Freud and Tillich Essay

S. Freud’s The Future Illusion and P. Tillich’s Religion as a Dimension in Man’s Spiritual Life carry on about an important question of what religion really is, what is its meaning in a cultural, psychological and scientific aspect and how it relates to a society and an individual. In this paper I will try to prove through an analysis and comparison of both texts that although their approach to the subject is different they both regard religion as an important aspect of human life. Freud in Illusion touches on things that to some may be an unquestionable truths; a meaning of life, a reason to be a good citizen – a good human being. Freud strips religion of its â€Å"holiness† but not of its power over a culture and a human life. He argues that religion in its essence is nothing more than an illusion – a wishful thinking based on a subconscious hope for a reward (the afterlife). According to Freud, religion is an aspect of culture – civilization, defending us against nature and each other. Civilization is a necessity that was socially constructed in order to explain and control the unknown and scary forces of the world but more importantly to cage our primal desires of: incest, murder, cannibalism which lay deeply in our unconscious. Therefore, to save humanity civilization created laws. At first the forces of nature were given human characteristics to make the assimilation easier and simpler to comprehend. The so called totemism was clear and understandable serving a purpose of control and protection from the environment and ourselves. But who would obey the laws if there was no fear of punishment for doing wrong and a reward for doing good. That is when religion came in handy. Now the gods have been replaced by science and a singular God (a father), who became more sophisticated than his predecessors, promising compensation for all the hard aches. Freud claims, that religion isn’t the essence of morality, that society didn’t adapt to the Ten Commandments but the other way around. It served as a tool supporting the reasonable laws of civilization, making living in society more bearable seen through perspective of fulfillment in the afterlife. Therefore, its function plays a crucial role in sustaining society and preventing civilization from destruction by individuals acting on their animalistic instincts. If a person is being left to his own devices without laws, regulations and fear of punishment he will act egocentrically causing chaos and destruction for the entire population. However, the more educated the society becomes, the more it expects from religion. Its promises are less reliable than scientific evidence and once the fruit of knowledge becomes accessible to masses the trust in religious explanation declines. This may cause danger and a cultural collapse if people’s belief in God fails, it threatens not only religion but the original source of common law – civilization. They realize there is no need to be afraid of punishment any longer, therefore, who or what would stop them? What may seem as a law of God is actually in the best interest of human social existence, otherwise civilization would not have survived. The creation of rational attitude of not killing got ascribed to God, despite rationalizing it as a purely human creation that relates to all rights and cultural institutions. Freud claims, that people will not need religion when they realize that those rules were not created to rule them but to serve in their best interest. Men act under the influence of impulses and desires, therefore, rational explanation is not powerful enough, nevertheless, Freud thinks that with the progress of science there will be less demand for the illusion and eventually no religion at all. Tillich on the other hand has a more romanticized view on the aspect of religion. He admits that the word itself gets misinterpreted and abused in many ways, therefore, decides to call it the ultimate concern. For Tillich religion is something much more personal, intimate, it is a sphere in human spiritual life (inner) that is being filled accordingly to ones needs. He doesn’t insist that the ultimate concern must relate directly to God, on the contrary it can be anything as long as it is: ultimate, infinite and unconditional. He says that there is more to a human being than flesh and blood, to be fully satisfied one must find and nurture his faith. The spiritual life, the inner needs are equally as important as satisfying human physiology. Tillich despises theologians who stay faithful to the approach that religion is a gift from God, something sacred and pure because it was not created by any mortal but God himself, that religion is not a matter of choice. He also disagrees with the scientific approach regarding religion as nothing more than a stage in human development, socially constructed based on rituals and tradition. According to Tillich, dimension of man’s spiritual life is something uniquely human that it is inherent, and we can not get rid off because it’s already within us, it is a part of who we are. Therefore, religion as an ultimate experience can not be ascribed to one particular realm of human life; knowledge, aesthetic, morality and most importantly emotion all express the ultimate concern. Therefore, the ultimate concern isn’t something one could grasp and reassemble to pieces in order to understand it better. The task of religion is to fulfill our inner needs in all four aspects, as any human can not survive without food, water and shelter. We can not be fulfilled as humans if our spiritual life isn’t satisfied, therefore, no man can be happy without religion. As easy as one may think that finding out what the ultimate concern is it is actually quite complicated. Because for those who truly believe and don’t deny the existence of God it is even harder to rich that fulfillment than for those who strive for answers. The ultimate concern is simply a human’s true nature, it is a part of you that can not be forgotten, diminished or simplified into an institutional religion and its doctrines, the ultimate concern fulfills your spirit making a man’s life meaningful. Both Freud and Tillich discuss the matter of religion as an important aspect of human life. Freud claims that religion is an illusion, nothing more than a fairytale for kids who long for a happy ending, a compensation for the crappy life we all have to deal with . Where Tillich approach differs from Freudian perspective like day to night. Nevertheless, both scholars claim the necessity for religious experience as long as according to Tillich an individual fulfills his inner spiritual needs and according to Freud if it guards societies from killing each other.

Ledership

What is leadership? According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals. What exactly is meant by leadership? There are literally hundreds of definitions about who a leader is and what is considered as leadership. Each definition may vary from one individual to another and may change from one situation to the other. For example we might call an individual a leader because of the persons’ election to the presidency of an institution.Other times we say he/she is not a leader because he/she does not exhibit leadership behaviors expected of the of a leader. In other words, we expected leadership from the legitimate position of the presidency, but when that president does not exhibit leadership behaviors, we say that the president is not a leader. According to Yukl, (2002). The definition of leadership is arbitrary and very subjective. Some definitions are more useful than others, but there is no â€Å"correct† definition. Leadership theories: Theories are most useful for influencing practice when they suggest new ways in which events and situations can be perceived.Fresh insight may be provided by focusing attention on possible interrelationship that the practice has failed to notice, which can be further explored and tested through empirical research. If the result is a better understanding of practice, the theory –practice gap is significantly reduced for those concerned. (Hughes and Bush, 1991, p. 234). The trait theory This theory first surfaced in the writings of early Greeks and Romans and is prevalent today among those who believe that leadership cannot be developed.This theory assumed that leaders has innate traits that made them effective, great leaders were considered to be born with the ability for leadership, so it is either you have leadership qualities or you don’t . According to Shockley – z alabak (2009) theory of leadership, that leaders possessed innate traits that made them effective; is commonly referred to as the â€Å"great man† theory Leadership traits theory is the idea that people are born with certain character trait or qualities and since traits are associated with proficient leadership, it assumes that if you could identify eople with the correct traits, you will be able to identify leaders and people with leadership potential. It is considered that we are born naturally with traits as part of our personality; this theory in summary believes that leaders are born not made Criticism Researches were done to define traits or personality characteristic that best predict the effective leader. List of about eighty traits or characteristic were gotten but trait approach failed to define clearly a stable set of characteristic associated with effective leadership.Even the concept of what is effective remains open to question. This theory does not prove a comp rehensive explanation to how leaders interact with followers and meet the needs of specific circumstances. While truly others can be born leaders, it is incorrect to generalize by saying that leadership traits are in born and unchangeable. It’s true many of our dispositions and tendencies are influenced by our personalities and the way we are born. However, most people recognized that it is possible for someone to change their character trait for the worse.Someone known for being honest can learn to be deceitful, the whole idea of saying someone was â€Å"corrupted† is based on the fact that people can learn bad traits. If people can learn character traits and become different from the way they were born naturally traits can be learnt as well. A person who is prone to being dishonest can learn to be honest. A person who avoids risks can learn to take risk. It may not be easy, but it can be done. STYLE APPROACHES Leadership style approach focuses its attention on the le aders’ behavior. Leadership style is the combination of traits, skills, and behaviors leaders use as they interact with followers: (Lussier, 2004) Though leadership style is based on leadership skills and leadership traits, leadership behaviors is the important component. This is said to be the third approach to leadership studies, a consistent pattern of behavior is what characterizes a leader. â€Å"In shifting the study of leadership to leaders’ style or behaviors, the style approach expanded the study of leadership to various contexts† (North house, 2004).According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) style approach or theories attempt to identify and arrange the general approaches leaders use to achieve goals. These approaches are thought to be based or a leader’s assumption about what motivates people to accomplish goals. This theory attempts to identify a range of general approaches leaders use to influence goal achievement. These approaches are theorized t o be based on the leader’s assumption about what motivates people to accomplish goals.Particular approaches also reflect complex relationships among the personal characteristics of the leader. Top among the style theories is the autocratic-to-democratic continuum first proposed by Ralph while and Ronald Lippitt (1960). Autocratic style of leader is a leader who makes decisions with little influence from others Shockley- Zalabak (2009). The leader that exhibits this behavior makes the decisions, gives orders to employees, and is constantly supervising his subordinate. This leader tells others what to do and usually enforces sanctions against those who chose not to comply. He views his followers as essential for goal achievement but usually feels little responsibility for employee needs and relationship Shockley- zalabak (2009). Criticism Research suggests that autocratically led groups produce more in quantity than democratically led groups, but that the quality output is bett er when more democracy is practiced. Generally with autocratic styles the led are not happy so they just do as they are told not because they have the interest of the institution at heart or because they enjoy working.Democratic- Shockley-Zalabak (2009) states that this style of leaders is the one that involves followers in decision making. The leader that exhibits this behavior promotes shared decision, team work, and does not supervise his subordinates closely. He assumes followers are able to participate in decision making, they try to create a climate in which problem solving can take place while preserving interpersonal relationships. It is clear that these leadership styles are opposite’s end of a continuum.As such, it’s easy to think that a leader’s leadership style s follows between those ends. Criticism When a leader is democratic at times his other colleagues in leadership positions can look at him as a weakling and also the subordinates might take adv antage and wants to be disrespectful. Laissez-faire style- Here the leader behaves as non-leader. Individuals and groups are expected to make their own decisions because of a hand-off approach from the leader. The laissez-faire leader is an example of non-leader. This leader expects groups and individuals to make their own decision.He gives information only when ask by group members. Criticism The success of the group depends greatly on the abilities of the group and groups members willingness to work with little or no leadership. If the groups members consist of people that need a push to do things they won’t be able to achieve much. Impoverished management- According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) this style is characterized by low concern for interpersonal relationships and task accomplishment. This leader makes few attempts to influence people towards task or goals.He dislikes leadership responsibilities and lets others take the responsibility that rightfully belongs to the leader. This leader is usually uncomfortable with leadership and intellectually resists the need for it. Criticism These leaders may be primarily responsible for the failure of the group. Middle- of- the- road management- This is a style of leader who balances task and peoples’ concerns; commonly referred to as compromised leadership or management. The leader negotiates and compromises to achieve workable agreements and directions for action Country club management-This is a style of leaders who emphasizes interpersonal relationship at the expense of goal achievement the leader here wants to be liked and have group followers who feel supported by the leader. He provides an interpersonal relationship bond that is low on task emphasis and high in interpersonal support Criticism He may want a task accomplished but will not take steps to emphasize this element to others, if members are not highly task oriented; he ends up doing their work. Rather than insisting that the employees exhibit high standards of performance. These leaders may not develop the abilities of the people under them.Team leadership: This is the theoretical ideal: team leaders exhibit high concern for both task and interpersonal relationships by emphasizing goal accomplishment while supporting people, it fosters a sense of â€Å"we† with high performance standards. This leadership share decision making and strives for problem solving designed to solve rather than postpone problem, it respects different point of view and value diversity as long as it contributes to the group effort. Criticism Team members who support one another but do not have enough ability or information to work on problems will not be able to produce a high-quality decision.

