Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Space Time Compression Essay Example for Free

Space Time Compression Essay Space time compression refers to the speed of transportation making places closer together in terms of social distance. In this free response answer it will highlight examples how technological advancements have connected people and places around the globe and also show the relation to distance decay and friction of distance. The internet has connected us to over millions of different sites and has allowed us to communicate almost instantly to anyone in the world. With the increase in social media sites and applications, using an application like Facebook, a person from the United States can instant message (IM) to their family member in Australia and â€Å"catch up† versus having to write a letter and take 6-7 business days to arrive. With Friction of Distance it would difficult for a person in the â€Å"old times† to write to someone in a different far away country, especially overseas. It would take much energy and effort to get a letter from the United States to Australia; first you would have to use the Pony Express then send it overseas and take it one month to arrive. Today the evolvement of transportation has surpassed any sort of transportation back in the ages. With cars, trains, jets, cruise liners, the ability to transport or travel is faster than ever before. The first earth tracks were created by humans carrying goods and often followed game trails. Now they have major highways and motored vehicles. Distance decay is decreased because of the amount of tourism in the world. It allows other people from different places in the world to interact with one another. With technological advancements in transportation and communication it has allowed many people and places to have greater interaction because of space-time compression.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Connections Between Stalin And Lenin Regimes Politics Essay

Connections Between Stalin And Lenin Regimes Politics Essay If the words of traditionalist historians from the cold-war era are to be taken as fact, then the answer to the topic question dictates that there is a real connection that exists between Leninism and Stalinism. It was the socioeconomic and political base created by Lenin that became the plant from which emerged the excesses of Stalins era. Stalin promoted an entirely personal viewpoint when it came to his soviet policy i.e. he took on the role and accumulative advantages of being the Lenin of his rule. His behavior highlighted his own policies and made evident the failing totalitarian arguments resulting in his regimes being termed a nations tragedy (Ulam Stalin; the Man and His Era 12). There are several people who disagree with this view; mainly Trotskyitesis who put forth that Stalinism broke away from Leninism. They are in favor of the nature of Stalins rule; he pulled his regime away from the progressive and democratic nature of Lenins rule and pulled it towards a dictatorship that seemingly served his self-interest. It has been termed a Thermidorian negationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [and] betrayal of the basic Bolshevik beliefs (Cohan 41). Deutscher further went onto state that Stalin was only able to maintain the status of a revolutionary leader because he was able to implement a new and fundamentally different practice of socioeconomic and political organization, as opposed to staying true to the older definition of revolution (Stalin; a Political Biography 550). Khruschev famously took up the vast break between the two regimes when he tried to validate the presence of his Leninist-Marxist regime. He went against the notion that Stalinsim exhibited any qualities of Leninism and by way of de-Stalanization promoted the concept of the excesses that occupied Stalinism. Some theorists attempted to elaborate the two regimes in a more neutral tone and point of view; however, the revisionists insisted that although there were discontinuities and continuities between the two regimes, Stalinism had been influenced heavily by other historical events from within Russia. The prevailing argument is now a balance of the straight line intentionalist theory that Bolshevik Marxism determined the character of post revolutionary Leninism as well as the main traits of what we call Stalinism, and the revisionist research that has shown the difference of extremity between the two regimes (Cohen Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics and History since 1917 42). While Leninism slowly began to work its way in the direction of political totalitarianism, economic liberalization did not necessarily have to result in Stalinist authoritarianism. The demise of the communist regime led to a kind of rebirth in Sovietology, and also set in stone the fact that distinguishing between a good and bad Lenin is becoming less and less sustainable (Pipes Three Whys of the Russian Revolution 84). Although it cannot be stated as fact that out of the totalitarian embryo would come totalitarianism full blown, it is certain that Lenin had played a significant role in creating Stalin. The one thing to note is however, that Stalin escalated politics and terror to an entirely new level. (Cohen Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics and History since 1917 43). Several people are in agreement over the fact that a significant change took place when Stalin introduced economic reforms which stemmed from a policy of concentrating peasantry into collective farms after collectivization the effectively abolishing private property and swiftly industrializing through five year plans. Stalin believed that it was a Great leap forward. Alev Nove came to the conclusion that Stalins economic policys infiltration was a great turning point in Russian history, whereby Stalin challenged the Marxist theory and turned it upside down to determine the character of the economic