The economic Miracle Essay Example for Free

The economic Miracle Essay I. The Economic Miracle A. Economic Growth Between 1945 and 1960 economic boom occurred nearly uninterrupted, GNP went increased 250% from 200 bill to 500. Unemployment and inflation remained low. Gov smpending which started during depression continued, public housing, schools, vets etc. Economic growth was at peak during early 50 during Korean war, military spending also peaked. Birth rate went up baby boom peaked during war in 1957. Increase 20% 150 to 179 million, caused economic expansion. Suburbs also expanded helped expand some sectors of economy. Privately owned cars doubled, new homes, housing industry. Economy grew 10x faster than population, but not evenly distributed. Americans had increased purchasing power and highest standard of living than any other civilization in world. B. The Rise of the Modern West West saw greatest changes as result of economic growth. Population, cities flourished, no longer appendage of east. By 60s parts of west were important cultural, industrial centers. West saw most of government spending, dams, powerstations military contracts to California and Texas. Automobiles caused increase in oil fields which made cities in Texas grow. States gov invested in state universities for research, made them among the best in the nation. Dry warm climate attracted people. Los Angeles had increase in new businesses, population increase 50 % from 1940 1960. C. Capital and Labor Labor unions increased so much that they were no longer intimidated by large corporations, leader made important concession to them, $80 week salary. AFL and Coingress of Industrial Organization merged under leadership of George Meany. Many Unions would gain so much power that they became corrupt, i. e. Teamster Union under David Beck, would be charged by gov. United Mine workers also had charges of corruption. II The Explosion of Science and Technology A. Medical Breakthroughs 20th century so more medical breakthroughs than any other, especially in antibacterial drugs. Antibiotics stemmed from Louis Pasteur and Jules Joubert in 1870s France, thenJ Joseph Lister who proved antiseptic solutions prevent infection in surgery. Then sulfa drugs in the 1930s used in France, Britain, and Germany against blood diseases. In 1928 Alexander Flemming accidentally found antibacterial props of penicillin. Oxford refined the potency of it but availability would not reach all of England till after WWII, mass production would start around 1948 around world. Vaccines against viruses also increased. Tenetanus vaccines Tuberculosis. Progress on viruses were slow except small pox. 1954 Jonas Salk introduced vaccine against polio, gov offered to public for free. By 60s vaccines had been virtually eliminated. Death rate in kid decline and average life expectancy increased to 71 years. B. Pesticides In 1939 Swiss chemist, Paul Muller discovered DDT, harmless to humans, toxic to insects. Americans learn about this in 1942 as soldiers were coming down with insect borne diseases like malaria and typhus. DDT became widely used first in Italy, people thought it was miracle chemical. Later on pacific islands where US was fighting Japs. Cases of malaria decline sharpley, it wasnt for a while that they realized it was toxic to humans and animals. C. Post war electronic Research Researchers in the 40s developed first commercially sound televison. RCA developed first color TV which became available in early 60s. IN 1948 Bell labs developed the transistor which would replace the vacuum tubes which were in most electronic devices. TVs, radios, avaiation equipment were all smaller. Also developed integrate circuitry which made it possible to combine diodes, resistors, transistors into microscopic device. Led to development of computer. D. Postwar Computer Technology First computer were meant for complex mathmatics like those used to break military codes. Then began use in commercial business area. The UNIVAC was able to handle numbers and letters and had tape storage, could do functions faster than predecessor. To gain publicity for computer outside census market, makers of UNIVAC predicted results of 1952 election for CBS. That night was first time that many Americans became aware of computers. Remington Rand could not market the UNIVAC but new company, IBM marketed successfully computer to US business and abroad. Invested heavily on research and development. E. Bomb, Rockets, and Missiles In 1952 US detonated fist Hydrogen bomb 1 year later soviets did same, H- bomb used fusion rather than fission, and were more destructive. Development of these bombs led to rocket development, to launch bomb with out use of airplane. US benefited from the emigration of many German scientists who helped develop rockets in Germany. Soviets and US struggled to build long range missiles that could cross continents, ICBMs. Fuel was a problem, they would eventually switch to solid rather than volatile liquid fuel. Miniature guidance systems also helped guid to more precise targets, and known as minutemen. They could travel several thousand miles. US also developed the Polaris submarine missile, which after launched turned on engines after it left water, it was first launched in 1960. F. The Space Program. American space program mainly developed to rival to soviet one. When news came that the Sputnick had been lauched in 1957, people and gov. were alarmed, thought of it as an American failure. Gov. started investing in scientific education in schools and more research in labs, US launched Explorer I in January. US attention then shifted to manner exploration and created NASA. First efforts was the Mercury project, sent Alan Shepard in 1961 into space, but this came months after Yuri Gagarin, a Russian who orbited the earth. In 1962 John Glenn woukd become first American to orbit earth. NASA would later develop Gemini program, 2 seater space craft. These programs were followed bu Apollo, program to land men on moon. After catastrophic setback in 1967, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin were first men on moon in 1969. Last mission was in 1972 after which funding and enthusiasm dropped. Focus shifted from exploration to easy access into near space, out of this came the space shuttle, first launched in 1982. After explosion in 86 resumed in 88. Used to send satellites, telescope, service labs. Helped the aeronautic industry and led to developments in other technologies. II. People of Plenty A. The Consumer Culture Middle class during 1950s became more aware of consumer goods. This was due to consumer credit increasing 800%, because of credit cards, and easy payment plans. Products like TVS, dishwashers, garbage disposals, and dishwashers became more common. Automobiles were becoming more stylish. Consumer goods craze was fueled by advertising. Disney tv show, Mickey Mouse Club gained popularity and promoted success of Disney land. Disney used entertainment for marketing consumer goods. B. The Suburban Nation By 1960 1/3 of population lived in suburbs, as single family houses were becoming more affordable. William Levitt was most famous of the developers and had large scale construction in Long Island, homes sold for under $10gs. Americans placed higher value on family after war, when families were reunited. Homes outside of city were larger and cheaper more privacy, scurity space for goods and appliances. Suburbs were mostly white as most blacks could not afford the homes. Whites fled to escape integration. C. Suburban Family Professional men had division in work world and family life. Increased emphasis on family life reduced women role in work place, they were encouraged to stay at home with children by popular books. Despite this for many families to enjoy the goods they craved, a second income was necessary, causing working women to increase in post war years. 