Legitimating Conquest and Slavery in the New World Essay

A Spaniard by the name of Christopher Columbus set sail on a voyage heading west across the Atlantic Ocean to Asia. This 1492 voyage turned out to be a discovery of another continent, America. Columbus thought that he had reached East Indies, but was in fact, in the Caribbean. The native people that inhabited the island were curious to see these new visitors and came out to greet them. The natives or ?Indians? as Columbus called them were friendly and generous people, giving gifts to the European travelers. Soon after the arrival, the Europeans started to take over and take what they pleased. As more Europeans came to the Americas, the population of the Indians declined in great numbers. The Europeans brought many dreadful diseases and had†¦show more content†¦As a faithful servant to the King and Queen of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Columbus wrote a letter with details of the land and the native people who inhabit it. The way he described the natives, or? Indi ans? is that are timorous people who are naked and they have no weapons and are not fitted to use them. This way King Ferdinand will read that the natives on the land we will conquer are shy, they have no armor or no weapons, and if they had any, they wouldn?t know how to fight with them. ?They do not carry arms nor are they acquainted with them.? (Belmonte, 2) After receiving Columbus? letter, King Ferdinand sent a proclamation to the native people. This proclamation legitimized the taking of the land and the people who reside there and is now property of the King of Spain. While the proclamation was being read to the Indians, no one disagreed to it, this could be because the Indians did not speak Spanish. In our lecture, we learned that the definition of Legitimation is to make legal that which is fundamentally illegal. The Europeans took the land and the freedom of the Indians by reading a piece of paper stating it was through divine law. With legitimation it was legal to use t errorism upon the people, it was legal to kill, enslave, steal property, and punish. Now that the Europeans had the physical control, land and the people, it was then they needed the mental control, the fear of the native people. ?If you don?t do what I tell you, I will

Leadership and Organizational Culture Essay - 1310 Words

LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE In this paper I will discuss the effects and responsibilities leaders have on an organizational culture. I believe leaders have an enormous effect on the well-being of an organizational culture. Leaders must take an active role within their organizations culture. Whether positive or negative, in an organization, things tend to follow suit down hill. A leader has the power and influence to maintain, create, or repair an organizational culture. However, this can prove to be a delicate and challenging task. When trying to maintain a healthy organizational culture the leader has many factors that he/she must balance. Maintaining a healthy organizational culture may be viewed as an entire strategic†¦show more content†¦4) These factors that shape an organization culture often seem to evolve naturally among subordinates in an organization. It is vital that the leader know how to manage these factors effectively to ensure a healthy organizational culture. Perspectives on Relationships between Leadership and Organizational Culture Upon researching I found a three perspective model showing the relationship between leaders and organizational culture. The first is the functionalism perspective. The functionalism perspective basically entails that a strong culture depends on a strong leader or a strong leader can develop a strong culture. Leaders have choices and can influence the firm through their actions or decisions. (Zhang, Tsui, Wang, Xin, n.d., p.5) With the functionalism perspective it is believed that the leaders, who are in the head positions, have all the power in molding and changing an organization. There are numerous factors and the leader must know how to manage them. The second perspective is the attribution perspective. With the attribution perspective theorists argue that the role of leadership is in the mind of the followers, who attribute a person the ability to lead and consider him/her to be theShow MoreRelatedLeadership And Culture Of The Field Of Organizational Leadership1058 Words   |  5 PagesLeadership and Culture Ethical Leadership According to research theories in the field of organizational leadership, â€Å"powerful leaders can have substantial impact on the lives of followers and the fate of an organization† (Yukl, 2006, p.340). Nevertheless, Heifetz (1994) points out, â€Å"there is no ethically neutral ground for theories of leadership, because they always involve values and implicit assumptions about proper forms of influence. The complexity of issues surrounding ethical and unethicalRead MoreLeadership Theory And Organizational Culture1361 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract The role of leadership has evolved over the years. 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Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) Free Essays

Before starting to compare and measure the return of investment for an information system, it is better to define terms such as Information Technology and Return of Investment or ROI. Information technology is a field concerned with the production, manipulation, sharing and transfer or information through the use of electronically-based equipments to satisfy man’s needs (Albacea p. 4). We will write a custom essay sample on Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus, in this definition we are not just referring to information itself but also for the communication aspects of the information system which is of wide use today. The Return of Investment, on the other hand, includes the costs and benefits in putting up a firm. Mainly, it is more focused on maximizing the benefits of the firm. In dealing with information systems, the definition of the return of investment is better to be extended so a to include not only the tangible but also the tangible benefits a firm or an office can derived in establishing their own information system (Grimes). To make a clear measurement of the ROI, let us have only two groups of consideration. Since most of the websites on the internet are focused only on either commercial or information sake, then we shall consider the firms that invests on utilizing information systems for commercial purposes and the other ones are those that utilizes the information system for information sake such as the government. In the first category, measuring the cost of building an information-related investment such as websites for selling or doing e-commerce can be clearly seen. E-commerce is an innovation in the information technology where consumers can transact with sellers using only information system (Albacea p. 256). Since the cost for hiring a programmer, for example, in creating a website for a commercial firm, the hardware and other features such as searching or blog which can be brought through licensing are known, then the total cost of establishing this set up can be computed and is just can be known by making a total of all of the expenses and efforts. The other part, which is computing the benefits, is rather the difficult part of it. This may be the reason why business owners and IT leaders are not interested in knowing or having a precise or definite benefit evaluation or effectiveness after they had made a website or an e-commerce page. According to Mary K. Pratt of the Computerworld of US in one of her features, the ROI for a website must be necessarily measured. She justified the ROI is truly measurable, and that those companies that are not measuring it doesn’t really concern of what their money’s worth. She takes, for example, Kia Motors. Kia Motors has for their websites visitor and mostly, what their basis of ranking is on the probability or likelihood of the customer to purchase a motor. They said that those that are downloading their white page are more likely to purchase a motor than those that only browse through their homepage. They can also measure the benefits on how advertisements on the Internet have changed their production and gross profit. If they see that they had made an advertisement on the Internet but has no increase on the sales, assuming all other factors are held constant, then the information-based technique they use is ineffective. Since ROI’s concern is in costs and benefits, we should also take the advantages of having information related systems than not having any. For example, we can measure how we can save money by replacing the paper ads or printed documents by the electronic version. About 18%, according to the analysts, of the printed document of a business firm becomes expired or not updated after just seven days or a week-long of time. Thus, after this period, they must be replaced by the updated ones. On the other hand, updating publications on the web will cost less than updating the printed ones (McGrath). Hence, this is one way of showing how information systems can cause a movement of the computation of the ROI. For the firms that utilizes the information system for commercial purposes, ROI can be measured in this way – the cost or the expenses can be easily calculated by just summing up the expenses made in putting up or establishing an electronic-based project, and the benefits, though not clearly seen, can be calculated by taking into consideration its effect on the business and how it can cut costs for the establishment. Now, let us look at the second category which is the firms or offices that utilizes information system for information-sake. The most common example for this category is the government. Usually, included in their budget is the allocation for having information systems that are helpful for public. If the benefits in the commercial-related are not clearly seen, here in the second category, the benefits are even more difficult to measure. Take United States for example. According to Center for Technology of Government at the University of Albany, even after some years of having information system exclusive for government information, the return of investment for this particular project is uncertain and is very hard to put in numbers (ctg.albany.edu†¦PrintVersion=1). Why is this so? Similar to the first category, the input resources for putting up or for the establishment of the information system to be used by the government can be readily computed for this is only the sum of all the expenses needed in the establishment. This will surely includes the wages or salaries of the personnel involved, the purchases made, and other licensing expenses. Government usually has its websites for its departments to ensure that the public will be well informed of national issues and information that are of public concern or the public can have great use of them. Again, return of investment is concern with the cost and the benefits. Now, how can we measure the benefits? If the members of the first categories’ benefits can be measured by seeing the effect of the system to their business, government’s measurement of the benefits is a lot more different. Remember that the benefits as defined earlier simultaneously with the Return of Investment don’t only include the tangible benefits but also the non-tangible ones. Thus, looking at the example earlier, the government has its own way of measuring the benefits. They had a standard assessment technique that gives results whether their investments or efforts in putting up the information system dedicated to serve the public has a significant effect or just a waste of time, effort and money (Grimes). This assessment technique needs some adjustments as justified by the Center of Technology for Government. This leads them to propose the Public Value Framework (Cresswell). The Public Value Framework emphasizes the role and importance of the public in assessing the performance of the information system used by the government. Unlike the previous system where only the government are responsible for the evaluation done, the second system or the Public Value Framework will give power for the public in assessments. Therefore, for the firms or offices that utilize information system for information sake, like the first one, they had a clear computation for cost but a rather difficult computation for benefits. The ROI can be computed by computing the cost through obtaining the summation of all the expenses and the benefits can be seen on the effects or how their objectives of putting up the system are fulfilled. That is, if the public has more satisfaction in using the system established by the government, then the government’s return of investment is indeed higher. In general, measuring the return of investment for an information system is not an easy task because of the complexity on the non-tangible benefits it has to offer, even if the cost of establishing the information system is clearly and be easily computed. In the end, the basis of the measurement of the return of investment is still in how it would affect the entities it is intended to be useful for or how the goals or objectives of a firm who puts up the system is attained or become more possible. It is recommended that more studies be made to make a standard basis for computation of the return of investment even if it has to involve many factors that are hard to put in numbers. References Pratt, Mary K.( May 28, 2007) â€Å"Measuring Your Website’s Return of Investment.† Business Technology Leadership. 6 July 2007. http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1 315684679. Cresswell, Anthony M, et al. (September 2006). Advancing Return of Investment Analysis for Government IT. 6 July 2007 Grimes, Brad and Joab Jackson. (September 2006). What’s you IT investment worth –really? 6 July 2007 Center for Technology in Government. 6 July 2007 McGrath, George   and Anthony Schneider. Measuring Intranet Return On Investment. 6 July 2007. Albacea, Eliezer A. Information Technology Literacy I. UPLB, Philippines: UPLB Foundation, Inc. 2005. How to cite Measuring Return on Investment (ROI), Essay examples

How Is Atticus Finch Portrayed free essay sample

To kill a mocking bird is a novel written by Harper lee set in the southern part of America just after the civil war had ended . This means that though slavery had been abolished , black people were still held to a lower standard than white people . It is not only black people who are subjected to racial prejudice but also anyone who fails to conform to the social norms of the ‘tired old town’ of Maycomb. Atticus Finch is one of the main characters in To Kill a Mocking Bird. He is the father to Jem and Scout finch and a lawyer in Maycomb County . Most of the main themes in the novel are shown in one way or another through this character. One of the main themes in the book is Intolerance . Atticus is adamant about his children not developing the same intolerant views that the other inhabitants of the town have towards people who are different to themselves. This is shown during a conversation held between Atticus and his daughter, Scout ,after she judges her new teacher . He says to her, ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. ’ This shows Atticus as a very empathetic man . He could easily follow the other people of Maycomb in turning against anyone who is different but instead decides to look at things from their side of the situation, a skill needed in his line of work as a lawyer . It also shows that he wants his children to have these traits , as he is willing to teach Scout about empathy. He wants to change Maycomb’s ways and is starting this by sending his children into the world with a better understanding of the people in it in the hopes of sculpting a generation of more tolerant people. However, Scout struggles with this concept. This is shown when a poor boy named Walter Cunningham visits the finch residence for a meal and Scout acts very judgemental , criticising him for the way he acts at the dinner table . Not only does this part of the book show a lot about Scout , it shows a lot about Atticus as well. The book says ‘Atticus shook his head at me again. ’ Atticus doesn’t vocalise his protest to Scouts verbal assault on Walter. This may have been to spare Walter any further embarrassment which strengthens the idea that Atticus is very empathetic . It may have also been a way of showing how in control of his children Atticus truly is. He doesn’t need words to convey to his children his how he is feeling or what he wants them to do, a simple shake of his head is enough. This paints Atticus as a natural leader which would help him a lot in the courtroom. Though Scout treats Walter badly, the interactions between Walter and Atticus go very differently. Atticus treats Walter like an equal. This is shown in the book when Lee writes ‘While Walter piled food on his plate, he and Atticus talked like two men-‘. This shows that Atticus does not discriminate by age , but treats those mature enough , despite how young they are, like equals . In fact , the book shows Atticus as undiscriminating, be it against gender, age or race. In a town where the vast majority of residents look at black people as lesser than themselves, Atticus stands out in the book as one of the few people who are pro-equality. While other white families treat the black people who work at their homes as slaves, Atticus treats Calpurnia, the finch’s cook, as part of the family. When Scout speaks badly of Calpurnia, Atticus says to her ‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of her, now or ever. We couldn’t operate a single day without Cal. ’ The quote shows Atticus respects Calpurnia despite the colour of her skin. He is not afraid to admit that Calpurnia is the only thing keeping the family working , which shows he is honest , even in the face of judgment . When he says ‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of her, now or ever. ’ It shows he is loyal. Calpurnia is not just an employee to him , she is also a valued member of the household who he finds irreplaceable , a view point not shared by many in the town. More proof that Atticus is not racist is in the fact that he took Tom Robinson’s case. Tom Robinson is a 25 year old black man who is wrongly accused of the rape of a white woman. Since Atticus would be defending Tom gainst a white person, many of the townsfolk disapprove of it, seeing it as a betrayal. This means almost the whole town turns against the Finch family. In the book, Atticus says ‘every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. ’ This shows that Atticus understands that he and his family going to face a lot of backlash for taking the case. He takes it any way, as it is a matter of honour to him. Atticus knows exactly where a Negro stands in the south. Despite the abolition of slavery at the end of the civil war, in the eyes of the people of Maycomb, black people were still viewed as second class citizen’s . hough he knows he cannot win, he has to take the case in order to not lose his self respect or the respect of the people whose opinion he cares about. This point is supported when Atticus says to uncle Jack when asked to pass the case on to someone else, ‘Do you think i could face my children otherwise ? ’ It took Atticus a lot of moral courage to see the case through. Though Atticus is prepared to face the judgment of the townsfolk, he wishes he could protect his children from it all. This is shown in a conversation held between Atticus and his brother, Jack regarding the Tom Robinson case. Atticus says ‘what worries me is that she and Jem will have to absorb some ugly things pretty soon. ’ By ‘ugly things’ Atticus is referring to the slander that Scout and Jem are subjected to prior and during the trial. The use of the word ugly really emphasises Atticus’ view point on the verbal abuse. Atticus is a gentleman and usually respects other people’s opinions and what they have to say even if they go against his own opinion or insults him personally. Describing it in such a way infers that Atticus finds the behaviour distasteful. If the townsfolk had insulted Atticus directly, he would respect their opinions, though he may like them. What angered him is that they not only say it behind his back but to his children, the very people he is trying to shield from such view points. Atticus not only tries to protect his children on a mental level, but when they are physically threatened by a rabid dog by the name of Tim Johnson , he plays the role of protective father and breaks one of his own moral codes to save his children and the other inhabitants of the town . Similarities can be found between Atticus and Tim Johnson. What remained of his poor mind made him pause and seem to consider which road he would take. He made a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty. ’ These are the words Lee used when describing Tim Johnsons struggle. These could easily be applied to Atticus’s moral struggle as he is torn between the right choices and the easy choices. Atticus’s struggle begins when he takes the case. He starts off on a straight course, making noble and honourable choices in the name of justice. Then circumstances change and he is given a choice. He can continue on the course he’s on. If Tim Johnson had taken this path it would have led him straight to the Radley place, potentially putting the Radleys in danger. In the novel, Lee uses the Radley family as a symbol for intolerance. In the same way that Tim Johson could kill the Radley family, Atticus has the chance to put an end to intolerance in Maycomb if he were to see the case through to the end. Both Tim and Atticus meet obstacles on this course. While Tim’s is a physical thing (namely the gate to the Radley yard) Atticus’s obstacles manifest themselves in the form of traditions that have been present in Maycomb for generations. Then there is the easy way. For Tim Johnson this is to follow the curve of the road where there is nothing but open space. For Atticus, it is to forget about the case, to pass it on to another lawyer and avoid the slander and judgement from the other residents. But in the same way that Tim Johnson struggles to turn around, Atticus cannot walk away from the case without jeopardising his personal beliefs and morals, or risking the respect of his children. The fact that Atticus saw the case through, even with all the obstacles , shows he is very passionate about staying true to his beliefs. The moral code I referred to is Atticus’s choice to not take a life. Known by the older generation of Maycomb as ‘one-shot finch’, Atticus is the best shot in the county but chooses not to use his talent as he thinks, as Miss Maudie put it, ‘God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things’ (Miss Maudie is used by Lee as a narrative device as the narrator of the story, Scout, is too young to know about Atticus’s shooting history). Atticus has a deep belief in equality and will do what he can to balance the scales. Like his marksmanship skills, Atticus may also view being white as an unfair advantage given by God over black people, who are viewed as lesser than himself. Since this is not something Atticus can fix by doing something as simple as putting down his gun, he uses his position of power, both as a white man and a lawyer , to sway the people’s opinions and stop the injustice that black people endure . Atticus shows physical courage when he picks up the gun and shoots the dog. He views courage as an important trait to have and therefore respects people who do. Among these people is Mrs Dubose. Though arguable the character that contrasts most with Atticus, in some ways, they are surprisingly alike. Mrs Dubose’s personality is much like the camellias found in her garden. Camellias are very large and very bright flowers and, as a result, can be seen as quite garish and distasteful. Those words may also be used by Jem and Scout to describe how they see Mrs Dubose. She is very vocal about her opinions, despite the negative affects they might have on other people. She always speaks her mind and is truthful to the extent of seeming insulting since she doesn’t filter through her thoughts to find what is appropriate and not appropriate to say to who she’s addressing. An example of this is when she says to Jem and Scout ‘Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for ! ’. This quote shows an obvious disregard for the childrens feelings. Hidden behind the bright colours of the elaborate flower is dried fruit . It is not nice to look at and is often hidden away as to not spoil the aesthetics of the camellia . This is another trait that Mrs Dubose shares with her beloved flowers. Behind her rough exterior, Mrs Dubose is going through a terrible struggle that some could say even surpasses Atticus’s. The fruit could be a metaphor for this. Her struggle is attempting to quit her addiction to morphine in order to leave the world ‘beholden to nothing and nobody ‘. Atticus had great respect for her . He says ‘she was the bravest person I ever knew. ’ He even holds her above himself in terms of role models for his children, saying, ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. ’ Atticus may be referring to young boys at that time idolising soldiers like those that fought in the civil war but he may have been referring to himself and the way Jem views him as brave after he shot Tim Johnson. If it is the latter, it shows Atticus is self-deprecating and that he believes it is easy to pull a trigger when it means no consequence to yourself but seeing how bad it is going to turn out for you and yet still going through with it anyway ,like Mrs Dubose and Atticus with the case , is what takes real courage. This point is supported when Atticus goes on to say ‘It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. ’. In conclusion, Atticus is presented in the book as the voice of justice in Maycomb. In a town filled with prejudice, hatred and injustice, Lee uses Atticus as a symbol of all that is right. He is honourable , brave , truthful and other characteristics that make him the perfect person. He is quite an unrealistic character , but in a town as badly ridden with racism and judgement as Maycomb , it would take someone that is compassionate beyond what a human is capable of to make a difference. Atticus is the physical representation of the idea that unless somebody cares an aweful lot, nothing is going to change.