arrangement through political system (Hartfree 27). The collectivization policy initially was a change to the semi-capitalists policy of trading under the NEP. Stalin, while restructuring the USSR, portrayed that wholesale collectivization and industrialization were not only representing the continuation of the Bolshevik blueprints that were set by Lenin but in his words was A path of socialism. People like Trotsky totally disagreed with Stalin and his principals. Trotsky during the process of bringing about a change in policy portrayed how Stalin had deviated from the Bloshevik ideology and that opportunism à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ turned into its opposite à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ adventurism (Trotsky Eastman 45). Trotsky being an ex-Bolshevik in refuge, irrespective of everything would have still criticized Stalin out of personal revenge. Stalins contention of collectivization as a branch of Leninism did not hold much significance, even though it was coupled with Grain requisitioning tactics and Kulak liquidation during the Civil War. Stalin validat ed his actions using quotes by Lenin, who claimed collectivization as an eventual socialist goal and referred to Kulaks as bloodsuckers, vampires, robbers of the people (Hartfree 28). Stalin claim to his theory leading to the destruction of the last roots of capitalism in the country, to the final victory of socialism in agriculture, and to complete consolidation of Soviet power in the country side is unreal. The reliability of Stalins evidence was doubtful not only due to the omissions from some of Lenins writings (which were put away in sealed archives) also because of his selective manner towards economic arguments. Stalins reasons were based merely on words that strengthened his views and ambitions alone while completely being oblivious to Lenins wise warnings towards collectivization: coercion towards the middle peasant is a supremely harmful thing, to act here by means of coercion is to ruin the whole cause, and collectivization should be based upon not, pressure, but examples and persuasion (Hartfree 28). Deutscher, through the western study of Stalins economic policy, was identified as the first to object to the Soviet thought by stating that a breach in policy of communists had occurred and had claimed on noticing a Great Change. He further stated: Soviet Russia embarked upon her second revolution, which was directed solely and exclusively by Stalinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [and which]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ was even more sweeping and radical than the first (Deutscher Stalin; a Political Biography 296). Deutschers distinction of it being the second revolution states his perceived difference that existed between both the revolutions. He stated collectivization as a Military operation, a cruel civil war (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Deutscher stated their experiment of placing 150 million peasants into 200,00 kolkhoz as piece of prodigious insanity, in which all rules of logic and principals of economics were turned upside down, (Deutscher Stalin; a Political Biogr aphy 326), he blatantly specified that Stalin undertook to drive barbarism out of Russia by barbarous means (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Even though Deutscher comprehended the price of such means, it is quite vague whether he possessed all the facts for writing in 1949, his prospect to view the material in person was quite limited, hence even while stating Stalin as having borrowed so much from Marxist thinkers and economists, that he might well be charged with outright paligrism he wraps Stalin up with a positive note (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Duetschers compassion towards the communist ideology reflects a socialist nature in his political inclination, he discusses the rewards of such policies and describes Stalins economy as the first truly gigantic experiment in planned economy, the first instance in which a government undertook a plan to regulate the whole economic life of its country, and to direct its industrial resources towards a uniquely rapid multiplication of the nations wealth (Full Text of Facts on Communism). He outlines that the plans had allowed Russia to modernize and develop into a society, and that a vague idea had been given practicality for the first time. For Duetscher the breach in policy was not as catastrophic as what later historians would describe it as, but he did consider that behind Stalin were tramping the myriads of weary bleeding Russian feet(Full Text of Facts on Communism). Intentionalists stated collectivization as useless and that it only damaged Russia, they classify the Stalinism perio d as a struggle on the same scale as of the First World War (Conquest The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the torror-famine). According to Ulam, when questioned if the Civil War had ever concluded, answered stating that collectivization as a war against peasantry (Lenin and the Blosheviks: the Intellectual and Political History of the Triumph of communism in Russia). According to the totalitarian school of thought, lenin and stalin both classified peasants as filth, flexible towards the disposal of the party. According to Ulam had Lenin lived he would have bought and end to NEP long before Stalin did. To both the revolution was taken over by financial radicals that handicapped the economy, and they initiated institutions which later provided as a form or advancement for Stalins revolution from above(Full Text of Facts of Communism). Conquest in order to link both the oppressors deduced that both had martyred almost the same number of people using their economic polici es. During the Peasant War of grain requisitioning held by Lenin, an estimate of 14 million people died where as in the Revolution from above of Stalin an estimate of 14.5 million were found dead. Conquests last words in respect to the Leninist-Stalinist policies were When the Stalin regime moved into excessive requisitioning in late 1932, it had the experience of 1918- 21 behind it. Then the experience had resulted in disastrous famine. If it was again to do so, this cannot have been for want of understanding in the Kremlin. (The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine). 