1960 1/3 of married women had jobs. D. The Birth of Television The television was a scientific breakthrough but became more of a cultural one. After WWII its growth was phenonmenal, 40 million set in us, more people had tvs than refrigerators. TV programming based on attraction of advertisers. Many shows were written and produced by the company itself. TV new replaced radio, newspapers and magazines as the major news source. Professional sports and college sports became very popular and largest businesses in the country. TV shows reinforced concept of Gender roles in family. Shows created idealized image for Americans. E. Organized Society and Its Detractors White collar workers out numbered blue collar workers. American reacted with hostility to large scale beuracracies. Many books were published by sociologists analyzing the role of men in society and how their thinking has changed F. The Beats and the Restless Culture of Youth A group of young poets and writers emerged known as the beats who criticized the conformity and sterility of American culture. Jack Kerouac most famous out of the movement wrote popular novel called, On the Road. Beats had ideas stemming from limitless possibilities, and decline of traditional values of thrift. Young Americans were being raised in a new type of culture to expect fulfilling lives. 1960s saw a major increase in juvenile delinquency. Adults were alarmed at how teenager were dressing more like the image of the delinquent teen, adopting hobbies in fast cars and more sexually active due to birth control. James Dean an actor portrayed this image in real life and in film, was an icon for many teenagers in America. G. Rock n Roll Elvis Presley became a symbol of youthful determination to push boarders of acceptance. Had rebellious style which imitated the biker look. Presleys music was derived from rhythm of black RB which appealed to young whites. Rock n roll also pulled from country music, gospel, and jazz. The rise of musicians like Pres;ey could have come from the publics lack of acceptance of black artists. But the 50s did see increase in balck musicians also, Temptations, Little Richard, BB King. Popularity of new music style came from change in radio and television programming. Radio Hired DJs for stations dedicated to music programming. TV shows, showcased the new music and spread its popularity, and made Dick Clark famous. Radio and tv encouraged record sales. Juke boxes, and 45s promoted rock n roll as well. Music promoters were caught in a scandal when new hit public that they would pay djs to play music. III The Other America A. On the Margins of the Affluent Society In 1962 Michael Harrington brought attention to poverty in America with his novel, The Other America. After expansion in post war years, 1/5 of Americans were below line of poverty, many million more just above. 80% who were poor experienced poverty intermittingly, included 1/2 elderly population, black, Hispanic natives were pooerest group. Many believed the general increase in prosperity would bring all people out of poverty, this was wrong. B. Rural Poverty Farmers were receiving less and less percentage of the national income. Though not all farmers were poor most had impovershied life style. All ethic groups, blacks, migrant Mexican workers, Asians, all suffered an subject to malnutrition and starvation. C. The Inner Cities As white gained wealth they moved to outer city. As cotton economy became mechanized blacks moved into inner city ghettoes. Not all were poor, but it was harder due to historical patterns of racial discrimination towards them. 3 million blacks move from rural south to industrial north b/w 1940 -60. Puerto Ricans and Mexican migrated heavily, Puerto Ricans mainly to new york, Mexicans to texas and California. Factory owners moved to places where labor was cheaper, making it hard for people to find jobs of unskilled labor. With inner city poverty came more juvenile delinquency. IV The Rise of the Civil Right Movement A. The Brown Decision and Massive Resistance. In 1954 in Supreme court made decision that segregated schools was unconstitutional, over turned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The following years they set forth rules for implementing the decision. Southern members of congress came up with the manifesto in defiance to the supreme court decision. By 1957 only 684 of 3,000 school were in compliance. Eisenhower at first was reluctant to join the desegragation movement but when Central High School of Little Rock was in direct defiance of federal order, Eisenhower sent federal troops to keep peace. Even governor Orval Faubus neglected Eisenhowers decision. B. The Expanding Movement The Brown decision sparked challenges to other form of segregation. Rosa Parks in 1955 refused togive up her seat to a white person on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested but the incident inspire other blacks who started a boycott. The Boycott put economic pressure on bus companies and downtown stores as black would shop in their own neighborhoods. A 1957 supreme court decision made segregation in public transoort illegal. From the boycott emerged Dr. MLK who was a powerful orator and new leader of nonviolent movement against segregation. C. Causes of the Civil Right Movement. Millions of blacks fought in the war or worked in war factories. From this they gained a better knowledge of the world and their place in it. The urban black middle class also began to grow, as did enrollment in black universities and schools. They became more aware of the obstacle to their advancement from poverty and oppression. Television made blacks more aware of the life style they were excluded from and spread inspriration for protests. The cold war made whites realize that they could not be model nation if their was segregation. Blacks in north also had power in democratic votes which made politicians listen to their needs. Black labor unions also helped support for movement. V. Eisenhower Republicanism A. What was good for General Motors Eisenhowers administration was staffed with business leaders of the community. Many of which reconciled themselves to the New Deal. He appointed wealthy lawyers andbusiness exec. To his cabinet. Charles Wilson president of General Motors vauched for a sec. Of defense by saying what was good of the country was good for g. e. Eisenhower reduced federal spending and encouraged private enterprise. Discouraged programs of national health insurance. By end of his term had $1 billion in surplus. B. The Survival of Welfare System Eisenhower resisted efforts by right wingers to dismantle manypolicies of the new deal. He extended social securityto 10 million more people and unemployment compensation to 4 million more. Raised minimum wage to $1. Built 40,000 miles of highway. In 1956 election would beat Stevenson in another landslide, one year after heart attack. C. The Decline of McCarthyism Eisenhower admin. did little to discourage the anticommunist movement, but by 1954 it started to die down as senator Joseph McCarthy went into political demise. McCarthy would attack the arm services in a nationally televise investigation. The investigation flopped and made him look like a villan, senate would vote him out and would die 3 years later. VI. Eisenhower, Dulles, and the Cold War A. Dulles and Massive Retaliation Sec. Of Defense Dulles was against Trumans containment policy, he wanted to liberate communist countries. However had to cool his ideas to the presidents view. The massive retaliation policy was to repond to communist threats by relying on nuclear weapons. The reliance on atomic weapons would bring more bang to the buck as many advocates put it. B. France America and Vietnam In 1953 a treaty was signed to end hostilities, each country would withdraw troops 1. 