Saturday, December 28, 2019

Gitlow v. New York The Case and Its Impact

Gitlow v. New York (1925) examined the case of a Socialist Party member who published a pamphlet advocating for a government overthrow and was subsequently convicted by the state of New York. The Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional to suppress Gitlows speech in that instance  because the state had a right to protect its citizens from violence. (This position was later reversed in the 1930s.) More broadly, however, the Gitlow ruling  expanded  the reach of the U.S Constitutions First Amendment protections. In the decision, the court determined that First Amendment  protections applied to state governments as well as the federal government. The decision  used the  Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to establish the â€Å"incorporation principle,† which helped advance civil rights litigation for decades to come. Fast Facts: Gitlow v. State of New York Case Argued: April 13, 1923; November 23, 1923Decision Issued:  June 8, 1925Petitioner:  Benjamin GitlowRespondent:  People of the State of New YorkKey Questions: Does the First Amendment prevent a state from punishing political speech that directly advocates violent overthrow of the government?Majority Decision: Justices Taft, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland, Butler, Sanford, and StoneDissenting: Justices Holmes and BrandeisRuling: Citing the Criminal Anarchy Law, the State of New York could prohibit advocating violent efforts to overthrow the government. Facts of the Case In 1919, Benjamin Gitlow was a member of the Left Wing section of the Socialist Party. He managed a paper whose headquarters doubled as an organizing space for members of his political party. Gitlow used his position at the paper to order and distribute copies of a pamphlet called the â€Å"Left Wing Manifesto.† The pamphlet called for the rise of socialism through revolt against the government using organized political strikes and any other means. After distributing the pamphlet, Gitlow was indicted and convicted by the Supreme Court of New York under the New York’s Criminal Anarchy Law. The Criminal Anarchy Law, which was adopted in 1902,  prohibited anyone from spreading the idea that the U.S. government should be overthrown through force or any other unlawful means. Constitutional Issues Gitlow’s attorneys appealed the case to the highest level:  the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court was tasked with deciding whether New York’s Criminal Anarchy Law violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Under the First Amendment, can a state prohibit individual speech if that speech calls for overthrowing of the government? The Arguments Gitlow’s attorneys argued that the Criminal Anarchy Law was unconstitutional. They asserted that, that under the  Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, states could not create laws that violated  First Amendment protections. According to Gitlow’s attorneys, the Criminal Anarchy Law unconstitutionally suppressed Gitlow’s right to free speech. Furthermore, they argued, under Schenck v. U.S., the state needed to prove that the pamphlets created a â€Å"clear and present danger† to the U.S. government in order to suppress the speech. Gitlow’s pamphlets had not resulted in harm, violence, or the overthrowing of the government. Counsel for the state of New York argued that the state had a right to prohibit threatening speech. Gitlow’s pamphlets advocated for violence and the state could constitutionally suppress them in the interest of safety. Counsel for New York also argued that the Supreme Court should not meddle in state affairs, asserting that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should remain exclusively part of the federal system because the New York State Constitution adequately protected Gitlow’s rights. Majority Opinion Justice Edward Sanford delivered the opinion of the court in 1925. The Court found that the Criminal Anarchy Law was constitutional because the state had a right to protect its citizens from violence. New York could not be expected to wait for violence to break out before suppressing speech advocating for that violence. Justice Sanford wrote, â€Å"[T]he immediate danger is none the less real and substantial, because the effect of a given utterance cannot be accurately foreseen.† Consequently, the fact that no actual violence had come from the pamphlets was irrelevant to the Justices. The Court drew upon two previous cases, Schenck v. U.S. and Abrams v. U.S., to demonstrate that the First Amendment was not absolute in its protection of free speech. Under Schenck, speech could be limited if the government could demonstrate that the words created a â€Å"clear and present danger.