The Atomic Bomb 20 pages Essay Example For Students

The Atomic Bomb 20 pages Essay On July 16, 1945, the United States of America ushered the world into a new era with the successful detonation of an atomic bomb in New Mexico. That era was the nuclear age. Less than a month later, on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan; the first use of a nuclear weapon against an enemy nation. Most of us know of these basic events, but many do not know of the complicated decisions and scientific breakthroughs that paved the way towards that fateful day in Hiroshima. Every day we are closer to having nuclear arms fall in the hands of someone who wishes to do harm with those weapons. We will write a custom essay on The Atomic Bomb 20 pages specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Many question why we think the U.S. is justified in having our own atomic collection. This is why it is important to understand how the atomic bomb came about and why we decided it was necessary to use it. First reports of the bombs in Japan only reported that a new type of bomb had been used. Most had no concept of what an atom bomb was or why it was so powerful. The story of the atomic bomb opens with a series of new discoveries in physics that began near the turn of the century. The term classical is applied to the physics that scientists developed prior to that time (Cohen, 17). Much of it came from the work of the Father of Physics, the great seventeenth-century English scholar, Sir Isaac Newton. Newton was a scientific genius. Today, however, a competent student with a good high school physics course probably has a more accurate knowledge of the physical universe than Newton had. This is especially true concerning the most basic building blocks of matter, atoms. Newton, as did others before him, developed a theory about the structure of atoms. According to Newtons theory, atoms were like marbles. They were solid and hard, but unlike marbles, they could not be further divided. It was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that scientific experiment began to prove otherwise. Thereafter, knowledge of atomic structure moved ahead very quickly (Cohen, 18). By the mid-1930s, dedicated effort by British and other European scientists had revealed a new world of atomic structure, one filled with incredibly tiny systems of interacting subatomic particles containing electrons, protons, and neutrons. In 1938, two German physicists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, were experimenting with uranium. They discovered that bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons didnt create a new element as they had previously assumed. Instead, uranium atoms split into two other elementsbarium and krypton. This process was called nuclear fission (Batchhelder, 11). These two new atoms weighed less together than a single uranium atom. Therefore, according to Einsteins theory of relativity on mass and energy (E=mc2), the difference in missing mass must be made up in energy (Roleff, 14). Two other scientists had been helping Hahn and Strassman at the time. Their names were Otto Frisch and Lise Meitner. Together they determined that the calculated energy that was released from one single uranium atom would be 200 million electron volts. This energy was roughly 20 million times the energy of an equal portion of TNT. A pound of this matter converted to raw energy would produce more than half the amount of electricity generated in the US (Roleff, 15). Within months scientists from all over the world had repeated and refined the experiment. At the time of Hahn and Strassmans discovery, very few physicists were still working in Germany. During the 1920s and 1930s, Germany was the center of the scientific world (Roleff, 20). When Hitler began his rise to power in the early 1930s, he also began his persecution of the Jews. As a result of his policies, many scientists left Europe for the safety of the United States. Many of these scientists became political refugees who contributed greatly to the success of the future Manhattan Project (Cohen, 22). This intellectual emigration took place at the same time as physicists on both sides of the Atlantic were discovering the secrets of the atom (Batchhelder, 18). .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .postImageUrl , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:hover , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:visited , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:active { border:0!important; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:active , .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190 .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua7a576ab1d8674dc5338fb4ce6005190:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: American Dream: Myth Of Individual Opportunity Essay The most famous of these scientists was Albert Einstein, who settled in Princeton University (Batchhelder, .

Braveheart Summary essays

Braveheart Summary essays The movie "Braveheart" starts off in Scotland, 1280 AD. We see a little William Wallace, following his father, Malcom Wallace to a meeting between noblemen. Whne they arrive at the place of the meeting, they find everyone had been hung by King Edward "The Longshanks". Days later, Malcom, his eldest son John, and other Scottish farmers set off to fight. The next day, William's father and brother are brought home dead. They are laid to rest and soon after William's uncle, Argile, comes to adopt him. Argile promises to teach young William how to use his mind before he shows him how to wield a sword. Argile then brings William back home with him. Years later, King Edward marries his son, Prince Edward, to Princess Isabella, the daughter of the King of France. William returns to his hometown after many years of being away. He falls in love with Murron, who as a little girl gave him a flower at his father's funeral. Soon after, they get married in secret to avoid "Prima Nocta", a law enforced by the King that allows a noble to consecrate a new marriage by having the new wife in his bed for the first night. Instead they consecrate their marriage on their own, but I wouldn't know how because a certain teacher edited out these parts of the movie. Then a crazy solider tries to rape Murron, who then is saved by William. William and Murron separate during their escape, and Murron ends up being captured. The towns' Magistrate slits her throat to teach the townspeople not the attack his soldiers and to try and lure Wallace to fight him. An angry Wallace leads the men of the town in a revolt. They kill all the soldiers, sei ze the fort, and Wallace avenges his wife's death by slitting the throat of the Magistrate. Other towns and clans, hearing of this rebellion come, and join Wallace. They then begin their rampage of the English by infiltrating a local noble's fort/. The kill him, burn the fort, and send the remaining Englis...

