Joseph Stalin Essay -- Russian History, Politics

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1954. He is widely recognized as a dictator, an oppressor, and a ruthless ruler who took the Soviet Union from economic shambles to a superpower, but with the high cost of human sacrifice and his paranoia of opposition. Stalin saw himself as the natural successor of Leninism-Marxism, but in actuality he created a system of his own which did not go according to the philosophy of Karl Marx and Engels. Stalin’s early political career began just like everyone else who gained prominence in the Bolshevik takeover of the Russian Empire. Lenin had successfully launched his revolution in October, 1917 and became the leader of the Russian Communist Party until his death in January 1924. Stalin played only a minor role in the October Revolution and a relatively inconspicuous part in the Civil War (Lee 1). Stalin was sent to exile in Siberia for committing crimes in Russia, and after his return he became a member of the Cen tral Committee of the Bolshevik Party in 1912. Stalin worked to gain support in the Communist party during its early stages. He created close contacts that he would later betray, and others which he would use to help him become the next leader of the Soviet Union. He accumulated the posts of People’s Commissar for Nationalities in 1917, liaison official between the Politburo and the Orgburo in 1919, and General Secretary of the Party in 1922 (Lee 1). Soviet books and propaganda always portrayed Stalin having a close relationship with Lenin, as seen in textbooks, propaganda posters, and Stalin himself who always spoke highly of his friendship with Lenin. However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks thought differently of Stalin. The 1920s and early 1930s saw the rise a... ...’s unorthodox rise to power, to his brutal economic policy, it was a form of true dictatorship and turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. Karl Marx wrote that the techniques of exploitation by the bourgeoisie would lead to a violent revolution by the proletariat, and it would change the economic and social order of the state. In this case, Stalin exploited his proletariat and acted as a bourgeoisie, using the labor force for his personal gain and what he thought would be the best way the Soviet Union would ever become a superpower. Joseph Stalin took the idea of Marxism and added his own theory to it, distorting it and creating a new system of politics that is coined â€Å"Stalinism.† It has its similarities, but largely it is a split in ideology that would cause the deaths of 20 million people during his rule, something Karl Marx, or Lenin never intended.

Examine the ways in which the relationship between the public and the police is presented in this extract and elsewhere in the play