† In Gitlow, the Court partially overturned Schenck, because the Justices did not adhere to the â€Å"clear and present danger† test. Instead, they reasoned that a person simply needed to show a â€Å"bad tendency† for speech to be suppressed. The Court also found that the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights was meant to apply to state laws as well as federal laws. The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment reads that no state can pass a law that deprives any person of life, liberty, or property. The court interpreted â€Å"liberty† as the freedoms listed in the Bill of Rights (speech, the exercise of religion, etc.). Therefore, through the Fourteenth Amendment, states have to respect the first amendment right to freedom of speech. Justice Sanfords opinion explained: â€Å"For present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of the press — which is protected by the First Amendment from abridgment by Congress — are among the fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the States.† Dissenting Opinion In a famous dissent, Justices Brandeis and Holmes sided with Gitlow. They did not find the Criminal Anarchy Law unconstitutional, but instead argued that it had been improperly applied. The Justices reasoned that the court should have upheld the Schenck v. U.S. decision, and that they could not show that Gitlow’s pamphlets created a â€Å"clear and present danger.† In fact, the Justices opined: â€Å"Every idea is an incitement [†¦]. The only difference between the expression of an opinion and an incitement in the narrower sense is the speakers enthusiasm for the result.† Gitlow’s actions did not meet the threshold set by the test in Schenck, the dissent argued, and thus his speech should not have been suppressed. The Impact The ruling was groundbreaking for several reasons. It overturned a previous case, Barron v. Baltimore, by finding that the Bill of Rights applied to the states and not just the federal government. This decision would later become known as the â€Å"incorporation principle† or the â€Å"incorporation doctrine.† It laid the groundwork for civil rights claims that would reshape American culture in the following decades. With respect to free speech, the Court later reversed its Gitlow position. In the 1930s, the Supreme Court made it increasingly difficult to suppress speech. However, criminal anarchy laws, like the one in New York, remained in use until the late 1960s as a method of  suppressing some types of political speech. Sources Gitlow v. People, 268 U.S. 653 (1925).Tourek, Mary. â€Å"New York Criminal Anarchy Law Signed.†Ã‚  Today in Civil Liberties History, 19 Apr. 2018, todayinclh.com/?eventnew-york-criminal-anarchy-law-signed.

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven Essay

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven Defining exactly what shapes ethnic identity in the United States is the hardest question I can imagine being asked. As a child born in the United States, I find this question so difficult because I have been exposed to a large variety of cultures within the small boundaries of my own family. This makes it very difficult to determine one, or even a few characteristics that define ethnic identity. In the case of many of these novels, the task of defining ethnic identity is not so complicated. The list of determinants that I believe to define ethnic identity includes language, geographic location, and tradition. Language is the most obvious determinant of ethnic identity, especially†¦show more content†¦In the book that I chose to read, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie, this was the chief determinant of ethnicity. In this novel, the main character spends much of his life on an Indian Reservation. The Reservation facilitates only Indians, and each inhabitant of the Reservation seems to know what the others are thinking. They all seem to accept the fact that the entire Reservation suffers with alcoholism, which was a burdening theme of the entire novel. The fact that all of the Indians live in the same area, with limited interaction involving non-Indian people, defines them as an ethnic race. In the case of this novel, they may have been poorly defined as alcoholics, but the Reservation defined them, nonetheless. Part of the definition of ethnic identity can often times be the common rejection of other ethnic values for a specific reason. This rejection of influence from other ethnicities seemed to be quite a common theme in all of the novels reviewed in our selection, but most abundant in Coming of Age in Mississippi, by Anne Moody. In this novel there was consistent conflict among black slaves due to the turmoil endured throughout lives in which rich, white plantation owners were served. Many slaves, and freed slaves that maintained the same duties with pay when awarded their freedom, were fed up with working for men that had treated them so poorly in the past. Lack of employment optionsShow MoreRelated Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven956 Words   |  4 Pagesa person tried to be unique, the society would try to drag that person down to society’s hopeless status. Personally, I couldn’t stand a minute in a world like that. Unfortunate ly, worlds like these exist. In Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, Alexie writes about a typical Indian reservation in the United