Material Posessions vs Happiness free essay sample

Material Possessions vs Happiness Happiness is an enigma, an ever fleeting ideal that is nearly impossible to catch. For millennia humans have been attempting to reach American societies standard of happiness. We live in a high end consumer society where people are constantly purchasing the hottest new product to hit the shelf, only in the hope to flaunt their wealth or overall happiness to other people. However to their dismay, that feeling is only momentary. It takes real life experiences, simple daily occurrences that make one appreciate what they have, honest happiness. There are people that will never ave this realization; they are the ones who are wasteful. They are the ones that will never be able to fully appreciate the things that they have, and will never fully understand because they are caught in capitalisms pathetic rat race. Material possessions directly affect the perception of wealth and status. This means that the more fancy cars or the bigger and better the house, the higher ranked you are in your community. We will write a custom essay sample on Material Posessions vs Happiness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This ideal gives many people a reason to pursue the image of wealth even though they do not really have the money to keep up with the Joneses. This overwhelming competition to be on top is what drives these people o destroy their lives. Materialistic views are drilled into the minds of the population by the media from early childhood. The author of Is everybody happy? By John Ciardi agrees with the idea that media creates the problem when he says Advertising is one of our major industries, and advertising exists not to satisfy desires but create them(38). The population of America is constantly offered help to buy things; there is credit, loans, and even grants to be able to upgrade to a standard of living that even the government looks at as a normal standard. Because of these seemingly kind estures there has been a clear drop in the economy, because of people spending money they do not have. When the economy plummeted, foreclosures, unemployment, and bankruptcy skyrocketed. The wealthy continue to produce income while the poor have no way to get back on their feet. It is ironic because it seems as though there is a large quantity of people that can no longer pay for their home and yet they go out and buy designer clothing, all Just to keep up appearances. On the other hand the rich are constantly dropping tons of money on things they will never need for these are the people that get caught up in the rat race. They are the people that define capitalism at its best. The standard that the wealthiest people create is the level that the poor or middle class will always attempt to keep up with. Americans purchase things in surplus. They buy more than they will ever use in the time span before it will spoil. The fact that people throw away good food because it is a day past the sell by or has a little piece of mold is heart breaking because there are millions of starving people in the world that go days without food. There are approximately 50 million people starving that would do nearly anything for the food eople so nonchalantly toss. That 50 million are real people living in the United States right now. That count is not even adding farther third world countries whose child. (feedingamerica. rg ) When Lars Eighner became part of the statistics he experienced the struggles of living without any possessions or means to survive; he then wrote On Dumpster Diving a story of how he managed to get through it while explaining some of the experiences that he went through to teach others. Eighner explains that people are overly wasteful when he says that People throw away perfectly good stuff, a lot of perfectly good s tuff. (22) He goes on to explain how peoples trash shows that not only are they wasteful but they do not know how to appreciate what they already have. Someone like the author had all of the material goods that people crave, and then lost it all. He has an unbiased opinion of both sides of the coin. Being a consumer he knew that he wanted the best of everything but then when he became a scavenger he realized that the life he was living was not true happiness. Material goods give people that are normally out casted a way to fit in. Humans are naturally self-conscious and have low self-image and when people ee that someone has the wealth to purchase something like a garment that is brand new, hot off the line, spring fashion, they see that they are getting attention and love from their peers. Love and acceptance are natural human desires. These are undeniable necessities Just like food, water, shelter, and security. However, since our world has become less socially equal and individuals are more isolated, the appeal and obtainment of brand items has helped to fill the void of that need to belong, be loved and have higher self-esteem. But that is no excuse to go and spend 70 dollars on a pair of Abercrombie Fitch Jeans. True happiness is a feeling that can only be achieved when people know what they desire most. Though there is a direct correlation between happiness and merchandise, there is no direct link between the two. The fact is that though money can buy for example purposes, a sparkling new vacation home with all the trimmings. The house will not give happiness directly; however, it is the experiences that family has at that beach house that creates happiness. The more positive experiences, the happier the person. Americans should make the most out of their born right to the pursuit of happiness because not many people have that opportunity.

