Weber, Durkheim, Marx and how they account for religion Essay Example For Students

Weber, Durkheim, Marx and how they account for religion Essay How do we account for religion its origin, its development, and even its persistence in modern society? This is a question which has occupied many people in a variety of fields for quite a long time. At one point, the answers were framed in purely theological and religious terms, assuming the truth of Christian revelations and proceeding from there. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a more naturalistic approach developed. Instead of needing to believe in the truth of the religion, what was required was just the opposite: intellectual detachment and a suspension of belief. Three people who ended up doing just that were Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Marx studied philosophy in Berlin under William Hegel. Hegels philosophy had a decisive influence upon Marxs own thinking and theories. According to Marx, religion is an expression of material realities and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This is the origin of his comment that religion is the opium of the people. We will write a custom essay on Weber, Durkheim, Marx and how they account for religion specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now People do not have an objective view of the world; they see it from the restricted point of view of their own positions. (p. 35) At times I may seem to be focusing more on economic rather than religious theory, but that is because Marxs basic stance is that everything is always about economics. According to Marx, humans even from their earliest beginnings are not motivated by grand ideas but instead by material concerns, like the need to eat and survive. This is the basic premise of a materialist view of history. At the beginning, people worked together in unity and it wasnt so bad. But eventually, humans developed agriculture and the concept of private property. These two facts created a division of labor and a separation of classes based upon power and wealth. This material organization of society is what Marx calls class consciousness. This, in turn, created the social conflict that drives society. All of this is made worse by capitalism which only increases the disparity between the wealthy classes and the labor classes. Confrontation between them is unavoidable because those classes are driven by historical forces beyond anyones control. Capitalism also creates one new misery: exploitation of surplus value. For Marx, an ideal economic system would involve exchanges of equal value for equal value, where value is determined simply by the amount of work put into whatever is being produced. Capitalism interrupts this ideal by introducing a profit motive a desire to produce an uneven exchange of lesser value for greater value. Profit is ultimately derived from the surplus value produced by workers in factories. A laborer might produce enough value to feed his family in two hours of work, but he keeps at the job for a full day in Marxs time, that might be 12 or 14 hours. Those extra hours represent the surplus value produced by the worker. The owner of the factory did nothing to earn this, but exploits it nevertheless and keeps the difference as profit. Economics, then, are what constitute the base of all of human life and history generating division of labor, class struggle, and all the social institutions which are supposed to maintain the status quo. Those social institutions are a superstructure built upon the base of economics, totally dependent upon material and economic realities but nothing else. All of the institutions which are prominent in our daily lives marriage, church, government, arts, etc. can only be truly understood when examined in relation to economic forces. It should be clear now that religion is one of those social institutions which are dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. It has no independent history but is instead the creature of productive forces. As Marx wrote, The religious world is but the reflex of the real world. Marx asserts that religion is only dependent upon economics, nothing else so much so that the actual doctrines of the religions are almost irrelevant. This is a functionalist interpretation of religion understanding religion is not dependent upon the content of beliefs, but what social purpose religion itself serves. Marx believes that religion is an illusion whose chief purpose is to provide reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. Just as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion also takes our qualities our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god. Religion is meant to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them that this is OK because they will find that true happiness in the next life. For Marx, the problem lies in the fact that just like an opiate drug fails to fix a physical injury it merely helps you forget your pain and suffering, religion also does not fix the underlying causes of peoples pain and suffering instead, it helps them forget why they are suffering and get them to look forward to an imaginary future when the pain will cease instead of working to change circumstances now. Even worse, this drug of religion is being administered by the same oppressors who are ultimately responsible for the pain and suffering in the first place. Emile Durkheim continued with Marxs theories in his book The Elementary forms of Religious Life that was published just a few years before his death, in 1912. As Marx had argued that every class had its own conscious view of reality, Durkheim went further to demonstrate that even the most basic social ideas as time, space and God can be seen as creations of society. Durkheim suggests that there is not one reality but many and that this reality only exists because of the symbolic creations of humans and their rituals. Durkheim studied the aboriginal tribes of Australia in an effort to understand religion. He concluded that religion always involves a distinction between things that are sacred and things that are profane. Durkheim uses the example of the totem pole that functions to hold the tribe together. The totemic animal, Durkheim believed, was the original focus of religious activity because it was the emblem for a social group, the clan. He thought that the function of religion was to make people willing to put the interests of society ahead of their own desires. All members of the tribe gather together to perform periodic totem rituals, it is these rituals that set the rules for social order. It is forbidden to kill or harm the totem animal and it is therefor forbidden to kill or harm ones fellow tribesmen who name themselves after the totem. In the modern Christian religion, Durkeim argues that the moral commandments such as The Golden Rule and The Ten Commandments are primarily social rules. These rules regulate humans behavior toward eachother and serve to maintain a sense of social unity. People do not follow these rules out of their fear for heaven or hell but for their desire to be accepted by society. If they participate in the religious rituals they will feel a sense of belonging, whereas those who break the rules and avoid the rituals suffer from social isolation. To Durkheim, God is merely a symbol of society. Max Webers sociology is the foundation of scientific sociology of religion in a sense of typological and objective understanding. .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .postImageUrl , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:hover , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:visited , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:active { border:0!important; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:active , .