States without hope, diversity, uniqueness, heroes and role models. A large majority of the Native American population are hopelessly drinking their lives away withRead More Comparing Black Elk Speaks and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven1679 Words   |  7 PagesComparing Black Elk Speaks and The Lone Ranger and Tonto FistFight in Heaven      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Traditionally, Native American Literature has been an oral genre. Although Native American Literature was the first American literature created, it has been the last to be recognized -and, to some extent, is still waiting for full recognition (www.usc.edu). With the Indian being forced to assimilate, their literature was forced to take on a written form. Although the traditional way of storytelling has changedRead MoreThe Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven Analysis993 Words   |  4 PagesThe Wrong American Dream: Struggling to Assimilate in â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven† â€Å"Kill the Indian and save the Man,† sounds more like something out of a dystopian novel than an educational campaign slogan, but in 1887 those were the words chosen by Army Lt. Richard Henry Pratt to garner public support for government’s attempt to forcefully â€Å"Americanize† Native Americans. Native Americans that survived violence were coerced into wearing white man’s clothes, cutting their hairRead MoreSherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fight984 Words   |  4 Pages In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven the author grabs the attention of the reader when he focuses on moments of racism and discrimination of Indian characters, these situations can be applicable to modern day American society. In the collection, Alexie depicts the life of several Indian’s lives, living on the Spokane Indian reservation many of whom face discrimination on a daily basis. The ideas behind the bigotry in the assortment of stories are backed by Alexie’sRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Lone Ranger And Tonto Heaven 804 Words   |  4 PagesWithin â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto in Heaven†, Victor is the main character of the stories in the book. Though his character, Victor was the young teenager who grows up in the Indian Reservation, and he is observing his society and struggle of the Indian Identity, alcoholic behavior, and family relationships. Sherman Alexie is the author s of the book, and he grows up in t he Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. He also wrote books, poems, and movie scripts. In his writing, he is rememberingRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 1233 Words   |  5 Pages Throughout â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† the theme of resilience is deliberately presented. Native Americans past and present continue to face stifling issues such as racism, alcoholism, isolation and suicide. Sherman Alexie makes it his obligation in his stories and poems to show Native American resiliency through humor. By using his characters to show resiliency through humor Alexie presents humor as an integral part of Native American survival. In Sherman Alexie’sRead MoreEssay Sherman Alexie1140 Words   |  5 Pagesgraduated in American Studies from Washington State. He then received two consecutive Fellowships in 1991 and 1992, and shortly thereafter wrote six poetry and poem/short story books. Two of these, The Business of Fancy Dancing and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, earned him literary awards (What 1). By 1998, his list of accomplishments grew to include Reservation Blues (1995), which earned him Granta’s Best of Young Novelists, the Before Columbus Foundations Book Award, and the Murray MorganRead MoreSpecial Talents: Story Telling and Imagination 568 Words   |  2 Pagesthe same as imagination in that it again is a debatable topic. Some people think it is useful and entertaining, while some people believe otherwise and think it is ignorant and a waste of time. But to Sherman Alexie author of, â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, â€Å" it was much more than tha t. It was perhaps more like a lifestyle or something that has been passed down for centuries like Thomas Builds-The-Fire and his family. Imagination creates storytellers who then tell stories which isRead MoreThe Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Essay1521 Words   |  7 PagesThe Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a book written by; Sherman Alexie. In this book, Alexie writes about a group of Native Americans who live on the Spokane Indian Reservation. As this novel may be fiction, some of the stories that are portrayed in the text have some very real meaning the them. These Native Americans endure lots of heartache and tragedy in this book as they are faced with problems like alcoholism, car accidents, loss of loved one and houses burning. In the face of adversityRead MoreAn Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fight Heaven 1119 Words   |  5 PagesMake It Out Alive In Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven’ (2005 edition) alcoholism plays a huge role throughout the book. Particularly in the short stories ‘Amusement’, ‘The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore’ and ‘A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result’. Kids on the reservation always start off good with school and sports keeping them busy, but somewhere along the way they always seem to fall off track. That is