1933s Terror Famine did it. He claimed that Stalin disregarded Lenins advice and embedded his own exploitation and destruction of the muzhik. This perspective further more damaged the Stalinists claims for further Bloshevik policies; which is clear to us that had they been accomplished NEP would have lasted. Ulam justifies his statement by stating that Stalins war was not for power alone bu t also did not support ideology, the faith of Marxism-Leninism (Ulam Stalin; the Man and his Era). Upon proper comprehension of Marxism, it would have required a safer, more reasonable method of transforming Russia into a modern industrial society (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Conquest grasps differences from both the Leninist and Stalinist policies and does not consider the Stalinist economics as an utter continuation of the Leninist war communism. He states that Although Lenin shared Bolshevik antipathy towards the peasants as the archaic element in Russia, his main concerns were to understand them in Marxist termsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and to decide how to organize the countryside (The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine), whereas Stalin only wanted to, frighten the Kulaks into submission (The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine). The only factor that made up for Lenin was that he perceived peasantry in Marxist terms and his policy was based on trial and error, with a changeable mixture of ideology and pragmatism (Lee 180) and at the last moment, Leninà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ listened to the voice or reality (Conquest The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine). None of this stands as a justification to the policies but simply outlines the imperfect characteristics of the Stalinist policies, unlike Deutschers view, which werent simply a continuation but also an intensification of Stalins course which would end in A cruel mockery of the peasant (Ulam Stalin; the man and His Era). It is said that one cannot make omelets without breaking eggs. In that case, perhaps one should not make omelets, if the menu happens to provide other choices (Nove 379). Quite a number of eggs were broken when speaking in terms of Russia, which not only according to the totalitarians, but was later also accepted by the Soviets, like Gorbachev who persisted on introducing Lenin like perestroika and glasnost reforms to amend the Stalinists red tape. They claimed that a lot of stress had been placed on what Gorbachev described as the centralization and command system, and illustrated to the soviet people the horrific nature of collectivization: Flagrant violations of the principals of collectivization occurred everywhere. Nor were excesses avoided in the struggle against the kulaks. An atmosphere of intolerance, hostility and suspicion was created in the country. I am putting things bluntly- those were real crimes stemming from an abuse of power. Many thousands of people were subjected to whole sale repressive methods. Such comrades is the bitter truth (Gorbachev). In Noves words Stalin was required to bring Russia into the 20th century, loses were i mmense but such was the only available option for Russia. It had become more explicit that Stalin had taken the Leninist method and made it further extreme to a notch unconceivable under Lenin, and even though it is true that the foundations were there to be exploited, Stalin was not a Leninist but a Stalinist who was knowledgeable about Leninism, the events that followed would most probably not been approved by Lenin. According to the totalitarians, politically both of them were considered as dictatorships; each was a single party system, each had secret police apparatus; both inculcating ideas within their citizens; each had control over the economy and the political organizations of the country; both used terror as a practice; To be clear: Lenin bequeathed to his successors a fully functioning police state (Amis 32). Even though each had a one party state, Trotskyite Deutscher implied that Stalin was The rule of a single fraction [which] was indeed an abuse as well as a conseq uence of the rule of the single party (The Prophet Unarmed Trotsky 1921 1929). This was fully argued by Khrushchev who, claimed that in respect to political ideology, and procedures towards the party, Lenin was a true Marxist. In a discrete speech he justified this by stating that Lenin had upheld democracy and collegiality in the Communist Party or which he named The Leninist method of convincing and educating (Crankshaw). He concurs with Figes perspective who stated that, despite the ban on factions, the party still made room for comradely debate (Figes). The political behavior inside the part faced a direct split for Stalins heir. In practice Stalin ignored the norms of Party Life and trampled on the Leninist principal of collective Party Leadership. This was despotism for Khrushchev and Co. The totalitarians portrayed Stalin as someone who ruled with an iron fist from inside the party, but he ran the country much more brutally than the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This particular kind of Soviet judgment in the mix of the huge amount of writings by the Liberals is quite a minority. Liberals completely deny the split between the two political ideologies. On the other hand western historian had no reason to justify their beliefs like the Soviets, so stuck to agreeing with Pipes in his statement Stalins megalomaniac and other odious qualities should not obscure