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The emergence and spread of Christianity can be dated back to the 31st to 33rd A.D when Jesus Christ embarked on his mission to spread the Good news to the Jewish population which was gradually spread globally by the apostles and missionaries. This mission was bestowed upon the apostles when the Roman Empire crucified Jesus Christ to order to end the emergence of a new leader & religion. The history of Christianity covers the faith and teachings of the vast Christian denominations from the 1st century to the 21st century. The history is categorized into the Early period, Medieval era and the Modern era.
Get original essayEarly Christianity can be classified into apostolic age and Ante-Nicene period. The form of Christianity spread during the apostolic period was considered to be Jewish Christianity while Judaism was gradually rejected by the public in the Ante-Nicene period. The end of Early Christianity is marked by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Following this early Christianity lies the Middle age also termed as the medieval era during which can be classified into Early middle, High middle and late middle ages which is marked by the fall of the roman empire until the protestant reformation.
The periods of early Christianity along with the periods of early middle age are clubbed together as patristic period. The apostolic age covers the lifetime of the Twelve apostles who were chosen by Christ himself. The conception of the Christian faith and its entire history is believed to be established during “the Apostolic Age”. It is during this period of time, (to be more specifically the 1st century) that the Gospel and letters by apostles of Christ were contributed which was organized as the New Testament.
In the early periods of Christianity the religion became accustomed to Jewish beliefs in which one’s soul unite with God while the body perishes after one’s death. Initially Jewish population surround the Mediterranean Sea were focused and within a decade of Jesus” departure Christianity was spread across major cities and trade routes including Ephesus, Corinth, Antioch, Cyprus, Thessalonica, Crete, and Rome. During this era the converted Christians did not fail in participating in Jewish traditions, practices and festivals which is elucidated in the Acts of the Apostles and canonical Gospel.
This was common until the latter period of the 1st century where the teachings of Paul of Tarsus did not encourage the Gentiles to pursue all of the Jewish laws (including Circumcision) in Antioch which marked a revolution in early Christianity. The Council of Jerusalem overlooked this controversy around 50 A.D since Paul was backed up by Peter who also emphasized that circumcision need not be practiced. It has been documented in the letter to the Galatians 4 years later that even though the council approved of this exception the other Laws and practices were meant to be considered necessities and be followed by the converts.
The council of Jamnia in 85 A.D opposed to the fact that the Messiah had come and until 135 A.D the Jews persecuted heretics among which the Christians were included. Christianity was legalized only in 313 A.D while Judaism was laundered in the end of 1st century by the Roman Empire. Even though Jewish Christianity was the earliest form of Christianity where the people simultaneously followed Torah and Jewish laws and venerated in synagogues and it was in the 5th century that the complete take over ensued.
The period of history that lies between the 2nd century and the council of Nicaea are termed as post apostolic or ante-Nicene era. In spite of this period considered to be highly significant in the growth of Christianity, there is only limited knowledge of this era due to the lack of evidence compared to the other eras. It was in this period that the Christians dissuaded from following Jewish traditions unlike 1st century Christians. The exquisite and distinct features of the church were formed during this era and became robust around 5th century. 9 volumes of scriptures by ante-Nicene fathers and 2 volumes by post Nicene and Nicene fathers were followed in the early periods. By the dawn of the 2nd century common scriptures were accepted by the gentiles and in turn led to the organization of the New Testament. The chain of command or the hierarchy and structure of the present church emerged from this period that took command from a central authority (bishop).
During the apostolic and post apostolic era Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and parts of Asia and Africa by mercenaries, mercantile and missionaries. Armenia was the first to announce their official religion as Christianity in 301 A.D. The fall of the Roman regime fell in 476 A.D which marked the beginning of the medieval period.
Odoacer who became the first emperor of Italy marked the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West while it still prevailed in the East. Since the influence of the Roman regime remained in the West for a long period of time, this fall of empire was considered as a transformation rather than a downfall. The Latin (West) and Greek (East) Christians differed among themselves due to the invasion of the Muslims. Transformation of the Eastern Church was steadier when compared to the west since the western church was compelled to become accustomed to the current state of affairs. When combat struck Italy Rome was left helpless which pushed the Bishop of Rome (Pope) to appeal to the Franks for provisions and support. By the initial period of the 5th century St.Patrick contributed much in spreading Christianity to Ireland from Britain with the help of his missionaries, priests ordained by him where Penitence was introduced as a private practice rather than a public one.
Anglo Saxons who are considered to be barbarians looted the Irish land once the Roman Empire departed and were eventually converted by St.Augustine around the latter period of the 5th century.
An association conducted research based on the history of the evolution of Homo sapiens (humans). Even though the ancestral roots are based in Africa, there were many different populations present which was caused through environmental, biologic and relational factors (with other organisms). Changing and secluded environments were common throughout generations which led to many cultures and genes intertwining.
Get original essayOver thousands of years, isolation caused human populations to separate and diversify, however not to the extent of speciation. This theory was proven accurate through the evidence of miscellaneous types of bones having both recent and ancient features along with extracted DNA from these bones showing complex diversity which a single population cannot handle. Therefore, this gives the conclusion that humans come from different eras, regions and cultures of Africa which is why the end result of the human species is exceptionally diverse.
The science of evolution, about how humans developed not as one whole group, but separate populations provided in this study, gives us an understanding of how humans came to be in present-day Earth. This was caused through factors called isolating mechanisms. These factors essentially lead to speciation, however in this case, humans still remain today as one species. A big mechanism was ecological isolation. Due to environments changing continuously, human populations are bound to isolate. For example, suppose there are two groups of humans, one in Kenya and one in Canada. Both have adapted to their local environments which leads to certain adaptations fit for that environment. The same goes with the human origin; because they came from different regions of Africa, many human populations started to adapt domestically and differently, thus some humans are better at certain skills, environments and niches than others. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck realized this pattern among species that one advances based on their reactions with the environment. Furthermore, with different environments come different niches, thus in a sense, this pattern in human history can be related to Adaptive Radiation. For example, one group of birds may separate and evolve into two different species, one with big fat beaks and one with thin, narrow beaks. Both are similar, but the lifestyle is different (one eats hard nuts and one eats nectar). Therefore, even though evolution does not occur, adaptation plays a key role, for example, one human living in the Sahara will use their hands for hunting while one in the grasslands will use it for agriculture. Additionally, since these different populations led to diversity, there is a good chance there have been Founder Effects. This means that a certain group of individuals have separated from the original group and formed a new population with different allele (a version of a trait) frequencies, such that a trait that was previously uncommon becomes common. That is why we experience majorities and minorities in today’s society. A great example is racial groups. Majority of South Asia consists of people with brown skin, while in the United Kingdom, majority are Caucasian. Therefore, even though humans are still one species, these generations of seclusion in Africa have led to different variety and characteristics through multiple factors similar/related to evolution and adaptation.
In my opinion, the evolution of our species is crucial to our knowledge as it indicates how and where our origin occured. Without this information, we would not have realized why we are how we are today. Our diversity, different types of cultures and ways of live, all originated due to our separations and adaptations to new environments in Africa. This eventually led to all these different countries that we inhabit today. Our ancestry from different populations and places in Africa is what leads us to have different traditions, religions, cuisines and lifestyles present in today’s living. Additionally, I completely agree with Dr. Scerri that we must acknowledge all parts of Africa to understand human evolution. If we did not, our evolution would not be fully proven and fragments of missing information would create more mysteries. Just because one region relates to the whole species does not mean that there are no other origins and places which relate to where we came from. Also, focusing on one species will not provide accurate information on what exactly gave us our diversity and differences. It takes different environments and experiences to lead us to who we have become. Simply one group and one ecosystem cannot handle this much variety.
In the end, this study could possibly start new realities and approaches on concepts of how organisms may not have only one origination, but multiple.
California became an American territory when the United States defeated Mexico in 1847. John Marshall discovered gold the next year, bringing people from all over the world to the port of San Francisco and the surrounding area. These prospectors scoured riverbeds and mountainsides, and eventually used dynamite to mine the hard rock. The influx of people caused many changes in the territory – from inflation and the establishment of banks, to the permanent settlement of the far-western coast of the United States.
Get original essayThe state of California belonged to the Spanish in the 1600’s, and it was lost when Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. It did not remain a Mexican possession for long. In 1846, soon after the war for Texas Independence was won by General Sam Houston and his army, U.S. President James Polk sought to increase the size of the United States by annexing the West Coast of the continent. He offered Mexico $40 million for the territory, but his offer was flatly rejected. Other European countries eyed the lands of California for their own expansion. In the midst of these failed negotiations, American surveyor James Charles Fremont began the Bear Flag Rebellion, which declared Californian independence from Mexico.
The Mexican government refused to allow the U.S. to take the land away and declared war against the United States. Zachary Taylor and later, Winfield Scott, lead the American armies against the Mexican enemy. After several battles, Mexican General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna surrendered the disputed Mexican territories over to the U.S. on September 17, 1847. Both countries signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War and forced Mexico to hand over to the United States the area of New Mexico and California. California became an American territory in 1850.Gold!Soon after the war, on January 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered gold in California. He was checking the operation of a sawmill near present-day Coloma, California, located on the American River. The mill was located fifty miles from the land owned by his Swiss-German partner, John Augustus Sutter. Sutter left Europe due to bankruptcy, and came to California in 1839 after getting a land grant for 48,000 acres from Mexico. He hoped to regain his fortune by farming.
