Only in America Essay Example for Free

Only in America Essay â€Å"Only in America† was written by Leiber, Stoller, Weill, and Mann (1963) as a song to propagate the American dream. After more than four decades of American dream to own a house, a car, and to have a good-paying job one can see that it is not enough any longer for many ‘new’ Americans. Hard work and determination perhaps were good enough tools to â€Å"take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars†¦Ã¢â‚¬  four decades ago (that is if you were the right skin color) but not any longer. It does take a genius of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to become wealthy using their own talents as leverage. Or it takes a sheer luck and some intuition to participate in real estate speculations at exactly the right time. Either, that precludes honest working folks who work their given hours a week and get enough to pay the bills. More (2003) compared such to a drug â€Å"first prescribed to us as children in the form of a fairy tale. † Certainly, it happens for some, for a very few. It does seem that those very few knew exactly what they were doing – either investing into the right stock, buying properties when they still cost in low 100s in California, or get on the tip of the wave of progress, like Bill Gates did. Well, for the few it worked but not for the majority of us. It is not difficult to figure out the reasons. A rational thought would suggest that American government is able to render every citizen rich – not necessarily with the money distribution but with the controlling the purchase power of an average citizen. If to eliminate the political agenda and change the status quo to people-centered market, it is not difficult to see that one carrying President of the country can do so by a) eliminating unnecessary government agencies and departments and b) removing political and financial limitations to the free enterprise. The latter action by itself can be very powerful for business owners not having a need to compensate for the high rents and other costs to run a business will keep their products of low cost. Everything, from energy to communication services, to the infrastructure will cost less, much less as the result. Any business owner understands that selling products by the quantity will bring more financial result than doing so by higher cost and selling by the lesser numbers. As the result, people, even those with meager incomes, will have more purchase power by being able to afford much more than they can do today. That would raise the daily comfort of people. They would become content for their minds would not be preoccupied with the sheer necessities needed by their families. Material things and services, like houses, cars, food, clothes, education needs, health needs should not cost so much of a fortune that people must get into the life-time debt to be able to afford it. If the necessities are met and people do not have a difficult time to find an appropriate for them job, the content should become widespread. As of now, most people live in fear, in fear of loosing their jobs, in fear not being able to pay the mortgage and the car notes, for fear not being able to meet their responsibility to their families. People who live by such fear cannot experience content. I once knew a family, good solid one. He was a teacher working in the same district for over a decade. She worked at the bank. They had a nice house, two cars, good-looking furniture, but could not save enough to pay their financial obligations sooner. They lived a nice life, but in debt. And then, the tragedy stroke. He lost the purpose, feeling stagnated he left to his home country that he came from originally. Looking for happiness, he left his wife and children. To avoid gossip and talk in their community, she moved to another state with 50K dollars that came from his retirement plan. Because she could not afford to continue paying for the house, the house was foreclosed. The same happened with one of the cars. Her credit was in ruin, and now she had to start anew. She was afraid to touch the money, whatever left from moving and initial expenses. After three months, she found a job at the bank. The income was just enough to cover rent and monthly bills. What did happen to such a strong family who used to have everything: each other, nice house, cars, two wonderful kids, and ability to buy things they wanted†¦? One could say they lived American Dream, but did they? Does material things constitute the Dream most people strive to in their lives? It is apparent to me, that people who do not have material comfort around them, whose life is difficult because they have to calculate whether they have enough money to purchase oranges or grapes but cannot afford both, they would think that the end to their means would be living like that couple lived. And yet, my friend, being a nice and decent man felt trapped and not content. Once people obtain the material means around them they soon realize that their American Dream was not fancy cars or bigger homes – it is the opportunity to do what their heart desires: self-expression in the least amount. That would not happen if he had an opportunity to change a job that he was doing for 26 years, or at least to take a year of sabbatical. That would not happen if they were not in debt paying $ 2500 for the house and $ 1000 a month for their two cars. That would not happen if financial obligations did not overload him conflicting with his inner desires. Here, I believe I came to the root of the question whether this great country can give a feeling of being at home. Obviously, having enough income is not enough. Eliminating the need to obtain debts to rise economically perhaps would do for some. To my opinion, however, the concept of American Dream was neither of that: it had nothing to do with the financial part of it. If one looks deeper perhaps it can be seen that the fulfillment of personal dreams through the structure’s support to each family’s happiness can render people happier, and if happy they feel the more at home they would consider the country they live in. When people have to struggle thinking about their family economics and knowing that they cannot change their occupations because the discontinuation of income would bring their family to the financial ruin, they cannot think of their personal development through the change of direction in their life. They grow more and more discontent and discontented people are bitter people, people who can at the brink of a move quit their country and go looking for the happiness elsewhere. In conclusion, more and more people understand that described is not enough to be happy in life, that doing the job for the only purpose to get the money to buy the house and a nice car causes stagnation, and as the result unhappiness and discontent. An opportunity that was promised as a part of all American dream is waning and harder to grasp. That is because people understand more and more that to be called Home, the society must offer something else: as in the promise to personal fulfillment – whatever it be. The idea of a home can be different from different perspectives. Certainly, living in a house with the backyard, driving a brand new car, and having a respectable income can make characteristics of a home for many people who had never had such before. Yet, for others these are not enough for they seek something else, perhaps certain characteristics of the society that increase the degree of their satisfaction from living this life. Yet for others the dream is to become wealthy just to discover (in case if they achieve it) that even that was an illusion. The idea of a home cannot be objectified for it is unique to the subjective perception of every person who lives within the society. References More, M. (2003). Dude, where’s my country? (publisher? ) Jay and the Americans (1963). Only in America. Song written by Leiber, J. , Stoller, M. , Weill, C. , and Mann, B.