the fact that his ideology and modus operandi was Lenins. A man of meager education, he had no other source of ideas (A Concise History of the Russian Revolution). Historians that are persuaded by the American values of democracy consist of the same modus operandi as Lenin. His theoretical and practical solutions fueled the party which gave birth to the totalitarian Stalinist. Pipes does not indicate coming a cross any such signs that hint whether Lenin ever considered Stalin a traitor to his definition of Communism. According to Pipes the reason for this was the dictatorship of the proletariat which gave a rise to the dictatorship by the vanguard, and in both cases terror was struck by death. The odd fact was that these views were similar to those of the pre-revolutionary, utopian idealist Lenin, who was not affected by the hardships of the Civil War Government So long as the state exists there is no freedom. Pipes in particular did not have any freedom during the regimes of Lenin and Stalin. Another revisionist named Service, maybe not as intense as Pipes; but in accordance to recent archival research, shows that he sides with the totalitarians, and also indicates to the violent Bolshevik political ambitions. He explains the one party state as arbitrary rule, administrative ultra-centralism, and philosophical amoralism. Lenin was not graspable as it was first thought, and the specula tion that if Lenin had survived, a humanitarian order would have been established is hard to square with this garment of agreed principals of Bolshevism (Service). Volkogonov was a reformed communist who held similar totalitarian beliefs of the red tape, sabotage, and bureaucracy that was commonly railed against by Lenin was infused through the system that he had created. Peoples freedom, power, human rights were concepts deemed unnecessary (Volkogonov and Shukman 77-78). By Lenin, the party had become a state within a state, its dictatorship a fact Party absolutism replaced tsarist autocracy. Democracy and civil rights became bourgeois manifestationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [and]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ human life a soulless statistical unit. (Full Text of Facts on Communism). This continued till Stalins death. On top of that revisionism proved that a instead of a continuation the finalized Stalinist product was poles apart of the primary Leninist system. Reevaluating the Soviet experience Cohen concluded that the party had a considerable amount of change from 1917 to 1921 alone, in terms of composition, organizational structure, internal political life and outlook. Stalins party was thoroughly different from that of Lenin. For, if ideology could influence events, then it was also shaped and changed by it, (Cohen). If Lenin was impacted by the Civil War, then Stalinist had gone through different stages of evolution as well. Stalinist ideology changed in essence and it did not represent the same movement as that which took place in 1917 (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Nationalism, conservatism, reactionism, and dogmatism was revived where as there was a switch in the prominence of proletariat to the leaders as creators of life. Cohen concluded that, disc ontinuities were secondary to continuities. (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Although in terms of political continuation the difference between both the terms is quantitative, not qualitative (Full Text of Facts on Communism), and, as Cohen states excess was Stalinism (Cohen), is what differentiates between the two. The extent to which they differed not the manner in which they differ. Essentially, the basic elements of the Stalinist regime were all in place by 1924, Stalin simply prolonged it to feed his own personal satisfaction (Full Text of Facts on Communism). Continuous and discontinuous can be found both economically and politically but it is risky to jump to a conclusion like the Soviets stating that no link was there between Stalin and Lenin or enforcing the fact that no difference is there between the two. It is vital for one to see and understand the link between the two regimes. Had precedents of economical and political nature not existed terrors such as those witness ed during Stalins time would not have existed. Conquest derives that Stalinism did not emerge from nothingness, like any other historical phenomenon, it had roots in the past, but it would be deluding to state like Solzhenitsyn who claimed that a direct chain of events led to Stalin (The Great Terror: A Reassessment). The terror of Stalinist made an impact on history and led to plain simple human barbarity which inhabits mankind. The Mongols, Ivan the Terrible, and many other dictators used Lenins Logic of the axe (Volkogonov). Although there is a similarity between the Cheka of 1918 and the NKVD of the 1930s, the core difference between Lenin and Stalin was the extent of how far either would go. As evidence has it, majority agrees to the fact that Stalin took things further, both hold records showing that they had killed but Lenin did not kill fellow Communists, and Stalin did so on a massive scale; Lenin spoke of collectivization whereas Stalin implemented it, Lenin commented over the bureaucratic red tape, whereas Stalin wrapped the USSR in it. (Pipes a Concise History of the Russian Revolution)

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Bilingual Education vs English Immersion Programs :: essays research papers

