A Critical Assessment of the Eclectic Theory

INTRODUCTION It is true of everything that the first steps ate both the most important and the most difficult. To begin with, theorization consists of a set of definitions of concepts. The basic concepts underlying the eclectic theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE)(1) are currently being criticized by the internalization theorists(2) in that the ‘ownership advantage' is ‘double counting,' that is, the internalization and location factors are necessary and sufficient to explain the existence and growth of the MNE.The controversy seems to require a thorough examination of the concept of the ‘ownership advantage'. However, the examination should extend further afield. Our objective in this paper is to assess critically the three basic concepts in the eclectic theory, i. e. , the ‘ownership advantage,' the ‘internalization advantage,' and the ‘location advantage' and to suggest the beginnings of an alternative framework to deal with the MNE and FDI (i. e. , foreign direct investment). REDUNDANCY OF THE ‘OWNERSHIP ADVANTAGE'Some Features of the Electic Theory First of all, we must set up the target of our examination. The eclectic theory, Mark I, as advocated by Dunning is as follows [Dunning 1981:79]: 1. It (i. e. , the firm) possesses net ownership advantages vis-a-vis firms of other nationalities in serving particular markets. These ownership advantages largely take the form of the possession of intangible assets, that are, at least for a period of time, exclusive or specific to the firm possessing them. . Assuming condition 1 is satisfied, it must be more beneficial to the enterprise possessing these advantages to use them itself rather than to sell or lease them to foreign firms, that is, for it to internalize its advantages through an extension of its own activities rather than externalize them through licensing and similar contracts with independent firms. 3.Assuming conditions 1 and 2 are satisfied, it must be profitable for the enterprise to utilize these advantages in conjunction with at least some factor inputs (including natural resources) outside its home country; otherwise foreign markets would be served entirely by exports and domestic markets by domestic production. Four features of the eclectic theory should be noted here, as far as they are concerned with our argument. Firstly, needless to say, the concept of the advantage is a relative concept; i. e. advantage of a firm vis-a-vis the others tautologically means their disadvantage vis-a-vis the firm. The advantage is understood from the viewpoint of economic competitiveness and profitability, and thus it takes the form of an economic asset whether tangible or intangible. Thus, the asset value is measured by capitalizing the stream of expected future earnings by means of the rate of return. Secondly, the concept of internalization is interpreted as internalization of an ‘ownership advantage' rather than that of an imperfec t market. 3) Thirdly, the existence per se of the ‘ownership advantage' has nothing to do with the internalization; thus, the ‘ownership advantage' is logically independent of the ‘internalization advantage. ‘ Finally, the ‘ownership advantage' is logically independent of the ‘location advantage;' thus, the ‘ownership advantage' can be measured without referring to location factors. (4) The Logic of the Internalization Theory Let us focus on the second and third features and compare them with the basic logic of the internalization theory. The distinctive feature of the internalization theory is its recognition that the firm is an economic institution, the objective of which is to maximize profit (i. e. , super-normal profit in the Marshallian sense) in the world of market imperfections. The firm attempts to maximize its revenue and minimize its costs: the firm maximizes its organizational benefits after remunerating all the factors of produc tion, R&D, marketing, and management.Firstly, if arm's-length markets are inefficient and incur huge transaction costs, the firm would replace them with its unified ownership and control (i. e. , the internal quasi-market)(6) and minimize its internalization costs;(7) i. e. , the internalization of markets. Secondly, if no market exists for external economies defined to be private costs minus social costs), the firm would bring them under common ownership and control and prevent them from leaking outside; i. e. , the internalization of externalities. 8) Thirdly, if internal economies defined to be private benefits and, at the same time, social benefits) are expected after totally eliminating markets, whether internal or external, the firm would not only internalize the markets but also reorganize and rationalize the activities under the common ownership and control; i. e. , integration under internalization. (9,10) Market imperfections may exist in final-product markets as well as i n intermediate-product markets of physical products (i. e. components and semi-finished products) and intellectual products (i. e. , knowledge or information). final-product markets, however imperfect they are, the firms cannot internalize markets since, needless to say, consumers are independent of producers and merchants. They can only acquire super-normal profit by manipulating their market power. Note that although some academics misunderstood,(11) there is no guarantee that the internalization increases efficiency and social welfare in both intermediate- and final-product markets.On the contrary, it is quite possible that the internalization by the MNE creates imperfect competition or monopolistic (monopsonistic) situations and thus increases social costs by means of restricting the output of high-tech goods, building up an entry barrier by vertical and/or horizontal integration, effective collusion, etc. It is also quite possible that the integration takes part in restricting competition and more than offsets its positive benefits in social welfare. (12,13) In relation to social costs, we should pay some attention to a new concept, perceived transaction costs. Transaction costs can be classified into three categories; i. e. , those inherent in commodity transactions per se,(14) those inherent in oligopolistic or imperfect competition, and those originating from government regulations. (15) Oligopolistic or imperfect competition places competitors in a situation of uncertainty in respect of potential transaction costs as a result of arrn's-length transactions. Concerns about the dissipation of valuable information may well inflate the value of subjectively perceived transaction costs to the extent of virtually prohibiting arm's-length transactions.Uncertainty in oligopolistic or imperfect competition creates self-inflating feature to the ‘perceived transaction costs'. Certain 'embedded social relations' modify pure economic rationality(16) and affec t the choice of internalization. Furthermore, bounded and creeping rationality of the management makes the strategy (i. e. , choosing between internalization, integration, and arm's-length transactions) fairly rigid once it has been decided upon. 17) Internalization, in these circumstances, may be perceived as private-cost minimization, but not as social-cost minimization. 18 Another important feature of the internalization theory is that it expounds interrelations between production, R&D, marketing, and management. (19) The internalization of the markets and externalities of these activities and their integration generate the advantages of the firm over the others. The firm may exercise its market power when it internalizes and integrates them, so as †¦

Hipster

The word Hipster in the dictionary is described as a person who is Hip, I however think there is much more to the term than that. Hipsters are people who represent certain ideals and stand up for causes significant to them through their fashion. Their fashion allows them to make a statement on a particular issue. They also value independent thinking, politics, and art appreciation. Really, being a Hipster is more than being cool or popular; it is a state of mind.My definition of Hipster would be, someone who is able to stand up to society and defend what they think regardless of he discrimination they may receive as a result of their actions. A Hipster needs to be steadfast in their decisions and be a leader amongst his or her peers; standing up against their adversaries. The first example I have to prove my definition of the ‘Hipster' is their sense of fashion. Fashion statements, which are symbols of subcultural lifestyles that are being discriminated by the higher classes, a re a tool the Hipster utilizes to make his statement known.Their fashion sense consists of them wearing vintage and thrift store merchandise. As a result, their clothing choices are meant for attacking the ulturally-ignorant and mainstream consumers. They also enjoy expressing themselves through their hair styles. The haircuts used by Hipsters are considered edgy and effortlessly cool. These hair styles are a combination of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs; thus, giving these styles the Hipster feel. The combination of attire and hair doe's exhibited by these folks leaves an impression on the viewer.To most of society, Hipsters seem as unintelligent hippies who are looking for trouble. They are the outcasts striving for attention. On the contrary, many Hipsters are well educated and very intelligent. Most Hipsters delve into the Liberal Arts world earning respected degrees in that field of study. Others have been known to earn degrees in mathematics and science. They are independent thinkers that value counter-culture, progressive politics, creativity intelligence, and witty banter. Being well educated also requires certain analytical thinking abilities.These abilities allow them to analyze their political surrounding and understand their rights from that view point. It goes to show that you cannot always Judge a book by its cover and you need to dig deeper to truly pass Judgment on another. As I stated previously, the word Hipster referrers to people who are so called hip or popular. Although, â€Å"hipsterism† is an actual state of mind, Hipsters have different political appeals than most people, but they are equally matched to any actual politics.Looking like a Hipster doesn't mean you are necessarily a Hipster; once again don't Judge a book by its cover. The true meaning of being a Hipster is the ability to understand the cultural, artistic, and political appreciations around the world. Although they like to express their feelings tow ards issues by their fashion, they mainly stick to their rights and stand by their beliefs. Sometimes being a Hipster is a mental state only intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities.Either way one has to respect the ideology of these people and commend them on their tenacity to conform to traditional beliefs. To conclude, a Hipster is someone who expresses their problems through their clothing and through their actions. They will style and dress themselves to their liking as only a part of the cause they are supporting. Through their actions they are able to speak out for those who cant do it for themselves. They know how to start movements and how to keep them going until they receive the appreciation and ompensation they desire.