Film Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Critique - Essay Example But when a film resulted to an individual committing heinous crime taking 12 lives and wounding 40 more, can it still be considered as entertaining or more on alarming? The Dark Knight Rises is the last of the Batman trilogy written and directed by Christopher Nolan released under Warner Bros. Picture. Earning $160.9 million during its opening weekend, the film is a mixture of action, drama, suspense, and adventure bringing with it a powerful cast starting from Christian Bale who gave every emotion needed to bring Bruce Wayne and Batman to life. Michael Cane gave justice to the heartwarming role of Alfred as a loyal butler and surrogate father of Bruce Wayne. Anne Hathaway was just right to be the sly cat woman who turned Batman’s ally, and Tom Hardy was very much Bane in the film you would hardly see recognized him. The Dark Knight Rises ties the knot of the previous two Batman movies Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). The film begun with the iconic hero sufferi ng from loss and questioning the value of his existence as a savior of Gotham City and ended with him rising from his own grief fuelled by anger on the chaos and desire to restore peace in the city. The film’s exposition on the characters of Bruce Wayne and cat woman during their first encounters would give away the upcoming relations of the two protagonists in saving Gotham City. The movie offered numerous clues of its plot through expository scenes and dialogues. Some of these are the eulogy for the Mayor that is a hint on the reason of Bruce Wayne’s internal struggle, and Selina’s words to Bruce Wayne when they danced at a party insinuated the looming chaos in Gotham City and her role in the rise and fall of Batman. The rising action was developed by the writers and the director when Batman was captured by Bane and the latter gained control over Gotham City including its assets and people by creating friction and promoting strife. As the chaos continues, view ers are kept interested in the movie by showing Bruce Wayne’s struggle to come in terms with his own pride and prejudice. The character of Blake is a great support in building the action as he continues to build secret alliances with other agents to save the police forces and Gotham City. The film’s climax started when Bruce Wayne was able to settle his personal issues, climbed out of the dungeon, and conspired with Selina to help him free the police forces trapped underground and battle with Bane to free Gotham City. The director’s style is nonlinear narrative using flashback scenes to connect the plot and psychological thriller with the elements of action, mystery, and drama that showcases the emotional and mental construction of his main protagonist and antagonist characters. To keep viewers glued in their seat towards the end of the film, Nolan used flashback technique as with the past two Batman movies he directed. The flashback revealed the story of lead c haracters which explains the oddities in their behavior like when Miranda and Bane revealed to Batman their alliance. The same flashback technique was used when the old man in the prison was retelling to Bruce Wayne the story of the child who was able to climb out of the dungeon. Christopher Nolan marked a difference in this movie by using IMAX form in filming 50 minutes of the movie which makes action scenes and background more vivid because of its better resolution. This however affected some of the short dialogues of the

