan, providing education to the masses had always been state responsibility. Now there has been a major push for the private provision of educational services. Moreover, corrupt politicians, feudalism, injustice are such problems which have further pressed the most pressed people of the country. Education is a tremendous tool for social change as well as an opportunity out of poverty traps. People trapped in the lower classes have trouble climbing out of it because they lack the tools to do so, because they live in a feudal society that actively works to keep them there, and education can be a form of escape hatch. But Education System in Pakistan In Human development Report Pakistan is placed at 136th position for having just 49. 9% educated population. In addition to that, Pakistan is ranked at 113th out of 120 registered UN members according to the research conducted by UNESCO et. all. Some of the very basic flaws of the education system in Pakistan contribute to the economic, ethnic and sociopolitical crisis within the country. Flaws of Education System in Pakistan Firstly, the education system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This create a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments. Such a distraught infrastructure is a basic cause of high illiteracy rate in Pakistan and high drop out rates in rural areas and public school. Secondly, regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Balochistan (the largest province of Pakistan by Area) are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (the largest province Of Pakistan by Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable constituting 29. 5% in males and 3% in females. The third major cause of flawed education system in Pakistan is gender discrimination. The current primary school ratio of boys and girls is 10:4, which is a cause of huge concern. For the last few years there has been an increase in the growth of private schools. It is believed that Pakistan is among the most prominent states affected by gender discrimination. That not only harms the quality of education in Pakistan but create a gap among haves and have nots. Fourthly, the lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the education policy that has never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people means low standard of education. Fifthly, the allocation of funds for education are very low. It is only 1. 5 to 2. 0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP. At that budget allocation, the illiteracy rate in Pakistan would not decrease but rather increase. The federal and provincial governments need to cut down their expenditures in other areas and spend a bigger proportion of income on education. Moreover, the quality of education in most of the public schools and colleges is well below par; the teachers in government schools are not well trained. People who do not get job in any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. They are not professionally trained teachers so they are unable to train a nation. Quality of teaching needs special attention in rural areas where the teachers lack in all departments. In America, Europe and most of the developed countries, the emphasis of the states is on developing virtual education systems i. e. provision of education through online networks. The idea of online education is gathering momentum and many online institutions have been set up which offer online courses and online degrees. The Higher Education Commission and Education ministry need to focus on developing a strong online education network so that students through out the country can benefit. Universities such as Harvard, Berkley and MIT are offering online courses and degrees. It reflects the importance of online education in todays modern high tech world. Finally, Poverty is also another factor that restrict the parents to send their children to public or private schools. So, they prefer to send their children to Madrassas where education is totally free. The government has to make changes to financial infrastructure to improve the situation. Bank loans for education purposes should not be interest based as it discourages the people of Pakistan to acquire loans. Education loans are offered at low rates through out the world and it enable people to acquire quality education. Social awareness regarding all these issues need to be spread and we, the people of Pakistan have to work hand in hand with the government authorities to improve the current system. Our children should not be deprived of their basic right to acquire knowledge. All these issues contribute to high illiteracy rate, which in turn result in economic crisis in shape of high unemployment rate and below-par quality of labor. Moreover, the country suffers on social, political and technological front! There are hundred other problems which need attention but the core-issues need to be addressed as soon as possible. You can read my article Pakistans Educational System which is an overview of the education infra-structure within the country. In todays world, the benchmark for excellence is education. Moreover, if a country has a distraught academic infrastructure, the chances to survive in current competitive world are petite. The illiteracy rate in Pakistan is alarmingly high which calls for critical attention. The federal and provincial governments need to work together towards elimination of flaws of education system in Pakistan. The first time I thought about education and its significance to this society was when I went on a field trip to a school set up by an NGO in the late 1990s. It is now a rightly famous NGO but back then during my sixth grade field trip it just seemed like a project of a group of cranky Karachi businessmen who had decided to spit against the wind of the government’s non-interest in providing education to its people. These rich grouches had  gotten together in the chaos of 1995 Karachi and seeing the government more interested in massacring hard-boiled militants than provide social services, they decided to simply pool their own money and build their own schools. How benevolent of them. I would love to see these rich men’s tax receipts. The citizens of a country shouldn’t be dependent on the benevolent charity of rich men. Through their own democratic political process, citizens must enforce upon their richest members the income taxes necessary to fund an education system that reaches every child in the state. The fact that Pakistanis have not done so points towards the weakness of their political system in dealing with its population’s educational needs. There is no real shortcut from the state actually enforcing a tax system that extracts the adequate revenue needed to fund the creation of a school near every human settlement in Pakistan. The goal I have described of having a school near every human settlement in Pakistan, is what Pakistan is obligated to do under its current international treaties and the simplest and most straightforward way it can be done. It is certainly not impossible. Pakistan has managed to make sure that no human settlement lacks a mosque. The same needs to be done for schools. Where we went wrong Nationalisation of schools, as was done by the Z. A. Bhutto administration, was a shortcut that cannot be used, and was actually instrumental in ruining government schools. The provincial governments that ran education departments