Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Essay Example for Free

Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Essay Although I want to major in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, I have a passion for poetry and prose, and I would love more than anything to develop my writing skills in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences. That program provides the disciplined and distinguished qualities that I seek. One must be a great reader before becoming a great writer, so I indulge in books of every genre to expand my range of knowledge. Literature brings me great joy, and I will strive to integrate my fondness for reading and writing into my college experience. Penn’s English Department is unique in that it provides the opportunity for students to place an emphasis on studies in creative writing. Within that framework, I want to channel my passion for poetry into academia. As founder and president of Shandong Normal University Literature Association, if accepted, I plan to visit the Kelly Writers House religiously as a way to satisfy my perpetual craving for remarkable literature. I envision myself grabbing a turkey and cheese sandwich with no mayonnaise at the 1920 Commons, then rushing off to the Kelly Writers House with an armful of books by Maya Angelou and Eric Schlosser. Gathered in a tight circle of chairs, I want to share professional works with fellow literature lovers. We will offer our own daring lines of free verse, swap suggestions, compliments, and light-hearted laughs. During workshops, my very soul seeps steadily through an invisible tube from brain to ballpoint. This complex phenomenon of input-output produces painstakingly arranged ink on paper, a painting made of letters. On my way to a morning class on modern American poetry, I will pass Oldenberg’s famed Split Button and acknowledge Mr. Franklin sitting upright in his chair. After the lecture, I can envision Professor Josephine Park and I conducting research by analyzing the influence of conflicts between America and East Asia on Asian-American texts. As part of the Penn family, I will converse with colleagues, sisters, and brothers that destiny forgot to recognize. Then, I will tutor secondary school students about reading and writing through the outreach program. Having been featured in a myriad of written works and publishing my own collections, I will roll up my sleeves and organize literary pieces in the weekly undergraduate magazine, First Call. As evening emerges, I will bike to the Van Pelt Library, work comfortably in my favorite armchair, and complete the finishing touches on a Second World War paper. Traveling to other parts of the City of Brotherly Love, study group friends and I will order a few Philly Cheesesteaks from Pat’s King of Steaks for dinner. My roommate, with lips coated in frothy toothpaste, will open the door when I get back. After taking a shower, I will dry my hair on a blue polka dot towel, sit on my bed, and chortle cheerfully while my roommate chatters about the highlights of her day. Then I will read an article about the Penn Museum from The Daily Pennsylvanian. After turning off the lights and setting my alarm clock for 6:00am, I will drape my jogging shorts and shirt on a chair for the morning. Before drifting off to sleep, I will fondly recall submitting my application to Penn, and smile in the quiet of my room, happy to be here at last.

The Diffusion and Adaptation of Public Achievement in Northern Ireland †An Activist’s Perspective. :: Politics Political

The Diffusion and Adaptation of Public Achievement in Northern Ireland – An Activist’s Perspective Acknowledgements – This paper and its presentation was made possible by funding from the European Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, Measure 4.1, from the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, Stormont, Belfast. The author would also like to acknowledge the assistance of his Northern Ireland based and international colleagues, and the patience beyond reason of his family, Kim, Raffy and Evie. ‘For years I would not let the dark gods of politics and religion possess me. Unlike many of my age and background, I had made that mythic leap and crossed the Jordan. My Protestant working-class background and all its shibboleths would not contain me. I chose to ask questions and not accept ready made answers. We discover our own answers if we have the will to do so; and if we are not afraid of the confrontation with ourselves that such a journey might entail. †¦Those who ‘cross the Jordan’ and seek out truth through a different experience from the one they are born to, ... theirs is the greatest struggle. To move from one cultural ethos into another, as I did, and emerge embracing them both demands more of a man than any armed struggle. For here is the real conflict by which we move into manhood and maturity. For unless we know how to embrace the other we are not men and our nationhood is wilful and adolescent. Those who struggle through turbulent Jordan waters have gone beyond the glib definitions of politics or religion. The rest remain standing on either bank firing guns at one another. I had had enough of gun-fire, the rhetoric of hate and redundant ideologies.’ Brian Keenan – An Evil Cradling (p16) Introduction In telling the story of Public Achievement in Northern Ireland, I want to employ 3 interweaving narratives – personal, organisational and societal. The organisational spans the period from May 1998 to the present (November 2003), as does much of the societal - though I will touch on some historical and more recent events and developments to illustrate this story. I approach the subject as a participant, a practitioner and one who has invested large chunks of my life in pursuit of more humane, democratic and life-enhancing ways of living in what has been a brutal and stunting place.