5 miles from 38th parallel the original boarder of the 2 countries. A conference was to be held in Geneva to discuss how the two countries would be reunited but no agreement was reached. During the same time France was trying to restore authority in vietname which was taken during WWII by Japs. They were opposed by the Ho Chi Minh who wanted indpendance and thought US would help, however were nationalistic and communist. France was a major Cold War allie and US would stick with them. Ho was getting aid from soviets and Chinese. US was paying for French military operations. In 1954 12,000 troops were surrounded, despite Nixon and Dulles advice Eisenhower did not want to intervene yet. France agreed to settlement in Geneva conference. North of 17th parallel was controlled by Ho Chi Minh, below was pro democratic/ US government led by Dinh Diem. US promised support against attacks from the north. C. Cold War Crisis IN 1950s the US foreign policy rested on revised containment policy, Eisenhower would react to many imagined and far flung crises. He became involved in Middle East after Isreal proclaimed independace, he acknowledged them the next day. Palestinian Arabs still inside country thought of as their and would fight in frist of several wars in 1948. US had major investment in Middle East because of its oil. When prime minister of Iran began resisting presence of Western corporations, US was alarmed, they would help stage coup and elevate the Shah of Iran. When Egypt began trade with soviets, Dulles reacted by saying US would not help build Dam across Nile. Nasser, leader of Egypt reacted by taking control of suez canal from Britain. France and Britain landed forces to drive out Egypt as Israel attacked Egypt. US fearing another world war denounced the situation with the UN. US controlled much of the island of Cuba. In 1957 a resistance movement against leader Batista led by Castro made him leave country as Castro marched in and established his own government. Castro would begin taking assistance from soviet union, US would react by cutting diplomatic relations. D. Europe and the Soviet Union Eisenhower admin would meet with Soviet foreign relations in Geneva but nothing good would come out of it. Relations b/w countries would worsen when a pro-democratic Hungarian Revolution was crushed by soviets. US did not want to intervene. E. The U-2 Crisis Nikita Khrushchev, new soviet premier would suggest that they visit each other country and then in Paris to discuss Berlin. Eisenhower agreed. During the conference in Paris, new came the Soviets shot down and held the captain of a U-2 plane flying over Russian air space. Khrushchev would call off the conference. At the end of his term tensions with Soviets were even higher. In his farewell speech he warned of unwarranted influlece andand cautioned against domestic and foreign affairs. And said US should act more boldly. VII. Conclusion The 1950s was prosperous time for most of America, as people moved in larger home in the suburbs and families had more children in a post war baby boom. After Korean War, the Eisenhower administration brought calmness to the white house. Television was the largest medium of mass culture, spreading middle class images and traditional values. A resistive youth culture also emerged. Blacks escalated their efforts remove segregation with emergence of new powerful leaders and help from supreme court.

Comparison of Colonisation in Brazil and Ireland

Comparison of Colonisation in Brazil and Ireland INTRODUCTION Purpose of this paper is to compare the colonisation of Ireland with that of Brazil. In order to do this, the paper has been structured into three parts. The first part looks at the pre-colonial period of Ireland and Brazil. This is followed by the comparison of colonisation processes that each one was faced with. Finally, the post-colonial Ireland and Brazil are discussed. PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD COUNTRY AND POPULATION According to Smith (1999), authority within the Irish island was decentralised, with important regional variations between communities of independent or semi-independent Gaelic chieftaincies, turbulent Anglo-Irish marcher lordships, and an east coast area regularly influenced by the operations of English common law and the officials of the royal administration at Dublin. Its population has been estimated at around 2 million (Encarta 2000). Most of the hundreds of indigenous peoples who inhabited eastern South America prior to the arrival of the Europeans were members of the Tupà ­-Guaranà ­ cultures. In Brazil, the native Toupi-family groups we found in areas along the eastern coast of the continent south of Amazon River and inland south of the Amazon to the Andean foothills (Encarta 2000). According to Economist (2000), population of pre-colonial Brazil was about 2.5 million when the Portuguese arrived. According to Encarta (2000), this number is difficult to estimate since there are no written records, with recent calculations suggesting between 1 and 6 million Native Americans in 1500. CULTURE AND LANGAUGE Said (1990) described Ireland as a third world country, both England’s poor â€Å"other† and belonging to the cultural domain of the developed world. However, Encarta (2000) indicates that its Celtic culture was famous for its artworks, music and cultural institutions. People spoke Celtic, Gealic language. Indian societies belonged, for the most part, to the great Tupi cultural root, which had been lasting for at least 500 years when contact with the Europeans was established (Metcalf 2005). In comparison to Irish, Tupi society was much more primitive. The village was the basis of the Tupi social organisation. The society was often referred to as the ‘land without evil’ and it had no slavery among its groups. According to Encarta (2000), these people had no metal tools, no written language, no beasts of burden and no knowledge of the wheel. They worshiped spirits and relied on religious figures known as shamans for healing, divination of future events, and connection to the world of spirits. They spoke variations of the Tupian language. COLONIAL PROCESS SYSTEMATIC VS ACCIDENTAL In the history of the Irish colonisation by England there are two distinct colonisations (Nelligan 2000). The first was in the 13th century with the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. This was a colonisation that had some form of dialogue, an interaction between the coloniser and the colonised, where eventually it is deemed that the colonisers became â€Å"more Irish than the Irish themselves†. However, the second type of colonisation in Irish history occurred in the 1560s, with the advent of Cromwell’s campaign, which entailed the attempted total destruction of Irish culture, language, history, lifestyle, and rights of the Irish people. This entailed no dialogue except for the threat of death if compliance with the coloniser was not forthcoming. While the colonisation of Ireland was systematic from the beginning, discovery of Brazil by the Portuguese came in 1500 by accident, when a fleet commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral and bound for India was blown off course (Economist 2000). Furthermore, it has been claimed that the conquest and appropriation of the Brazilian territory, and the questions that they provoked, did not always put Europeans and Indians one against the other (Abreu 2004). Colonisation often demanded that the Europeans allied themselves to the natives against other Europeans, and that the natives allied themselves to Europeans against other natives. SETTLEMENT AND OPPRESSION VS ECONOMY BY SLAVERY Irish colonisation was an attempt at annihilation of the Irish in order to make room for English settlers (Nelligan 2000). It was an outright attempt at domination, usurpation and control of the Irish people. According to Lilley (2000), the process of colonisation in medieval Ireland needs to be viewed in the context of Norman and English depictions of the Irish as non-urbanised and therefore uncivilised, because towns were of operated without urban laws. This lack of written urban law has sometimes