became overstretched then to the point of breaking. The schools that were nationalised saw the prospect of future capital and human investment in them pointless, as the former owners were now dispossessed of their old stake in the schools. Good teachers left, rather than become government employees to be posted in far flung places, and the lack of good teacher training colleges, a necessity unacknowledged up until recently, saw little competent replacement. By nationalising the missionary (Christian), faith-based (Muslim) and private schools, an unwieldy, unplanned expansion of Pakistan’s school system reduced the status of government school teachers to the corrupted, incompetent, ineffective place it finds itself in today. Teachers do not come to classes, and if they do, they are ill-prepared to teach. It becomes difficult to weed out and penalise underperforming teachers because their status as government employees prevents them from being penalised as they would be in the private sector. As much as this rhetoric may sound similar to the United States, Pakistan’s teachers’ unions continue to shelter wildly incompetent teachers, who beyond being simply bad at teaching, many times do not even show up. Anti-participatory environment We are not helped either by large class sizes, low teacher to student ratios, non-production of teachers in a sufficient quantity and quality by the low number of Pakistani teacher-training colleges. Central to this remains the criminally low expenditure on education by Pakistan, and the failure to collect or divert enough revenue to the education sector. Taking the education emergency of Pakistan seriously would mean finding means to increase the amounts spent on education in Pakistan, on a war footing. Students cannot themselves push for an effective learning environment. Despite the fact that some students actually do want to learn, the environment that exists in classrooms, does not brook dissent. This discourages students from bringing up flaws in their educational setting. This anti-participatory environment in classrooms is facilitated by excessively large class sizes, which discourages teachers from having more individualised interactions with students. This anti-participatory trend in classrooms is complemented by an anti-democratic trend in schools, where no voting is done to elect new prefects or monitors, rather the relevant students are appointed by the school administration. Giving students an opportunity to actually vote for their school leaders might inculcate democratic and participatory values in them at an earlier age, and teach them the responsibility of making their own decisions. If and when these students reach Pakistani universities, they can adequately recognise the entrenched authoritarianism accumulated in many of Pakistan’s universities over the last three decades. Student politics This persistent anti-democratic trend within Pakistan’s educational establishments has reinforced the low academic quality of these institutions. There is little legitimate input from the student bodies on how their education is conducted. Since the 1980s student union elections have been either banned or delayed, witnessing unrest in a violent country like Pakistan ripple into campuses as violence, as opposed to measured  debate. The situation turned chaotic in the 1990s when the general mayhem of the city of Karachi coincided with violence on the Karachi University campus. The presence of such violence made the students of that decade disinterested in participatory politics. This suited the authoritarian and bureaucratic administrations of varsities, as well as the sclerotic, unelected leadership of Pakistan’s political parties. They did not mind that the students of Pakistan slid into political apathy. However, the importance of student politics was re-kindled in the 2007 lawyer-led movement against the dictatorship of General Musharraf. The importance of student politics was even acknowledged by the government that won against Musharraf in 2008, when it lifted the ban on student and trade union elections. However, the twist in the tale has been the glaring domestic democratic deficit of this government. The anti-participatory atmosphere on campuses has not lifted as no memorable student elections have been held. Neither have any well-publicised trade union elections been held. And most significantly, no internal party elections have been held in any party that maintains a decisive number of seats in parliament. What the lack of student democracy has to do with Pakistan’s state of education is that there is no feedback from students, who are the objects of education. There is no diminishment in the cruel authoritarian atmosphere of Pakistani government classrooms, where teachers, in negligent enough environments can still use sticks to punish students. I never really thought about education in society as a child. That would have been expected of any 11 year old. But when I visited a third grade NGO school classroom in the late ’90s and saw another 11 year old struggling with phrases I would read just for fun, it hit me how serious the problem of illiteracy was for Pakistani society. In a misbegotten decade as that one, beyond the Gordian knot we had witnessed of Karachi’s bloody politics, the reality of children’s mis-education struck me as a crueler fate, a dire issue that had to be resolved immediately. That’s because these ill-educated children would not remain children much longer. They would soon be badly-educated adults. And if this cruel act of omission by Pakistani society was not amended quick enough, then one more generation would see their adulthoods wasting away under the 21st century curse of illiteracy. Tax the rich, teach the kids. We have an education emergency on our hands. The Education System of Pakistan is divided into five levels 1. Primary level (Class 1 to 5) 2. Middle level (Class 5 to 8th) 3. Secondary level (S. S. C) 4. Intermediate level (H. S. C) 5. University level (Graduation, Masters and Research) Another division of Education System in Pakistan according to the School System 1. 1.  Public Schools or Government Schools These schools are managed and financed by the government. Unfortunately, the majority of the schools are in poor condition.  » There is no any merit system; teachers and other staff are appointed by the ministers on their own wishes.  » There is no any accountability; a large number of GHOST SCHOOLS AND GHOST TEACHERS are listed in the documents. They are receiving funds and pays, but, in reality they did not exists.  » In Rural areas, the buildings of public schools are mostly held by Waderas and Feudal. They use them as marriage halls, otaks, bethaks etc. â€Å"Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality. † (Henry Fielding) 1. 2. Elite Class Schools (private schools) Due to badly failure of government in providing the Education, the Elite Class Education System in Pakistan got successes very quickly. Today, even poor prefer to send their child in these private schools but because of high fee structure many aspirants are unable to part this Education System. It is generally accepted that, the standard of Elite Class Education System is more reliable and first-rate than Public Schools and Madarsas. There is accountability, transparency and checking system. Generally, the students of private schools are more competent than those of public schools and Madarsas. The government should take lessons from this Education System. These are successive models for the government i. e. CITY SCHOOL, BEACON SCHOOLS, PAK-TURK SCHOOLS etc. 1. 