Explore the presentation of Heathcliffs Essay Example for Free

Explore the presentation of Heathcliffs Essay Explore the presentation of Heathcliffs journey in Wuthering Heights, in the light of the Marxist Perspective. In Wuthering Heights, Bronti shows Marxist views that it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. Bront? first published her text in the form of a novel in 1847. During this time England was influenced by Marxs ideas, socialists in England held a conference in London where they formed a new organisation called the Communist League, the aims of the organisation being to overthrow the old bourgeois society based on class antagonisms and to the establish a new society without classes and without private property. Despite England being influenced by Marx ideas at the time, Bront? created Wuthering Heights: a mix genre novel with themes such as domestic realism, tragedy and gothic love, which were very much open to critic and discussion at the time. This shows the extent to how she was much stipulated in her ideas and therefore Wuthering Heights might not have been influenced by the Marxist ideas at the time. When Heathcliff enters in chapter four with no social or domestic status, emphasised by his gibberish that nobody could understand suggesting his lack of social skills and ability to communicate; his lingual acquisition depends on his surroundings. Miles notes how rather than a dual function there is an oscillation resulting in the name never satisfactorily serving him either way, when he enters his name serves him as both his Christian name and surname immediately setting him as an outsider and determining his role because he does not embody conventions of society. Victorian Society was organised such that the base of the society determines its superstructure, everything associated with culture: education, law, religion and the arts but because Heathcliff is not an Earnshaw his status means he cannot access this cultural economy and he is ultimately rejected. His name therefore presents his inability to gain access and the extent of his exclusion, as Miles notes is a constant reminder of the unsatisfactory fit between himself and the codes of a society denying him incorporation. It is his status and his social existence that therefore does determine his consciousness. Bronti creates suggested possibilities that cannot ultimately be realised; when Heathcliff first enters he is referred to as landlord, yet is not given the opportunity to become an Earnshaw. Also, as Gilbert and Gubar note: smashing Catherines rival-brothers fiddle and making a desirable third among the children in the family so as to insulate her from the pressure of her brothers domination, this shows the possibilities that Heathcliff might have been able to integrate into the Earnshaws and therefore society in turn becoming Catherines chance for freedom from strict social structure, but because of the base structure of the Victorian Society he is rejected. Perhaps the smashing quote from Gilbert and Gubar refers to the three thrashings Heathcliff had to endure, foreshadowing the idea that the only way he can become part of Victorian Society is in a destructive way. The first reason why possibilities cannot be realised is that Heathcliff is learning his social position: Mr Earnshaw calls him poor, fatherless child, Heathcliff is constantly made to perceive himself as poor, these social circumstances determine why Heathcliff is placed into the servant quarters and therefore kept separate from social events by Hindley, who is in power after Mr Earnshaw dies. Heathcliffs access to the superstructure of Victorian society becomes limited, and even though Heathcliff bore his degradation well this heightens his perception of himself as someone in need of charity, making him susceptible to charity or abuse. Perhaps the possibilities might have been realised if Catherine hadnt accessed Thrushcross Grange: a place carpeted with crimson pure white ceiling bordered with gold, suggesting Thrushcross Granges wealth, status and a place that epitomises gentry and reflecting the Victorian connection of wealth and heaven. When Catherine is taken to Trushcross Grange she is introduced to a new social status, where she has combed her beautiful hair and pair of enormous slippers, we see how her consciousness has now changed as she has been introduced to Victorian Societies superstructure. It is only until this integration into the Heights that Catherine realises Heathcliff is not adequate for her. She is enabled access to the Heights because of her name and its association with economic position. Heathcliff is a gypsy and by putting up the shutters, curtains half closed while Heathcliffs looking through the window panes shows how the barriers symbolise Bronti presenting the strict Victorian Society which denies Heathcliffs access to culture and education. Trushcross Grange becomes somewhat of a Victorian societys ideal, a materialistic ideal. Catherines awareness of her social existence results in her new perception that she cannot marry Heathcliff because: if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars Even though he is her authentic love and she hints at Heathcliff and her being inseparable she does not follow through. She has already chosen to marry Edgar; and so the novel can be read from a Marxist perspective as Catherines outlook in marrying Edgar is materialist as she thinks about social reasons and survival, as opposed to the idealistic perspective. Bronti shows how Catherine is affected my material circumstances reflected when she says she will be queen of the neighbourhood and does not chose Heathcliff, who can be seen as a symbol of her freedom. However, it can be argued that she never has a choice between the two as the way she is set to think is largely conditioned by the way the economy is organised. Bront? presents through the novel how this economy determines the superstructure and therefore even though Heathcliff stands for Catherines freedom it is Victorian societys mentality that means people remain ignorant of Heathcliffs potential goodness, who is instead driven away because he does not have the capital (money) or culture (education) to support her. So, Catherine probably is right in saying they would be beggars. It is their social circumstances that have determined much of their life and results in Heathcliff running off. Bront? creates this gap in the novel where we are unaware of Heathcliffs situation which effectively creates a sense of mystery around Heathliff and and forms tension until his return, even if it be full of vengeance.