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738 .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u42ef4fe84dab335c6393dd8f42e62738:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: 12 Angry Men EssayRejecting Karl Marxs evolutionary law of class society, or Emile Durkheims sustained law of moral society, Weber established the understanding sociology of the subjective meaning of religious action or inaction. He argued that the transformation of religion allowed for social changes where people could now work together to gain economic wealth. In a primitive society there were many gods, those kinsmen who worshipped the same household god as you could be trusted but those strangers who worshipped a different god were aliens and could not be trusted. The rise of the great world religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, separated the idea of the natural world from the idea of the spiritual world. Instead of gods and spirits, people become widely concerned with the idea of heaven and hell. Weber argues that the idea of a universal God allowed for laws based on consistent general principles. Religion itself can also develop in new directions. (P. 133) In primitive religions one prays to the gods to make his crops grow or kill off enemies. In the event of a natural disaster the kinsmen would believe that the gods were angry with them and continue to hold ceremonial sacrifices until the weather was better. It was this fear of the gods that kept the primitive kinsmen from trusting anyone else. In this new spiritual realm, the righteous individual who follows all the rituals and laws of his religion can still hope for salvation even if his has bad fortune. The ideas of good and evil can develop separately from the ideas of worldly success and failure. (P. 134) In Webers writing The Protestant Ethic he discusses the role that religion played in the rise of capitalism. This new religious breakthrough opened many of the doors to industrialization: laying the basis for a moral community of trust underlying peaceful commerce; rationalizing the legal system; motivating people to remake political, social, and economic institutions in keeping with an imperative to transform the world more closely to the ideal. (P. 134) Religion was now responsible for uniting and enlarging a community who could live together in peace with the same moral and ethical code of conduct. Weber believed that the Protestant ethic broke the hold of tradition while it encouraged men to apply themselves rationally to their work. Calvinism, he found, had developed a set of beliefs around the concept of predestination. Followers of Calvin believed that one could not do good works or perform acts of faith to assure your place in heaven. You were either among the elect (in which case you were in) or you were not. However, wealth was taken as a sign by you and your neighbors that you were one of the Gods elect, thereby providing encouragement for people to acquire wealth. The Protestant ethic therefore provided religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth. This naturalistic approach to religion represented a fundamental paradigm shift in how religion was to be viewed. Instead of requiring clergy in order to understand religion, the requirement became facts and information and research. Whether you agree with the evaluation of the social function of religion as Marx did, that religion was the opium of the people, as Durkheim did that religion was what made moral society hold together, or with Webers The Protestant ethic, it is obvious that religion played a key role in the development of society. 1- Collins, Makowisky; The Discovery of Society How do we account for religion its origin, its development, and even its persistence in modern society? This is a question which has occupied many people in a variety of fields for quite a long time. At one point, the answers were framed in purely theological and religious terms, assuming the truth of Christian revelations and proceeding from there. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a more naturalistic approach developed. Instead of needing to believe in the truth of the religion, what was required was just the opposite: intellectual detachment and a suspension of belief. Three people who ended up doing just that were Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Marx studied philosophy in Berlin under William Hegel. Hegels philosophy had a decisive influence upon Marxs own thinking and theories. According to Marx, religion is an expression of material realities and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This is the origin of his comment that religion is the opium of the people. People do not have an objective view of the world; they see it from the restricted point of view of their own positions. (p. 35) At times I may seem to be focusing more on economic rather than religious theory, but that is because Marxs basic stance is that everything is always about economics. According to Marx, humans even from their earliest beginnings are not motivated by grand ideas but instead by material concerns, like the need to eat and survive. This is the basic premise of a materialist view of history. At the beginning, people worked together in unity and it wasnt so bad. But eventually, humans developed agriculture and the concept of private property. These two facts created a division of labor and a separation of classes based upon power and wealth. This material organization of society is what Marx calls class consciousness. This, in turn, created the social conflict that drives society. All of this is made worse by capitalism which only increases the disparity between the wealthy classes and the labor classes. Confrontation between them is unavoidable because those classes are driven by historical forces beyond anyones control. Capitalism also creates one new misery: exploitation of surplus value. For Marx, an ideal economic system would involve exchanges of equal value for equal value, where value is determined simply by the amount of work put into whatever is being produced. Capitalism interrupts this ideal by introducing a profit motive a desire to produce an uneven exchange of lesser value for greater value. Profit is ultimately derived from the surplus value produced by workers in factories. A laborer might produce enough value to feed his family in two hours of work, but he keeps at the job for a full day in Marxs time, that might be 12 or 14 hours. Those extra hours represent the surplus value produced by the worker. The owner of the factory did nothing to earn this, but exploits it nevertheless and keeps the difference as profit. Economics, then, are what constitute the base of all of human life and history generating division of labor, class struggle, and all the social institutions which are supposed to maintain the status quo. Those social institutions are a superstructure built upon the base of economics, totally dependent upon material and economic realities but nothing else. All of the institutions which are prominent in our daily lives marriage, church, government, arts, etc. can only be truly understood when examined in relation to economic forces. It should be clear now that religion is one of those social institutions which are dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. It has no independent history but is instead the creature of productive forces. As Marx wrote, The religious world is but the reflex of the real world. Marx asserts that religion is only dependent upon economics, nothing else so much so that the actual doctrines of the religions are almost irrelevant. .