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Crystal Violet Formal Lab free essay sample

Upon completion of the experiment it was seen that the rate of reaction of crystal violet turned out to be 1 which meant the reaction was first order with respect to crystal violet. This was deduced upon plotting the graph of ln Absorbance versus time of crystal violet and by drawing the line of best fit, which showed that the slope graph was 1 which is the rate of reaction. This whole experiment was based upon the equation: Rate= k [CV+] [OH-], where k stands for the rate constant. Introduction: Kinetics, which is the study of how fast a reaction takes place or in other words the rate of a reaction, is the main ideology in this experiment. Reaction rates can be measured in a number of ways: by monitoring the amount of product formed, by measuring the loss in mass of reactants, for reactions involving gaseous products measuring the volume of gas produced, by electrolytic conductivity, pH measurement or for colored reactants or products measuring the transmittance by the use of a colorimeter. In this experiment the last method of measurement is used which is colorimetry. Colorimetry is a method of determining the kinetics of a reaction using a spectrometer which observes the amount of light that is absorbed or transmitted through a colored solution. As a reaction proceeds, the reactants either fades away or the product forms the color. By monitoring these changes the amount of product formed or reactant used up with respect to time can be monitored. The amount of light that is absorbed by a colored substance can be measured by calculating percentage absorbance or transmittance. A very helpful device known as colorimeter which is present in almost all equipped labs makes this quite simple to deduce. The machine displays the amount of light that passes through or absorbed by the substance. This instrument is based on the optics law or more commonly known as Beer-Lambert law, which is used in measuring the concentration of a solute in contrast to its absorbance. The colorimeter measures the wavelengths of different solutions as they vary. Distilled water is used as a reference in this experiment as it contains no colored elements and has a value of zero when inserted into the colorimeter. Crystal violet, a purple dye commonly used in inks or printers is reacted with sodium hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda which is a powerful base. Sodium hydroxide is a colorless solution which when reacted with crystal violet causes it to lose its purple color and form a colorless product. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the order of the reaction with respect to crystal violet by using colorimetry. The amount of crystal violet is kept at a constant during the whole experiment while various amounts of sodium hydroxide, each of varying concentration are used. This method of determining rates is called the isolation method. Amount of reactant used with respect to time or the rate of reaction can be determined by plotting a graph of concentration versus time for the reactant if the reaction is first order. The slope is a measure of how much reactant is used per unit of time. As the concentration of reactant reduces in a chemical reaction, the slope is a negative value, hence by considering the absolute value of the slope, the rate of reaction of that reactant can be found for the reaction. If the reaction was to be of second order, a graph of ln of concentration versus time would produce the rate of reaction by determining the slope like before. It must be noted that only the absolute value of the slope matters in this situation. Third order reactions have somewhat a similar story except they require a plot of 1/concentration versus time to determine rate of reaction. When all three graphs are plotted, the graph with the line of best fit, or the one in which all point seem to be on a straight line is the correct one for the reaction. This is easily drawn using the LoggerPro software. When all three graphs are drawn, the graph with the best fit line and lowest root mean square error, or the lowest deviation from the best fit line, is the graph to be used to determine reaction kinematics. This knowledge is acquired from the equations of the integrated rate laws which are explained in the textbook. The solutions are mixed in small amounts in cuvettes and inserted into the colorimeter, which reads the percentage transmittance during the time period. The colorimeter has an enclosed space for the cuvette to be inserted making sure light from other sources does not interfere with the reaction, hence providing accurate results. The rate of the reaction is determined by using the equation: Rate= k [CV+] [OH-], where k is the rate constant for the reaction. Materials: Solutions of crystal violet and sodium hydroxide were available in the laboratory which were previously prepared of concentrations 2. 