Exam Answers on EU Law

Exam Answers on EU Law (a)  The UK Parliament wishes to challenge the draft Directive on the basis that it infringes the principle of subsidiarity. The UK Parliament has a system of scrutiny committees that are responsible to review the proposal established by the EU Commission. In the given scenario, the draft Directive touches on the area of ‘Research, Technological Development and Space’. According to Article 4 of Lisbon Treaty, the EU and Member States have shared competence in this field, but paragraph 3 further stipulates that the exercise of the EU’s competence in this field does not limit the competence of the Member States. Therefore, the scrutiny committees may issue a reasoned opinion on the basis that the draft Directive has infringed the principle of subsidiarity set out in Article 5(3) of the Lisbon Treaty of European Union. According to Article 6 of Protocol 2, the UK committees must issue the reasoned opinion that oppose the draft Directive within eight weeks from the date of transmission.[1] Here, the draft Directive was established on 15 December 2012 and thus the deadline for the UK Parliament to issue the reasoned opinion will be 9 February 2013. It must be noted that, if at least one third of the national parliaments have given the reasoned opinion, it is considered as a ‘yellow card’ and the Commission can be required to review the draft Directive. However, in case of more than a simple majority, this is an orange card and this allows the European Parliament and the Council to reject the draft Directive before the first reading.[2] (b)  The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (hereinafter referred to as ‘the association’) wishes to challenge the regulation, in order for it to be declared invalid. There are two ways available: a direct action under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as ‘TFEU’); or an indirect action under Article 267 of TFEU. Direct Action under Article 263 In order to strike down the directive successfully under Article 263,[3] there are three procedural requirements: there is a legal act, the action is raised within the prescribed limit of two months and the applicant must have sufficient legal standing to initiate the action.[4] By virtue of Article 288 of the TFEU, a directive is a ‘legal act’ that fulfil the Article 263 requirement. We are told that the directive was adopted on 1 July 2013 and thus the latest date for the association to bring the action is 1 September 2013. Further, the association is a non-privileged applicant who has no automatic standing and thus it is necessary for the association to satisfy that the adopted Directive is of both the direct and individual concern to them.[5] Nevertheless, as shown in the Salamander case, it may be extremely difficult for a non-privileged applicant to prove that a directive is of direct concern to him.[6] According to Plaumann, it is likely that the directive casts no individual concern to the association as they cannot be differentiated from the other researchers.[7] Thus, the action under Article 263 looks unlikely materialise to the association. Indirect Action under Article 267 Alternatively, under Article 267, the association may have to be a party to an action in a national court and the court would have discretion as to whether or not to make a reference on this issue to the CJEU. According to Rau v BALM, the facts that the association has no standing under Article 263 would not affect their ability in bring an Article 267 action.[8] But it is still not advisable for the association to bring an action under Article 267 as it has been pointed out by Advocate General Jacobs in UnioÃÅ'’n de PequenÃÅ'Æ’os Agricultores that it is wrong to expect someone to ‘breach the law in order to gain access to justice’.[9] (c)  Professor Moltisanti wishes to bring an action against Italian government for its failure to implement the directive. There are two actions available to him: the doctrine of direct effect; or the Francovich principle. The Doctrine of Direct Effect According to the leading case of Van Gen den Loos, in order for directive to give rise to direct effects, certain criteria has to be satisfied.[10] First of all, as shown in Ratti, the court held that the applicant is only allowed to rely on a directive that the deadline for implementation has been expired.[11] On the facts, the grant scheme runs from July 2014, this indicates that the deadline for transposition (1 November 2013) has already expired and thus Professor Moltisanti may be able to rely on the directive directly in the court. Next, in Marshall v Southampton SW Hampshire AHA, it was held that a directive could be invoked vertically against a public body.[12] In the other words, Professor Moltisanti can rely on the directive vertically against the Italian government. Francovich Principle On the other hand, an alternative way that available for Professor Moltisanti is the principle established in the Francovich case that a right to damages against the member states is available to individuals if they have suffered loss as a result of the member state’s failure to implement a directive.[13] This principle is further developed Factortame, where the court laid down the criteria in replying the Francovich principle that there must be a sufficiently serious breach and direct causal link can be established between the breach and the loss suffered by the individual.[14] Applying this to the facts, the failure to implement the directive is automatically a sufficiently serious breach within the SchoÃÅ'ˆppenstedt[15] formula and it is clearly that the Italian government’s failure to implement the directive makes Professor Moltisanti lost the opportunity to gain support under the scheme. Therefore, it is likely that he may seek redress under the Francovich principle. Introduction The statement suggests that the principle of supremacy of EU law is merely a myth originated from the Court of Justice case law, where in fact the national courts have constantly challenged on this concept. In this essay, we will deal with the principle of supremacy of EU law from both the Court of Justice and national courts’ perspectives and argue that the given statement is correct in the context that the supremacy principle enunciated by the Court of Justice is itself fictional and its application in the national courts is not absolute. The Principle of Supremacy of EU law from the Court of Justice’s Perspective When a State joins the European Union, it is considered that there will be a transfer of sovereignty for certain specific areas of policy from the state to the community. Nevertheless, the community treaty does not contain specific reference in the relationship between the EU law and national law and this leads to a situation where both law are in conflict. Not surprisingly, the Court of Justice (hereinafter referred to as ‘CJEU’, previously known as the ‘European Court of Justice’, ‘ECJ’) is on the view that the EU law must prevail in such conflict. The court took its first step in preserving the uniformity of application of EU law among the Member States in the landmark case of Van Gend en Loos.[16] The stance was affirmed in Costa v ENEL, where the ECJ held that the community has ‘created its own legal system which became an integral part of the legal systems of the Member States and which their courts are bound to apply’.[17] The ECJ further added force to the supremacy principle in the Simmenthal case, where it held that the national courts must set aside the national law if it is in conflict with the community law.[18] At this point, it can be argued that the supremacy principle established by the CJEU is ‘fictional’ as it merely requires a disapplication of national law. In Factortame, the ECJ made clear that if there is a dispute between the national law and the community law, the national courts must set aside its national law, instead on striking down the provision as ultra vires.[19] Furthermore, the supremacy principle from the CJEU’s perspective is not absolute and this was shown in the Asda Stores case in which the ECJ had forfeited the EU supremacy and applied the conflicting national law. [20] On the other hand, because of the wide variation of the constitutional background between the member states, the national courts have responded differently in interpreting the supremacy principle into their own legal system. The Principle of Supremacy of EU law from the National Courts’ Perspectives There are mainly two approaches to the incorporation of EU law by the national courts, namely monist or dualist approaches. Monistic Theory In monist States, such as Belgium and France, all law is treated equally, it is not necessary for an international law to be implemented into national law and the national courts can apply the law Dualistic Theory For states with a dualist system, such as Germany and United Kingdom, international law and national law are considered to be fundamentally distinct. This means that international law cannot be directly applied by the national courts but requires the translation into the national law. As to give a clearer analysis, we will deal with the legal system of the member states separately: Belgium Belgium provides a good example of acceptance of the supremacy of EU law based upon reasoning which is closest to that employed by the ECJ itself.