Photos and Images are More Powerful than Words Essay -- Argumentative

Images are More Powerful than Words The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the term image as â€Å"An optically or electronically formed representative reproduction of an object, esp. an optical reproduction formed by a lens or a mirror.† This is what is more commonly referred to as a picture. The definition of a word is â€Å"a sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a combination of morphemes.† In fact, there is a constant debate about the importance and significance of both forms of communication. Because either one can be interpreted and considered differently, depending on who the viewer or reader is, this debate has been ongoing for quite some time now. The power that images have over words is stated simply by Neil Postman’s â€Å"The Great Symbol Drain† as â€Å"one picture, we are told, is worth a thousand words† (515). So, one can take a stand in saying that images are more powerful than words, because they can be understood and interpreted differently by different people. One of the benefits of EOP Cultural Trip was the visit to the United Nations Building (UN), where there was a Mural that depicted the past, present and future achievements of the UN as an organization. The images contained in this Mural evoked so many different emotions at one time that they forced one to become completely overwhelmed and in total awe. The pictures of the Holocaust were more vivid than any that could have ever been imagined while reading any book or article on the same topic. The images depicted struggle, despair, hope, strength and determination of those who were involved in that tragedy. Everyone,... ...s, Madge Sinclair. Paramount Pictures Video, 1988. Class Film. Eng 1201-EB. Summer Session, 2002. â€Å"Image.† American Heritage College 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Image of Kofi A. Annan With Young Girl. EOP Cultural Trip to New York: United Nations Building, July 19, 2004. Mural of Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations. EOP Cultural Trip to New York: United Nations Building, July 19, 2004. Postman, Neil. â€Å"The Great Symbol Drain† The Presence of Others 3rd ed. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Stephens, Mitchell. â€Å"By Means of the Visible; A Picture’s Worth† The Presence of Others 3rd ed. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. â€Å"Word.† American Heritage College 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Anthem For Doomed Youth Etc