Growing industrialism of the Gilded Age Essay

The growing industrialism of the Gilded Age was indeed a threat to American Democracy. The American Government stood idly by as the Industrialists became more and more powerful. The Preamble of the document that is the foundation of this great country, The Constitution of the United States, reads: ‘We, the people of the United States, in order to form a perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.’ The American Government was not doing its best to ensure domestic tranquillity or to promote general welfare. Major Industrialists of the time were not kept in check, and the working class citizen paid for it big time. Company towns, the presence of monopolies, and an inactive government all contributed to this threat to American Democracy. During the Gilded Age many large companies took over entire towns. Everybody in that particular town worked for that company. These were called company towns. The large companies replaced all the stores that already existed in that town with their own stores. To keep the citizens of that town from going to other towns to buy supplies they printed their own money and the workers were paid with that. This allowed the large companies to charge an unfair amount for the goods sold in their stores. All competition was eliminated in that town. Competition is the major principle behind the American economy and ultimately the American Democracy. Without competition, weather it be between companies for a profit or politicians for a political office, this great American Democracy would fail. Company towns were also a center for political corruption. Many immigrants that came to this country were given a job and a home in a company town. In exchange for these gifts they were made to vote for candidates that the company supported. This undermines the basic selling point of American Democracy which was that government was of the people, by the people and for  the people. At this point American Democracy was more like a government of the Industrialists, by the Industrialists and for the Industrialists. Industrialists’ monopolies were not limited to the control over towns. The major Industrialists also extended their monopolies into businesses. If ABC corporation manufactured steel, they would buy out all of the other businesses that manufactured steel. ABC corporation might also buy out businesses that sold them the supplies to make steel. With this monopoly in place, ABC corporation would now essentially be able to manufacture steel for only the cost of labor. Because so many powerful Industrialists such as Carnegie and Rockefellar controlled monopolies, the working class was once again punished. Not only could these men charge unfair amounts for their products, they could also pay the workers unfair wages. If a worker was tired of working for unfair wages and quit his job, he would be unable to find another job with better wages. Because there were no other better jobs to be found large corporations also forced workers to work in unsafe work environments. In these monopolies, that important concept of competition was once again eliminated and American Democracy was threatened by this. Through all of this, the American government did nothing. The government did little to stop the forming of monopolies. Because government did not step in and stop the major Industrialists competition was virtually eliminated. It is well known that competition is the backbone of America’s economy and always has been. It is competition that allows America to have a free-market economy. However, it is as equally true to say that competition is an important part in government. Politicians were able to compete for the votes of only the major Industrialists, and still win an election. Those major Industrialists were so powerful that they were able to control who people voted for, as stated previously. The Industrialists had the politicians in their back pocket. If a politician wanted to get elected, he could most likely do that by siding with major Industrialists on important issues. The lower could be completely ignored. Because of this, politicians competed for the votes of only the major Industrialists and ignored the middle and lower  classes. Many people may say that it is not governments job to do anything. However, those people should refer back to the Preamble of the Constitution. The Preamble states that one of the purposes of this union is to promote the general welfare of the people. By allowing the major Industrialists to eliminate competition in business and in government, the American Democracy was threatened. It became increasingly obvious that American Democracy was not promoting the general welfare of the nation, thus not doing its job.

