An Analysis Of A Native Son By James Baldwin And Letter...

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† by James Baldwin and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King . King’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† discusses the topic of segregation and just and unjust laws, whereas Baldwin in his â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† places an emphasis on relationships, particularly the relationship between his father and him. Additionally, Baldwin discusses the impact of racism on the lives of African Americans during that time. Although these essays are dated back over fifty years ago; the topics discussed in them are still very common today. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† is a narrative of Baldwin’s life. It is mainly about his relationship with his father and how after his father passed away he realized how his anger and rage, which was depicted as a disease, was

Overview of the Chinese Yangshao Culture

The Yangshao culture is the term for an ancient civilization that existed in what is now central China (Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces primarily) between the years 5000 and 3000 B.C.E. It was first discovered in 1921 -- the name â€Å"Yangshao† is taken from the name of the village where it was first discovered -- but since its initial discovery, thousands of sites have been uncovered. The most important site, Banpo, was found in 1953. Facets of the Yangshao Culture Agriculture was of paramount importance to the Yangshao people, and they produced many crops, although millet was particularly common. They also grew vegetables (mostly root vegetables) and raised livestock including chicken, pigs, and cows. These animals were mostly not generally raised for slaughter, though, as meat was eaten only on special occasions. Understanding of animal husbandry is thought to have increased significantly during this time. Although the Yangshao people had a primitive understanding of agriculture, they also fed themselves in part via hunting, gathering, and fishing. They accomplished this through the use of precisely-crafted stone tools including arrows, knives, and axes. They also used stone tools such as chisels in their farming work. In addition to stone, the Yangshao also cared intricate bone tools. The Yangshao lived together in houses -- huts, really -- built in pits with wooden frames holding up mud-plastered walls and thatched millet roofs. These houses were clustered in groups of five, and clusters of houses were arranged around a village’s central square. The perimeter of the village was a furrow, outside which were a communal kiln and cemetery. The kiln was used for the creation of pottery, and it is this pottery that has truly impressed archaeologists. The Yangshao were capable of making a significant variety of pottery shapes, including urns, basins, tripod containers, bottles of various shapes, and jars, many of which came with decorative covers or accessories shaped like animals. They were even capable of making complex, purely ornamental designs, like boat shapes. Yangshao pottery was also often painted with intricate designs, often in earth tones. Unlike more recent pottery cultures, it appears the Yangshao never developed pottery wheels. One of the most famous pieces, for example, is an exquisite basin painted with a fishlike design and a human face, originally used as a burial object and perhaps indicative of a Yangshao belief in animal totems. Yangshao children seem to have been often buried in painted pottery jars. In terms of clothing, the Yangshao people wore mostly hemp, which they wove themselves into simple shapes like loincloths and cloaks. They did also occasionally make silk and it’s possible some Yangshao villages even cultivated silkworms, but silk clothing was rare and mostly the province of the rich. Banpo Civilization Site The Banpo site, first discovered in 1953, is considered typical of the Yangshao culture. It consisted of a village area of about 12 acres, surrounded by a ditch (which may once have been a moat) nearly 20 feet wide. As described above, the houses were mud and wood huts with thatched roofs, and the dead were buried in a communal cemetery. Although it’s not clear to what extent, if at all, the Yangshao people had any sort of written language, Banpo pottery does contain a number of symbols (22 have been found so far) that are found repeatedly on different pieces of pottery. They tend to appear alone, and so almost certainly do not constitute true written language, they may be something akin to makers’ signatures, clan markings, or the marks of owners. There is some debate as to whether the Banpo site  and the Yangshao culture as a whole were matriarchal or patriarchal. The Chinese archaeologists initially investigating it reported it had been a matriarchal society, but newer research suggests that may not be the case, or that it might have been a society in the process of transferring from matriarchy to patriarchy.

America s Rising Tide Of Consumerism - 1877 Words

Perhaps one of the most controversial, creative and courageous times in American history; the decade after the first world war would take America as a nation to the front of the world stage. It is best summed up in a reflective editorial from the small newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, â€Å"The people of every age think theirs is the â€Å"golden age† of the world—and they think aright. The age we live in is the alivest and best that mankind has ever known† (Howell 8). And although there were aspects of the 1920s that seem to support the argument that the decade was reactionary, when seen alongside the loud, roaring culture and society, these events simply fade into background noise. The 1920s were an incredibly prosperous and booming period for the American economy; the largest inciting factor of the rapid growth of the U.S. and also the largest factor in its downfall. This can be specifically seen in America’s rising tide of consumerism. For the first time by 1929, America’s advertisement budget exceeded one billion dollars and the average person, including women and children, received $173 more annually than 10 years before (Shannon 216). Stock values went crazy, and, helped along by the end of the Progressive Era, corporate profits boomed. This kind of rapid and positive growth built the foundation for all that was to happen in the decade. People had an excess of money and an excess of time, creating a need for new ways to spend all of it. It may be that money does not buyShow MoreRelatedProcter and Gamble Environmental Analysis10421 Words   |  42 Pagesmost valuable contribution comes from the company‘s people. PG‘s employees are deeply committed to their purpose, values and principles. [Are these statements factual or someone‟s stated opinion? They are not the sort of statements that would typically be made by an outside observer. 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Globalization Drivers free essay sample

