100% Secure Payment
© 2025 Copyright:
BoutEssays. All rights reserved
The study is aimed at discussing smartphones. The discussion covers a brief overview of the smartphone industry. It is followed by how globalization has impacted the industry. In this section of the study, it covers a brief of Apple and how it as managed the impact of globalization. It specifically covers the paradoxes and HR response in regards to Apple. In the end, it speaks of the future changes and the impacts on the smartphone industry.
Get original essayThe chosen product is the "Smartphone". It has a significant meaning to it for a reason that most of the manufacturing nowadays is being done alone in China (Lee, Kim & Lim, 2016). An access to the global manufacturing in this way is the influence of globalization. During the times when simpler phones were being used, the scenario was not the same. The outsourcing of manufacturing is to promote mass production at reduced operational costs (Lin & Chen, 2015). However, the entire journey of manufacturing from the concept of a phone to reaching to its end-users, brands can decide the portion of the process to outsource. Notably, every single process is not outsourced.
Generally, Smartphones are manufactured in six steps. The first step is 'making of prototype'. The idea is generated in the board meeting and then an affirmation is passed to the R&D lab. The first thing they do is considering the aesthetics. Once the model is ready, it is being passed to several people to get their opinions. Once one of the models is approved, the hardware part is worked upon. It is then handed over to the group of electronic engineers who are responsible for processor, memory, battery, display, cameras and others aspects of a phone. This is followed by seeking an approval on the product from the concerned authorities (Zink et al., 2014).
Software installation is the next step without which the hardware being installed would not work. The software team checks for the compatible software to produce a better impact. Before the designs process, the product is rigorously checked for a number of times to identify whether any further work is required. It is followed by a mass production of phones. Few of the components are outsourced where the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) follow the manufacturing instructions of the Smartphone brand. When the product has met all the parameters of satisfaction, it is then sent to the packaging. The last stage of making is the shipment through which products are distributed to the global retailers. Product marketing is also being done before the shipment which itself depends on the concerned phone brand (Suh & Kim, 2015).
There are ample numbers of smartphone companies at both the domestic and global level; however, very few have made the impact. Few of the most famous independently operating phone brands are Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, LG, Asus, Xiomi, Oppo, Huawei and others. Motorola is now being acquired by Lenovo whereas Nokia by Microsoft (Singh, 2015).
The phone features are adjusted in a way to meet the needs and demands of people in different regions. Phone manufacturers have not remained limited with customers in their parent and neighboring countries only but have moved to the global countries. International treaties for addressing environmental impacts such as air pollution, wastes, resource depletion and climate change are also the impact of globalization. In fact, the best multinational companies do not see environmental impacts as a legislative burden but as an opportunity to constantly improve their worldwide reputation (Epstein, 2018). They get recognized for their work by the governments, NGOs, public bodies and the people. The inflow of raw materials from various parts of the world is also an impact of globalization.
Manufacturers can also go for the global suppliers who are certified from internationally acclaimed bodies (Kannan, de Sousa Jabbour & Jabbour, 2014). Globalization is helping to access technologies, raw materials and labor force in the various parts of the world. Strategic alliances by means of merger & acquisition (M&A), joint venturing, strategic partnership and outsourcing are the globalization impacts (Choi & Contractor, 2016). For example, Apple manufactures its phones in two phases such as assembling and manufacturing. The most of assembling is done in China. Foxconn in China has been the longest running partner of Apple. On the other hand, components of phones are made from specialists in different things in various parts of the world. As for example, Camera is manufactured by Sony in Japan and dozens of other countries in the world whereas flash memory, battery and A-series processor are manufactured form Samsung in South Korea and more other locations in the world (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015). The reason for such arrangements is to access the core competency of globalized companies. It shows how Apple and the likes are getting benefitted from going global.
Apple is one of the most widely recognized mobile phone brands in the world. The two globalization paradoxes that the company has faced are as follows:
Apple like other manufacturers outsources manufacturing to take the advantage of reduced labor cost and improve the efficiency by facilitating a mass production. Until recently, the decision has paid off and had constantly fulfilled the needs for a mass production. It also helped Apple in avoiding the excessive logistics costs needed to import the manufactured components from China. They did it by assembling the phones in China itself (Pun et al., 2016).
This is indeed a remarkable achievement that customers are paying huge money for a prime product which is manufactured and assembled in China. Customers have liked it for its premium qualities. It was truly a paradox for Apple while they intended to enter China for both manufacturing and assembling. However, the way it has managed it so far is just remarkable. The ability to outsource manufacturing and assembling to a number of countries and controlling it as well just speak about the intelligence Apple has delivered so far (Serra & Kunc, 2015).
Customers in India are different from those in China in many regards. Indian customers are more price sensitive than the Chinese customers. A large population of Indian customers wants the budget phones. This is the reason why budget phones from Lenovo, Xiaomi and Vivo have done stupendously well in recent times. These brands had offered specs and features which premium brands would offer at a relatively higher cost. Few premium brands have tried to occupy the mid-budget segment; however, they could not be much different to budget phones in terms of specs and features. Premium brands such as Samsung and Sony witnessed a sales drop and were the brands largely affected by the changing trend (Sujata et al., 2015). Apple is the one exception of premium brands which has managed its sales. More customers are now buying the Apple phones than ever. They are also responding to every latest flagship offering from Apple (Siddiqui & Mishra, 2016). It is just amazing how Apple being highly priced has managed to make its own category. Customers are finding it worth a buy.
The way Apple deals with the international culture it appears as if it does not work on it. However, it is not true. It actually does not adapt to customers but rather customers do it. Apple is in fact not on the social media. It does not advertise rather its customers do it for Apple. Apple does not believe in customizing the features and specs to suit the global needs. It rather comes as 'one size fits for all' approach. Despite these hard to believe facts, Apple convincingly manages to behave locally. The customer service protocol is different for different regions and suits the local customs. In fact, the building layout is also designed in a way that it appeals to the architectural culture of the local. Once a location is finalized, they ensure every bit to work hard to make it feel local to the people. The standardization approach allows Apple to launch its phones in so many regions. Apple's phones are now available in more than 115 countries (Gehani, 2016).
Apple's e-commerce website is also the same throughout the world. The only changes being made to it is the inclusion of a feature which can customize the contents of the different regional languages. Apple creates the demands and solidifies its image this way only. They understand the culture so beautifully that people wait in line to embrace this culture when they can just manage it from online. The culture is to bring uniqueness in terms of designs, qualities and creativity (Gupta & Dhillon, 2014).
The HRM at Apple has different working philosophy than the others in context to the retention of its start talents. Normally, unintentional egalitarianism is followed in other companies which mean using the start talent in every possible zone. On the other hand, Apple follows a non-egalitarian method by which the HRM deploys its star talent at the most critical works. A close to 95% of such cases is fulfilled by A-level talent which also affects the success rate of its business strategies and the execution. Hence, task distribution done in such a way ensures that the employees have little or less challenge in coping up with their tasks. According to (Chen & Ann, 2016), firms that are able to appropriately utilize its workforce will have fewer complaints coming from employees and the rate of attrition will also reduce.
The HRM at apple did recognize the importance to reduce or destroy a negative publicity of the reward system. The HRM did not reward an individual with a unique performance appraisal until and unless the team has performed (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015). By doing so, the HRM has elaborated on the importance of having the 'teamwork'.
Organizational drag is a chronic friction which can potentially impact the productivity. Various factors can act as the friction. One of such factors is 'cultural diversity' which can be intolerant to people. Apple has its stores in many countries supported by both local and the migrant professionals. Those migrant workers can be racially assaulted on a number of times from the native people. After a number of times, it becomes a chronic friction leading the migrant workers to look for other options (Ozdemir, 2015). Apple has successfully managed the cultural differences by encouraging employees for doing their best and not creating the distraction for others.
Apple is also working on virtual reality plans. The aim is to provide an enhanced camera experience to customers. The HRM was able to identify that the trend is picking up and being adopted by some big names such as Samsung, Facebook and Google. It responded to it and started to hire some ex-professionals of Microsoft and also by doing the fresh recruitments. Ex-professionals of Microsoft were experienced in working with the virtual reality (Fortune, 2018).
Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the futures for smartphones which would enable customers to know the exact information of anything they select in real-time. They can do it by pointing their camera towards the thing they want to know about. Flexible screens will also be the future which would allow customers to fold and unfold multiple screens at their wish. Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technology will be making this possible. In built-Digital Light Projection (DLP) will add more features to the smartphones. TV screens will no longer be required to play games. Only a flat surface will do the thing. Seamless Voice Control, 3D Screens and Holograms will also be the future of smartphones. Globalization will continue to impact the manufacturers and the smartphone brands. Apple would probably be shifting its manufacturing facilities to India due to reducing sales and incrementing labor cost in China.
The HRM will come with effective strategies to attract and retain the talents to maintain a diverse workforce. A lot of emphasis would be on productivity rather on promoting the racism. Work-engagement will become a prime focus.
The HRM at Apple needs to follow in the footsteps of successful companies which have effectively maintained its talents. The one area needed to work upon is to reduce the racism. It can follow "Netflix" for how it manages the culturally diverse workforce. Netflix promotes to act in the best interest of the firm.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe end-users will get to see a lot of technological advancements some of which can really be a delighting experience to them. AR, Flexible Screens, In-Built Projector, Holograms & 3D Screens and Flawless Voice Control would be a few changes to watch out for.