Bilingual Education vs English Immersion Programs Bilingual Education is defined as any school program that uses two languages. In a more theoretical sense it is any educational program whose ultimate goal is for the participants to be fully versed in all facets of both languages (i.e., able to listen, speak , read, and write in both languages). The definition of a coordinated, developmental bilingual approach has emphasized the goal of being equally fluid in both languages. Realistically, this has not been the goal for most K-12 bilingual schools in the United States. More commonly in the United States we are using the words â€Å"bilingual program† to describe a program that will provide literacy and content in the primary language, while building English fluency, to the point where all instruction will occur in English. These programs are label transitional bilingual programs as their ultimate goal is to transition all students into an English only learning arena. One of the down sides of these programs is that they are no t maintenance (development)bilingual programs which are designed to preserve and develop student’s primary language while they acquire English as a second language. Bilingual Program Models All bilingual program models use the students' home language, in addition to English, for instruction. These programs are most easily implemented in districts with a large number of students from the same language background. Students in bilingual programs are grouped according to their first language, and teachers must be proficient in both English and the students' home language. Early-exit bilingual programs are designed to help children acquire the English skills required to succeed in an English-only mainstream classroom. These programs provide some initial instruction in the students' first language, primarily for the introduction of reading, but also for clarification. Instruction in the first language is phased out rapidly, with most students mainstreamed by the end of first or sec ond grade. The choice of an early-exit model may reflect community or parental preference, or it may be the only bilingual program option available in districts with a limited number of bilingual teachers. Late-exit programs differ from early-exit programs primarily in the amount and duration that English is used for instruction as well as the length of time students are to participate in each program (Ramirez, Yuen, & Ramey, 1991). Students remain in late-exit programs throughout elementary school and continue to receive 40% or more of their instruction in their first language, even when they have been reclassified as fluent-English-proficient.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

The Influence Of CAD On Society Essay -- essays research papers

Before computers there were hands and tools. Before hands and tools there were just hands. Humans have always been designing and throughout human history drafting is what became of it. With new technology in building during the earlier years drafting needed to be changed to accommodate it. Humans have always been able to find better ways to accomplish things. Drafting is no different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before people used tools to draw something they went to what we call now a â€Å"General Contractor† with an idea and he had to come up with the rest. After a while the contractors wanted more. Just an idea wasn’t enough for them. Their clients sometimes wouldn’t like what they had built for them. So eventually the contractors asked the clients to tell them exactly what they wanted. Since it was hard to sketch accurately, tools were developed to aid them in drawing. This enabled the client to show the contractor exactly what he wanted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the population grew rapidly the demands for faster and more accurate plans did also. Once again drafters looked for a new way to draw. They decided to turn to the computer. In the 1950s MIT discovered the capability to display a computer-generated image on the screen (Zandi, 5). Up until the mid to late 1970s drafters used this technology just for mathematical calculations (Goetsch, 23). Then they discovered that the computer could be used to display more than just numbers. They found that they could use it to draw on. It wasn’t until the early 1980s that this new technology caught on (Goetsch, 23). Drafters found that using computers was much quicker, more accurate, and much neater than hand drawn plans. They had found their solution, Computer Aided Drafting and Design or CADD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now that CADD has found it way into drafting it has been improving upon drafting greatly over the past 20 years. Today nearly all firms use CAD (Friedman). It has changed the way people go about their drawing and designing process. The variety of new programs has made everything more accurate, there are many more ways to think towards a problem, and the process of fast tracking has come about. It has changed the society in many ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether using CADD or drawing a project traditionally, drafters always start off with a sketch. When brainstorming ideas i... ... in the office (Friedman). People sometimes have conflicting ways to go about something but in the end it all looks the same (Friedman). The human beings’ inherent slowness and inaccuracy in performing manual drafting tasks such as lettering, line work, and scale work, coupled with the ever increasing demands for higher levels of productivity, led to the wide scaled development of CADD (Zandi, 4). Drafting has been influence by CADD over the years and so has technology. The more we can do by drafting the more we can accomplish technologically. CADD has allowed us to accomplish these things. It devises a different way of thinking. (Friedman) And like the railroad, electric light, or the car it will eventually alter our economic structures, our social systems, and our daily living. IBM’s best thinking on this matter is that the computer did not turn out to be primarily a computational mechanism but is for many different things (Zandi, 22). CADD allowed us to design something as complex as a skyscraper and it allows us to create many other complex things. (Grad, 17) Many things are still to come of CADD can we can only await to see how it will change or society and our drafters more.