Globalization drivers Ultra luxury car industry Luxury car industry There are four different kinds of levels in the luxury car industry. The levels divide the actors of the market into different levels depending on their grade of luxury. We have chosen to focus on the highest level of luxury cars; the ultra luxury cars. The main players of this level are companies such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, but the level also includes the not as big companies as Cadillac, Aston Martin and Maserati 1.All these companies have in common is that they are international companies with a two-way communication between the head quarters and the different desks scattered around the world. The head quarters develop and supplies the desks with main car models while the desks receives the customers preferences so they together can produce custom made cars 2. Segment The companies in the Ultra Luxury Cars industry directs to a narrow group of costumers, which belongs to the upper class or upper middle class all over the world. They are all sharing almost the same main needs, which consists of status, speed and transportation.The customers achieve these needs by buying the ultra luxury cars because they represent a very high level of exclusivity, individuality and craftsmanship 3. Since the customers share the same needs overall, it could be termed as Levitt’s (1983) convergence perspective. Where the needs of customers all over the world are becoming more converged, which is typical for the market of luxury goods. Since the customers in the segment, which the ultra luxury car companies focus on, share overall the same needs and then they are localized all over the world, the industry considers a globalized market.Most companies that are involved in buying heavy machinery or other large purchases have high fixed costs and the automobile industry is no exception to this. However there are still differenes within the whole industry, for example the demand and production of a Porsche may not be as huge as with Toyota for example, which essentially means that a luxury car’s fixed cost per unit is higher than an ordinary family car’s. The rent of a factory and all the other different expenses to keep the production running form the fixed costs.As the labour expenses for example are a lot cheaper in Asia, most car companies, including the luxury ones, have migra ted their production there. The pressure for globalization is clear, but still there are some luxury automobile companies that have stayed loyal to manufacturing the cars in their country of origin, such as Aston Martin. (https://www. honk. com/aston-martin) Experience curve Most luxury automobile companies have many decades of experience in manufacturing their cars, which means both skilled expertise in technology as well as years of building a strong and distinguished brand.In luxury cars especially the significance of the brand is very important as many of the customers purchase these cars only for the status symbol that they give its owner. Building a solid brand usually takes years of work in exceeding the customers expectations, it demands strong-willed marketing, filling a specific niche at a right time. Sourcing Luxury automobile companies usually favour centralized purchasing which means that they buy the parts that they need from one location for all the locations within the organisation. This provides standardization of a product which is quite essential in luxury cars, as well as some cost-savings. Automakers universally outsource production of parts or sections of vehicles, and for example Porsche is known to use a Finnish company, Valmet Automotive, to assemble its two main product lines, the Cayman and the Boxster. (http://www. just-auto. com/news/porsche-to-outsource-boxster-production-to-osnabrueck_id121470. aspx) Product development costs Because of the nature of the product, the development and research of new technologies can be quite costly within the automobile industry. Technological changes The last decades the technical development for luxury automobiles has gone very quickly.For example the first luxury automobiles were noted as luxury just by having seat heating or high beams. Nowadays luxury is more about buttons for technological equipment’s, voice command, fuel efficiency and safety for the car driver. With having this thoughts in aspect, you can considerate the technical changes in the luxury automobiles industry as a pressure for globalization. Of course there are still some exceptions, for example Rolls Royce that is having a more of a British approach in their cars, with less buttons and simpler interior and equipment.These things can point against a more localization approach. Favourable logistics The logistics for the luxury automobiles depends for how long distance they have to be transported, so for the consumers it will be cheaper if they can find an automobile as close as possible. Another aspect is that depending from which country the automobile is imported from you have to pay a different amount of taxes and insurance fees and even other regulations can appear. Therefore the companies will have an advantage if they are locally settl ed, even though the really rich clients won’t care about the cost for the transports. Actually this may be why many automobile companies has started factories in Asia, though for example the German automobile companies had made a between 30-40 % sale growth in China. They may by this decision not only gain low labour costs but also lower transport costs. Country specific differences If you look at last year’s statistic for automobiles producing, low labour cost countries like China, Japan, South Korea and India is all in the top five, the other country in top five is Germany.This shows that many automobile brands have factories in these countries just for the low labour costs. In Germany the automobile industry is one of the biggest employers in the country, one reason is that Germany have many famous car brands and they have a lot of experience in the country. Between the different luxury automobile brands it differ a lot from where they are produced, like Mercedes-Benz have factories in a lot of different countries, Ferrari is only produced in one city and li ke for example Aston Martin is only produced in cities in UK.Therefore you can say that there is different kind of localization and globalization approaches. Competitive globalisation driver The next driver concerns the competitive environment, eg the amount of competition from other countries and continents as well as if there is any interdependence between countries. According to Yip (2003), globalised competitors and country interdependence are pressures for globalization. Globalised competitorsIn the luxury car industry, there are competitors from for example the US (Cadillac), Germany (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Audi), Italy (Maserati, Ferrari), Japan (Lexus, Acura) and England (Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce). According to Stonehouse et al (2004) a company that faces global competition has to compete on global terms as well. Therefore these facts indicate that this specific industry has become or are becoming globalized since there, given the examples above, are competitors from Europe, Asia and North America.Interdependece of countries In today’s economy and as a result of specialization, companies are focusing on their core c ompetences. For example, the German brand Mercedes are mainly focusing on innovation and design (Mercedes. com) while Acura have environmental friendly performance and innovation in the center of attention (acura. com). The headquarter of Mercedes is placed in Stuttgart and the production is taking place in Germany, Japan, USA, France, England and