Once Marshall told his partner of his discovery, Sutter tried to keep it a secret. He knew that he did not have a solid claim on the land where the gold was found. He also feared that his farm would be ruined by prospectors looking for riches. The secret of the gold discovery became public knowledge and reached an opportunistic Mormon shopkeeper named Samuel Brennan. Brennan used the hysteria surrounding the gold discovery to increase his personal fortune by raising prices on common goods. In April 1848, Brennan, bought as many supplies as he could to stock his stores. He took a quinine bottle full of gold dust and ran through the streets of the small town of San Francisco screaming, ‘Gold! Gold! From the American River!’ He also wrote an article on the subject in his own newspaper, the ‘California Star.’
In 1848, only those who lived in the California area responded to the cry. These prospectors flocked to the land near Sutter’s farm and sifted through the sand and gravel of the riverbed with baskets and frying pans. Even Sutter’s farm hands left their jobs to search for gold, abandoning his crops and leaving him to ruin.
It took longer for the news to spread to the eastern United States. Those living far away needed more proof that the discoveries were real. The U.S. government provided that proof. The California military governor, Richard Mason, came to inspect the site where Marshall first discovered gold. He brought along his aid, Lt. William T. Sherman. They confirmed the presence of the precious metal in an official report that was later publicized in various newspapers around the country. President Polk also mentioned California’s gold in his State of the Union address made on December 8, 1848.
Now that all of America was certain about the validity of the gold rush, many people, mostly men, left their jobs and their families to seek their fortune. A number of people living on the East Coast had to face a difficult journey. Some chose to travel via land, but were slowed by a lack of a direct road or waterway. They followed what became known as the Oregon-California Trail. This rough trail lead prospectors on a four-month trip across the country. Others left the East Coast by boat and sailed all the way around the tip of South America to get to California. It was a dangerous journey that also took four months. A few who used the sea route tried to shorten their traveling distance by crossing the small land bridge of Panama, only to face the treacherous rainforest.
Many people from foreign countries also came to California to find their fortune. People from Australia, China, Chile, Turkey, Ireland, Germany and France all came to the port of San Francisco once the cries of gold reached the foreign ports. The small town’s population exploded from 850 to 80,000 almost overnight. These foreigners and Americans, all known as the ’49ers, had one thing in common – the hope that they would become rich.
Gold hunters began their search at the American River. The baskets first used to sift through the gravel from the riverbed evolved into metal pans. By 1852, most of the easily found surface gold had been discovered. This forced prospectors to change their mining methods. One method was to put large amounts of dirt into big toms and use river water to wash the soil away from the heavier gold. Small canals called fumes were used to direct water to the operation site. A rarer method was hydraulic mining. Using water under high pressure, large sections of mountainsides were unearthed. The soil was then sifted through. The clumps of dirt would often get stuck in near-by rivers and cause flooding of personal property and even areas of cities. When all the gold that could be found through these methods was gathered, prospectors had to turn to a process that used explosives to find gold within hard rock.
As gold became harder and harder to find, xenophobia became a problem among the many cultures that had settled in the city of San Francisco. Foreigners who had once been welcome in the city were now treated with contempt. Native Americans, who generally did not get caught up in the gold hysteria, were the first victims. Approximately 300,000 Native Americans were living in California area prior to the goldrush years. The discovery of gold resulted in an influx of people who had little or no respect for the tribal ways of the Indians. Miners encroached upon Indian lands, forcing the natives to leave their homes. It is estimated that some 250,000 natives were displaced as a result of the pressures of the gold-seeking miners. Chinese immigrants also had to contend with a great deal of harassment. Like most foreigners, the Chinese became a prime target for thieves and robbers. Many Chinese hid their findings by melting their gold down and making it into woks and kitchen utensils. By darkening the crafted objects with black soot, they were able to disguise the gold as regular kitchen tools.
Many Californians who lived through the gold rush experienced a number of economic changes. Merchants charged higher prices for supplies as people began to stream into California. Money was more available than food. Price increases affected everything from eggs to hardware. Steamboat operators could make $40,000 in thirty days.
Banks began to spring up because of the volume of money that was being handled. They produced their own coinage since there was no U.S. mint located in California until much later. They also helped merchants and large companies do business. Banks also provided a secure place for lucky miners to keep their wealth. Wells Fargo was one of the banks established in the gold rush era. It was created by Henry Wells and William Fargo and became one of the most trusted financial institutions.
In general, most of the miners fared poorly. They had abandoned everything at home, only to find they had given up more than they could find in California. Some could barely afford to feed themselves. It was the merchants and suppliers like Brennan who made the biggest fortunes off of the gold rush. Another man, Levi Strauss, also made money by catering to the miner’s needs. He was a traveling merchant who sold trousers made of sailcloth and copper rivets. Such garments would later become known as denim blue jeans.
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Get custom essayGold was later discovered in other states such as Nevada and the Dakotas, turning the attention of prospectors elsewhere. Still, the California gold rush had left its mark. The western coast of the nation was now thickly settled, and gold mines were soon replaced with farms.
A witch, in the most simple form, is a woman believed to have magic or supernatural abilities and that these powers are used for evil or nefarious purposes. Many people accused of being a witch were thought to be associated with or worshipping Satan himself. In addition to worshipping Satan as a holy figure, which was extremely against Christian belief, they were also thought to take part in rituals to the devil that included many unforgivable acts such as human sacrifice and cannibalism. However, this was just the tip of the iceberg, as many of the innocent that were accused of witchcraft, a word derived from the old English wiccecraft, were seen to be committing heresy regardless of their ties to the devil. Simple things such as, mental illness or simply not looking pleasant, could all be proof of witchcraft, and by default, heresy. This would not lead to good things as the Church and the people of the 1400s – 1600s did not look kindly upon heresy, and in essence, the defacing and vandalizing of their God in which they worshipped.
Get original essayIt is quite unclear when exactly people with “supernatural” abilities were first given the name ‘witch’ but the first ever recorded history of a witch is found in the bible. It can be found in Samuel 1 and was thought to be written between 931 B. C. and 721 B. C. The story tells of King Saul and his search for the Witch of Endor. When he find her, he demands she summon the late prophet Samuel to share with him his future. Samuel then reveals to Saul the he and his sons will die. The next day Saul’s sons die in battle which leads Saul to kill himself. On top of this, there are other later accounts and excerpts in the bible that mention witches and the public thought on them. Take, for example, the passage from Exodus that reads “thou shall not suffer a witch to live”. This roughly translates to: “you shall not allow a witch to live”. As one could see, witches were not especially accepted by the Christian public. Mostly on account of the Satanic connotations but they were also seen as challenging God as their power was believed to rival God.
However, the witch hysteria didn’t quite spark up until the mid-1400s, where those accused would admit to their sins, under great torture, and were put in jail or to death. A book written by two respected German Dominicans in 1486, Malleus Maleficarum, was a guide on how to catch a witch in the act of sorcery. The book describes in great detail how to identify, catch and interrogate witches. The book outsold all others at the time, excluding the bible, spreading across Europe like the plague. Thus, the witch hunts were born and remained common place from 1500-1600. During this time 80 000 people were suspected to be witches and 80% of them were women suspected to be worshipping and filled with lust over the devil. Witch Hunts and Trials.
The most infamous of all witch hunts is the Salem Witch Trials because of the absurdity of the origins and hectic, wild and messy trials. It all started in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 with two girls, who were ill, started suffering spasms and deranged behaviours such as screaming aloud at random. They claimed to be cursed by their neighbour Tituba, and many others, and accused them of being witches. Now science can point the figure at the culprit the girl’s illness and symptoms, which was a common fungus in the foods they were consuming. Nevertheless, Tituba and many other woman were interrogated. All claimed innocence but began to point fingers at other members in the community. This snowballed and sent the whole town into hysteria. In the end, 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft, 18 were put to death.
The Connecticut Witch Trials were less dramatic by leaps and bounds. Though the trials were still fast in pace they were less panicked and frenzied. They took place the year 1947 in Windsor, Connecticut. The trials held host to the very first execution of a witch, Alse Young, in America. It resulted in 46 people being accused while only 11 were put to death. In contrast to both Salem and Connecticut, Virginia was somewhat tolerant of witches. They were still captured, interrogated, tortured, and if found guilty, put to death but things were a little different. There was a law put in place to protect people that were wrongly accused with witchcraft. It was illegal to give a false accusation of a witch. Therefore, if after trial, the witch was found not guilty, the person who had accused the witch would be sent to jail or executed.
Mother Shipton, or Ursula Southeil, was an English prophetess. She was believed to be a witch in the 1490s because of countless reasons. Her mother was Agatha Southeil, who was believed to be a witch. Shipton was extremely ugly and disfigured as she grew up, most often called her ‘Hag Face’ which did not help the witch stigma around her. On top of all this she was very clairvoyant, like her mother. She predicted the Great Fire of London, the Spanish Armada and even the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Even with all of this evidence to back up the communities claim of her being a witch, she was never tried for her lifestyle and was left to die a normal death of old age. A woman by the name of Grace Sherwood was accused of witchcraft in 1706. Her neighbours claimed that she was killing their pigs and placing hexes on their cotton. She was brought to trial and put through the water test. The test starts with the binding of the suspects arms and legs so they can no longer move them. They are then thrown into a body of water. This test can have one of two results. The suspect could continue to sink to the deep depths of the water, proving them to not be a witch but also successfully drowning them. If the suspect were to float back the top of the body of water, as buoyant bodies usually do, they were truly a witch. Grace underwent this test and was discovered to be a witch as she resurfaced in the water after they had tossed her in. She was put to death.