Compass and The Torch Essay Example

Compass and The Torch Essay Example Compass and The Torch Essay Compass and The Torch Essay When growing up children fight to be accepted and to be heard by their parents. In society most parents are constantly on the run and they do not take the time to enjoy spending time with their loved ones. These children try to get attention from their parents, but if their parents do not hear them, then they will feel like they have failed, but because they love their parents they accept it, and do not question their parents behavior. At the same time parents might also try to reach their children, but they get lost and therefore he relationship between the child and the parent can be damaged, because neither Of the parts feel like they get heard. Accepting and the fear Of losing are two of the main themes in the short story Compass and Torch, where a father takes his son with him on a camping trip, where the son tries to talk to his father, but his father does not pay attention and his father tries to forget his anxiety to lose his son. Compass and Torch was written by Elizabeth Beanies, an English writer and was published in 2003. The short story starts in medias rest and the story is built up chronological tit a few flashbacks between the camping trip and at his mothers house. The story is set at two different locations, one location at the boys mother and her boyfriends house and the second location on the camping trip up in the mountains. The short story is told by a third person narrator and is attached to the boy, therefore the story is told from his point of view. The boy adores his father. His father on the other hand, does not seem to be very interested and he does not show any interest when his son shows him his torch or talks to him. Before going on the camping trip with his father, the boy hears his mother talks badly about the father, and the relationship between the boy and his father can be damaged since the boy lives at his mother who does not speak nice about the father. The father is so afraid of losing his son that he forgets to pay attention when his son speaks to him. The boy and his father are both very desperate to spend time together and to be loved by one another, but none of them wants to do something about it. The boy accepts the fact that his father does not pay attention to him, and the ether is not aware of his sons desperation. The boy is eightieth old. He is a flat-round person, since we do not hear much about his looks but what is on his mind instead. He is also a static character, because he does not grow as a person he sticks to whom he was when the story began. He lives with his mother and her boyfriend Jim. His mother does not trust her ex-husband, and she feels the need for telling her husband that they cannot go camping near the edge. Even though Jim is very nice to him, he is still not his own father, and therefore does the boy treat him tit caution. The boy is afraid of opening up for other people since the boy adores his father and he watches his every move. But on the other hand he calls him the man, so it is almost like he forgot his father. When he tries to show his father his torch, his father looks away and the boy does not get upset: Ifs K, the boy decides, that his dad hasnt looked at the torch, hasnt studied it like Jim. (Page 8, line 49-50), and when his father almost cancel their camping trip, he is full of fear even though he had a brief moment where he did not want to go. He seems to be very sensitive but at the same time he tries to avoid confrontation with both of his parents: his father, when he does not listen to him or pay him half attention and when he overhears a conversation between the mother and Jim talking bad about his father. The torch symbolizes the connection between the boy and his father. Its better to have it for a proper purpose, to put it away, to carry it carelessly but with meaning, as a warrior might carry his sword. A torch is for lighting when the time comes, for lighting up the expedition of father and son. (Page 8, line 50-53). It is what keeps them from fading apart, but it can also symbolizes the fathers anxiety to lose his son; The man gently takes away the torch (Page 11, line 166). The son who is so eager to speak and to be acknowledged by his father, and the father who is very afraid of losing his only son one year on from the separation, and therefore he only listen to half of the things that his son says. They are camping up a mountain and the mountain, which symbolizes the foundation of their relationship, and it is as firm as a rock. The main theme in the short story is the fear of not getting acknowledged is en of the struggles that the little boy fights with. The father on the other hand struggles with the fear of losing his son, and he becomes so desperate that he forgets his son and loses him: For years to come, though, in his dreams the boy will see their wild fringed eyes and feel the deep thudding of their hooves. (Page 11, line 169-170). The story shows how important it is to live in the present and communication is one of the most important tools to make a family work. If communication works in the family it is more likely to believe that acknowledging and accepting one another is easier.