led historians to accept that the Normans and the English introduced urbanism into Ireland and that they therefore also ‘civilised’ the country. This was done in order to show that there was just cause to settle and urbanise the ‘barbarous people’ of Ireland. The legal and economic privileges contained in these urban laws initially excluded indigenous peoples, and the landscapes of newly developing towns were organised so that Irish were spatially marginalised. I n this context, the idea that the Irish were socially and culturally inferior to the Normans and the English was reinforced. This confirms Meining’s (1982) assumptions that the exercise of ultimate political authority by the invaders over the invaded involves the locating of agents representing the imperial state in the subordinate area; as well as his argument that imperial expansion is basically predatory, and that agents of the imperial power will seek to extract wealth from the conquered territory, creating new economic relationships. This also goes inline with Meining’s (1969) argument that only by appreciating the nature of the geopolitical environment of the early seventeenth century can the ideological significance of the Self/Other theme be truly recognised. Colonisation of Brazil served different purpose. According to Marchant (1942), it involved two stages. The first one, prior to colonisation, was dominated by barter and was profitable for both sides. This is why the natives were compelled to search for contact with the Europeans. In fact, bartering became so important to some native communities that they continued to practice it even when the terms of trade were modified, that is, after the Europeans started to require the ownership of the Indian labor force. The second phase started in the fourth decade of the sixteenth century, when the first sugar mills were established. To be profitable, sugar production demanded a multiplicity of hands and hard work journeys, which the majority of the Portuguese settlers had no condition or will to provide. Furthermore, Portugal did not possess a demographic surplus that would be able to sustain, at the same time, the voracity for men of the Brazilian sugar plantations and the labor force needs of metropolitan agriculture. As the option for wage-earning labor was not considered, because it made impossible the commercial production of sugar, the enslavement of the native of the country started. According to Metcalf (2005), an ever increasing West African slave trade did not only carry powerful economic interests, but the well developed justification for slavery, as well as legal principles certified by the pope. The trade in Africa encouraged an immediate adoption of slave trading in Brazil by Portuguese merchants. Argeu (2004) claims that, with the establishment of a general-government in Brazil, in 1549, the first official determinations against slavery appeared but only to the ‘allied’ natives, required to be settled near the European cities and towns. The policy of Indian settlements was introduced at the end of the 1550s. The work of the natives was compulsory in the settlements. In the last quarter of the sixteenth century, as the natives were becoming rare in the coast, it became necessary to attract the native populations from the interior, thus starting the cycle of ‘transfers’ that would last until the eighteenth century. It involved conv incing the natives in the interior that it was their interest to settle near the Portuguese, for their own protection and well being. Reality, however, ended up by being different, as it became very common to bring the natives by force to the coast, where they were distributed among the sugar cane plantations and European settlers. In 1570 the crown adopted the medieval concept of ‘just war’ to Brazil, and slavery was seen as the fair price paid by those who opposed themselves to the civilising and catechising role of the Europeans. Although only the king or the governor general had the power to declare just wars, the requirements were not always obeyed, resulting in the breaking out of just wars everywhere. This resulted in the massive enslavement of all kinds of natives, including the allies. Thus, according to Metcalf (2005), Indian slavery expanded dramatically after 1570, becoming an integral part of the colonial Brazilian economy and society. Following the discove ry of gold in the late 1600s, Brazil expanded its borders into the interior of the continent (Encarta 2000). Gold made Brazil the most economically important region of the Portuguese. In the late 17th century, gold was also discovered north of Rio de Janeiro. By 1700 the western world’s first great gold rush had begun as thousands of colonists and slaves poured into the region. It received new stimulus in the 1720s with the discovery of diamonds in the region north of the gold fields (Encarta 2000). The slave system began to disintegrate in the 1880s with the rise of a vocal abolitionist movement, largely in the cities, and the growing tendency for slaves to flee from their masters. By 1888 unrest on plantations, and the refusal of the army to step in and halt the flight of slaves from their masters, brought the system to the brink of chaos (Encarta 2000). The colonial process in Brazil was inline with Meining’s (1982) and (1969) arguments discussed above. POST-COLONIAL PERIOD INDEPENDENCE For Said (1990), Irish people were central to the emergence of Irish nationalism. Independence was finally achieved in the early 20th century. According to McDonnell (2001), there were two stages of decolonisation. The first stage of decolonisation was the founding of the Free State. The second stage was the decision of the Irish Free State to remain out of WWII, where as the northern state became more and more identified and incorporated into the UK as a colonised state. One of the major results of decolonisation was that the state of Northern Ireland was formed which would remain under British control. Ireland is usually referred to as post-colonial despite continuing conflict over Northern Ireland. This led to the isolation of Northern Irish Catholics within that territory and their further colonisation. Northern Ireland will never be apart of the republic, and at bet will be its own independent state. Many argued that Ireland had not fully decolonised and expressed the struggle t hat was the begging of the process (McDonnell 2001). According to McDonnell (2001), Irish became own critics when they no longer had critics. The colonial thinking led to the selective teaching of history in Ireland, as the 19th and 20th century was not taught in schools until the 1950s. Today teachers still have an agenda to give a republican perspective on what happened (McDonnell 2001). In contrast to Irish, Brazilian independence was achieved without violence. When Napoleon invaded Portugal and Spain in early 19th century, Portuguese were forced to transfer the center of the empire to Rio de Janeiro (Encarta 2000). In 1815 John VI elevated Brazil to the status of a kingdom, placing it on an equal footing with Portugal. The presence of the monarchy and court in Rio brought Brazilian and Portuguese elites together and paved the way for a gradual transition to independence. Once Napoleon was defeated, John VI reluctantly left for Portugal in 1821. His son Pedro remained in the colony as prince regent of Brazil. Pedro and his advisers realised that revolutions in other Latin American countries were encouraging a movement for national independence in Brazil and decided to take control of this movement. In 1822, after receiving orders from the Portuguese Cortes curtailing his authority in Brazil, Pedro declared Brazil’s independence. COUNTRY SIZE AND POPULATION Ireland republic today comprises about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, and excludes North Ireland (Encarta 2000). The country consists of the provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connacht (Connacht) and part of the province of Ulster. The rest of Ulster, which occupies the northeastern part of the island, constitutes Northern Ireland, a constituent part of the United Kingdom. The population of Ireland is predominantly of Celtic origin and no significant ethnic minorities exist. In 1998 it was estimated at 3,619,480, which is a decrease from the 1840s, when about 6.5 million people lived in the area included in the republic. This was largely because of a high emigration rate (Encarta 2000). Colonisation of Brazil, on the other hand, has resulted in an enormous country, occupying area along the eastern coast of South America and including much of the continent’s interior region (Encarta 2000). The population increased during the 18th century as a result of natural increase and immigration to Brazil’s gold fields, which were discovered in the late 17th century. Population further increased when the Portuguese brought more than 2 million slaves from Africa to Brazil to provide labor for the sugar plantations and gold mines. During the early part of the 19th century over 1 million more slaves were imported. After the slave trade was abolished in 1850, the country’s population continued to grow by natural increase and immigration from Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Spain. By 1900 the population was just over 17 million. Immigration continued to be substantial until the 1930s, with many Japanese arriving after 1908. Since then, population growth has been p rimarily due to natural increase. In 1950 Brazil had 51,944,000 inhabitants, and in 1998 estimated 169,806,557 (Encarta 2000). However, colonisation has reduced the number of natives from perhaps 2.5m when the Portuguese arrived, to just 100,000 in the 1970s, although the Amerindian population has now risen to 325,000 (Economist 2000). Native population decreased rapidly as a consequence of war, enslavement, and the introduction of European diseases. In the 1990s Native Americans made up less than 1 percent of the population, living in isolated groups in remote regions of the rain forest. However, it has been suspected that their birth rate is now 10% above the Brazilian average. As a consequence of colonisation, Brazil’s population is a mixture of Native American, European, and African peoples. These groups have intermingled over the years to create a society with considerable ethnic complexity. CULTURE Evidence suggests that both Irish and Brazilian cultures suffered from colonisation. It has been claimed that the exposure to Portuguese society was shocking. It resulted in introversion and shame, created by slavery, which lasted longer and involved larger numbers in Brazil than anywhere else (Economist 2000). It also resulted in isolation of Brazil form its Spanish-speaking neighbours. Negative effects of colonisation in Ireland varied from loss of culture to the emotional and material losses (McDonnell 2001). Colonisation of Ireland had caused feelings of withdrawal and inferiority. Kenny (1985) described the post-colonial Irish personality as one in which the inner world is elaborated, bringing a focus on fantasy, magical thinking, superstition, and creativity. Furthermore, the reaction to the outer world is one of helplessness and passivity, as people came to believe in their own inferiority and powerlessness to change things. According to Economist (2000b), five centuries of miscegenation in Brazil have blurred the racial boundaries between Europeans, Africans and Amerindians. Today 38% of Brazilians call themselves brown, blacks are only 6% and Amerindians a mere 0.2%. Such racial mixing encouraged Brazils largely white elite to nourish a myth that their country had overcome the legacy of slavery and become a racial democracy, with no colour prejudice (Economist 2000b). Different off-shot has been seen in Ireland where, according to Lipsky (1979), the group accepts very narrow definition of its membership, including being catholic, nationalist, and a member of the GAA. This effectively excludes many because thy do not conform to some rigid stereotype, or they themselves do not feel a part of the group. Internalised oppression leads to mistrust about their own thinking and intelligence among members of the group, trusting more their oppressing group’s thoughts and opinions, rather than that of each other. According to Economist (2000b), Brazil’s deep social inequalities run broadly along racial lines. Brazil is still largely governed, managed and owned by whites. Blacks and browns are disproportionately poor, and find it harder than similarly qualified whites to get a job. After being elected in 1994, president Cardosa took modest steps towards solving the problem, setting up an advisory council on race issues and appointing Pele as Brazils first black minister. Recently, the Brazilian army gained its second black general and the federal police its first black commander. Access to education is still the greatest obstacle to the advancement of black Brazilians. Amerindians are in even worse circumstances, urging the Congress to pass a law to strengthen their rights, which has been under discussion for nine years. Although Irish people have a long historical experience of oppression, they still participate in the oppression of many other groups (McDonnell 2001). Ireland at the present has become a primary destination for immigrants from war-torn African countries and Eastern European countries. Many people reflected that it ironic that people in Ireland are acting in a racist fashion against these incoming peoples considering how much Ireland depended on having a welcome in other countries during the hard economic times. Violence is present in both countries. According to Economist (2000), Brazil has ugly everyday violence. In Ireland, the frustrations of repressed emotions and interpersonal suspicion have led to behaviour that evidences anger and violence, and also is abusive to other Irish people in particular (McDonnell 2001). According to McDonnell (2001), most people accepted that Irish are looking for an opportunity to find a way around the law, are being indirect about the truth, and have problems being empathetic and helpful. In addition, most people seem to think that the Irish emphasise the need to own the land but do not care for its beauty or upkeep, which is seen as a direct result of colonisation. Furthermore, it has been argued that Irish have more problems with sexuality and alcohol than other nations. LANGUAGE Only about one-fourth of Irish speak Irish, a Gaelic language, while almost all the people speak English (Encarta 2000). The constitution provides for both Irish and English as official languages. However, some have interpreted acquisition of the English language in positive terms, as it has helped people who emigrated from Ireland to establish themselves in English speaking countries. The second advantage of the English language is that it has helped to attract foreign business, in particular America. Finally, the success of Irish people in adapting to the English language has produced world renowned literature. Portuguese is the official and prevailing language of Brazil, although there are some regional variations in pronunciation and slang words (Encarta 2000). Since 1938 Portuguese has been the compulsory language for teaching in schools, but German and Italian are still spoken in homes in the South by some descendants of immigrants. English and French are the main second languages of educated Brazilians. There are also over 100 indigenous languages, of which the most important are Tupà ­, Gà ª, Arawak, and Carib. The Portuguese borrowed some Indian words, particularly from Tupà ­. Many settlements and physical features still have Indian place-names. The settlers also borrowed some words from the vocabulary of African slaves. CURRENT CHANGES Irish culture is, at present, undergoing a transition time and is emerging out of some of the