Agnes Sampson was a scottish midwife and healer in 1590. Around this time King james of Scotland and Anne of Denmark-Norway marry. Together the pair is very cautious and anxious when it comes to witches. Naturally it makes complete sense that while they are partaking on a voyage and a deadly storm hits they point their fingers at the witches as the culprits. Over 70 were accused of being the witches behind the attempted murder, Agnes Sampson being one of them. Agnes, like many others, were tortured and interrogated. In between fits of torture, the would be left in a Witch Bridel that was chained to the wall behind them. The bridel pushed four prongs into the mouth, holding it open and making any movement completely unbearable. Many were quick to give up and confess to a crime they did not commit, seeing the fate before them but contrary to the others accused, Agnes did not give up easy. She was one of the last to confess and after doing so she was strangled to death and burned at a stake.
Jane Horne, the last legal witch put to death in 1727. She was accused of many things, but on of the most infamous was turning her daughter into a horse. Many believed she was deranged because of her ties to the devil, but now we know that was really just a symptom of senile dementia. Jane and her daughter were brought to trial after the accusations and they were both proved guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. While the daughter managed to escape, her senile mother was left bewildered and confused. They stripped her and soaked her in tar. Witnesses claim that when at the stake, as the fire advanced on her she smiled and warmed herself to it.
As horror films became big in hollywood, so did the idea of the witch start to resurface. There are over 50 recreations of the witch stereotype from the 1950s to present day. As the ‘witch’ made its way onto the big screen, it entered as more of a ‘folk tale’ witch. An ugly hag that lived and the woods and never came out. It centered around the ugly and mysterious aspect instead of tying into the more religious side of witches. This was first seen in Comin’ Round the Mountain (1957) and would be later seen in the Gene Autry Show (1957). The 1960s sees a shift in how witches are portrayed in the film making scene. Instead of being a mysterious old hag, witches were now more satanic as those stereotypes from its history return. They were appeared to be working for the devil now instead of just for mischievous purposes. Take, for example, the movies Twilight Zones “Jesse Belle” and the Undead (1953), a femme-fatale themed storyline starring to witches. Along with the more satanic themes films about witches take on, the more feminine and sexualized the movies got as film moved into the 2000s. They gave witches an alluring factor to tie in with the lust that the devil bestows upon them. This is especially prominent in the movies Coven (2013) and Penny Dreadful (2015).
Contrary to popular belief, the Wicca are not followers of Satan and mean no harm on society with their spell and magick. They are an incredibly earth-centered, neo-pagan religion. It derives its modern teachings from the first Wiccan, Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). The religion is unlike many others as the members of the religion do not worship or revere a single God or many Gods but live their lives worship all of creation and all the Earth gives them. It has become more popular to the teens of modern day because their beliefs allow for acceptance of homosexuality, gender fluidity and much more. They see all that is created as special. They are seen as modern day witches as they practice spells to manipulate the earth as a part of their religion.
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Get custom essayLooking back on the research displayed in this report, I do believe that in some sense witches are real. I do not believe that only back in the 1400s did they exist, but that in our modern age they still exist. I believe that back then and now, people practiced some form of witchcraft but that it is much more watered down and less evil then what we all believed it to be. Much like the modern Wiccan religion, I believe that pagans that casted “spells” and manipulated the earth did exist but that it wasn’t for mischievous or nefarious purposes. No, i believe that they were to send well wishes and good luck upon loved ones and friends and that they used the Earth to making healing remedies to illnesses they had not yet cured. Witches do exist, they are just misunderstood.
Wananchi Online Limited (WOL) was conceived and started by two enterprising young people who had a desire and vision to change the way things were being done in the ISP industry. After working for three years with Inter-Connect, a local ISP, Njeri Rionge and Joseph Mucheru decided that the time had come to fulfill their ambitions which they had nurtured for a long period and were unable to exploit at Inter-Connect. They had a dream of availing Internet services to most Kenyans in both urban and rural areas at an affordable rate. The conception of WOL started in February 1999 when Njeri, then the Marketing Manager of Inter-Connect and Mucheru, the Technical Manager, undertook a field study in both the rural and urban areas of Kenya. Wananchi Online Limited (WOL) was incorporated in Kenya in December 1999. It began operations in March 2000 the following year. They launched their first products in the market the following month (April). They had three key guiding objectives: The first was to offer fast affordable connectivity to the Internet to all Kenyans. The second was to create a powerful brand, which would meet the demands of both corporate and individual users. The final objective was to build a company in which every ‘mwananchi’ (common man) could own and share in the future growth of the telecommunications sector both in Kenya and across Africa” explained Njeri.
Get original essayAfter the launch in April 2000, WOL sought to recruit as many customers as possible, both individuals and corporate. In 2002, WOL became the first Internet Service Provider in Kenya and East Africa to receive ISO 9000:2000 Business Quality Systems Certification. With this, WOL assured its customers of consistent quality and professional services. In the same year, WOL created Kenya’s most affordable and radical pricing policy for Internet connectivity, making Internet affordable and accessible to the Kenyan market. The radical pricing policy involved a reduction in internet connectivity prices by between 85 – 90% compared to the competition. This provoked a paradigm shift for WOL’s competitors and the market at large. WOL targeted large businesses, small and medium sized companies as well as individual Internet users. In order to be competitive, Njeri had asserted “in this era any businesses that aspired to grow and succeed had to be involved in partnerships that added value to those businesses. It was December 2005, five years after WOL had been set up to take advantage of the ISP services market in Kenya and to offer affordable quality ISP services. Since that time, the company had successfully developed into the leading ISP services provider in the Kenyan market.
The Wananchi Online Limited company consists of two key founders: Njeri, who is the main key founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company; and Joseph Mucheru, who was the Chief Technology Officer when the company was started but later became the Director of Strategy and Business Development (Kiriri and Macharia, 2001). The company consisted of six members in the board of directors:
Wananchi Online Limited (A) is a Kenyan internet service provider (ISP). It aims to avail internet services to most Kenyans in both urban and rural areas at an affordable rate. The internet first became available in Kenya to a small group in 1993. Thus, the only means of accessing the internet then was through a service known as Gopher. Increasingly, users of ISP services were demanding high quality, high speed internet services. There were increasing pressures to fulfill these requirements in a cost effective manner. Wananchi Online provides domain registration, e-commerce, email, web hosting and collocation solution for individuals, businesses, developers and resellers. They segmented on the basis of usage. There are three product categories that Wananchi Online offers.
a. X-Plore
b. NetLife
c. Tunda
X-Plore
This product was tailored for corporate business entities including commercial and non-commercial institutions to provide a fast, reliable and high capacity communications medium. It was designed to support business growth by enhancing an organization’s responsiveness and facilitating higher productivity. Some of the features of X-Plore were that it was fast and reliable, it could be used anytime anywhere and it offered data and voice services. Its main benefits are:
a. Improved communication
b. Efficiency
c. Advanced productivity
d. Enhanced responsiveness
e. Enhanced security
f. Availability
This was a product that targets individuals, small and medium firms, and small Office Home Offices to provide fast and reliable communication and information exchange. It enhanced information exchange and lifestyle. Some of the features of this product include, Internet Access, Internet Service, Web Service, Consultancy services and customized service level agreement. The main benefits of this product include:
a. Enhancing the quality of life
b. Increased global exposure
c. Increased Efficiency
d. Cheaper communication
e. Improved customer service response time.
This product was targeted at the common man, home users and students. The main aim of this product is to provide access to reliable and affordable communication that is easily available. It also enables research and injected fun into everyday life. The main features of this product included: reliable and inexpensive, providing mail and Internet services. The main benefits include:
a. Convenience
b. Improved responsiveness
c. Cost efficient communication
d. Less expensive
Technology touches every aspect of our lives,it affects how we do business, the way we keep in touch with those we love and way we build collective human experiences. Wananchi online limited used technology driven service which as stated was cost effective and increased the efficiency of process within the organization thus customer satisfaction.
Ways in which wananchi online limited, used technology invocation to improve its productivity: Wananchi online limited embraced automation of all its business process effectively to capture all transaction charges. Automation of resources would save on time and also provision of quality customer care.
i) Introduction of wireless internet service which could lead to a vertical integration of PDNO’s, ISPs and VOIP.
ii) WOL provides Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) which are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). SDH is a set of international fiber-optic transmission standards. SDH was based on the North American SONET standards, which now are considered to be a subset of SDH. WOL uses these technologies to provision carrier grade services to global and Regional operators as well as for carrying its backhaul capacities to its main.
iii) Wananchi online limited ensured that they use high capacity fibre optic network which gave them competitive advantage over the other company offering the same service.
iv) Through technology, making the world a global village, Wananchi online limited partnered with other IPS from different parts of the world such as ;
Environment basically means the forces that affect the running of the organization. Wananchi Operations limited is influenced by various forces and these forces can be divided into two main parts and these parts are: internal environment and external environment.
a) Internal environment
These represents the internal factors that affect the organisation. Some of these internal environment are as follows according to Wananchi Online Limited Company: Employees: The organization has control over the number of employees that it should have. One of the challenges Wananchi Online Limited Company is facing is few employees in the various regions where it operates. This therefore means that the organization can act upon this. They can decide to increase the number of employees in the organization.
b) External Environment.