Inequality for women in the workplace Research Paper

Inequality for women in the workplace - Research Paper Example 565) and yet just over thirty-years later, The Glass Ceiling Commission reported that equity was far from being achieved. The report noted that women continued to earn proportionately less than men for the same work or that there was a wage-gap, and that they made up only a very small fraction of the upper-level positions in U.S. Organizations (Russell, 1995, p. 8). Hence, where there are no visible or concrete (legal) barriers for advancement, the barriers are invisible or made of glass. The following will examine the barriers faced by women in the workplace, and this essay will try and make the transparent visible. It will be argued that inequality can only be explained by how the dominant class in society legitimates and perpetuates power, and how the distinction between gender and sex is important to understanding the actual barriers to equality. In order to arrive at understanding the invisible or glass barriers for women in the workplace, a brief overview of some of the legal o bstacles will first be presented. While it is true that many barriers remain for women in the workplace, it can also be held that the twentieth-century was marked by a significant amount of progress. At the turn of the twentieth century, many obstacles existed for women in the workforce. ... 154). However, as science progressed this form of legitimation proved untenable. Likewise, attitudes changed significantly, and access to higher education meant access to better positions in the workforce. As with progress in education, likewise with the the percentage of women in the workforce in the twentieth century. One of the main contributing causes for this change, are the two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) where women were needed to work in the place of men who were participating military action. For example, in 1900 only 5.6 % of all women worked outside of the home, and following the First World War this percentage rose to 23.6 % (Webb, 2010, pp. 1-2). During the era of the Great Depression after the stock market crash of 1929, there was a public sentiment that maintained that the few jobs that existed ought to be given to men, but again, the Second World War changed the workforce demographics again and between 1942 and 1945 over 6.5 million women entered the workforc e in the U.S. (Webb, 2010, p. 2). And, while attitudes were still negative about women in the workforce, there were many public campaigns that promoted it because of the necessity of the War. This had a significant impact on changing attitudes toward women in the workforce, and as with the period following the First World War, the period following the Second was marked by a higher percentage of women who remained employed outside of the home (Webb, 2010, p. 2). Along with the barrier's of access to education and the workforce, a number of legal or legislative changes improved egalitarian conditions in the twentieth-century. The right to vote for women largely came about through the lobbying and

Analyze a Major Retailer Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analyze a Major Retailer - Term Paper Example Over the years, Macy’s continued success saw the company open regional stores and take over other retailers to increase its presence in the market (Macy’s, 2011) \. Way back in November 25, 1929, another revolution was being made in American retail when Abraham & Straus of Brooklyn, Filene's of Boston, F&R Lazarus & Co. of Columbus, OH, and Bloomingdale's of New York combined together to form Federated Department Stores, Inc. which was later renamed Macy's, Inc. in June 2007(Macy’s, 2011). Each of these retailers had marked and prominent presence in the market with the backing of their rich history. The company grew to be one of the biggest retailers in the company and acquired other stores and retailers in the coming years. It had its own ups and down but in the 1990’s, Federated Department Stores acquired Macys to form Macy’s Inc. Macy's, Inc.  is the owner of both Macy's  and  Bloomingdale's  department stores (Macy’s, 2011). As Fu hrmann (2011) adds, with an annual 2010 sales of $25 billion, Macy’s currently serves its customers in over 800 stores throughout the country and specializes in retail clothing, fashion accessories such as jewellery, handbags and shoes along with household items such as furniture and kitchen items. Macy’s is not just a simple retailer; from its traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 4th of July Fireworks to its Annual Flower Shows and the tree lightings and animated window displays at the time of Christmas, Macy’s has always been in the forefront in creating its own distinctive and unique identity (Macy’s, 2011). Innovation at its forefront, Macy’s is very well known as bringing many ‘firsts’ in the retail industry. Macy introduced several revolutionary business practices in the industry; it initiated the one price system, in which an item was sold across the shops to every customer at one price. It also was the firs t company to quote prices of different products in the newspapers. Macy also made history when it assigned Margaret Getchell, the first female executive in the retail industry. It also was the first retail store in New York to hold the license to sell liquor. With its corporate philosophy revolving around the customer, Macy’s has always recognized the importance of directing its strategies towards providing localized shopping experience to its customers. The Corporate Financial objectives of Macy’s, Inc. are: Increasing sales; Increasing profitability levels Have better return on invested capital; Shareholder return should be maximized (Macy’s, 2011). According to Fuhrmann (2011), keeping in mind the above objectives, Macy’s has seen an increase in sales in the year 2010 by 4.6 % as compared to the previous year while its operating income increased by 7.6% of sales in the year 2010. SWOT ANALYSIS A  SWOT  analysis critically studies a company's  int ernal Strengths and  Weaknesses in relation to the external  Opportunities and  Threats it faces coming from its environment. To understand the environment of Macy’s, a SWOT analysis has been conducted. STRENGTHS Diversity: With the acquisitions of small retailers at all regional levels, Macy’s has strategically aligned and integrated diversity in all aspects of its operations. For Macy’s, diversity has become the most integral and essential part of business. Macy’s caters to a much-diversified market and this has made it very beneficial to its customers, vendors, suppliers and business