Why it is good to be good or why it is Goodness Constructive Essay

Why it is good to be good or why it is Goodness Constructive - Essay Example Evil is differentiated from good in this essay, because it creates injustice and comes from violating the virtues of the soul, according to Book II of The Republic. I agree with Plato that being good is good in itself, and it is also good because of its virtuous individual and social consequences, and these arguments support the claims that a just soul is good and a just city is also good. In order to understand what is good, it is important to examine the meaning of justice, because this essay shows that justice is good for humanity. One of the ways to establish what justice means is through defining what it is not. In Book I, the Sophist Thrasymachus argues: â€Å"justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger.† He says this to undermine the need for justice, since Sophists are known to lambast virtues as useless to society. He feels that justice does not serve the needs of the whole, and instead, it only preserves the interests of whoever is in power. Socrates counters that injustice is the one that is wrong because it opposes wisdom. He explains how people pursue their talents, since they have the wisdom to do so, but when they stop pursuing their talents, then there is injustice. In this sense, justice does not serve the strong only, but also every individual who knows that what is just is to do achieve their specialized potential (Plato Book IV ). Socrates also shows through his arguments that certain rules which allow a group to act in common help them reach their goals and there is justice in that. Thrasymachus already praised before the need to follow a set of rules. Lastly, Socrates argues that if justice is a virtue of the soul, and the virtue of the soul refers to the health of the soul, justice is attractive because it contributes to the health of the soul. Socrates asks: â€Å"Then the just is happy, and the unjust miserable?† Indeed, this essay agrees that the just is happy,

Creating film script by myself (This is not an essay) Essay

Creating film script by myself (This is not an ) - Essay Example It was the phone ringing. Jessie stands up and walks to the corner of the room where a black phone is kept by the side. She picks up and answers The room is a huge platform which has a lot of seats for the proceedings to be witnessed by people. Brown chairs with windows on all the sides, sunlight is visible all over the room. The magistrate is seated in front of a huge green desk wearing glasses and reading a notepad. Officers in blue dress are seen to be standing in front of two large boxes where people can stand and testify. Two tables are kept in front of the huge desk of the magistrate where the defense attorney and the state attorney would take their seats. Jessie and Jones walk up to the chairs and have a seat so that the proceedings can begin. All the evidence is pointing towards the fact that Mrs Craig was the only one present at the crime scene. Do I have the permission of calling a security guard who is always present outside the home of Mrs Craig your honor? You may leave. Your honor as per my information Mr Craig was working in the real estate business and was involved with a bunch of property dealers who could be wanting his death. May I call upon his real close friend

Understanding Journal Content and Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Understanding Journal Content and Style - Essay Example Understanding Journal Content and Style Our daily activities and exposure to different tasks affect our tolerances to human fatigue and performance. Given this condition, the word subjective throughout the paper suggests the individual capabilities of people (who are the subjects of the study) to be exposed to the different reading media used. Each individual within the study were recognized to have their own representation and interpretation of human fatigue and performance. This aspect is basically affected by one's ability to put up with the factors being studied in the paper. This also means that the results gathered from participants of the study are directly affected by human fatigue and performance, which are the significant elements in the study. The use of subjective measures in a project may encourage criticisms such that the results obtained from these kinds of measure may depend on several factors directly affecting the variables in the study - in this study's case the individuals who have their differences in interpreting the subject being studied. In effect, the results of the study may vary and the possibility of obtaining inaccurate measurement or results is higher. Moreover, subjective measures are to obtain non-precise quantity that would apply to the issue being studied. In contrast to an objective means of getting the desired result, there is an exact measurement, thus the outcomes are accurate. The varied reading duration that was allowed for the participants in the study may as well be subjected to criticisms since their reading capabilities were not measured first. As simple as this issue may seem for the study as a whole, however, it could still create a relatively huge margin of error for the research result. In addition, even as the reading materials were of general interest, the subjects (participants) may have varying opinions as to what the term 'general' means to them. As a result, they may have different reactions and attitudes as well towards the articles provided for them. (3) On the first page (INTRODUCTION, column 2, line 14) the author writes: "Others have allowed critical variables to become confounded so that their results are difficult to interpret". What do you understand by the term confounded in this context Based from the statement that precedes this sentence, it could be inferred that the term confounded could mean complex. As the preceding sentence state that "Some investigators have not described their displays, stimulus materials, workplace, environment, and procedure in enough detail to permit meaningful comparisons with other research," it suggest that in order to vagueness and ambiguity prevent the readers from asking more questions as well as comparisons with other researches with the same perspective. Moreover, the next sentence also suggest that while ideas in a research becomes complex and composite to even comprehend, the more that its readers become more likely not to ask further questions regarding the process of obtaining the results of the study. The term confounded in this study also implies that the more complicated the variables in a research become, the more that the results become too difficult to be interpreted

Sport Tourism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sport Tourism - Assignment Example 24) that "globalisation has helped to create a setting in which English national identity has more sporting opportunities in which to express itself than at any previous point in history. The Olympics survived the Second World War, and have become consolidated as the premier multi-sport event in the world, with their winter version also increasing in popularity." The Olympics and Paralympics 2012 have brought to the doorsteps of UK a tourism opportunity of great magnitude. In the process of welcoming the world in 2012, UK gets a chance of escalating the growth of its economy. As observed by Jowell, "between 50% and 75% of the economic benefits of the Games will accrue to tourism." According to a report prepared by the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI) for the Commission on Sustainable Development, the UN Commission has set some principles for development issues in tourism. "These principles can provide basis for effective partnerships for sustainable tourism planning and development in local tourist destinations. (1999, p.10) The authorities responsible for the sport tourism development issues in London should consult these principles to achieve their goals. They should pay attention to the development issues like trying to solve all problems before, during and after the development projects' implementation and evaluation phase. In addition to this they should try to focus their attention on issues like limits of developments, what needs to be paid attention to immediately and what can wait for some time. The ecological problems should also be paid attention to. In all this tourism development measures, the local people should not feel cut off. They should be made an integral part of the development procedures. Their problems like drainage, sewerage, infrastructure requirements etc. should be paid attention to because until and unless the problems of local people are solved; it is impossible to create a good atmosphere for tourists. If the available resources are not sufficient for the local people then how can the huge number of tourists be accommodated comfortably All the local bodies, even those belonging to the grassroots level shou ld be encouraged to participate actively in the sport tourism development issues on the eve of the 2012 games. Apart from the above mentioned issues it should be clear that the development should not be at the cost of degradation of environment and local culture. Environment and culture are the wealth that will attract more and more tourists to the host destination. Impacts and implications for hosting the London 2012 Games There will be a favourable growth of GDP in London when the 2012 games are held but this implies that the rest of UK will not benefit as all the resources and attention will be directed towards the host city. London will have a favourable impact in not only GDP but in other areas too. Unfortunately the implications of the positive impact upon London will be that, the rest of the areas of UK will experience a negative impact. For example all the investments in infrastructure, social work, beautification and creation of new jobs would be restricted to London and as a result the rest of the UK will remain untouched of the benefits. In this

Why are house prices in UK subect to large cyclical variations Essay

Why are house prices in UK subect to large cyclical variations (750words) - Essay Example Normally, the fluctuations in housing prices are related with economic activity. When economic activity heats up in any economy, the real estate sector start to respond to this change also by showing a tendency to adjust prices upwardly however, when the economic activity slows down the housing cycle start to show greater variations too with prices of most of the housing units started to decline. However, what is also important is the fact that numerous research studies also suggested that the increase in pricing of housing   units is also linked with the location of the housing units. The so called momentum and reversion of the cycle of housing prices is therefore not only linked with the economic activity but also with the location of the housing units.(Capozza et .al. 2002). As discussed above that one of the main reasons for increase in the cyclical patterns of housing prices is related with the economic activity therefore in order to clearly assess the cyclicality of housing prices, it is of great importance that the impact of economic activity on housing prices shall be studied first. When economic activity picks up with lesser inflationary pressures, the real income of the households increase therefore there is always a general increase in the disposable income of individuals. With the increase in income levels, the standards of life increase also and people start to prefer more luxurious housing than their current housing therefore the general increase in demand for housing units increase thus putting pressures on prices to increase. However, when the economic activity slows down and due to inflationary pressures or other economic variables, the decrease in income level put downward pressures on the prices. UKs economic performance, over the period of time, has considerably improved. UKs real GDP increased, on average, by

Discussion board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion board - Essay Example Younger children might have suggested the best place for the third eye was the forehead, since they might not understand more abstract concepts other than current, real-life eye placement. The subject solved the problem with theoretical reasoning and provided a less tangible placement for the third eye that took into consideration the objective of the new third eye rather than simple function as a seeing tool. Piaget would likely reinforce that people in this stage of development would come up with unique solutions in this hypothetical situation without resorting to only obvious outcomes. Adults may not always reason according to Piaget’s theory due to many different factors, one of which is cultural beliefs that either promote or support abstract thinking. For example, family influence in a more docile and less motivated family structure might not have the same support network for education and creativity as other people. Social influence is important in human development. Ye s, ASU has helped in this effort. ASU challenges students to excel in learning and also to become motivated to consider alternative possibilities to unique problems. The college focuses on theoretical concepts that challenge more conceptual solutions to real-life problems in many classroom teachings.