This poem tries to stop young men from volunteering to go and fight in a war, and to let them see that war is not as what is was often imagined to be – glorious and sweet. â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† is also an anti-war poem, but it does not include the horrific imagery Of Dulcet et Decorum Est. In this poem, Owen explains that many young people die in war, and that the family also suffers from their relatives death. This poem discourages the families from sending their boys to war.It is aimed at the parents, and through the poem, the parents can realize the pain of losing a son. Both anti- AR poems want to explain to people although aimed at different groups that war is not glorious and sweet, as it was believed to be. In this, the poems are very similar, but the methods used to achieve this differs greatly. â€Å"Dulcet et Decorum Est† gives a personal experience of a soldier, probably Owen himself, in battle. The first stanza explains just how tired and exh austing you can be after war-The atmosphere is depressive.Owen uses words and phrases like â€Å"hags†, â€Å"sludge† and â€Å"drunk with fatigue†. The entire mood is depressive and exhausting, and makes the reader feel the draining effect of AR. In the second stanza, the mood changes drastically from being exhausted to energetic. This is what Owen describes to be â€Å"an ecstasy of fumbling†, which is an oxymoron, as ecstasy in usually associated with joy, and fumbling with awkwardness. It seems that a chlorine-gas bomb exploded near the soldiers, and panicle, they hastily put on their gas masks.All but one manage to put the masks on in time. That man suffers grumblingly, as he is described to be burnt by the gas â€Å"like a man in fire or which is a substance that can eat flesh. â€Å"As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. † The Rene sea would be because of the effects of the chlorine gas – which is green, and the mask visor. The dr owning effects would be because of the blood in his lungs, and the gurgling for air while he was dying. This is a good simile, because Owen compares the surrounding gas to a sea, in which he is safe, but the unprotected man is drowning.The stanza ends with the line â€Å"He plunges at me, guttering chocking, drowning'. It is a very gruesome end to a very horrid stanza. This onomatopoeia in line sixteen makes the death sound very real, gruesome and sickening. The atmosphere Of this stanza is horrifying ND sickening. In the third stanza, the atmosphere changes again. The gas is gone, and they are loading up the dead and dying. The bodies are, however, not loaded onto the truck with respect; instead they are â€Å"flung' in. This dehumidifies the dead, and it just shows that there is no time to honor the dead.They are treated like garbage. Then the half dead man from the gas- attack is brought up again. He is in his final death stages. It is just as horrid as the second stanza. †Å"the blood. .. Gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs†¦ † This is another onomatopoeia, and it is easy to imagine the final death scene. The sat part of the poem gives this statement after the grueling scene: â€Å"My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: Dulcet et Decorum Est Pro Patria Moor. In this, Owen explains, that if you could in some dream follow that horrific scene, and experience what the soldiers experienced, then nobody would enthusiastically tell desperate young men, about to go to war, seeking glory, that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country, as was often quoted by commanders. â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† is in the form of a Shakespearian sonnet, which is normally associated with love. This is very ironic, as this poem has very little to do with love – it has to do with death.The word â€Å"Anthem† is mostly associated with pride and glory, but in the ti tle, it symbolizes the guarantee and promise of dead young men. The first line asks a rhetorical question: â€Å"what passing bells for these who die like cattle? â€Å", followed by â€Å"only the monstrous anger of the guns†. This means, that there are no church bells for those who are slaughtered like animals, there are only the loud and deadly guns on the battlefields. Immediately, this will strike especially parents, who will not want their children to die, especially if there is tot even glory or honor in the death.No ceremony is held to honor the brave and dead there is only â€Å"angry' gunfire. Then there is the wonderful phrase â€Å"stuttering rifle's rapid rattle†. This is both an alliteration and an onomatopoeia. One can almost hear the deadly machine gun fire, ungracefully slaughtering thousands Of boys. Owen continues giving his description of the lack of glory for the young men, by saying â€Å"the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells†. T his is also a paradox, as choirs are usually associated with a church and happiness, but here it is the ‘song' of shrill, howling shells.

Essay about Financial Analysis of Priceline - 2191 Words

Part I: The Purpose of the Report and the Research Experience The main purpose of this report was to evaluate and research the financial information about Priceline during the past five years to evaluate the future developing of the company. In order to perform my research, I used Priceline’s 10 K report to get the financial information that was needed for this research. In addition, I used the company’s website where I found basic information about Priceline history and also other businesses that Priceline’s group owns. Yahoo finance and Priceline’s website assisted me with their presentation of financial charts and analysis of them. I found very useful Forbes website, where I was able to find out a lot of information about Priceline†¦show more content†¦Priceline points out â€Å"Jeffery H. Boyd has been Chairman of the Priceline Board of Directors since January 1, 2013† (â€Å"Board of Directors†). Jay Walker, in 1994 founded Walker Digital, which star a brand new business model, two years later Walker applied for a patent for pricing system, a year later he founded the Internet based travel agency Priceline which in 1998 begun its operation, in the very first day the company was visited for more than half million times. The following year the company went public and sold shares for $16 each, and most interesting that just thirty days later the stock was traded for $165 per share. For 2000 the company purchased Lowesfares.com, which was unsuccessful, and Mr. Walker also walked out of Priceline. In 2001 the company staked a quarterly profit, two years later ended the car and telephone services; Priceline and Travelweb LLC got an agreement and these two became partners. Deloitte Touche LLP is the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. Priceline’s interesting fact is that is very well known for selling airline tickets, hotel and car reservations, but also is dedicated to offer home mortgages and everything related to loans (â€Å"Board of Directors†). Part III: Corporate Strategies Corporate Strategy is defined as the overall scope and direction of a corporation and the way in which its variousShow MoreRelatedAn Acquisition Opportunity For Ramsay Health Care Ltd Essay1916 Words   |  8 Pagesunderstanding of the healthcare market in Australia and other countries it currently operates in, the economies of scale in purchasing medical supplies, its financial soundness with c. AUD 380m in Cash or cash equivalent with leverage ratio at 2.5x and its strong reputation in the market. 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