Bupa company is seen as one of the leading residential aged care providers with 50 care homes around New Zealand. Furthermore, the Bupa New Zealand is part of Bupa Australia New Zealand Market Units which includes personal and corporate health insurance, hospitals and care homes for old people (Bupa). Even though having long history and huge operation system, Bupa New Zealand has been criticized for its undertrained and low quality in recent years, which leads to one patient die and various dangerous situations for the elderly people. It is necessary to develop a training program for Bupa to solve the previous problems. To develop a good training program, there are several steps.
Get original essayFirstly, managers need to conduct the need assessments through organization, functional, and individual level to figure out the issues that can be solved by training. Secondly, it is important to ensure the employees’ readiness for training before creating the learning environment. Also, ensuring the transfer of training is required before developing an evaluation plan. Finally, managers have to select appropriate training methods and monitor and evaluate the program.
To support for the training program, this report will provide some recommendations basing on the steps. Firstly, this report will conduct the need assessments by providing some evidence and research about dangerous situations in Bupa. Secondly, it will discuss learning theories to create the learning environment. Also, establishing the evaluation plan before recommending some training methods is necessary.
First of all, there are many situations that are complained by the patients’ family about Bupa treatment. The Cambridge’s Bupa-run St Kilda Care Home was taken to the Disputes for its negligent treatment on Robert Love’s mother, who died in February after five painful months at St Kilda. Particularly, Mr. Robert described the St Kilda as “misadventure, mistreatment, and abuse”. He found his mother shivering in a urine-soaked bed with just a thin shawl covering in a wide-open window room with the call bell out of reach. Besides, Ms. Evans also complained about her mother treatment with St Kilda as “understaffed, undertrained, and often just appalling”. Even though in the hot summer weather, there was no fan or air – conditioning in her mother’ room. After complaining, staff tried to open doors in the dining room and lounge; however, there was only windows opened few inches in the bedroom. In addition, in March, Bupa also was criticized due to the substandard care providing to the 74 years old man who suffered cancer; it found that staff made multiple medication errors, leading the failure to provide the adequate pain relief. Secondly, after various criticism, an inspection was made in which indicated clearly the undertrained in Bupa. Firstly, staff did not have the ability to treat and manage wound; even the wound champion has not had any external training, causing the concern about what training she has had. Secondly, in the dementia area, the inspection found that only one of ten staff had received the dementia training. Furthermore, caregivers failed to respond to the call bells within the expected three minutes; some bells were left for more than twenty minutes. Additionally, in medical planning, there were two patients who did not have any plans in place to treat their medical needs, and four of twelve long – term care plans had not been evaluated within six months. Finally, in addition to lack of training, Bupa was found as failure in answering formal complaints process. In the case of Ms. Evans, her first complaint was in February, and other issues were raised after that. Nevertheless, her complaints remained unanswered. Also, Mr. Robert Love made numerous formal complaints, but many occasions they were ignored, and he criticized that the system was failing. As a result, he went to Disputes Tribunal because he frustrated with response form Bupa, DHB, and the progress of Health and Disability Commission. In general, it can be seen that there is a big problem with the resolving complaints process as well as the operation of the whole organization. Obviously, it is worth noting that there are two major problems relating to training and development in Bupa organization and individual level. Firstly, in individual issues, there is insufficient high trained staff, causing various negative impacts on patients, particularly the cases of Mr. Love and Ms. Evans. Secondly, due to lack of unification and communication in operating the organization, Bupa was failed to take and resolve the complaints from patients.
Basing on Noe (2013, to create the learning environment, there are four considerations such as the opportunities for trainees to practice and receive feedback, the training content, prerequisites, and learning through both observation and experiences. This section will discuss about learning objectives and learning theories.
There are two major learning objectives for Bupa:
Due to two objectives, the social learning theory might be appropriate to implement. The social learning theory is observing others who trainees believe as credible and knowledgeable people. Furthermore, in this theory, people realize that they cannot work alone; thus, this theory encourages coordination in order to come up with grand solutions across all sectors of the organization. Additionally, the theory includes directly experience and observation. In term of experience, it can be applied for the caregivers who have worked in Bupa for a long time; therefore, they have noticed their weakness and limitations, leading to improvement in their individual knowledge and skills. Besides, by observing, trainees can gain experience from the criticisms about Bupa, and the knowledge of long – time caregivers. As a result, trainees can not only learn new knowledge and skills but also improve the connection and communication with the trainers. An application for this theory can be seen in recommendation of McArdle (2015), which is the storytelling in training. As McArdle (2015) stated that stories can help trainees memorize longer, Bupa can implement by using the stories of caregivers not only in Bupa but also in the industry to inspire and provide information for trainees. Also, creating a discussion board in which trainees can discuss, and argue about their new knowledge and skills can increase the connection in a team.
Due to the improvement of technology, there has been a huge increase in using social media in training process leading to the new social learning theory that managers should concern. According to Bingham & Conner (2015), the new social learning theory combines social media tools and the shift in organization culture, which encourages the transfer of knowledge and connection people in enjoyable ways. Therefore, it is a powerful approach to share and discover new skills. Also, it can be seen that the new theory uses the similar concept with the traditional one; but it includes the social media tools causing the stronger connection and the more enjoyable in learning skills and knowledge in Bupa.
It is necessary to create the evaluation plans including outcome measures and measurement strategies before deciding the training methods.
It can be seen that Bupa can apply the skill – based outcomes due to many reasons. The skill-based outcome is used to access the level of technical, motor skills, or the behavior; also, it can evaluate the acquisition, learning of skills and on the job training. In addition, the skill – based outcomes can illustrate both level two and three in the Kirkpatrick’s framework such as learning and behavior. In the Bupa situation, due to lack of skills and knowledge causing negative impact on patients, it is required to test the training of technical skills. Furthermore, caregiver is a difficult job relating to old people and their health. Therefore, behavior testing is extremely important to ensure the high-quality outcome of the training program in the aged care industry.
Firstly, Bupa can apply the observation strategy. Trainers can directly evaluate the skills improvement, and enhance the practical knowledge for trainees at the same time of observing. Also, giving feedback and knowledge face to face, it helps enhance the connection between trainees and trainers. Secondly, the rating system can be helpful by testing the behavior aspects of the trainees. Additionally, it improves the communication and coordination between caregivers as they can recognize and solve their behavior limitations. Finally, the pre and post- test is extremely important. Applying the test, the trainers can recognize the improvement of the program. Furthermore, due to the fact that Bupa has had various criticisms on their staff skills, it is necessary to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Hence, the pre and post-test are appropriate at the moment due to the less cost and time – consuming with medium effectiveness.
Due to the unpredictable characteristics in aged care area, the caregivers have to have not only the knowledge and specialist skills, but also the problem – solving skills. Therefore, the simulation method is an effective way. Particularly, by using the simulation, managers can represent the real life situations, and trainees have to make decision leading to the outcomes that similar to the specific fob. As mentioned before, the training program will be based on the social learning which includes observation and experience, there is a specific way to implement the simulation method for rest – home industry. Firstly, trainees can observe the skills from the experience caregivers, then trying to experience by themselves. Furthermore, the managers can create real situations that might accidently happen in their work in which trainees must take appropriate actions in order to ensure health safety. Besides, according to Noe (2013), simulation helps develop the managerial skills for both team and individual. Therefore, managers can implement the method to improve the communication among organization and the solving complaints system.
The second objective of the training program in Bupa is improving the complaints resolving system in which they need to improve the communication and operation among the organization. Therefore, the team training method is very important as helping trainee understand the main objectives and the operation of the system in general. Team training includes: behavior, knowledge, and attitude.
Due to the improvement of technology, and development of social media, e-learning has become popular and has to be implemented in Bupa to get faster and higher efficiency. Furthermore, it can be seen that simulation can be based on the e – learning approach via two types. Firstly, branching story presents the real situations before asking for decision of the trainees. After that, the computer will give feedback basing on their decision. The second type is virtual lab in which trainees interact with computer that represents their job. Implementing to caregivers training program, managers can create video lectures and real situation with interaction with the computer approach, leading to the observation and experience at the same time. Furthermore, caregivers should receive feedback and discussion board in which they can improve the coordination in the organization. In a little more detail, to create the practices and software simulation, there are some special tools such as Adobe Captivate, TechSmith Camtasia, and Articulate Storyline and Articulate Studio. An example of the demand in e – learning in rest-home industry is the Dementia E-learning program in Hong Kong, which is the AdCarer. com. There are three parts which are skill learning, caregiver self-care, and online intensive support. Within the AdCarer. com, caregivers will be provided comprehensive knowledge and skills, and the social network for exchanging caring experience.