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .postImageUrl , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:hover , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:visited , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:active { border:0!important; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:active , .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9 .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uaec7fe42cd0bba60b6ac9d8658eb7cb9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Adolescent Peer Pressure EssayThis is a functionalist interpretation of religion understanding religion is not dependent upon the content of beliefs, but what social purpose religion itself serves. Marx believes that religion is an illusion whose chief purpose is to provide reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. Just as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion also takes our qualities our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god. Religion is meant to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them that this is OK because they will find that true happiness in the next life. For Marx, the problem lies in the fact that just like an opiate drug fails to fix a physical injury it merely helps you forget your pain and suffering, religion also does not fix the underlying causes of peoples pain and suffering instead, it helps them forget why they are suffering and get them to look forward to an imaginary future when the pain will cease instead of working to change circumstances now. Even worse, this drug of religion is being administered by the same oppressors who are ultimately responsible for the pain and suffering in the first place. Emile Durkheim continued with Marxs theories in his book The Elementary forms of Religious Life that was published just a few years before his death, in 1912. As Marx had argued that every class had its own conscious view of reality, Durkheim went further to demonstrate that even the most basic social ideas as time, space and God can be seen as creations of society. Durkheim suggests that there is not one reality but many and that this reality only exists because of the symbolic creations of humans and their rituals. Durkheim studied the aboriginal tribes of Australia in an effort to understand religion. He concluded that religion always involves a distinction between things that are sacred and things that are profane. Durkheim uses the example of the totem pole that functions to hold the tribe together. The totemic animal, Durkheim believed, was the original focus of religious activity because it was the emblem for a social group, the clan. He thought that the function of religion was to make people willing to put the interests of society ahead of their own desires. All members of the tribe gather together to perform periodic totem rituals, it is these rituals that set the rules for social order. It is forbidden to kill or harm the totem animal and it is therefor forbidden to kill or harm ones fellow tribesmen who name themselves after the totem. In the modern Christian religion, Durkeim argues that the moral commandments such as The Golden Rule and The Ten Commandments are primarily social rules. These rules regulate humans behavior toward eachother and serve to maintain a sense of social unity. People do not follow these rules out of their fear for heaven or hell but for their desire to be accepted by society. If they participate in the religious rituals they will feel a sense of belonging, whereas those who break the rules and avoid the rituals suffer from social isolation. To Durkheim, God is merely a symbol of society. Max Webers sociology is the foundation of scientific sociology of religion in a sense of typological and objective understanding. Rejecting Karl Marxs evolutionary law of class society, or Emile Durkheims sustained law of moral society, Weber established the understanding sociology of the subjective meaning of religious action or inaction. He argued that the transformation of religion allowed for social changes where people could now work together to gain economic wealth. In a primitive society there were many gods, those kinsmen who worshipped the same household god as you could be trusted but those strangers who worshipped a different god were aliens and could not be trusted. The rise of the great world religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, separated the idea of the natural world from the idea of the spiritual world. Instead of gods and spirits, people become widely concerned with the idea of heaven and hell. Weber argues that the idea of a universal God allowed for laws based on consistent general principles. Religion itself can also develop in new directions. (P. 133) In primitive religions one prays to the gods to make his crops grow or kill off enemies. In the event of a natural disaster the kinsmen would believe that the gods were angry with them and continue to hold ceremonial sacrifices until the weather was better. It was this fear of the gods that kept the primitive kinsmen from trusting anyone else. In this new spiritual realm, the righteous individual who follows all the rituals and laws of his religion can still hope for salvation even if his has bad fortune. The ideas of good and evil can develop separately from the ideas of worldly success and failure. (P. 134) In Webers writing The Protestant Ethic he discusses the role that religion played in the rise of capitalism. This new religious breakthrough opened many of the doors to industrialization: laying the basis for a moral community of trust underlying peaceful commerce; rationalizing the legal system; motivating people to remake political, social, and economic institutions in keeping with an imperative to transform the world more closely to the ideal. P. 134) Religion was now responsible for uniting and enlarging a community who could live together in peace with the same moral and ethical code of conduct. Weber believed that the Protestant ethic broke the hold of tradition while it encouraged men to apply themselves rationally to their work. Calvinism, he found, had developed a set of beliefs around the concept of predestination. Followers of Calvin believed that one could not do good works or perform acts of faith to assure your place in heaven. You were either among the elect (in which case you were in) or you were not. However, wealth was taken as a sign by you and your neighbors that you were one of the Gods elect, thereby providing encouragement for people to acquire wealth. The Protestant ethic therefore provided religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth. This naturalistic approach to religion represented a fundamental paradigm shift in how religion was to be viewed. Instead of requiring clergy in order to understand religion, the requirement became facts and information and research. Whether you agree with the evaluation of the social function of religion as Marx did, that religion was the opium of the people, as Durkheim did that religion was what made moral society hold together, or with Webers The Protestant ethic, it is obvious that religion played a key role in the development of society. 1- Collins, Makowisky; The Discovery of Society How do we account for religion its origin, its development, and even its persistence in modern society? This is a question which has occupied many people in a variety of fields for quite a long time. At one point, the answers were framed in purely theological and religious terms, assuming the truth of Christian revelations and proceeding from there. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a more naturalistic approach developed. Instead of needing to believe in the truth of the religion, what was required was just the opposite: intellectual detachment and a suspension of belief. Three people who ended up doing just that were Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.