Interpersonal Conflict in the Movie Hitch Essay

This article to me proves to be somewhat true. I do feel that when you are in a relationship with someone you do tend to feel that you know this person well and can understand what the other person is simply saying at that time. When you are the person trying to communicate it should be as clear as possible. Like in the article the man misunderstood what she was saying but he had no way of knowing because if she was hot temperature wise she should have just said it in a way where he would know she meant temperature wise. This could also put a major strain on relationship between people. There would always be arguments or something because you and whoever would never be able to communicate successfully with one another. It would be nothing but miscommunication because you would have thought that you would be close enough to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding. (U. S. News & World Report) Miscommunication played a major role in something that happen to me one day. We were having a pizza party for the class and we need to buy extra pizza for the teachers because the kids could only eat cheese. The issue was that some did not eat the same type of pizza as others. So, after that a coworker and I decided we wanted supreme and the others wanted chicken pizza. My understanding was that her and I was going half and half on the supreme pizza because when we made the order we both were telling our coworker what we did and did not want on the pizza. As the pizza arrived they gave her a whole pizza and they brought a supreme pizza upstairs which we was trying to figure out who pizza it was because other people was asking for some but we did not want to give it away until we knew who the pizza belonged to. However, after talking to my coworker she stated that the others thought we had just took their pizza to because it was in our class and did not know they were sending people to ask for the pizza because it was in our room but how were we suppose to know. It got me kind of upset and she told me not to worry about it. So later that day in the meeting after school I felt I needed to address the problem and told my coworkers how were we suppose to know the pizza in our room because our class is upstairs and you guys did not want the kids to see that type of pizza because they could not be offered any. They should have told us that they were coming to our room to eat instead of thinking we were trying to take the pizza they bought. From that day forward we made sure that we understand clearly what we are ordering and doing when it comes to lunch time or whatever.

Does e-cigarette really safe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Does e-cigarette really safe - Essay Example It used this correlation to establish causality that by smoking e-cigarette instead of traditional cigarette one is safer because it is like smoking room air. By using this method of inferences, the author made the reader to forget that e-cigarette still has addictive substance such as nicotine and that it still put glycerin or propylene glycol into our lungs and who knows what the flavorings are made of. By using the above inferences, the author implied that smoking nicotine, glycerin or propylene glycol and other chemicals for the flavoring is similar to inhaling room air which is incorrect. The ideal experiment is not to compare inhaling the two substance to establish correlation that and then imply causation that e-cigarette is safe. Instead, the experiment should involve controlled test group such as comparing the effect of e-cigarette between people who smoked e-cigarette for a certain number of years and then compared them with those who did not to correctly establish the safety of

A topic based on a form of mass media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A topic based on a form of mass media - Essay Example Nonetheless, the vast majority of print media have been unshaken by the new wave of online technology where people can easily access online newspapers. Although the advent of online newspapers has posed a great challenge to the print media, the role of print media cannot be overemphasized, particularly in the modern society (Klein, 2009). In this respect, this paper explores and examines the role and future of print news media, especially with regard to the advent and dominance of internet news sources that have had an adverse impact on print news media. Although Gutenberg’s discovery changed the way print media operated in the 15th century, successive technologies in news broadcasting such as television and radio have continued to offer alternatives to print media (Free style marketing, 2014). More recently, the introduction of internet technology has enabled the dissemination of news through the digital media, a development that has not resonated well with the profitability and future of print new media. The leading newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington post, have survived the turbulent broadcast industry amid the introduction of digital news media such as cnn.com and bbc.com (Klein, 2009). Despite the fact that the digital news media have mushroomed in the recent past, they have not been able to phase out the print news media completely because both complement each other (Warner, 2011). In as much as the print news media has managed to stay in the market amid stiff competition from digital news media, it is worth noting that most of the public have shifted to online platforms. Indeed, the vast majority of newspaper readers now read the news in the digital news media using their phones, laptops, and personal computers (Free style marketing, 2014). It means that the print news media have to compete with the digital news media for the same audience at any given time (Warner, 2011). The biggest advantage that the digital news

Eu law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Eu law - Essay Example These rights include the right of residence and to remain, as long as this does not prove to be a financial burden for the host Member State. As a result, Member States can limit the free movement of workers, due to public policy limitations. Some of these limitations are grounds of public health and public security. All the same, procedural requirements have to be complied with, during the imposition of such restrictions.2 In the Bidar case,3 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Bidar who had been resident in the UK, during the pursuit of his secondary education had established adequate relationship with the society of the host Member State. This relationship was held to be sufficient for rendering Bidar eligible for a maintenance grant from the UK.4 Similarly, in our problem, Marie had competed two years of her International Baccalaureate and had thereafter applied for the LLB. Marie will be eligible for a maintenance grant from the UK. This is due to the fact that she had been residing in the UK for sufficient time, during her pursuit of the International Baccalaureate studies, to establish sufficient link with the UK. As a national of the EU, an individual is entitled to seek employment in another Member State of the EU. In addition, such individuals are entitled to the same assistance from national employment offices as the host Member State’s nationals. Moreover, such individuals can stay in the host Member State for the time required to seek work, apply for employment and be recruited. No seekers of jobs can be expelled, if they establish that they are continuing to seek employment and have reasonable opportunity to obtain a job. 5 In our problem, Raimon is seeking a job in the UK. The EU principle of free movement of workers permits any national of a Member State of the EU to seek employment in any other Member State of the EU. Thus, Raimon, despite being a Spaniard can seek employment

Tell me, what is sociology, anyway Why bother to study it (Please be Essay

Tell me, what is sociology, anyway Why bother to study it (Please be convincing in your answer) - Essay Example Systematic methods of empirical observation/data and critical analysis are used to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity, in order to apply this knowledge for the study of social processes and human behavior. Sociology is non-ethical because it deals with the study of events as they are, and not what they should be. The scientist has no technique by which he can determine what the ultimate values of a society should be. The knowledge attained by him is instrumental. Fundamental assumptions are involved in all the investigations of knowledge, which are accepted without testing. The assumptions or pre-suppositions of science are given in the following: 1. There is an object world quite different from the subject world. 2. The truth of the object world can be explored by an unbiased investigation by man and by employing what is known as the â€Å"scientific method. Mechanics of Sociology: A) Scientific Rationality Scientific Rationality is identified in Sociology and science addresses the modern world, comprehends through logical thought and reasoning, creates suppositions, and verifies them through means of experimentation and scientific method.