Furthermore, it builds the self – awareness and self – help skills for caregivers. Finally, there will be advice from professionals in dementia care. In general, it can be seen that applying this technique to Bupa caregivers, it will enhance not only the skills and knowledge of individual, but also the coordination and communication between caregivers, leading to efficiency to solve the complaints.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayIn conclusion, there are two major problems which are untrained staff and individual skills, and the weak connection causing the failure of resolving complaints system of Bupa. Therefore, Bupa needs to conduct a training program. In the learning environment section, managers apply the social learning theory basing on observation and experience for caregivers; however, it is also important to notice about the new social learning theory. Furthermore, among evaluation, Bupa should use the outcome measures and strategies such as giving feedback, rating system and pre and post-test. Finally, this report also recommends some training methods such as simulation, team training, and the e – learning simulation.
What is being called human resource management (HRM) today has had a long and checkered history. A number of key changes in the social and economic environment have affected the evolution of HRM, some of which we will highlight in the following sections. Although many of the historians of HRM begin with the 19th century, which was a period of rapid industrialization in the U.S., we start our review much earlier with the development of tribes and, later, apprenticeship and independent contractor systems of the late medieval period (Dulebohn, Ferris, & Stodd, 1995; Ling, 1965). One reason for this is that we want to highlight the changes in the employment relationship over time. This brief historical overview is not meant to be exhaustive; instead, it provides a context for appreciating the strides we've made in what we now call “HRM.”In this special issue, we focus on HRM past and present. Note that there will be a companion to this special issue later this year that will focus on HRM present & future.
Get original essayHistorically, HRM probably was the earliest evolved management function, predating other functions such as finance,accounting, and marketing. Although unrecorded, the actual managing of human resources doubtless has occurred since the first organization of people into functioning units such as tribes. As tribes formed and, particularly, as they evolved from hunting and then farming, a division of labor undoubtedly arose with recognition of differing productivity of individuals. This development was a form of division of labor in which different persons occupied different roles in the productive society. Craftspersons who could develop tools for farmers and be supported by the productivity of others engaged in farming doubtless emerged, and a natural division of labor arose. In short, the productivity of various crafts and occupations varied, and trade evolved to takeadvantage of these variations. Whether managed through the natural functioning of a market and a market allocation ofproductive roles, or the human resource management of a tribal leader, the issues of managing human resources emerged.
In the late 18th century the Industrial revolution began in Europe and spread to the U.S. This revolution completely changed the way that individuals earned a living, and led to a shift from an agricultural to an industrial or manufacturing society. Human skills and craftwork were replaced with machines, and the factory system was born (Dulebohn et al., 1995). Factories and manufacturing greatly improved production, and altered employment relationships. For instance, these systems replaced the self-employment independent contractor system and created permanent wage earners who were employed by organizations. At the same time, it resulted in the rationalization of work and another division of labor. Workers who had been skilled contractors became the tenders of machines and performed highly specialized routine tasks. The new manufacturing system also created the need to supervise large numbers of workers, and management practices tended to be autocratic and paternalistic (Dulebohn et al.,1995). Management expressed little concern for the safety or welfare of workers, and workers were controlled with force and fear (Slichter, 1919). This approach to management continued until the end of the 19th century.
Around 1800, an English factory owner named Robert Owens altered a number of aspects of the employment relationship and developed “welfare to work”systems in order to improve both social and working conditions for workers (Dulebohn et al., 1995).In particular, he taught that his workers' temperance and cleanliness improved working conditions, and refused to employ young children (Davis, 1957). In some cases, these practices evolved into more elaborate paternalistic systems where workers were provided with company housing, company stores, company schools, apprenticeships, pensions, life and accident insurance, hospitals, and libraries (Davis, 1957). Welfare-to-work systems can be defined as “anything for the comfort and improvement, intellectual or social, of the employees, over and above wages paid, which is not a necessity of the industry or required by law” (U.S. Bureau of Labor, 1919, p. 8). These new systems were designed to promote good management and worker relations, increase productivity, and avert worker conflict and unionization (Dulebohn et al., 1995). Not surprisingly, these practices set the stage for many of the employee benefits that are used to attract, motivate, and retain workers today. They have also become the norm for many benefit systems in Western nations.
In the era following the civil war (1860s), labor-management disputes began to occur. Employers wanted to thwart unions and believed that changes in working conditions would enhance performance (Dulebohn et al., 1995). As a result, welfare-to-work programs escalated, but these programs were actually designed to benefit businesses not workers. As these programs grew in scope in the late 1800s, organizations hired welfare secretaries to administer them, and eventually the role of welfare secretary evolved into the employment manager and, at a later point in time, the “personnel manager”. The primary functions of this role were to hire, fire, discipline, and reward employees, which meant that line managers no longer had to focus on managing and retaining the workforce.
Many organizations began to enact paternalistic practices, but some employers were mistreating employees, which led crafts workers and others to join protection societies later known as labor unions (Scarpello, 2008). As might be expected ,employers fought the growth of unions and took a number of steps to curtail unionization, including court injunctions or forcing applicants to sign yellow dog contracts indicating that they would not join a union.
With the advent of manufacturing, employers sought ways of enhancing efficiency and productivity. Engineers (e.g., Frederick Taylor), Industrial and Organizational Psychologists (e.g., Lillian Gilbreath), sociologists (e.g., Max Weber), and Management scholars (e.g., Heny Fayol) focused on strategies for enhancing organizational efficiency, and developed new approaches to managing workers. For instance, the Scientific Management approach fostered by Frederick Taylor (1947) emphasized the rationalization of work by studying the job scientifically, breaking it down into components, and determining the one best way to perform the job. This approach diminished worker autonomy and stressed that employees should be supervised closely to ensure that they performed the job exactly as expected. At the same time Max Weber (1927) suggested that organizational efficiency could be improved by using legitimate rules and authority systems.
The new design of jobs and the resultant autocratic management systems spawned even greater levels of conflict between workers and organizations. In the 1930s the National Labor Relations Act, the Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932), the Wagner Act (1935), and other laws led to the growth of unions. As a result of increased unionization and use of scientific management principles, personnel departments grew and focused on job analysis as the basis for employee selection, training, job evaluation, and compensation. In addition, The Wagner Act defined the New Deal industrial relations system and “declared that the goal of public policy was to encourage the practice of collective bargaining, to eliminate labor's inequality of bargaining power, and introduce democratic rights of due process to industry”(Kaufman, 1993, p. 61). In view of these policies, industrial relations (IR) departments emerged in organizations in order to manage collective bargaining agreements (Dulebohn et al., 1995).
World War II created an exceptional demand for labor and slowed temporarily the growth of unions (Dulebohn et al., 1995).The war brought wage freezes and prohibited strikes, but following the war there was an increased need for HRM. The post-war era brought renewed interest in unions, and workers were determined to recover their lost wage increases. In addition, federal labor laws and wage controls created an increased demand for personnel departments. In addition, the growing power of unions and labor unrest resulted in the passage of the Taft Hartley Act. The act was designed to equalize power between labor and management. During the 1940s and 1950s, unions represented 47% of the U. S. labor force, and 95% of companies had at least one union (Dulebohn et al., 1995). At the same time, employers began to hire more educated personnel managers because of the constraints posed by unions and the need to manage unionized workforces.
In the 1930s, employment managers began to argue that conflict was not inherent in labor relations, but was caused by poor management and work systems. As a result, researchers conducted a series of experiments to examine the effects of different work systems on worker productivity (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939). These researchers found that the social elements and workers' needs had an important impact on the output and workers' well-being. This new approach was labeled the Human Relations movement, and emphasized that workers have social needs. The Human Relations approach broadened the view of HRM beyond the individual and the job, and stressed the work group and social structures of organizations (Dulebohn et al., 1995; Scarpello, 2008).
In the 1950s, the Human Relations movement in the field of HRM challenged the assumption that people did not want to work , and it stressed that human resources made important contributions to organizations. As a result, the term “personnel management” was replaced with the label “human resource management”, which emphasized that human resources were assets to organizations. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Human Relations approach evolved into the Quality of Work Life (QWL) era. This approach attempted to satisfy the interests of employees and organizations by stressing both employee well-being and productivity. For example, management developed new programs that underscored job enrichment and career development; in addition, new policies were designed to improve workers' quality of work life in order to enhance their satisfaction and commitment to organizations.
During this era, managers also developed programs that focused on labor-management cooperation and promoted collaborative efforts to improve workers' quality of work life. The QWL era was facilitated by legislation that highlighted fair employment practices including Civil Rights Acts (1964), Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970), and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974). The passage of these acts, and the development of new QWL programs, promoted the need for professional Human Resource managers and new forms of HRM policies and practices in organizations.
All of these above-mentioned changes and challenges prompted the development of a “new” HRM function (Kochan, Katz, & McKersie, 1986). This new function is much more of a strategic partner in organizations due to the recognition that human resources are critical to the functioning of organizations in the service and knowledge economies. In addition, the late 20th century saw an increased reliance on employee-relations, and HRM was called on to foster a sense of trust in the relations between managers and workers (Dulebohn et al., 1995). American organizations began to stress non-unionized HRM practices and to adopt many of the Japanese management principles that emphasized employees as critical resources that can give organizations a competitive advantage. As a result, HRM has evolved from a “personnel” function to a human relations, then labor relations, then industrial relations, and most recently strategic HRM function.