[21] Even though there has no provision in the Belgian Constitution that supports the supremacy of EU law, the Belgian Court demonstrated its willingness to accord the supremacy principle in Le Ski case. In this case, it was held that if there is a conflict between the Belgian Constitution and a provision under EU treaty that imposes direct effect in the national legal system, the EU law prevails.[22] Is the Supremacy of EU law over national law a fantasy of the Court of Justice with reference to the Belgian court’s perspective? It is submitted that Belgium manages the supremacy principle of EU law with relatively ease. Can this be argued that as an evidence of the supremacy principle? Bribosa commented on this issue that the approach taken by the court was actually a consideration of Kompetenz-Kompetenz (competence-competence) doctrine but rather than the ruling of ECJ.[23] In other words, instead of treating that the EU law is superior to the Belgian law, it may be more appropriate to recognise that the Belgian courts has sought to emerge the new community rule with its established domestic legal framework. France In France, the court’s willingness to accord the supremacy of EU law was shown in the Administration des Douanes case[24], where it was held that by virtue of Article 55 of the French Constitution, if there is a conflict between national law and a ratified international treaty, the latter should be give precedence over the former.[25] This approach was only affirmed in Nicolo case[26] where the court suggested that Article 55 enables the courts to review the validity of French legislation with the EU provisions and thus the community law should be given precedence over the national law. Is the Supremacy of EU law over national law a fantasy of the Court of Justice with reference to the French court’s perspective? Even though the French courts have recognised the supremacy of EU treaty, it is arguable that the supremacy of EU law in the context of French jurisdiction is not absolute. The Constitutional Council had made it clear in the reasoned Decision given on 9 April 1992 Maastricht I[27] that France could derogate its sovereignty to the Union, only if the particular community rule is not contradictory to the French Constitution and will not violate the exercise of national sovereignty.[28] Such reasoning can be regarded as putting a limitation to France’s acceptance of supremacy and thus it may casts ambiguity on the supremacy principle that derived from the CJEU’s ruling. Germany In Germany, the EU supremacy principle is shaped with the terms of Article 23 of the German Basic Law. In Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH v EVGF (Solange I), the Federal Constitutional Court held that although Article 23 allowed the transfer of legislative power to EU law, the German Constitution would still take priority over the EU treaty if the community has not removed the possible conflict of norms between EU law and the fundamental rights provision under the German Constitution.[29] However, having considered the development of fundamental rights doctrine by the ECJ, the position has been altered in the case of Re Wuensche Handelsgesellschaft (Solange II), where it held stated that the court would no longer review EU provision in light of the German Constitution.[30] Is the Supremacy of EU law over national law a fantasy of the Court of Justice with reference to the German court’s perspective? By observing the change of attitude of Federal Constitutional Court in adopting the supremacy principle, it is likely that the ECJ’s wish that the EU law should prevail over national law may be fulfilled. However, in has been made clear in Brunner v European Union Treaty the supremacy of EU law within German jurisdiction is not unconditional, the EU law will be applied only because the national law says it does. [31] Therefore, it may not be appropriate to say that the EU law is supreme over German domestic law because the German courts have not surrendered Germany sovereignty but merely fulfil the obligations of EU membership.[32] United Kingdom The situation becomes more complicated in the UK jurisdiction because of its doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty. As a dualist states, the EU treaty will only have effect in the UK legal system with the incorporation of UK Act. This led to the publication of the European Communities Act 1972 (hereinafter referred to as ‘ECA 1972’), whereby it incorporates the EU provisions into the English legal system. In R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame, Lord Bridge stated that it had ‘always been clear that it was the duty of a United Kingdom court when delivering final judgment, to override any rule of national law found to be in conflict with any directly enforceable rule of Community law’.[33] Nevertheless, it must be noted that, the effect of this case would not actually nullify the existing UK legislation and this indicates that the UK national law is still superior to the EU law. Is the Supremacy of EU law over national law a fantasy of the Court of Justice with reference to the British court’s perspective? It is arguable that the EU law does not take precedence over the UK law since the community legislation may only be effective within the UK legal system with the incorporation of ECA 1972. Such approach has been adopted by Lord Justice Laws in the case of Thoburn v Sunderland City Council, where he pointed out that the relationship between the UK and the EU depends on UK law, not EU law. [34] Conclusion According to Maduro, ‘the acceptance of the supremacy of EU rules over national constitutional rules has not been unconditional’.[35] It is apparent from the discussion above, despite the distinction between monistic and dualist system, the application of EU law under the national legal framework is ultimately influenced by the national law. Therefore, it might be true that the supremacy principle is a fantasy of the CJEU. However, notwithstanding talk of any legal fiction, it can be observed from the case law that the national courts do give effect to supremacy of EU law. The fact that EU law has been consistently and uniformly applied in the member states’ courts today creates no real dispute over the application of supremacy principle in practice. Question: Word length: (2) 1129 (4) 1999 TOTAL 3128 Bibliography Tables of cases EU Cases Aktien-Zuckerfabrik SchoÃÅ'ˆppenstedt v Council (5/71) [1971] ECR 975 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal (106/77) [1978] ECR 629 Brasserie du PeÃÅ'‚cheur/Factortame III (C-46/93 48/93) [1996] ECR I-1029 Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma and Another v Asda Stores Ltd and Another (C-108/01) [2003] ECR I-5121 Costa v ENEL (6/64) [1964] ECR 585 Francovich v Italy Republic (6/90) [1991] ECR I-5357 Marshall v Southampton and South West Hampshire AHA (271/91) [1993] ECR I-4367 Ministero Pubblico v Ratti (148/78) [1979] ECR 1629 P UnioÃÅ'’n de PequenÃÅ'Æ’os Agricultores v Council (C-50/00) [2002] ECR I-6677 Plaumann Co v Commission (25/62) [1963] ECR 95 Rau v Bundesanstalt fuÃÅ'ˆr Landswirtschaftliche Marktordnung (C-133/85) [1987] ECR-2289 Salamander and others v European Parliament and Council (T-172 175-177/98) [2000] ECR II- 2487 R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame Ltd and Others (C-213/89) [1990] ECR 2433 Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen (26/62) [1963] ECR 1 Belgian Case Minister for Economic Affairs v SA Fromagerie Franco-Suisse ‘Le Ski’ [1972] CMLR 330 French Cases Administration des Douanes v SocieÃÅ'’teÃÅ'’ CafeÃÅ'’s Jacques Vabre J. Weigel et Cie. SARL [1975] 2 CMLR 336 Raoul Georges Nicolo and another [1990] 1 CMLR 173 German Cases Brunner v European Union Treaty [1994] 1 CMLR 57 Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH v Einfuhr- und Vorratsstelle fà ¼r Getreide und Futtermittel [1974] 2 CMLR 540 Wà ¼nsche handelsgesellschaft,Re [1987] 3 CMLR 225 United Kingdom Cases Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2003] QB 151 R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame [1991] AC 603 Table of Legislation EU Legislation Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13, art 4 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13, art 5 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2008] OJ C115/47, art 263 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2008] OJ C115/47, art 264 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2008] OJ C115/47, art 267 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2008] OJ C115/47, art 288 Protocol (No.2) on the Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity and Proportionality [2010] OJ C 83/206, Art 6 Protocol (No.2) on the Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity and Proportionality [2010] OJ C 83/206, Art 7 French Legislation Conseil Constitutionnel, decision n.92-308 DC of 9 April 1992, Treaty of Maastricht I French Constitution, art 55 German Legislation Basic Law, art 24 United Kingdom Legislation European Communities Act 1972 Secondary Sources