Emotional Memory Essay Example for Free

Emotional Memory Essay Emotional memory pertains to an individual’s recollection of incidents that have occurred in the past. The mechanism behind such strong retention is mainly based on the emotions that are associated with that particular event, resulting in a increased level of attention that facilitates encoding of the event in the memory of an individual. Emotional memory is also involved in ruminations of the occurrence, regardless of the length of time that has already passed away since the actual event. This kind of memory can be distinguished from other neurobiological concepts of memory because its retention is very strong due to the influence of emotions, which technically magnifies details of the incident. Research has shown that emotional memory is imprinted in the cortical region of the brain. This description is supported by observations that several neural activities occur in the cortex, thus facilitating memory retention. Several studies have indicated that emotional memory involves two major processes, namely encoding and post-encoding. The first process of encoding involves the heightened level of attention of an individual during the actual event, while post-encoding pertains to the consolidation of the details of the event after the actual incident, coupled with enhancement that is triggered by the emotions that were set off at that time. One prime example of an emotional memory is the vivid recall of an accident that is associated with physical injury and blood. Regardless of the length of time that the incident has occurred, the individual who was involved in the accident is still capable of remembering the accident even after several years. One complication of emotional memory is that an individual finds it difficult to dissociate his emotions with regards to a particular incident. It is thus extremely hard for an individual to go back to the site of an accident if this person almost died at that time. It has been suggested that evolution also plays a role in emotional memory, wherein the brain of human beings has acquired the capacity to retain details of an event in order to survive that particular incident. It may thus be possible that through fear, early primates and other higher mammals may have learned to stay away from predators and other harmful environmental components in order to survive in the wild. These species may have adapted such modes of memory by being subjected to extreme discomfort or pain that is related to incidents such as toxin exposure or predation and thus their perception for harmful conditions may have been imprinted in their brains and possibly passed on to their offspring. The exact mechanism behind the retrieval of memories associated with a particular incident based on emotional settings still remains elusive up to this date. The unique feature of storage for a prolonged period of time further complicates the pathway and several analysts have attempted to address this question. Neurobiologists have suggested that emotional memory may be act as a complete process unless an individual is able to retrieve the information associated with a specific incident in the past. Storage of information, or encoding, is simply one component of the entire emotional memory pathway yet the retrieval of specific information is essential in determining that the entire process has been completed. It has also been suggested that emotional memory is easier to access over the neutral events, and this is also partly due to the role of amygdala, which influences how the hippocampus functions at such events. In addition to the emotional influence, sleep also sways the brain to remember specific incidents, wherein the amount of sleep can result in a positive or negative condition for memory. According to Sterpenic et al. (2007), memory is influenced by sleep through the imposition of neural correlates. Through the application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a comparison of neural connections was examined among subjects who were able to sleep for a sufficient amount of time and those who were deprived of sleep. The investigation was designed towards a stage wherein the subjects were allowed to undergo post-encoding, which is one of the two stages of emotional memory. The investigation showed that subjects who received enough hours of sleep had the ability to remember the positive events that occurred. On the other hand, an interesting observation came from those subjects who were subjected to a particular negative event. They observed that regardless of sufficiency or lack of sleep, the subject participant was able to retain the details of the negative event, most probably through the characteristic emotion that was generated from the negative stimuli. Another observation gathered by neurobiologists regarding emotional memory was that several regions of the brain were responsible in retaining such details and emotions. The two major brains areas involved in emotional memory were the hippocampus and the cortex. Specific regions of the cortex that were responsible for emotional memory included the prefrontal cortex, which is also involved in criminality. It seems that negative emotions, such as that involved in emotional memory, are largely stored in this region of the brain. Moreover, fMRI scanning showed a functional connection between these two regions of the brain and the combinatorial effect of these regions was magnified when the incident is featured with negative stimuli or emotions. It is interesting to know that sleep may also have a selective effect on the memory of an individual. The amygdala was observed to only stimulate the hippocampus for encoding when a negative event has occurred and this happens with or without sleep. On the other hand, a happy incident will only be stored in the hippocampus if an individual receives enough sleep. Such selective storage of details may be largely influenced by emotions during that particular event, and not simply by the amount of time that an individual was able to sleep. Such kinds of research investigations are thus important in the providing a better understanding of how emotions influence an individual’s memory and ultimately, one’s mental condition. It has also been shown that emotions play a major role in the storage of details in the brain. In an investigation that involved manipulation of the context of emotion of subject participants, the activity of the neural networks in the brain was examined. A specific memory tested also allowed the comparison of retrieval capacities of the brain and the research conducted by Smith et al. (2005) showed that the presence of emotions increased the likelihood that an individual will retain the details of the incident. The emotional memory tested in this study showed that the actual area of brain involved in this mechanism is the left side of the amygdala, as well as the left side of the frontotemporal region of the cortex. The study also showed that the right side of the amydala and the frontotemporal cortex was not capable enough of storing details of a specific incident, regardless of its coupling to emotions. It is thus possible that when an individual has damaged the left side of his brain, then it is impossible for him to recall any other details of his past. It should also be understood that cognition is mainly based on memory as well as emotion, yet for several yesterday there were not attempts performed into looking into the finer details of the pathway. In addition, there were also only a few reported regarding the interaction of the amygdala and the cortex and on how these two regions responded to each other’s messages. The advent of high definition imaging technologies such as the magnetic resonance imaging allowed the visualization of internal regions of the brain that were perceived to be unreachable by an other analytical means. References Smith, A. P. , Henson, R. N. , Rugg, M. D. and Dolan, R. J. (2005). Modulation of retrieval processing reflects accuracy of emotional source memory. Learning and Memory, 12, 472–479. Sterpenich, V. , Albouy, G. , Boly, M. , Vandewalle, G. , Darsaud, A. , Balteau, E. , Dang-Vu, T. T. , Desseilles. M. , D’Argembeau, A. , Gais, S. , Rauchs, G. , Schabus, M. , Degueldre, C. , Luxen, A. , Collette, F. , Maquet, P. (2007). Sleep-related hippocampo-cortical interplay during emotional memory recollection. PloS Bi