In the articles that follow, this evolution of the field is further articulated in terms of both general and specific events. To set the stage for examining our roots, Kaufman (2014-in this issue) traces the development of HRM from the labor problem that surfaced in the 19th century to the multifaceted strategic HRM/industrial relations/personnel economics nature of the field today. Similarly De Nisi, Wilson and Bite man (2014-in this issue) review the history of HRM throughout the 20th century but focus on how this evolution of the field is characterized in terms of the HR research —practice gap. In an interesting twist, Boudreau and Lawler (2014-in this issue) trace the evolution of the field from a perceptual rather than historical perspective. Based on survey data from HR leaders spanning two decades, they share their findings regarding the changing role of HRM based on the evolution of perceptions regarding the progress of the field of HRM.
The next two articles focus on specific issues/problems that are fundamental to the evolution of our field. Nkomo and Hoobler (2014-in this issue) explain the shift in HRM with respect to our societal and thus organizational ideologies regarding “diversity” .As a nation, we've evolved from a “white supremacy” view of diversity that characterized the early 20th century to an “inclusion” orientation that emerged in the early 21st century. Gowan (2014-in this issue) focuses on the history of unemployment research and how we, as a field, have evolved from a job-loss research focus to a stress focus to, more recently, a career growth focus.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe last article is relevant to our current reincarnation as a “strategic partner” in organizations today. Sikora & Ferris (2014-in this issue) propose that the real issue facing strategic HRM is HR implementation. Using social context factors, they explain how the success of HRM is not a matter of “strategy” but rather a focus on the line managers responsible for implementing those HR strategies .Notably this article focuses on the current challenges facing the field, which is a nice segue for the second volume of our special issue which will focus more so on HRM in terms of the present and future. It is our hope that these special issues will foster additional research onthe fundamentals of HRM and lead to a better understanding of the significance and contributions of the field as a whole.
A Strategic human resource administration characterizes representatives as a resource, and a benefit, that gives upper hand to an association, and on whom hierarchical achievement is utilized. In this way, with a specific end goal to effectively use the resources, associations should produce a more prominent level of Autonomy and Independence to its workers. This won't just enhance the manner in which they are performing, yet it likewise enables them profoundly. When they are enabled, they can play out their best on the jobs.
Get original essayAside from that, associations ought to guarantee that they legitimately outline the jobs of the workers. These jobs ought not just assist representatives with accelerating in their vocations, however ought to likewise adjust to the strategic targets of the association. Once the workers could understand the qualities and destinations of the association and endeavor to adjust their values to the estimations of the association, at that point it prompts an effective amalgamation of representatives and managers and of course the business. Consequently, the errands that are intended for the workforce ought to be so that it gives a more noteworthy level of Autonomy and Independence.
Work configuration is the way toward appointing and planning the work undertakings. There are for the most part two standards of work outline Integration and separation Mix is the coordination of the endeavors by the workers. The collaboration among the representatives, combination of the undertakings among them, correspondence and coordination are few manners by which workers incorporate and progress in the direction of better outcomes. Separation then again is task of various undertakings to particular individuals to such an extent that they do the assignments any other way in light of their ranges of abilities. Separation helps in expanded outcomes and appreciation. Both incorporation and separation in work plan not just helps the association in rapidly accomplish what it needs, yet additionally guarantees that representatives are propelled, viable and beneficial. This will thusly build the consumer loyalty which is essential to the effective organizations. Human resources planning process has following advances.
A job analysis is a careful analysis of the job obligations and learning, aptitudes, capacities, required for achievement in a specific position.
Human Resources Inventory is a stock of aptitudes of human resources as of now utilized in the association.
It is the way toward assessing future human resource need of right quality and right number.
Human rights have been considered as the external conditions necessary for individual growth throughout history arising from mans basic social character fundamental rights are the sustaining foundations of democracy as a form of government and way of life although has left the European Union EU it remains a signatory to the European convention on human rights (ECHR) despite this there is a relationship between human rights and EU legislation even if membership in the EU is not a requirement for participation in the ECHR this essay examines the united kingdoms (UK) relationship to the European convention on human rights and human rights conditionality in the criminal law component of the trade and cooperation agreement as well as the social rights. This 'Human rights: thematic essay' will analyze the United Kingdom's adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights and its impact on criminal law and social rights, even after leaving the European Union.
Get original essayAccording to art. 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Union is founded on fundamental rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The (UK) is no longer a member of the EU. After 31 December, became part of national law under the control of Parliament, it will no longer be represented in EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. This means that the Court of Justice has no effect in the further development of general principles in the legal system. Furthermore, Britain has been bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is an international convention for the protection of political freedoms and human rights in Europe years after the end of World War II in 1953. The conventions cover a wide range of rights through the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. It is said that the law of Great Britain has not formally recognized human rights, but they uphold traditional civil rights dating back to Magna Carta (1215), which is dependent on precedent and legislation since it has an unwritten constitution. The written document recognized the rights of citizens to a fair trial. Nevertheless, the use of this mechanism provided relatively minimal protection, due to the freedom of citizens to do anything when it was not prohibited by law. An example of this, it can be illustrated by the Firearms Act (amendment) from 1997, before people were allowed to own legally registered weapons before the massacre in Dunblane in 1996.
Consequently, The and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), is an agreement where it defends essential rights in the areas regulated by way of the agreement. After Brexit happened, wished to figure out the guidelines for their future related to trading, regulation enforcement, social security, goods, judicial cooperation etc. Particularly, the European Court of Justice has no role in the TCA institutional form, and it has been argued that it is no longer part of EU law. According to Article comprov.13 of the TCA, the TCA is to be interpreted according to international law conventions, such as those codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This article tells us that phase of what TCA is primarily based on, human rights, which includes the ECHR, as nicely as the 'importance' of giving impact to the domestic. In distinction to the everyday provisions of the TCA, we have right here a specific reference to the ECHR. However, these provisions in themselves do nothing. To check the realistic value of human rights safety for the regulation section of the Treaty, we need to seem to be at Part Three in our very own termination clause, in Article 692.
Article Nr. 525 phase 3 of the TCA, consists of the regulations of the rule of regulation enforcement cooperation and consists of its variant of ‘essential elements’. This article describes phase three of the TCA, which is primarily based on the events and Member State longstanding appreciate for democracy, the rule of regulation, and the protection of vital rights and freedoms of individuals. This article tells us that section three of the TCA is ‘based on / admire for’ human rights, consisting of the ECHR, as properly as the ‘importance’ of giving impact to it domestically. However, these provisions, do nothing. To determine the real significance of human rights safety to crook regulation the crook regulation phase of the treaty we must similarly see the very own termination clause. These components have their professional model of the entire TCAs ‘essential elements’ clause, which similarly presents a shape of fast-track termination. Here, the termination of phase three ends the second that denunciation of the ECHR or one of the three protocols referred to through or an EU Member State turns into effective. It must be referred to that phase three carries a wide variety of provisions on human rights about to particular types of regulation enforcement cooperation. None of these special human rights exceptions is excluded from the policies on dispute contracts.
In addition, the safety of social rights has two facets. Firstly, associated with current labor regulation in Art 386, which applies to ‘levels of employment and social protection’, described as together with fundamental rights in the workplace, occupational fitness and security standards, employment standards, and organization level or restructuring of the EU clarifies that this potential that the relevant degrees of employment and social safety are frequent to all Member States.
The second set of applicable guidelines offers different devices for exchange and sustainable development. However, the time 'sustainable development' right here does now not solely refer to environmental legislation. The cause of this is to enhance the integration of sustainable development, in precise its labor and environmental dimensions, into the events 'trade and funding stipulations and, in this connection, to complement the parties' responsibilities underneath labor and Social Standards. For this purpose, the events recall, inter alia, the International labor Organization. ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Just Globalization, adopted in Geneva on 10 June 2008 by way of the International Labor Conference. The key provision on labor requirements explicitly refers to social rights.
Each part shall tackle its proper to decide its priorities, insurance policies, and allocation of assets in the tremendous implementation of the ILO conventions and the applicable provisions of the European Social Charter in a manner regular with its worldwide obligations, such as below this title. The Council of Europe hooked up in 1949 and adopted the European Social Charter, which used to be revised in 1996. All member states have ratified the European Social Charter in their unique or revised version. For the reference to the European Social Charter refers to the unique model.
But again, how is everything enforced. For greater security, the parties share the understanding that if the panel makes recommendations in its report, the black party does not have to follow these recommendations to ensure compliance with the agreement. Article 408 tells us that the Parties shall enter consultations, which may involve information from ILO bodies. For greater security, the parties share the understanding that if the panel makes recommendations in its report, the black party does not have to follow these recommendations to ensure compliance with the agreement. That said, it is viable that the panel method has a political impact, as it may also be beneficial for those protesting that (or EU) might also no longer have social rights to have a panel document in their want that they can win around.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayIn conclusion, the relationship between human rights and EU legislation remains significant for the United Kingdom even after its exit from the European Union. The UK remains a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has been incorporated into national law through the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the EU upholds essential rights, including the ECHR, in various areas of regulation enforcement and social security. However, the provisions in themselves do not offer any practical value without further examination of the termination clauses of the TCA. The safety of social rights, including employment and social protection, is also significant in the TCA, and the integration of sustainable development is a crucial element of the parties' responsibilities. Therefore, even after Brexit, the UK's relationship with the ECHR and EU legislation remains important to guarantee fundamental rights and democracy.