Nike Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nike Analysis - Case Study Example For fiscal year May 31, 2009, the company has reported revenues of more than $19 billion. These figures include sales for affiliate businesses such as Converse, Umbro, Cole Haan and Hurley International. While the company has recorded a 6% drop in its return on investment (ROI), Nike’s performance between 2005 and 2009 is so much better compared to the top 500 S&P companies. Nike’s success may be traced back to capacity to tap into the international market, which accounts for more than half of the company’s sales. Aside from this, Nike has chosen various Asian countries for their contract manufacturing base, allowing them to take advantage of low operational costs and even lower wages. Known best for its â€Å"Just Do It† Campaign which started in 1988, Nike has struggled with issues involving violations of human and labor rights, and deficiencies in health and safety conditions (Ferrell et al., 2011, p. 387). Like most companies that had to face human rig hts allegations, Nike’s response was slow and ineffective. According to an Amnesty International (AI) report, the company’s response may be summarized in four stages: denial, blame others, damage control, reassert control over damaged corporate image, and give appearance of compliance (Avery, 1999). At the beginning, Nike reiterated the efforts the company is making to improve working conditions and raising wages in countries where their factory is located. In a statement, Philip Knight said, â€Å"every Nike subcontractor is subject to systematic, unannounced evaluation carried out by Ernst & Young and that our own reviews†¦have shown that the Code [of conduct] is complied with in all material means† (as cited in Avery, 1999). Unfortunately, the review evaluation carried out by Ernst & Young did not reveal how may factories were actually audited and what tools were used to carry out its evaluation. Moreover, hiring its own evaluators to assess the companyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s operational practices was counterproductive, according to the company’s detractors. For one, how can a company release a negative report against the same people who are providing them with business? Moreover, as a growing company, Nike was too busy fulfilling client orders, its hiring and standard operating procedures were not yet a subject of scrutiny – until the Asian employees started their strike, that is. With thousands of people in their employ and hundreds of factory locations around the world, Nike failed to institute an internal auditing system (and an internal auditor) which could have helped them ensure the highly viable working conditions they wanted to provide. Another issue that led to Nike’s failure to address corporate responsibility earlier is the presence of a contract manufacture base denuded the company’s ability to monitor the activities in all its subcontracting plants. In addition, because many of the contracting plants wer e located in Asian countries, Nike should have installed an in-house representative who is tasked of ensuring that the new manufacturing plant has adopted the Code of Conduct. Transitions should have been made, and regular audit should have been scheduled to monitor the plant’s performance and adherence to the Code. Aside from its labor issues in the Asian territories, Nike has also earned the disagreement of several thousand people who were formerly employees

The recruitment activities for ABC ltd Case Study

The recruitment activities for ABC ltd - Case Study Example The main problems which came forth from the study of the case are discussed as under. Firstly the case reflects lack of coordination between departments which happens to be one of the primary responsibilities of the HR departments in organizations. The problem arises due to improper communication in the organization. This is reflected through the fact that when Robins wanted to book the training rooms for the orientation program he found that it was already reserved for the setting up of computer terminals. An effective system of communication would have been effective in informing the entire organization about the availability of the program from beforehand. Accordingly the system could be scheduled as per the convenience of other departments. Another key problem area is apparent from the fact that Robins being a new employee has failed to undertake the responsibility smoothly. This shows lack of proper training on the part of the HR department in the organization. In order to fit into the job responsibilities completely it is crucial that the organization implements proper induction training of the candidates to make them efficient to handle responsibilities. The case reflects inadequate training about the company which would otherwise made Robins aware about the probable arousal of problems. (Briggs, 2007, p.1). Most employees are technically minded. Therefore they would require a strong and concrete guidance on how to manage the operations. This has been the case with Robins as well. First and foremost the recruiter would have to be made aware of the requirements of the organization. The job description must consider the changing demands of the profile, the changes in technologies, and the different methods of working. Most importantly the job description must reflect the needs, rather than the skills required in the organization. Candidates qualifying the above requirements must be hired in the organization. The important aspect is to provide induction training which helps to equip the candidates with the right skills and knowledge for the job. Going by the analysis of the case study it reveals that Robins is not quite informed about the availability of the resources which would be required for conducting the orientation program. The present situation demands that there are two possible jobs to be dome urgently. One is the implementation of the orientation program and the other is to set up computer terminals. The crisis is that both require training rooms. However, it is strongly felt that the orientation program is a bit more urgent as compared to the other. However, it is difficult to set up the program since the training rooms are already booked by some other department. The question is to de monstrate the need of the situation and arrange the room for orientation. The key solution would be to understand that a delay in the hiring process would ultimately result in