Critical evaluation of Intercontinental hotel network Essay

Critical evaluation of Intercontinental hotel network - Essay Example Aspects to be considered will include hardware and software, in addition to strategies and policies. Various methods of research will be undertaken regarding the software and hardware. A findings chapter will be included which will talk about shortfalls of the existing system in the hotel. At the end of this investigation, an improvement of the system will be suggested. This project will be based on a critical evaluation of the Intercontinental Hotel Network. It will examine the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network of the hotel based in Hyde Park, London. Based on the critical evaluation of the network a new and improvised network will be suggested. The 120 staff members of the hotel will be connected to the network. There will be adequate provisions for security of the network. All the computers will be connected to the main server. In addition, the hotel will have the facility to provide wireless Internet service to its guests, who will be able to connect to the Internet from any of the 460 rooms. The recommended network will include teleworking facility for the staff over a secure network environment. All the latest ICT innovations will be incorporated in the design to make the network state-of-the-art and to offer the maximum advantage to the hotel, its customers and its personnel. The upgraded network will utilize cutting edge technologies such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Virtual LAN (VLAN), Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Voice over IP (VoIP) over the network. Security will be assured through the use of fir ewalls, a reliable security and password policy and. enterprise antivirus solutions. This project aims at looking at the existing system in the hotel, critically evaluating it and then recommending possible improvements and changes in the system, based on the latest

Service quality of Fine Dining Restaurant Essay

Service quality of Fine Dining Restaurant - Essay Example From the collected data, it was evident that the main factors considered by the customers in terms of service quality revolved around four subjects. These areas of concern are the physical appearance of the place, the kind of food offered, the variety of foods in the menu, the type of service provided by the staff, and the pricing of the food. Most of the respondents found something positive about the physical appearance, considering it was a fine dining restaurant. On the other hand, the service of the staff and the quality of the food served received a lot of criticism from the customers as they did not meet their expectations. As such, appropriate recommendations were made at the end of the research that would assist the restaurant in meeting customer expectations and retaining its economic competitiveness. A lot of research has been carried out in the field of hospitality (Lane, 2014). According to Rush (2008), it has been noted that many industry players are no longer concentrating on the speed at which they expand their hospitality companies and businesses, but at the rate at which they meet customer expectations. There has been a great need for maintaining customers in restaurants following the rapid increase of fine dining restaurants, and the key winner is the level of service quality. It is important to identify the fact that customers’ perception of the service quality of a business determines the level to which they are satisfied. Therefore, a business should be careful in setting the customer perceptions as they affect their expectations. The level to which these expectations are met determines the service quality of a place through either satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a customer. These two states are quantified from the experience of a client in the business through incidents that they undergo (Ford, Sturman, & Heaton, 2012). The critical incidents technique is used to identify these experiences for individual customers. It is

Indian Negotiation Styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Indian Negotiation Styles - Essay Example Past and recent analyses on Indian negotiating style show that the styles adopted in Indian business environment are largely consistent with their cultural believes, social values, and attitudes towards life in general (Stephen, 2010). Indians embrace family values and respect the aspect of honesty, respect, order, and hierarchy. Indian culture also features a strong element of interpersonal communications and relationships. The individual is never separate from the deal. They view the negotiation in human terms rather than strictly technical business processes. In essence, Indian negotiating styles combines the values of culture honesty and details in ways that focus largely on the results rather than the processes. It is therefore important for business theorists to establish ways of establishing ways through which the synergies of culture, attitudes, and values can be incorporated into business practice. It is currently not known how all multinationals in India can equally achieve success in their business processes, since the Indian culture and negotiating style poses a challenge to them. Although some multinationals in India have succeeded, a considerable number have registered failure, due to lack of knowledge on how to successfully negotiate in India. Failure of these multinationals to take into account the culture and negotiating styles of India will result in their continued low profitability and productivity in India. The Problem Background For more than the past twenty years, foreign companies have been trying to gain entry into the business environment of India. Although these organizations have always managed to enter the Indian market, they have failed to realize their target profits, even as their productivity decreases each year. This contrasts the fact that the revenue of India has kept improving for the past number of years. If the economy improves, one would expect al so all the companies in the country to have increased productivity. However, this was not the case with foreign companies in India. While the growth rate of the Indian economy topped at 7 percent, the growth rate of

Principles of Health Care Practice Code of Conduct Essay Example for Free

Principles of Health Care Practice Code of Conduct Essay 1.1 Introduction I am writing this report as a requirement for my HNC Health Care course which will be submitted to Christine Hughes. In this report I will be comparing and contrasting two health care professions, the two health care professions I have chosen to compare is nursing and social work. The report will be highlighting the principles of healthcare, such as Education and Registration, (still to finish) 1.2 Nursing Education Registration To train to be a qualified nurse you undertake either a pre-registration diploma or degree at university this is normally a three year programme. Degrees and diploma programmes comprise of 50% theory and 50% practice, with time split between the higher education institute. Nursing is organised into four branches Adult, Children, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities. During the first year of nurse training you are introduced to all of the key areas as part of the Common Foundation Programme. In the second and third year you focus on a specific branch, which runs the course. Registered nurses and midwives are responsible for assessing the needs of individuals, planning and implementing their care, and evaluating the effectiveness. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the statutory regulatory body for nursing, midwifery and health visiting in the United Kingdom. All nurses working in the UK, including those trained abroad, need to be registered with the NMC in order to practice as a nurse in the UK, of that care. All qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors are required to be members of the NMC in order to practice. If nurses, midwives or health visitors are found guilty of misconduct, the NMC has the authority to strike them off the register. www.nhscareers.nhs.uk, www.planitplus.net/careerzone/ www.nursingnetuk 1.3 Social Work Education Registration Social work requires a professional qualification, currently a three year undergraduate honours degree or a two year Masters degree in social work that has been approved by the General Social Care Council (GSCC)). The course involves a combination of course work and a minimum of 200 days spent in practice settings providing the opportunity for lots of practical experience before you actually qualify. The social work qualification is suitable for social workers in all settings and sectors. As a student and once qualified you will need to register with the General Social Care Council (GSCC) which is responsible for regulating the workforce. Previous qualifications in social work including the diploma will continue to be recognised as valid social work qualifications. There are a variety of ways to enter the social work profession, according to age and previous experience. www.socialworkcareers.co.uk, www.planitplus.net/careerzone 2.1 The Nursing Midwifery Council The NMC is the regulatory body for nursing and midwifery; there purpose is to improve the standards of nursing and midwifery care in order to protect the public through professional standards. NMC register all nurses and midwives to ensure that they are properly qualified and competent to work in the UK. They set the standard of education; training and conduct that nurses and midwives will deliver high quality healthcare consistently throughout their careers. NMC also makes sure that nurses and midwives keep all their skills and knowledge up to date and to uphold the standards of their professional code. They also investigate allegations made against nurses and midwives who may not have followed the code. Every registered nurse, midwife or health visitor must renew their registration every three years. Post-registration education and practice (Prep) is set by the NMC which is designed to help nurses and midwifes provide a high standard of practice and care. There are legal requirements set which must be met in order for there registration to be renewed. 2.2 General Social Care Council The General Social Care Council (GSCC) sets standards of conduct for social care employers and workers, this regulates the social care workforce including regulating social work their training and education. The GSCC is responsible for codes of practice for employers and employees in the care sector. Social Care Register is a register of qualified social workers, the registration will ensure that those working in social care meet rigorous registration requirements and will hold them to account for their conduct by codes of practice. Registered social workers are also required to complete post-registration training and learning activities before renewing their registration every three years. Post-registration training and learning requirements that all registered social workers must meet are every social worker registered with the GSCC shall, within the period of registration, complete either 90 hours or 15 days of study, training, courses, seminars, reading, teaching or other activities which could reasonably be expected to advance the social workers professional development. To keep a record of post-registration training and learning undertaken, and failure to meet these conditions may be considered misconduct. Continuing Professional Development in Nursing All registered nurses and midwives are required to take part in continuing professional development (CPD) in order to maintain their professional registration. This is part of the post-registration education and practice (PREP) requirements, set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council NMC. There are two types of PREP, 1. Practice standards and Continuing professional development standards. CPD is fundamental to the development of all health care practitioners, as it is important that nurses keep there knowledge and skills up-to date, to improve standards in the practice and to gain more qualifications. To meet the CPD standards nurses must undertake at least 35 hours of learning activity relevant to their practice every three years, to maintain a personal professional profile of their learning activity and to comply with any requests to audit how they have met these requirements. Nurses and midwives who do not comply with the Prep requirements will cause their registration to lapse and can no longer work as a registered nurse or midwife. These requirements must be met every three years, and are declared at the point that registration is renewed. 3.1 Clinical Governance Clinical governance is the framework through which the NHS is accountable for the continuing improvement of quality of professional standards whilst still safeguarding high standards of care, thereby creating an environment which aims for clinical excellence. It is to ensure that high quality and professional standards are being maintained, and that health professionals are competent to deliver care safely with the right training and skills. This protects the patients from risks and mistakes allowing them to have confidence and faith in their care providers. Clinical governance also ensures that practitioners are accountable for the quality of patient care they provide meaning that they are more likely to question their practice and seek to make it of more benefit to the patients health. If it is found that those standards are not being met or they have got complaints from individuals about there delivery of care, there will be someone answerable for the failures to maintain standards. Nurses are responsible for their own competence and if they carry out treatments or procedures then they will be deeming themselves to do so.