The following research report explores the views and perspectives of various nations of the world regarding Xinjiang’s human rights abuse. Articles from various corners of the world and of distinct matters were studied to gain information on China’s repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. The report initially summarizes the human rights violation acts against the Uighurs such as being shaved, blindfolded, shackled, and abused in every form. Moreover, the report proceeds toward the attitudes of different nations such as the US, China itself, Pakistan, and Japan as well. Furthermore, the political impacts of being in defense and against the Xinjiang policies are also stated.
Get original essayThe Chinese government has detained more than a million Muslims in internment camps. Most of the detainees are Uighurs who are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group from China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. China refuses to share information about these detention centers preventing any kind of media coverage. UN officials as well as many foreign governments have urged China to stop this abuse which they also term as ‘genocide’.
Since the April of 2017, around 800,000 to 2 million Uyghurs as well as other Muslims such as Kazakhs and Uzbeks have been detained in these camps according to government officials and experts. Most of these Muslims have never been charged to crime and have been targeted for many reasons. The reasons range from contacting or traveling to 26 of the countries that China deems as sensitive such as Afghanistan and Turkey to attending mosque services, having more than three children, and texting Quranic verses. This all compresses to the fact that their only crime is being Muslim.
These camps are located in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has been claimed by China since the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) took power in 1949. Uyghurs living there claim that this must be a separate region however, Xinjiang takes up one-sixth of China’s landmass and borders eight countries including Pakistan.
Most experts estimate that these “re-education” efforts began way back in 2014 and then were strikingly expanded in 2017. Satellite imagery reveals that 39 of the camps have almost tripled in size between the April of 2017 and August of 2018 and now approximately cover the area of 140 soccer fields. Research has also brought forth that construction spending on security-related facilities in Xinjiang increased by $2.96 billion in 2017.
Due to the lack of media coverage and preventing journals to record anything, the information about the conditions inside the camps is limited. However, detainees that have fled away from these camps describe it as a bitter, hard, and severe ground for the detainees. They are forced to pledge loyalty to the CPP and reject Islam as well as learn Mandarin and sing to glorify communism.
Captives also describe it as a prison where every movement and utterance is monitored through cameras and microphones. Some said that they were abused and were sleep-deprived during interrogations. Women shared stories of sexual abuse, including rape and the released detainees considered suicide while some watched their fellows kill themselves.
Children whose parents are sent to camps are sent to state-owned orphanages while parents living outside of China face a difficult choice: return home to be thrown into camps or stay abroad separated from their children.
Long before the camps came into existence, the Chinese government was accused of cracking down on religious freedom and basic human rights in Xinjiang.
Many aspects of Muslim life have been erased from the region. Communist Party members were recruited to stay in “Uyghur homes” in 2014 to monitor any “extremist behaviors” such as fasting in Ramadan or observing prayer being carried out. Mosques were destroyed claiming that they were poorly built. Uyghur women have reported forced sterilization and intrauterine device insertions as well as getting threatened by officials if they have too many children. Moreover, parents were also banned from naming their children Islamic names. The availability of halal food became scarce in Urumqi as the local government launched campaigns against it.
Furthermore, Beijing has compelled other governments to return Uyghurs who have fled China. In 2015, Thailand returned more than a hundred Uyghurs. Egypt also deported several students in 2017. Chinese government instructed officials to collect information on Chinese Uyghurs and that they be arrested as soon as they return back to China.
In 2019, 22 nations, consisting of mainly Western countries primarily European nations, signed a letter addressed to the President of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urging China to end its massive “genocide” against Uyghurs. A list of 37 countries, mostly African and Middle Eastern nations, also submitted a similar letter however, that was in defense of Chinese policies.
The first letter expressed concerns about “credible reports of arbitrary detention” and “widespread surveillance and restrictions” against Uyghurs and other minorities. The letter also called on China to uphold its commitment as a member of the Human Right Council “refrain from the arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedom of movement of Uighurs, and other Muslim and minority communities in Xinjiang.”
However, the second letter clearly expressed their opposition to politicizing human rights and defended what Beijing calls “vocation education and training centers”. Moreover, they justify China’s efforts “counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang” to combat terrorism and extremism.
Chinese repression of Uyghurs has been termed as “re-education camps'' by the Chinese government. The question arises as to why China is detaining Uyghurs in Xinjiang now. According to the Chinese officials, Uyghurs hold extremist and separatist ideas and they view the camps as a way of eliminating threats to China’s territorial integrity, government, and population.
Initially, the Chinese officials denied the existence of these detention camps however, at the end of 2018 they began calling them “vocational training centers”. According to the officials, the camps serve only two purposes: to teach Mandarin, Chinese laws, and vocational skills and to prevent citizens from being influenced by “extremist” ideas further pointed out that Xinjiang has not faced a terrorist attack since December 2016. Officials claim that the camps prevented violence. Moreover, the government forbids foreign investigators to freely roam the region stating that anything happening inside Xinjiang is an internal issue.
In his “secret speeches”, President Xi Jinping did not explicitly call for arbitrary detention but laid the groundwork for the crackdown in Xinjiang. Moreover, he also warned of the “toxicity of religious extremism” and supported using tools of “dictatorship” to eliminate Islamist extremism.
Moreover, Chen Quanguo, Xinjiang's Communist Party secretary moved back to the region in 2016 after holding a top leadership position in Tibet. Since then arbitrary arrests became widely used by regional officials. Chen fiercely intensified security in Xinjiang. He repeatedly called on officials to “round up everyone who should be rounded up”.
The CPP pushed to shape all religions to attune to the officially atheist party doctrines and the Han-Chinese society’s customs under Xi. The Chinese government has come to recognize and expression of Islam as extremism which can be interpreted as a result of past independence movements and outbursts of violence. The riot that broke in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi in 2009 in which Uyghurs protested against state-incentivized Han Chinese migration in the region and the widespread economic and cultural discrimination. Approximately 200 people were killed which completely changed the view of Uyghurs in the eye of Beijing. They classified them as potential terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. Future attacks at the local government office, train station, open-air market, and even Tiananmen Square in Beijing were blamed on Uyghurs.
Another question that comes into being is whether economic factors are involved or not. It is apparent that Xinjiang is an important link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a huge development plan expanding through Asia and Europe. Xinjiang holds China’s largest coal and natural gas reserves therefore Beijing hopes to remove any form of separatist activity that can cause a hindrance in their development in Xinjiang. The economic benefits of resource extraction and development are discriminated against by Uyghurs while Han Chinese enjoy it.
Moreover, the randomly arrested Uyghurs are often sent to work in factories near the detention camps. Since 2017, 80,000 previously detained Uyghurs are sent to work in factories throughout China which are linked to 83 international brands. Studies suggest that forced labor is an important part of the Chinese plan for Xinjiang’s economic development to make it a hub of textile and apparel manufacturing. China terms this as “poverty alleviation”.
China’s usage of euphemism to tone down the most brutal form of human rights violations stems from multiple agendas. The most prominent ones could be a threat to China’s unanimity and the economic factor. USA’s interference in China’s internal affairs has little to do with the abuse in Xinjiang but a lot to do with its strategic geopolitical location and its importance for China’s economic and energy cooperation with Russia and other Central Asian countries. Nonetheless, China views the Xinjiang genocide as “vocational learning” and “eradication of terrorism”.
Much of the world has condemned China’s detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and UN officials have demanded access to these camps as well. In the January of 2021, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that China is committing “crimes” against humanity and “genocide” against Uyghurs making the US the first country to attribute those terms to Chinese abuse in Xinjiang. President Joe Biden also used the word “genocide” to describe the violations against Uyghurs and his secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, affirmed Pompeo’s declaration.
The US also imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials. They even blacklisted agencies and companies affiliated with the abuse blocking them from buying US products. This legislation was signed by Trump which was passed with a lot of support from congress. It also mandated that officials like Chen face sanctions for oppressing Uyghurs. Moreover, the law also makes sure that US companies selling products to or operating in Xinjiang ensure their activities do not supplement the violence.
While the reports of the UN make it apparent about the genocide being conducted on Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang in China, Pakitan decides to turn a blind eye towards it. China and Pakistan have maintained their friendship on mutual interests such as the protection and checking the influence of their rival, India. The depth of their friendship can be witnessed in the opening of the Karakoram Highway in 1982 which was constructed explicitly for the purpose of promoting trade and building personal relationships and implicitly to enhance the political and logistical control over their frontiers and to deal with any sort of external and internal security threats.
Since Pakistan is a very close ally to China due to CPEC and other economic developments it has covered up a massive human rights abuse. In this situation, Pakistani leaders obviously do not want to raise the question in order to prevent the already rising anti-Chinese sentiments in the country. It would further deteriorate the security of Chinese projects, workers, and companies. Pakistan, however, is a Muslim country and a strong member of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation). Silence on the Uyghur issue can lead to a lack of credibility on the Kashmir issue as well. It has been argued that the scale of the two issues is different however this argument will prove to be futile if Pakistan wants to be perceived as a genuine champion of Muslims and human rights. It seems that Pakistan follows a model of playing a double standard in dealing with issues related to Muslims.