Books Chalmers D, Davies G and Monti G, European Union Law (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 2014) Hartley T, European Union Law in a Global Context: Text, Cases and Materials (Cambridge University Press 2004) Articles Benvenisti E and Downs G, ‘The Premises, Assumptions, and Implication of Van Gend en Loos’ [2014] 25 EJIL 85 Martinoco G, ‘Is the European Convention going to be ‘supreme’? A Comparative-constitutional overview of ECHR and EU law before national courts’ [2010] EJIL 401 Maduro M, ‘Interpreting European Law: Judicial Adjudication in a Context of Constitutional Pluralism’ [2007]1 EJLS 2 Electronic Sources Craig P, ‘The ECJ, National Courts and the Supremacy of Community Law’ http://www.ecln.net/elements/conferences/bookrome/craig.pdf> accessed 29 December 2014 1 [1] Protocol (No.2) on the Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity and Proportionality [2010] OJ C 83/206, art 7. [2] Ibid, art 6. [3] Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2008] OJ C115/47, art 264. [4] Ibid, art 263. [5] Ibid. [6] Joined Cases T-172 175-177/98 Salamander and others v European Parliament and Council [2000] ECR II- 2487. [7] Case 25/62 Plaumann Co v Commission [1963] ECR 95. [8] Case C-133/85 Rau v Bundesanstalt fuÃÅ'ˆr Landswirtschaftliche Marktordnung [1987] ECR-2289. [9] Case C-50/00 P UnioÃÅ'’n de PequenÃÅ'Æ’os Agricultores v Council [2002] ECR I-6677, Opinion of AG Jacobs, paras. 41-9. [10] Case 26/62 Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen [1963] ECR 1. [11] Case 148/78, Ministero Pubblico v Ratti [1979] ECR 1629. [12] Case 271/91, Marshall v Southampton and South West Hampshire AHA [1993] ECR I-4367. [13] Case 6/90 Francovich v Italy Republic [1991] ECR I-5357. [14] Joined Cases C-46/93 48/93 Brasserie du PeÃÅ'‚cheur/Factortame III [1996] ECR I-1029. [15] Case 5/71 Aktien-Zuckerfabrik SchoÃÅ'ˆppenstedt v Council [1971] ECR 975. [16] Van Gend en Loos (n 10). [17] Case 6/64 Costa v ENEL [1964] ECR 585, 593. [18] Case 106/77 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal [1978] ECR 629, 21. [19] Case C-213/89 R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame Ltd and Others [1990] ECR 2433. [20] Case C-108/01 Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma and Another v Asda Stores Ltd and Another [2003] ECR I-5121. [21] Paul Craig, ‘The ECJ, National Courts and the Supremacy of Community Law’ http://www.ecln.net/elements/conferences/bookrome/craig.pdf> accessed 29 December 2014. [22] Eyal Benvenisti and George Downs, ‘The Premises, Assumptions, and Implication of Van Gend en Loos’ [2014] 25 EJIL 85, http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/25/1/2477.pdf> accessed 9 January 2014, citing Minister for Economic Affairs v SA Fromagerie Franco-Suisse ‘Le Ski’ [1972] CMLR 330, 347. [23] Paul (n 21), citing H Bribosia, ‘Report on Belgium’, in A-M Slaughter, A Stone Sweet and J H H Weiler (eds), The European Court and National Courts, Doctrine and Jurisprudence (Oxford: Hart Publishing 1998) p.21-22. [24] Paul (n 21), citing Administration des Douanes v SocieÃÅ'’teÃÅ'’ CafeÃÅ'’s Jacques Vabre J. Weigel et Cie. SARL [1975] 2 CMLR 336. [25] Paul (n 21). [26] Raoul Georges Nicolo and another [1990] 1 CMLR 173, as translation can be found in http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/transnational/work_new/french/case.php?id=1440> accessed 9 January 2014. [27]Conseil Constitutionnel, decision n.92-308 DC of 9 April 1992, Treaty of Maastricht I, as translation can be found in http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/transnational/work_new/french/case.php?id=998> accessed 9 January 2014. [28] Giuseppe Martinoco, ‘Is the European Convention going to be ‘supreme’? A Comparative-constitutional overview of ECHR and EU law before national courts’ [2010] EJIL 401. [29] Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH v Einfuhr- und Vorratsstelle fà ¼r Getreide und Futtermittel [1974] 2 CMLR 540, as translation can be found in http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/transnational/work_new/german/case.php?id=588> assessed 9 January 2014.

Payment Systems For E Commerce

Payment Systems For E Commerce The emergence of e-commerce has effectively created many new financial needs which in many cases cannot be fulfilled by traditional payment systems. By considering all of these aspects many organizations are exploring various types of electronic payment systems and digital currency and also various issues regarding these payment systems. Broadly electronic payment system is classified in to mainly into four categories: Online Credit card Payment system, Online Electronic Cash system, Electronic Cheque System and Smart Cards based Electronic payment system. Every system has its advantages and disadvantages for the customers and merchants. These systems have number of requirements: e.g. acceptability, convenience, security, cost, anonymity, control, and traceability. Hence, instead of focusing on the technological specifications of various e payment systems, the researchers have distinguished e payment system based on what is transmitting over the network; analyze the difference of eac h electronic payment systems based on their requirements, characteristics and assess the applicability of every system. I. INTRODUCTION Payment is the integral process in the mercantile process, electronic payment system is the integral part of the electronic commerce. Due to the emergence of electronic commerce has created new financial needs through which need for new payment systems has created while traditional payment system cannot be able to fulfill its needs. For example new payment systems are of the forms such as auctions between individual ¿Ã‚ ½s online results in searching for new payment systems that means peer to peer payment methods that allows individuals to make payments through their e-mails. By recognizing these needs all interested parties (i.e: government, business communities and financial service providers) are invading various types of electronic payment systems and issues regarding those payment systems and electronic currency. Some of the proposed systems are electronic type of the traditional payment system such as credit cards, cheques, while, others are based on the digital currency tech nology and have the potential for definitive impact on today ¿Ã‚ ½s financial and monetary system. While popular developers of electronic payment system predict fundamental changes in the financial sector because of the innovations in electronic payment system (Kalakota Ravi, 1996). Therefore in particular electronic commerce have many methods of payment systems, these methods of payment systems are developed to support the electronic commerce. A failure to take place these developments into the proper context is likely to result in undue focus on the various experimental initiatives to develop electronic forms of payment without a proper reflection on the broader implications for the existing payment system. The table below shows a steady increase in the annual growth of total U.S. e-commerce sales for the 2000-2009 periods. A. CONCEPT AND SIZE OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENT The payment systems that uses electronic distribution networks constitute a frequent system in the banking and business sector since 1960 ¿Ã‚ ½s, especially for the transfer of large amounts of money. In the four decades that have passed since their appearance, necessary technological developments have taken place, which on the one hand have expanded the possible technologies of electronic payment systems besides they have also created new social and business practice, which make the use of these systems necessary. These changes, naturally, have affected the definition of electronic payments, which is emerging depending on the needs of each period. In most general form, the word electronic payment comprised of any payment (transactions) to businesses, bank or public services from citizens or businesses, which are made through a telecommunications or electronic networks by using modern technology. It is obvious that based on this definition, the electronic payments that will be the objects of present result, is the payment that is executed by the payer by himself, whether the latter is a consumer or a business, without the intervention of the another natural person. Furthermore, these payments are made from distance, without the presence of the payer physically and naturally it does not include cash. By providing such definition for the electronic payment system, this make researches to include the information concerning the accounts of the parties involved in the transaction, and also technological means of transaction execution such as distribution channel etc. Size of Electronic Payments: Electronic payments can be made in different forms, based on these forms electronic commerce payments systems are categorized as Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Consumer-to-Business (C2B) and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C). Each of which has special characteristics that depend on the value of order. Danial, (2002) classified electronic payment systems as follows:  ¿Ã‚ ½ Micro Payment (less than $ 10) that is mainly conducted in C2C and B2C e-commerce.  ¿Ã‚ ½ Consumer Payment that has a value between $ 10 and $ 500. It is conducted mainly in B2C transactions.  ¿Ã‚ ½ Business Payment that has the value more than $ 500. It is conducted mainly in B2B e-commerce. B. CONVENTIONAL VS. ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM To dig the depth of the electronic payment process, it is better to first understand the processing of traditional payment system. A traditional process of payment and settlement involves a buyer-to-seller transfer of cash or payment information (i.e., cheque and credit cards). The general settlement of payment process takes place in the financial processing network. A cash payment requires a buyer ¿Ã‚ ½s withdrawals form his/her bank account, a transfer of cash to the seller, and the seller ¿Ã‚ ½s deposit of payment to his/her account. Non-cash payment systems are settled by adjusting i.e. crediting and debiting the appropriate accounts between banks based on payment information conveyed via cheque or credit cards. Figure 1: Conventional/Traditional Payment System Figure is simplified diagram for both cash and non-cash transactions. As cash Transferred from the buyer ¿Ã‚ ½s bank to seller ¿Ã‚ ½s bank through face-to-face exchange in the market. If a buyer uses a non-cash form of payment, payment information instead of cash flows from the buyer to the seller, and payments are settled between affected banks, who notationally adjust accounts based on payment information. C. PROCESS OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM Electronic payment system have been operating since 1960s and also expanding very rapidly as well as growth and complexity. After the development of traditional payment system new features such as Electronic Funds Transfer based payments methods came in to existence. It was the first electronic based payment system, which does not depend on intermediary of central processing. An electronic fund transfer is a financial application of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), which transfers credit card numbers or electronic cheques via secured private transfer lines between banks and major corporations. To use EFT to clear payments and settle accounts, online payment services needs all the capabilities to process the order, accounts and receipts. But a landmark came in to direction with the development of digital currency. Use of electronic money and digital currency looks alike the paper money as a means of payment. Digital based currency system is having same advantages as of paper based c urrency system those are namely anonymity and convenience. As in other electronic payments systems (i.e. EFT based and intermediary based) here is also concern about the security in the electronic payment systems during the transactions and storage is also a main concern, although from the different perspective, for digital currency systems double spending, counterfeiting, and storage become critical issues whereas eavesdropping and the issue of liability (when charges are made without authorizations) is important for the notational funds transfer. Figure 2 shows digital currency based payment system. In this figure, it is shown that intermediary acts as an electronic bank, which converts outside money (e.g. Rupees or US $), into inside money (e.g. tokens or e-cash), which is circulated within online markets. However, as a private monetary system, digital currency has wide ranging impact on money and monetary system with implications extending far beyond more transactional efficiency. II. TYPES OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS With the rapid growth in the electronic commerce need for the payment systems are increased as that of e commerce by which dozens of payments systems are came in to existence and also they are already in practice. Grouping of these payments systems are made based upon the information being transferred online. Murthy (2002) explained six types of electronic payment systems: (1) PC-Banking (2) Credit Cards (3) Electronic Cheques (i-cheques) (4) Micro payment (5) Smart Cards and (6) E-Cash. Kalakota and Whinston (1996) identified three types of electronic payment systems: (1) Digital Token based electronic payment systems, (2) Smart Card based electronic payment system and (3) Credit based electronic payment systems. Dennis (2001) classified electronic payment system into two categories: (1) Electronic Cash and (2) Electronic Debit-Credit Card Systems. Thus, electronic payment system can be broadly divided into four general types (Anderson, 1998):  ¿Ã‚ ½ Online Credit Card Payment System  ¿Ã‚ ½ Electronic Cheque System  ¿Ã‚ ½ Electronic Cash System and  ¿Ã‚ ½ Smart Card based Electronic Payment System Online Credit Card Payment System: It seeks to extend the functionality of existing credit cards for use as online shopping payment tools. This payment system has been widely accepted by consumers and merchants throughout the world, and by far the most popular methods of payments especially in the retail markets (Laudon and Traver, 2002). These forms of payment systems are having many advantages, which were never available through the traditional payments methods. Some of the advantages of the online credit card payment systems are: privacy, integrity, compatibility, good transaction efficiency, acceptability, convenience, mobility, low financial risk and anonymity. Added to all these, to avoid the complexity associated with the digital cash or electronic-cheques, consumers and vendors are also looking at credit card payments on the internet as one of possible time-tested alternative. But, this payment system has raised several problems before the consumers and merchants. Online cred it card payment systems are also having many disadvantages lack of authentication, repudiation of charges and credit card frauds. It also seeks to address consumer fears about using credit card such as having to reveal credit information at multiple sites and repeatedly having to communicate sensitive information over the Internet. Basic process of Online credit card payment system is very simple as that of traditional payment systems. If consumers want to purchase a product or service, they simply send their credit card details to the service provider involved and the credit card organization will handle this payment like any other. This can be understood very easily with the format (Figure 3) of Credit Card Payment Form. Electronic Cheque Payment System: Electronic cheque fulfills the needs of many business organizations, which are previously exchanging paper based cheque based on the vendors, consumers and government. Working process of e-cheque is as same as that of the traditional cheque payment system. An account holder will issue the electronic cheque document which contains the information such as name of the account holder payee name, name of the financial institution, payer ¿Ã‚ ½s account number and the amount of payment on the cheque. Most of the information is in un coded form. Like a paper cheques e-cheques also bear the digital equivalent of signature: a computed number that authenticates the cheque from the owner of the account. Digital checking payment system seeks to extend the functionality of existing checking accounts for use as online shopping payment tools. Electronic cheque system has many advantages: (1) they do not require consumers to reveal account information to other indi viduals when setting an auction (2) they do not require consumers to continually send sensitive financial information over the web (3) they are less expensive than credit cards and (4) they are much faster than paper based traditional cheque. But, this system of payment also has several disadvantages. The disadvantage of electronic cheque system includes their relatively high fixed costs, their limited use only in virtual world and the fact that they can protect the users? anonymity. Therefore, it is not very suitable for the retail transactions by consumers, although useful for the government and B2B operations because the latter transactions do not require anonymity, and the amount of transactions is generally large enough to cover fixed processing cost. The process of electronic checking system can be described using (figure 4) the following steps. Step 1: a purchaser fills a purchase order form, attaches a payment advice (electronic cheque), signs it with his private key (using his signature hardware), attaches his public key certificate, encrypts it using his private key and sends it to the vendor. Step 2: the vendor decrypts the information using his private key, checks the purchaser ¿Ã‚ ½s certificates, signature and cheque, attaches his deposit slip, and endorses the deposit attaching his public key certificates. This is encrypted and sent to his bank. Step 3: the vendor ¿Ã‚ ½s bank checks the signatures and certificates and sends the cheque for clearance. The banks and clearing houses normally have a private secure data network. Step 4: when the cheque is cleared, the amount is credited to the vendor ¿Ã‚ ½s account and a credit advice is sent to him. Step 5: the purchaser gets a consolidated debit advice periodically. E-cheque provide