War poetry :: English Literature

War poetry I come from Wooburn common. Somebody had to. When we first moved here it seemed an alright place. There are plenty of fields for sport and stunning views. But these mild advantages are swamped by a thousand and one disadvantages. For example, I still, after four years of living here, am coming to terms with the fact that I'm the only sane person in this village. Even my family seem to be a little on the insane side after living here, but I can't say I blame them. The only entertainment there is: dodging the many vicious animals when you go on walks and trying not to get lost in the uncountable number of trees and wooded areas. It's enough to drive anyone mad! One of the inhabitants of Wooburn Common is "crazy dog man". He has somewhere in the region of 15 dogs which he talks to, not to mention himself, regularly. He is a tall, lanky man, with grey greased back hair and always wears, rain or shine, his dark green rain Mac and Wellington boots. One day, one of his beloved dogs decided to "leave a package" for us, on our lawn for my dad to find. We were unaware at first whose dog did the deed but we treated it as a one off. As we were about to find out this was not the case. Everyday a fresh one was laid; we even put a sign up saying "please do not allow your dog to foul on our verge, or we may have to return the favor". It was no good, the poo just kept coming (by now mostly on the sign itself!) until operation pooper scoop was initiated. A whole day I spent in my sister's car at the end of drive with a pair of binoculars waiting for the now named "phantom pooper" to arrive. Time dragged on, but as I was about to call it a day, "crazy dog man" decided to show his face, dogs and all. It was horrific! One or two of the dogs had diarrhea, but I consoled myself by knowing that I had caught the culprit. It wasn't long before I told my dad. He went, besides a bright scarlet colour, mad, but managed to coolly and calmly place one of the many excretory products in to an envelope and posted through the recipients letter box! A punishment well deserved; but events like this one happen regularly in wooburn common and although reasonably funny, the routine of them happening again and again every week is definitely not. If you live in Wooburn common you have to accept that the main bulk of

Friday, August 2, 2019

Our Responsibility in Our Life Essay

Since childhood, we have been taught about responsibility. Until there comes a time that we all have responsibilities that we must own up to. But, what we already have a sense of responsibility for all the things we have done? The answer is may be yes or may be no. So, what is the meaning of responsibility? Responsibility is the obligation/consequence to bear and do something that is given/assigned to everyone with awareness from ourselves. As a student, in order to reach my life success I must obtain certain type of responsibilities. These responsibilities consists of responsibility as a servant of God, as a student (ourself), as a child, and as a citizen. The first is responsibility as a servant of God. Have we run our duty as religious people? Many of us who are academically capable, fulfilled in terms of material but our soul is empty because it is not touched by religious values. For you, students, perform the obligation as a people, not to ask or complain but do your duty as a servant. Don’t just closer to Him when we were in pinched life conditions. Do your responsibility such as do His command and leave His prohibiton, praying, and trust Him and keep faith. The second is responsibility as a child. Many students are unaware or aware but do not want to do self-realization that their parents do not want a lot of things on them. Only one desired by parents that their child could go to school, learn well and later graduated have a better life than their parents. Did not we ever imagined, how the our parents work hard, earn much money to pay us in school. Never occurred in our minds in order to replace what they have given. Therefore, do your responsibility such as obey what they ask, care to them, and giving them your achievement. The third is responsibility as a student. Each student must plant a sense of responsibility on theirselves. Responsibility of the student as a learner is learning well, do home work that has been given to them, discipline in running the school rules. This means that each student is required to carried out absolutely the responsibilities without exception. But, the fact many students who feel overwhelmed by their obligations as students. Students go to school not for learning purposes, but used as a venue for meeting, gathering with friends, chat and etc. While the true task to learn and gain knowledge. Although this is a reality, we must prevent, change our mindset, and we must be aware that we are a student. The fourth is responsibility as a citizen. We live in the middle of society.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Western Influence on Intellectual Movements in China