With the growing abuse on Uyghurs and the denunciation of Chinese genocide, Japan has begun to consider a legal foundation for sanctions like those imposed by the US and Europe. There have been reports that eleven of the 82 well-known international brands that were affiliated with forced Uyghur labor were Japanese. However, ‘Sharp’ states that it disapproves of any form of human rights violation and would take action if any such abuse is found related to their suppliers.
After the sanctions passed by the US which froze the assets of four people including Xinjiang officials under the legislation, there have been moves to submit a similar bill to parliament. However, ministry officials state that Japan is too slow to act compared to the US and Europe. Moreover, Japan’s current legal framework prohibits Japan for economic sanctions just on the basis of human rights. Japanese government thinks that without a UN resolution sanctions on China are highly unlikely.
The hurdles of passing this bill include Chinese retaliation on the legislation. The bill would need to verify the human rights violation in another country and designing such a framework is a difficult task.
The detainment of Uighur Muslims in these camps is a threat to human rights all over the globe and will continue to grow to be a fatal issue if not controlled at this stage. International pressure may have contributed to the Chinese government releasing some of the detainees from these camps however, the government still denies mass arbitrary detention in Xinjiang. People have been forcibly disappeared, detained or imprisoned without their families knowing their whereabouts, and even when they are released they are under continued surveillance and forced labor. This human rights abuse is to be marked as the most deadliest after Hitler’s genocide on the Jews.
China continues to dominate its power on these Uyghur groups to maintain and grow economic developments in the Xinjiang region. Many nations across the world have shown their criticism and also implemented it through actions.
The US has passed laws against Xinjiang officials participating in the abuse, EU has signed letters against Chinese policies and addressed it to the UN. States have termed this as genocide and are recognizing it as such as well. However, a large part of the world’s population turns a blind eye to this “abuse”, primarily in the great Islamic countries which raises questions as to where the loyalty lies. Nonetheless, some defend China for their own economic gain, and security issues while some like Saudi Arabia defend it to cover their own mistreatment to the residents living there.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe best hope for those unjustly detained or imprisoned seems to be escalating international pressures to investigate Xinjiang and the underlying activities taking place in that region.
Throughout all of history, human rights have always been a topic of discussion as many people in the entire world do not have the basic rights that they deserve. In the United States of America, there are still so many people that do not have basic human rights that every person born should have. There is the case of many women and African Americans in the United States who were unable to vote and have not been able to have their basic rights without it being impeded on, among many other human rights violations against the LGBTQ community and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are ten basic human rights, and it is hard to believe that in the year 2022 not everyone is able to have them. There should be a focus on everyone having equal and equitable human rights rather than having people continue on in a world where not everyone can have their proper rights. This is a short essay on human rights, which highlights the fact that despite being in the year 2023, there are still numerous people in the United States and around the world who are deprived of their basic human rights, including the right to vote, and LGBTQ rights, among others.
Get original essayFirst, what are human rights? “Human rights are a right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person” (Dictionaries, 2020). There are more than just one or two human rights, most people are not aware of all of the human rights that they have. There are ten basic human rights, the right to equal treatment, every individual must be treated equally regardless of their color, caste, religion, or gender, and this right reminds them of that. The right to freedom from torture, by this right, individuals should not be tortured or subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. In terms of the right to life, every human being has the right to live. This means it is the government's responsibility to protect human rights and preserve human life. The right to privacy, right to privacy protects citizens from government and corporate overreach and surveillance. Asylum has been a right since ancient times when churches were granted a right to protect anyone seeking refuge in them, including criminals. The right to marry, the individual of legal age has the right to choose hisher life partner and marry that person to start a family. Every person has a right to freedom of thought, opinion, and expression, and to follow any religion they choose or change their beliefs as they please. The right to work, this right includes a variety of work-related concerns, which means everyone has the right to work, but also the right to be treated well at work. As part of the right to education, an individual has the right to obtain an education. Lastly, a human being's right to social services ensures that he or she has a certain standard of living. Clothing, housing, food, water, medical care, and security are included in this.
The universal declaration of human rights also known as UDHR is a document for freedom, equality, and protecting the rights of every individual. “The UDHR was adopted by the newly established United Nations in 1948 on December tenth as a response to the “barbarous acts which […] outraged the conscience of mankind” during the Second World War.” (International, 2021). The adoption of the UDHR recognized human rights to be the foundation for freedom, justice, and peace. Human rights play an important role in how people relate to each other at all levels of society, including the family, the community, the workplace, politics, and international relations. Therefore, it is crucial that everyone in the world understands what human rights are. Understanding human rights is key to promoting social justice and improving the well-being of society.
Human rights have been violated in the past. There have been egregious human rights violations against Black people in the United States, including slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, and Black Codes, followed by policies and practices that continue to harm Black communities today. Starting with slavery, slavery refers to the condition of one human being owned by another. Slaves were considered property by law, and most of their human rights were taken away from them. During and after slavery, lynching was used by white American men to terrorize and control African Americans. Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. “The roots of Jim Crow laws began as early as 1865, immediately following the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States” (Editors, 2018). On top of the Jim Crow laws, there was also the black codes. Historically, black codes were local and state laws that specified where, when, and for what compensation formerly enslaved people could work. In the South, the codes were used as a legal way to put Black citizens into indentured servitude, to take away their voting rights, to control where they lived and how they traveled, and to seize their children for labor.
We are all entitled to human rights. In addition to living free from violence and discrimination, these rights include being educated, owning property, voting, earning an equal wage, and enjoying the highest possible standard of physical and mental health. Around the world, including in the United States, workplace inequality is one of the biggest violations. The fact that women still face extreme disadvantages in the workplace isn't a secret to most Americans. Even though they put in the same amount of time and have the same responsibilities as men, women still don't make the same amount. “The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, a right known as women’s suffrage, and was ratified on August 18, 1920, ending almost a century of protest” (Editors, 2010). The women’s suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. Women's rights movements have been fighting to address this inequality for many years, campaigning for laws to be changed or taking to the streets to fight for their rights. In the digital age, many movements have blossomed, including the '#MeToo' campaign, which highlights the prevalence of gender-based violence and sexual harassment. Women's rights and their violation of them have made some progress, but there is still a long way to go.
The last movement is the gay rights movement. In the last century, especially in the last two decades, the gay rights movement in the United States has made progress. The Supreme Court has struck down laws prohibiting homosexual activity and allowing lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people to serve openly in the armed forces. Aside from this, same-sex couples can now adopt and marry in all 50 states. However, the gay rights movement has been a long and bumpy road, and advocates are still fighting for employment, housing, and transgender rights. Human rights violations against LGBTQ people include killings, rape, mutilation, torture, arbitrary detention, abduction, harassment, and physical and mental assaults. From a young age, they are beaten and bullied and are put under pressure to commit suicide.
Throughout all of history, human rights have always been a topic of discussion as many people in the entire world do not have the basic rights that they deserve. In the United States of America, there are still so many people that do not have basic human rights that every person born should have. There is the case of many women and African Americans in the United States who were unable to vote and have not been able to have their basic rights without it being impeded on, among many other human rights violations against the LGBTQ community and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are ten basic human rights, and it is hard to believe that in the year 2022 not everyone is able to have them. There should be a focus on everyone having equal and equitable human rights rather than having people continue on in a world where not everyone can have their proper rights.
Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher, said, “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” Defining one’s personal identity may coincide with this ancient Stoic principle, but what is not mentioned is the human transformation that must take place to accomplish such an aspiration. In both Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, there is a quest for personal definition that requires breaking the societal conventions of a chaotic culture. The Invisible Man is trapped in a world where his grandpa believes the best response to the white man’s racism is unparalleled, insincere kindness. In The Crying of Lot 49, Oedipa Maas exists in a community consumed by the ‘everydayness’ of suburban living. While both the Invisible Man and Oedipa Maas have been alienated by their respective cultures, Invisible derives a personal identity while Oedipa Maas continues to struggle in a world that disintegrates around her because of her inability to connect and communicate with her chaotic society.
Get original essayEarly in the novel, Invisible presents himself to the reader as a black man who has been forgotten by society; he lives underground and steals electricity from a power company for his fantastically well-lit lair. The company knows that someone is using up an exorbitant amount of electricity, but the culprit is strangely invisible to the rest of the grid. He opens his relationship with the reader as a man who has been forgotten by society, for better or for worse. Invisible says: “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me” (3). The withdrawal from society that Invisible experiences is not one of peaceful sabbatical, but rather a anxious fragmentation from the world with which he desperately wants to interact. At times he is not sure of his own being, and must continually prove to himself what others do not acknowledge. This constant struggle for recognition is at times painful, as Invisible asserts that his efforts cause fatigue. He says: “You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world” (4). Invisible does not experience the fulfillment that is symptomatic of human interaction, and its absence causes an ache and fatigue that preempts him to reach out to the seemingly blind society from which he has been excluded.
Oedipa from The Crying of Lot 49 has also been segregated from society, but not in the same capacity as Invisible. She is certainly ‘visible’ to the rest of society, but she has cast herself in a “Rapunzel-like role of a pensive girl somehow, magically, prisoner among the pines and salt fogs of Kinneret, looking for somebody to say hey, let down your hair” (10). While Invisible desperately tries to be noticed, especially by the power company, his presence remains unknown.