Why you need to stop researching and start writing - Emphasis

Why you need to stop researching and start writing Why you need to stop researching and start writing Theres no getting away from it: research is addictive. And theres a good reason for that – were all hard-wired to search. Its a survival mechanism, programmed into us by evolution. As hunter-gatherers on the savannah, we needed something that would shake us from our slumber; that would make us get off our fur-clad backsides and look for food or shelter. As you need both to live, this was undeniably a positive trait. And so those ancestors who happened to get a kick out of finding things survived, while those who could take or leave the wildebeest-tracking or shelter-finding starved or risked attack at dawn. As a result, we all became programmed to look. That kick you get when you find something new is actually a surge in the production of the feel-good hormone dopamine. And where once it was useful, these days it can actually be a real handicap. Thats because we get a dopamine rush not just from finding food or shelter, but from finding information. And information is everywhere. We dont even need to find it: it finds us. In todays always-on, smartphone-dominated world, it can sometimes feel like information hunts or even haunts us. But we still have our original programming in place. We still want information. And our tech-connected world provides it in spades. We look, we find, we feel good (for a moment, at least), and we look for more. This positive feedback loop is a recipe for addiction. And addicts are what millions of us are. Dopamine compresses time. It makes an hour seem like a few minutes. (Time really does fly when youre having fun.) As Clay Johnson says in his book, The Information Diet, A quick check of email when we get home can often end up in evenings entirely lost to LCD screens. It actually takes energy to avoid information, because resisting the urge to search means overcoming millions of years of evolution. And when information is all around us, avoiding it can be exhausting. And so we come to writing – or, more specifically, not writing, because were still researching. When youve been given free licence to go hunting for facts, its going to be hard to stop – especially if youre an information junkie already. If youre researching a report, every new little nugget of data, every intriguing fact, gives you a (perhaps subconscious) frisson of pleasure and spurs you on to look for more. Research is also a safe place. As long as youre looking, your report is still perfect. As long as youre still searching, you dont have to face the terrifying prospect of being crippled by writers block. In the end, research itself can become another displacement activity. At some point, there will come a time when you have to stop researching and start writing. What you need to do to overcome this is start to stack the odds in your favour again. So here are five ways to do exactly that: 1. Set a time limit on your research A project without a deadline is a hobby. If it is a hobby, then great. But if youre being paid to find information, then at some point youre going to have to report back. Staying in research mode forever is pointless, so set a time limit. Put a date in your calendar or – for more regular, smaller projects – give yourself just a day or two, or even just a few hours. Then start writing. 2. Use placeholders in what you write It can actually be profitable to write with small gaps in your knowledge. I wrote this piece in 45 minutes, but I was only able to do that because I didnt allow myself time to look up the name of the author of the book I mentioned above. Instead, I just wrote [insert name of author] and carried on writing. You can come back and fill in the gaps later. 3. Read offline The internet is one giant warren of research rabbit holes that lead you to distracting websites (and usually, I find, to social media or endless news sites). Its all too easy to disappear down one while fact-finding, and to be gone for hours. Apps like Pocket  and Evernote overcome this. Pocket, for example, lets you send information (articles, videos and images) to an app that you read offline (on any platform), in a layout that looks more like a book and without distracting menus. It also lets you tag the items you add to it, as does Evernote. Its a real boon to effective research. 4. Get some sleep Burning the midnight oil could actually be working against you. It takes immense willpower to stay super-focused and – ultimately – to stop researching. And your brain needs to be on top form in order to connect ideas and get writing. No amount of coffee will push ideas quickly enough around a brain fogged by tiredness. 5. Practise information hygiene Wean yourself off your information addiction by limiting how much information can chase you. Every smartphone or computer notification is a distraction that you need energy to ignore. (The author Kathy Sierra calls them cognitive leaks.) If you give in to them, youll reinforce your addiction to research. If you dont, youll leach away energy – energy that would be much better spent writing. Ive got a confession: Im an information addict too. I love that dopamine rush. In fact, one of lifes more old-school pleasures for me is to visit a university library. I love the heady aroma of centuries of accumulated knowledge. But thats generally not why you research. You do it not just to discover, but to share. And if you dont share it, no one will ever know that you discovered it in the first place. So, stop researching, and start writing. Image credit: Pet Greens Live Catnip

Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis - Essay Example Unlike the other phases, which focus more on short term action, the Migation Phase is all about long term planning and future foresight, which is important if you want any Emergency Management Plan to succeed. That the front end of the Migation Phase, and it what its main purpose is as the first step of the Emergency management cycle. However, the Migation Phase can also be used at the end of the cycle as a part of the Recovery Phase. But you have passed down instructions that our work is not to overlap any of the other phases, and that will put huge cracks in the cycle and utterly doom it to even working as we all hope it shall. If we are not able to work hand in hand with the Recovery Phase in helping at the tale end of problems, how are we supposed to know how to better prepare for them next time In order for a successful Migation Phase, we need it to work on both ends of the cycle, at the start and the end, and for it to work hand in hand with the Recovery phase to help better prepare ourselves for an emergency next time it may occur. Working with the other parts of the cycle are just as important if we want to be successful.