Aldous Huxley s Brave New World Essay - 1800 Words

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, bravery is â€Å"possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance† (Agnes 178). Oftentimes, people are commended for acts of bravery they complete in the heat of a moment or overcoming a life-changing obstacle. Rarely one is commended for simply living a brave life, facing challenges they do not even understand. The characters in the Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World live a peculiar lifestyle demonstrating bravery for just breathing. Although Huxley’s ideas are surfacing today, the dystopia he creates is unrelatable . The genetic make-up of these men and women is different, creating a human lacking basic function of life. In Western Europe an individual forms in a laboratory, â€Å"one egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-si zed adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress† (Huxley 6). The dystopian way of reproduction rarely involves a man impregnating a woman. Huxley’s characters are born in a laboratory. These class divided people are manipulated to be personality less , sex-driven, dumb-downed, assembly line workers. Brainwashing from birth conditions them to go through the motions without doubting their purpose. Government controllers are not looking out for the egg at all, simply manufacturing them to keep theShow MoreRelatedAldous Huxley s Brave New World1334 Words   |  6 Pageso read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is to understand the fear for the future during the 1930’s. Widely considered ahead of its time, Brave New World is one of the most influential novels regarding the destructive outcome of genetic and public manipulation through regime control. The story contrasts two worlds: the traditional world where the â€Å"sav ages† reside and the new World State: a negative utopia where unrestrained sexual freedom, reproductive technology, and mind numbing drugs run rampantRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World1329 Words   |  6 PagesIn Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, life is peaceful without any rebellion from its citizens. The society is called ‘The World State’, where scientist can finally produce eggs, without women getting pregnant. As a result, there is no such thing as a â€Å"family†, and the word ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ are consider as obscene. â€Å". . . the loathsomeness and moral obliquity of childbearing –– merely gross, a scatological rather than a pornographic impropriety† (Huxley 159). They use the Bokanovsky Process, inRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World1080 Words   |  5 PagesComplete Control† Today, one s perceptions of happiness are more often than not associated with material achievements, advancements, or perhaps, love. In Brave New World, however, happiness is based upon the pursuit of stability and emotional equilibrium Aldous Huxley s dystopian novel, Brave New World serves as a warning of the ominous. Set in London, the totalitarian regime instills the motto of stability, community, [and] identity(Huxley.1.1) in its citizens. Huxley s dystopia attempts to findRead MoreAldous Huxley s A Brave New World1649 Words   |  7 PagesAldous Huxley has presented us a compelling story in the 20th-century called a Brave New World. One of the most notable dystopian novels, it calls for a reader to conceptualize a world, in which society and science are synonymous with each other, history had faded far into obscurity, and Henry Ford, the creator of the assembly line, becomes a deity to many uniformed individuals. The book was about how humans are no longer created by the con ventional means of mating, rather artificially, throughRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World1904 Words   |  8 PagesAldous Huxley’s Brave New World, published in 1932, is a masterpiece of science fiction. His imagined, dystopian state creatively employs facts and theories of science, as well as his very own thinly-veiled commentary on the future of society. His family background and social status, in addition to molding Huxley himself and his perspective, no doubt made impact on his writing and contributed to the scientific accuracy of his presentation. However, Huxley certainly qualifies as a social commenterRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World1564 Words   |  7 Pages Envision a world where everybody is happy, there is no sorrow or suffering, no fear of death, no misery, everything is pleasant, and the government doles out happy pills, known as Soma. Aldous Huxley’s novel â€Å"Brave New World† describes this world. Is everyone truly happy, and what do the citizens sacrifice in exchange for living in this utopia? Huxley helped shape the modern mind with provocative theories about humankind s destiny, and he was concerned with the possible social and moral implicationsRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World1038 Words   |  5 PagesAldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, portrays a World State that has made consumption one of its centerpieces. Economic stability is essential to the effectiveness of the World State. They are brainwashed by advertisements and organizations that make them feel as though they are free. The people within the World State continuously consume because of the conditioning they obtained when they were younger. They are educated that when an object or good is in need of fixing, they must get ridRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World2645 Words   |  11 PagesTimes: Aldous Huxley was born into a family of renowned scientists in 1894. He lost his mother at age 14, became virtually blind due to illness three years later, and lost his older brother to suicide at age 21. Despite these setbacks, he went back to school after dropping out of Eton and earned a degree in English literature from Oxford. Because of his blindness, he was not able to do the scientific research he had previously wanted to do, and turned to writing. He wrote Brave New World in fourRead MoreAldous Huxley s Brave New World2041 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself†- Aldous Huxley. Throughout Aldous Huxley’s life he encountered malicious experiences that changed him drastically. He found out that he was a great writer through the dreadful and exceptional events in his life. In the novel Brave New World, Huxley uses conflict and characterization to illustrate how the adv ancement of technology can potentially cause human destruction and how individual motivationRead MoreAnalysis Of Aldous Huxley s Brave New World1420 Words   |  6 Pagesexcessive effort to become perfect can be counteractive and lead to dysfunctionality. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, characters live in a dystopian society that sprouted from the human yearning for perfection. Although the citizens in Brave New World are genetically engineered to be perfect individuals and are on soma constantly to keep them happy and efficient, they lack individuality.. Brave New World is a novel that clearly demonstrates that trying to create a perfect society can result in