This represents the various outside factors that affect the running of the organization. External Environment is divide into two main groups, which are: micro environment (factors outside the organization but one can control e.g. supplier, customers etc) and macro environment which is, ( an outside environment in which the organization has no control over. e.g. political, economic and social factors etc.) Macro environment: In 2006, custom duty stood at 25% in the telecommunication sector. This therefore means the organization cannot do anything about it , as custom duty is charged by the government. Wananchi Online limited company cannot change the custom duty, this can only be changed by the government only. Micro environment: Wananchi Online limited organization becomes the leading IST organization as it has been able to influence its customers by the inexpensive prices they charge and their reliability. The customers can therefore termed as a micro environment factor, as the organization can influence them.
Wananchi Online Limited an Internet Service Provider in its daily operations in a competitively changing technological world has been faced with numerous challenges which requires the intervention of the management of the company to respond by formulating a strategy to mitigate the challenges. The Five Forces or challenges are as follows; Threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, Threat of substitutes, Bargaining power of suppliers and Rivalry among the existing companies.
Threat of substitute products Challenge: Substitute products or services limit the potential of an industry. They not only limit profits in normal times, they also reduce the revenue an industry can reap in boom times. In the ISPs it faced a challenge of substitute products for example the use of mobile phones. There are various reasons why customers substitute their usage of a particular product. Some of the reasons are as follows: due to expensive products or low quality products. WOL has dealt with this in the following manner.
Approach: Due to this threat, the organization ensured it produced, high quality products e.g. X-plore. This therefore prevented the customers from substituting their products for other companies products. The organization has also ensured it produces inexpensive products to avoid their customers from running to other substitute products from other organizations. Eg ( X-plore, Netlife, Tunda).
Threat of new entrants Challenge: New entrants to an industry bring new capacity, the desire to gain market share, and often substantial resources. The seriousness of the threat of entry depends on the barriers present and on the reaction from existing competitors that the entrant can expect. Wananchi Online Limited was presented with a challenge from the introduction of data subscriptions/ internet subscription by a mobile operator to render internet services. As a result of the stiff competition especially on the use of mobile operators, many ISPs have been phased out of the market.
Approach: WOL has dealt with this challenge by reducing their costs therefore selling their products at low prices. This therefore made them the leading IST operator in Kenya. This therefore means they are able to be on top of the game. Bargaining Power of Buyer. Challenge: The buyer or customer is known to be the boss and therefore wants is what one should offer. These can actually be a challenge but WOL has dealt with this by:
Approach: The customers demand for high quality products and they offer just that. This is seen in the three products produced: X-plore, Netlife and Tnda.
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Get custom essayWananchi Online Limited (WOL) was conceived and started by two enterprising young people who had a desire and vision to change the way things were being done in the ISP industry. After working for three years with Inter-Connect, a local ISP, Njeri Rionge and Joseph Mucheru decided that the time had come to fulfill their ambitions which they had nurtured for a long period and were unable to exploit at Inter-Connect. Njeri became the key founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company; and Joseph Mucheru, who was the Chief Technology Officer when the company was started later became the Director of Strategy and Business Development Some of the things they wanted to achieve are as follows: The first was to offer fast affordable connectivity to the Internet to all Kenyans. The second was to create a powerful brand, which would meet the demands of both corporate and individual users. The final objective was to build a company in which every ‘mwananchi’ (common man) could own and share in the future growth of the telecommunications sector both in Kenya and across Africa” explained Njeri. Some of the products it produces are as follows: X- plore ( a product that offers efficiency for large organizations), Netlife( a product for individuals, small and medium enterprises and Small Office Home Offices which is relatively inexpensive) and Tunda( for common man, the product is convenient). The organization has two main environments. The internal and the external. The internal are those factors which are found in the organization and affect the running of the organization e.g. employees. The external is divided into: macro and micro environment. Macro- environment are those external factors that the organization cannot control, e.g. political factors. Micro environment are those external factors that the organization can control e.g. customers, suppliers. WOL provides Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) which are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). SDH is a set of international fiber-optic transmission standards. SDH was based on the North American SONET standards, which now are considered to be a subset of SDH.WOL uses these technologies to provision carrier grade services to global and Regional operators as well as for carrying its backhaul capacities to its main. Key issues and challenges they had to grapple with included: Threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, Threat of substitutes, Bargaining power of suppliers and Rivalry among the existing companies.
In the late eighteenth century, there was an increasing trend of doctors being around the time of death of members of upper and middle class families. This trend continued to grow as the nineteenth century advanced and new medical innovations were discovered and is now fairly common in recent times.
Get original essayOne of the earliest pioneers of palliative care is Mary Aikenhead (later known as Sister Mary Augustine). She opened St Vincent’s Hospital in 1834 to care for the sick and dying in Dublin, Ireland. By 1842, a bereaved mother by the name of Jeanne Garnier formed an association called L’Association des Dames du Calvaire in France, alongside other women in similar situations. This association later founded a home for the dying in the following year which had distinctive ‘respectful familiarity, an attitude of prayer and calm in the face of death’.
In 1885, the first home for the dying in Britain called Friedenheim was founded by Aberdeenshire-born France Davidson who moved to London to work for the Mildmay Mission Hospital; the home catered to needs of tuberculosis patients.
The beginning of the 20th century saw an increase in medical research and development and in the 1950s, three significant end-of-life surveys were carried out. In 1952, a survey of district nurses in United Kingdom was carried out by the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation and its results showed the dreadful situation of suffering amongst terminally ill cancer patients nursed at home. The results of the survey later led the Foundation to transition its nursing homes to specialist palliative care centres in the 1980s. By 1960, a report based on a nationwide survey in United Kingdom between 1957 and 1959 was published by Glyn Hughes for the Gulbenkian Foundation. While the report of this survey was attentive to the social conditions of the terminally ill, it gave greater importance to other matters pertaining policy and service organisation. The third survey was conducted between 1959 and 1961 by Dr John Hinton. The report of this survey highlighted the physical and mental distress of the dying and was published in 1963.
The turning point for palliative care was in 1967 when Cicely Saunders founded St. Christopher’s Hospice. The establishment of this foundation was a result of her medical research and experience while working at St Joseph’s Hospice. Saunders also developed the concept of total pain as a cumulative of physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs and advocated for the use of analgesia to manage pain in the dying. Saunders’ work and research caused a kaleidoscope of effects which paved the way for the development and evolution of palliative care all over the world. Cicely Saunders is credited with being the founder of palliative care however, the term ‘palliative care’ was first coined in 1974 by Balfour Mount.
WHO (2018) defines palliative care as the process of caring for a patient that focuses on improving the quality of life of the patient and their families dealing with difficulties associated with life-threatening illness, using early identification and assessment of physical, emotional, social and spiritual pain in order to prevent and relieve suffering of the patient but at the same time keeping the concept of total pain central to the focus of the treatment. García-Baquero (2018) supports this view and emphasises that palliative care and treatments options be provided by a special interdisciplinary and multiprofessional team for not just dying patients but also people with incurable, life-limiting conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, chronic disorders or progressive neurological disorders, regardless of their age, sexual orientation, gender, race, ability to pay or where they reside. The American Society of Clinical Oncology is also in support of early intervention and has developed new guidelines that advocate for the incorporation of palliative care early in disease trajectory.
Abdulaziz and Zahid (2018) believe that the primary focus of palliative care should not be to find a cure for a patient’s condition but to manage the symptoms and relieve the patient’s pain as well as improve the quality of living for not just the patients but also their families. Teoli and Kalish (2019) reinforces this opinion by stating that palliative care as field should have its central focus on symptoms management and can be provided alongside curative care. Teoli and Kalish (2019) also believe that palliative care should be carried out in such a way that ensures the patient’s values and treatment preferences are aligned while also providing support for the families by paying attention to their concerns and providing consolation during bereavement.
According to the Department of Health (2008) NHS policy requires that healthcare professionals take the patient’s choices and preferences into consideration and facilitate them while also providing round the clock community care, free social care should also be provided at the end of life.
Effective palliative care has to not only address the physical aspect of a patient’s condition or pain but also consider the psychological, social and spiritual facets in a manner that is not just holistic and multidimensional but also patient-centred and comprehensive. </p>
Palliative care can occur in diverse settings ranging from community homes to in-patient setting. This is illustrated by a survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics (2018) which recorded an annual death of 500,000 people in England and Wales, out of which 23.6% occurred at home, 22.0% in care homes, 46.6% in hospitals and 5.6% in hospices. Palliative care is usually provide by multidisciplinary teams which are usually made up of physicians, community nurses, social workers and sometimes professionals from other fields such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists as well as chaplains. According to Unroe and Meier (2012) this multidisciplinary team functions to provide support for patients and their families in times of crisis while also using their expertise to develop safe plans for transitioning the patients across different interface of care.
Some of the factors which generally hinder the accessibility of palliative care includes: finite number of palliative care specialists, inadequate funds, and poor education of general practitioners on palliative care and remoteness of the patient’s location. When compared to developed countries, the delivery of palliative care in less developed countries is usually met by administrative barriers especially with respects to the access of opioids and adjuvant analgesics which are important tools for effective pain management in palliative care.