3. Madarsas Madarsas are the largest NGOs of the world. Today in Pakistan about 8000 Madarsas are working. They provide not only Education but also accommodation and food. They provide Islamic as well as worldlyEducation. Mostly, poor parents who are unable to educate their child prefer this Education System. The government should introduce the reforms for the Madarsas and improve their standard. This will be helpful in two ways. Firstly, it will provide free of cost education to poor child. Secondly, it will lessen the burden the government. Before the 18th Amendment, the EducationSystem in Pakistan was the responsibility of Federal Government. The Ministry of Education at Federal level was responsible for formulating Policies, Planning and Promotion of Educational facilities across the country. But, after the passing of 18th Amendment, the responsibilities of Education System are divided among the Federation and the Provinces. The responsibilities of the Provinces 1. To set the Curriculum 2. To set the Syllabus 3. Standards of Education up to Grade 12 (F. Sc, H. S. C, I. Com, etc). 4. Islamic Education The responsibilities of Federation are following 1. Planning and Policy 2. External Affairs; Signing, implementation and monitoring of Bilateral and Multi-lateral Educational Agreements, Pacts, Protocols, MoUs 3. Controlling of Libraries, museums, and similar institutions 4. Federal agencies i. e. FATA 5. Special Studies 6. Inter-provincial matters and co-ordination. † 7. Legal, medical and other professions. 8. National planning and national economic coordination including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research. 9. National Education Policy and clear cut Domain over the following acts. 1. 1. Centres of Excellence Act 1974 2. Area Study Centres Act 1975 3. Pakistan Study Centres Act 1976 4. National Book Foundation Act 1972 5. Fed. Board of Intermediate Sec Education Act 1975 6. Federal Directorate of Education Isb. [Article 142 (d)] 7. Federal Supervision of Curricula, Textbooks and Standards of Education Act 1976 8. National Education Foundation Ordinance 2002. Source: http://www. defence. pk/forums/national-political-issues/125588-education-system-pakistan-good-bad. html#ixzz2PKkMjbtM Flaws hovering over Pakistan’s education system Filed under ISSUES 0 According to the reports of Human development our country is placed at 136th with just 49. 9 percent educated population. There is lack of uniform education system. Private and Govt. educational institutions has different syllabus. The flaws in education system lead to sociopolitical, economic and ethical issues in our society. Our education system is based on uneven lines. Even the medium of education is different in private and public educational institutions. This inequality has divided people among two segments. Such a distressed educational infrastructure is a crucial cause of increasing rate of illiteracy in Pakistan. The regional discrepancy is also main reason illiteracy in Pakistan. The schools in largest province of Pakistan Baluchistan are not establish and sparked as schools in Punjab. There is lack of awareness among people about the significance of education. In FATA the literacy rate is very poor constituting 29. 5% in men and 3% in women. The gender discrimination is also one of the major causes of educational flaws in country which is projecting the boys and girls primary schools ratio 10:4 correspondingly. In the last few years many new primacy schools for girls and boys are established but still there is need to establish more and more primary schools to meet the educational needs of increasing population. In the last decade the growth of private sector schools is tremendously increased. The private schools trend not just harms the quality of education but also created a huge gap between rich and poor. The people of lower class couldn’t afford the fees of private educational schools and colleges. In public schools there is lack of quality education. There is also shortage of required facilities like qualified, train staff, furniture and school buildings etc. Our educational policy doesn’t focus on technical education. There are very few technical institutions and less technical trained people in country. The funds allocated for the education are not sufficient the funds are just about 1. 5 % to 2. 0% of total GDP. Although to promote the education the funds must be about 7 percent of total country GDP. With increased education budget the literacy rate in country will surely increased. The provincial and federal Government both need spend a larger portion of their income on promoting education. Author: Rizwan Ghani Posted On: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 Source/Reference: www. pakobserver. net Total Views :1320| After 18th Amendment, improvement of education in Pakistan to international standards can be done with help of international frameworks including Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and boards like National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Federal and provincial governments have to address the issue of teaching language (English, Urdu or regional languages), standardization of curriculum, and dealing with two-track education system- Urdu and English medium to take local and international exams. These tested frameworks can bring the progress of decades in Pakistan while saving billions of dollars. Thus, Pakistan needs to adopt appropriate policies to raise education standards, sustain economy and earn foreign exchange. The political, social and education complexities of teaching language can be controlled with help of international frameworks. PISA does not require the member states to change curriculums, teaching languages and teaching methodologies. It allows governments to periodically monitor outcomes of national education systems within internationally agreed framework. It provides a basis for international collaboration in defining and implementing educational goals and skills that are relevant to adult life (professional and social). PISA reading, mathematics and general science frameworks help bring national education at par with international standards. Around half a million 15-year-olds from 75 countries representing 28 million students, participated in PISA 2009 assessments and surveys. Pakistan can use PISA to improving national education standards in all provincial languages (www. pisa. oecd. org). Teaching in local languages can improve Pakistan’s education standards internationally. According to the 2011 Writing Framework for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) of America, good writing instruction empowers students to acquire new knowledge and to develop critical thinking skills. This is true of writing in all subject areas, not just English language http //www. state. nj. us/education/assessment/naep/results/writing/2011naep. PISA and NAEP framework rubrics allow student evaluations irrespective of language. Learning and teaching in mother tongue is a universal human right recognized by UN. China, was a top scorers in 2009 PISA testing http //www. nytimes. com/2010/12/07/education/07education. html. It shows education in mother tongue does not affect nation’s international