Conditional and Iterative Data Types :: Essays Papers

Conditional and Iterative Data Types Conditional and Iterative A programming language cannot be a programming language with out its conditional and iterative structures. Programming languages are built to accomplish the task of controlling computer input and output. A programmer must use every tool available to complete his/her given tasks, and conditional as well as iterative statements are the most basic items of programming which must be mastered. Many different programming languages can demonstrate conditional and iterative statements including C++, Java, Pascal, Qbasic, COBOL, and Scheme. Most of these languages implement conditional and iterative statements in a similar fashion; however, there are a few differences. The conditional structure is easy to understand and self-defining. The whole statement is base on a condition and its veracity. When the statement or "test" is found to be true, a statement is executed, and if it is false, another test is given or the program continues to the next block. Conditional structures include the simple, two-alternative, multi-alternative, and non-deterministic conditional. The simple conditional is the easiest to understand being the IF-THEN statement. if *Boolean expression* then *block of statements* IF a condition is met THEN execute a statement. The two-alternative conditional or IF-ELSE is also easy to understand. if *Boolean expression* then *block of statements* else *block of statements* IF a condition is met execute a statement; ELSE the condition was not met so execute a different statement. The multi-alternative conditional is very close to the two-alternative conditional. if *condition-1* then *statement-block-1* elseif *condition-2* then *statement-block-2* †¦ elseif *condition-n* then *statement-block-n* [else *statement-block-(n+1)*] end if The IF question is asked about a statement, and if it is not true, the next statement is examined. If statement number two is not true, the next statement is examined; then the next statement is examined and so forth until a condition is met, and the control is carried out of the multi-alternative conditional. The non-deterministic conditional is similar to the multi-alternative conditional, because it has multiple conditionals. if *condition-1*  *statement-sequence-1* when *condition-2*  *statement-sequence-2* †¦ when *condition-n*  *statement-sequence-n* end if The reason multi-alternative and non-deterministic conditionals are different, stems from the release of program's control or flow. The non-deterministic conditional tests each statement to see if its condition is met; whereas the multi-alternative conditional only tests statements until one of the conditions is met. After one of the conditions is met, the multi-alternative conditional releases the program control and fails to check anymore statements.