effects of colonisation such as poor self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, into a new and effective role in the world (McDonnell 2001). The Celtic Tiger, the name given to the recent economic boom in Ireland, is seen to have the most change, brining economic success and concurrent financial independence and efficacy to the culture. This is perceived to have reached many levels of the culture, bringing benefits and a general increase in confidence. Ireland is undergoing a transformation from being an economic underdog to one of first world economic success. The process of Ireland being caught in the colonial dynamic of relating only to the coloniser, Britain, was seen to be ameliorated by the coming of the EU. This was followed by the influx of American companies into Ireland, which effectively changed the economic status of the country. According to Economist (2000), only Japan recorded faster economic growth than Brazil between 1900 and 1982. And though Brazil is not free of racism, it has been strikingly more successful than the United States and many other countries in creating a multi-racial society. Its recent democratic governments have made big efforts to tackle other social problems, ranging from education to land reform. Having overcome hyperinflation, and ridden out last years devaluation, the economy is now set to grow again. Brazils prospects now look brighter because over the past decade the country has moved far in opening itself up, slashing tariffs, abolishing state monopolies and selling off state-owned businesses to private investors, many of them foreigners. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abreu, M.A. (2004). â€Å"European Conquest, Indian Subjection and the Conflicts of Colonization: Brazil in the early modern era†. GeoJurnal, Vol.60, pp.365-373. Eagleton, T., Jameson, F., Said, E. (1990). â€Å"Nationalism, Colonialism and Literature (eds)†. University of Minnesota Press. Economist (2000). â€Å"Brazil’s 500 Years of Solitude†. Vol.355, Iss.8167. Encarta Encyclopedia (2000). Microsoft. Economist (2000b). â€Å"Brazil’s Unfinished Battle for Racial Democracy†. Vol.355, Iss.8167. Kenny, V. (1985). â€Å"The Post-Colonial Personality†. The Crane Bag, Iss.9, pp.70-78. Lilley, K.D. (2000). â€Å"Non Urbe, Non Vico, Non Castris: territorial control and the colonization and urbanization of Wales and Ireland under Anglo-Normans lordship†. Journal of Historical Geography, Vol.26, Iss.4, pp.517-531. Lipsky, S. (1979). â€Å"Internalized Oppression†. Black Re-Emergence, Iss.2, pp.5-10. Marchant, A. (1942). â€Å"From Barter to Slavery: The economic relations of Portuguese and Indians in the settlement of Brazil, 1500-1580†. Johns Hopkins University Press. McDonnell, A.P. (2001). â€Å"Internalized Colonisation Ireland and Irish Culture: A psychological enquiry†. American School of Professional Psychology. Meining, D.W. (1969). â€Å"A Macrogeography of Western Imperialism: some morphologies of moving frontiers of political control† in Gale and Lawton settlement and encounter. Oxford University Press. Meining, D.W. (1982). â€Å"Geographical Analysis of Imperial Expansion† in Baker and Billinge Period and place: Research methods in historical geography. Cambridge University Press. Metcalf, A.C. (2005). â€Å"The Entradas of Bahia of the 16th Century†. The Americas, Vol.61, Iss.3, pg.373. Nelligan, L.M. (2000). â€Å"Home Fronts: Domestic civility and the birth of colonialism in 16th century Ireland†. University of California. Smith, B. (1999). â€Å"Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170-1330†. Cambridge University Press.

Bacterial Conjunctivitis Essay -- essays research papers

Bacterial Conjunctivitis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bacterial Conjunctivitis, commonly known as â€Å"pink eye†, is one of the most well-known and treatable eye infections for both children and adults. The name was chosen because it is an inflammation of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the clear membrane that covers the white part of the eye and lines the inner surface of the eyelids. It is commonly called â€Å"pink eye† because of the red color of the eye from irritation and was described as such.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several different microorganisms cause Bacterial Conjunctivitis, the most common being Haemophilus aegyptius, the Koch-week bacillus. This type of bacterium is gram-negative and rod shaped. Haemophilus means â€Å"blood loving†and therefore grow in chocolate agar which contains disrupted blood cells. Other bacterium which may cause Bacterial Conjunctivitis include Streptococcus and Staphlyococcus. The incidence of Bacterial Conjunctivitis caused by gram positive bacterium are more predominate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The different types of bacterium which cause Conjunctivitis are highly contagious and transmitted by face to face contact and through airborne droplets. Conjunctivitis can also be passed through facial lotions, eye-make up and other shared materials with an infected person. Touch, espeacially in children, is usually how the bacterium are transmitted!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Symptoms of Bacterial Conjunctivitis include redness in t...

Batman: Through the Years Essays -- Media Fiction Super Heroes Papers

Batman: Through the Years The Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, these are all aliases for an enigmatic character in popular culture most commonly known as Batman. While having his humble origins in the pulp magazines of the late 1930’s, over the span of his existence, he has expanded into a full-blown franchise. There have been 3 TV shows on him, 4 movies (1 more still in the making), various videogames, and over 20 comic book series that currently feature his name. Even after 60 years of being in print, it was a Batman issue that was the highest selling comic book of the last week of November, 2004. It is the aim of this project to explore the reasons why this one particular comic book superhero has managed to keep his relevance where so many others have faltered, with a focused look into how Batman artwork has changed over the sixty years of his existence. Who is Batman to you? Almost everybody knows something about Batman, from my Sunday school teacher (who confiscated my Batman comic book calling him ‘devilish’ and ‘violent’) to my little cousins who play the new Batman videogame incessantly. What many people fail to realize though is that the character of Batman has always been evolving, always being modified to fit the purposes of both the medium and the audience. Take for example the Batman television series that lasted from 1966 till 1968. Adam West as Batman, a little lumpy in his Batsuit, would fight crime accompanied by his faithful sidekick, Robin (Burt Ward). They would awkwardly beat up their enemies, (Listen to the classic soundtrack)accompanied by the classic POW! BIFF! WHAM! sound effects and use goofy phrases like, â€Å"†¦if two plus two equals four†¦Quick Robin, to the Batmobile!† In all t... ...ewer is interested in; Bruce Wayne is an after thought. But with a movie, the viewer is forced to see the Bruce Wayne character and on a sub-conscious level is forced to connect that character with the traits one already has of the actor from previous experience, which reduces the mystery of the Batman character. Concluding Thoughts: While the Batman character grown into an international franchise, many of his fellow superhero peers have fallen by the proverbial road side. Riding on his mysterious and dark persona, he is one of the most famous fictional characters of modern times. It is a unique blend of super-hero fantasy and realism that has allowed him to be accepted by such a wide audience, and it is to the credit of his producers that they have been able to mould the character the character to fit their needs while capitalizing on the character’s essence.