Once you have read the chapter or assignment, you have to decide how Essay - 1

Once you have read the chapter or assignment, you have to decide how to write about it - Essay Example ives a view regularly ignored, mostly by policy advocates.   Just like any other public policy, the detail is in implementation, and implementation more often seems harder and complex than foreseen by those in favor.   If the likely problems are not foreseen and addressed the will be a mountainous problems in the process of implementation that may derail everything else.   Despite incrementalist theory favoring getting some policy adopted on the assumption that correction will come with time, early failure can impedes legitimacy and work towards blocking future initiatives (Jacobs 2002).   At the same time, measuring the success of any policy against the idealistic and inflated claims of its advocates provides the skeptic a decided and deceptive advantage (Jacobs 2002). My critique is that there are better ways of overcoming the legal and practical problems of enforcement and implementation than those presented by Jacobs. Jacobs looks into the extent of firearm ownership and the deeply rooted position of guns in American culture.   He however incorrectly makes the case that any regulatory control must contend with both the huge existing population of firearms and the entrenched political and social support for individual gun ownership. This is not true because to bring everyone into board is not such an easier thing achieved, you cannot satisfy everyone. Moreover, Jacobs highlighted on both the Second Amendment and federalism as barrier to new regulation.   This chapter presents brought forth a well thought analysis of implementation barriers specific to guns and common to general regulatory policy.   His critique of regulatory implementation concisely notes, â€Å"If a regulatory scheme is not enforced, it loses credibility.†Ã‚   This is something that all implementation advocates should take into their minds. Even though Jacobs did an exemplary job to looking onto implementation challenges he fails to detail the devising solutions.   In the chapter skepticism is

The Reader and Hughes Essay Example for Free

The Reader and Hughes Essay The first statement is an irony because young Langston said he was saved when in actual fact he was not saved . He only pretended to be saved so that he could save more trouble. The purpose of writing â€Å"Salvation† is to show the difference in the way of thinking between the young and old generation. Also to clarify the misconception of the older generation that the younger generation can easily comprehend and read in depth meaning to what they are told. This is shown when Hughes and his aunt have different thought about what is expected of â€Å"Salvation† . †And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting ,waiting waiting but he did not come†. Literally Hughes was expecting to see Jesus and he was expecting him to come to him. On the other hand his aunt (the older generation) thought Hughes was crying because he saw God. Another purpose is to show the irony of life, when others believe you have done something because you have experience the feeling when in actual fact you did it to save the day. † So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, Id better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved . So I got up†. Langston loses his faith because of Auntie Reed. She tells him that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to your insides! Langston took this literally, expecting to actually see a light and to feel something happening in his body. When he doesnt see or feel anything after hes saved, Langston gives up on believing in Jesus because he believed his aunts descriptions of salvation. His confusion worsens when Westley gets saved because he knows Westley didnt experience anything such as a light and is lying. Abdulwahab 2 Langston goes up to be saved only because he doesnt want to disappoint the adults, and they are all telling him to come up and be saved. That night, Langston cries because he lied, showing he is a good Christian because he believes the commandment about lying. His aunt misreads his tears and tells her husband hes crying because hes experienced the Holy Ghost and seen Jesus. The story reflects how adults dont realize or understand how children think, especially when it concerns a concept as difficult as faith. Auntie Reed expects Langston to accept what she says because shes the adult, and hes a child. She never explains that Biblical stories are a useful guide for how to live ones life . Langston assumes that all his readers are familiar and well acquainted with a charismatic church . † preaching, singing, praying, and shouting†. Hughes chose narration because it was his way of really putting down his feelings and emotions just the way he experienced them . This added to the credibility of the story and the effect that it would have on the reader ,based on criticism coupled with the act that this dealt with a very argumentative topic â€Å"religion†. Hughes also applies the use signal transitions ,:going on thirteen† â€Å"for weeks† ,†then just before†,† for days ahead† and many others . This signal transition are used through out the essay mainly at the time of â€Å"Salvation†. Irony is the only thing that keeps life interesting. The process analysis of the understanding of how a revival meeting works is critical to the essay. Without this piece of information a reader who is not known with such things would not be able to connect with Hughes due to the lack of knowledge of such an event. The reader has to be acquainted with the material that he is reading to gain a sort of relationship with the author. The fact that Hughes did lay out the process set a ground for the reader to connect to the story. Hughes’s language shows that he was writing the essay as if he were still a child holding on to the feelings and thoughts of that time. The effect of the sentences and the beginnings of the sentence with the word â€Å"And†, emphasize Abdulwahab 3 the idea of this being a child . this allows the reader to truly feel as if the child were telling the story. The dialogue and the details of the sound recreate the story of the event in the readers mind . This way the reader is able to put himself in Hughes shoes and get to feel the pressure that was being put into the situation. Works cited : 1 http://www. enotes. com/revolt-mother 2 AMYCARRILLI’S BLOG.