The growth of the world’s ageing population and the increased global incidence of life-limiting conditions requires that palliative care evolve in order to effectively cater to these needs. Recognising this, the United Nations (1948) states that receiving palliative care is part of a person’s human rights and is protected by the international human rights law which claims that healthcare systems are obligated to provide palliative care services. WHO (2014) has also released a resolution, urging its member states to ensure that palliative care is incorporated across all levels of national healthcare systems particularly in primary, community and home-based care. Despite this increasing need for palliative care, Hawley (2017) reports that many patients often do not receive this care at all or it is only administered to them when they at the end-of-life stage even though the benefits of palliative care early in disease trajectory has been established. When attempting to improve the quality of palliative care across various healthcare settings, the Gold Standards Framework is a very useful tool.
Intuition is said to be the simplest feeling in the world. The simplicity of intuition becomes much clearer through reading Friedrich Nietzsche's essay titled, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life. Nietzsche clarifies Bergson's notion of intuition by putting it in the context of history. His point is that history, be it individual or communal, is useful up to a certain point, but that all truly great deeds are done when the agent, if only for a moment, forgets all that he has known and becomes "unhistorical." Therefore no matter how much import we place on a knowledge of history, "we must...consider the capacity to perceive unhistorically to a certain degree as the more important and fundamental so far as it provides the foundation upon which alone something right, healthy and great, something truly human may grow".
Get original essayOn the other hand, Henri Bergson, in his essay, An Introduction to Metaphysics, is trying to place absolute knowledge in the debate between rational and empiricist philosophy, his essay is very complex. The intuition of which he speaks seems out of grasp for an every day person. Bergson says: "the kind of intellectual sympathy by which one places oneself within an object in order to coincide with what is unique in it and consequently inexpressible". No matter how many times one analyzes an object they cannot truly comprehend it until they have done so intuitively.
The startling similarity between Bergson's moment of intuition and Nietzsche's unhistorical moment can be clearly seen when we compare the two philosophers notions of the fleeting duration of these moments. Consider Bergson: "while we can...by...imagination, solidify duration once it has elapsed...this operation is accomplished on the frozen memory of the duration" (Metaphysics, 30). Nietzsche is essentially positing the same thing about an unhistorical moment when he writes, "the unhistorical resembles an enveloping atmosphere in which alone life is generated only to disappear again with the destruction of this atmosphere"(History, 11). An unhistorical moment is, like a moment of intuition, expressible only in terms of the past, and yet it is in these moments of our lives that we discover the greatness of things or do the greatest actions. From a historical, perspective they are moments of greatness which are remembered by the ages, but from a personal perspective they are the moments in our everyday lives which push us on, remind us that there are great things to be done and be seen. Without these moments of intuition we never truly know anything but reduce everything to symbols. Further, without these moments in which we forget everything but what is right before us, as Nietzsche tells us, we can "like the true pupil of Heraclitus, hardly dare in the end to lift a finger". Or, put more simply, we cannot achieve any satisfaction in our lives.
William Faulkner knows a thing or two about intuition himself, or else he would not ever have been able to write a character who entirely lacks any knowledge of it. Jason Compson is the literary equivalent to a man who has never had a moment of intuition, has never experienced a moment in which he is able to forget the rest of his life. Faulkner makes this clear through Jason's inability to perceive any emotion, or existential moment in life, and therefore, his need to reduce all of these moments to their crudest symbols. What makes Jason such an ingenious character is further illuminated through Nietzsche, who posits that the only way to live without needing moments of unhistoricity, is to be superhistorical. The superhistorical man is one who realizes the "unhistorical atmosphere in which every great historical event came to be". He has no unhistorical moments, neither does he have need for history whatsoever: "the past and the present is one and the same that is, typically alike in all manifold variety...and has eternally the same meaning". Further, he has no need for the future; as Nietzsche tells us, no one would if asked, want to repeat the previous ten years of their lives, but most would give the reason for their answer as a hope that the next ten years will be better. The superhistorian, on the other hand, "does not see salvation in the process, for him, rather, the world is complete and achieves its end at every single moment". He would not relive the last ten years because they will be the exact same as the next ten. Faulkner's Jason Compson, attempts to make up for his lack of intuition by being a superhistorian, and yet is constantly burdened by the past. Without having experienced an unhistorical moment, yet still unable to relinquish the past, Jason is doomed to be miserable and make others equally so.
The very structure of the Jason section in The Sound and the Fury, is emblematic of his inability to experience intuition. The chapter, like those which surround his brothers Benjy and Quentin, follows Jason through a day. Unlike Benjy for whom time has no meaning, or for Quentin whose notion of time is so intuitive he must kill himself to escape it, time for Jason is only its most obvious symbol, the clock. In class we termed Jason's problem with time manic linearality. An unhistorical moment is one in which we lose time entirely; time, at least the conscious time of the clock, is of no import and has no meaning, for it is only a symbol. Since Jason is a man who has never experienced a moment out of clock time, he is entirely reliant on this symbol. He does not understand why anyone would mistrust the clock, as is clear when his boss looks at his watch and then at a clock on the town courthouse. Jason says "[you] ought to have a dollar watch....It wont cost you so much to believe it's lying" (Sound, 306). He is constantly reminding the reader what time of day it is: "[a]long towards ten oclock I went up front. There was a drummer there. It was a couple of minutes to ten" (237). Every hour has some scheduled significance for Jason and we soon learn that ten is when the reports from the stock market comes into the town's telegraph office.
As is clear from both aforementioned examples Jason is as manically obsessed with money as he is with clock time. Still, Jason does not take risks with money; he does not take risks with anything. Nietzsche posits that any great action requires unhistorical moments in which to conceive them: "no artist will paint his picture...nor any people [achieve] its freedom without first having desired and striven for it in...an unhistorical condition" (History, 11). Since Jason never strives for an unhistorical condition he never risks, nor achieves anything great. The stock market consumes Jason's thoughts and yet he says: "I never risk much at a time" (Sound, 238). Jason has never experienced a moment of trust, therefore he does not even trust the symbol upon which he relies. Money, to Jason, is the symbol of everything he has lost, while at the same time the only thing he lives for. Money is only the approximate symbol of an object's worth, and yet to Jason who is completely reliant on symbols, it is the trustworthiest judge. This is clear when a man comes in to his store to buy a hame string. Jason is annoyed that the man is spending so much time "deciding whether he wanted a twenty cent hame string or a thirty-five cent one. He counsels the man to take the more expensive piece of machinery, but when the man inquires how he, who is not a farmer, knows which is better, Jason replies, "[b]ecause they don't ask thirty-five cents for it....That's how I know its not as good". Without any inner notion of worth, Jason must rely entirely on monetary symbols to determine which machine is better.
More disturbingly Jason uses this monetary symbol of worth to qualify his relationships and emotions. Love is about the easiest way to relate an unhistorical moment, for it is probably the most widely experienced form of intuition. Nietzsche, in fact uses love in his essay to "illustrate with an example" the unhistorical: "think of a man tossed and torn by a powerful passion for a woman...how his world is changed!" Jason has never experienced this passion, and therefore can only relate to love with symbols. His only lover is a whore from Memphis named Lorraine. He exchanges money for sex in place of a real relationship, which, as anyone who has experienced any kind of love knows, he could not quantify. When Lorraine, who clearly has an affinity for him, sends him a letter complaining that Memphis is no fun without him and that she misses him. Jason, unable to imagine the emotion of longing, muses: "I reckon she misses me. Last time I gave her forty dollars" (Sound, 240). Love to Jason is only as worthy as the dollars and cents he puts into it.
Jason does not have any more intuition of familial love than he does the passionate love of a woman. Caddy, who knows her brother well, offers him fifty dollars for a chance to see her baby daughter. After getting her to give him a hundred dollars, Jason holds the baby up to the window of a moving car, as Caddy waits outside. When she goes to beg him for another chance to see the baby, and asks him how much it will cost this time he says, "well if one look through a hack window was worth a hundred...". Jason, having no ideal of love himself quantifies even the love between mother and child. This inability to intuit love is no clearer than when he remembers a scene from his father's funeral. In the memory, he is watching the gravediggers fill the grave, "like they were slapping mortar on it or building a fence, and I began to feel sort of funny". There are two aspects to this quote which show Jason's profound lack of conscious emotion: the images of mortar and fence building, two mundane scenes, are not those one would usually use to describe the profound grief at watching one's father's grave get filled. Even after a falling out with one's parent the sight of their grave would evince more emotive similes. Secondly, Jason comments that watching this scene makes him feel "funny"; a page later, after seeing Caddy for the first time since she has left their home, standing over their dead father's grave, Jason starts to feel "funny again". Jason could be experiencing any number of emotions, and yet in both instances his inability to intuit them, let alone express them, is clear with the abstract use of the word "funny."
It is clear that Jason is affected by his father's death. Mr. Compson was an alcoholic, and died from a disease related to drinking. Jason makes very clear the fact that he never drinks: "I'd just as soon swallow gasoline as a glass of whiskey". Yet he does not acknowledge his father's memory, and in fact diminishes, every time he can, any connection to his father. This trend of diminishing the import of his personal past is Jason's attempt to be superhistorical. This aforementioned Nietzschian term might be dubbed a super-intuition of history. A superhistorian is so aware that history is only a collection of unhistorical moments, that he sees no need to use it to help his present, nor any need to change it for the future: "one who has adopted [this standpoint] could no longer be tempted at all to continue to live and cooperate in making history" (History, 12). After all, if the past and the present are one "static structure...of unchanged meaning," then what is the point of working towards a future that will soon be the present and will be the same as the present which has passed.