a security rich Internet payment option for businesses and offer an easy entry into electronic commerce without a significant investment in new technologies or legal systems. Electronic Cash Payment System: Electronic payment system is new technology in the online payment systems which improve the features such as security and privacy because it combines computerized convenience. Its versatility opens up a host of new markets and applications. E-cash is an electronic or digital form of value storage and value exchange that have limited convertibility into other forms of value and require intermediaries to convert. E-cash presents some characteristics like storability, monetary value, interoperability, irretrievability, and security. // By using all these characteristics it makes electronic cash more attractive payment system on the internet (Online). Added to these, this payment system offers numerous advantages like privacy, good acceptability, authority, convenience, low transactions cost and good anonymity. But, this system of payment also has many disadvantages such as poor transaction efficiency, poor mobility, and high financial risk, as people are solely responsible for the lost or stolen. Gary and Perry (2002), just like real world currency counterpart, electronic cash is susceptible to forgery. It is possible, though increasingly difficult, to create and spend forged e-cash. E-Cash Structure: e-cash structure could be identified as a string of bits that represents certain values such as reference number and digital signature, which could be used for the security purpose to prevent forgery and criminal use (Wright, 2002). But, the structure proposed by Wright (2002) needs some extension to make e-cash more secure. Therefore, the present model (Figure 3.5) adds a digital watermark to e-cash structure to protect it from the illegal copy and forgery activities further, the model modified the structure of the reference number to support tractability as shown in the figure 5. The proposed e-cash structure is comparatively better than suggested by Wright (2002), because security issue is given importance of top most priority in the present model. But, still there are certain concerns to be addressed for an electronic cash system. For example, who has the right to issue electronic cash? Can every bank issue its own money? If so how do you prevent fraud? And who will monitor the banking operations to protect consumers? Many of these concepts relate to the legal and banking regulatory aspects. However all these issues are beyond the scope of the study and therefore, cannot be included here. But, these issues must be addressed before establishing a complete e-cash based payment system. Smart Cards based Electronic Payment System: Smart cards are receiving renewed attention as a mode of online payment. They are essentially credit card sized plastic cards with the memory chips and in some cases, with microprocessors embedded in them so as to serve as storage devices for much greater information than credit cards with inbuilt transaction processing capability. This card also contains some kinds of an encrypted key that is compared to a secret key contained on the user ¿Ã‚ ½s processor. Some smart cards have provision to allow users to enter a personal identification number (PIN) code. Smart cards have been in use for well over the two decades now and have been widespread mostly in Europe and Asian Countries. Owing to their considerable flexibility, they have been used for a wide range of functions like highway toll payment, as prepaid telephone cards and as stored value debit cards. However, with the recent emergence of e-commerce, these devices are increasingly being viewed as a particularly appropriate method to execute online payment system with considerably greater level of security than credit cards. Compared with traditional electronic cash system, smart cards based electronic payment systems do not need to maintain a large real time database. They also have advantages, such as anonymity, transfer payment between individual parties , and low transactional handling cost of files. Smart cards are also better protected from misuse than, say conventional credit cards, because the smart card information is encrypted. Currently, the two smart cards based electronic payment system- Mondex and Visa Cash are incompatible in the smart cards and card reader specification. Not knowing which smart card system will become market leader; banks around the world are unwilling to adopt either system, let alone other smart card system. Therefore, establishing a standard smart card system, or making different system interoperable with one another is critical success factors for smart card based payment system. Kalakota and Whinston (1996), classified smart cards based electronic payment system as (1) relationship based smart cards and electronic purses. Electronic purses, which may replace money, are also known as debit card. Further Diwan and Singh (2000) and Sharma and Diwan (2000), classified smart cards into four categories. These are: (1) memory cards: this card can be used to store password or pin number. Many telephone cards use these memory cards (2) shared key cards: it can store a private key such as those used in the public key cryptosystems. In this way, the user can plug in the card to a workstation and workstation can read the private key for encryption or decryption (3) signature carrying card: this card contains a set of pre generated random numbers. These numbers can be used to generate electronic cash (4) signature carrying cards: these cards carry a co-processor that can be used to generate large random numbers. These random numbers can then be used for the assignment as serial numbers for the electronic cash. III. CONCLUSION Technology created lives easier for human beings. It has decreases the work up to many extends such as distance space and even time. One of the technological innovation in the banking and financial sectors is the electronic payments. // By using electronic payments we can perform financial operations electronically, thus avoiding long lines and other hassles. Electronic Payments provides greater freedom to individuals in paying their licenses, taxes, fees, fines and purchases at unconventional locations and at whichever time of the day, 365 days of the year. On the basis of present study, first remark is that despite the existence of variety of e-commerce payment systems, credit cards are the most dominant payment system. This is consequences of advantageous characteristics, most importantly the long established networks and very wide user ¿Ã‚ ½s base. Second, alternative e-commerce payment systems are some countries are debit cards. In fact, like many other studies, present study also reveals that the smart card based e-commerce payment system is best and it is expected that in the future smart cards will eventually replace the other electronic payment systems. Third, given the limited users bases, e-cash is not a feasible payment option. Thus, there are number of factors which affect the usage of e-commerce payment systems. Among all these user base is most important. Added to this, success of e-commerce payment systems also depends on consumer preferences, ease of use, cost, industry agreement, authorization, security, authentication, non-refutability, accessibility and reliability and anonymity and public policy. IV. REFERENCES 1. Abrazhevich, D. (2002) ,Diary on Internet Payment Systems ¿Ã‚ ½, Proceedings of the British Conference on Human Computer Interaction, London, England. 2. Anderson, M.M. (1998),  ¿Ã‚ ½Electronic Cheque Architecture, Version 1.0.2 ¿Ã‚ ½, Financial Services Technology Consortium, September 3. Baddeley, M. (2004)  ¿Ã‚ ½Using E-Cash in the New Economy: An Electronic Analysis of Micropayment Systems ¿Ã‚ ½, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp 239-253. 4. Bhatia, Varinder (2000), E-Commerce (Includes E-Business), New Delhi: Khanna Book Publishing Co. 5. Boly, J. P. et al., (1994),  ¿Ã‚ ½ The ESPRIT Project CAF ¿Ã‚ ½-High Security Digital Payment System ¿Ã‚ ½, ESORICS 94, Third European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, Brighton, LNCS 875, Spring- Verlage, Berlin, pp 217-230. accessed on http://www.zurich.ibm.ch/technology/Security/Sirene/Publ/ BBCM1_94cafeEsorics.ps.gz. 6. Cavarretta, F. and de Silva, J. (1995),  ¿Ã‚ ½Market Overview of the Payments Mechanisms for the Internet Commerce ¿Ã‚ ½, accessed on http://www.mba96.hbs.edu/fcavarretta/money.html. 7. Chakrabarti, Rajesh and Kardile, Vikas (2002), E-Commerce: The Asian Manager ¿Ã‚ ½s Handbook, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. 8. Charkrabarthi, Rajesh et al (2002), The Asian Manager ¿Ã‚ ½s Handbook of E-Commerce, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.) 9. Chaum, D. (1992),  ¿Ã‚ ½Achieving Electronic Privacy ¿Ã‚ ½, Scientific American, August,pp 96-101 accessed on http://www.digicash.support.nl/publish/sciam.html. 10. Danial, Amor (2002), E-Business (R) evolution, New York: Prentice Hall. 11. Dennis, Abrazhevich (2001),  ¿Ã‚ ½Classifications and Characteristics of Electronic Payment Systems ¿Ã‚ ½, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 81-90.