Human experience and moral Essay Example for Free

Human experience and moral Essay To remember that it is human experience and moral values that will last forever and remained unchanged, and the growth of human conscience further awakens to a newer and better future experiences are not dropped to mere past rather they become a recollection and a refraction to a discovery of new you. The door: not just a big wooden barrier to the entrance of our house but also an explosion to my emotions. Goodbyes were being said as happy birthdays? It was confusion that began to consume my mind and heart as my parents walked out the door not knowing when I will see them again. Excitement, happiness and joyfulness flowing along my blood as I began to realize I am alone and everything my eyes spotted belonged to me. Heaven was the chosen word by my desensitized numbness mind. However, a feeling of guilt made this question interrupt my thoughts, `Do I have the right to enjoy this joyful moment of being alone, knowing that my father is going for a battle for his survival? ` As I was climbing the stair case to regain my nest, where all the gatherings and the devious planning of good times were held, I ignored my feeling of guilt and the purpose of my father’s journey and I started thinking, â€Å"Hey! Let the fun begin! † Little was my knowledge about chance and choice. To the very least, I only knew their denotations. What happened to my father was neither his choice nor of the family but certainly a chance and for what chance it was, I did not know and did not strive to know. I saw everything as a pure chance. With parents’ away and no exact time when to be home; it was a real chance to own my time – a chance to go party everyday, stay up late, go to school late, and skip classes, neglecting the fact that along chances are series of choices and the interplay of the two alongside my treatment determines the quality of my life. I allowed myself to be fully consumed with the false jollification of life. Partying with friends was a gauge for fulfillment. Shouts and yells became the expression of being fully alive. I was unmindful of my dad who was into a different tone of shouting and yelling for pain and survival. We were at the opposite poles on the single line of human feeling. Instead of reaching out, I moved away. Going to parties everyday meant staying up late at night. It resulted to going to school late and even skipping classes and the rest was a worse, if not worst, history of an irresponsible student and woman. The chain effects of my single unrecognized and unmeditated act delivered me to a world of guilt and shame and if nourished by pride, I will be lured forever into false happiness. I messed up my life! Where am I to start? Where do I begin? Never can a plant, young or not, die when its branches are cut. Roots have to be found and uprooted. The same is true with my case. What is the root of my insensitivity to my family’s case? Certainly, it wasn’t about going to party, cutting and skipping classes, etc. It was about how I viewed and dealt with what’s going on around. It was about having certain chances and making the right choices where decision making, anticipating, and understanding come in. True enough, it is only when I failed and committed mistakes that I came to realize: had I thought things over and anticipated before acting, I wouldn’t be this bad and guilty, and had I thought that I have the choice to do what is right and not act on emotional satisfaction and childishness, I wouldn’t be messing my life this way and made my parents disappointed. My life is a chance and how I live it is a choice – its quality is in my hands. How should I live it? â€Å"Wherever you go the sky will always be blue†. This line rang a bell to my ear. Certain things around are given for what they are and neither you nor I have the power to change them. And life is not about changing what we cannot but moving towards what is, for the whole humanity, true and therefore unchangeable. The truth is, what is true and unchangeable aims for ‘what is good’ and what is good surpasses any age, color, time, gender, religion, and whatever differences we have. The whole existence of life should be directed towards ‘doing good’, and its meaning is not our own selfish definition but the one true word – LOVE. It was sad to admit that I was not excuse for failing to recognize what good I should have done that very moment of my life, but it would be bitter if I continue to dwell in that past and live miserably. While I did that mistake of falling into that dark pit of human existence, I will always have the choice of going out and live life on the banner of goodness and all I need is the staff of caution and discrimination to continue living and making the right choices for every chances that come my way. To remember that it is human experience and moral values that will last forever and remained unchanged, and the growth of human conscience further awakens to a newer and better future, I will always, not just remember, do good for the rest of my life. Merge the whole of myself in my eyes, and go towards the vision, go towards the vision, go towards the vision.