Throughout the Jason section of The Sound and the Fury, he makes comments that seem to be those of an unambiguous superhistorian. In fact, the chapter starts and ends with the line "once a bitch, always a bitch" (Sound, 223, 329). To whom he is referring is not clear; regardless, Jason's lack of belief in the ability of people to change is apparent. Jason is his most superhistorical when talking to others or making general comments about race and gender. He condemns the entire Jewish population by saying: "its just the race. You'll admit that they produce nothing. They follow the pioneers into a new country and sell them clothes". The man to whom he is talking suggests that it is not even the Jews to whom Jason is referring, for even stereotypically the statement does not make sense. However, that is just the point of the superhistorian, all cultures are essentially the same: "[a]s hundreds of different languages correspond to the typically fixed requirements of men, so that one who understood these requirements could learn nothing new from all those languages" (History, 13). Thus the Jews might as well be the Armenians as Jason's companion suggests, or the Buddhists, for to the superhistorian they are one and the same.
Jason uses this superhistorian logic to convince his mother she should burn a check that Caddy has sent for her daughter Quentin. What his mother does not know is that the check she is burning is a fake, that Jason is actually stealing the money for himself. Although she has repeated the same ritual for years, this time she questions her actions, and tells Jason that she will swallow her pride and leave this check in tact. To this he replies: "what would be the good in beginning now, when you've been destroying them for fifteen years....If you keep on doing it you have lost nothing" (Sound, 273). If no moment in history really ever changes its course, then why bother varying from routine or attempting to better one's circumstances.
Further, Jason seems to say, if no one person ever betters history then what they have to say or do is really of no consequence. When his boss tells him that he knows Jason has been doing shady things with his mother's money, Jason reasons that there is no point in trying to stop his boss from chastising him: "when a man gets into a rut, the best thing you can do is let him stay there". Further, when his boss expresses concern over Jason's recurring headaches and suggests that he go see a dentist, Jason thinks to himself, "it's a curious thing how no matter what's wrong with you a man'll tell you to get your teeth examined and a woman'll tell you to get married". This statement is ridiculous except from a superhistorical point of view, for if all advice leads to the same future and does not inform the present whatsoever, then every man may as well be telling him to get his teeth fixed and every woman telling him to get married.
Jason might convince us that he is a superhistorian, if Faulkner had not burdened him with so much history. The reader might believe that he is a superhistorian if he did not constantly contradict himself by letting slip his bitterness over his personal past and the past of his race, the white southern farmer. Jason remarks to himself as he watches some pigeons fly around the town courthouse: "It's a good thing I don't have anymore ties than a pigeon". This is his inherent contradiction, and the key to understanding his inability to truly be a superhistorian. In explaining the superhistorian Nietzsche quotes a poem by Giacomo Leopardi. The poem has a few lines lamenting the world but resigning to its futility. The last stanza of the quote is, "Calm, calm" (History, 13). If Jason were a true superhistorian, if he truly had less ties than a pigeon, then he too would be calm. However, as is made clear from his eternal headaches, his griping and his downright rage, Jason is anything but calm.
Although he tries to rationalize the misery of his life by being above life itself, history is always there to tie Jason down. It reminds him constantly of what has been taken from his people. Throughout the chapter the reader learns how much Jason's vision of his past informs his present. He is constantly lamenting the state of the south post-slavery. A number of times he makes derogatory comments about the laziness of the black servants who work for him and live in the town: "the only place for them is in the field where they'd have to work from sunup to sundown". Embarrassed by the reputation his family has in the town Jason, in an imaginary conversation with his mother says, "you don't hear the talk that I hear...I shut them up too. I says my people owned slaves here when you all were running little shirt tail country stores and farming land no nigger would look at". Jason reconciles the present state of his family by harkening back to what he sees as their proud past even though it is not a past in which he has any part.
The past in which Jason does take part also informs his present. The chapter is full of his lamentations about the treatment he is given by his family. He refers a number of times to the family's sacrifice of a plot of land to send his brother Quentin to Harvard. When his mother tells him that he is the only child who has not gone against her, Jason replies that he has never had time to: "I never had time to go to Harvard...I had to work". He laments Quentin's ability to go to Harvard and yet is obviously burdened by his brother's suicide. He says "at Harvard they teach you how to go for a swim at night without knowing how to swim", and later lets on that he is barely able to look at water. If Jason were a true superhistorian, these moments of the past would not harm him, yet it is these moments which he blames for his present state of unhappiness, for his stagnant and miserable existence.
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Get custom essayJason is not a superhistorian and yet has never had an unhistorical moment. He cannot forget his personal past nor let go of his communal one. This, says Nietzsche, is the worst kind of way to live life: "all acting requires forgetting...without forgetting it is quite impossible to live at all....There is a degree of...historical sense which injures every living thing and finally destroys it, be it a man, a people or a culture". Jason is, in many ways, a representative of the bitter and lost generations born during the Jim Crow era in the changing and fragmented south. However, Jason's personal past is far more destructive, as we know, the ever-present knowledge of it drove his brother to suicide. I might aver that Jason is essentially the living symbol of Quentin's death. He is breathing yes, but devoid of any joy, any kindness, any faith in the future. The reader often wonders right along with him, when he muses: "sometimes I think what's the use of anything. With the precedent I've been set I must be crazy to keep on". To many Jason is pure evil, he does not even have the passion it takes to be a real villain, he is just bad at the core. But I would argue for nurture over nature defense in his case. For a man never to experience a moment of intuition, watching a baseball game, seeing a painting, sitting on the porch, doing anything, this man has not had an enviable life. In rereading this novel for the umpteenth time, it is Jason that invokes my sympathy the most, for I wonder what would my life be, had I never experienced a myriad other moments of intuition which, through fleeting instants of absolute presentness, make me want to participate in the future.
H&M is universal clothing retail operating in over 73 markets worldwide. H&M, short for Hennes & Mauritz is known for its trendy clothing line for customers of all ages and genders. Founded in 1947 in Stockholm, Sweden, H&M has employed approximately 179,000 employees and has an operating profit of USD1.8 billion. H&M values constant improvement and a strong work ethic. By staying open-minded, approachable for the development for the staff as well as working safely, effectively, and taking pride in their work.
Get original essayGucci, founded by Guccio Gucci is one of the oldest Italian luxury brands still in operation today. Gucci has a brand value of USD7.1 billion and is the 38th most valuable brand worldwide. Headquartered in Florence, Gucci has roughly employed 2097 staff based in 550 stores globally. Gucci commenced as a luggage manufacturer for Italy’s upper-class and equestrian customers. They value respect to human rights and equal opportunities as well as valuing diversity. No matter the culture, gender or disability, Gucci recognizes the importance of equality for customers and employees.
H&M and Gucci are internationally renowned brands in the fashion industry. Both started in the early 1900s, H&M and Gucci are value-driven and customer-focused. H&M’s slogan “the H&M way” represents H&M who they are, what they do, and how they do it. They provide fashion at the best prices, which clearly defines their culture. Gucci’s logo represents grandeur and authenticity. With the interlocking G’s symbolizing Guccio Gucci, the brand has become the definition of extravagance and sophistication.
The purpose of this report is to compare H&M and Gucci’s customer service experience from four different aspects: target markets, meeting customers’ needs and expectations services provided by the business as well as training that employees go through.
H&M provides customers with fashionable and trendy pieces. H&M targets mainly young women, while Gucci targets middle and high-class customers from ages 20-50.
Both H&M and Gucci operate in the fashion industry. Gucci’s market has altered in a way that it is now also accessible to individuals of under 20. Over the years, Gucci has become affordable to the majority of middle and high-class customers. Having used to target Italian equestrian customers, Gucci is still considered a luxury brand which has become more accessible to other markets. Due to the changes in trends and culture, H&M and Gucci have overlapping markets where H&M might be more appropriate for children to young adults and Gucci might be more suitable towards teenagers to adults.
Furthermore, Gucci customers are often individuals who appreciate Italian heritage, luxury, and timeless pieces. Yet Gucci's target market has changed since the 1900s, where teenagers have the opportunity to utilize more luxurious accessories. In the late 1900s, Gucci and H&M had completely different markets, where Gucci customers valued the history of the products. Nevertheless, H&M launched a new line named “Nyden” to sell luxurious and affordable fashion, which would expand their target market towards upper-class customers.
When meeting customer needs, both H&M and Gucci have used technology to assist them with connecting with customers. They provide customers with different products and services therefore, employees will need to adjust their dialogue with each customer.
Since 2010, customers in 44 out of the 69 markets who shop at H&M have access to online shopping. Recently in the US, H&M launched an app available for customers, which provides them with alternative ways to pay for items. In 2013, H&M started a garment collection initiative, to minimize unwanted garments to end up in landfills. Customers who donate will receive a voucher which can be used towards the next purchase. Along with online shopping, H&M also provides customers with the free choice of delivery or “Click & Collect”.
Like H&M, Gucci also implemented an online shopping option for customers. They provide customers with high-quality images allowing customers to observe products in detail. While in-store, customers get the opportunity to test the interactive life-sized screens which enable customers to examine the products from a full 360° angle. As Gucci products are costly, they provide customers with a one-year warranty on all products. Customers are allowed to obtain unlimited free repairs from Gucci providing that it is within one year after the purchase date. There are locations where in-house repairmen are available, which enables customers to shop while the repair is being completed.
As both companies have different qualities of products, they provide different services which benefit the customer. H&M’s products are more affordable which means no special or extravagant services like gift wrapping is needed. While Gucci is a very high-class brand which would mean that customers would expect more personal services.