00 E-5 and 2. 00 E-2 respectively. Deionized water was used in calibration while cuvettes were used to transfer substances into the colorimeter. Magnetic stirrers along with stir bars were used in mixing the reagents together which were transferred to the beaker via pipettes to ensure accurate results were produced. Methods: Three solutions were made to be put into the cuvttes. The first of them contained 20ml of crystal violet and 20ml of sodium hydroxide. The second had 20ml crystal violet along with 10ml of distilled water and 10ml of sodium hydroxide. The third solution contained 20ml crystal violet with 15ml distilled water and 5ml sodium hydroxide. The reagents were mixed well in beakers, each containing the different solutions and were stirred sufficiently on a magnetic stir plate. The colorimeter was calibrated with distilled water which set a reference value of zero making sure that all succeeding readings would be accurate. A small sample of the first solution was placed in a cuvette which was inserted into the colorimeter. Data collection started immediately and was recorded for 15 min, the whole duration of the cuvette in the colorimeter. The different values of transmittance were recorded and the data was plotted into a graph with the help of LoggerPro software. The same procedure was repeated for the second and third solution and thereby obtaining three different Absorbance versus time graphs for each. Care was taken at every step of this experiment to ensure that errors were minimized to the fullest. The colorimeter was calibrated every time before placing a new cuvette into it to make sure results were accurate. The dye was handled with care as it leaves stain marks on any surface it is spilled on. Goggles were worn throughout the experiment to keep the eyes from risk of exposure. Safety gloves were worn to handle all reagents as one of them, sodium hydroxide, is a strong base and has significant corrosive properties. The graphs obtained from the three solutions were then manipulated using the LoggerPro software which enables he application of various calculus functions to produce different graphs, all of which lead to determination of the order of the reaction. A line of best fit was applied to all three graphs and the slopes (m), absorbance value at 7min (a) and the root mean square error (RMSE) were recorded. The first graph was reopened and a new column of ln Absorbance was made, using this data, another plot of ln Absorbance versus time was created using LoggerPro. This was done again for the second and third solutions. The graph of Absorbance versus time for the first solution was opened again to produce a graph of 1/Absorbance versus time which was saved. All of these were made possible using LoggerPro. All of the graphs produced had a line of best fit through them which made it easy to determine slope and RMSE values for each of them along with absorbance values at 7 minutes, which is the half life of the reaction period or half the time for the data to be collected. All of the data collected from the graphs were tabulated and values were used in determining the reaction rate of the reaction. Results: Figure 1: Graph slowing relationship of Absorbance versus time for first solution Figure 2: Relationship of ln Absorbance versus time for first solution Figure 3: Plot of 1/Absorbance versus time for first solution Figure 4: ln Absorbance versus time plot for solution 2 Solution| Order(p)| ? RMSE? | 1| 0| 0. 01641| 1| 1| 0. 01129| 1| 2| 0. 3810| Table 1: RMSE values for the three graphs for solution 1 Solution| Order (p)| [OH-]0/M| Kps= -Slope(m)*| 1| 1| 10. E-3| 0. 09287| 2| 1| 5. 0E-3| 0. 1238| 3| 1| 2. 5E-3| 0. 01038| *(m= slope from plot of ln Absorbance versus time) Table 2: Slopes of the different ln Absorbance versus time for three graphs Figure 5: Plot of kps (slope) versus [OH-]0 Figure 6: Graph of ln kps versus ln [OH-]0 Solution| Order(p)| Slope (m)| Value at 7 min (a)| RMSE| ? RMSE/a? | 1| 0| -0. 02360| 0. 271| 0. 01641| 0. 0605| 1| 1| -0. 09287| 0. 271| 0. 01129| 0. 0416| 1| 2| 0. 40210| 0. 271| 0. 3810| 1. 405| 1| 1| -0. 09287| 0. 271| 0. 01129| 0. 0416| 2| 1| -0. 12380| 0. 134| 0. 01566| 0. 1169| 3| 1| -0. 010380| 0. 492| 0. 00693| 0. 0141| Table 3: Data obtained from all the graphs plotted It was observed during the reaction that the color changed from purple to colorless at the end when taken out of the cuvette. Discussion: Table 1 shows the absolute (RMSE /a) values for the first solution. The RMSE values are obtained from the graphs produced from solution 1(graphs 1, 2 and 3). The graph with the least absolute RMSE/a value is the one with the best fit line with the greatest accuracy; hence the graph 2 or the plot of ln Absorbance versus time for solution 1 is the most accurate one as it has an absolute RMSE/a value of 0. 