In Murmuring Judges, the second play in Hare’s trilogy which examines institutions, Hare presents the relationship between the police and the public as one of mutual dislike. Interestingly, Hare never openly shows the public to dislike the lawyers, who act as the antagonist throughout the play due to their uncaring attitude towards client, but it is omnipresent towards the police, who are shown to be more in touch with people. Here, Hare is perhaps consciously suggesting that the people dislike the police as they are the ‘face of justice’ and thus perceived by the public to be the ‘enemy’. Although Hare does present the police to hold some racist and prejudiced views, showing they clearly aren’t perfect, he does largely present the police in both Murmuring Judges and his research book Asking Around as trying to do a hard job in difficult times. From our first introduction to the police, we see they are instantly disliked by the public. In Act 1 Scene 3, the first to involve the police, Keith states â€Å"you’re all bloody bastards† which immediately creates sympathy from the audience for the police. This sympathy is increased throughout the novel, where Hare generally presents the police as good people, an example of which is Sandra, who is shown as trying to enforce justice fairly in a corrupt system. The public dislike for the police is shown to be mutual though, â€Å"I’m not sure I care for the public that much†, which highlights the police frustration at the difficulty of their job, which is shown to be exacerbated by non-cooperative suspects, as shown through Keith’s repetition of â€Å"I’m not saying anything†. This furthers sympathy towards the police, as the public perception and the audience’s perception seem to be very different, as at this point in the play the police are presented as entirely honest. Dislike for the police is also shown later in the play, â€Å"I bloody hate the sodding police†, but here the police are shown to have grown more tired of the public and are more irritated, â€Å"do you have any idea, you stupid arsehole, how bloody boring it is for us? However, the public only further underlying frustration, as the Criminal Evidence Act of 1981 made policing more about paperwork, which created frustration amongst the police as for them it lowered their ability to do their jobs. In Asking Around, Hare states â€Å"[the police] are used to doing a great deal of good for the community and they’re used to having it thrown back in their face†. This could explain the police’s frustration at the public and also their seeming lack of interest in their jobs, as they no longer have the incentive to help those who hate them. Read also Intro to Public Relations Notes The police are shown to become more frustrated as the play progress, although the time period is unknown, could suggest that more and more acts were continually introduced. However, Hare continues to present the police as ‘the good guys’, as he shows Lester to be â€Å"only interested in protecting the public†, which reinforces the idea that police frustration largely stems from the public. Despite the public perception of the police as â€Å"tossers†, the police are wholly presented as the most in touch with people and the most realistic, â€Å"what we’re talking about here is reality†. This is best shown in the juxtaposition of the lawyers and the police’s view of public interest. Whereas Sir Peter believes â€Å"everyone listens to Desert Island Disks†, which the is obviously untrue, as this is a largely middle class radio station and shows the lawyers to be completely out of touch with the public, Lester states â€Å"I’d rather be in bed with Michelle Pfeiffer. † This is a much more relatable statement for the public, as it is likely that there is a larger proportion of people who would rather be in bed with Michelle than there is who listen to Desert Island Disks. Through this direct contrast, Hare shows the lawyers to be dated whereas the police are presented as realistic, and with the same manner and feelings as the public, which can be exemplified by the sarcastic tone from Lester towards the clients, â€Å"go and stand up there next to him, it makes no difference to me†. The extent of the police’s involvement with the public is shown starkly when Barry confronts Irina and asks â€Å"when was the last time anyone was sick on your wig? The mocking tone suggests is frustration at the public and the image of the public vomiting on the police shows them to be obviously more in touch with the public than the lawyers. Contextually, however, the public distrust of the police is understandable, as cases like the Guilford four and the Birmingham Six highlighted police corruption and showed the police to be immoral, as Barry is shown to be here. Perhaps the worst relationships presented between the police and the public are those which highlight the racist and generally prejudiced attitudes of the police at the time. Barry suggests that Gerard is more likely to be guilty as â€Å"he was kind of Irish†, which shows an innate prejudice, as he assumes that his nationality makes him more likely to commit crime. Significantly, Hare presents the public as aware of this racism through Jason, who is black, as he states â€Å"if you go through with this†¦I’m going to get a bobble hat and grow bloody dreadlocks. † Here, it is suggested that the police are inherently racist, as Jason implies that he was arrested simply because he was black, showing he too believes the police are racist. Although here it is a matter of justice, rather than racism, in the focus scene Hare does present the police as prejudiced. Through Lester’s statement, â€Å"I hate immigration†¦and bloody women†, Hare presents the police as prejudiced, which could arguably suggest why they are so disliked by the public as this shows them to be unjust. Just as the public are shown to be aware of racism within the police, sexism is also obvious as Sandra says â€Å"just ask the boys, all women are naggers†. However, I believe this may have been inherent and gone unnoticed by the police, as perfectly summed up in the line â€Å"they don’t know they’re prejudiced†, as the play was written in 1991, when racism and sexism were seen as everyday occurrences. Hare describes the police as â€Å"the people trying to keep their sense of humour in the face of massive contradictions†. This is evident in the relationship between the police and the public, as the police generally use a light tone and humorous phrases, which suggests the police would like to get along with the public, but they make this impossible. This is strengthened by Hare’s presentation of the public, as they are shown to be non-cooperative or â€Å"grovelling†. In contrast, Hare occasionally presents the police as prejudiced and disinterested in their jobs, which undermines the police-public relationship, but it is largely obvious that Hare blames the public for the poor public relations as the police are largely just attempting to do their job in difficult circumstances, which is only worsened by the public perception of them as unjust and prejudiced.

Forrest Gump Review Essay

The third movie we watched was, â€Å"Forrest Gump†. Tom Hanks plays the main character, a simple man called Forrest Gump. The story is told through his innocent eyes, and we see just how crazy the world really is. His best friend, Jenny, is played by Robin Wright and Forrest’s mother is played by Sally Field. There are a few themes to be found in this movie, the main ones being, love, death and war. You can find love in the movie between Forrest and Jenny being best friends, and how Forrest took care and looked after Jenny in her time of need. Also there is a strong love between Forrest and his mother, and how she took care of him when he was younger and how later he took care of her when she was sick. Finally you can find love between Forrest and his new friend, Bubba that he meets along his journey, and how close they are and the plans they make. Death can be found in a few places in the movie, being it his mother, his wife, or his best friend; we see how Forrest overcomes these deaths and how innocent he is when it comes to death itself. The third theme, war, is found when Forrest finds himself working for the army in Vietnam. We see here that he sees the world as a crazy place and even though he is seen as simple, he sees that fighting isn’t the only way to solve things. This movie shows that no matter how simple people see you to be, you still know the difference between right and wrong. Forrest sees the world in a more innocent and sweet way, and as the movie goes on people start to see the world the way he does and start to understand him a little bit more.