Car Sharing Scheme To Encourage Sustainable Transportation Tourism Essay

Car Sharing Scheme To Encourage Sustainable Transportation Tourism Essay We have an increase of population size and people will have different needs to have successful healthy and happy lives. For example, a family staying with their aged parents may regard a car as a necessity to ferry his aged parents to their medical appointment. Due to growing need, without a car to provide the mobility they need, many are force to travel in a less desirable manner. Hence, we could see that the majority of mode of transportation used by most of people in Singapore is car. Car however has led to a series of problems including air pollution, congestion and growing greenhouse gas emission because a running cars engine produces large amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere every day. According to Katzev (2003), automobiles are also a major source of carbon dioxide, the so-called green-house gas, which many claim is the principle source of global warming. As such, we need to start as a group of community thinking about more sustainable form of transport in Singapore. One potential alternative to removing cars on the road is through car-sharing scheme. This research will focuses on the opportunities to present to Singapore through this car sharing scheme in our transportations. This is the more sustainable option in the long-run. In 2012, there were more than 520,000 private cars registered in Singapore. The motor vehicle population in Singapore which include private and company cars, rental cars, taxis, buses, motorcycles, goods and other vehicles were increased by 1.45% from 951,307 in 2011 to 965,192 in 2012 (Singapore Police Force, 2013). Such a large number of private cars reduce the efficiency of the transport system by taking up road space that is needed by public transport and commercial vehicles. The government had tried a series of measures to reduce car overpopulation and traffic congestion by heavily taxing the purchase and use of cars as well as with recently announced that COE prices increase to reach more than S$95,000. However, this had the unintended effect of pricing out people who are in need of a car as does not table the problem of overpopulation. This is because as the population grows, the numbers of cars on Singapore growth will continue to grow. The need of Singapore transportation become more sustainable In Singapore, despite there are a lot cars on the road, we need to decrease cars on the road to make the transport more sustainable, one potential ways by doing this is through car-sharing scheme. Singapore is a small island city-state country whereby we cannot afford to ignore the effects that transport that has on health and the environment. The environment is our priority and Singapore needs to keep the environment as pristine as possible. Our economy depends on an efficient transport system to delivery smoothly a flow of goods and personnel to where they are needed. Our limited supply of land also means that we have to allocate resources to transport system very carefully. Hence, its important to adopt a greener form of transport. Nevertheless, we understand that no matter how efficient Singapore public transport system are, can never fully meet every mobility need. Despite of an excellent MRT system and efficient taxi system, alternatives are required to allow for Singaporean to make different choices about going around on the island. Car-sharing scheme is such a choice for such opportunities to remove cars on the road while still allowing people to get around as they need to. Car-sharing scheme, a new approach to sustainable transportation in Singapore Car-sharing is a pay-as-you-drive transportation service introduced in many modern cities to build a sustainable urban transportation strategy and environment-friendly urban community. This amazing green business idea works because people save money, and lose the hassles of ownership, yet still able to access to a car when they need one. The car-sharing growth in Singapore is mainly boosted by the rise of COE price. Higher COE prices are driving people to look for cheaper and more flexible options and therefore would able to push people towards using public transport, or opt for car-sharing. Car-sharing allows individual to gain the benefits of using a private car without the costs of responsibility of owning a car. The benefits of car-sharing can include more careful consideration of the necessity, duration, and distance of automobile trips, resulting in decreased vehicle use and ownership, and reduced parking demand and traffic congestion. Besides, car-sharing will be greater consideration given to alternative mode, resulting in increase of MRT passengers. Car-sharing also provide cost saving to individual and employers, energy savings and air quality benefits as well as reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. Despite to its many potential benefits, car-sharing may gain in popularity in Singapore as demonstrated by increasing North American membership. Through car-sharing scheme, we are able to reduce cars on the road which led to less congestion, less pollution, less dependence on oil, and cleaner, fresher air to breath. Car-sharing Operators in Singapore There are about 300 car-sharing vehicles located in over 100 locations in Singapore. Land Transport Authority (LTA) is working closely with HDB and car-sharing operators to provide more locations across the island to make it more convenient for users to access a car-sharing service in the near future. In Singapore, currently have a few car-sharing service providers: Car Club, Whizzcar and Kah Share. Clean Mobility Singapore, an environmental start-up company that provides electric cars for hire launched in Buona Vista-Ayer Rajah area and have designated parking lots in Pixel Building, Biopolis, Fusionpolis, Insead Campus and Block 71 Ayer Rajah Crescent. Clean Mobility is part of the Energy Market Authority and Land Transport Authoritys three-year, electric-vehicle trial costing $20 million (The Straits Times, 2011). The Straits Times (2013) had reported that more than 150 people have plugged into a year-old electric car-sharing sharing scheme operated under the brand name Smove. Mea ntime, Kah Share, Whizz Car and Car Club have reported an increase of between 15 per cent and 35 per cent each in membership numbers (The Straits Times, 2011). Government Intervention Like many other cities, Singapore faces the challenge of managing traffic congestion. With a fixed quantity of road space, each additional vehicle adds to the demand of road space and increases congestions for every other vehicle and pollutes the environment. Singapore is a land of scarcity, the country does not have the luxury to allow everyone to own a car and that car ownership cannot be put under the same category as basic necessity such as housing (Channelnewsasia, 2013). As part of effort to reduce carbon emission from car, the Singapore government implemented the Vehicle Quota System (VQS) which allows the government to control the amount of cars on the road. Vehicle quota system The VQS is controlled by the Certificate of Entitlement. The purpose is to limiting the number of newly purchase vehicles and aims for sustainable growth in vehicle population. The buyer has to bid to purchase a COE which is valid for 10 years before the vehicle can be use on road. The government had decided to reduce the allowable vehicle growth rate from 3 per cent per annum which was the rate since vehicle quota system introduced in 1990, to 1.5 per cent per annum in 2009, and further reduced it to one percent per annum in 2012 and 0.5 per cent per annum in February 2013. The COE premiums for small cars (up to 1,600cc) breached the $90,000 mark, finishing the years first bidding session at $92,100 on January 2013. This is up 12.4 per cent from last months bidding where prices ended at $81,889. Prices for big cars in Cat B (above 1,600 cc) also reached a new high, ending at $96,210. The previous record-breaking price was $94,502 in August 2012 (icarsclub, 2013 ). Figure .1: COE Open Bidding Result (Source: sgcarmart.com, 2013) Taxes and fees on vehicles Every car in Singapore is taxed by an import (Customs) duty, registration fee, an additional registration fee, and road tax which make owning a car in Singapore very expensive. The import duty is 31% of the import value of the car, on top of that, a Registration Fee is charged for private cars and on top of that, an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) is charged. The (ARF) is 100% of the Open Market Value (OMV) of the vehicle. Public parking charges have been raised and also additional surcharges were levied to discourage car use. Others cost such as insurance, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), petrol and maintenance cost which are extremely costly for an average earning individual and thus it helps to control car population. Hence, implementation of government regulations with soaring premiums for COEs, taxes and fees or charges, it had directly boosted the use of car-sharing for the people who need to travel around the island. For a successful car sharing scheme in Singapore, Singapore government has to play its part in addressing the problems of climate change and looking at ways and measures to reduce our emission. Research Question Our research will focus on the primary and secondary question in view of the solution to road congestion, pollution and other environmental and resource consequences of automobile dependence through car-sharing. 1.2.1 Primary Research Question Our research question is what are the benefits and opportunities for using car-sharing scheme to make Singapore transports system become more sustainable. 1.2.2 Secondary Research Questions The scopes that this research is focusing on: What is car-sharing scheme and how does Car-sharing works; What are the benefits of car-sharing scheme; Who benefits from car-sharing scheme; Which countries have already develop car-sharing scheme The Scope of the Research The study will focuses on the benefits of car sharing scheme in our transportation option for many people in meeting the transportation needs in an economically and environmentally responsible manner in Singapore. Research Method The research method we will be using is both qualitative and quantitative research approach. The quantitative method will be based on the research question analyses based on the current situation and analyses through literature review. The qualitative method shall be gathering information through sets of questionnaire on a focus group of employees, employers and retirees at a few point of location in Singapore. Research Objective The main objective of the research is to understand the problems of increasing car population which led to a serious problem of air pollution, congestion and growing of greenhouse gas emission and to identify the opportunities and benefits of car-sharing scheme as an alternative transportation mode towards sustainable form of transport in Singapore. Limitation This research will be discussing the benefits of car-sharing scheme using normal car and only within Singapore based on the knowledge and understanding gather from collected information sources and data. There will be limitation to forecast whether of the impact and growth car-sharing scheme by using electric car. It may impractical at this moment although electric car have the potential to reduce our carbon emission significantly if adopted on a large scale and government play its part promoting green vehicle by provide a range of incentives or rebates. However, the technology is still in the early stages of development. Beside, in order for electric car to have a positive impact on reducing emission, the energy grid empowering these cars need be from a sustainable source like solar or wind. Due to the cost of buying a hybrid vehicle is much higher than of a normal car, users, limited range of electric vehicle as well as the charging time. The information and data will be obtained f rom published news and journals except the information from questionnaires. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Definition and explanation of car-sharing scheme Car sharing is a revolution in personal transportation urban mobility for the 21st century. Carsharing is designed to replace car ownership for people who do not need to drive to work every day, and to significantly reduce road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. It is a service that provides 24/7 self-serve access to a network of cars stationed around the city (and increasingly, cities world-wide), which can be reserved by the hour or day via smart phones, Internet and call centres (Carsharing, 2013). Automobile, despite its numerous benefits, is largely responsible for many of the environmental and social problems in the world today (Katzev, 2003), which Singapore is one of such countries. The dependence on automobile has contributed traffic congestion and pollution to the air of Singapore. Therefore, in order to reduce traffic congestion and reduce the environmental impact contributed by automobile in Singapore, numerous efforts have been made by the government to reduce vehicle population growth rate by increasing the Car of Entitlement (COE) prices for cars or reducing the quota for COE. Car-sharing is first introduced in Singapore by NTUC Income in 1997 since the rise of COE prices and over the years, the interest in car-sharing has risen as car-sharing is the ticket for drivers who cannot afford or do not want to own a car (The Strait Times, 2012). Differ from car-pooling, car-sharing is a process whereby people share or rent a car without having to bear the responsibilities of car ownership and costs. Whereas in car-pooling, it is a group of individuals taking the same car together to get to a common destination at the same time. In car-sharing scheme, the car-sharing companies pay all of the costs of vehicle maintenance, service, and repairs. This includes insurance coverage, parking, and the cost of fuel (Katzev, 2003). Also differ from conventional car rentals, car-sharing companies operate by placing cars near to members home or office when the needs to use the cars arise. (Martin Shaheen 2011). The pay-as-you-drive or pay-per-use transportation service which provided by the car sharing companies offer drivers another alternative and freedom of using the car. Drivers get to enjoy the benefits of a car without having to own one for a short period of time based on their travelling needs, such as hourly or daily basis. The d rivers are also allowed to choose the types of cars according to their needs. This scheme is introduced in many modern cities to build a sustainable and environment-friendly urban community (Land Transport Authority, 2013). A research done in the North America shows that one shared vehicle can take 6 to 33 privately owned vehicles off the road. This is made possible by reducing the number of private vehicle required to complete non-work trips (Green Business Times, 2013). Hence, car-sharing reduced congestion on the road as it reduces car ownership and people dependency on privately owned vehicles. Car-sharing also has environmental impact to the environment. According to the article stated in Green Business Times (2013), vehicle miles traveled by members dropped by 67%, yet they were able to maintain mobility and convenience of transportation while getting access to a wider variety of cars. The drop in vehicle miles traveled will have a huge environmental impact that results in a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 39% to 64%. Since its inception, car-sharing has grown rapidly and it has become more common worldwide, especially in Europe and North America (Shaheen, Sperling Wagner 1999). Car-sharing membership has  increased by 360% worldwide between 2006 and 2010 (Carsharing, 2013) and as of January 2011, North American car-sharing companies served almost 604,000 members with about 10,000 vehicles. (Martin Shaheen 2011). 2.1.1 How car-sharing works in Singapore It usually takes less than 5 minutes from reserving to collecting a car-sharing vehicle and the whole process is automated and it is self-service just like having a own car. To use the car, the user can follow the steps listed below: Join as a member User who wishes to car-share must first join as a member at any of the car-sharing company. After which, members will receive a personal keyfob/ smartcard. The keyfob/ smartcard is use to unlock an electronic box where the car keys are kept. Making reservation for the car When there is a need to use the car, member can make reservation via smart phones, Internet and call centres. The reservation can be made within a few minute notice or few days in advance. The booking will be keyed into a computer and transmitted to the electronic box. Collecting the car The cars are normally parked near to users home or office in designated car park spaces.   The electronic box is located in the members estate and the member can unlock the box when the member slots in their keyfob/ smart card. His booking particular will be copied onto the keyfob/ smart card and he can then collect the key. Driving the car During reservation period, member will just use the car just like his own. Returning the car When member has finished using the car, he needs to return the car back to the same location where he has collected the car. He also needs to place the key back to the electronic box. The trip usage is automatically recorded and the member can view their usage record online. Payment The invoice is then generated and payment will be made through GIRO or credit card monthly to the car-sharing service companies. If a member does not return the car on time, he will have to pay a penalty, which will be used to compensate the next member who had booked the car but was inconvenienced due to late return from the former member (Carsharing, 2013). Benefits of car-sharing Due to recent high COE, it is getting more and more difficult for one to own a car in Singapore nowadays. Some of the major social benefits of car-sharing are such as lower emissions, ease traffic congestion, convenience and cost savings for individuals and businesses, better utilization of land and energy resources and reduce the demand for car park spaces. 2.2.1 Less pollution to the environment Motor vehicle usage is a major source of air and noise pollution in the world today. It has contributed 70% of the carbon monoxide, 45% of the nitrogen oxides, and 33% of hydrocarbon emissions in the world (Katzev, 2003). The combustion process of fuel in motor engines emit Carbon Monoxide (CO) will not only pollute the air quality, it also harm the human body through respiration (Sing Health 2013). Motor vehicles are also a major source of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which many claim is the principal source of global warming (Katzev, 2003). Besides carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are also released from the combustion process of fuel in motor engines. These gases caused global warming to the Earth which the temperature will increase and trap the radiated heat from escaping out (Nutramed, 2011). In the United State, low emission motor vehicles contribute to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. AutoShare and U Car Share offer additional greenhouse gases reductions through partnerships with carbon-offset companies. Many customers report an increase in environmental awareness after joining a carsharing organization (Shaheen, North American car-sharing, 2008). Noise pollution is also an issue to the environment. With more motor vehicles on the road, the noises created from the engine revolutions can be a nuisance to the environment. Especially during traffic congestion, the noise level can be high and it may disrupt the concentration of ones mind. With fewer vehicles on the road through car sharing, the level to Carbon Monoxide (CO) will eventually be reduced, thus causing lesser carbon monoxide emitted to the environment. 2.2.2 Less traffic congestions http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/services/driving_in_singapore/images/information/traffic_statistics/fatality.jpg Figure .1 : Fatal and Injury Accident Rate Per 10,000 Vehicle Population (Source: Singapore Police Force, 2013) Car-sharing helps to tame traffic because it reduces solo driving (Wang, 2011). According to the graph, Singapore has an increasing figure in vehicle population by 1.45% from 951,307 in 2011 to 965,192 in 2012 (Singapore Police Force, 2013). This is a great number for Singapore as our country is limited in land area and the increasing vehicle population creates more traffic congestions. Traffic congestion is an increasingly serious problem in many cities. For example United States, traffic tie-ups, especially during peak hours timing, are estimated to cost the United States 1.2 billion hours of lost time and 2.2 billion gallons of gasoline each year, to say nothing of the estimated $30 billion annual loss in productivity alone (Katzev, 2013). Due to the increasing numbers of motor vehicles on the road, the danger faced by the road users, especially motorcyclists are still an issue. Despite last years drop in the fatal and injury accidents, there are still a significant number of deaths on our roads. The increase in the number of traffic violations remains a concern as every traffic violation can potentially result in a fatal or injury accident and the loss of lives (Singapore Police Force, 2013). As an alternative measure of reducing the amount of vehicle population, car sharing can provide road users with a choice. Some of Singapore car sharing companies such as CarClub provides to their customers a wide variety of motor vehicles to choose from to cater for different kind of occasions (CarClub, 2013). Because the drivers of the car sharing scheme are charged accordingly to the amount of mileage logged, therefore drivers would plan their trip carefully in order to make unnecessary drive trips. The implementation of car sharing can also reduce the amount of motor vehicles on the road if 5 people sharing a car to the common destination rather than driving on personal motor vehicles. 2.2.3 Reducing the cost of traveling to destination Traveling to a destination by private vehicles can be costly. With Singapore implemented ERP (Electronic Road Pricing), It will be expensive to travel to CBD area during peak hours by personal vehicles. In addition, the cost of parking in business towers in CBD area can be costly too. The cost of owning a private car can be a burden in Singapore. As the price of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) is hiking, a measure by the Singapore Government in order to maintain or reduce the amount of motor vehicles on the road, which can be costly. According to report, a price of a Cherry QQ in Singapore with COE can match up for a Porsche Boxster Black Edition in the US (AsiaOne, 2012); this shows how the soaring COE price has turned the ownership of motor vehicle as a huge expenditure. Car sharing is different from rent a car from car rental, car sharing gives individuals access to a car for brief trips, in some cases as short as a half hour, charging only for the time and duration of each trip. In contrast, car rental companies charge the full daily rate, regardless of the duration or distance of travel. In addition, customers that rent a car must pay for the petrol cost required to fill the vehicles tank at the time it is returned, while the car-sharing companies pays all the costs of fuel, as well as insurance, vehicle maintenance, service, and repairs (Katzev, 2003). As car sharing scheme in Singapore, drivers can save amount money on the cost of owning a private motor vehicles including maintenance fees, annual road taxes and motor vehicle insurance payable. Car sharing not only offers to non-car owners the driving experience; it has also offers a much cheaper alternative to travel to their destination that in private motor vehicles. Car sharing has also provided Singapore a much cheaper alternative to travel than by taxi. Traveling by mode of taxi can be expensive. The rates and surcharges can add up to a high cost. Surcharges such as peak hour charges, midnight charges and location charges are included in different timing and location. Some of car sharing companies in Singapore such as CarClub provides to their customers with different price plans. CarClub comes with value plan and standard plan to cater to every customers needs. Value plan is cater for more for regular drivers whereas standard plan is cater more occasional drivers (CarClub, 2013). With different available price plans, drivers can choose the most appropriate plans to suit their driving frequency and save money. University students and low-income households also benefit from the flexibility and mobility that carsharing offers (Shaheen, North American car-sharing, 2008). With the recently tightening measure by the Singapore government, it has become more difficult for low and middle income group to purchase a private motor vehicle as buyers have to foot a down payment of 40 per cent or more for a new vehicle and have a maximum of five years to service their car loans (ChannelNewsAsia, 2013). Therefore, car sharing can be a more afford to the market for low and middle income groups. 2.2.4 Better connection Car sharing has provided users a better connection between different modes of transports, making it easier for the public to connect major transport nodes and therefore reducing the need to drive to their destination. Car sharing can provide better access to place where has limited access. For example, HDB residential area where the distance to the nearest public transport node is far away, it may be difficult for elderly or disabled people to travel. Motor vehicles in the car-sharing fleet are usually located close to the users residence, whereas those belonging to the rental companies are parked in central areas or major transportation hubs. Finally, those who want to rent a vehicle are required to complete time-consuming paperwork before they can drive the vehicle, whereas car sharers need only phone or go online to reserve a vehicle prior to using it (Katzev, 2003) In Singapore, CarClub has offered their customers with over 60 HDB car parks around Singapore to pick up the vehicles and available on 24/7 which provides ease and convenience (CarClub, 2013). Who benefits from car-sharing? The ultimate purpose of car-sharing are reducing the number of cars, increasing the efficiency of transport infrastructure and also changing behavior through alterations in mobility patterns. This has actually benefits to environment, social and government. 2.3.1 Environment 2.3.1.1 Creation a Potential for Better Quality of Life and Urban Form Car-sharing has proved its potential to reduce the negative impacts of social and environment. Monitoring of air quality takes place at stations around Singapore, and plays an important role in keeping the population up to date on haze conditions (National Environment Agency, 2013). Air emissions from the industries and motor vehicles are the two key sources of air pollution domestically (National Environment Agency, 2013). Each car-sharing vehicle can replace 4 privately owned vehicles (CarClub, 2013). Thus, car-sharing reduces the numbers of cars on the road; fewer cars equal fewer emissions of greenhouse gases. This means less pollution; decrease congestion on the road as well as reducing the amount of space used for parking and helps to regain space for environmental and other social uses. 2.3.1.2 Reduction of COà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Burden of Transport Car-sharing is a pay-as-you-drive transportation service introduced to build a sustainable and environmentally-friendly urban community. This service provides an incentive for people to use car less and instead use public transport, a bike or walk. People have a greater variety of transport options available to them as when deciding the best way to reach their destination. Commuting by public transportation reduces your carbon emissions by 20 lbs per day, 4,800 lbs per year, which is more than if you weatherized your home, converted to fluorescent bulbs and replaced an old refrigerator, combined (PromotingPublic Transport, 2013). 2.3.1.3 Reduction of Energy Consumption An environmentally friendly car-sharing operator provides a wide range of vehicles to choose. They can choose different types of vehicles to fit their needs. Example, a small city car is usually most energy-efficient and less pollution; an estate cars are likely to be necessary for family trips; and a van may require for group travel. Users choose the vehicle type that best meets their needs for a particular trip. This benefits consumers, and may provide external benefits by reducing the use of oversized vehicles when smaller vehicles are adequate (Litman, 1999). 2.3.2 Society Car-sharing helps make communities more alive, attractive, safe, and less dependent on the private automobile, and contribute to a range of transportation, housing, economic development and social justice goals (City Car Share, 2013). 2.3.2.1 Save Money and Go Green Car-sharing is an ideal for people who only need a car occasionally and or when the need arises. By car-sharing scheme, people still can access to a private car without having responsibilities of ownership such as obtain a Certificate of Entitlement (COE), car insurance premium, car maintenance and repair costs, monthly installment, season car parking charges and road tax. In Singapore, 87% of members in NTUCs car-sharing co-op average only 2,000km in distance driven each year, which is much less than average mileage of the average private car owner (Singapore Environmental Vision, 2013). Car sharing saves you money, its greener, more affordable, and less stressful than driving and paying for a car you dont even need anymore (Cereplast, 2013). 2.3.2.2 Provide Mobility Car-sharing provides access to a vehicle for low-income households and others without a car, helping them to fully participate in the regions opportunities (CityCarShare, 2013). Low-income households may not be able to afford the expenses as a car ownership, thus public transport maybe their only option. Car-sharing can provide access for job interviews, serve as an emergency ride home, and meet the demand for occasional shopping and leisure trips (CityCarShare, 2013). With car-sharing scheme, they are now financially possible to join, in turn improving mobility by providing access to a vehicle. 2.3.2.3 Improves Commuting Options Car-sharing offers a commuter option that may work better than other methods of transportation. With a car-sharing option, a public commuter is empowered to decide the best way to reach his or her destination, i.e. by bus, MRT, taxi or to drive a car (CSAS, 2013). Currently, there are about 300 car-sharing vehicles located in over 100 locations in Singapore (Land Transport Authority, 2013). It is very convenient for users to access a car-sharing. Also, car-sharing provides the flexibility and convenience of a car when driving is a better choice compared to the buses, MRT or taxis. 2.3.3 Government Transport issues affect the average Singaporean in a very intimate manner.