The services that H&M provides is very simple. Online shopping as well as the option of delivery or “Click & Collect” is available to all customers. Shoppers also have access to the new “Scan and find” feature, enabling customers to locate an item at their nearest store. The garment collection initiative also allows customers to donate unwanted clothing to in turn receive vouchers. This also acts as a loyalty scheme which makes customers return to the store.
Contrastingly, Gucci’s products are luxurious and classy, customers want something that they have a deeper connection with. As a result, Gucci started personalizing gifts by adding initials to the products. Not only that, but Gucci recently started “Drawing Gucci DIY” where artists worldwide hand-drawn illustrations using mediums like acrylics on paper and digital-drawn sketches to personalize products to each individual customer. As mentioned above, Gucci also provides customers with free repairs within one year of the purchase date.
H&M and Gucci are two very different businesses: middle and high class, therefore the trainee’s preparation into working as an employee in the business will contrast. Training in Gucci compared to H&M is lengthy and very detailed oriented, where aspects like a uniform and overall appearance are very strict and could affect the reputation of the business.
In H&M, training depends on your position. Trainees either train for 4 or 13 weeks. In the 13 weeks of training, trainees have the opportunity to learn the roles of various positions such as sales advisor, store or department manager. Trainees spend their time at the cash registers and sales floor, dealing with back-of-house routines, stock management, and building an attractive store environment. After 13 weeks, trainees are prepared to become store or department managers.
In contrast, Gucci's training are sophisticated and lengthy. Generally lasting over six months, Gucci training is taught by Gucci’s artisans, managers, and retired employees. Trainees spend their months in three different schools: craftsmanship, factory, and technical. Craftsmanship school is a six-month program devoted to leather goods design held at the company’s Artlab in Scandicci, Florence. Factory school is a bimonthly course dedicated to raising artisans skilled in specific leather goods manufacturing, aiming at school graduates. A technical academy is intended for employees who are regularly trained depending on the company’s needs.
From the research that I have done, I would prefer to work in Gucci. Although Gucci fashion is not a brand that particularly attracts me, the experience that can be gained through working in a 5-star upper-class Italian luxury brand compared to a 3-star middle-class multicultural brand is a job opportunity that cannot be passed.
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Get custom essayWith experience from such a high-class Italian company, the job opportunities in the future will be limitless. I believe that training with Gucci means that future jobs would be to Gucci’s competitors such as Prada or Chanel, which would mean that working at Gucci would provide me with very specific job positions.
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company that provides fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The H&M group reaches fashion fans across the globe and has come a long way since the first Hennes store opened in the Sweden in the year 1947 with its first expansion to a worldwide business started in 1960’s. In the 1980s, Hennes & Mauritz shook up the traditional clothes retailers. But now the company itself is being disrupted from cheaper products offered by other brands and other online shops like Amazon and Asos. This effect led to a decrease in the company’s revenue.
Get original essayIn this paper, I will be analyzing the H&M challenges that it is facing and how the 7 rules of leadership can help the business to solve this problem. While new technologies and globalization has increased uncertainty in current times, it is important to have leaders with diverse strength that can help to improve the company growth. The 7 rules of leadership: define your leadership style, summon the right people, build up trust, ensure clarity, create support and motivation, get feedback and finally, be alert for changes, can help leaders to create successful organizations.
H&M parent Hennes & Mauritz AB, whose fast-fashion business strategy led to the disrupt of most fashion company years back. It started as a one stop store for women’s clothing in 1947 and later expanded to a global fashion and design group. The organization runs 4,500 physical outlets in 69 markets and intends to open 390 stores more. The organization makes most of its sales in Europe with Germany being its largest market. The business also has a strong online presence of all nine clearly defined brands which are H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, H&M Home, ARKET and Afound.
Each brand is headed by a manager and has local sales organizations. Centrally, there are a number of joint group functions that support each brand in order to enjoy the advantages of these common areas, so that each brand and country works purposefully according to central policies and guidelines. The board of directors appoints the chief executive officer. The CEO is responsible for day-to-day management of the H&M group and appoints the members of the executive management team, which is made up of the CEO and 10 other members.
The executive management team consists of the individuals responsible for different joint functions including finance, production, sustainability, expansion, communications, human resources, business development and logistics, as well as the person responsible for the H&M brand and the person responsible for new business ventures like the other brands COS, & Other Stories, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday, H&M Home and ARKET. Those responsible for other joint group functions are appointed by the chief financial officer.
Currently, the business itself its being disrupt by other competitors like Amazon and other online stores leading to a 13% drop in stock price in 2017. Most of the challenge comes from a decline in sales in its brick and mortar shops. Brick and mortar is a term use to refer to an organization having a physical presence or physical shops where they transact to customers face to face instead of online or virtual world. Most of the declined has been attributed to the migration of clothing sales to online and other brands surpassing them in the fast-fashion strategy at an affordable price.
Leadership is the art of influence, it’s how to influence various people to work together to achieve the business vision, mission and strategic goals. For an organization to be successful, it relies mainly on the leadership because leadership defines the vision and mission than an organization hopes to achieve. A leader can create a successful organization by following the 7 golden rules of leadership. In this article we are going to evaluate how H&M has applied these rules to its business.
Karl-Johan Persson is the current CEO of the H&M Group, where his leadership style is transactional leadership style. This leadership style is value oriented, whereby they live according to the values and guidelines that emit the H&M way which incorporates doing business ethically, honestly and responsibly. H&M follow a transactional leadership style whereby employees follow the guidelines and expectations set out by the organization’s leadership and the benefit of this is that it creates synergy within the H&M brand. It also encourages a very inclusive workplace that incorporates teamwork and growth for their employees which forms part of their organizational culture, it is evident that they focus on creating an organizational culture from the inside out, the downside to this is that they may not benefit from having innovative employees and can miss out of growth opportunities.
One of the problems with this style of leadership is that it is too rigid. Transactional leadership is defined by a strict set of rules and regulations and does not give room to bend or break these rules for any reason. With the world today being unpredictable and dynamic, this style of leadership is not advisable. To meet up with constant change in the business world, leaders need to be able to adjust and change the management style to suit the situation. Situation leadership approach allows leaders with different style of leadership to adjust and adapt to different situations.
An organization can not be successful without having competent people for the right position. To summon the right people, you first need to have the right people in your organization, to have the right people you need to hire the right persons and finally to hire the right people, you need to attract qualified candidates. Recruitment plays a major role in hiring the right person for the right job that provides the organization with a pool of qualified job candidates from which to choose. Before companies recruit, they must implement proper staffing plans and forecasting to determine how many people they will need. H&M recruitment process starts with job openings posted on its website, posting banners ad, the organization accepts applications at any time and at any of their locations or using their online portal. After initial screening, the shortlisted candidates are called for an interview for the final selection.
The problem with this type of recruitment is that it is not over seen by an expert. The leadership needs to invest in a proper HR agency that can handle all their recruitment processes. Managers are likely to hire based on pressure or hiring people who they feel please, have acquaintances with. This results to having a workforce with similar mindset. This style of recruitment does not encourage having a divergent workforce.
The company focuses on being ethical is about doing the right thing. This means respecting human rights, taking a clear stance against corruption and embracing diversity and inclusion. It also means, of course, to respect laws and regulations wherever we operate and to pay taxes accordingly. The organization leadership encourages mutual respect, integrity, transparency and honesty as the core of its’ corporate values. Transparency is key to building trust and credibility. Transparency means knowing who, how and where decisions are made. As such, it creates greater accountability for amongst employees, allowing them to pinpoint priorities, set better goals, take smarter actions and communicate confidently. These attribute makes employee trust their leaders because they know who is responsible for what and the leaders are honest and clear in their decision-making process.
H&M is committed to following all applicable labor and employment laws wherever they operate. The leaders lead by example, teamwork is essential at H&M and is part of the culture. The leaders act as role models and set a good example in everything they do.
Leaders must ensure clarity of direction and eliminate doubts that may hinder them from keeping their followers on track. How does H&M achieve this? The organization achieve this by setting a clear and concise goals and creating concrete benchmark. These goals are set by using a science-based approach.
A mission statement is a short statement of an organization's purpose, identifying the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation. The mission statement shows the employees where the organization stand and what it wants to achieve. The organization vision is to lead the change towards a circular and renewable fashion industry, while being a fair and equal company. This vision is applied to every brand within H&M group. It visions statement is centered around promote and scale innovation, driven transparency and rewarding of sustainable actions.
Motivation is a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way. Study has shown that even competent employees can underperform without the right and proper motivation. H&M as an organization is constantly evolving and is growing fast, thus providing more opportunities to its employees. H&M is a flat organization, that may give the impression that it is impossible to climb up the ladder. However, this is not true as one of the major ways through which H&M motivates its employees is through its provision of training and the fact that they promote from within. Through this, they are making use of the Expectancy Theory, where employees are motivated to exert a high level of effort since this will lead to development. This development is done through regular performance review sessions. From the employees’ point of view, it’s one of the things to look forward to. The awareness and possibilities that they can develop and earn any position they desire is a way the employees are encouraged by the Management team.
Also, employees are motivated by providing new challenges; in another department, another role or, another country. H&M encourages employees to try many different roles within their organization. H&M recruitment advertisements indicate possibilities like: working abroad, furthering education and learning new things. Their websites promote that many in management today, actually started on the shop floor. H&M also provides a comprehensive benefits package. H&M fulfills employee aspirations by providing opportunities to take more responsibilities. To quote the Head of HRM at H&M, “By the same token, if titles and pay structures are what motivates the employee, then we’re most definitely not the ideal company for you. As we said at the beginning: a perfect relationship is all about balance and mutual understanding” (AR1 2008, p.34).