Role of Women in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart :: Things Fall Apart essays

Role of Women in Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart portrays Africa, particularly the Ibo society, right before the arrival of the white man. Things Fall Apart analyzes the destruction of African culture by the appearance of the white man in terms of the destruction of the bonds between individuals and their society. Achebe, who teaches us a great deal about Ibo society and translates Ibo myth and proverbs, also explains the role of women in pre-colonial Africa. In Things Fall Apart, the reader follows the trials and tribulations of Okonkwo, a tragic hero whose tragic flaw includes the fact that "his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness." (16) For Okonkwo, his father Unoka embodied the epitome of failure and weakness. Okonkwo was taunted as a child by other children when they called Unoka agbala. Agbala could either mean a man who had taken no title or "woman." Okonkwo hated anything weak or frail, and his descriptions of his tribe and the members of his family show that in Ibo society anything strong was likened to man and anything weak to woman. Because Nwoye, his son by his first wife, reminds Okonkwo of his father Unoka he describes him as woman-like. After hearing of Nwoye's conversion to the Christianity, Okonkwo ponders how he, "a flaming fire could have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate" (143)? On the other hand, his daughter Ezinma "should have been a boy." (61) He favored her the mos t out of all of his children, yet "if Ezinma had been a boy [he] would have been happier." (63) After killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo, who cannot understand why he is so distraught, asks himself, "When did you become a shivering old woman?" (62) When his tribe looks as if they are not going to fight against the intruding missionaries, Okonkwo remembers the "days when men were men." (184) In keeping with the Ibo view of female nature, the tribe allowed wife beating . The novel describes two instances when Okonkwo beats his second wife, once when she did not come home to make his meal. He beat her severely and was punished but only because he beat her during the Week of Peace. He beat her again when she referred to him as one of those "guns that never shot." When a severe case of wife beating comes before the egwugwu, hefound in favor of the wife.

On Common Ground Essay examples -- Personal Narrative History Papers

On Common Ground The beeping of the metal detector set his mind in motion. And when he carefully uncovered a small metal button, it whispered softly, speaking of a great general, â€Å"He possessed every virtue of the great commanders, without their vices.† April 12, 1861- â€Å"At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under General Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina; the Civil War begins† (historyplace). There are about twenty lots in our neighborhood; all consist of close to three and a half acres. Most of the lots have houses now, all of them are big and well kept; a perfect place to raise an upper-middle class family. Just outside of Richmond, the Boscobel neighborhood gives individuals a constant taste of the southern country air, a place to grow a garden, to sit out on the porch at night and look at the stars.†¦ The neighbors are kind as they greet one another in passing. Families come together for picnics and cook-outs and mothers go on walks together with their dogs while the kids are in school. The kids of the neighborhood love to play by the creek in the back yard. They build forts and huts, find pretend food and crayfish in the creek, and play hide-and-seek in the woods beyond the creek. It is the peaceful, everyday life in the Boscobel neighborhood. April 17, 1861- â€Å"Virginia secedes from the Union, followed within five weeks by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy† (historyplace). April 17, 1861- The Daily Richmond Examiner reads: The great event of all our lives has at last come to pass. A war of gigantic proportions, infinite consequences and indefinite duration is on us, and will affect the interests and happiness of ev... ...e tried to instill in you. Never forget where these things came from. I trust you now to be on your own, to live out what I have taught you and to teach others these virtues that have been passed down.† Works Cited Atherholt, Patricia. Interview. Telephone Interview. 30 March 2002. Historyplace.com. The History Place- US Civil War 1861-1865. The History Place, 1996. Daniel, John M. I. New York: Arno & The New York Times, 1868. reprinted, 1970. Graham, O. Lee. Interview. Telephone Interview. 1 April 2002. Jones, John Williams. I. Written approximately 1864. . 17 April 2002. Swank, Walbrook D. I. Charlottesville: Papercraft Printing & Design Company, Inc., 1991. Saverino, Chris. Interview. Telephone Interview. 29 March 2002. Weigley, Russell F. I American Council of Learned Societies, Oxford University Press, 2000

Comparing Confucianism and Daoism Essay

Philosophical Daoism and early Confucianism have very different views on the way we should live life. If I was to choose a path in life to follow it would be the Confucianist path. Confucianism is a lot more controlled then Daoism. Daoism focuses on wu-wei, which translated is non-action. Non-action means that the Daoists believe the best way to live life is to just go with the flow, and not interrupt the natural course of life. Looking at such perspectives on life only brings chaos to my mind, as a society with a â€Å"go with the flow† attitude could cause a lot of problems. Without rules, regulations, or rituals to follow I feel that people would take advantage of this and simply do whatever it is they wish to do. The Daoist text, Tao Te Ching, does not have specific rules to abide by. It preaches messages via stories on how to live, which are then interpreted into guidelines that the Daoists follow. On the contrary, in Confucianism we are exposed to a way to live in order to achieve the good that is within all of us. Confucius believed that society was naturally good, but he felt that the society was getting corrupted with bad morals that focused on money, profit, and power (Lecture notes November 1,2011). In order to achieve the human goodness that we all have within us, and that we had in the past, he offered his followers two different choices to follow. The first choice involved education, which was accomplished through the five classics; the second method was through simple observation, letting life educate you (Lecture notes, November 3,2011) . These strategies represent moral force rather than physical force, and they cultivate human goodness. Along with these two ideas on how to cultivate human goodness, Confucius strictly believed that ritual, Li, would be the key to achieving good manners. The Master said, So long as the ruler loves ritual, the people will be easy to handle. (14. 