Creative Retention Strategies That Are Used by Organization Today

With the fast changing economic & market conditions, companies are facing very high pressure to perform which require them to have the best people to work with, to retain their experience minds; they want to be the most preferred employer in the eyes of their prospects (future employee). To retain their best talent companies are adopting various creative strategies. According to DQ-IDC recent survey on the reasons that make people change the job, the most important reason was salary & compensation but apart from that Career Development, Location, Flexibility of office hours, Job Security, Organization Culture & Welfare policies emerged as the main reason of changing job. There is not much change on the attrition front we have seen even after following many strategies; the biggest attrition rate is still in IT industry which is 18%, followed by banking & financial companies. The average retention rate has dropped from 82% in 2007 to 79% in 2008. Now when we look what companies are doing to retain their employees, we can find many interesting thing. Some of the creative retention strategies/practices followed by companies are 1. Flexi timing: – Many Companies are following this technique like Aditi technologies, Sap Labs etc. It seems these companies have got the right software of flexible timing. 2. Fun @ Work:- Many companies have made fun an integral part of the working & their companies values, some of them have linked the fun with their performance appraisal system like Wipro BPO, Acclairis Business solution pvt. Ltd., VCustomer Corp. etc. 3. Training & Development opportunity: – Many companies have understood that their people are the most important assets that’s why they want a continuous up gradation of their employee through short term training & development programmes. 4. Respect Your Employee: – When we look at the recent survey on â€Å"Employee retention† we can find respect & recognition at the work place has emerged as the one of the main reason of changing job. Almost every company is trying hard to pay due respect to their employee by many programme. On the spot award, Self Appraisal, Foreign trips, â€Å"Get well soon† Flower bouquets for ill employee or family members are such programmes to show the respect towards the employees. 5. Empower Your employee: – It is not a matter of surprise that Marriott Hotel India every employee is called â€Å"Associates† and the â€Å"Sir† culture is absent there, Associates are empowered enough to take decision, the same way RMSI who have freed his employee to calculate their own performance bonus, at any time on the internet. 6. Bridge the Gap:- Programmes such as â€Å"Coffee with GM† in Marriott Hotel, â€Å"Good Morning Qualcomm† in Qualcomm, Breakfast meeting by CEO etc Are tool to improve the communication & fill the communication gap between Manager & their subordinate & also to bring fairness in the system. 7. Work with Friends: – Many companies like Perot System hires 40% of the employee through employee referral channel to create a friendly college like environment & to bring a sense of belongingness among the employee. 8. Best Reward System:- Many organization started self chosen reward system in which an employee could decide his/her own target & reward, organization are adopting 3600 performance appraisal system to bring the fairness in appraisal system. Apart from above example I have seen many interesting example like Mind Tree consulting’s â€Å"Baby’s Day Out† programmes, Antakshri programme, Departmental Day Outs, Annual Spring party, Sabbatical for social services, Cadbury day, Dhoom machale etc. are some example followed in different organization to control the attrition. After looking all the above aspects in nut shell companies should keep in mind the most widely accepted HR definition which is the best mantra to retain the employee & that is—- â€Å"The genuine concern of people†.