Stages And Causes Of The Business Cycle Economics Essay

Stages And Causes Of The Business Cycle Economics Essay According to Burns and Mitchell(1946), who were the first that investigate the modern research methods of the economic fluctuations, economic fluctuations is a continuous model of recession, recovery, growth and decline of the economic activities around from a long-term trend. The continuous character of this model justifies the expressions cyclical fluctuations and business cycle although the movements have neither constant duration nor constant length. The perception that the economists had about the economic fluctuations changed with time and differs according to different schools of thought(the economic science is a social science and all the social sciences have political economy flavour). Before Keynes, the researchers of the economic fluctuations observed prosperity periods and crises periods. However, in 1930 economists understood that this discrimination didnt express the reality because during the growth period it is reasonable that there will be prosperity .However, it is also possible for the prosperity to coexist with unemployment , an indicator that is in the core of the crisis. That has an a consequence these two expressions (prosperity and crisis) to be replaced with the expressions peak and trough. The peak corresponds to the maximum point of GDP of the last time period of the economic growth. Similarly, the trough corresponds to the last time period where there is reduction in the economic activity. I would like to define and explain some terms that I will use to my later analysis and are fundamental in the understanding of the business cycle and the economic fluctuations. It is worth mentioning that the term business cycle does not only refer to one variable, for example the GDP which is the main indicator of the economic activity, but also refers to other variables like investment, consumption, expenditures, prices etc. Moreover an important point is that the variability of the economic fluctuations is not the same for all the variables. For example, the cycle of the investment has significantly greater variability than those of GDP. Another significant point that we will focus on later, is that if we use the GDP as the general rate of the economic activity then the other economic variables is possible to either commove or lead or lag the GDP cycle. Particularly, a variable commove with the GDP if the peak of the variable coincide with the peak of the GDP. If the peak of the variable is presented in time before the peak of the GDP then this variable leads the cycle of GDP. Otherwise, this variable lags the cycle of GDP. Furthermore, some variables move in the opposite direction. It is observed that the increase of the GDP is accompanied from decrease in unemployment. These variables are countercyclical. In the opposite case when the cyclical fluctuations are positively correlated with the cyclical fluctuations of the GDP(like consumption, investment, employment, the money supply and the money demand), we call these variables procyclical. There exist also variables that are neither positively nor negatively correlated with GDP and we call them uncorrelated (like real wages). Historical evidence and Theories The reasons of the economic fluctuations became the objective of extensive discussion from the 18th century. Before 1819 the classical economists rejected the existence of periodicity in the economic crises supporting that they are caused by uncorrelated externals factors (like a war).Jean Charles Leonard de Sismoni and Robert Owen were the first economists who after studying the Panic of 1825,they argued that overproduction and underconsumption were responsible for this economic crisis during the peacetime. In 1860, Clement Juglar identified the presence of medium-duration economic cycles (Juglar fixed investment cycle 7-11 years).Around a millennium later, other types of cycles were discovered. So there is a discrimination of the cycles according to their periodicity. The Kitchen inventory cycle which lasts from 3 to 5 years discovered by Joseph Kitchin (1923).The Kuznet infrastructural investment cycle (15-25 years) which was investigated by Simon Kuznets(1924).Very important was the contribution of Nikolai Kondratiev, which is known for his research about long waves of duration 45-60 years. The above mentioned economists intended to establish first the statistical existence of the cycles than interpreted them economically. Of course the answer to the question Why do the business cycles exist? is not easy and it depends on the economic and political school of thought. The classical economists (Smith, Ricardo, Mill, Marshall, Malthous, Pigou) consider that a change in the demand curve can be compensated by a corresponding change in the supply curve and reversely, and as a result the GDP deviates from its potential value which is expressed by the long-term trend. That is done through the price mechanism in the different markets (including the labour market, which classical economists found as a secondary importance phenomenon with transitive only character). As a consequence , prices consist the equalizing-corrective factor which guarantees the equality between the real and potential GDP and the avoidance of cyclical fluctuations. The Keynesian economists believe that the business cycle is the result of the changes in the aggregate demand. When price and inflation expectations are a bit inflexible then the swifts in the aggregate demand can cause large swings in real output. Furthermore, they aspire that the price mechanism is not enough to prevent the creation of cyclical fluctuations either from the demand or the supply side. From the demand side they think that investment and GDP do not correspond sufficiently to the increase of the money supply or the interest rate. As far as the supply is concerned, it cannot corresponds properly due to the rigidity in the labour market. That means that the wages cannot decrease more than to the point where it is determined exogenous by historical, social or institutional factors. The monetarists support that the price mechanism in the labour market is decisive for the mechanism that equalize the demand with the supply. According to their most eminent representative, Milton Friedman, the working population has asymmetric or incomplete information regarding the conditions that prevail in the general labour markets but they have complete information only for the labour market they are working. As a result the movement from the one labour market to the other that may equalize the supply with the demand is not possible, because of the lack of information. New classical economics are mainly associated with the work of Robert Lucas ,adopted Friedmans opinion ,regarding the lack of information in the labour market, but for this school of thought the expectations are shaped rationally , taking into consideration the current estimates for the recurrent evolution. According to Friedmans theory the expectations are shaping through the readjustment of the past errors. Provided that in Lucas theory the expectations are shaping rationally, then in the long-run the information errors approximate zero. Consequently, according to new classical economists and also Friedman the cyclical fluctuations owed to the information errors of the economic institutions regarding the accurate prices that equalize the supply with the demand. For Keynesian and monetarist economists the recessions indicate the failure of some markets to clear. There is another group of economists who claim that the recession is inside the structure of the economy, is an inextricable part of all economies. These economists introduced the real business cycles models (RBC models) which support that the existence of recession periods is the most efficient operation of the economy. The most popular economists of them are Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott (Chicago school) who were the winner of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Price in Economics for their contribution in the understanding of the business cycles(1982). This theory supports that the fluctuations are the results of real shocks in the economy like technological shocks .RBC models are based on supply shocks rather than demand shocks(like Keynesian theories) and they encourage the government to deal with long-run structural changing policies because according to them in the sort-run there is no thing that monetary and fiscal policy can do to control the fluctuations. Differences are observed not only in the creation frame of the cyclical fluctuations but also in the methodological frame. There are important differences between the older economists (1930-1950) and the newer. The recent theoretical models are formulated in uncertain environment (stochastic environment) whereas the older models were developed under certain conditions (deterministic models).In this important jump ,the contribution of the swift growth of econometrics and the technological advances is unquestionable . The empirical investigation of the business cycle, namely the statistical analysis of the data include the estimate of the duration, the variability and the intense of the cyclical fluctuations of particular macroeconomic variables such as GDP, consumption, investment, expenditures, prices etc. Moreover this study includes the investigation of lags ,leads, or the absence of correlation between this variables and the general rate of the economic activity which is the GDP. What is the business cycle? During the recession period ,the wages decrease and the unemployment level increases. On the other hand, when the recession period ends then the economy entries the growth period where the wages rise and the unemployment declines. The business cycle refers to the fluctuations to all the macroeconomic variables through time. We measure the fluctuations around a long-term trend. Mitchell (1913,1927) represented business cycles as a sequence of expansions and contradiction, particularly focused on turning points and phases of the cycle. These cycles are known as classical business cycles. Lucas(1977) defined the business cycle as the deviations of aggregate real output from trend. Lucas viewed the business cycle facts as the statistical properties of the comovements of deviations from the trend of the macroeconomic aggregates with those of real output. These cycles are known as growth cycles or deviation cycles. Although the term business cycle implies that the economic fluctuations are regular and predictable ,they are not. The more common are the recessions the more erratic they are. Sometime the one recession period is near the other. Sometime they abstain a lot. The problem of economic fluctuations can be clear looking at figure 1. The figure demonstrates the increase of the real GDP of the Greek economy for the period 1988-2008. If the economy had a 3% growth rate, that growth rate would not be smooth. The growth rate oscillate at 3% per year(this is the trend) as the straight line shows, but there are significant fluctuations from the trend. The recession periods are periods where the production of commodities and services decrease and it is represented in the graph with the negative growth rate of GDP. Concisely, we can say that the business cycle is the phenomenon of the recurrent fluctuations of the general economic activities that are observed in a period of time. Discrimination of the business cycles At one time, economists believed that the business cycle was regular with predictable duration, but nowadays we believe that the cycles is irregular with different frequency ,magnitude ,duration and different impacts on the economy. According to their periodicity and intense, the business cycles can be separated into: 1) Long-term cycle or Kondradiev cycle. The total duration is 50 years from which 20 years corresponds to the economic growth period ,then follows a 10 years stability period (at high levels) and in the last stage there are 20 years of recession. 2)Medium-term cycle or Juglar cycle. This cycle consists of an average7 to 10 years and it is usually referred as the business cycle. 3)Short-term cycle or Kitchin cycle. It is known as the commercial cycle and lasts 3-4 years. Stages of the business cycle Figure 2:The stages of the business cycle, Source: Wikipedia Joseph Schumpeter( ) was the first economist who supports that the Juglar cycle has four stages. Nowadays, all business cycles can be distinguished into four stages. The graph above is a diagrammatic representation of the business cycle. The stages of the business cycle and their main characteristics are the following: 1)Growth or expansion :at the beginning of this stage there is excess demand for commodities and services. In order the economy to produce them ,the output production and the employment should increase. Then the unemployment rate decreases and at the same time the GDP and the national income increase. The rise in total demand and production cause profits and the profits motivate people and industries to invest. However, as the expansion continues it causes an increase in the general level of prices, and the the first inflationist tendencies are obvious. 2)Peak :At the maximum point of the cycle the production and employment are in a really high level .Its the highest point between the end of the growth and the beginning of the recession. The economy reaches the full employment level and overconsumption is also observed. The GDP, the most important macroeconomic indicator is at the maximum point. However the prices become higher and higher and we can also perceive high inflation levels. 3)Recession or contraction: Recession is the period where the economy is shrinking. The characteristics of recession are the opposite from growth. In this stage there is a decline in the aggregate demand and a general slowdown in economic activity which lead the production to decrease. The GDP, the employment ,the inflation , the incomes fall during this period and in that pessimistic and uncertain environment there are no investment opportunities. If this stage lasts long and the prices continues to fall then deflation can appear.(deflation occurs when the prices are actually dropping-not disinflation) 4)Though: The though poses the end of the recession. The production is in its lowest level and the unemployment level is really high. Moreover the demand for goods is insufficient as the income level is really low and the inflation is high. The general enterprising climate discourages the investments and the majority of people and companies wait for the event that will end this stage. Causes of business cycle Many economists can agree that an ideal level for the economy is that of full employment(For James Tobin that means 0% level of unemployment, for William Beveridge that means 3% whereas for many other popular economists like John Maynard Keynes it fluctuates between 3%-10%). At this level all people who are able and are willing to work can find a job at the prevailing wage and unemployed workers can find work instantly. The inflation level is constant and all the inputs the economy can use, are producing outputs. The full employment level will rise when the population increases and when new technological developments are found. If nothing else disturbs the economy there is no reason why the economy come out from the full employment level. However, business cycles occur because disruptions to the economy shove the economy above or below the full employment level. The causes of the business cycles are distinguished between endogenous and exogenous. As endogenous reasons we can consider some variables which are determined out of the economic system like wars and revolutions, elections, changes in the price of oil, immigration, scientific developments, technological advances, financial bubbles. As endogenous reasons we mean the variables that are determined inside the economic system and they cause by themselves the business cycles. Some of them are: Monetary policies that attribute the fluctuations in the extension or the shrinkage of the money supply (Milton Friedman) The investment theories that are based on the interaction between the increase of the production and the investment.(Paul Samuelson) The theories regarding the labour market which attribute the economic fluctuations in the price stiffness(wages) (Robert Lucas) Shifts in the aggregate demand curve Shifts in the aggregate supply curve Monetary policy and economic fluctuations Taking into account the fact that investment is an important ingredient of GDP and the fact that investment is determined among other variables also by the monetary variables like the interest rate, we deduce that the monetary policy is a significant element of the economic fluctuations. Generally speaking, monetary policy is any policy related to the money supply. Monetary policy can cause recessions and booms. The interest rate is an important factor for the growth of the money stock. A company can cancel or postpone a financial or extension (investment the build of a new factory) because the cost of borrowing is high. Similarly, a consumer can cancel or postpone a new loan or the buy of the new house because the high interest rate can make this movement unaffordable. So the institution or the government that decide the interest rate for a country of for a group of countries (like Europe) can generate booms or recessions. There are two schools of thinking regarding the relation between the monetary policy and the economy. The Keynesian economists consider the private sector inefficient and unstable and support that the stabilization of the output can be done only by the intervention of the public sector. According to Keynes, the government needs to stress the fiscal policy actions and the central bank the monetary policy actions. The Keynesian economists support the government intervention especially during recession periods and the focus on boosting the government expenditures and decreasing the taxes in order to bolster up the aggregate demand. Nowadays, the current financial crisis is considered to be the worst since the Great Depression of 1930. All markets are suffering, many institutions ruins, many banks collapsed and the policy makers accept Keynes analysis after moving away the neoclassical models and governments and banks move to an unprecedented monetary and more fiscal expansion. The finan cial crises of 2008 has been characterised as the period of the resurgence to Keynesian economics. In growth period they suggest measures to decrease the aggregate demand such as increase of the interest rate. For Keynesian economists there is an indirect link between the GDP and the monetary policies. The other school of thought consists of the classical, new classical and monetarist economists who support the minimization of the government intervention in the economic activities. They think that governments role is to control the money supply and make the future expected expansions known to the public in order to reduce the inflation and has nothing to do with the demand. In addition this theory impose policies in favour of free markets. For both schools of thought the equilibrium is fundamental whereas their interpretation is different. For Keynesian economists the equilibrium expresses a situation where there is no tendency for change ,while for the liberals the equilibrium is a situation where the supply equals the demand. The question now is how does the monetary policies affect the real GDP according to these schools of thought? The Keynesian economists think that the monetary expansions rise the supply of loanable funds and that cause the decrease of the interest rate. The lower rates cause increase in the expenditures on investment and as a result the real GDP grows. They do not believe that the economy is always near the natural level of real GDP. On the other side, the monetarists argue that the money demand is stable and not easily affected to changes in the interest rates. In the short-run they support that the monetary expansions may increase the real GDP by increasing the aggregate demand. For them, the economy is not at or near the full level of real GDP except in the long-term where economy is operating at the full employment level of the GDP. In this case, monetary expansions can lead to persistent inflation (deflation: when the growth rate of GDP has a negative sign) and not to changes in the real GDP. Stabilization of economy imposing macroeconomic policies The appropriate macroeconomic policy can dampen the business cycle but do not eliminate it. It is observed that the macroeconomic policies that the government impose, have important influence to the short-term fluctuation of the output and the employment and as a result to the alleviation of the cycle : 1)Mainly directly through the government expenditures 2)Indirectly through the adjustment of the equilibrium between the consumption and the savings level (imposing taxes and monetary policies) In order to avoid the intense fluctuations of the output and the employment the government can impose fiscal policies and automatic stabilizers such as taxes and unemployment benefits. If the economy entries the recession period, the output and the unemployment increase. The unemployment benefits secure an income for the unemployed workers which bolster the aggregate demand from a sharp decrease of the income. Moreover, when the aggregate income decreases the total taxes income of the government also decreases and the disposable income remains constant. It is worth mentioning that the stabilizing policies which have not an automatic character are related to the lag problem, according to which the time of the delay in the detection of the problem or in the decision for intervention and activation of the policy, can contribute in the deterioration of the problem. The case of Greece Especially in this period, when Greece is facing several serious socioeconomic problems which have been enlarged due to the global crisis the implementation of a study concerning the investigation of the impact of the IMF, EC and ECB programmes for bailout will be of high contribution for policy makers, not only in Greece but in European Union in general. Greece, as one of the euro zone Member States faces economic problems which make borrowing by the markets not viable. The borrowing from the IMF, EC and ECB seemed to be the last resort borrowers for Greece. On the other hand the conditions under which the loans will be given to Greece will have a serious effect on the future for the entire Greek economy. All of the measures are oriented to the decrease of public deficits but concentrate only to the cuts of wages and salaries for the public servants, the pensioners and the employees of the private sector. This policy is expected to lead to the decrease of the demand site at present which will result in a further depression of the internal economy while in terms of current account for trade is possible to show better performance after the cut of the labour cost. Such expected results make the prognosis for the cost outcome for the entire economy at the completion of the program more interesting. Before continuing I would like to mention some serious economical-political events from the 1950 up to now which will help us to realize why Greece has so serious problems after the financial crises of 2008.Which was the economic conditions which lead the Greek deficit to be the highest in the Euro Area zone? How is it possible for a small country like Greece to have a public deficit of 300 billion Euros? From where they came from? However, Greece is not the only country whose budget deficit exceed 3% of the GDP which is a rule among the euro zone nations. But a look at the root of the deficit and the debt is important. I separate the time periods into four categories. 1)The Greek miracle 1950-1974 After the second World-War and the civil war (1946-1949) the Greek economy was destroyed and (recession period). There were no infrastructure, capitals, investment opportunities. The depreciation of drachma and the hyper-inflation deteriorate the economic situation of the Greek economy. The Marscall plan(1948-1951) and the Truman Doctrine(1947) helped the Greek economy as a large amount of capitals reinforced the Greek economy and in 1950 many macroeconomic variables(like output, investment level) become at the same level as before the second World War. However ,the inflation r eached the 10% and the Greek deficit the 25% of the GDP. From 1950 and afterwards the Greek economy began to recover rapidly. Afterwards the big depreciation of 1953 which took place for developmental reasons, the Greek Prime Minister undertook liberal economic policies releasing somehow the international trade while, because of the economic stability ,the Greeks began to entrust the drachma and to save up in drachmas instead of gold that was up to then the general rule. That increased the saving levels and at the same time contributed to the reduction of inflation. The Greek economy was in an unprecedented growth period and that lead to the Greek miracle. The destroyed Greece of 1948 began the decade of 1950 and 1960 to be developed with a growth rate that nowadays we can see only in China, that is to say growth rate around 10% each year. Greece had the most rapid growth rate (with Japan) in the all world. Greece signed customs union with the European Community of November 1962. Greece in 1960 knew a scary growth, new buildings, new streets, new factories, cheap workforce, big increase of productivity, big domestic investments from the savings that had begun from 1953. The paradise of each businessman and enterprises. At the period of dictatorship (1967-1974) the inflation was increased, the public debt was tripled, the growth was stopped abruptly and the corruptness of the government put barrier in European ambitions of Greece. 2)The postwar period 1974-1990 The change of regime found the Greek economy in stagnation and the international economy to be deplored. The liberal government followed tight economic policy without benefits, decreased little the inflation and Greece entries the growth period with the national product to be increased by 3%-4% per year. Moreover, the decade 1970 was the first petrol crisis and the Keynesian model starts to rock internationally. Greece had still enough margins of growth but this international conditions did not allow. Nevertheless Greece became member of the European Economic Community and the Greek economy late but regularly faces the international difficulties. That period the public debt was in the levels of the 28% of GDP. The next roughly 10 years the country will be sunk in a economic swamp and will come in front of enormous economic dead ends. The government changed in 1981 (-1989) and the socialistic government is in the wheel of the Greek economy. The big economic crises finished in 1982 but at the same time the inflation reached the 20% of the GDP, the public debt jumped in 1989-1990 to the 100% of the GDP while the government expenditures do not have any developmental vision and the deficits reached also the 20% of the GDP. The debt of 680 billion of drachmas in 1980 became 11 trillion of drachmas in 1990.In order to transfer this number in euros we could say that the 11 trillion that we owed in 1990 is the same like we say today 32 billions of Euros. That is to say the debt from 1990 up to today is 10 times higher in absolute numbers. Therefore from 1980 until today the debt has increased at 200 times reaching today the roughly 300-320 billion of Euros. The decade of 1980 Greece entered again a recession period where the productivity of work collapsed, the enterprises faced completely unstable economic environment while they had moreover to face strong trade unions, counterproductive labour culture, big increases of wage and restrictions in the increases of prices of their products. In addition the unemployment level from 2,4% in 1980 became 6,4% in 1990. 3)The neoliberal period 1990-2002 The liberal government (1990-1993) undertook tight economic policies but the economy could not come back in competitive orbit. The public debt had already a unverifiable ascendant orbit while the GDP remained stable because of the restrictive policies. That period began the first privatizations of public organisms. In 1994 the government became socialistic and after 3-4 years the deficits decreased, the inflation came back in one-digit number after roughly 20 years and the Minister of Finance attempted more privatizations than any other Minister of Finance in the world. That period, the effort in order to put Greece in the Economic and Monetary Union was intense. Thus, in March 1998 the drachma was depreciated and the European equivalent became 353,109 drachmas per Euro. While in 2001 Greece became a member of the IMF, the first revaluation of drachma took place and from 353,109 equivalence was shaped into 340,75. The growth jumped after a lot of years in 4%, the investment levels increased, the productivity of work increased, the unemployment decreased, the inflation approached zero and the debts declined. The public deficit continued to increase but no additional problems were caused as the GDP increased with positive rates. 4)The destructive period for Greece 2002-2010 As we saw in the theoretical study of the business cycle the growth period is followed by the recession period. The main element of this period, element that Greece could not manage, they are the low interest-rates. With the entry of Greece in the IMF the interest-rates that the citizens and the state were borrowed, fall dramatically. From 1997 many people and companies has begun to borrow from the banks. From 2001 and afterwards the government borrowed extremely high amounts from other banks in Europe. The public deficit increased more because of the Olympic Games of 2004 as a huge amount of capitals came from abroad. After the Olympic games and after 2-3 years expansive and social economic policy (2001-2004), the first structural problems appeared. The competitiveness of work began to fall, the growth rate began to decrease, the deficit and also the public debt increased. And as long as this vicious circle continued, the government continued to borrow in order to enfranchise social benefits in order to substitute the purchasing force that was lost because of the lack of competitiveness. Furthermore, the international conditions changed after 2001. The recession of the world- economies stopped Greeces growth opportunities initially. After 2003 the growth came back internationally, but Greeces weaknesses began to burden her backs. Consequently, late and regularly the lack of competitiveness, the increased public debt, the decreased productivity concerning the international competition, the big deficits ,the new economic crisis that began to appear from 2007 brought the Greek economy in a new precipice. The chart below represents the root of the Greek deficit as % of the GDP. Description of the methods for the estimation of the business cycles In this chapter the interest is focused on the basic characteristics of the main macroeconomic variables of the Greek business cycles.