Puerto Rican Americian Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Puerto Rican Americian - Essay Example In 1508 Juan Ponce De Leon took over the island in the search of gold and killed many natives in this quest. Many of the Tainos were killed in this quest and the remaining Tainos fleed away to the mountains to save themselves. It was then that human trade began on this island and half the population of the island consisted of these slaves of African origin. In 1898 the Spanish American war decided the fate of the island in the hands of the United States. The island has ever since been in the control of United States and the people have accepted the fact by cutting down on their movement launched against the US. It has its own government but the presence of the American military is disturbing for some of the Puerto Ricans. The culture of the country is a blend between the natives and the African culture. People there can have the darkest of skin or they can even have a freckled white skin. The diverse culture of the country is the most interesting point along with the occasions that t he people of Puerto Rico celebrate. Traditions and culture would be the most important part of this essay and is discussed in the following paragraphs (Morris 1995; Galvan 2009). Importance of Puerto Rico to the United States Puerto Rico has proved to be an important territory for the United States as it can access different states through this region. It has also proved to be a region in which they can train and test their weapons. The bases of United States in Panama were closed in 1999 and Puerto Rico has ever since served the purpose (Giger & Davidhizar 2008). Economy of Puerto Rico The economics of the country depend upon different sources mainly tourism and different crops. The climate of the region ranges from 75 degree Farenheit to 85 degrees Farenheit. It has one of the most beautiful cruise ship ports known as San Juan. The tourism of the territory depends upon different resources and beaches and ports are one of these resources. Resorts and attractive destinations have pr oved to be a tourist attraction. The economy also depends upon different crops which include coffee, pineapples, mangos and plants. Although its economy is not suffering from any blow the per capita income of the state is still low in comparison to the United States of America (Giger & Davidhizar 2008). Culture of Puerto Rico The culture of Puerto Rico is diverse and people from different backgrounds reside in the region. The language spoken in the region is English and Spanish. The people of Puerto Rico are known for their hospitality and love. People in Puerto Rico express their love through gifts and homemade food. If a guest rejects a gift it might be considered as an insult by the individual who gifts. The celebrations in the region are respected by many people. The people of Puerto Rico also celebrate the holidays of the United States along with their own designated holidays. Puerto Rico Day, Three Kings Day and Constitution Day are all celebrated as the holidays of Puerto Ric o. Most of the people living in Puerto Rico are Catholics and they celebrate their holidays accordingly (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 1997; Morris & Bonilla 1997). Family values are respected a lot in the region and people have to live according to the old traditions. Marriage is a respected institution in the culture as they believe that having a kin is very important to expand their family. Although

REDEFINING HAPPINESS THROUGH THE PRISM OF LIFE Essay

REDEFINING HAPPINESS THROUGH THE PRISM OF LIFE - Essay Example Does only living on and on means happiness untouched by what goes around us or even a brief stint of life, if its filled with satisfaction can be termed as a good life. Similarly, humans must also act in someway to fulfill their desires or needs as long as he or she may be alive. For years psychologists have tried to decipher the most generic code of conduct to guide humans through good and torrid times which means studying data on scale that even the most super of computer cannot negotiate with. Humans vary in nature and therefore there cannot exist a generic code of conduct however, if every one makes an effort to work out a way for himself and understand what s the best option while making any decision life could make some sense. When we know that this journey of life has to end someday then why almost all humans live life entirely differently from one another .The fact that ever since the evolution of man and despite its conquest of knowledge and power and freedom on his will, he has not been able to understand what really makes him happy after all this conquest has been made in search of satisfaction and happiness. Therefore if ever we wonder why in most humans life religion means a great deal lot. Religion although has no physical reality as such but for so long been able to provide answer to evading questions pertaining to our happiness. Thats why even after achieving so much materialistically humans turn to religion for soul searching to achieve satisfaction. Death: Unwanted Necessity We in our search for satisfaction since the beginning of time been able to change the world to our liking when those of who did that eventually had to leave this world one day. Still we are unable to comprehend that there are certain rules of thumb in place ever since man learned to sense things around him regarding what to prefer and what not to prefer in good and bad times. For instance we are likely to prefer pains that are short term rather than pains that are relatively long term. Fear and the Hope Factor: The truth of fact is that we are not sometimes intelligent enough for our own sake. We can be very chameleon like in different states of mind. At a given point in time we might commit our self to act differently where as we might do something different in reality. 1Psychologists call it the 'Hot' and 'Cold' states of mind and the difference in thinking and doing the 'empathy gap'. We treat life through the prism of happiness and satisfaction living always with a fear of death. This makes us sometimes to lean towards decision which could be far from making us happy and contented. A person due to lack of money might not be able to afford 500,000 $ sedan which would leave him feeling worthless for some time but after sometime he will be able to get back to his routine and live life normally. What we do not realize that we have defined happiness in our own way. Now, this short sightedness of scope lead the people to belief that inability to achieve something in the short run will make the discomfort to persist for longer period of time then would really happen. In between all this decision making the death factor holds an important place in peoples