H&M has an open-door policy granting all employees the right and the opportunity to discuss any work-related issue directly with management. They also support their employees’ right and ability to organize and to decide who should represent them in the workplace. These ideas are collected and reviewed by their internal controlling team. H&M creates workplaces in which open and honest communications among all colleagues are valued and respected. One of its core values is “being straightforward”. They use an Open-Door Policy which enables colleagues the opportunity to openly discuss any work-related issue directly with their managers
From my point of view, this is not effective. Yes, the organization encourages employees to come forward with their ideas and opinions, but in reality, most people do not say what they really want to say either because they fear their opinion will be out of the context or not be welcomed. H&M should look for a way to provide its employees with anonymity. Anonymity provides a way for employees to express themselves effectively without any fear or pressure thereby reducing bias.
One of the keys to be aware of change is to be market conscious. Market consciousness is being able to monitor trends, shift in market and developing new strategies to adopt into these changes. The main problem H&M is facing is adopting to change. They face challenges from other companies offers clothing at a cheaper price and from other online stores. The organization is trying to adopt to these new trends by using digital marketing, incorporating IT into its system and opening digital stores.
The reason H&M could not totally adjust was that it was too slow to incorporate digital forms of trading into its business. Despite the move of globalization, H&M’s still kept its strategy heavily focused on its store outlets. H&M only started selling online in 2010, a decade after ASOS appeared which means they missed the opportunity to spearhead a dive into ecommerce. When it eventually started making use of ecommerce, it still fails to make use to the opportunities and advantage that ecommerce provides. Some of the problems included the site not being properly designed, poor site navigation and very slow delivery compared to other brands.
Another reason is that the organization responds slowly to customers. Main source of revenue for all business are the customers. Hence it is important for organization to listen to customers complains and suggestion in other to satisfy them.
In conclusion, H&M have from their foundation in 1947 grown from a small Swedish clothing company to a big multinational company. H&M have been able to develop a strong and sustainable brand where the product is well adapted to the needs and wants of the customers. They have showed the market that fashionable is not overly expensive. This strategy attracts people from all fields of life.
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Get custom essayIn my opinion, H&M has successfully communicated their vision to their employees and created a strong workforce and gain the trust of employees, giving employee rewards and bonuses, all of which is very important in having a successful organization. H&M has balanced the needs of coordination, control and autonomy and maintained the appropriate balance between them. However, the leadership still have some improvements to do. They need to start listening to customers, incorporate IT in their business, learn to take risk and need to adjust their style of leadership in order to adjust timely to the ever-changing business environment and trends. Also, the leadership has to provide employees with anonymity which will enable employees to voice out their opinions without bias and invest in human resource management in order to have a divergent workforce and reduce recruitment bias and corruption.
The state of nature is a concept used in philosophy to create an image of a hypothetical condition in which there is no political authority or association. This concept is used to portray a society in which we no longer abide by the rule of law. Philosophers have used the idea of a state of nature to argue that the state is based on an agreement between people to live together under laws, or a social contract. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau take opposing stances on the state of nature, and therefore take differing views on the authority and justification of the state.
Get original essayHobbes developed his state of nature theory amongst the context of the time, the English civil war. Hobbes was becoming more and more worried about the outcome of the war, and the disastrous consequences of a world without authority. He felt that the ‘state of nature’ would become a state of war. Hobbes’ state of nature argument is aligned with his argument of human nature. Hobbes took a negative view of human nature, with the idea that man was solely self-interested, and was only interested in the pursuit of power.
Geraint Williams’ view of Hobbes’ understanding of human nature was that man’s obsessive pursuit of self-interested passions leads to only frustration, and that in the state of nature this natural human nature benefits nobody (Williams, 1991). Hobbes believed that human beings naturally desire the power to live well and that they will never be satisfied with the power they have without acquiring more power. Because of this view of human nature, Hobbes believed that the natural state of nature would be anarchical and violent as there is no rule of law to restrain human nature. Existence in the state of nature is, as Hobbes states, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” (Hobbes, 1651). Hobbes believed that without a strong state to referee and umpire disputes and differences amongst the population, everyone fears and mistrusts other members of society. Also, with no overarching authority, there can be no justice or functioning society.
The only way of bringing this untenable state of nature is if the individuals surrender their natural rights and self-sovereignty to a higher political authority, or state. This is known as the social contract, a theory developed by Hobbes which was a trade between individuals and a political authority, offering the individuals’ self-sovereignty in return for social benefits such as state protection. The social contract, therefore, is a means in which individuals can leave the state of nature, and join civilised society. Hobbes expresses the idea that humans can only be happy and flourish when locked into the social contract, Jonathan Wolff’s interpretation of Hobbes’ ideology was that without the protection of the state, there is no worse alternative (Wolff, 1996). And therefore, it was vital to have a strong government, to protect its citizens and enforce the laws of nature, and lapse into a state of war.
By contrast, Locke disagreed with Hobbes’ idea that the state of nature was a state of war. He believed that human nature was characterised by ‘tolerance and reason’, and because of this, he felt that human beings could live good lives, even in the absence of a state or a higher authority. Jonathan Wolff states that Locke’s view of the state of nature was that it was, in a sense, a state of perfect freedom (Wolff, 1996). By this he meant that humans could live in a world, free to do what we want, though only if we abide by the laws of nature. David Gress in his book, ‘From Plato to Nato’, describes that the law of nature is God’s rules for how his creations should operate. (Gress, 1998). Locke, in the Second Treatise, states that, ‘The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone; and reason, which is that law which teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.’ (Locke, 1690).
What Locke meant by this is that, humans are free to do as they please, as long as they are not harming others in the process. Locke believed that the law of nature was encompassed by our natural rights, which he stated were, ‘the right to life, liberty and property’, therefore we are all free to do what we want, as long as we are not encroaching on others natural rights. Geraint Williams stated that it was clear that, before government, men in the state of nature were naturally free and equal. Williams goes on further to stress that they were free within a structured way of living by the existence of natural laws (Williams, 1991).
Though Locke felt that in the state of nature, the law of nature cannot be truly enforced, and therefore, the contract is made with a political authority to enforce the law of nature and natural rights more consistently and to institute an impartial power capable of adjudicating their disputes and to right wrongs. Alex Tuckness describes that Locke’s support for the social contract stems from the idea of people in the state of nature conditionally transfer some of their rights in order to better ensure the stability of their lives and natural rights. (Tuckness, 2005). This furthers Locke’s idea that humans consciously transfer some of their rights and sovereignty to a higher power in order to strengthen their natural rights, of life, liberty and property. Though Locke suggests that as the government exists by consent, if they fail to protect the natural rights, they can be resisted and replaced with a new authority.
The state of nature concept was also central to the philosophy of Rousseau. He took a different stance to both Hobbes and Locke on human nature, and the state of nature. Like Hobbes and Locke, he agreed that the most basic feature of human nature was the motivation for self-preservation. But Rousseau felt that both Hobbes and Locke had overlooked a key aspect of human nature, compassion, which he felt meant they had misjudged the probability of conflict in the state of nature. Christopher Bertram states that Rousseau claimed that human beings were naturally good by nature, but had been corrupted by society (Bertram, 2010). This is a direct opposition to Hobbes, who claimed that humans were naturally selfish by nature.
Rousseau therefore argued that the state of nature could only be the state preceding society. Rousseau felt that the state of nature was naturally morally neutral and peaceful, as it was comprised of individuals who act on their basic needs, such as hunger, and the desire for self-preservation. Though Rousseau believed that the desire for self-preservation was equally matched by an equal sense of compassion for others. In the discourse on the origin of inequality, Rousseau criticised other theorists such as Hobbes and Locke for portraying man in the state of nature with attributes they found in their own corrupted societies. Rousseau states that individuals leave the state of nature by becoming increasingly civilised, and through this gradual process, we see humans become more and more corrupted by society (Rousseau 1754).
Rousseau depicted the contract through which government is manifested as a deception perpetrated by the wealthy upper class upon the poor working class. In the social contract, written by Rousseau, he writes what he believes would be the best way to establish a political community. The Social Contract, Rousseau lays out ideas to to recapture as much of the natural state of humans as possible into the ‘new contract’. He implements his views of human nature into the social contract, “In a well governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a guarantee of impunity.” (Rousseau, 1762). This quote from the Social Contract illustrates the point that Rousseau views humans as compassionate beings, and in a well governed state which is not corrupted, humans will remain in this state.
In conclusion all three theorists put forward different arguments in relation to the state of nature. Hobbes’ state of nature argument was characterised by his cynical view of human nature, depicting humans as selfish and only interested in man’s pursuit of power. Because of this, the state of nature would naturally lead to a state of war, as there is no strong government to referee its civilians. Because of this, Hobbes was an advocate of strong government, to stop its citizens drifting back into a state of nature. Locke, on the other hand, disagreed with the idea of the state of nature being a state of war.
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Get custom essayLocke believed that humans were naturally characterised tolerance and reason, therefore believing that even in the state of nature, humans can live good lives. Though Locke was a firm believer in the natural laws, and he felt it was best that there was a strong government to protect our natural rights. Rousseau took a completely different stance from both Hobbes and Locke. He took a much more positive view of human nature, labelling humans as compassionate. He felt that that the state of nature, in complete opposition to Hobbes, was peaceful and moral, suggesting that society was corrupted this.