Essay --

Danielle: First, efficient market theory implies that the market fully reflects the available information and react quickly to any new information. In fact, good or bad news related to reported net income is usually evaluated rationally by investors and directly reflected the market share price. Indeed, under an efficient market, this reflected market price will meet the price predicted by the investors and that why in some cases we notice no reactions to the earning performance whether it is good or bad. Second, sometimes there no considerable or even a reversed reaction to change in the stock price for the news related to reported net income and that is due to an other event rather internal or external taking place in the same period that affects the market behaviour towards the investors behaviour. To illustrate, if a company working in gas and petroleum industry can have a decrease in its stock price because of a new environmental low (future expenses) even with the release of a higher net income. Finally, there is also the fact that the investors have certain expectation toward the upcoming net income but in case that the reported net income doesn't overcome their expectations , even though the income is positive, investor won't react to these news . In fact, a company that posts a very impressive earnings performance, but its stock price barely moves because the investors had already expected these results and the reported net income just confirm these expectations. Robert: The inefficient market hypothesis consists on a market behaviour that sometimes drive asset prices above or below their true value. In fact, the existence and magnitude of certain stock price variations are sometimes incompatible with an eff... ...te earnings and in this situation, investors can have an idea about the level of accrual persistence so they can take the best decision towards that. Applying the Accounting principles framework would be an efficient way to increase the persistence of accruals.To illustrate, the timely recognition and mesurebility of accruals would decreae the anomalies especially if they are implemented and disclosed to the public using the right method. The non cash assets and the non cash liability such as goodwill and future tax obligation are more easily to manipulate than the cash flow. In fact, in order to increase the accruals persistence, these non cash flows items show follow a certain regulation. Indeed, Accounting provisions for impairment related to any decrease in value of these items or any possible loss but also posing a restrictive rule for any possible gain.

Chinese Education Essay -- China Educating School History Essays

Chinese Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Education system in China although different than America’s has many good qualities. The view of Education in China has changed dramatically over the last forty years; it has gone from there being no real system to one that is held up to be one of the best in the world. In this paper I will go through the history of Chinese education and show how much it truly has changed. I will also look at how it is now and what China can expect for its future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1949 The People’s Republic of China was formed by the Communist party. This happened after much struggle between the communists and the nationalists. The leader of the communist party and the new People’s Republic was Mao Zedong. When the communists took over China they implemented many new ideas that were supposed to bring China up to speed in regards to the industrial development. He started the five year plan in which the people and government of China was to focus on the development of industry and to challenge the old ways of thinking. The old ways were called â€Å"the four olds† these were habits, ideas, customs, and cultures. After three years Mao asked for feedback of all of the changes that had been occurring, this was called â€Å"The Hundred Flowers Campaign†. The people didn’t all like what had been happening; especially the educated and they gave bad feedback to Mao. He decided to purge the society of these †Å"poisonous weeds† as he called the educated because they challenged his authority. At this time all education was focused on redness which is the communist ideology. This is when the battle of the government verses the educated began and continued for many years. For many years the different plans that Mao thought of were not as successful as he had hoped. In 1959 Mao Zedong stepped down as the nation’s leader but remained as the communist’s party leader. He did this in order to take responsibility for the failures of the Great Leap Forward, and the other problems that had been caused under his leadership. Then in 1965 Mao took control of the government once again and this is when he established the Proletariat Cultural Revolution. Mao believed that the educated people were to blame for the many problems of China, he thought they hindered Marxism. So from 1966 to 1976 the entire education system was closed down in order to fix the problems caused and to focus m... ...tem different than the American Education system are mostly small things but there are some larger differences as well. Some of the small differences are that in China the students attend school six days a week, and that they have vacations in July and August. Some of the larger differences are that standardized tests are considered more important than grades when being considered for colleges, and that children are not supposed to ask questions in class they are only supposed to listen to lectures. In America questions are considered to be one of the major keys to understanding what you are learning. Questions are encouraged to broaden the thoughts of not only the students but also possibly the teachers as well. There are reasons that the Chinese education system is the way that it is and that is their choice to keep it that way. The government has major control over what is taught in schools and this effects what happens in them and what is learned. In America a school’s curriculum are made up by the local government and so it can vary from state to state. This is not to say that American education is right and China’s education is wrong I am just pointing out the differences.

Police Shooting/Diallo Case :: essays research papers

In our society today, it is very sad that the African-American community has lost a great trust and respect for the Mayor, the police commissioner and the N.Y.P.D. Amadou Diallo's shooting was very upsetting for the African-American community. The shooting shock many people because an unarmed innocent black male was shot 41 times in front of his home by four officers that assume him to be a rapist. Amadou Diallo was a black man in a primarily black neighborhood who saw four guys in the middle of the night and perhaps he thought these four undercover police were somehow looking for trouble. He probably said," I don't want to be a part of this", and tried to leave the scene. If I were in the same particular situation as Amadou Diallo, I would be just as afraid and try to get out of the scene. No one actually knows what Diallo was thinking about, you can only imagine. People often say that if Amadou Diallo had listen to the cops he wouldn't have been killed. I also hear people say the he cause his own death because of his lack of submission. Personally, I know Amadou Diallo stood innocent before those cops. Diallo was in a situation that he had no clue about. There was an outrage when the verdict "Not Guilty" broke out. Many people were furious, astonished and stunned. When I heard that the case was not guilty I was so shocked because I felt that the evidence was perfectly clear that the four New York police officers was GUILTY. It was not fair to my community or me to see such a case misjudge like that. African-American communities has changed their hearts toward Police Dautruche Officers. Police Officers are the ones who we are suppose to trust and entrust with our lives. Obviously, in our world today, that is not the case. I have never had a dispute with an officer, though I have seen my friends go through events with police officers. For instance, I was in an elevator with my friend and when we got to the last floor, a police officer was right in front of the elevator. So when my (guy) friend and me came out, the P.O. Pointed his gun toward my friend's chest and ask him some questions. The P. O did not approach me or even acknowledge me.

Should Vietnam Concentrate on Tourism for its Economic Development?

Vietnam is in the republic of South East Asia, bordered by China on the north, by the South China Sea on the east and south, and by Cambodia and Laos on the west. Officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, its area is 331,690 sq km (128,066 sq mi). Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City is the country's largest city. Ho Chi Minh is at the coordinates 106 degrees south, 10 degrees west on a map. There many ways in which the tourist industry would benefit Vietnam as a whole. Tourism, of course, makes a huge amount of money; it could be hundreds of millions every year. For example places like Barcelona have become huge, great cities full of people thanks to the money made from tourism. Also read this  Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy Tourism also creates lots of new jobs for the people living in the country and some people who will come to work in Vietnam from other countries. The new jobs will trickle right down to the farmers who grow the food for the people who sell food to the hotels. This means it will be very good for agriculture, giving farmers more money to buy more land and grow more crops. People who have jobs in other industries making products for MEDCs like workers in Pepsi factories, could easily switch to having an easier but better paid life in the tourist industry. Concentrating on tourism alone might still work for Vietnam. If the locals take part in planning and decision making, the tourists are responsible in Vietnam and the government sets policies and plans ahead for it then it could work quite well. But even if it does work then there will be some downsides. Tourists generally makes quite a lot of mess wherever they go, they can destroy some of the beautiful beaches and rainforests. The rainforests themselves will have to be cut through for new highways, towns and airports. With the new highways would, hundreds upon thousands of cars and trucks, which would eventually pollute the country, turning tourist away from it. The effect on the countries fishing industries could be catastrophic. The South China Sea could be way over-fished, so hotels and resorts would have to import fish, driving prices up and making the appeal of fresh fish vanish. The effect on individual families could be bad too; the father could have to move away to a bigger city, potentially leaving the family behind, splitting the family up. This could happen to thousands of families. If the tourist industry failed then the country would have nothing to fall back on, it would use up all its money and end up back at the start. Unfortunately, most of the money tourists spend in foreign countries is immediately used to import more food, equipment and resources for the hotels and nightclubs. This leaves little money left over for the local people and economy. In conclusion I think that Vietnam should seriously consider Tourism as a big part of their economy but I don't think that they should ignore everything else. If given the time, Vietnam could become just as unwieldy as Japan in the computer services/games industry or as big as America or Germany in the automotive industry. I think the best effect of tourism in Vietnam would be the huge amount of jobs it creates and could make thousands of informal jobs vanish for formal tourism jobs. The worst thing about tourism in Vietnam would be the huge amount of damage that would be inflicted on such a beautiful landscape thanks to all the cars, litter and sewage caused by the tourists. In other words tourism could be great for the country but disastrous as well. But I still think concentrating on tourism would be a bad idea for Vietnam's economy.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

On March 27, 2002, the prohibition on the use of a specific form of organizational finances as contribution to political candidates and parties or to sponsor certain ads in the period prior to elections became law. This is known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), founded on the campaign finance reform bills authored by Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat Senator Russ Feingold (Magarian, 2003). The BCRA or McCain-Feingold law aimed at a more stringent regulation of the sources of funds used for electoral campaigns. It made illegal the use of soft money from corporate or private entities and labor unions for candidates and their machineries at the federal, state and local levels (Magarian, 2003). Prior to this law, organizations could donate an unlimited and unregulated amount of money for issue-based advocacy, increasing voter-turnout and party-building efforts coursed through the national political parties (Geiger, 2005). Issue ads were allowed as long as they did not use words such as â€Å"vote for† or â€Å"do not vote for† and other words that expressly promoting or assailing certain candidates. As such, issue advocacy has in essence been lawfully used to campaign for a candidate as long as the magic words mentioned are absent in the content (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). The BCRA reformed the use of soft money for broadcast issue-advocacy ads campaigns when it came up with as a qualifier for what is lawful issue-advocacy is known as electioneering communication. According to the BrennanCenter.org (2008), this means ads that â€Å"refer to a clearly identified candidate, and targets the candidate’s electorate†. The BCRA requires from entities that conduct electioneering communications a disclosure of the sources of their funds and such ads can not be aired 30 days prior to a general elections and 60 days prior to a federal election (Independent.org, 2008). The law also bans corporations and unions to donate for issue ads from their treasury fund, openly or expressly advocate for a candidate known as independent expenditures or to make direct campaign contributions (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). They are only allowed to do so through specially Political Action Committees (PACs) within these organizations which are allocated a segregated funding that can be used for independent expenditures and issue ads (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). Further, the BCRA demands the full disclosure of the sources of solicited campaign funds that amount to more than $10,000 annually or the identities of organizations and individuals that shelled an excess of $1,000 (Cantor and Whitaker, 2004). It also increased the lawful limits on the total amount of â€Å"hard money† that candidates and parties can turn out. The result was that corporations and other organizations as well as individuals drastically limited their donations to avoid the disclosure of their identities. Corporate and other private organizations can and do work to influence the outcome of the electoral process through soft money spending in order to gain access to the candidate in the event that s/he wins (Geiger, 2005). Candidates also welcome contributions as these determine in part the number of votes they will get. With the BCRA restrictions, political parties resorted to the formation of political organizations. Because they are independent, political organizations which may be corporate philanthropy, social welfare or charity organizations are beyond the scope of the current campaign law and can absorb undocumented amounts of money for issue ads. In the last elections, 527 political organizations generated more than $400 million in such funds where the biggest donors handed amounts within the $3.9 million to $30 million range (Geiger, 2005). These affluent and motive-driven corporate and individual donors were also safe from the disclosure requirement. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a narrow decision last year, allowed leniency on issue ads even within the 30-day or 60-day election period when it declared that ads may be exempted from the limitations set by the BCRA if they are determined as principally an exercise of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment rather than campaigning for or against a candidate (Independentsector.org, 2008). The case in question involved the Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. anti-abortion group whose ad was prohibited from airing in 2004 as it fell within the mandated election period and because it mentioned the name of a state senator to act on a certain issue. The senator was running for reelection at that time but no mention was made of this in the ad. The Supreme Court emphasized public rights rather than censorship in their decision on the case (Independent.org, 2008). Thus, corporate and labor organizations can take advantage on another gap to provide financial support for political campaigns of parties and candidates they favor even during election periods through issue ads similar to that used by the Wisconsin Right to Life. The Federal Election Committee issued a ruling exempting organizations from the electioneering communications restrictions as a result of the Supreme Court Decision (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). However, the disclosure requisites provided for in the BCRA still applies in this case but independent-sector groups are active in supporting proposals that do away with this requirement (Independentsector.org). List of References BrennanCenter.org (2008). The Impact of FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. on State Regulation of â€Å"Electioneering Communications† in Candidate Elections, Including Campaigns for the Bench. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:cSpDB4j7N64J:www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Democracy/Impact%2520of%2520WRTL%2520II%2520on%2520State%2520Regulation.doc+effect+of+the+BCRA+on+corporate+public+policy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1   Cantor, J.E. and Whitaker, L.P. (2004). Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002: Summary   Ã‚   and Comparison with Previous Law. Retrieved 2 April 2008 Geiger, J.P. Preparing for 2006: A Constitutional Amendment for Closing the 527 Soft Money Loophole. William and Mary Law Review, 47. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from    http://www.questia.com. Independentsector.org (2008). Public Policy: FEC Rule Allows Issue Ads with Disclosure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 2 April 2008 . Magarian, G. (2003). Regulating Political Parties under a â€Å"Public Rights† First Amendment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William and Mary Law Review, 44. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.questia.com.         

Superstition Speech

Superstitions To inform my audience about commonly practiced superstitions, their meaning, origins, and what affects they have on our lives and commonly practiced traditions. Hi! My name is Sarah & today I am going to talk to you about superstitions. According to blah blah superstition is defined as blah blah blah. How many of you have ever crossed your fingers for good luck, or got a little nervous about something bad happening on Friday the 13th? I would bet that all of you have said or have heard someone say â€Å"God Bless You† after a sneeze.Have any of you ever wondered where the traditions of Halloween came from? Or maybe why it is thought to be bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding ceremony? Today I am going to enlighten you with the answer to these questions and much more. I. For the most part superstitions can be placed into 2 categories, good or bad luck, many of them also have deeply religious meaning and use symbolism. A. Good Luck 1. You must knock on wood 3 times after mentioning good fortune or the evil spirits will ruin things for you. )The tradition traces back to an ancient pagan belief that spirits resided in trees and that by knocking on the wood, you were paying a small tribute to them by acknowledging them, and could call on them for protection against ill-fortune. Also, you were thanking them for their continued blessings and good luck. 2. Crossing two fingers (the middle and pointing fingers) on one hand as a sign of hopefulness or desire for a particular outcome. a)This is probably the superstition that is most widely used today. By making the sign of the Christian faith with our fingers, evil spirits would be prevented from destroying our chances of good fortune.It is also used as an expression: â€Å"Cross your fingers† is often told to someone hoping for good luck or a particular outcome. Sometimes, when someone tells a lie, they will cross their fingers (usually behind their back). This somehow ab solves them from the consequences or makes the lie not count. See a penny pick it up, all day long you will have good luck. b)Finding a penny and picking it up is believed to bring a day of good luck. Finding a penny with heads up is considered luckier. It is believed that this penny should not be spent; keeping it safe can bring you fortune.Any metal was considered God's gift to mankind 3. Saying â€Å"God Bless You† when someone sneezes. (1)†The blessing of those who sneeze started when the great plague took hold of Europe. Sufferers began sneezing violently, and as such, were bound to die. The Pope passed a law requiring people to bless the sneezer. At the same time, it was expected that anybody sneezing would cover their mouth with a cloth or their hand. This was obviously to stop the spreading of the disease, but many believed that it was to keep the soul intact.Sneezing ‘into the air' would allow the soul to escape and death would be imminent. Humankind has long been equating the soul with breath. It was thought that when one sneezed, the soul briefly flew out of the body, and this might allow an evil spirit to take up residence within. On the other hand, it is also said that blessing someone who sneezes is necessary because their heart skips a beat when they sneeze; it is wishing them continued good health B. Bad Luck 1. Breaking a mirror will bring seven years of bad luck. a)Romans tagged the broken mirror a sign of bad luck.The length of the prescribed misfortune, 7 years, came from the Roman belief that man's body was physically rejuvenated every 7 years, and he became, in effect, a new man. One's reflection in a mirror is thought to be the representation of his or her soul or spiritual state. Breaking the mirror, and therefore the person's reflection, would bring damage to their soul and spiritual hardship. Taking the pieces outside and burying them in the moonlight could avoid this. 2. Open an umbrella indoors and bad luck will à ¢â‚¬Å"rain† on you. a)Origin can be traced back to when umbrellas were used as sun protection.Opening one indoors supposedly was offensive to the sun (or sun god) and would bring his wrath down upon the offender 3. Walking under a ladder will bring bad luck. a)Excluding the obvious – that something might fall on you from above – the belief that walking under a ladder will bring bad luck seems to stem from the ladder forming a triangle with the wall and the ground. This represents the â€Å"Holy Trinity†, and if you violate this by entering the space, it puts you in league with the devil, and you're likely to incur God's wrath. 4. Friday the 13thThe belief that thirteen brings bad luck is an extremely pervasive belief throughout many societies, and is strong enough that many major hotels and high rises traditionally either build only twelve floors, or, if they want to go higher, skip labeling the 13th floor entirely! Many people refuse to stay on the 13th f loor, or in room 13. People stay home from work, for fear of something bad happening. Most airports don't have a thirteenth gate. There are many theories as to why this belief is held. One is that Judas, known as â€Å"the Betrayer of Jesus†, was the 13th member present at the Last Supper.Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the official term for the fear of Friday the Thirteenth. Jesus was said to have been crucified on Friday and the number of guests at the party of the Last Supper was 13, with the 13th guest being Judas, the traitor. II. Superstition plays a role in several of our nationally celebrated Holidays and traditions. A. Halloween blah blah blah 1. Costumes- The people of Ireland at that time were pagans and spirits were a part of their religion. Their beliefs involved good and evil spirits and would strive to live in harmony with both.This is where the custom of dressing up in costumes came in. On All Hallows Eve the spirits of the dead, good and evil, were believed to wal k the streets until sunrise so anyone out might run into an evil spirit and become possessed. To keep from becoming possessed, the villagers would dress in animal skins and paint their faces to scare away the bad spirits. 2. Trick or treat- it began in Ireland as part of their end-of-summer festival. October 31st is the last day of the Celtic calendar and November 1st begins the new year.On this last day of the year it what a widely-held belief that on this one night the spirits of the dead could visit the living. Family members would leave a plate of food and a place set at the table to welcome their spiritual guests. People would also leave gifts of food out to keep from angering the evil spirits and causing them to do mischief. It was a preventative measure. The saying â€Å"trick or treat† was a question, because if you left no treat you may wake up the next morning to find you had been victim of a trick or some form of mischief B. Thanksgiving blah blah During Thanksgivi ng, it is traditional to roast a turkey.When it is served, it's also traditional for two people to take the wishbone (the bird's clavicle) each making a wish, they pull apart the bone to break it. The person ending up with the larger piece will supposedly get his or her wish. Although Thanksgiving is an American holiday, the wishbone custom was brought over to the new world by the Pilgrims from England, where it had long been in practice. The ritual of breaking apart the wishbone can be traced back to the ancient Romans, Etymologists claim that the expression ‘get a lucky break' initially applied to the person winning the larger half in a wishbone tug-of-war. III. There are many wedding traditions that may seem a little silly and far fetched, and even though most of us don’t know their origin or meaning, we still include them in our wedding day rituals. A. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony. 1. During the time wh en arranged marriages were custom, the couple wasn’t allowed to see each other before the wedding at all. The wedding symbolized a business deal between two families and a father would have been pleased for his daughter to marry a man from a rich family.But he also feared that if the groom met the bride before the wedding and thought she wasn’t attractive, he’d call off the wedding, casting shame onto the bride and her family. Therefore, it became tradition that the bride and groom were only allowed to meet at the wedding ceremony so that the groom did not have the opportunity to change his mind. And that veil the bride wears? Its original purpose was also to keep the groom from finding out what the bride looked like until the last possible minute, when it was too late to back out of the transactionB. Ringer Finger 1. C. The person who catches the bride’s bouquet or garter when she tosses it over her head will be the next to get married. 1. The story behi nd this tradition is downright dirty. In medieval times, it was considered lucky to get a fragment of the bride’s clothing, so hordes of guests would follow the newlywed couple into their wedding chamber after the ceremony and stand around the bed, trying to rip pieces of the bride’s gown right off her body.Because dresses were often torn apart, brides searched for alternatives to preserve their gowns and began throwing their bouquets to distract guests while they made their getaway. When the bride and groom made it safely into their wedding chamber, the groom would then crack open the door and toss the bride’s garter to the throngs of people waiting outside as a way of saying that he was about to â€Å"seal the deal. † D.The groom must carry his new wife across the threshold of their new home to prevent bad luck. 1. In ancient cultures, the threshold of the home was considered to be a hotbed of lurking, unattached evil spirits, and since a new bride was particularly vulnerable to spirit intrusion, especially through the soles of her feet, the groom ensured that his wife would not bring any bad spirits into the house by carrying her inside. Conclusion

Discuss the View That Roles of Men and Women in the Family are Becoming More Equal

The aim of this essay is to attempt to come to a conclusion as to whether the gender roles within the modern-day family are equal, whether they are becoming more equal, and whether they shall ever be equal. In doing this, we shall have to study the views and opinions of many schools of thought, the results of different studies, and recognise and fully appreciate the arguments of different people and groups. The title question itself raises many debateable points, as it makes assumptions that ignore the diversity of the family. Firstly, and most obviously, the question assumes we shall only deal with heterosexually based families, not same-sex relationships. While same-sex families most definitely exist, they are a minority and do not really come into the issue of gender, therefore I shall ignore them for the course of this essay. Secondly, no two families are exactly the same. Families in different countries will no doubt have different attitudes on the subject of equality, and there will be noticeable differences across race, class and culture divisions, as well as between two different families with (superficially at least) a lot in common. This type of diversity would require its own set of studies and essays, and so for the sake of this essay I shall limit my studies to families from this country, and to statistical evidence; rather than individual families. There are many different views concerning the equality between men and women in the family. The traditional nuclear family as we consider it today would be a married man and woman with children, with the man going out to paid employment and the woman staying at home to do housework and look after the childrenWillmott and Young's views are similar to those of Postmodernists, a sociological school of thought that developed in the 1980s. Postmodernists believe that we live in a postmodern world, where differences in gender, race, class etc are now obsolete. As a result, they see gender roles in the family to be equal and egalitarian, and claim that any inequality or dissimilarity between gender roles in individual families is due to the choice of the members within the family. Many people have attacked Willmott and Young's study, claiming insignificant evidence and inaccurate methodology to back up their conclusions. Edgell's Middle Class Couples (1980) claims that while the division of housework is more equal than in the past, the vast majority of families are far from being egalitarian. Edgell also puts emphasis on the fact that the division power within the family also still seems unequal, with men making the majority of decisions for the family. Many feminists also claimed that the statistics show that men still do a disproportionately small amount of work at home. While some more liberal feminists believe we are on a steady path to gender equality within the family, many more hard-line and radical feminists argue that gender roles are far from equal. Ann Oakley's The Sociology of Housework (1974) and Housewife (1976) argue that modern women work a ‘double-shift', juggling full-time employment and housework. Oakley claims that â€Å"One occupation in particular, that of housewife, is exclusively feminine. In Britain, 76% of all employed women are housewives and so are 93% of non-employed women†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Housewife (1976). She argues that while feminism has forced change in waged employment, social attitudes in the home remain the same. According to Oakley, men do very little in the home, with dishwashing being the only housework men do more than women. She also argues that men see doing housework as a favour to their wives, rather than a duty; and that childcare for most men is merely a spasmodic activity of recreation. Many other sociologists attack Oakley's views, accusing her of hypocrisy as she attacked Willmott and Young's methodology, while her own studies into housework completely ignore the more traditional male jobs, such as DIY, operating machinery, gardening, simple household repairs and so on. A. Warde's Domestic Divisions of Labour (1990) offers a more well rounded view: * Male Partner Female Partner Shared Plastering 32 4 2 Tidying Up 2 67 23 Cooking 4 77 17 Checking Car Oil 79 9 2 Bathing Children 22 44 33 It may also be important that the female-dominated jobs (Tidying up, Cooking, Bathing children) are much more often ‘shared' than the male-dominated ones (Checking Car Oil, Plastering) Burghes (1997) argues against Oakley's dismissal of male childcare, stating that more fathers are taking an active role in the emotional development and support of their children. Marxists argue that the traditional nuclear family was merely a way for the capitalist class to control and exploit the proletariat through ideology. Therefore, Marxist-Feminists believe in a ‘patriarchal ideology', in which girls are socialised into a male-led world to accept their role as housewives, and make marriage and family their main goal. In turn, this will benefit the capitalist society by keeping the status quo, and creating a new generation of similarly socialised male workers and female housewives. Marxist-Feminists believe this patriarchy occurs at all levels of society, from making girls wear skirts to advertising dolls on television, and that to truly achieve gender equality we must dispense with socialising our children into gender roles. People often dismiss this view, claiming that gaining equality should not mean compromising identity, and many other feminists believe that retaining their femininity is as important a part of the struggle for equality as gaining equal rights. The New Right believe that the nuclear family is the ideal family structure, and that Britain went through a ‘Golden Age' during the 1950s. Since then, they claim that feminism and equal rights have caused women to demand jobs, and thus be absent from home. As a result, the New Right argue that this puts stress on the nuclear family, often tearing it apart, and that absent parents cause deviance and social problems amongst their children. They claim that this has caused a decline in the family, and an increase in what they consider social problems (egg divorce, single-parent families). They believe that the current equal rights movement is wrong, and that people should return to the traditional nuclear family, which gives everyone an equal but separate, individual role. These views are similar to those of functionalists. Functionalists also believe that the nuclear family is the perfect and desired family type, as each member is supported within the family unit, and each person agrees on their role within the family to keep it working. Robin Fox (1969) argued that roles in the family were based on biological rules, while Talcott Parsons (1955) took a similar view, claiming that naturally women are best at ‘expressive' roles, such as caring, empathising and socialising, while men are best at ‘instrumental' roles, such as working for money. Therefore, functionalists believe that biological factors determine gender roles within the family, and the traditional roles within the nuclear family are the perfect representation of these roles. What is more, functionalist claim there is a consensus within the family, whereby all members of the family agree to these roles. These functionalist and new right views are viciously attacked by Marxists, feminists and postmodernists, all of whom agree that gender roles are culturally, not biologically, determined. Marxist-feminists claim that the consensus is an illusion, as women only accept their roles in the traditional family as they have been socialised to do so by patriarchal ideologies. All feminists also disagree with the New Right idea of the ‘perfect' nuclear family and the ‘Golden Age', claiming that all these things did were control and manipulate women, and that roles within such families were never equal. As this essay has shown us, views on gender roles in the family are fiercely contested, and opinions differ drastically. Functionalists and the New Right insist that gender roles in the family are biologically intended to be different, and were most equal in the traditional, nuclear family. Postmodernists and followers of Willmott and Young claim we have moved into an era of egalitarianism, where gender roles are shared and equal. Feminists argue that while there has been a small amount of progress, gender roles are far from equal, and females still have a much worse ‘deal' than males. I have attempted to fully understand all these points of view, and come to a fair conclusion. In truth, it seems to me that the real nature of gender roles within the family is somewhere between all these points of view. I believe that as we currently stand, gender roles are equal, but not egalitarian. More males share more of the housework and childcare than ever, while more females are pursuing careers and learning what were traditionally ‘male' skills (eg DIY, repair, vehicle maintenance etc). People tend to still do jobs that were traditionally considered ‘right' for their sex, and there are most definitely still differences between the genders, but these boundaries are being pushed every day, and more and more families are sharing more jobs and decisions. I think we must remember that social attitudes take more time to change than social actions, and we must recognise that change is occurring. Since the 1970s, when Ann Oakley wrote her books on housework, we have seen the rise of the ‘new man' and ‘house-husbands'. Meanwhile, more and more women are proving Fox's and Parsons' theories of biologically determined roles to be wrong. Not all families will follow the statistics; there will always be a few male-dominated households, just as there are now ‘role-reversal' families. And families will always differ slightly from each other. But within a few generations, I believe that Willmott and Young's vision of an egalitarian family will become our view of the majority of families, as we're halfway there already.