Linebacker I and Linebacker II on the Outcome of the War

Linebacker I and Linebacker II on the Outcome of the War A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Strategy and Policy based on the following assigned topic: Question #7: In light of how the Paris Peace Accords were reached in 1972-1973, what effect did Linebacker I and Linebacker II have on the outcome of the war? The contents of this paper reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Signature: _____________________ December 15, 2016 Seminar 20 Moderators: CDR John Sheehan Professor Michelle Getchell To quickly end the Vietnam War and withdraw American troops in an honorable fashion, the Nixon Administration engaged in a strategy of diplomacy and cocurrent military pressure. The focus of the diplomatic track was to negotiate a formal agreement between belligerents. This diplomatic track ultimately resulted in the accord known as the Paris Peace Accords. The military track endeavored to persuade the North to come to the negotiating table in by destroying its will to resist and war-making capabilities through a demonstration of Americas superior air power and unwavering commitment to a free and independent South Vietnam. The series of air raids conducted in support of this goal are known as LINEBACKER I and LINEBACKER II. Both LINEBACKER I and LINEBACKER II had an effect on the war, but both had different results. LINEBACKER I disproved the theory of victory for the North due to their misinterpretation of timing in switching from Phase II to Phase III of Maos strategy, and understa nding of the level of support President Nixon would have from key North Vietnam allies. LINEBACKER II was ultimately successful in bringing all belligerents to the negotiating table, the North by deteriorating the will to fight and further degrading North Vietnamese Warfighting capabilities, and the South due to the waning support of the new U.S. Congress for the war. In early 1972, the North began to shift military tactics from Phase II guerrilla warfare to a much more conventional Phase III form of according to Maos three phase strategy.1 This change is seen in the Easter Offensive that launched on March 30 which was brought about by the success the North enjoyed in Lam Son 719. Because of the Souths need for security and poor military execution, and communication, Operation Lam Son 719 collapsed when faced with resistance from the Northern commanders. The campaign was a disasterous for the South, demostrating their deficiencies and proving that the best units of the South could be defeated by the North.2 North Vietnam conducted the Easter Offensive to take the initiative and weaken Americas commitment to South Vietnam with a significant impact on negotiations producing more favorable terms for them at negotiations. The general feeling was that once troop reduction had reached a certain level the U.S. would have insignificant influence to affect the strategic situation.3 Prior to this the North Vietnamese were on Stage II of Maos three-stage plan for war. The decision to initiate the strategic counter-offensive in the Easter Offensive was premature. The South Vietnamese and U.S. still held a position of greater military power and changing phases at that point was counter to the Maos theories.4 In this second stage, enemy troop morale should continue to deteriorate, which it was in the case of the U.S. Due to American support. The position of North Vietnam in contrast to South Vietnam had not progressed far enough to give an advantage that would support Phase III, and international support should also have grown for the North Vietnamese. Due to the Easter Offensive and lack of willingness to negotiate on the part of the North Vietnamese the International support was not there. Having fulfilled only two of the three requirements to change phase, it was not the proper time, and the North Vietnamese hurt their war efforts. As a result of early North Vietnamese action, President Nixon announced the negotiations between North Vietnam and the United States taking place in Paris as well as the concessions the South Vietnamese and United States were willing to conceed to. Failure of these negotiations allowed the President to put the blame on North Vietnam for refusing to negotiate a peaceful end to the war. This address would do several things, first put diplomatic pressure on North Vietnam by announcing the negotiations in progress and placing North Vietnam in the position of the faithless party. Second, the speech demonstrated that America had exhausted all diplomatic options, which had already been initiated, and set the stage for military action if North Vietnam continued to insist on continuing inflexibility. Hanoi rejected the peace terms offered which gave Nixon the legitimacy he needed to turn to military pressure, the very thing that the North had discounted in their calculations.4 Another problem facing the North at this time is the increasing warmth of relations between the U.S. and the Norths patrons Russia and China. While China was using the U.S. to balance against Russia they were forced to realign forces and took support from North Vietnam. Concurrnetly, Russia was stepping up dà ©tente and viewed China as an enemy.5 This increasing cooperation with Northern allies isolated the North and presented an opportunity for a series of painful military strikes against the North Vietnamese that would decimate entire infantry units and nearly all of the Norths armored vehicles.5 With waning support from their key allies aquiring replacement equipment was difficult and outright victory in a conventional campaign was al but imposssible. President Nixon stated that the U.S. was going to continue fighting until the Communists agreed to negotiate a fair and honorable peace or until the South Vietnamese were able to defend themselves on their own whichever came first. 