Welfare State Development in the UK

Welfare State Development in the UK Modern welfare state development is generally considered to lead to social security or benefits payments, social housing provision, health provision, social work and educational services. Together these services are known as the big five but these services tend to develop over time and have differed in quantity, availability and quality. Provision and development can change due to social, economic and political factors (Spicker, 1995, p. 3). State provision of welfare has a long history, in Britain for instance dating back to the Elizabethan Poor Laws and earlier. Welfare states started to develop when surveys of poverty by people such as Charles Booth showed the inadequacy of welfare provisions that could not deal with poverty particularly with increasing urbanisation and industrialisation (Thane, 1996, p. 7). The worldwide depression from 1929 would lead countries to consider further welfare developments. High unemployment (12% of the working population in Britain at its worst) showed that better welfare provision was needed (Robbins, 1994, p. 208). From such modest roots the public sector in Britain for example represents around 40 % of the economy (Simpson, 2005, p. 4). There are various key theories that seek to explain the processes involved in welfare state development that will be explained below. The theories have evolved or being devised to explain the differences and similarities in welfare state development in different countries at the same time or in a single country over a period of time. Theories agree that welfare states were developed to serve those that needed help the most or sometimes as universal services to all (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 2). After the main theories have been discussed the one or ones that are most applicable for evaluating contemporary changes will be outlined. There are different ways of looking at the development of the welfare state and deciding how far it should extend, demands for changes can result from improved technology, shifting social or economic factors and demographic trends such as lower birth rates and people living longer. As governments have discovered welfare states mean people are living longer and healthier lives which means that there are more pensioners but less working people to sustain the pensions and extra health and care services they need (Department for Work and Pensions, 2005 p. 4). Four key theories of welfare state development are based around liberalism, Marxism, Neo-liberalism and post structuralism and have all at some point been reflected in or used in the development of welfare states. Developments in welfare states can also be reactive or proactive depending on the ideological aims and visions of governments or their ability to make social policy (Spicker, 1995, p. 35). Liberalism tended to stress the role of the individual in providing for their own needs; the state should only intervene to help those that were incapable of finding work. The capitalist market would eventually provide better lives for everyone; there was only a minimum role for state intervention (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 21). In Britain the liberals originally achieved their aims for welfare state development with the 1834 Poor Law Act that finally replaced the long lasting but no longer effective act of 1601. Following the new act the poor were put in workhouses where they had to work in return for being housed and fed (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 21). Liberalism stressed in its original form that all the state needs to do is give individuals the freedom to make their own choices, only helping the really destitute. For them government only needs to uphold laws and property rights. The business of government of business was to allow businesses to operate freely (R. Bellamy Liberal ism from Eatwell and Wright, 2003, pp. 27-28). However some liberals recognised the shortcomings of laissez-faire economics particularly during recessions and slumps. They also noted the failings of the Poor Law to tackle poverty even during periods of improving prosperity. There emerged new and radical liberalism that called for increased welfare provision and the emergence of limited welfare states. The British Liberal governments of 1906-1914 epitomized that approach by introducing state old age pensions and labour exchanges for the unemployed (Comfort, 1993, p. 347). In contrast Germany had already had a well-developed welfare state provision by 1900. Curiously Bismarck who wanted a healthy well-educated population drew up this system (M Donald Hancock et al, 1998, p.295). Two new liberals in the form of William Beveridge and John Maynard Keynes where the respective architects of the Atlee governments comprehensive welfare state and postwar interventionist economic policies or Keynesian (Bellamy from Eatwell and Wright, 2003, p. 33). Beveridge had plenty of experience in welfare policy having being in charge of the labour exchanges and lecturing on economics at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. Keynes had been an economics adviser to the British government and inspired the New Deal programme in the USA (Crystal, 1998, pp. 105 523). Marxism was developed by Karl Marx in conjunction with Fredrich Engels and led to a second keynote theory of developing the welfare state. Of course Marx and Engels were not concerned with such issues as they wished to promote communism and work towards the working classes taking over economic and political power from the capitalist classes. A Marxist state would develop a welfare state to promote progress, communism and above all protect the workers and eliminate poverty. Marx believed that capitalism would be replaced by communism thus replacing the inequalities and giving everybody enough to meet their needs (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 44). The Marxist movement was not unified about how it would develop the welfare state or indeed gain power. Some Marxists such as the German Social Democrats preferred to use parliamentary democracy to achieve power and develop a welfare state. The seminal Erfurt Programme of 1891 called for welfare provisions such as eight- hour working days, free healthcare, free education, minimum wages and equality for women. More radical Marxists such as Lenin and Trotsky advocated armed revolutions and were able to seize power himself. The Soviet Union itself developed a welfare state with free medical and education services and pensions with unemployment officially non-existent (J.F Femia Marxism and Communism from Eatwell and Wright, 2003, pp. 110-12). In Imperial Germany, Bismarck set up the welfare state to undermine the socialists thus taming these wild beast of the political forest (Hobsbawm, 1987, p. 102). The Marxist-Leninist regimes of the Soviet Union and its Central and Eastern European satellites may have developed welfare states but they failed to produce the economic prosperity of the West and the many failures of their planned economies contributed to the fall of these regimes. On the other hand their population were all more economically equal, they were poor but had free welfare provision and no political rights. The third main keynote theory for welfare state development is Neo-Liberalism most closely associated with the governments of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. In Britain and other parts of Western Europe the combination of Keynesian economics and all embracing welfare provision that had helped to achieve postwar prosperity faltered in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Neo-Liberals believed that the combination of