Humor and Criticism in Erasmuss Praise of Folly Essay -- essays papers

Humor and Criticism in Erasmuss Praise of Folly Humor and Criticism in Praise of Folly Erasmus’s Praise of Folly is a humor-filled satire of pretty much everything. It is filled with wit and sarcasm which make light of serious problems and blow insignificant issues out of proportion all the while bringing a smile to the reader’s face. It is not stinging humor at the expense of others (unless, of course, the shoe fits), rather it is directed towards everyone. Erasmus even includes himself in the joke, practically parodying himself in the first section (xvi). In Praise of Folly, Erasmus uses this humor to criticize without the harsh judgment of seriousness. His humor parallels the import of his subject. When Folly discusses the issues most significant to Erasmus, she loses her jocularity and ironic tone, whereas in her first voice, Folly laughs at those whose foolish ways are reason for criticism but not for scorn. This section finds great ironic humor in the folly of all types of conceit, pointing out that the most condescending of people have little reason for such egotism. Folly laughs at the conceit of â€Å"the general run of gentry and scholars† with their â€Å"distorted sense of modesty† (11) including â€Å"those who lay special claim to be called the personification of wisdom, even though they strut about ‘like apes in purple’ and ‘asses in lion-skins’† (13). Folly, of course, is guilty of this most of all in dedicating a whole book to praising herself, and she admits the great folly behind this when she asks, â€Å"What could be more fitting than for Folly to trumpet her own merits abroad and ‘sing her own praises’† (11). Erasmus jokes about this type of conceit because it is innocent and commonplace. His point is to en... ...art for any lack of seriousness. Here we see the culmination of Folly’s progression towards Erasmus’s most serious subject and away from humor. Erasmus demonstrates the value of humor by making fun of insignificant issues and teaching us how to laugh at ourselves. â€Å"Jokes of this kind . . . which aren’t lacking in learning and wit† (4) help us put the less significant aspects of life in perspective. They also aim to moderate the level of his criticism making it more constructive than insulting. For it is â€Å"the ridiculous rather than the squalid† (7) to which his humor applies. He reserves a more serious voice for more serious wrongdoing. We see this parallel between humor and subject clearly as Erasmus progresses from constructive criticism of insignificant folly to harsh indictment of religious pretension and most of all in his solemn praise of Christian folly.

Germany Essay -- essays research papers

Germany is the fourth largest country in area in Europe, with a total area of 356,970 square kilometers (137,827 square miles). The country has a varied terrain that ranges from low-lying coastal flats along the North and Baltic seas, to a central area of rolling hills and river valleys, to heavily forested mountains and snow-covered Alps in the south. Germany has a long, complex history and rich culture, but it did not become a unified nation until 1871. Before that time, Germany had been a confederacy (1815-1867). The country has a total of 82,071,765 people (1997 estimate). Germany is overwhelmingly urban, and most people lead a prosperous, comfortable lifestyle, with adequate leisure time and comprehensive social welfare benefits. Berlin is the capital and largest city, although Bonn, which was the provisional capital of West Germany, is still home to some government offices. The principal language is German, and about 70 percent of the people are either Roman Catholic or Protestant. Germany has a very large and modern industrial economy and is a leading producer of such products as iron and steel, machinery and machine tools, and automobiles. Germany is an economic powerhouse in the European Union (EU), and its currency, the deutsche mark (DM), is among the strongest in the world. Germany ranks as the fourth largest country in Europe, after European Russia (the part of Russia west of the Ural Mountains), France, and Spain. Germany ...