5 Immediately prior to the 1972 elections, peace talks between Hanoi, Saigon, and Washington began to deteriorate. As a result, President Nixon authorized a follow on air campaign against North Vietnam that would be called LINEBACKER II. The objective of LINEBACKER II differed from LINEBACKER I in that it was intended to destroy Hanois will to fight, and demonstrate Americas commitment to South Vietnams independence after the withdrawal of American troops. Many of the LINEBACKER I targets were attacked again during LINEBACKER II. However; LINEBACKER II had a purpose other than interdicting Northern forces. Military commanders wanted the bombers to cause distress to the civilian population in an effort to disuade them from committing to the fighting on the side of the North while avoinding civilian casualties. To degrade North Vietnamese will to fight, U.S. leadership wanted the people of Hanoi to hear the bombs.6 The ability of a nation to fight is military force and the will of the pe ople. In the case of North Vietnam the millitary force had been signifigantly reduced and that left the will of the people to force settlement. With congressional support waning, North Vietnam adjusted its actions to delay negotiations until after the newly elected Congress was sworn in, believing that support to continue the war in Vietnam would wane. Nixon thought the only way to break the Norths inflexibility and bring them back to the negotiating table was to raise the cost of their reluctance in negotiation. The President commented, We have now reached the point where only the strongest action would have any effect in convincing Hanoi that negotiating a fair settlement with us was a better option for them than continuing the war.7 The strongest show of force in this case was the use of the B-52 Stratofortress. This decision was the optimal choice for attacking the will of the populace. President Ninxon and his advisers desired to inflict maximum psychological impact on the North Vietnamese, supporting the South and reducing the cost to the U.S. in american lives.8 The B-52 could carry a massive conventional payload, was capable of carrying nuclear weapons which sent a message in itself, and had all-weather capabilities making it a perfect tool to deliver a psychological blow to the enemy. The B-52 could attack at altitudes of over 30,000 feet, rendering it impossible to be seen or heard by North Vietnamese troops on the ground allowing for attacks that happened without warning. The suddenness of the attacks along with their intensity had a telling effect. Recalling personal experience with LINEBACKER IIs bombing campaign one Viet Cong member said, The first four times I experienced a B-52 attack it seemed, as I strained to press myself into the bunker floor, that I had been caught in the Apocalypse. The terror was complete. One lost control of bodily functions as the mind screams incomprehensible orders to get out.9 During the LINEBACKER II operation, military leaders had authority to use air power to end the war effectively and the results were apparent. The Norths transportation network was decimated. Aircraft attacked and destroyed storage warehouses, electric power generating facilities cutting their capacity by three-quarters, and petroleum facilities reducing that capability by one-fourth.10 LINEBACKER II inflicted significant damage to North Vietnams war-making capability, but more importantly accomplished its primary purpose of unsettling the civilian population. As a result of LINEBACKER II, the belligerents came back to the bargaining table after eleven days of intensive bombing. The scale and success of the operation persuaded the North to accept terms that included some of Thieus newly added provisions. Congressional outcry over the scale of LINEBACKER II caused the South to realize that support for the war might be running out, making this an opportune time to accept peace and retai n as much as possible ensuring survival.11 Linebacker I was politically and practically a remarkable success. Asa result of the bombs dropped during the campaign, the Northhad a shift in thought. For the first time in the war the U.S. had used air power in a way that influenced the will of the North to continue the fight. The North had been convinced that the warwas becoming too costly for them. Some would argue that the North Vietnamese theory of victory was not disproven and they were not forced to go to the negotiating table. Their theory of victory was only put on hold by the actions of LINEBACKER and the U.S. was never in a position to win. The results LINEBACKER II did not force the North to the negotiating table but enabled them to transition back to Phase II, along with the withdrawl of U.S. forces and lack of support to the South ultimately enabled them to succeed in their bid to unite the Vietnamese people. The LINEBACKER I operation had left the Norths conventional forces decimated.10 The North had unsuccessfully tried persecuting the war by conventional means but U.S. air power had proven its worth and destroyed the majority of Northern troops and armored vehicles.11 Though costly to the North, the theory of victory through conventional means was not disproven, only delayed. To the conventional adversary this would have led to a cessation of hostilities due to lack of ability to continue the fight, but one of the strengths of the North was was in followingd the theories of Mao. These theories garnered the support from the local populace. The North Vietnamese forces understood that Vietnamese pesants had endured hundreds of years of oppression and rule.12 The Souths treatment of the pesants was similar to outside forces which had oppressed them with little attempt to understand them. In contrast the North Vietnamese forces dutifully followed Maos teachings, politely asking for supply a nd helping work for their repayment as well as proclaiming their belief in land reform, equality and governmental reform.13 The South by contrast was rife with corruption, inefficiency, and greed often setting themselves above the peasantry stealing supply and food. In this way the South Vietnamese were their own worst enemy. Their lack of support to the peasants drove them to the side of the North for protection against the unjust rule of the state. This led to not the hills menacing the villages, hills were the villages.13 The Cause of the North had become an ideal that the pesantry had bought in to and they had become the insurgents sho would continue to fight for their cause, overthrow of the local elites, good treatment and increased living standards enjoyed by the