129. Thus it can be deduced from the table that the reaction is first order with respect to crystal violet. Since it is now known that the reaction is first order with respect to crystal violet, the functional relationship for p=1 is: ln Absorbance= [ln Absorbance]0- kpst; This equation is familiar since it is one of the integrated rate law equations as seen previously. First order reactions are determined if the plot of ln Absorbance versus time ha ve a line of best fit which is accurate. Thus the equation above shows that the best fit line from the plot would equal to –kps. Therefore the kps values would be equal to negative of the slopes of ln Absorbance versus time graphs for all three solutions which is depicted in Table 2. To determine the order of reaction with respect to [OH-] some more calculations are required and more graphs are required to be plotted. The kps values obtained from Table 2 along with the [OH-]0 values aid in the plotting of another kps versus [OH-]0 graph. The graph that is obtained is shown in Figure 5. To double check the accuracy of the graph, a second graph of ln kps versus ln [OH-]0 is plotted which would be the graph if the reaction was to be of order 1 with respect to [OH-] which is depicted in Figure 6. When the two graphs are compared to each other and their slopes and RMSE values compared from the data collected in Table 3, it is seen that the reaction is actually in fact order 1. 5 which when rounded off to the nearest integer would be equal to 1. q= slope of plot of ln kps versus ln [OH-]0= 1. 581 as seen from Figure 6. The RMSE value is also a very low value which means that this value would be very accurate and hence the reaction would be first order with respect to sodium hydroxide. The discrepancy in the final value of q can be accounted for by transfer losses, when the reagents were being transferred from the pipette to the beaker; some of it remains in the pipette and causes the concentration to be a little lower than actually reported. It should also be noted that the same cuvette was not used throughout the experiment. Different cuvettes are made from different plastics from varying compositions which mean they have different permeability which doesn’t allow the same wavelengths of light to pass through all of them, thus the colorimeter reads differently which causes errors. The reaction starts off with a purple color as crystal violet is a purple solution and sodium hydroxide is colorless. As time elapses, the violet color starts to fade away and the solution becomes colorless as their product is a colorless aqueous solution. Conclusion: Thus the above experiment concludes that the reaction was first order with respect to crystal violet and also first order with respect to sodium hydroxide. The overall reaction order was 2 with respect to crystal violet and sodium hydroxide. The overall of the rate law for the reaction would be: Rate: k [CV+] [OH-]. To ensure results are more accurate in the future, a single cuvette should be used when carrying out the whole experiment and all of the reagents must be transferred efficiently without loses to and from the beaker to ensure 100% efficiency along with using proper safety equipment while handling chemicals. References: 1. Atkins, P. W. (1978). Physical chemistry. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. 2. Allen, J. P. (2008). Biophysical chemistry. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. 3. Lindon, J. C. , Tranter, G. E. , amp; Holmes, J. L. (2000). Encyclopedia of spectroscopy and spectrometry. San Diego: Academic Press. Appendix: Solution 1: Order 0, ? RMSE/a? = 0. 01641/0. 271= 0. 0605 Order 1, ? RMSE/a? = 0. 01129/0. 271= 0. 0416 Order 2, ? RMSE/a? =0. 3810/0. 217= 1. 4050 Solution 2, Order 1, ? RMSE/a? =0. 01566/0. 134= 0. 1169 Solution 3, Order 1, ? RMSE/a? = 0. 00693/0. 492= 0. 0141

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Reflective Journal for Business & Society- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theReflective Journal for Business Society. Answer: Introduction The affluent society is a society where there is no scarcity of the material benefits. The goods are available in a wide range so that the individuals can have a feasible access to a prosperous lifestyle (Black and Pemberton, 2017). In present time, the affluent society is also termed as a consumer society. A consumer society can be explained as a society where there is rising affluence, the key focus of the individuals is on construction of lifestyle, image building, and presentation of individual identity, investing time of leisure activities, increased consumption and having recognized social status (Baudrillard, 2016). With thorough readings, I have identified that globalisation; consumerism and increased technology have resulted in increased number of consumer societies. Reflective Journal: The affluent society is a consumer society There are several consequences which have occurred because of the continuous development of