competitiveness and national education standards. Since education is a provincial subject, therefore provinces should be free to impart education in local languages, make English and Urdu as optional languages. Provinces can issue degrees with pass/fail with English/Urdu or both to free the country from politics of language. It will allow students to continue higher education without passing compulsory languages, which is a major contributor to school and college dropouts. It will allow the students to join job market who do not wish to continue with further education. The employer can omit or consider language(s) pass/fail status of candidate at the time of employment. On the other hand, the higher education institutions can keep compulsory languages as part of admission criteria. In line with many American universities, a six months period can be given to first year university students to clear compulsory languages. In terms of syllabus, international frameworks and boards can help Pakistan’s policy makers develop required syllabuses, fulfill demands of local market, and meet national education objectives to bring national and international education at par. They allow improving exam testing and incorporating modern technology in reading and writing. In addition, they facilitate linking of national boards to international boards like NBME (www. nbme. org). NBME model allows state medical qualified doctors to take national level exams, upgrade national education and examination standards and link them to rest of the world. It allows tens of thousands of international medical graduates to take United States Medical Licensing Exam without actually studying in American medical colleges. It is equally true for British, Australian and New Zealand medical boards. This model can help cut cost of professional education and fight poverty in Pakistan. Based on these frameworks and models, federal and provincial governments of Pakistan should collaborate to standardize local education and bring it equal to international standards. Islamabad should hold annual summits with China and western countries in line with reports of annual Indo-US higher education summits planning collaboration of universities in both countries. In addition, Pakistan needs to allow private publishers to print books according to the contents of given courses. It will improve concepts of students, standard of books and education. The existing control of federal government on higher education needs to be changed by allowing provinces complete control of universities, scholarships, hiring, training etc. Federal government needs to become a regulatory body instead of controlling authority and facilitates provinces to standardize higher education, provincial education and bring it equal to international levels. Federal education setup should work with ministry of labor and manpower to identify and develop human resource for interprovincial and overseas market, work with foreign missions to issue annual forecast of overseas jobs and train foreign workers and students. Pakistan needs to organize education to cater to local and international needs, attract foreign investors and earn foreign revenue. Reportedly, America and Britain earned $31bn and ? 8 bn in 2010 from foreign students respectively. China is charging $5333 boarding lodging fee annually for a five-year MBBS and one-year internship. It is also offering seven-year specialization degree programs (5 years MBBS and 2 years specialization) in most medical fields. Beijing has gained international recognition through standardized tuition fees, transparency, qualified staff and allowing foreign students and teachers in local universities (http //www.4icu. org/cn/). The Chinese model can help Pakistan cut prices of professional education by 50 percent and train surplus number of local and foreign students to sustain domestic and international needs. In line with China, Pakistan should also take necessary steps to attract flocks of foreign students, interns and investors. Finally, a debate is going on in China on two-track system- one for national college entrance exam (the gaokao) and other for international exams. Imran Khan’s PTI is deliberating about single education system. Pakistan can overcome challenge of teaching language, two-track system (English and Urdu medium) and bringing local education at par with international with help of international frameworks, NBME and more freedom to provinces. | Pakistans Education System and Links to Extremism Author: Jayshree Bajoria October 7, 2009 * Introduction * A Dysfunctional System * Government Reform Plans * The Madrassa Myth? * Reforming Madrassas * U. S. Policy Implications. Pakistans poor education system has increasingly become a matter of international concern. Lack of access to quality education, which in turn limits economic opportunity, makes young Pakistanis targets for extremist groups, some experts say. The World Bank says nearly half the adult population of Pakistan cant read, and net primary enrollment rates remain thelowest in South Asia. Experts say the system suffers from inadequate government investment, corruption, lack of institutional capacity, and a poor curriculum that often incites intolerance. In August 2009, chief counterterrorism adviser to the White House John Brennan, summing up a concern held by many U. S. terrorism experts, said extremist groups in Pakistan have exploited this weakness. It is why they offer free education to impoverished Pakistani children, where they can recruit and indoctrinate the next generation, he said. There have been some efforts by the Pakistani government, Western governments, and the World Bank to reform the system, but serious challenges remain. A Dysfunctional System According to the Pakistani governments National Education Policy 2009 (PDF), three parallel streams in educationpublic schools, private schools, and Islamic religious schools, or madrassashave created unequal opportunities for students. Of the total number of students going to primary school (grades 1 to 5), 73 percent go to public or government schools, 26 percent to private schools, and less than 1 percent to madrassas, according to the Karachi-based policy research institute Social Policy and Development Center. Within the public and the private sector, there are elite schools catering to a small minority of students. The majority of students attend low-quality private and public schools with poor curriculum, limited teaching materials, and inadequate number of properly trained teachers, or in many cases absent teachers. [N]o Pakistani leader has had the courage to implement serious [education] reforms- Pervez Hoodbhoy The government-mandated curriculum is a major concern for Western observers who say it encourages intolerance and a narrow worldview. Except in some elite private schools, which do not follow the government-prescribed curriculum, all public schools and registered private schools have been required to teach Islamiyat, or Islamic studies, for nearly thirty years. In addition to Islamiyat, many scholars have noted that the government curriculum uses Islam for a wide array of controversial ideological objectives, writes C. Christine Fair in the 2008 book The Madrassah Challenge. A 2003 report on the state of curriculum and textbooks by the Islamabad-based independent Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) said that for over two decades.

Effects of the Environment on Exxon Mobil Corporation

Effects of the Environment on Exxon Mobil Corporation Oil and gas industry has already become one of the leading industries in the world. The company that has significant role and makes vast amount of profit from energy industry is Exxon Mobil Corporation. History. Exxon Mobil Corporation or also known as Exxon Mobil is an American international petroleum and natural gas company, which was created in 1999. Company has an extensive history for about 125 years. It has had history since 1870, the year when John D. Rockefeller and his partners established Standard Oil Company. This company was very successful for thirty years and by the year 1878, it was controlling 95% of US the oil industry (Wikipedia, Exxon Mobil, 2010). Nevertheless, with public protest at a culmination in 1911, the Supreme Court of the United States decided to divide one big company into 34 small companies. Two of these companies were Jersey Standard and Socony, which finally became Exxon and Mobil. In 1998, these companies signed an agreement, which cost $73.7 billion , in order to merge and create a new company called Exxon Mobil Corporation. The merger was completed on November 30, 1999 and this corporation became the largest company on the planet (Wikinvest, Stock-XOM, 2010) Products. Exxon Mobil produces fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals worldwide. Company operates in three main categories such as upstream, downstream and chemicals. Upstream operations are important part of a company, which are involved in the exploration along with production of oil and natural gas. Exxon Mobils upstream sector earned $17 billion in 2009, which means 88.1% of 2009 earnings (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009 ) Downstream sector is involved in the refining as well as marketing of oil and natural gas. It makes 9.3% of profit with $1.8 billion in 2009 year. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Chemicals division uses oil to produce and sell commodity petrochemicals and earned $2.3 billion, which made 11.9% of profit in 2009. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009 ) Exxon Mobil Corporation operates with three brands such as Exxon, Esso and Mobil. All these brands are well known around the world, because there are 28,000 Exxons and Essos service stations in 118 countries. As for Mobil brand, it can be example of motor oil Mobil 1, which is also popular in Uzbekistan. (Corporate Watch, 2008) Market share. According to Global 2000 list of Forbes, the company has been ranked #4 between largest public companies in the world (Forbes, 2010). In addition, it is #1 in oil and gas industry in United States, which produces about 3% of the worlds oil and 2% of the world energy sources(Exxon Mobil, 2010). Exxon Mobils net income was $19.3 billion and its total revenue was $310.58 billion in 2009 (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, p 2009). In contrast with previous years it is much less, as in 2008 the net income of company was $45.2 billion and total revenue exceeded $459.6 billion (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, p 2009). It can be said that economic crisis influenced companys profit significantly, but in spite of this challenges, company continuing working hard and improving the quality of its products. The results of hard work can be seen from the average of daily production that was 170 thousand barrels of oil and 149 million cubic feet of sales gas in 2009 (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, p 2009). In third quarter of 2010, Exxon Mobil reported that earnings during quarter were $7,350 million, up 55% in comparison with the third quarter in 2009 (Exxon Mobil, 3rd quarter report, p 2010). Company size. The size of the company can be seen from the number of employees and sectors around the world. Exxon Mobil has approximately 80,700 employees in 77 countries (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2010) and also it has 15 operating divisions such as: ExxonMobil Exploration Company ExxonMobil Development Company ExxonMobil Production Company ExxonMobil Gas and Power Marketing Company ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company SeaRiver Maritime ExxonMobil Fuels Marketing Company ExxonMobil Lubricants Specialties Company ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company ExxonMobil Chemical Company ExxonMobil Information Technology Global Real Estate and Facilities Global Procurement Business Support Centers (Wikipedia, Exxon Mobil, 2010) Company Location. The main center of operations of the company is located at Irving in Texas. The upstream and chemical divisions of Exxon Mobil are at Houston in Texas, while the downstream division is placed in Fairfax in Virginia (Exxon Mobil, 2010). Effect of Economic Environment Economic growth. Economic growth is one the main factors that can affect companys revenue and expenditure. Exxon Mobil Corporation is very influenced by economic conditions in United States. In the third quarter of 2010, economic conditions in USA were slightly high than it was in the second quarter. The Gross Domestic Product rate expended at 2.5 percent and this lead to increasing of product demand of Exxon Mobil (Trading Economics, 2010). Due to higher demand for oil, earnings of company in this district were $7.4 billion, up 55% from third quarter of 2009 (Exxon Mobil Financial and Operating Report, 2009). Income level of population. Population is very important aspect of every industry and its income level have an effect on product prices. For instance, median income of population in the United States for 2009 year was $49,777 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) and this changed prices for crude oil. In 2009, price for per barrel of oil was about $45.88 (Oil Prices, 2010). However, due to significant changes in economy in 2010 year crude oil price averaged roughly $78 per barrel (Oil prices, 2010) Interest rate. The standard interest rate in the United States was 0.25 percent for 2010 and rate decisions were divided between the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Open Market Committee (Trading economics, 2010). For Exxon Mobil Corporation global oil demand is expected to increase by almost 35% until 2030, which will make huge profits for the company (Exxon Mobil, 2010) 2 Inflation. Inflation rate is also one of the factors that can actively have an effect on product prices. The last report about inflation rate in United States was made in October of 2010 and the rate was 1.2 percent (Trading Economics, 2010). As it can be seen from the table above, the inflation rate is decreasing in United States in 2010 year. These fluctuations can slightly change the price for gasoline. As an example we can look into the history, during The First World War price for gasoline was $0.25 per gallon (Trading Economics, 2010). However, due to inflation rate in 2001 the price of gasoline has averaged about $2.00 per gallon in inflation-adjusted dollars over the last 80 years (Exxon Mobil, 2009). As inflation rate will increasing in the future and also prices for energy will increase, too. 3 Fiscal Policy. One of the governments influences to company is a fiscal policy and this factor has very big influence on companys revenue. From 2005 through 2009, Exxon Mobil Corporation taxes for United States were $63 billion. In 2009, Exxon Mobils tax rate was 47 percent and its tax expenses amounted to $81 billion around the world. It is more than four times of companys earnings. (Exxon Mobil, Taxes, 2010) 4 Exchange rates. Exchange rates help company to trade worldwide. The appreciation and depreciation of currency can be either positive or negative. It depends on economics conditions in particular country. For example, Exxon Mobils effects of exchange rate changes on cash were $520 million in 2009 (Wikinvest, Exxon, 2009). However, corporation makes limited use of currency exchange contracts, futures contracts, product forwards and swaps to mitigate the impact of changes in currency values and product prices. Effect of Industry Environment Petroleum industry. There are about 200 oil companies around the world and totally all of them produced 72.26 million barrels of oil every day in 2009 (Petro Strategies, Inc, 2010). A total product shipment of petroleum annually is about $219 billion, which confirms that the petroleum industry is one of the largest industries. (Petro Strategies, 2010) Exxon Mobil Corporation is one the six major public oil companies in the world. Its competitors are: Chevron Corporation Royal Dutch Shell British Petroleum Total S.A. ConocoPhilips Chevron. The second largest oil and gas company, behind Exxon Mobil in United States is Chevron Corporation. Chevron Corporation or Chevron was known as Standard Oil of California and was established amid the antitrust break up of John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil Company in 1911(Wikinvest, Chevron, 2010). It was included on the Seven Sister list, which was leading the world energy industry in the early 20th century. Chevron operates in 180 countries and has network of gas stations such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex. The number of employees in 2009 year was approximately 67,000 people worldwide (Wikipedia, Chevron, 2010). In the third quarter of 2010, the earning of company was $3.77 billion, or $1.87 per share. In comparison the earnings of Chevron are two times less than earnings of Exxon Mobil in third quarter which was $7.4 billion (Wikinvest, Chevron, 2010). Royal Dutch Shell. Royal Dutch Shell or commonly known as Shell, is one of the major private sector energy companies in the world. Shell operates in renewable sources of energy including wind solar energy in more than 140 countries. In 2009, Shells profitability was effected by weak demand, high inventory levels and low margins, as a result the profit of company was $9.8 billion for full year and this result was 69% down than 2008 earnings (Wikinvest, Shell, 2010). The headquarters of company located in The Hague, Netherlands and registered offices at the Shell Centre in London, United Kingdom (Wikinvest, Shell, 2010). British Petroleum. According to Forbes Global 2000 list the BPs rank through public companies by their revenue is 10th with $16.68 billion (Forbes, 2010). BP operates in more than 80 countries and produces 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. It employed 80,300 people in 2009(BP, Annual report, 2009). The major division of BP is BP America and located in Houston, Texas. Company has six main brands such as: BP Castrol Arco Aral Am/pm Wild Bean Cafà © The headquarters of company located in London, United Kingdom (BP, 2010) Total S.A. Total S.A. or formerly known as Total Fina S.A. was formed after World War 1, when Raymond Poincarà © the French Prime Minister rejected the idea being partner with Royal Dutch Shell and gave new idea about creating new French oil company (Wikipedia, Total S.A., 2010). The total assets of company in 2009 were à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬127.8 billion and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.447 billion of profit (Wikinvest, Total S.A., 2010). However, in current year Total S.A. is working very hardly. For example, in the third quarter of 2010 the companys earnings were $3.6 billion, in comparison with previous years third quarter the earnings were up 47% (Wikinvest, Total S.A., 2010). Moreover, in 2010 company is employeing over 96,000 people and operating in more than 130 countries (Wikipedia, Total S.A., 2010). For the third quarter of 2010, Totals net income was $3.6 billion, a 47% increase from the same period in 2009 (Wikinvest, Total S.A., 2010). ConocoPhilips. The ConocoPhilips also as Exxon Mobil was formed by merge of two companies such as Conoco Inc. and the Philips Petroleum Company on August 30, 2002. It works in all sectors of energy industry and also owns 20% share of Russian oil company LUKOIL (Wikinvest, ConocoPhilips, 2010). Company produces its products under the brands as Philips 66, 76 Unites States Conoco United States Jet Europe and Asia Pacific region ProJet Europe and Asia Pacific region (Wikinvest, ConocoPhilips, 2010) As of 2009, the company had of proved 8.36 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves and its revenue was $246.182 billion. In the third quarter of 2010, the company increased its profit in contrast with previous years same period up to 8% and earned $3 billion (Wikinvest, ConocoPhilips, 2010) Competitive Advantage of Exxon Mobil Corporation Exxon Mobil Corporation has a number of advantages, which make it leader. Exxon Mobil operates in the major areas of petroleum such as North America, Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Exxon Mobil has the largest Exploration and Production portfolio, which makes easy to company to choose investments and political risks Exxon Mobil has technological advances which allow developing resources as tight gas, natural gas and heavy oil. (Wikinvest, Exxon, 2010) Competitive Advantage of Competitors Chevron Corporations progressive and various workforces are major advantages of company which allow surviving in marketplace.(Wikinvest, Chevron,2010) Royal Dutch Shell is a leading in industry because of its high performance and cleaner fuels. (Shell, Annual report, 2009) Providing pure ethanoic acid with low cost and approachable service for customers are the major advantages of British Petroleum Company. (BP, Annual report, 2010) Total S.A. operates with many western oil companies and has the largest reserves in Africa and the Middle East. In addition, Total S.A. is one of the few companies which have operations in Iran. (Wikinvest, Total S.A., 2010) Competitive advantage of ConocoPhilips lies on its heavier and more acidic crude oil and on providing clean product yields. (Conoco Philips, 2010) Effect of Political and Legal Environment Political Environment As Exxon Mobil operates in about 118 countries, there are many restrictions and advantages in law that can effect on company. Restrictions. Some of the countries, where Exxon Mobil Corporation has its stations, limit energy sources or can situate company in unavailable places from resources. Moreover, some countries restrict the import or export of products based on point of source. Hence, these situations make difficulties for company and this leads to declining of demand and increasing of product prices. For the solution, the company should be ready for every change in law or should avoid countries with regulations that have huge impact on business. (Exxon Mobil, Politic, 2010) Advantages. A number of advantages, which help company to work, are very little. For example, in some countries, there are low taxes for oil industry, which can lead to enormous earnings of Exxon Mobil. Also, governments can provide financial support to search alternative energy sources and nowadays, through sponsorship of The Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University Exxon Mobil making research into hydrogen fuel cells and fuel-producing algae. (Exxon Mobil, Politic, 2010) Legal Environment Business competition. As Exxon Mobil is a United States company there are certain countries which prohibits the doing business for U.S. companies. As an example we can take the Islamic republic of Iran. Iran has large reserves of oil, but in this country there are no Exxon Mobil stations and this leads to competitive advantage for non-U.S. companies such as Total S.A. Total S.A. is an only company from six supermajors which has stations in Iran. (Wikinvest, Total S.A., 2010) Labor Market. Exxon Mobil makes every possible comfort to its employees. As it employs more than 80,000 people, all employees are governed by companys Standards of Business Conduct. According to Standards of Business Conduct, it is strictly prohibited to discriminate employees, suppliers or customer in any area of Exxon Mobil Corporation. Furthermore, all employees are provided with a competitive package by company, which is based on the legal regulations and culture of other countries. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2010) Consumer needs. Nowadays, all of suppliers are trying to produce most needed products in market they operate. In contrast, United States use much more gasoline than Europe or Asia. Hence, the producer in U.S. can produce and sell its products twice more than others. In addition, it is very difficult to satisfy consumer needs, because of high demand for premium gasoline. Nevertheless, Exxon Mobil is trying to do fuel better and employ expert chemical engineers, in order to satisfy all needs of consumers and increase demand for its products. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Environmental Legislation Environmental legislation is one of the most significant aspects of every oil company in the world. As oil companies use natural energy resources to produce their products, simultaneously they pollute environment. For example, fossil fuel is very efficient energy, but it is heavy polluter and also, there are number of sources which cause greenhouse gas. If company will try to make these damages less, it should increase costs for energy. So, to avoid such complex situations, every year company pays for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2009, Exxon Mobils payments for environmental liabilities were $504 million. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Effect of Socio-cultural environment Culture is an important part of nation or country. Every company which operates internationally should respect traditions of its partners and should avoid cultural problems which could face during its operations. One of the greatest affect of Exxon Mobil Corporation for United States nation was Exxon Valdez Oil spill in 1989. (Exxon Mobil, 2010) The Exxon Valdez tanker was built by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California. It was 301 meters long, 50 meters wide and 26 meters depths. The tankers could transfer up to 1.48 million barrels of oil with the speed 30 km/h and also it was located in Alaska. However, the Exxon Valdez faced huge oil spill on 24th of March, 1989 and this event was listed as a 54th largest oil spill in history. (Wikinvest, Valdez, 2010) The tragic accident damaged much historical and archeological significance, that were important to population and also for future generation of country. However, after cleaning up oil spill, the most of places were not renewable. There was impact on health of subpopulation of Alaska. It caused many disasters such as radiation syndrome, stochastic and genetic health effects. (George Pararas-Carayannis, 2007) Exxon Valdez had also influenced on social environment of people. As oil spill began at the beginning of fishing season, it caused impact on ecosystem of city. Major of earnings for population were coming from fishing. As a result, people were threatened by the spill and they experienced high level of depression during accident. The situation with Exxon Valdez tanker was big experience for Alaskan Natives. Exxon made great effort to clean up oil spill and it cost for company $4.3 billion (George Pararas-Carayannis, 2007). Despite efforts 250,000 barrels of oil were lost. In 1992, with help of U.S. Coast Guard the spill was completed (Exxon Mobil, Valdez, 2010). Nowadays, Exxon Mobil Corporation created exact strategies to prevent oil spills. For example, he has: Modern modified tankers Drug testing programs Trainings for pilots and captains In addition, if problems occur company has thousand of employees, fast working response centers at many locations around the world. The Corporation is operating very well and making great job to prevent any social or cultural accidents which could cause many damages and loses for company. (Exxon Mobil, Corporate Citizenship report, 2010) Effect of Ethical Environment Every company should follow its ethical standards with attitude to stakeholders. Doing unethical business with them can significantly effect on companys reputation. In order to be successful Exxon Mobil Corporation has its Code of Ethics, which help to work with stakeholders. Exxon Mobils stakeholders are: Government Community Shareholders Customers Employees Government. Exxon Mobil has exploration and production operations in 39 countries. Its unethical attitude to government can be shown with pursuing the countrys laws and regulations. As Exxon Mobil is one of the main polluters of environment, also its unethical approach to government can be environmental issues. However, Exxon Mobil has specific strategies to avoid unethical business. For instance, we can take the carbon capture and storage. In April 2009, company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Australian government and become member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute. It means that company values the Australian governments worries about environment and wants to continue partnership with Australia. (Exxon Mobil, Stakeholders, 2010) Community. Unethical behavior against the community can be displayed in delivering irrelevant information about operations of company. Companies should avoid losing trust of community. As Exxon Mobil Corporation understands the role of community and every year it organizes sessions for communities, NGOs, government officials, in order to provide better understanding about companys operations and investments. (Exxon Mobil, Stakeholders, 2010) Shareholders. People who did some investment into company are shareholders. In my opinion, unethical decision alongside shareholders could lead to losing of money. Therefore, it would be better constantly informing investors about companys operations. In 2009, Exxon Mobil held 40 meetings with institutional investors and investment groups to discuss political contributions, companys risks and other issues which are connected with Exxon Mobil Corporation. (Exxon Mobil, Stakeholders, 2010) Customers. Millions of customers purchase fuels at Exxon Mobils stations everyday. Customer and ethics in oil industry are connected with customers demand for quality of fuels and also with its price. If company sells premium fuels which worth its price, customers needs will be satisfied and which can lead to good profit and high demand. In addition, to understand the future demand of customer, Exxon Mobil is creating a line of advanced oils and greases that will improve productivity and promote longer equipment life. (Exxon Mobil, Stakeholders, 2010) Employees. Bad work conditions, violation and low salary can be listed as an example of unethical behavior against employees. However, for company which violates to its employees this can lead to many problems such as job strikes, losing employees. Avoiding such problems, Exxon Mobil has its Standards of Business Conduct. According to standards, company should provide good condition for employees and also employees should be in ethical behavior into their activities and laws of corporation. Moreover, company annually requires employees to read Standards of Business Conduct and provides detailed trainings about ethics policy to all employees. (Exxon Mobil, Stakeholders, 2010) Effect of Technological Environment Being up-to-date with technology helps every business in many ways. As for oil and gas industry technological advancements lead to finding new sources which are located in very challenging environments such as Arctic regions, deepwater, heavy oil sands. Exxon Mobil Corporation has established fundamental research to enlarge advantaged technologies for all its businesses. Upstream technology. Exxon Mobil has the latest version of 3-D technology. To find remaining hydrocarbon reserves Exxon Mobil uses advances in 3-D seismic imaging, which provides more accurate representations of structure in complex areas. As a result, with the help of seismic mapping employees of company could see exact images of land structure and they would be able to reduce risk in exploration and production operations. In the future, Exxon Mobil is going to set new technology called Controlled Freeze Zone (CFZ) which has a prospective to permit economic development of gas resources challenged by carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2C). (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Downstream technology. As diesel demand is projected to increase from 2009 to 2030 worldwide, Exxon Mobil Corporation is working with new technologies which are aimed to improve the flexibility of refinery and which can to response to rapidly increase of product demand. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Chemical technology. The developing in chemical technology gives great opportunity for a competitive advantage of Exxon Mobil. The company thoroughly improves using advanced processes and catalyst technologies to give efficient energy and increased asset utilization. (Exxon Mobil, Annual report, 2009) Moreover, Exxon Mobil is a partner with Apple Company and on November of 2010, Exxon Mobil introduced Exxon Mobil Fuel Finder iPhone and iPod touch applications which helps to drivers worldwide to find locations of Exxon or Esso stations. In the future, it would be better for Exxon Mobil constantly update its technologies (Exxon Mobil, 2010). For example, it can replace its 3-D seismic imaging to 4-D, as it was said that Exxon Mobil uses 3-D seismic imaging in order to get images of land structure.

The Ethics of Shopping at Wal-Mart Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive E

One has to work hard to consider their values in particular issues and how strongly they feel. This is the choice many people make when they invest in mutual funds, and have no idea where their mutual funds are invested. Many vocal opponents to shopping at Wal-Mart might discover they hold investments in the Wal-Mart. There are 1050 mutual funds that are invested in Wal-Mart, some of the largest mutual funds in the world. There are many people who have no idea where their investments lie. If you want to be true to your value against shopping at Wal-Mart, you need to be careful to remove yourself from investments that support Wal-Mart. You have to review your investments and find out where your money is invested. Let's consider the case of the prominent politician, John Kerry. John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz was a highly vocal critic of Wal-Mart. An investigative journalist discovered that she had one million dollars invested in the company. She held a lot of stock in a company of which she was critical. This provides insight into the idea that you have to work hard to consider your values in particular issues and how strongly you do feel. Regardless of what you think of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart is continually voted as one most admired companies in America by Fortune magazine. This is how Jerry Useem began the article he wrote for Fortune magazine: There is an evil company in Arkansas, some say. It's a discount store-a very, very big discount store-and it will do just about anything to get bigger. You've seen the headlines. Illegal immigrants mopping its floors. Workers locked inside overnight. A big gender discrimination suit. Wages low enough to make other companies' workers go on strike. And we know what it does to weaker su... ...oods they buy in order to have a saner, more livable lifestyle. 2 In conclusion, I agree with the noted shortcomings of Wal-Mart. But, I don't think people can argue that it's unethical to shop at Wal-Mart, that anyone who shops at Wal-Mart is unethical or believe it is ethical to point the figure at those who do shop at Wal-Mart. I suggest everyone first check their values and then their investments, and they'll discover they probably are supporting Wal-Mart, a company they believe is evil, via 401Ks or mutual funds. Works Cited Jerry Useem. Should We Admire Wal-Mart? Some say it's evil. Others insist it's a model of all that's right with America. Who are we to believe? Fortune Magazine February 23, 2014 From "No Place Like Home/Community and the Marketplace" (p. 191 - 193) How Cities Work by Alex Marshall, University of Texas Press Austin, 2013.