pesants through the efforts of the North. This dynamic created a situation in which it was difficult to tell who was the enemy and who was the villager. The U.S. was never in the position to win a lasting peace in this situation for several reasons. We lacked an understanding of the people and what they desired.14 Without the proper understanding of the desires of the people the U.S. could try to secure villages, give out aid and try to reinforce the government, but the government was a primary reason for the insurgency. More importantly, the U.S. was viewed as an unwanted foreign presence. Since the Vietnamese had fought against and suffered foreign opression for so long there was initial distrust and with our self imposed lack of cultur al awareness we would not be able to destroy the idea that was the root cause of the war. LINEBACKER II did not force the belligerents to the nogotiating table, it just provided the North with the opportunity to regroup revert to Phase II and wait for the U.S. to withdraw its forces leaving the North in a more advantageous position from which to rebuild for the next Phase III and the reunification of the Vietnamese people that they desired. The misinterpretation of their success in Lam Son 719 led the north to the Easter Offensive and as a result cost them a good deal of men and equipment. The only thing that they had left was the pesant population which it enjoyed great support from.14 Realizing their tenuous position the North signaled that it wished to resume peace negotiations and as a result the LINEBACKER II raids immediately ceased. In the absence of these continued the attacks the North would secure a political victory at the peace table by keeping Northern forces in the South.15 During this time they would be able to rebuild and strengthen their forces and would, in time, translate this into a full-scale military conquest of South Vietnam upon their transition back to Phase III. Not long after the end of Linebacker II, the U.S. withdrew its forces from the war in Southeast Asia and returned home. Two years later the North, knowing that it no longer faced any realistic threat of another Linebacker II, invaded South Vietnam across a broad front.16 The Communist forces of the North entered Saigon on April 30, 1975, and unified the two Vietnams under one government. A full application of airpower in a Linebacker could have achieved military victory, prevented the long and costly U.S. involvement and saved South Vietnam as a nation. While the North had went to the table to negotiate, it was to buy time and gain an advantageous position, not in good faith. 1 Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (1980), III 5. 2 Carl von Clausewitz. On War: Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton. Princeton University Press, (1976), 618. 3 Ibid., 186. 4 Kevin McCranie. The War at Sea.(presentation, Strategy and War Course, Naval War College, Newport, RI, 14 December 2016). 5 Paul M Kennedy. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. New York. Humanity Books, (1976), 242. 6 Ibid. 245 7 Kevin McCranie. The War at Sea.(presentation, Strategy and War Course, Naval War College, Newport, RI, 14 December 2016). 8 Paul M Kennedy. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. New York. Humanity Books, (1976), 245 . 9 Ibid. 248 10 Kevin McCranie. The War at Sea.(presentation, Strategy and War Course, Naval War College, Newport, RI, 14 December 2016).), 147. 1 Elliot A. Cohen and John Gooch. Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War.New York. Free Press, (1990), 134. 12 Ibid. 134. 3 Carl von Clausewitz. On War: Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton. Princeton University Press, (1976), 177. 4 Elliot A. Cohen and John Gooch. Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War.New York. Free Press, (1990), 136. 5 Admiral von Holtzendorf. German History in Documents and Images. Selected Readings. Naval War College, Newport, RI, (2016), 2.       6 Ibid. 3. 7 Ibid. 4.

An Analysis of Baldwins, Sonnys Blues :: Sonnys Blues Essays

An Analysis of Baldwin's, Sonny's Blues Sipiora identifies the critcal issues in Sonny's Blues with the character giving his self-reflections. Sipiora also says that literary characters sometimes perceive or not perceive the relationships or circumstances. We also have to judge characters in how they react to other characters whether they acted in good faith or not in good faith. We have to ask ourselves when we read literature if the character is being objective looking for personal qualities in a character when they come in contact with another character or is the character looking at another character in a judgemental, stereotypical, or preconceived way of thinking. Also is the character allowed the opportunity to share the similar things that are in common with another character or characters in the story. The main thing in reading literature in an Ethical Criticism is to take note on how a character interacts with another character or characters in a story. Also, take note on relationships of one character with anothe r character. In Sonny's Blues, the narrator is self-reflecting his experiences with various family members such as his mother and his younger brother, Sonny. Sonny and the narrator are brothers with a 7 year difference between them. The narrator was disappointed with Sonny at first due to his interest in becoming a musician. He thought it was a phase he was Sonny was going through and maybe it would pass. The older brother patronized Sonny with his insincere interest in music at first until it angered Sonny and he told his brother "don't do me no favors"(82). The narrator had a judgemental, stereotype, predetermined way of thinking when it came to his past. The narrator's thoughts and feelings were cruel and hard for the drug addict childhood friend of Sonny's when he told him he did not want to hear his "sad story"(81). Yet, he realized they both have something in common. The narrator has Sonny's drug addiction and the friend has his own addiction to deal with. The narrator realized that everyone has a sad story. When Sonny was trying to express how he felt on the inside and reveal his drug abuse, the narrator did not want to accept his younger brother's drug abuse and he 'kept putting them away. I told myself that Sonny was wild, but he wasn't crazy"(79). Just as Sonny felt alone and helpless, he could not talk about it to anyone.