Business Aims and Objectives and the Marketing Mix Essays

Business Aims and Objectives and the Marketing Mix Essays Business Aims and Objectives and the Marketing Mix Paper Business Aims and Objectives and the Marketing Mix Paper What defines an aim is a long term cooperate aim that an organization intends to achieve; it’s the overall purpose. For instance, a business may want to make additional income in comparison to the previous year. In addition to this corporate aim, a business might consider increasing their receipts by putting offers on specific products or advancing their promotion to inform their target audience and raise awareness and interest; this is considered to be the businesses objective. Objectives are considered to be targets which help support the corporate aim and intend to help the business meet their corporate aim in the long run; they’re the outcomes needed in order to achieve the corporate aim. Business’ produce aims and objectives for a number of reasons, which may range from survival to growth. A business objective is a detailed picture of a guide you plan to take in order to achieve a stated, long-term aim. A set of objectives for a smaller, newer business who desires to survive may be to create a regular customer base, gain a small share of a market, etc. in order to create additional profit/revenue that can be put into the capital to be used for advance the business. However for a bigger, existing organization this may be to provide a better service level in comparison to its competitors, to also gain a bigger market share, etc. In relation to this, a new business will have only one essential short term strategic corporate aim which is to survive in the market. Additionally, the business will decide to generate objectives in order to meet its short term essential corporate aim. In addition to survival being the corporate aim, you might consider objectives such as generating profit or generating a positive net cash flow in order to produce receipts in the first few months. In order for this to occur, a business may consider the marketing activities of the business and inquire the marketing department to produce a cash flow graph or a break-even analysis to predict what will occur in the first month so that they’ll be prepared for the months to come and will be capable of preparing for them or even may help solve future problems. However, for a business that has been existent for an excessive duration and has been trading for an elongated period, they will have a more complicated, specific and varied long term strategic corporate aims and objectives that they’d desire to meet. This may be to develop further in terms of revenue and profit over time or through market share, promotion, etc. More specifically, they may consider corporate aims such as profit maximization, to eliminate competition, to expand and diversify. In relation to profit maximization as a corporate aim; objectives such as employing additional workers who’re willing to work for elongated hours may be taken into consideration. Whether you’re a new business or a business that has been existent for an excessive period of time, the objectives generated should be S.M.A.R.T objectives. Hence the acronym, your objectives should be specific, meaning that you’re stating exactly what your business is trying to achieve; they should be measureable, meaning that you’re capable of measuring what has been and what needs to be achieved; agreed, so that everyone’s approval has been taken into account and supports the objective; realistic, meaning that you’re taking into consideration the business’ resources, competition, etc.; and time specific, relationally meaning that your business should consider when these objectives should be achieved by. Additionally, key themes should also be taken into consideration when wanting to produce corporate aims and objectives. In Relation to the key themes, you should make sure that you’re using a well-structured procedure for making good decisions so that there are no situations along the way of meeting your overall corporate aim. Furthermore, a business should understand and determine the criteria for making decisions in uncertain times, the accountability for decisions made facing uncertainty, and the heuristics and biases when making decisions. In addition to this, the business may want to produce a cash flow graph in order to help predict the outcomes of the corporate aims made by the business. Corporate aims and objectives are considered to be beneficial as they’re helpful when a business is desired to survive, grow and make profit, which are the main aims that a business desires to exceed in. In relation to survival, regardless of the business’ status or dimension, survival will be considered whilst generating corporate aims and objectives because it’s the survival that maintains the business and needs to be taken into account at the early stages of trading, when the trading difficulty advances, and when there’s competitors who’re threats of taking over. Survival also allows the business to grow otherwise they may suffer a result in a loss of competitiveness. Additionally, when trading increases its difficulty, or when a competitor has more superior revenue, a business will consider generating aims and objectives in order to maintain their success.

Drivers Beware Stupid Laws Ahead!