These considerations give us a limited objective — to mark some of the broad outlines and trace some of the main patterns in the intellectual history of modern China’s attempt to comprehend the West and adjust to it. The study proceeds on the assumption that Western influence did indeed precipitate the remaking of Chinese life and values (Gu and Goldman 2004 74). The imitation of Western arms, the program of â€Å"Self-strengthening† through Western studies, later through industrialization and eventually through institutional reform, the movement for revolution and republicanism— all these and many other programs have had their day and contributed to the long struggle for the remaking of Chinese life. All of them have been related, in greater or less degree, to the Western influence on China, even down to the alleged â€Å"American imperialism† (Ghai 1999 32). The story of what happened during 1 920s and I 910s and World War II and its aftermath to the overseas trained intellectuals and the role they played in China’s history after World War II can be told through the recollections of Chen Renbing and the overseas educated. They reflected on their lives as intellectual; in China during the rise and implementation of communism and anti-intellectual movements, including the Thought Reform Movement, the Anti-Rightist Movement, the Cultural Revolution and the downfall of the Gang of Four and an attempt to return to a more civil society (Gu and Goldman 2004 74). These mostly male intellectuals provided fascinating details of their early lives and education abroad (Ghai 1999 32). However, even more questions arose with the realization that their influence upon returning to China was severely limited by anti-intellectual mass political movements. Discussion May Fourth Movement in 1919 The incident of May 4, 1919, was provoked by the decision of the peacemakers at Versailles to leave in Japanese hands the former German concessions in Shandong. News of this decision led some 3,000 students from Beida and other Beijing institutions to hold a mass demonstration at the Tiananmen, the gateway to the palace. They burned the house of a pro-Japanese cabinet minister and beat the Chinese minister to Japan (Ghai 1999 33). Police attacked the students and they thereupon called a student strike, sent telegrams to students elsewhere, and organized patriotic teams to distribute leaflets and make speeches among the populace (Gittings 1996 268). Similar demonstrations were staged in Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, and elsewhere (Gu and Goldman 2004 74). A few students were killed and others were wounded (Rodan 2004 231). The prisons were soon full of demonstrators. Visits by Bertrand Russel and John Dewey, coupled with a large number of Chinese students seeking education in Europe, Great Britain and the United States, promised, a new epoch in China’s relations with the rest of the world (Gittings 1996 268). Some Chinese Critics blamed the government’s woes on its Eurasian nature, a reference to the many foreign advisers and Western-educated Chinese in its ranks (Ghai 1999 33). Rising patriotic sentiment was accompanied by heightened anti-foreign feeling. A generation of intellectuals whose mettle was forged in the May Fourth movement of 1919 sought inspiration from the West, absorbing Western ideas and values while rejecting Western influence in China (Rodan 2004 231). As the Nanking government centralized its power in the early 1930s, it tightened censorship and restricted intellectual freedoms (Zhao 2000 268). In the midst of civil war, any form of dissent, especially of a Communist flavor, was severely repressed, and a sort of ‘reign of terror† existed on some university campuses, with occasional raids, expulsions, and arrests. Espousal of communism was a capital offense and often no proof was required. In one incident, six young writers were forced to dig their own graves and then buried alive—an ancient punishment (Ghai 1999 34). Student Protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 In the spring of 1989, what began as a student protest in Beijing galvanized diverse social groups throughout China. Spurred by the death of the popular pro-democracy Politburo member Hu Yaobang, university students began a series of protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the civic and cultural heart of China (Rodan 2004 232). The students camped out in Tiananmen Square, listening to speeches, chanting slogans, and singing songs of freedom and protest. Print and broadcast media covered the lofty pronouncements of the charismatic student leaders (Gries and Rosen 2001 211). For many students, influenced by exposure to Western ideas as China opened its doors in the preceding decade, democracy appeared simply to mean freedom of press and expression (Ghai 1999 35). After some weeks, the students held the entire nation of China in thrall, threatening the ideological hold of Deng arid the other octogenarian Communist Party leaders (Zhao 2000 268). Traditionally, the people of China have viewed student protests respectfully (Gries and Rosen 2001 211). Western liberalization and significant political inclinations influence Chinese students to rally protest in realization to their demands of rights and appropriate humanitarian treatment, such as those performed in Western lands (Pok Xing 2004 121). The students, in fact, consciously sought to associate themselves with the May 4th Movement, a popular and patriotic pre-republic protest against foreign domination. At the core of the students’ concerns was a hope for greater democracy (Jeans 