44)† (Course Reader 3, p. 335) Confucius regulated his people through the religious rituals, rules, and by enforcing education with the intention that it would help cure his people of the corruption they have endured. Unlike the Daoist path, Confucius clearly had a smart approach on how to handle the current political situation in his country, by assuming ritual would put an end to current conflicts. If people were to follow the Daoist perspective on life it would lead to many conflicts due to the lack of control on people’s actions. These conflicts could grow into a more serious war between people, simply causing more suffering, which is why I would choose the Confucianist path over the path of Daoism. Even though Daoism would seem to cause more problems in society, some aspects of the religion are advantageous. Most people in life do not like to be dictated, and told what to do. Unlike Confucius the Daoists believe that forcing an act, such as educating yourself, is unnatural. Confucius dictated his followers to persevere in education, and this is a possible demand that some may not have followed as it was an act they were told and forced to follow in order to cultivate human goodness. The Daoists believe that going against this natural flow in life takes more vital energy, making the Daoist religion somewhat more plausible then Confucianism(Lecture notes, November 17,2011). But, the freedom in the Daoist religion may also be displeasing when it is looked at as a disadvantage. In Daoism, there is no harsh judgement on morality, meaning there is no good or bad, or right and wrong. The impact of this belief is evident when observing drastic situations such as wars, murders, and robberies. If there is no good or bad, society would have no morals when making decisions. This has a detrimental effect on the Daoist religion because the decisions people make in life could lead to large conflicts and suffering among people when they are made lacking morality. Confucianism on the other hand, lacks answers when the topic of the after-life comes up. Confucius never seemed to talk about the after-life, nor would he have an answer for someone if they were to have asked him about it. Till you know about the living, how are you to know about the dead? (11. 11)† (Course Reader 3, p. 342). Confucius avoided this topic and focused on current life issues, as he wanted to fix the current problems in his country. He looked up to the Duke of Chou, who was a politician, rather than a higher spiritual figure. This shows Confucius’ political rather than religious strategy to fix current problems around him (Lecture notes, Novemeber 8 2011). Confucianism demonstrates a weakness to it’s beliefs because as human beings we want to feel secure, and are curious about the afterlife. By not having an answer to what happens when we die, and by not having any views on the after-life, Confucianism neglects certain questions we want answered. From another point of view, Confucianism gives us exactly what we need to do in order to achieve human goodness. Confucius proposed two methods to cultivate goodness, education and simple observation. Confucianism is regulated, and unlike Daoism which can lead to chaos and disorder among people, the Confucianist path if followed correctly can lead to human goodness. Mencius also believed in goodness, because he taught his followers that all human beings are born good. Mencius believed in good and bad, and he described good as sympathetic compassion. Sympathetic compassion is the inability of humans to bare the suffering of others. Mencius also taught his followers that through education they can develop sympathetic compassion (Lecture notes, November 3,2011). The idea of human goodness, and the stability of a regulated religion based on ritual is what makes Confucianism more favourable. Despite the pros and cons mentioned for each religion, Confucianism is the better alternative due to its safe qualities. By following Confucianism there would be less worries about war and conflicts occurring due to choices made with the lack of morality. Confucianism would direct people towards the right direction in life, by teaching the followers how to cultivate human goodness. By cultivating human goodness, the Confucianist society would only ameliorate themselves as people. The path of Confucianism would be a strong and supportive religion to follow that would contribute to contentment for it’s followers along with those around them.

The Magic Kingdom

Descriptive Essay: Disney World (The Magic Kingdom) When I walk through those magical gates I stumble upon Main Street, USA. This just happens to be the first of seven themed lands. The decor is early-20th century small-town America, which happens to be inspired by Walt Disney’s childhood and the movie Lady and the Tramp. As I stroll down Main Street I can see an old fashioned movie theatre, quaint little shops, and an antique barber shop. But the best part of all is at the end of Main Street USA stands Cinderella’s enchanting castle that marks the center of the park. At the center I find 6 other pathways that lead to six additional lands. When I travel through these lands I’ll see how fantasy becomes reality when I learn how to be a pirate, match wits with funny monsters and conquer mountains. Up next on my to do list is to visit Liberty Square where I visit The Hall of Presidents to view a show featuring every American president, past and present, in a fascinating tribute. The next stop is not for the faint of heart and be aware of harrowing hitchhikers. Here climb aboard the Doom Buggy and ride through the ominous Haunted Mansion where a supernatural Ghost Host introduces my to his closest 999 dearly departed friends. Patriotic music combined with spooky sounds will be heard throughout Liberty Square along with the scent of New England dishes from the Liberty Tree Tavern. Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. This part of the Magic Kingdom is perfect for kids both young and old. Here I sing along with a catchy melody on â€Å"it’s a small world† with nearly 300 brightly costumed dolls singing and dancing to bring the world’s cultures closer together in no small way. Next, I gently glide ‘round Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel on one of ninety prancing steeds as magical Disney music fills the air. Then, I soar high in the sky with Dumbo over Magic Kingdom around a circus ball topped by Timothy Mouse. After that, I take a whirl in a giant tea cup at the mad-as-a-hatter Unbirthday Party in Wonderland. Also, I seize my courage and enter the Evil Queen’s shadowy world on Snow White’s Scary Adventures and see who is the fairest of them all. Plus, I embark on a jolly journey during a very blustery day in the Hundred Acre Wood aboard one of Pooh’s Hunny Pots on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Before I leave I can’t forget to stop and chat with some of my favorite friends such as Pooh and Tigger too. Now comes Tomorrowland filled with living blueprints of our future. Before I explore, I want to stop at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe to maybe grab a Blast-off burger or some Cosmic Chicken. To begin I climb aboard my own space cruiser to shoot targets and rack up points as I battle the robots in Zurg’s service on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Next, I launch past the flashing lights of my space station into the soaring darkness of space on Space Mountain. Lastly I experience the glory of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as I drive my own Indy 500-style race car on a guided track all the way to the Victory Circle on the Tomorrowland Speedway. At the end of the day, as I sit and think about my day’s journey, I wonder what my world would be like if I’d never gotten to experience Disney magic like I did today. Well, my life wouldn’t be the same without it. My memories as a little girl are filled with Disney magic. The feelings I got back then and still do now at eighteen don’t change. Memories of family vacations at Disney World will never be forgotten; it’s the only time now that I can remember us all being happy with each other before my parents’ divorce. The excitement and adventure that comes from Disney World can’t be replaced with anything else because there’s nothing else in the world quite like it.