Essay --

No matter how many situps you do, if you have excess belly fat, you'll never see results, because the fat will be covering up your muscle definition. This doesn't mean you should eliminate situps from your workout, because as part of your core, they can promote back health, and improve your posture, athletic performance, and balance and stability. (See References 1) You should, however, incorporate fat-burning exercises into your workout to get visible results. The Spot Reduction Fallacy To lose body fat, you must burn more calories than your body uses every day. It takes a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound of fat in a week from all over your body including your belly. Situps alone don't burn enough calories to have a big enough impact and they won't magically spot reduce fat from your belly. To make matters worse, if you only do situps, hoping to combat belly fat, you're building the muscles under the fat. As they get stronger and bigger, they can push your belly out even further. (See References 2) Doing Situps to Shape Up Situps work your rectus abdominis at the fr...

Patient Self Determination

Patient Self-Determination Act Project Scott Betzelos, Remedios C. Lazaga, Emelin Tan, Maya C. Richardson HCS/578 – Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory Issues in Health Care November 28, 2011 Susan M. Kajfasz Patient Self-Determination Act Project – Advance Directives Congress enacted the Patient Self-Determination Act, a healthcare policy, as part of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act signed by President Bush in 1990. The act went into effect in 1991(Nathanson, 1997). According to Nathanson (1997), the law intends to protect the patient’s right to make his or her own decisions through advanced directives. Advance directives designate another person to make decisions for him or her should a patient lose his or her decision-making capacity. The Medicare and Medicaid programs established a requirement that health care providers must acknowledge the law through the implementation of written policies and procedures that illustrate the patient’s rights (Nathanson, 1997). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the health care professional to comply ethically and legally according to the policies dictated by the organization. Nathanson (1997) interpretation of the law asserts that the patient must receive advice and written information about advanced directives illustrating his or her right to accept or refuse medical treatment. The Patient Self-Determination Act requirement ensures that health care professionals receive education and training that is appropriate and in subordination with the specific laws, regulations, organizational policies, and procedures. The Act requires each state to furnish health care providers and agencies with a description of the law. The Act also requires providers to give their patients information through various forms of media such as the policy of Concerned Home Care, Incorporated, (Concerned Home Care, Inc, 2011). How does this agency’s policy influence your professional work? The Advanced Directive Policy creates a unique physician patient relationship by placing the patient at the center of the health care decision-making process from the onset of the relationship. The patient has an inherent right to â€Å"accept or refuse medical treatment† through the formulation of an Advanced Directive. Through this policy the hysician-patient relationship begins with discussions that center on the desires of the patient rather than the processes of the health care provider. The Agency’s policy mandates that physicians, nurses, and other health care providers â€Å"provide the patient with written information regarding Advance Medical Directives and ask the patient if he/she has prepared an Advan ce Directive; either a living will or durable power of attorney. † Advance Directives allow patients to implement specific boundaries for treatments at the beginning of the clinician-patient relationship. Pre-existing advance directives also empowers patients because it allows family members to speak on their behalf in the event that they become incapacitated or unable to render decisions on their own. A patient’s medical wishes were often preempted for the application of intensive and invasive treatments of the past. Advance Directive Policies changed this standard of care and gave patients the opportunity to determine their own treatment plan. The initiation of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Orders is an early example of Advance Directives. Later developments embrace the inclusion or exclusion of specific treatment medications, invasive procedures, and care maps that can impact patient longevity in the event that complications from disease arise. Written Advance Directive Information protects the patient from personal bias of staff members. The policy states â€Å"the staff member is not authorized to give the patient advice about advanced directives,† and â€Å"shall refer the patient to the Advanced Directive Questions and Answers section of the admission packet and also shall inform the patient to seek further information from the physician. This further advances the discussions between the physician and the patient ultimately ensuring that the desires and expectations of the patient remain central to the care map. Advanced Directive decisions â€Å"require open communication between the patient and the health care team† (Burkhardt & Nathaniel,  2008, pp. 242-243). The Agency is also required to rais e awareness of Advanced Directive within the community by including â€Å"Advance Directive information in its presentations,† either â€Å"in presentations made directly to the community members or in presentations made to other providers and/or other organizations. Enhanced discussions regarding Advanced Directives, end of life care and the patient’s desired plan of treatment becomes part of the heath care provider’s relationship during an office or in home. The creation of open and honest lines of communication stimulates healthy discussions and strengthens the bond between providers and patients. In fact the term â€Å"physician-patient relationship† has forever changed with Advanced Directive policies. It is more fitting that the terminology reflects the fact that patients have greater control over their care. Thus the term should be â€Å"patient-physician relationship,† placing the patient at the center of the health care continuum. As the patient centered relationship continues, the past â€Å"passive position† that makes it difficult â€Å"to remain intellectually and emotionally in control of your own experience† will continue to progress placing patients first and normal operating procedures second (Ashton & Richards,  2003, p. 7). What are the effects of the increasing technology of patient confidentiality and data security on health care organizations? Health care organizations face an enormous task of maintaining the privacy of their patients with the onslaught of new technology. This task involves ensuring that employees have policies and procedures to follow when using new technology to access protected health information (PHI), faxing PHI, and using the Internet. Health care organizations and health care providers have the responsibility of implementing a patient’s Advance Directives. However, new technology can give way to digression to past behaviors and the paternalistic attitudes of some clinicians may result in disregarding a patient’s Advance Directives. Some clinicians may believe they know what is best for the patient because advances in technology often raises hope that a provider can positively impact or alter a patient’s current medical condition (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2008). According to Miller and Tucker (2009), the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) could reduce America’s annual health care bill by $34 billion through higher safety and efficiency but only 41% of hospitals in the United States have adopted its use. Concerns over effectively protecting patient privacy and the cost of securing information have prevented the widespread use throughout the industry. A prime example of the fruition of security concerns is the downfall of the Santa Barbara County Care Health Data Exchange in 2007 (Miller & Tucker, 2009). The state mandated privacy filters but the system still failed. New technology requires privacy protection devices to protect PHI. This may force health care organizations to increase the rates of medical record use just to keep financially afloat. Conclusion The creation of Agency policies has impacted the physician-patient relationship effectively giving the power to control the course of treatment to patients. In essence, physicians have become advisors in the presence of Advanced Directives, yielding to the desires of patients and their families. The provision of care changed with advances in technology. Information sharing and dissemination requires physicians and other health care providers to successfully navigate between their new role as advisors and their commitment to ensure the best delivery of care to their patients. Melding the two provides the best guarantee that patients will have both their wants and needs met maximizing the opportunity for positive health outcomes. References Burkhardt, M. A. , & Nathaniel, A. K. (2008). Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing (3rd ed. ). Mason, OH: Delmar Cengage Learning. Concerned Home Care, Inc. , (2011). Concerned Home Care Policy and Procedure Manual Harbor Beach, MI. : . Miller, A. R. , & Tucker, C. (2009). Privacy protection and technology diffusion: The case of electronic medical records. Management Science, 55(7), 1077-1093. Nathanson, M. D. (1997). Home Health Care Law Manual (5th ed. ). Gaithersburg, MD. : Aspen Publication. Appendix I: Advance Directives for Concerned Home Care, Inc. [pic]