the consumer societies. Just like most of the people, I also used to believe that if we have enough purchasing or buying power then we must replace our goods and take use of innovating and new technologies and goods. But gaining insights from the reading I really have a good understanding of the various consequences of living in a consumer society and also its negative implications for the future generations. In a consumer society, the older goods are replaced with the newer ones. The consumers purchase the products, take use of those goods and then throw them and then new goods are purchased by the consumers (Goodwin, Ackerman and Kiron, 2013). There can be have replacements and few modifications and those goods can be reused but people have a good amount of money to purchase new products so they instead of taking use of those goods just replace them with newer ones. All such aspects of a con sumer society lead to increased level of unemployment, depression and recession. In the consumer society the craving for goods is increasing with a rapid rate and so the desire of the individuals. With the increased income a level, the purchasing power of the consumers also keeps on improve and upsurge. It is a rat race where people are striving hard to earn more and more and on the hand coping up with the increased level of work related tensions and stress. I have also agree that people are losing their present and a peaceful life for achieving the materialistic benefits to have a more leisured and luxurious lifestyle. I also certainly believe in the cataphrase that in a consumer society, The rich get richer and the poor get poorer (Yang, 2017).It is one of the most negative aspects of a consumer society that there exists economic inequality which results in increased buying power of few of the individuals and decreased living standards of few of the other segments of the society (Storper, 2010). The material wealth is now the key aspect that decides whether a society or a nation is considered as highly developed or not. There is increased dependence upon the devices which are labour saving as in homes people take use of automated machines and technologies for casual work so atht they dont have to invest their time in work harder for such non-leisure activities. Such over dependence on the devices that are labour saving give rise to a more concrete form of consumer society. The increased level of ecological imbalances is also one of the outcomes of consumerism and consumer society as for attaining a more lavished lifestyle with huge number of goods and services and this directly depletes the environment, weather and the natural habitat and eventually increase the number of health issues and level of pollution (Autio and Heinonen, 2004). There are wide consequences in context with the work as people work to attain materialistic benefits, comfort life, luxurious goods, high purchasing power and possession of techno savvy gadgets. All such aspects of the consumer society force people to earn more and more for maintaining their standard of living which affects both their health as well as the personal associations (Firat, et al., 2013). Conclusion I had a great understanding of the negative consequences and implications of the increasing number of consumer societies across the globe as every single action of the consumer society is associated with its relative implication that affects the lives of other individuals too. The world is more of a global nation where the consumption and actions of few individuals also have a widening and in-depth impact for the people residing in other overseas regions. I have also realized that, we as the consumers must analyse our buying power and must purchase goods of necessity rather than buying goods for hiking up our living standards and possessing luxurious lifestyle. By such small initiatives, there can be a big change in the societies and the issues associated with the development for consumer society can be declined and the individuals can once again attained a more satisfactory and peaceful life with increased level of economic equality. References Autio, M. and Heinonen, V., 2004. To consume or not to consume? Young peoples environmentalism in the affluent Finnish society.Young,12(2), pp.137-153. Baudrillard, J., 2016.The consumer society: Myths and structures. Sage. Black, L. and Pemberton, H., 2017.An Affluent Society?: Britain's Post-war'Golden Age'Revisited. Routledge. Firat, A., Kutucuoglu, K.Y., ArikanSaltik, I. and Ungel, O., 2013. Consumption, consumer culture and consumer society.Journal of Community Positive Practices,13(1), pp.182-203. Goodwin, N.R., Ackerman, F. and Kiron, D. eds., 2013.The consumer society(Vol. 2). Island Press. Storper, M., 2000. Lived effects of the contemporary economy: globalization, inequality, and consumer society.Public Culture,12(2), pp.375-409. Yang, Q., 2017.Interpreting gentrification in China: the rising consumer society and inequality in the state-facilitated redevelopment of the central city of Chengdu(Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia).