Interpretation of Matthew Passage Essay Example for Free

Interpretation of Matthew Passage Essay The book of Matthew is one of the four epistles. This in other words is to mean that the book, which is in New Testament, happens to be the first book that records the teachings of Jesus Christ, at the believed time when He was on the earth. In this paper, the interpretation will come from Matthew chapter 6 verses 25-34. These verses contain Christ Jesus teachings on how Christians should live here on earth independently but with the divine intervention of their God. This in other words is to mean that the verses emphasizes on God and Christians perceptions of possessions. Different strategies of argumentation will be used to discuss this chapter, that is, verse by verse interpretation will be one of the strategic ways of interpretation of the chapter. This will be in an endeavor to bring out the theme of divine providence that Christ Jesus teaches his believers while at the same time drawing a closer look at the theme of cynicism as portrayed by the tone of Christ Jesus in his teachings. In the process of interpretation, contemporary literature will be used together with various comparisons. This will in an effort to bring the text and its context to the conventions of thought and the characteristic way of life of its people at that particular time. The arguments depicted in this passage will be identified and commented on. This is especially on how the arguments form a persuasive tone as a whole. The contents of the verses in this chapter will also be compared with the discussions of divine providence by Epictectus and Dio. This will be help to analyze the verse which comes closer than the other. At the end of the discussion, the verses will also be related to chapter 5 verses 7 of the book of Matthew, where the context of the verse brings a personification of Jerusalem (Good New bible 809). In this chapter, Christ Jesus teaches Christians not to worry about their lives but instead, be trusting. This is to mean that Christians are obliged to trust their maker, their God, for their divine provision. Looking at the lives of the people at that particular time and even today, one can easily decipher the fact that our lives have gone past the worries implied in the text. This is because of the fact that many people get worried of the things that they do not even need. In verse 24, Christ Jesus talks of the two masters that a Christian can serve, either God or the material things. This is the verse that carries weight in the whole of this chapter. This is because; the others are based from it in the sense that Christ Jesus believes that Christians are more inclined into serving both or focusing mere on material things, where on the other hand, his teachings are centered on serving God, and seeking his righteousness first, and â€Å"the rest shall be added† (Good New bible 809) In verses 25: Christ Jesus is commenting on the worries that Christians or the disciples at that particular time needed. These include food, drink, and clothing, which are the basic necessities of life. At this particular moment, the disciples and the believers at this particular moment were worried about getting enough to get by (Good New bible 809). The principles of chreia (which is defined as a brief reminiscence aptly attributed to someone) are clearly illustrated on this verse. The chreia saying that Jesus made was: do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. The elaboration of Jesus chreia is quite admirable due to the aspect of sarcasm and rhetorical. It’s considered rhetoric to tell people not to worry about their own lives, the clothes, food and shelter, of which are the basic needs of human being. But to some extent, the chreia in the sentence can be appreciated from the fact that the believer live by the power of God and therefore he who is able to give life can also provide the rest that they need. In one way or another, the chreia is also expressed in other verses, for instance in verse 33: but seek first the kingdom of God and the rest shall be given unto you. The believers who desire the gifts from God must first seek his kingdom, irrespective of whether it’s a hard and a bitter process or not. this can be compared to such chreia sayings as ‘the roots of education are bitter but the fruits sweet’. This is to mean for one to enjoy the fruits of education, they must first taste the bitter roots of education. The same case with believers; for them to enjoy the gifts of God they must first seek the kingdom of God. Verses 25 to 34 as unit can be said to contain one teaching of Christians, in his admonition, and teachings. The verses are interlinked, in the sense, they indicate the conditions that believers should follow in order to acquire God’s blessings. The word ‘therefore’ links with verse 24 in the sense that for believers, they cannot serve two masters, that is, God and satan. The word believer in the context of Christianity originates from believe in one God as the creator and maker of heaven and the earth, and therefore having believed in God wholeheartedly, Christians or believers, ‘therefore’ should not worry about their lives. The word ‘therefore’ in this context is used to connect the two verses and subsequently introduce the other verses. While on the other hand, some of the believers were in the current generation worry about what to do with all the material possessions that we have. Jesus emphasizes on the fact that God is the provider and therefore believers should not be worried about what to eat or drink, but should be satisfied with the little they have. This in other words is to mean that Jesus raises the eyes of the believers above their worries by redirecting their thinking. He raises their sights above the worries of this world to faith and trust in God, who is their heavenly father and therefore will not forsake but provide for them. This is again to mean that Christ Jesus takes the Christians to the source of their blessings and where their help is guaranteed, that is, from their heavenly father (Good New bible 809). In verse 28, where Christ Jesus is talking about worries on clothing, He delivers his teaching by giving a comparison with the lilies of the field â€Å"how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these†. If God therefore is able to clothe the grass of the field today, which is alive today and gone the following day, who are Christians who are made in his own image not be clothed by Him even more. This is to mean that Christians should focus more on the things of the kingdom of God have a security. Christians should therefore stop the single minded pursuit of financial security but on the contrary should seek the things that last (Good New bible 809). He also brings a comparison in verse 26 where he emphasizes on the fact that Christians are more valued by God than any other creature. The birds of the air neither sole or reap, nor gather into barns, and yet they never go hungry from the fact that Heavenly father provides for them. This is to mean that Christians, who are better than the birds of the air, should focus their hope from God alone for divine provision. He therefore gives the second reason why Christians are not supposed to get worried. This is found in verse 32: â€Å"we have a heavenly father who knows what we need†. This is to mean that the heavenly father as portrayed by Christ Jesus is kind and loving and will therefore provide for their needs (Good New bible 809). Christians should therefore trust and believe in the heavenly father for his divine provisions. God has therefore given us strength and the ability to work to earn our living. He controls our minds and helps us make wise decisions. He also provides to believers through other people. This can be through our fathers and mothers, relatives, church, friends among other people. These are some of the divine channels that our father in heaven uses to provide for Christians here on earth (Good New bible 809). In verse 28, Christ Jesus gives the third reason why Christians should not worry about the things of this world. This is because there are more important things that Christians should be seeking after. Christ Jesus says that â€Å"therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear, for the gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. Here the theme of cynicism is portrayed from the fact that Christ Jesus understands the fact that many Christians are pessimistic and anxious about their daily needs (Good New bible 809). Believers seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you†. Here Christ Jesus is trying to emphasize on the fact that Christians should understand that their heavenly father will always provide for them and therefore they should center their focus on the things of the kingdom of God, which will last forever. He is therefore teaching Christians to focus on their energy in seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This is to mean that it’s more seeking that the material things of this world. Christ Jesus came teaching about this fact; the paramount importance of seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness. In this verse, the theme of divine providence is depicted in two ways (Good New bible 809). First, Christians are advised to seek the kingdom of God first. This is to mean that they should work and strive towards attaining the heavenly gifts which only God can give. This being the case therefore, their heavenly father, God, is portrayed as the provider. The only one who is in a position to provide the things of the kingdom, and his righteousness? The second point comes at the end of the verse whereby, Christ Jesus says that â€Å"and all things shall be added unto you†. This is to mean that after seeking the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, they shall or will receive a divine provision from their father, that is, all things they have desired shall be provided. This is a portrayal of the theme of divine providence (Good New bible 809). Looking at the way Christians had misused Jerusalem church; Christ Jesus drives them out claiming that â€Å"his house shall be a house of prayer†. The believers at that particular time were using the church to gain material possession; a place where they were supposed to seeking God and his righteousness. This also brings out the theme cynicism, from the fact that Christians had much doubt and even pessimistic about seeking God. They therefore opted to seek material possessions even his house own house, that is, the church, where they were supposed to seek God (Good New bible 809). The last verse in this chapter gives the ‘Christ Jesus conclusion’ on the whole issue. Christ concludes his teachings with the following; †¢ Christians should first seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness †¢ After seeking the kingdom of God, all other things shall be added unto them. †¢ They should therefore not get worried about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. †¢ He finally concludes that each day has its sufficient trouble and therefore Christians are not supposed to worry about their future. Although the above conclusions are true, there are other results are conspicuous throughout this chapter. These are based on the theme of divine providence and the theme of cynicism. The results indicate that for Christians to partake of the heavenly gifts, that is, the divine provision from their father, they must have; †¢ Have faith and trust in Him †¢ They must also believe in Him †¢ They must also seek his kingdom and righteousness first. †¢ Have no worry about their basic needs for their father cares and loves them to provide for them. †¢ The results also indicate that Jehovah God is the sole provider of both his righteousness and the daily needs that we need as Christians. It’s through the focus on the above results that the whole paper has been formatted. The central verse in the chapter that has been analyzed can was considered and identified to be verse 24. This is because it carries the starting and the concluding remarks of the verses studied. That is, Christians must choose one master to serve, either God or material possession (Good New bible 809). Works cited Good News bible. Early Christian Gospels: The book of Matthew 6: 24-34. USA: American Bible Society. 1994.

New Public Management in the UK

New Public Management in the UK This chapter is devoted to the New Public Management (NPM) aspects regarding the UK perspectives. It begins with the meaning and the origin of the NPM. Some discussions are raised whether it is a conceptual thought or a practical application of management in public service. Then, it draws the line of NPM development along the UK history since the public administration had been emerged. Four main trends of public management are investigated from the related literatures to provide the succinctly picture of the UKs public service organisations reform and changes. One way to understand how NPM has been developed is to understand its nature. The attributes and models of NPM therefore are identified and categorised into main groups. This is to show how NPM has been reformulating and re-labelling in different ways from time to time. Later in this chapter, The Pendulum analogy is introduced to analyse the changes and the trend of NPM. It goes to the question whether there is a Pendulum analogy of NPM in the UK or not. What is NPM? Sometimes the new public management seems like an empty canvas; you can paint on it whatever you like. There is no clear or agreed definition of what the new public management actually is and not only is there controversy about what is, or what is in the process of becoming, but also what ought to be. (Ferlie et al., 1996:10) The term New Public Management (NPM) is used internationally in academic, governmental and organisational discussions, but it is rarely defined. It began life as a conceptual device invented for purposes of structuring scholarly discussion of contemporary changes in the organization and management of executive government In the decade after entering the literature, NPM acquired a wider range of meanings. For instance, some scholars have asserted that NPM is the application of new institutional economics to public management, many scholars have used this term in referring to a pattern of policy choices. This variation in usage means NPM is more a recognizable term than a fully established concept. (McLaughlin et al., 2002:15) Britain is very much on the crest of the NPM wave, as successive governments have sought not only to cut public expenditure and redraw the boundaries of the state but also to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public services(Horton and Farnham, 1999:55) Origin and Definition Hood (1991:5) argues that NPM is originated from two different streams of ideas. First idea is The new institutional economics movement which have a set of new administrative style such as contestability, user choice and transparency. Second is Managerialism style which is drawn from scientific management mindset. Horton, S. Farnham, D. (1999) argue that by 1997 all public services had been affected by the adoption by successive conservative governments of neo-liberal or New Right ideas and all had been managerialised. The service were discussed as new, because they had been shifting from traditional bureaucratic administrative to managed public business. The reform of public services had been internalised and it was possible to describe as New Public Management as the norm. Concept or Application The Development of NPM in the UK Early Public Administration Earlier systems of administration began when there was an empire and its government. It most controlled from the centre based on personal that is the loyalty to individual such as a king or a minister rather than impersonal that is based on the organisation or the state. The common system inherited in this system is patronage and nepotism. The only way that young man can be employed by the government was to be supported by relative or family in a position. And there is no guarantee in the quality or competent in this so called spoiled system. (Hughes, 2003:18) The Traditional Public Administration Administrative systems traditionally dominated public organisations because historically the public services emerged as administrative bodies, supporting political policy makers and law makers and ensuring that the law was implemented. The civil service is still dominated by an elite whose perception of their roles is that of policy advisers to ministers and guardians of the public interest rather than managers. The administrative culture is also a consequence of traditional systems of public accountability (Horton and Farnham, 1999:38) Hughes (2003) states that the public administration was once a major movement in public sector reform established between 1900 and 1920. He characterized this tradition model as an administration under the control of political leadership, based on a strictly hierarchical model of bureaucracy (p.2) According to his work, the most influence theorists who contribute the success idea of public administration are Woodrow Wilson, Max Weber and Frederick Taylor. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the key activist and the professor at Princeton, argued that there should be a distinctive separation between politics and the administration. He proposed this idea many years before becoming the president of the United States. Max Weber (1864-1920), the German sociologist and political economist, formulated the theory of bureaucracy which set out the principles form of modern system of bureaucracy as the impersonal system based on rules and law, hierarchy structure organisation, bureaucratic professional public official, specialised office management, recruited and appointed by merit and politically neutral. Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), an American engineer was recognised as the father of scientific management devoted to improve standard of factory assembly line but fit very well with the theory of bureaucracy. He created theory of one best way of working and systematic control. (Hughes, 2003:20-27) The nature of administrative official work in most public organisations is defined as bureaucratic, incrementalist and particularist. The characterisation of bureaucratic management is hierarchy, impersonality and expertise. They concluded that Those in managerial positions have clearly defined roles within a specialised, hierarchical and horizontal division of labour. Their responsibility are narrowly defined and circumscribed by rules, and officials have limited discretion. (Horton and Farnham, 1999:39) Public administration was successfully established and has its golden age around 1920- to the early 1970s. During 1945-1979, it is known as The welfare state which has developed during the immediate post-war period that needs the reconstruction. There was rationing of industrial and building materials and planning in the economy, in land use and in public service. (Flynn, 2002:30) However, later it was found that the hierarchical structured have four major problems: First, political control was inadequate and illogical because politics cannot be separated from the administrations. Second, the problem of one base way begin to focus more on procedure and manual rather than contingency plan and problem solving, this is appeared as no responsibility for results. Third, the problems of bureaucracy were raised such as the administration work as timeserver waiting for retirement day, the formal bureaucratic offices were no longer efficient when compare with the private management company.(Hughes, 2003:30-37) In summary, the tradition model of public administration was the longest and most successful theory of management in the public sector before it had been replaced by the New Public Management Style. The Managerialism Since the early 1980s, there have been three main managerialist thrusts in the public services, although there have been variations within each service. First, there was tighter control of spending, involving cash limits and manpower budgets, and cuts in spending on staff. Second, there was a movement to decentralise managerial responsibilities and functions through more devolved budgetary systems and giving more responsibility to line managers, Third, management has become more rational with the introduction of management by objectives and performance management systems, including use of performance indicators and merit pay.(Horton and Farnham, 1999:42-43) The shift from particularist management to generic management in the public services is demonstrated by four key changes: first, public management is increasingly dominated by general managers, rather than specialist managers or professionalssecond, it is more objective-driven, rather than problem-driven; third, managers are now prepared to facilitate change, rather than resist it; and, fourth, managers behave as if the public are their main concern, rather than their staff.(Horton and Farnham, 1999:43) The New Public Management The emergence of new public management era has been developed from the scientific management and corresponding with the managerialism initiative. The good way to describe the NPM development is to do by chronological order according with the political development as well established by Norman Flynn (2002). 1979-1997, The New Right Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major toward the public services hired advisers form business, especially retailing companies to help them to think about how public services should be managed. The solutions included internal market, competition with the private sector, performance measure and management, decentralized operational management and revised payment system.(Flynn, 2002:36) 1997-2007 the Blair government announce the new third way represented a new type of politics, leaving behind old definition of left and right, capitalism and communism but the two great streams- democratic socialism and liberalism. A new generation of public reform was labelled as join-up government and later know as whole-of-government. This model was first introduced by Blairs government that its strategy is focus more on holistic rather than only economics approach. It aimed to make better use of scarce resources, create collaboration between different departments in the same area and provide one stop service to citizen. Due to the threat of terrorism had arisen that time, shared information between public agencies is became the key issue. It cut across traditional boundaries by create coordinative structure. It was claimed as Post-NPM model and critiqued the previous NPM that ignore the problem of horizontal structure. (Flynn, 2002, Christensen and Lagreid, 2007) 2007-2010, The Brown ministry ( latest ref needed) The NPM Attributes and Models It is essential to identify key elements of NPM in order to see whether it can be categorising and groping those attributes and model to formulate the trend or movement. The following part of this chapter then consults with the previous literatures and related studies to gather all information and later on proposed the major trend of the NPM pathway. NPM Attributes Hood (1991:4-5) discussed the doctrines of NPM which characterized to 7 components as follow: Using professional management who is full accountability and responsibility rather the power Explicit standards and measures of performance in terms of target, quantities Focus on output and outcome rather than procedures Shift to disaggregation of units in which separate provision and production interests to divided units. Create greater competition, use term contract to make competitive cost and higher standard Do more on business-like management style implemented in the public service culture Cutting costs and careful on budgeting with the idea of doing more for less He critiques that to identify success of NPM should be assess by the output to be delivered on what its claim. But the result so far has not a substantial work to be proved. NPM Models According to Ferlie et al. (1996:10-15), four new public management models have been introduced: Model 1: The Efficiency Drive, early to mid-1980s in Thatcher government initiated this model and the core themes are: An increased attention to financial control A strong managerial by hierarchy, a command and control mode of working An extension of audit both financial and professional, bench-marking, assessing performance Increased stress on provider responsiveness to consumers. More market-minded and customer oriented. Deregulation of the labour-market and increasing the pace of work: short-term contract; higher turnover at senior management level A shift in power from professionals to management Less bureaucratic and more entrepreneurial management New forms of corporate governance Model 2: Downsizing and Decentralization Developed quasi-market as the mechanism for allocating resources whining the public sector A move from management by hierarchy to management by contract. Contracting out of non-strategic function Delayering and downsizing, moves to flatter organizational structures, staff reduction move from command and control to networking and coordination Move away from standardized forms of service to more flexibility and variety. Model 3: In Search of Excellence, there is strong interest in how organizations manage change and innovation. In the bottom-up form: emphasis on organization development and learning; the learning organization movement of the late 1980s represents the latest relabeling of this tradition. In the top-down form: stress on charismatic forms of top-down leadership, more intensive corporate training programmes and strategic human resource management function. Model 4: Public Service Orientation receives notions of high quality management A major concern with service quality Reflection of user concerns and values in the management process Stress on the development of societal learning over and above the delivery of routine service Stress on securing participation and accountability as legitimate concerns of management in the public sector. Centralization: joint- up government, whole-of Government, reaggregation, In the 1990s the UK public services had experienced significant changes in what government expected of them and the way they were organised. The conservative government prior to 1997 had followed a policy of trying to achieve greater efficiency and service through market forces, setting up structures within public services to promote competition. With the election of the Labour government in 1997 this policy changed. Rather than emphasising competition, the emphasis switched to co-operation and what became known as Join-up government. Different services should work together to make them more accessible to their communities and improve quality. It was a theme with which Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, became personally identified.(Johnson and Scholes, 2002:572) Decentralization: Privatization, Agencification, Marketization, Disaggregation It [Privatisation] has taken three main forms: the selling-off government assets, the increased private-sector role within the public sector, and commercialisation of the public sectorFirst, the selling-off of government assets involves the transfer of ownership form the public to the private sector. Since 1979, more than 60 nationalised industries an state companies have been privatised, local authorities have sold land and other assets, Second, the increased private-sector role within the public sector involves private businesses and voluntary organisations providing public services still under government control government bodies have increasingly contracted-out service provision to private contractors; and central government has appointed many business people on to the boards of quangos that are responsible for providing public services. Third, commercialisation of the public sector requires public sector bodies to imitate allegedly more efficient private sector bodies in the way they manage themselves. For example, government bodies have levied more charges on consumers of their services; performance management has been increasingly entrenched in the public sector; and government reforms of public services have often asserted the right to manage with public managers being given more freedom locally to deploy resources in pursuit of centrally set policy goals. (Horton and Farnham, 1999:53) The Pendulum of Public Sector Management The Analogy of Pendulum The NPM Pendulum in the UK The major attempt is to reduce size of the public sector. By 1997, more than 90 public enterprises had been sold to private sector. This included both selling of public enterprise to private shareholders and introducing competition in to the remaining public sector into the supply of services of private sector. Privatization had the further advantage of raising additional revenue from the sale of state assets, thus avoiding increases in general taxation to fund government spending. (Horton and Farnham, 1999:12)

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Essay -- Essays Papers US Civil War Es

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Most people think of the Civil War as a military battle between the North and South. Without studying the subject, they do not appreciate the facts that make up this historical event. When one reads the novel, Killer Angels, the reader is given a much better perception and understanding of what actually happened during the war. Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, is a realistic historical depiction of the great battle of Gettysburg, which left 50,000 Confederate and Union soldiers dead, wounded, or missing. The novel is set up in chronological order of events that took place during the four days of the bloody and decisive battle of the Civil War. The tale is told from an alternating north and south perspective. In this manner, readers can have a good mental picture of how each event came about. It even shows maps for a better understanding of each step the North and South took. It is clear where each of the battles were taking place and why the generals try to use the land for their own advantage. It was very interesting to read about the different strategies and tactics the generals utilized in the attempted destruction of their enemies. The well-deserved rave reviews that litter the front and back covers drew me to it, but Shaara's powerful writing style and stunningly human characters drew me into it. Shaara has an amazing ability to portray the major players of the battle, whose real personalities must have since been lost over a...

Environmental Destruction: A Philosophical-Anthropological Perspective

Environmental Destruction: A Philosophical-Anthropological Perspective It is no secret anylonger that the ecological crisis puts mankind as a whole to an existential test which have to be solved in practice and in theory. So, by this the vast amount of literature can be explained which consequently led to the emergence of an own "genre" — the so called "ecoliterature" which herself is really dissonant and ambigious. In the meantime — besides other sources — almost all sciences take part in such kind of discussions what obviously can be traced back to the fact that the ecological crisis is such a substantial phenomena which leads therefore to numerous perceptions and different point of views. Considering philosophy — for some the "royal discipline" per se — we can claim that she has forcefully regarded the ecological problems as a challenge in the last decade. But, she has owed her resources first and foremost to ethical considerations. Because of this an ecological ethics has — admittedly not undisputed — developed as a new special ethics. Besides this and apart from an aesthetics of nature as well as from a philosophy of nature different sections of philosophy acting in a much more restraint and careful way. Neither the social philosophy nor the one of history or metaphysics — only to name a few — have seriously engaged in the ecology although it is evident that they are really needed as competent participants. Generally, each section can participate on environmental dialogues. The current role of philosophical anthropology The outlined moderate discussions about ecological and environmental problems can also be observed within the philosophical anthropology which is — according to my opinion — not tenable. One... ...ces JONAS, H.: Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik fà ¼r die technologische Zivilisation. Frankfurt a.M. 1979. LENK, H.: Wie philosophisch ist die Philosophische Anthropologie? Methodologische Bewertung zu den anthropologischen Grundlagen der Sozialwissenschaften. In: FREY, C. / ZELGER, J. (Hrsg.): Der Mensch und die Wissenschaft vom Menschen. Bd. 1. Innsbruck 1983, 145 ff. MAQUARD, O.: Homo Compensator. Zur anthropologischen Karriere eines metaphysischen Begriffs. In: FREY, C. / ZELGER, J. (Hrsg.): Der Mensch und die Wissenschaft vom Menschen. Bd. 1. Innsbruck 1983, 63 ff. MEINBERG, E.: Das Menschenbild der MEINBERG, E.: Homo Oecologicus. Das neue Menschenbild im Zeichen der à ¶kologischen Krise. Darmstadt 1995. PLESSNER, H.: Gesammelte Schriften. Frankfurt a.M. 1985. SCHELER, M.: Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos. Bern, Mà ¼nchen 1966.

DMCA and Russia :: Copyright Laws Sharing Essays

DMCA and Russia Background Information Traditionally, book authors have had the Copyright Law to protect their creations. That changed, however, since their books have become available in electronic format. In short, the creations had been turned into information – one that can effortlessly be copied and distributed thanks to invent of computers, Internet, and (lately), cheap data storage devices. Adobe Corporation’s eBook was meant to fix that problem for the copyright owners, while letting the readers keep their rights to their copy of the book. A book translated into eBook format would contain various permissions in it, preventing the user from being able to share the book with anyone else (by tying the eBook’s decryption key to the user’s computer). Additionally, the distributor of the book would be able to specify whether the book can be transferred to paper (printed), text copied, book edited, etc. In theory, such restrictions would prevent unlawful distribution of books in electronic format. Unfortunately, the golden rule of computer security applies in full force here: the level of security is inversely proportional to the usability of the product being secured. In short, Adobe’s restrictions allowed the publishers to prevent users from printing a legal copy of the book (to read away from a computer), creating a backup copy of the book in case the computer has to be restored from a failure or upgraded, and other limitations, e.g. disabling built-in provisions for vision-impaired users. U.S. vs. Dmitry Sklyarov & ElcomSoft Since 1993, in mid- to late summer, DefCon, a yearly convention of hackers1 has occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2001, two programmers from Russia – Dmitry Sklyarov and Andy Malyshev – presented their findings of flaws in protection schemes used by the Adobe’s eBook format.2 Dmitry was arrested by the FBI half an hour before boarding a plane back to Moscow, Russia.3 Even after holding Dmitry for more than a week, no bail hearing was even scheduled. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the freedoms we enjoy in the physical world, in the digital world – has stepped in and started with organizing protests aimed at freeing Sklyarov from jail. These protests have been postponed while EFF representatives met with representatives from Adobe Corp. and US Attorney Office. As a result, Adobe Corp. has dropped its support of the lawsuit, but the case was not closed. It was only after 3 weeks that Dmitry was finally released, on a $50,000 bail.

Deontological ethics Essay

Attempting to explain the differences and similarities of virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological is basically from my own understanding of each. I am having much difficulty reading the materials as well as sitting at this computer for any length of time. I believe my reading visual is deteriorating at a rapid pace because of the straining to my eyes. Virtue ethics focuses on a person’s character and morals. This person will always try to do what is right because he was taught at an early age and by someone he loves and wants to always please by doing the right thing, regardless of the consequences. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of your actions. What I mean by that is that if you steal something and not get caught, there are no consequences. No one knows that you stole and therefore you do not have to answer to anyone but yourself. Deontology focuses on the outcome of the act whether right or wrong. The person steals food from a grocery store because his children are hungry and he does not have the money to buy food. Although it is his responsibility to feed his children, stealing is clearly wrong. The consequences did not matter at that particular time; he did what he felt he had to do. Recently there was an incident on my route where a woman called in to my job and conveyed to my superior that I was talking about Jesus on the bus and she was offended. I was called in and reprimanded and told not to speak about religion on the bus. My response to her was, is that right? Quite a few of my regular passengers know that I am a minister and talk to me regularly about the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith. Based on the virtue ethics, I was taught to speak the word of God in season and out of season, when it is time or easy and when it is not a good time or hard. This is my first and most important job and regardless of the consequences, I will continue to preach the word and pray for anyone who desires to hear it. I will always try to please Jesus in whatever I do.

Organizational Culture and Its Counterculture

The authors Joanne Martin and Caren Siehl are focusing on organizational culture and its counterculture. The definition given by the authors for counterculture states that counterculture will most likely arise in a strongly centralized organization that has allowed a reasonable decentralization of authority to take place. The article assumes that cultural systems can emphasize as well as sustain the objectives of the firm’s top management. The main argument here is that in addition to serving integrative functions, culture can express disagreement and address needs for segregation among organizational elements.As a replacement for thinking culture is a huge phenomenon, they explore counterculture’s uneasy symbiotic relationship with the rest of an organization. Finally they tackle the connection between cultural development and managerial action by asking what a leader does, unintentionally or intentionally, that seems to impact the development of a counterculture. Give n said that when a dominant culture and a counterculture takes place it creates an uneasy symbiosis between these two interdependent cultures. There were two books selected for this research, one was by Ed Cray and the other was by J. P Wright on General Motors.The three core values for dominant culture in GM were â€Å"respecting authority†, â€Å"fitting in† and â€Å"being loyal†. J. P Wright talks about how DeLorean’s division in GM has created an uneasy symbiosis relationship between the dominant culture and counterculture. DeLorean’s activities have been studied to see how he has created a counterculture in an organization with such a strong dominant culture. There are several ways to counter the dominant culture and DeLorean has done so by â€Å"questioning deference to authority†, â€Å"finding an alternative way to fit in† and â€Å"opposing demands for unquestioning loyalty†. . There are three types of subcultures; th e first is enhancing, orthogonal and counterculture. This article’s main focus will be on counterculture. According to the authors some core values of a counterculture has a direct challenge to the core values of a dominant culture, therefore creating an uneasy symbiosis. This article has taken two main authors as their references to explore the adequacy of a dominant culture and a counterculture and to find out what values those artifacts put across.The two main authors are Ed Cray, Chrome Colossus: General Motors and Its Times (McGraw-Hill, 1980) and J. P Wright’s description of DeLorean’s activities, On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors (Wright Enterprises, 1979). This article was done on General Motors, one of the main characters that was discussed in this article was on John DeLorean who was a head of one of the division’s in GM. DeLorean was a man who made his way up the corporate ladder which gave him a position of leadership, resources and po wer who in return questioned the dominant culture of GM.There were three main core values of GM that were discussed, the first is Respecting Authority: Jargon and Rituals of Deference. What happens in GM is that the dominant culture gives so much importance to paying reverence to the top corporate management; special jargon was used to refer to these executives. For example, each top manager was assigned a junior executive who will be an assistant, and these assistants were called â€Å"dog robbers† which meant an assigned servant who is responsible to pick up the dogs dropping in a large household.Another type of dominant culture artifact was the ritual, GM had many rituals, this is just one of the rituals; subordinates were expected to meet their superiors from out of the town at the airport and carry their bags, pay for their hotels, meals and chauffeur them around day and night. The second core value found in GM was Fitting In: Communicating Invisibility by Visible Cues. The core value of invisibility was expressed through such visible cultural artifact as dress and decor.An example GM’s dress code was a dark suit, a light shirt and a muted tie so that no single employee stands out. The rule implemented on office decor also states the value of invisibility. All the decor was standardized. In GM if an employee was invisible he was a â€Å"team player†. They engage in public, symbolic acts of conformity to show they are team players. The third core value to the GM way of life was loyalty to one’s boss. They were all expected to be loyal to their bosses and not question them or even point out their wrong doings.One of the examples given was, GM retirement dinner, in this retirement dinner they pay tribute to the retiree by telling his journey story in the past years in GM. These dinner instilled mutual respect, admiration and loyalty. It was important for GM to tell the stories of their retiring employees, simply because these stor ies were true and shows a sequence of events in the company’s history. In one case, DeLorean did not go to pick his boss up from the airport, which was a ritual followed by all GM employees, what happened was DeLorean’s boss was furious and expected DeLorean to not repeat it ever again.In the retirement dinner, they reward the retiree for the past tasks done by ensuring future loyalty, so in DeLorean’s case he would be marked by the others and may be seen as someone who isn’t a team player. The counterculture to these dominant cultures can be seen by DeLorean’s actions. There are three areas to it; the first is questioning deference to authority. DeLorean kept creating stories that were being questioned by other employees, because one story will not make most of the employees buzzing, therefore DeLorean created many situations.For example, he wanted to replace deference to authority with task-oriented efficiency. He discouraged the meeting of super iors at airports. DeLorean himself role modeled the behavior. This incident became an organizational story. He became a controversial and powerful figure. This particular event was significant because it expressed a value that contradicted a core value of the dominant culture. The second counterculture, An Alternative to Fitting In: The Limits of Acceptable Deviance. DeLorean did not agree on the core value of fitting in team play. He instead valued dissent and independence.He backed his values with practices, by changing his divisions’ performance appraisal system. Performance was measured on basis of criteria that were as objective as possible. DeLorean was also able to role model himself by not following the dress code and he also changed the decor in his division, allowing his executives to have their own touch in their spaces. This was his way of declaring independence from the dominant culture. The only way a counter culture can sustain is by implementing the practices as well as being consistent with the preferred value.Opposing Demands for Unquestioning Loyalty is the third counterculture. Articulation of a â€Å"boomerang† challenged the dominant culture. The Corvair was a product of GM that was supposed to be the finest and most appealing product to attract the young. The Corvair story becomes a boomerang, it takes a sudden turn and employees started questioning the safety of the rear engine, but without enough support and evidence that the Corvair was not safe GM management told the employees who objected to join the team or find some other place to work. In the end the Corvair had caused many deaths because of its faulty design.This in return cost GM its reputation and millions of dollars in legal expense, and of court settlements. 3. This argument fits with my experience as an observation that I have seen happen over and over again, it is no other than an public area which most of us are bound to go to in some time in our lives in di fferent occasions, the hospital. It is always said that right after graduating as a doctor, the worst fear for all of them is their houseman ship years. It is a dominant culture that all new doctors who are coming in for their houseman ship are pushed around and are made to work over time.In other words they are bullied by their superiors. It has been a culture that has been happening all around the world and many have come to accept it as a norm. In my opinion I don’t think it should be the case, I believe that there can be an artifact of a counterculture here. Why it is that fresh new graduate doctors allow their superiors to push them around to a certain extreme. For example, senior doctors, will intentionally post questions for houseman ship doctors in front of a patient and then mock them for the answers given to enforce their authority as senior doctors.This can be emotionally damaging depending on the degree of verbal abuse. Another case would be houseman ship doctors are treated as the lowest employees in the hospital during their houseman ship years; they are not only pushed around by senior doctors but by the nurses as well. They are made to do irrelevant work and lots of running around. Another case would be sometimes, senior doctors will make houseman doctors to do their shifts as well, resulting in the housemen to be wore out and exhausted.Some of these housemen will eventually break down, for they are not able to cope with the pressure and stress. Then again this happens over and over again in all parts of the world. In my opinion I think it would make a lot of difference if some doctors have the capability to stand up and make a change in this environment. I believe as time goes by, more and more stories and incidents will occur causing the dominant culture to be questioned and a breakthrough for a counterculture to take place in this particular environment.I am sure there are cases where certain doctors have made a stand for themselves, but with the repetition of the same behavior this dominant culture may be able to change. Where the houseman ship doctors are treated with equal respect and are able to apply what they have learnt over the past few years in their houseman ship years. 3. This argument fits with my experience as an observation that I have seen happen over and over again, it is no other than an public area which most of us are bound to go to in some time in our lives in different occasions, the hospital.It is always said that right after graduating as a doctor, the worst fear for all of them is their houseman ship years. It is a dominant culture that all new doctors who are coming in for their houseman ship are pushed around and are made to work over time. In other words they are bullied by their superiors. It has been a culture that has been happening all around the world and many have come to accept it as a norm. I believe that there can be an artifact of a counterculture here.For example, senior doc tors, will intentionally post questions for houseman ship doctors in front of a patient and then mock them for the answers given to enforce their authority as senior doctors. This can be emotionally damaging depending on the degree of verbal abuse. Another case would be houseman ship doctors are treated as the lowest employees in the hospital during their houseman ship years; they are not only pushed around by senior doctors but by the nurses as well. They are made to do irrelevant work and lots of running around.Senior doctors will make houseman doctors to do their shifts as well, resulting in the housemen to be wore out and exhausted. Some of these housemen will eventually break down, for they are not able to cope with the pressure and stress. Then again this happens over and over again in all parts of the world. It would make a lot of difference if some doctors have the capability to stand up and make a change in this environment. As time goes by, more stories and incidents will occur causing the dominant culture to be questioned and a breakthrough for a counterculture to take place in this articular environment. I am sure there are cases where certain doctors have made a stand for themselves, but with the repetition of the same behavior this dominant culture may be able to change. Where the houseman ship doctors are treated with equal respect and are able to apply what they have learnt over the past few years in their houseman ship years.4. Reference Martin, J and Siehl, C (1983) Organizational Culture and Counterculture: An Uneasy Symbiosis. Organizational Dynamics, pp 52-64