1997 184). Indeed, one of the most enduring symbols of the Tiananmen Square protests was the erection of a large-scale statue— the â€Å"Goddess of Democracy. In 1989, the economic reform initiated by Deng was a decade old, and many within China—even at the highest levels of government—believed that it was time for political reform as well (Gries and Rosen 2001 212-213). By May, the protests had expanded to nearly forty cities throughout China. The students drew support from many elements of Chinese society—from journalists, intellectuals frustrated by the Communist Party’s tight control over free expression in the press and academic institutions, urban workers concerned about growing inflation (nearly 27 percent in the first four months of 1989), and even bureaucrats upset about government corruption (Gries and Rosen 2001 212-213). The participation of workers m the protests were especially galling and worrisome to Communist Party officials. The party was, after all, supposed to be the vanguard of the workers (He 2001 88). Moreover, as events in Tiananmen Square were unfolding, party leaders were aware that Lech Walesa had recently led the independent trade union Solidarity in a call for political reform and free elections in Poland (Pok Xing 2004 121). Spiritual Pollution Policy Spiritual pollution and the closely related evil, â€Å"bourgeois liberalization,† are defined as beliefs in excessive and unchecked freedoms that undermine the four basic principles (Wood 2002 46). The ideological battle against such pollution was urgent but this problem occurred in the thinking of Party members, cadres and the people generally (He 2001 88). As a contradiction among the people, spiritual pollution could be solved using study, criticism and self-criticism. The place for eliminating such evils among united front targets was the institute of socialism (Chi 1996 196). China is particularly sensitive about Western cultural influence. Haunted by anti-foreignism, which ebbs and flows in recent Chinese history, China regards Western media fare as an important source of spiritual pollution and peaceful evolution (Wood 2002 46). News of the anti-spiritual pollution movement and its activities were like a virus spreading over China (Jeans 1997 184). In some places it took a serious turn and in some areas, like in Guangdong, it only received lip service (He 2001 88). With the campaign of party rectification proceeding at the same time, it was like the San-fan and Wu-fan campaigns revisited, but on a smaller scale. History came back to haunt the entrepreneurs, who were just recovering from the wrath of Mao and still hoping to overcome their fear of life uncertainty Mass campaigns in China typically had not been limited to the goal of the campaign but easily rolled over to microeconomic aspects of life, thus making life miserable for private entrepreneurs and consumers alike (Chi 1996 196). Western Influence: To Lead in China’s Democracy First, political civilization is part of the civilization of humankind: and advanced political civilization includes progressive political ideas, such as democracy, liberty, equality, fairness, justice, political transparency, and human rights, which are shared by all human beings (He 2001 88). Second, the development of socialist democracy in China should correspond to the country’s economic and social development as well as its political tradition, and China should never copy any Western political models. Third, in promoting political development, China can learn from the achievements of political civilization of other peoples, including some ideologies of Western democracy in terms of theoretical principles, institutional design, and political process (Wood 2002 48). Fourth, the priority in developing political civilization is to ensure that China’s socialist democracy is institutionalized and standardized, with corresponding procedures (Liew 2004 158). Such a theoretical innovation suggests Beijing’s flexibility and bottom line in search for the socialist democracy in general and intra-party democracy in particular (Gittings 1996 268). The influence of Western ideologies are significantly manifested in Chinese intellectual protests from the time of May fourth protests up to the latest at Tiananmen Square in 1989; hence, the possibility to utilizing western influence, particularly in democratic ideologies, can be a potential tool in introducing the concepts of democracy to the society and political system (Liew 2004 158). Conclusion The central theme of modern Chinese history has been to compete with the West so as to gain a foothold in the modern world. In the transformation to study western learning to achieve national prosperity and strength in modern times, China made a tremendous effort and paid dearly. Western learning spread in the beginning of this century, however the concepts of the rights and of the rule of law went against feudal social relationships. As with incidents in May fourth and Tiananmen Square, many had liberal if not leftist leanings, and were filled with disillusionment and yearnings for a strong and modern China. The western influences had indeed played significant role in the events; thus, with intellectual bodies stirred up, the possibility of introducing democratic concepts in Chinese society is indeed possible and potential.