Keynesian economics and the welfare state were contributing to economic and political stagnation and were no longer viable. Margaret Thatchers government elected in 1979 proceeded to formerly ditch Keynesian economics and intended to cut back on the welfare state (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 78-79). Following policies that became known as Thatcherism nationalised industries were privatised, subsidies to ailing private companies were stopped, and council houses were sold off. These policies increased unemployment but eventually lowered inflation. Margaret Thatcher also limited trade union power and defeated the miners during the bitter strike of 1984-1985. She brushed aside opposition to her policies as people accept there is no alternative (Comfort, 1993, p. 608). The planned reduction in expenditure on the welfare state never materialised as higher unemployment pushed up benefit payments and more civil servants were needed to process those claims. The Conservatives found that the National Health Service was politically sacred although they were able to introduce an internal market to aid efficiency. Neo-liberalism is a return to the ideas of classic liberalism and views the state in the same negative light. However it has not being able to dismantle the welfare state just to reform it (OBrien and Penna (1998) p. 103). In the USA Reagans policies produced similar levels of unemployment and poverty whilst increasing military spending substantially. Jessie Jackson accused Reagan of spending millions to beat our plowshares into swords, while leaving the di sadvantaged begging for bread Carroll and Noble, 1988, p. 437). Reagan found it easier to repudiate welfare and spurn the legacy of the New Deal than Thatcher found it to reverse the concept of provision from the cradle to the grave (Hobsbawm, 1994, p. 249). Post-structuralism emerged at a similar time to Neo-liberalism from the 1960s. Unlike Neo-liberalism it does not see liberalism in any guise or Marxism as adequate methods of understanding social and economic policy or as foundations for welfare state development. Instead of concentrating on the state and individuals Poststructuralism aims to understand the relationships between knowledge of social life and the diffusion of power through society (OBrien and Penna, 1998, p. 105). Marxism started to suffer a crisis from the 1970s with its economic weaknesses greatly undermining its social and political foundations and bringing about the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe (Agh, 1998, p. 6). Actual welfare state development is more often a mixture of more than one of these approaches. Development is often based on pragmatic concerns as much as ideological ones. Political concerns particularly in liberal democracies can dictate welfare state development. Welfare measures that are electorally popular will often be implemented ahead of reforms that would make the system more effective yet could be electorally damaging. Recent demographic changes and future trends certainly make welfare state development a vital issue for the present and the future. While those aged over 65 currently represent 16% of the UKs population by 2041 that figure is estimated to rise to 25%. The UKs government Actuarys Department also estimates that the working age section of the population will decrease from 65% to 58% which is all those aged 16 to 64 (DWP, 2005, p.16). . Aging populations are a serious problem to how welfare states as already developed can be sustained. By 1994 over 65s made up 15 % of the German population, 14.5% of the French population and 17.7% of the Swedish population (M Donald Hancock et al, 1998 p. 90). Generally those of the left of the political divide are more likely to prefer a greater development of the welfare state than those on the right who either maintain the status quo or cut it back if they can (Spicker, 1995, p. 77). Based on the facts of aging populations with fewer people of working age paying taxes to fund welfare and benefits expenditure the latest trends in welfare state development tend to stress targeting expenditure to the most needy, providing value for money and preventing fraud. In Britain New Labour has attempted to reform housing benefit and introduced performance standards to improve administration by local authorities. The government has had some success in countering fraud (DWP, 2003, pp. 32-39). New Labour introduced the New Deal to help young people, disabled people and lone parents back into work. Since 1997, two million more people of working age have gained employment reducing benefits expenditure by 5 billion a year, with the purpose of tackling the scourge of unemployment, inactivity and poverty (DWP, 2005, p. 4). For Western Europe the keynote theory that best described welfare state development up to the 1960s would have been variations of liberalism with elements of socialism, for instance British new liberalism and the West German social market economy. From the 1970s neo-liberalism and Poststructuralism had a greater influence on the development of welfare states reflected most closely in the neo-liberal tenets of Thatcherism in Britain. Neo-liberalism did reduce the size of public sectors in the countries that tried it but its deflationary effects led to higher unemployment and higher benefits expenditure. Neo-liberalism would be the best theory to describe the welfare state developments in Central and Eastern Europe after the end of communism. Over all neo- liberalism is now probably the best keynote theory with the proviso that previous liberal and socialist as opposed to Marxist legacies are still apparent and politically untouchable. The reforms needed to amend, extend and continue w elfare state development would best be considered under a Post-structuralist framework. Welfare states especially in the West face the growing challenge of providing for the extra needs of aging populations whilst the working age populations needed to pay for them dwindles. Possible solutions could include raising retirement ages, persuading more people to provide for their own health care and pensions, encouraging people to have more children or encourage immigration from developing nations. Bibliography Agh, A. (1998), The Politics of Central and Eastern Europe Sage, London Carroll, P.N. and Noble, D.W. (1988) The Free and the Unfree- A new history of the United States 2nd edition, Penguin, New York Comfort, N. Dictionary (1993) Brewers Politics a Phase and Fable Cassell, London Crystal, D. (1998) The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press Department for Work and Pensions (2003) Departmental Report 2003 The Stationery Office, London Department for Work and Pensions (2005) Five Year Strategy -Opportunity and Security throughout life The Stationery Office, London Donald Hancock, M; Conradt, D.P; Guy Peters, B; Safran, W. and Zariski, R. (1998) Politics in Western Europe 2nd edition, Macmillan, London Eatwell, R and Wright, A. (2003) Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd edition, Continuum, London Hobsbawm, E. (1987) The Age of Capital 1875-1914, Weidenfeld Nicholson, London Hobsbawm, E. (1994) The Age of Extremes The short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London OBrien, M. and Penna, S (1998) Theorising Welfare Enlightenment and Modern Society Sage Publications, London Robbins, K. (1994) The Eclipse of a Great Power Modern Britain 1870 1992, 2nd edition, Longman, London Simpson, J. (January 2005) Meet Barry- hes here to help Public service director magazine Spicker, P. (1995) Social Policy Themes and Approaches, Prentice Hall Harvester Wheatsheaf, London Thane, P. (1996) Foundations of the Welfare State 2nd edition Longman, London