Drivers Beware Stupid Laws Ahead! We all know that most driving laws are designed with our safety and best interests in mind. But times change, and sometimes the laws that fit them are late to the game. Here are some of the more hilarious laws that are still lurking around (longer than they should have): Driving in Oregon? Make sure you start your stopwatch when you open your door! Leaving it open too long may earn you a ticket.It’s also illegal to â€Å"demonstrate your physical endurance† while highway driving in Oregon- we just hope this doesn’t include staying awake behind the wheel!Need to catch up on the latest issue of X-Men or the Avengers? Just make sure you’re not driving in Oklahoma, where comic book reading and driving is a big no-no. We’re more concerned about driving where this behavior is legal.What’s up with Alabama? It’s actually legal to drive down a one-way street the wrong way if your vehicle is equipped with a lantern!Color careful? In Minneapolis it’s illegal to drive a red car down Lake Street and in Denver you can’t drive a black car on Sundays.Minnesota doesn’t want messy cars! In Minnetonka, it’s illegal to drive a vehicle with dirty wheels that make a mess on the roads.Sheep on board? If so, don’t drive through Montana- an unattended sheep in your truck cab can get you in hot water.Keep your weapons holstered when you see an animal from your vehicle in Tennessee. There’s no animal shooting if you’re in a moving car- unless it’s a whale (no joke, other than the law itself).No ice picks on your wheels in Montana folks†¦Who does this?Who knew Pennsylvania was so horse sensitive? If you’re driving by a team of horses, you must pull off the road and hide your vehicle under a blanket or canvas. And if you make the horses skittish, you’ll have to disassemble your vehicle(!)Yeah, these laws aren’t really enforced any longer, but still†¦driver s be wary, and stay safe on the roads. That’s always a good rule to follow!Read More at www.alltruckjobs.com

Economic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Economic - Research Paper Example In this paper, we will look at the inflation of house prices in the United Kingdom and the variations in price from 2006 to 2012 as documented at http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Competitive_markets/House_prices.html). According to the above mentioned website, inflation is the overall rise in price levels of goods in the economy over a period of time. The inflation of house prices has consequently reflected erosion in the money purchasing power. The website indicates that housing prices exhibit features such as rising price average in the long run, medium term volatility, dramatic price crashes and bubbles, and considerable price variations in different UK regions. The prices of houses has inflated from 2006 to 2012, for example, the house prices were as follows; 185.1K, 205.3K, 218K, 195K, 207.5K, 216.1K, 229.1K in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. The house prices crushed in the earlier years and recently between 2007 and 2009. The website has also detailed some of the reasons for this inflation as high demands and low supply of houses (http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Competitive_markets/House_prices.html) According to the website, the crushing prices can be solved through increasing the supply and regulating demands which are the major causes of the inflationary prices. In order to increase the supply, the following are adopted: subsidies to private house constructors, public house building, relax house regulations, and tax and grant concessions. Demand on the other hand may be regulated through; altering deposit requirements, altering interest rates, and encouraging variations in mortgage

Police Response to Domestic Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Police Response to Domestic Violence - Essay Example By using discretion to avoid making arrests in some cases, the police are perceived to be declining to offer â€Å"necessary assistance to the victims of the violence† (Hendricks and Byers, 37). The police policy geared at delaying response with intention that the â€Å"domestic violence would resolve itself† has in some cases been worsening the situation instead of helping it (Hendricks and Byers, 39). Hendricks and Byers assert that the police are normally trained to rely more on crisis intervention, mediations and separations of parties involved in the violence, counseling for substance abuse cases, and let the victims carry the burden of arrest. Practically, this kind of training has made it very difficult for these victims especially the poor ones to seek justice against the sufferings they undergo during the violence (102). Police officers prefer not to respond to domestic violence calls following the organizational disincentives. For instance, the officers perceive the violence to be dangerous. â€Å"Statutory restrictions on misdemeanor† have prevented the police from doing anything worthwhile (Hendricks and Byers, 112). The cases in which the victims fail to follow through with prosecution have also demoralized the officers from responding to the violence as required of them. There also have been cases in which the police are accused of being biased while making arrests on the â€Å"offenders of the domestic violence† (Hendricks and Byers, 113). There have been several reforms that have been enacted to improve the â€Å"police response to domestic violence† (Hendricks and Byers, 115). The reforms were pushed through due to mounting pressure from the women’s rights groups and battered women’s advocates. Implementation of pro-arrest policies such as Domestic Violence Act has been instrumental in ensuring â€Å"warrantless arrest† in cases perceived to have probable cause of violation of a protection order (Hendricks and Byers, 118). According to