Biography of Alain Locke :: essays research papers

During the 1920's, many African Americans migrated to Harlem, New York City in search of a better life a life which would later be better than what they had in the South. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance. It was originally called the New Negro Movement. Black literature during this era began to prosper in Harlem. The major writers of the Harlem Renaissance were many, such as, Sterling A. Brown, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston and others. The main person, however, was a scholar named Alain Locke. Locke would later be known by many authors and artists as the â€Å"father of the Harlem renaissance.† Alain Leroy Locke was born to S. Pliny and Mary Hawkins Locke on October 13, 1886 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were both teachers. Alain Locke’s father died when he was six years old, and his mother raised him alone. â€Å"She was determined that he receive the best education† (Hardy 34). He did receive what his mother wanted. He earned a scholarship to Harvard University and in 1907, graduated magna cum laude in philosophy. That same year he became the first African American to win a Rhodes scholarship, which allowed him to continue studying in Oxford, England. He studied at Oxford from 1907 to 1910 and then went to University of Berlin from 1910-1911. Locke received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1918. Philosophy was the subject that attracted Locke the most at Oxford. This was the study of why people and cultures act the way they do. While studying in college, he became acquainted with a number of other well educated African Americans. Through them he gained a new view on America’s racial problems and learned a great deal about Africa and its history. Locke and his African American college friends then founded the â€Å"African Union Society†. The goal of this group was to develop a sense of brotherhood between each other and learn about its members so they could be the future â€Å"leaders of the African Race† (Hardy 34). The members usually discussed about how people believe that blacks and Asians were inferior to whites. Locke started his career teaching English at Howard University. Later on however, he became head of the Department of Philosophy. While he was working, he had developed some other interests in other fields as well. He liked music, art, literature, political theory, and anthropology to name a few. Biography of Alain Locke :: essays research papers During the 1920's, many African Americans migrated to Harlem, New York City in search of a better life a life which would later be better than what they had in the South. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance. It was originally called the New Negro Movement. Black literature during this era began to prosper in Harlem. The major writers of the Harlem Renaissance were many, such as, Sterling A. Brown, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston and others. The main person, however, was a scholar named Alain Locke. Locke would later be known by many authors and artists as the â€Å"father of the Harlem renaissance.† Alain Leroy Locke was born to S. Pliny and Mary Hawkins Locke on October 13, 1886 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were both teachers. Alain Locke’s father died when he was six years old, and his mother raised him alone. â€Å"She was determined that he receive the best education† (Hardy 34). He did receive what his mother wanted. He earned a scholarship to Harvard University and in 1907, graduated magna cum laude in philosophy. That same year he became the first African American to win a Rhodes scholarship, which allowed him to continue studying in Oxford, England. He studied at Oxford from 1907 to 1910 and then went to University of Berlin from 1910-1911. Locke received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1918. Philosophy was the subject that attracted Locke the most at Oxford. This was the study of why people and cultures act the way they do. While studying in college, he became acquainted with a number of other well educated African Americans. Through them he gained a new view on America’s racial problems and learned a great deal about Africa and its history. Locke and his African American college friends then founded the â€Å"African Union Society†. The goal of this group was to develop a sense of brotherhood between each other and learn about its members so they could be the future â€Å"leaders of the African Race† (Hardy 34). The members usually discussed about how people believe that blacks and Asians were inferior to whites. Locke started his career teaching English at Howard University. Later on however, he became head of the Department of Philosophy. While he was working, he had developed some other interests in other fields as well. He liked music, art, literature, political theory, and anthropology to name a few.

Back to School Speech by Obama Essay

This essay is about President Barack Obama’s speech â€Å" Back to school â€Å" which he held September 8th 2009 at the Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. The overall message in the speech is whether young people are taking school serious and understand the importance of hard work. Not only for themselves but also for the future of the country. â€Å"Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.† I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous.† Obama is starting out by addressing his audience like a father figure, trying to reach all realities in the audience by mentioning all the grades. He is making himself real to the audience, presenting himself as a guy who is down to earth. â€Å"Some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning† And already in line 10 â€Å"I know that feeling†. He is referring to his own life. He is explaining how he had to get up 4.30 every morning to study with his mom, and how he wasn’t too happy getting up that early. Here he is making himself real to the audience, explaining something from his childhood that they will understand. So here he is using pathos appealing to the feelings. From line 20, it’s like he is changing from being the friend of the audience to his role as the president of the United States again.â€Å" But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.† From line 25, 30 and 35 he is revealing the essence of his speech. His message is that it is ones own commitment and hard work that will make one succeed in life. â€Å"You can have the most dedicated teachers and supportive parents, but unless you individually takes responsibility nothing of this is very helpful.† In line 40 and 50 he is more friendly againâ€Å" Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. † He is motivating the audience by saying that every person has something that they’re good at, that everyone has a important role In the American society. Obama is also very good at mentioning things many people can relate to in his speech. â€Å"Maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone. â€Å" Here he is mentioning the iphone that most children can relate to. From line 50 to 75 he talks more about morals again. He is very seriously talking about how everyone needs to have an education to get a job, and how it takes hard work. More important in Obama’s speech is that your education not only decides ones own future, but ones country’s future. Obama is really good to alternate between being judgmental and understanding through the speech, for example in the line â€Å" Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer.† He is very understanding and encouraging to the people, before he with this sentences; â€Å" If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Is being very judgmental. From line 75 to 85 Obama is again being more understanding. Obama explains his personal difficulties from his own childhood, and that he understands school isn’t always easy. Obama explains how his father left the family when he was 2 years old, and that he was raised by a single mother without much money. â€Å"There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.† Obama then talks about how he through hard work was fortunate to go to college and follow his dream, to attempt law school. In this part of the speech Obama is using ethos. He is trying to be trustworthy. From line 95 Obama again set himself up as the country father. He explains that there is no excuse for having a bad attitude and also no excuse for not trying hard and giving your best towards education. From line 100â€Å" Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you.† Obama is referring to the American dream. Mentioning personal freedom and responsibility for ones own destiny. He explains that with hard work you can accomplish everything you want, no matter background or social rank. From the line 105 – 110 – 115 Obama is stressing his statement by giving some concrete examples about how real people with all sorts of difficulties, made it through hard work and determination. This is an example of logos, because he is giving concrete examples that are supportive to the message of the speech. From line 170 he is again referring to the American dream. â€Å"The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. â€Å" At the end of the speech from line 175 to 185 Obama is talking about America as a culture surviving through many decades.â€Å" It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation â€Å" Obama ask the audiences what they will do to pass on the American culture, and what people in about 50 years will remember from this time. And so he puts some positive pressure on the kids, hoping to get them to understand their responsibility to secure the American dream and culture in the future.