Oedipus the King :: Classics

Oedipus the King "Oedipus the King" Essay Oedipus Rex lived his life knowing the fate to which he was destined. He tried at all costs to avoid Apollo's prophecies; however, this only led him to a state of tragedy and despair. This outcome made it justifiable for the educated reader to label him as a "tragic hero." Oedipus' obvious identification made it all the more difficult to investigate the question as to whether there could be more than one "tragic hero" per novel. The supporting characters of Jocasta and Laius were possibilities, and in the following paragraphs, their likeness to a figure of tragedy will be expressed. The character of Laius had already died the moment the play began, however, because his presence played such a significant role in the novel, the reader was still able to determine a great deal about him. The biological father of Oedipus had been the reigning king and he lived in riches with his wife Jocasta in wealth and riches. This state of prosperity eventually was transformed into a pathetic end when he was killed in the street by his own son. This fulfills the first property of a tragic hero. Laius also experiences pain that had been partially self-inflicted. He sent his son, Oedipus, away to be killed at an early age, and in the end, it was this discarded son that killed him. Laius then must have realized that this "pain" was the result of allowing others to do his dirty work. If he had had the courage to kill the infant himself, then the misfortune of dying at the hand of his son would have been avoided. Not wanting to sway from the stereotypical traits of a king, Laius exhibited a pride that was largely displayed in the situation that had him killed. Instead of leaving the road for Oedipus to pass, he insisted on maintaining his stature and he "tried to push [Oedipus] off the road" (p.56). This is more specifically defined as "hubris", and is another essential characteristic of a tragic figure. Similar to the unyielding pride of a king, is the expression of one's mind at the expense of his own body. Again, the crossroads situation can be used, as can the general nature of a typical king, a personality from which Laius did not sway. The preceding two points illustrate the main flaw of Laius, King of Thebes. It has many times been proven that pride can be one's downfall, and the existence of this trait in Laius' personality, and the fact that it was this that killed him, prove that he experienced