Dream and Reality in Chinese Literature Essay

Myths and legends had always been a part of early Chinese literature. With the integration of Buddhism and spirituality into the culture, more fables on fantasy, dream and reality, and even spirits and ghosts, were produced as evident in writings from the six dynasties that ensued. The two tales discussed in this paper were written during the Tang Dynasty and they belong to this category, more specifically, as narratives on dream and reality. How does this form of writing effectively present itself to capture the curiosity and attention of its readers? Was it an appropriate style used during its own era and is it still an effective method of story-telling in today’s modern age? And finally, if Buddhism or religion did play a part in influencing or affecting the writing themes of that particular age, where and how does spirituality come into view in the stories discussed in this paper? There are three relevant elements to consider in the dream and reality tale: (1) a vision of grandeur, (2) the illusion of time, and (3) the time-measuring device. This paper shall discuss these significant elements and how they were applied in these stories. Undeniably, the advent and eventual flourishing of arts and literature in the Chinese culture many ages ago has contributed to the over-all development and advancement of human civilization as we now know it. Main Body The Spendthrift and the Alchemist, written by Li Fuyan, is a story of a degenerate man, Du Zichun, who squanders his fortune repeatedly until he is overcome with misery and indignation because his shameful plight. With nothing to eat, he laments his fate accordingly but is continually given increasingly large amounts of money by a mysterious man. However, with money in his hands, his lavish lifestyle makes him forget his good resolutions in exchange for pleasures which always render him penniless. After he is given a huge amount of money for the third time, he thought in gratitude: ‘I have led a dissolute life and run through all my property, and none of my relatives has ever helped me. Now here is this old man who has given me money three times – how can I repay him? ’ So he said to the old man, ‘With this sum I can settle my worldly affairs, make provision for my poor relatives and fulfill all my obligations. I am deeply grateful to you. After my affairs are settled, I shall do whatever you tell me’. ‘That is what I wish,’ was the old man’s reply. (138) This man turns out to be a priest who tries to perform a ritual to immortalize Du Zichun, and it was apparent that his repeated offers of money was to educate Du on how to master and overcome desire for worldly pleasures, all of which were in preparation for the ritual he was intending to perform. The Governor of the Southern Tributary State, written by Li Gongzuo, is a tale about a man, Chunyu Fen, who believes that he has been given high statutory recognition in society, only to discover in the end that all the wealth and power he had unwittingly amassed was just a fantasy and a delusion, as illustrated in the tale’s concluding quatrain: His reputation reaches to the skies, His influence can make a kingdom fall, And yet this pomp and power, after all, Are but an ant-heap in the wise man’s eyes. (69) It is clear that the central theme of these two stories focuses on the futility of man’s worldly accumulation of wealth, recognition and authority. The frustrations and disappointments of Chunyu in his old life fuelled his desire to be a powerful and renowned ruler in his new-found territory. Likewise, Du’s repeated shameful failures in his self-indulgent life propelled him to try and do better. A Vision of Grandeur In this, the main character dreams that he undergoes a long series of experiences in which he ultimately attains a great amount of success after a certain amount of time. He may also undergo a succession of sufferings, or trials and tribulations until it eventually leads to his awakening. In the Governor of the Southern Tributary State, authority, influence and splendor are the essence of a dream by the central character, Chunyu, a frustrated military man and academic. One day, as he lay drunk, he was accompanied by two purple-clad messengers to the Kingdom of Ashendon where he married the king’s daughter and became governor of the Southern Tributary State. As he arrived at the province, all the citizens welcomed him at the gate with much fanfare. The officials of the province, the monks and priests, elders, musicians, attendants and guards had all come out in welcome. The streets were thronged, while drums and bells could be heard for miles around. Chunyu saw a goodly array of turrets and pavilions as he entered the great city gate, above which was inscribed in letters of gold: ‘The Southern Tributary State’. In front there were red windows and a large gate with a fine view into the distance. (64) He ruled well as a governor for twenty years and as a result, the people admired and honored him, erecting monuments and building temples in his name. Not only was he highly-successful in politics, at home he was happily-married and blessed with five sons and two daughters. Life was at its best until tragedy upon tragedy started to invade his life. First his army was defeated by a neighboring kingdom, followed by the untimely death of his wife, until finally he was falsely accused by an enemy in the palace, leading to the king’s hostility toward him. His glory days were over for he had lost all the material wealth and power he thought he had in previous years. Destitute, he fell into a deep moral depression until one day he was sent back to the former life he knew. Again he was escorted by the same purple-clad messengers who first took him to Ashendon. In a dilapidated carriage, they arrived at his former home. Upon seeing his other self still sleeping in the eastern part of the hall, he was terrified and woke up from his dream. He gave an account of his vivid dream to his two companions and they searched the hollow under the ash tree where he was taken. There they found a big hole large enough to hold a couch. Inside were gathered swarms of ants and heaps of earth forming towers and city walls. One ant hill had a small reddish tower where two huge ants lived. They were surrounded by scores of other big ants who prevented other ants from approaching. This was apparently the Ashendon that Chunyu narrated to his friends and the two huge ants were the king and queen. There was another smaller ant hill to its south and it had smaller towers, this was the Southern Tributary State. Chunyu tried to protect this hollow under the ash tree but that night there was a vicious storm and when he came back to the place the following morning, all the ants were gone. In the Spendthrift and the Alchemist, after Du Zichun was repeatedly given large sums of money over a period of years, he was brought to a huge mansion and was given three marble pills and a goblet of wine and instructed to sit on a tiger skin by the west wall, facing east. Before the priest disappeared, he was informed that all sorts of horrible illusions would come before him and that he should not utter a word no matter what he sees. And so it happened that his life was threatened by men and monsters, his body tortured, and his pleading wife murdered in front of him. He was killed and his soul was thrown in hell where the king of hell further tortured his soul. Then he was reborn as a woman, married and even bore a son. During all these experiences he was successful in not uttering a single word, as he was instructed by the priest. But when his little son was killed in front of him, his love for the child made him forget his promise and he uttered an exclamation of horror. At this he suddenly awoke with the mansion starting to burn. When the fire was quelled, the enraged priest told him that had he passed the test, Du Zichun would have become an immortal like him. Mastering joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hate and desire, he failed to overcome love. The Illusion of Time In this element, when the central character falls asleep, his dream seems to occupy a long period of time, but when he awakens, he finds that his sleep has lasted for only a short duration. In The Governor of the Southern Tributary State, Chunyu’s two friends laid him down in the eastern chamber because of his drunkenness, after which they fed the horses and washed their feet. When Chunyu suddenly awoke from his unusual dream, his friends had finished giving fodder to the horses and were still washing their feet but sunset had not yet arrived. He saw his servants sweeping the courtyard. His two guests were still washing their feet by the couch, the slanting sun had not yet set behind the west wall and his unfinished wine was still by the east window – but he had lived through a whole generation in his dream! Deeply moved, he could not help sighing. And when he called his two friends and told them, they were equally amazed. They went out to look for the hollow under the ash tree, and Chunyu, pointing to it, said, ‘This is where I went in the dream. ’ (67) The same happens in The Spendthrift and the Alchemist. When Du Zichun awakens, he finds that he has only been asleep from sunset till dawn, when in fact he has lived for decades in his dream. While the exclamation was still at Du’s lips, he found himself back on the seat in the hall, with the priest before him. It was dawn. Purple flames from the cauldron were shooting up through the roof to the sky, and fire was rising from all sides to burn the house to ashes. ‘Look at what you have done! You have spoilt my work, you silly fellow! ’ exclaimed the priest. Seizing him by the hair, he threw Du into a jar of water. Then the fire was extinguished. (143) The illusion of time presents an additional appeal to the stories, initially because everyone has experienced and questioned this type of illusion since it normally occurs in dreaming and waking cycles, thus making it more readable and interesting. It may also bring into the fore another question: is time itself an illusion? Or, in the paranormal plane of thought which is in harmony with the theme of the two stories: would time, as we know it, elapse in the same rate or pace as that in a paranormal plane or level of existence? Hence, contemplating on this concept: is there even a slim possibility that Chunyu Fen really did experience these events? Did he think himself to be a man living among the ants or an ant living among humans? Which is reality and which is a dream? These are but a few of the questions which may further fascinate and arouse the curiosity of the reader to analyze and seek for answers which elude man’s capacity to comprehend the unexplained and demand enlightenment in simple terms that he can understand. The Time-Measuring Device The stories use material objects to measure the amount of time that actually passes in the dream. For example, the dream may take the space of time it requires to wash horses, cook a meal, or wake up from drunkenness. In the case of The Governor of the Southern Tributary State, the device used to measure the actual amount of time that passed from the moment Chunyu slept to his eventual awakening was the feeding of the horses and washing of the feet. It was also mentioned that the slanting sun had not yet set in the west and his unfinished wine was still by the east window when he awoke. For The Spendthrift and the Alchemist, the device used was the nine-foot high cauldron in the central hall brewing with drugs before Du slept during sunset. When Du awoke in the dawn, purple flames were already shooting up from it through the roof to the sky. The time-measuring devices employed in these tales indispensably complement the illusion of time and provide a necessary medium by which to ascertain the actual duration of the sleeping and waking cycle. Conclusion In The Spendthrift and the Alchemist, we are given a clear visualization of the fickleness and irresoluteness of man in confronting worldly pleasures and immorality. Illusions of joy and artificial bliss are presented as mere distractions or obstacles to a life of moral ideology and righteousness. The story of The Governor of the Southern Tributary State is an account of a mystical phenomenon but it was written primarily to rebuke the over-ambitious who aspire for materialism and power, even at the expense of morality, as stated by the author in the following: In the eighth month of the eleventh year of the Zhen Yuan period (AD 795), while on a journey from Suzhou to Luoyang I had stopped at Huaipu and met Chunyu by chance. I questioned him and looked at the ant-hills, going into his story very thoroughly. Believing it to be quite genuine, I have written this tale for those who may be interested. Although it deals with supernatural and unorthodox things, it may have a moral for the ambitious. Let future readers not think this narrative a mere series of coincidences, and let them beware of taking pride in worldly fame and position! (69) Contemplating both stories, we find the true substance and significance of detaching ourselves from worldly pleasures and desires, and heeding the call of spirituality. In one of the tales, Du Zichun would have achieved immortality had he been successful in mastering himself and overcoming worldly concerns, even love itself, clearly a pervasive doctrine preached in all religions worldwide where man would have everlasting life in paradise if he is willing to set everything else aside, prioritizing God above all, and following the holy teachings of his Church. The dream and reality tales discussed in this paper were effectively presented using an appropriate style of narrative during its time because: (1) it captures the interest and attention of its readers, not only because it touches on the paranormal, mystical or superstitious nature of the Chinese civilization during that era, but also because (2) it delves on the primal nature or tendency of man in desiring excessive material gain and power, a fact that has, time and again, revealed itself in the annals of human history and is still unquestionably in high supply in this modern day and age. Works Cited Li, Fuyan. â€Å"The Spendthrift and the Alchemist† (â€Å"Du Zichun†). Tang Dynasty Stories. Trans. Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. Beijing: Chinese Literature P, 1986. 136-43. Li, Gongzuo. â€Å"Governor of the Southern Tributary State† (â€Å"Nanke taishou zhuan†). Tang Dynasty Stories. Trans. Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. Beijing: Chinese Literature P, 1986. 56-69.