Change models Essay

Scenario Planning: Supplementing Traditional Strategic Planning It is clear the rate of change in today’s work environments has been aggravating with more emphasis nowadays on smaller teams, incremental and rapid delivery, faster payback, and frequent project status reporting. This acceleration has instigated uncertainty that forced organisations to start supporting their strategic planning with a longer term perspective of planning called scenario planning or scenario thinking/analysis. Scenario †¦ Read More A Simple Method to Split a WordPress Post into Multiple Pages One of the most effective ways to increase the number of page views and decrease the bounce rate of your site is by splitting your long posts into several pages. In the first part of the article, you will learn in 2 steps how to split a post in WordPress using the codex function wp_link_pages() and the tag. In the second †¦ Read More Boosting Your WordPress Site’s Performance By Enabling GZIP Compression Ever heard of GZIP? It is a simple software application that compresses/decompresses files based on an algorithm named DEFLATE. It works by finding similar strings in a text file and replacing them temporarily to make the overall file size smaller which would drastically improve the performance of your website. The algorithm perfectly works with CSS and HTML filetypes which typically †¦ Read More Improving Quality of Project Estimation It is clear that estimating a project is important for the project manager to determine how long the project would take, to figure out how much the project would cost, to decide whether the project is worth doing, to measure variances against the baseline plan, and to take corrective actions. However some project managers nowadays tend to put minimum effort †¦ Read More Avoiding Common Pitfalls of High Performance Project Teams Previously in one of my earlier articles, I discussed the key qualities required for a project manager to be effective in building a high performance project team. Believe it or not, though high performance project teams can produce incredible outcomes, there still remain some serious pitfalls that project managers need to be aware of in order not to fall victims †¦ Read More Contract Management Must-Knows For Project Managers Contract management constitutes a major component of a project procurement system. Most work done nowadays on projects involves dealing with contracts or has a contractual nature. Although some companies have purchasing departments that specialize in procurement, one of the basic knowledge and skills of a project manager is to be able to read and manage contracts. This post basically discusses †¦ Read More Understanding And Managing Your Boss The idea of â€Å"managing your boss† may sound quite unusual for some managers, considering the widespread adoption of the traditional top down management  approach in most organizations. Even though talented and aggressive managers nowadays carefully control and administer their subordinates, services, and products, they might reveal, on the other hand, a passive stand with their bosses (Gabarro and Kotter 1993). †¦ Read More Changes in Project Management Processes Between PMBOK 4 And PMBOK 5 This post presents a tabulated s ummary of differences in the names, inputs, tools, and outputs of project management processes between PMBOK 4 and PMBOK 5. Note that terms in Red which exist in PMBOK 4 have been removed or replaced in PMBOK 5, terms in Blue have been newly added into PMBOK 5, and terms in Black have not †¦ Read More Critical Analysis of Porter’s Five Forces Model – Information Technology (IT) Industry In order to appropriately formulate their corporate strategies and distinctively compete in the market, organizations are in a need for a framework that would help them in understanding industry structure and in overcoming rivalry. This essay aims at discussing, analyzing, and criticizing Porter’s Five Forces model using a wide variety of academic literature. The first part introduces the model, discusses †¦ Read More Key Qualities For An Effective Project Manager This post describes key qualities needed for an effective project manager. It discusses the differences between leading and managing a project, explains the importance of managing stakeholders, describes how to gain influence by reciprocity, stresses on the significance of leading by example and managing by wandering around (MBWA), explores how to deal with the contradictory nature of work, and finally †¦ Read More 12345678910 Home ; Change Management ; Change Management Diagnostic Models – Case Study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution† Change Management Diagnostic Models – Case Study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution† April 14th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments This essay presents three different diagnostic models that serve as a change management guidance for organizations by helping them in considering what factors are important for this change and how these factors are interrelated together (Nadler and Tushman 1980). The main purpose of these models is to help in reducing the complexity of the change situation by identifying what change variables require attention by the organization, what sequence of activities to adopt in dealing with the change situation, and how the various organizational properties are interconnected (Ian Palmer 2009). The essay compares and contrasts Burke-Litwin, Six-Box Weisbord, and Congruence models, pinpoints their strengths and weaknesses, and then applies one of these models to the case study â€Å"Jamie’s Food Revolution†. The first organizational and causal model to be discussed is the Burke-Litwin model. The strength of this model lies on the fact that it consists of twelve key variables, at three different organizational levels (external environment, leadership, strategy, and culture at the total system level; structure, management practices, systems and climate at the group or work unit level; and tasks, motivation, needs, and values at the individual level)(Burke and Litwin 1992). The variables on the top have a stronger influence on systems than the bottom variables (Leadersphere 2008). The model is based on an open systems principle whereby it considers the external environment as an input and the organization performance as output with a bidirectional feedback between them (Jackie Alexander Di 2002). What makes this model unique is that it houses almost all of the variables considered in the 7-S, Six-Box Weisbord and Congruence models (Burke and Litwin 1992) and it also stresses on the point that changes can lead to transformational organization-wide (leadership, strategy, and mission) as well as internal transactional (management, structure, system, individual needs, tasks) dynamics which altogether affect individual and organization performance (Jackie Alexander Di 2002). Burke and Jackson (1991) demonstrated the scenario of a successful merge between two companies, SmithKline and Beecham, which concentrated on establishing a unique culture with a loose-tight behavioral leadership, and on adopting a customized Burke-Litwin model to increase its performance. This model however may impose some complexity in its usage. Dana (2004), in her study to apply this model to a quality management system, has limited her research to specific variables for this model because of the big amount of information required to be gathered on each variable. Also, a quantitative study done by Jackie Alexander Di (2002) on the model’s variables failed to reveal the hidden communication variable, which shows that this model may not foresee all organizational problems. The second model to be discussed is the one developed by David Nadler and Michael Tushman, the Congruence model. Like the Burke-Litwin model, the pragmatic Congruence model is based on the open system’s principle (input environment, transformation, output)(Nadler 1982) and deals with the organization as a whole dynamic and social system where the purpose lies in realizing the state of congruence among the various subparts or components of the organization (Nadler and Tushman 1980). The measure of organizational effectiveness depends on the total degree of congruence as a normative approach to ensure fit among these components (Hatton and Raymond 1994). Nevertheless adopting this model is dynamic (should be changed with time) and poses a lot of challenges including the management of political dynamics, the anxiety created by the change, and the control of the transition state (Nadler and Tushman 1989). Additionally, it requires special care to ensure appropriate fit between strategy and environmental conditions, as well as among the four organizational components (work, people, formal structures and process, and informal structures and processes). Burke ; Litwin (1992) state that the number of items to be matched for congruence is great and the Congruence model fails to provide a mechanism for determining which of these items are important and what level of congruence yields desirable results. For further help, several studies have presented major efforts to discuss strategies to attain the maximum congruence. Hatton and Raymond (1994) concluded with several postulates that describe how congruence can be achieved by interrelating together specific dimensions of these key variables (environment, strategy, technology, task, structure, and individual). Also, Nadler and Tushman (1989), in their view of organizations as political systems, posit that there is no general way for dealing with change. They stressed that managers should understand these political dynamics of change by diagnosing the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, developing a clear vision, creating energy within teams, and possessing active leadership, thus achieving the congruence between strategy and environmental conditions, as well as among the four organizational components.