Oedipa’s absence, or buffer between her, society, and the adventures of her dreams is based internally. She creates the fortress around her daily actions, and only lets down her guard when the time is right. For Invisible, the barriers he faces are external and based on the thoughts and judgments of those around him. However, like Invisible, Oedipa will gain knowledge through new experiences that will break down the walls of her isolation, but whether she develops a personal identity remains to be seen.
We know that the beginning of Invisible Man is actually the end, and the end the beginning. By the end of the novel, he has come full-circle and lives underground perhaps in preparation to make his first bold steps into society as a man comfortable with his own identity. However, he does not start out with such control over his persona, nor does he possess the savvy to choose his battles. At the beginning, he is a man who is admittedly invisible to society, and presents himself as such. Nonetheless, he does not always handle precarious situations like a man who knows he is invisible to society would. He mercilessly pummels a man who curses at him; he pounds the man’s chin with his forehead and kicks him repeatedly. This is a departure from the innocent, intimate nature in which the reader first sees Invisible as a man without any grasp in society. His violence shows the immaturity of his feelings; he tries to force the man to recognize his as a human through brute force, rather than by making a meaningful contribution to society. Still, Invisible claims that his were taken in the heat of an altercation, and that fighting is not his normal response to confrontation. He asserts: “Most of the time…I am not…overtly violent. I remember that I am invisible and walk softly so as not to awaken the sleeping ones…I learned in time though that it is possible to carry on a fight against them without their realizing it” (5). Either way, when he does not resort to violence he falls back onto his own invisibility to carry on his ‘fight’ that—at least at the beginning of the novel—he finds necessary.
Invisible has been alienated by his own culture. Thus, he must find a way to cope with the chaotic environment that surrounds him. When he takes Mr. Norton to The Golden Day sporting and gambling house, Invisible is both literally and figuratively forced into an environment foreign to him. He is forced to take Mr. Norton to the establishment because the trustee needs medical attention, but he did not expect the riotous atmosphere of The Golden Day. Here, he is not invisible (as everyone else is black), but rather chastised by the vet for his actions. The vet feels that neither Mr. Norton nor Invisible act genuine towards the other—they are simply acting parts that will lead them towards their supposed destiny. He says:
“[Y]ou both fail to understand what is happening to you. You cannot see or hear or smell the truth of what you see—and you, looking for destiny! It’s classic! And the boy, this automaton, he was made of the very mud of the region and sees far less than you. Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the score-card of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less—a black, amorphous thing. And you, for all your power, are not a man to him, but a God, a force.” (95)
In the midst of chaos—and its normally disengaging effect—Invisible hears for one of the first times a story that is different from his grandfather’s. The vet scolds Invisible for his ‘yes sir, no sir’ mentality towards the white people in charge, but later on Invisible wishes that he could tell Mr. Norton how ashamed he was with the frenzied atmosphere of The Golden Day. Rather, he believes that approval from the white man will bring him the social forum he desires. While he has only begun to define himself, Invisible still believes at this point that he can bring change as a servant to others.
Invisible undergoes an invariable struggle to please those around him, in hopes of garnering the accolades of others and perhaps increasing his own self-worth. When Invisible joins the Brotherhood, he feels a bit disheveled from the beginning of his relationship with the strange Brother Jack and his eccentric mistress, Emma. Later, he reiterates his willingness to please those around him: “My mind fought desperately for acceptance. Nothing would change matters. They would shift me and investigate and I, still believing, still bending to discipline, would have to accept their decision” (407). Invisible, like so many times before, throws his preconceptions to the wind and allows himself to be swept up in the expectations of others for the promise of a public forum to speak to and perhaps gain recognition. We are also able to sense the insecurity that Invisible feels when he ponders whether Brother Jack still wants him or not. He has given up on the idea of servitude, but Invisible now believes that he can forge an Identity as a public speaker—even if he is promoting the ideas of secret, underhanded society.
While Invisible seeks to define himself through those around him, Oedipa’s search for truth requires the assistance of others, but is mostly a personal exploration. She seeks out Randolph Driblette after viewing The Courier’s Tragedy to ask about the bones and their connection to Pierce’s dealing with the Cosa Nostra. Instead, Driblette is brusque and secretive, answering questions with questions. Driblette says, “You can put together clues, develop a thesis, or several, about why characters reacted to the Trystero possibility the way they did, why the assassins came on, why the black costumes. You could waste your life that way and never touch the truth” (60). His quote coldly foreshadows the possibility that finding truth may not be possible at all for Oedipa, but she presses on because of the odd mentioning of the Trystero. Oedipa’s environment in which she must exist is chaotic in a way much different from Invisible’s. She must deal with characters with severe communication problems, while living in a haze-like awareness in which even she struggles to define reality with the recurrent Trystero symbol.
As the search deepens, the hunt that Pierce has sent her becomes increasingly complicated. Oedipa questions just how far she must go to find the essential reality; she wonders if “she too might not be left with only compiled memories of clues, announcements, intimations, but never the central truth itself, which must somehow each time be too bright for her memory to hold,” (76). The fragmented bits of a world undiscovered are similar to the differing opinions that Invisible receives from his grandpa, the vet, and Brother Jack. However, many of the experiences that Invisible encounters are authentic in their freshness, while Oedipa seems to be spiraling past face values into a web of incorrigible clues that only becomes more confusing. This realization is evident when “she glanced down the corridor of Cohen’s rooms in the rain and saw, for the very first time, how far it might be possible to get lost in this” (76). Invisible begins to make new realizations when he looks more closely at the intentions of those around him, while Pierce’s intentions only serve to confuse Oedipa when she immerses herself with the mystery.
Unfortunately, the reader does not learn of Oedipa’s ultimate vindication nor is there an insinuation of grand failure. The end of the novel is shrouded in a greater amount of mystery than its beginning, which is undesirable to both Oedipa and the reader hoping for an all-encompassing ending. Oedipa does, in fact, “let down her hair." However, whether she or the reader is better off for her actions is debatable. She cannot communicate with the disordered society around her, nor can she communicate with Pierce, as Oedipa does not believe that the “dead really do persist” (79). Her struggles continue ad infinitum, which brings into question whether or not it was right to leave San Narciso in the first, and whether one can find central truth when a society is disjointed and consumed by white noise.
Only when Invisible begins to delve deeper and examine the intentions of those who require his services does he realize that society does not have the innocence that he once thought. He is able to recognize through the madness of public rallies, through the death of his friend, and by dealing with the pressures of being a public figurehead, that Harlem—perhaps even the rest of the world—is not always genuine. His experiences and willingness to listen to outside advice shapes his new world view. In his second encounter with the vet, Invisible is instructed to: “Learn to look beneath the surface…play the game, but don’t believe in it—that much you owe yourself. Play the game, but raise the ante…Learn how it operates, learn how you operate…You might even beat the game” (153-154). Finally, the riot prompted by Ras the Exhorter serves to put Invisible back underground, after he has gained knowledge of the world he did not previously possess. The scene of the riot is absolute bedlam, yet transcendent in nature. Through the fire, Invisible escapes to an underground world in which he can craft his own identity from the new knowledge that he has gained. Invisible says: “[T]he world is just as concrete, ornery, vile, and sublimely wonderful as before, only now I better understand my relation to it and it to me” (563). He realizes that he can better the public good solely through himself—rather than as a servant or figurehead to others—which is an artifact of experience and thoughtful introspection. After enough gin, jazz, dreams, and books, he is now ready to step back into the limelight as a man with definite identity.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayFor black Americans, the difficulty in forming a collective identity has been shown by several authors, and their reasons for this challenge are similar. When the early slaves were brought to America and separated from their families, much of their family history and lineage, for the time being, was lost. This fragmentation gave blacks no common experiences to draw from, aside from the fact that they all faced the same horrendous conditions in the journey to America. This group was also denied history and humanity under segregation as they had few options for enrichment or social activity. Without interaction, it is difficult for an ethnic group to form common opinions, much less a common identity.
In this period where everyone in the country is under quarantine, everyone is doing their part in order to minimize the spread of the epidemic. In fact, there are some people that sacrifice themselves out there in order to help the people, such as healthcare workers, grocery store workers, and delivery services. However, can we consider their actions are done for the sake of helping people, or for the sake of surviving? In this time of the epidemic, the economy has suffered greatly as most people cannot go to work due to the virus. As such, many people lack jobs and to make ends meet. While we can see a lot of those workers outside doing noble, maybe others are only forced into this situation in order to make ends meet.
Get original essayActions done for the sake of others well-being is a noble action. One can consider this action to be selfless, compassionate, and kind. People commonly consider these traits as humane, to aid other people in suffering. However, some have seen these actions as a form of marketing, celebrities and brands called out when showing support for one community solely as a form of promotion. An example of this was reported In an article written by Khatchatourian (2015) stating that Disney’s promotion of their Star Wars movie was changed based the region it was shown to, where a certain character was shrunk down in the poster in order to appeal to the demographic in China. However, in comparison to the posters in other countries, this character can be seen more prominently. It can be argued that Disney removed the prominence of the character in order to appeal to the Chinese demographic where the morals are different compared to other countries. Thus, we can see that the act of helping others in need can be exploited for personal gain. As such, one ponders the question of what makes an action humane. How do we determine if one does an action simply to help or if they have an ulterior motive behind a noble action?
The reason I started asking this question is because I constantly saw brands hop on the bandwagon, where they claim to support movements such as Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ+, only after they are accepted as the mainstream. It is clear to see that these companies do not actually care about the cause, they only care about the popularity of the cause. This thinking leads me to wonder on why we want to do humane actions and what it truly means to be humane. In this paper, I aim to analyze what makes an action humane, such as the compassion, the act of selflessness, and the kindness we give to one another. I aim to analyze multiple philosophical perspectives on what makes the act of helping genuine in order to find out how to differentiate genuine aid being given to help people in need and aid given in order to pander to the popular movements.
Compassion is the feeling that alludes to the act of kindness and sympathy since we closely associate the feeling of this emotion towards the suffering of others. Compassion is a topic that has been tackled for centuries, as books such as the Bible since compassion can be found in the Old Testament such as Isaiah 49:10 which says, “They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” Compassion can also be found in the New Testament such as Matthew 9:35-38 which states,
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
These excerpts from the Bible show us that compassion is not a new concept but rather one that has lasted until the modern age. Thus, this shows us that compassion has been relevant in religion, or at least in Christianity.
However, if we view compassion from the perspective of western philosophers, we see that the value of compassion varies differently from each philosopher. People such as Friedrich Nietzsche, with an article written by Daniel Harris (2017) named Compassion and Affirmation in Nietzsche. In the article, it states that Nietzsche is critical on the concept of compassion since he views the word “compassion” as too broad of a term since this implies that it condemns all forms of suffering without viewing what makes our nature to be susceptible to suffer a noble thing, and thus robs our importance. But despite that, Nietzsche does not view the act of compassion as inherently bad since he sees that if one with a master morality has pity on something, then the pity has value. The author of this article argues that compassion by itself is harmless, but the act of compassion whilst losing the upper hand might impact more suffering rather than help. This basis on compassion is based on Nietzsche’s view on master-slave morality, which in short, implies that the master morality are for the “strong-willed” and create their own morality whilst slave morality are for the “weak”, who are viewed as pessimistic and try to convert others into the same morality. This means that the act of compassion, while meant to be for goodwill, can result in a form of weakness as it does not address on the positive aspect of struggle when based upon the master-slave morality.
However, if we view compassion as a form of weakness, we fail to see its inherent value in creating value. Is it worth helping others? The way I interpret what Nietzsche meant on compassion is that our compassion must come from our own morality, rather than to feel pity on all forms of suffering, as to put more value in feeling pity towards others.
Selflessness is what people commonly view as a noble trait. The act of putting one’s self behind others has especially been tackled by a philosopher named August Comfe, who is commonly associated with the philosophy of Altruism, the act of putting others over one’s self. In an article written by Campbell (2006), he stated that Comfe believed that one should put others over themselves, in a form of collectivism where everyone helps each other. Essentially, altruism believes in the common good, with its method being that the common good is to put others over one’s self. However, Comfe’s view is flawed when in comparison to the act of being humane. If we do actions for others for the greater good, we fail to acknowledge the compassion for the situation. Comfe’s view on how one should be altruistic considers the overall view rather than the individualistic view that compassion brings.
What this means is that altruism can prove a form of selflessness, but the way Comfe views the act of altruism, it isn’t because one helps another because they feel compassion for the suffering another person has, but rather they feel that it is their duty to help others. And in a way, this devalues the pity one has for others, since it ignores the motive to help. This also implies that there is no true selflessness, one cannot be truly motivated to help others solely for their sake because if we view it that way, we ignore the reason we’re trying to help, which in a way, is a form of self-satisfaction, since we feel satisfaction in helping others. In a study done by Szuster (2016), she researched in detail about the different dimensions of altruism. In the study, she found that altruism can be rooted in our social life, through forming bonds, we form familiarity and a form of dependence upon others in order to create a sense of belonging and affection.
We learn that helping others is important in order to build a relationship and thus, altruism, and the act of selflessness, is formed through our social interactions with others, which is entirely subjective and cannot be truly selfless. This shows that while we cannot be truly selfless and that our reason to help is somehow to benefit our own, the reason we develop the will to help others can be seen in our relationships with other people and the compassion new feel for them. And from that, I understand that altruism in the eyes of Comfe is not true selflessness, since it fails to see why should we help them but rather sees that we have to help them, falling into the slave morality that Nietzsche implies, and from that, I believe that genuine selflessness is formed from a subjective view that is more in line with a ‘master morality’, where one should help others because they believe it’s right, where it comes from one’s own sense of compassion, which in turn, forms a genuine want to put others above one’s self since while it aligns with one’s own goals, the action is done for the sake of other people because they believe that it’s the right thing to do to help them.
Kindness has always been valued. Its been shown in every show and people generally appreciate acts of kindness. The act of kindness shows parts of compassion and a sense of selflessness. We can think of it as the part where we act upon said compassion and selflessness. Kindness has always been valued as something everyone should learn, that even texts as old as the Bible show an example of kindness, in the parable of the Good Samaritan found in the book of Luke. The act of kindness is more explicitly shown in the excerpt in Luke 10:33-35 which says:
“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “
This part of the Good Samaritan shows how far kindness can help people and shows one’s compassion as he disregarded the man’s status and only sought to help him, which shows some sense of selflessness. I interpret the parable as one of the Bible’s best examples of the act of kindness and what can be compared as a humane act. Kindness is a term that is hard to define. We know kindness when we see it happen, yet when we try to define it, we often just end up thinking it means any good act.
However, we cannot say that all acts of kindness are for good. As stated earlier, companies will try to act kind by supporting movements such as LGBTQ+ and BLM. However, these companies have shown a history of only supporting these movements solely for publicity. A recent example of this was from Activision Blizzard as reported in an article by Victor (2019) was that a Chinese player named Chung Ng Wai from their tournament because the player showed support for the protests that happened in Hong Kong, which resulted in him being kicked from the tournament, and losing all the prize money he earned as well as suspending the two commentators at the time. The result was that a lot of fans internationally showed support for Chung and the Hong Kong protests which resulted in immediate backlash in the community against Activision Blizzard as it was leaked that their Chinese social media account in Weibo apologized to China about the behavior of Chung. This shows that companies like Disney and Activision Blizzard do not actually care to support movements for a good cause if it damages profit as these are the same companies who show ‘support’ for movements popular in the west and that they feign kindness solely for their gain. So, if kindness can be manipulated for personal gain, what makes kindness genuine?
Based on the parable of the Good Samaritan, Nietzsche’s take on compassion, and the philosophy of altruism, I understand that most of these show forms of what people commonly see as humane. The Good Samaritan shows a Samaritan helping another because they want to help, Nietzsche viewing people with a ’master morality’ showing pity upon others be given actual recognition, and Comfe’s collectivist view on altruism share a common factor. The capability to care. The word ‘humane’ can apply to many things, most of which are focused on ethics. So, the act of doing something considered to be humane shows a form of genuine care. Whether it be care for others, care for animals, care for nature, or to care about anything, to recognize value and act upon it. We can see lab rat tests as somewhat ‘inhumane’ because we don’t consider about the rat’s lives, but we can say that the reason those rats are used is due to their similarity to our DNA so it can be argued that it’s for the common good. We can feel pity for a criminal for their motives and still consider them deserving of a sentence. We can help people who’ve wronged others in the past if we believe it is the right thing to do. Based on these actions done by companies, we cannot say their support for movements are humane and considered as acts of kindness since we can see it’s used to gain their own profit. I see that the act of being humane isn’t just to feel pity, to act selfless, and to act kind. But rather, I see the act, in some way, embodies all of them, with a sense of care involved. We commonly view charities as something humane. We commonly view animal testing with proper conditions as something humane. So, what stops the act of being humane as a form of seeking the common good through the means of proper care? I’ve learned that the act of being humane cannot be determined solely from the act, or from where it comes from. It depends on the motive and the method.
In the end, I have learnt that humane, like all words, cannot be given a concrete definition. We all view ethics in different manners. What matters in humane acts is not the action, but rather the method. To look back again on the parable of the Good Samaritan, why did the Samaritan help the guy? Because he saw that he needed help. But did he recklessly help the man, without considering other factors? He patched him up first, then gave him a ride on his own donkey. He considered how to approach this, rather than to blindly help the man. He even promised the innkeeper to pay back any extra expense the man had. He could’ve simply patched him up but he considered what would be the right decision. Because of the parable, I believe that the act of being humane is not to simply help others in need due to being kind, but to help them in the best way according to the conditions presented.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayIn the context of the pandemic, one might see the essential workers working for their own self-interest, even if the job poses health risks. But one can also argue that this is the best they can help, and that their hard work shows what can be considered humane.
Humans have instincts. However, some are often suppressed and viewed by society as immoral and unnatural because not all of them have pure intentions. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Milton retells the story of Adam and Eve and their fall from Eden, exploring the minds of each. As a result of her struggle between having a strong desire for wisdom, her vanity, and wanting to obey, Eve experiences inner torment that portrays her as a flawed and, most importantly, human character, which Milton uses to comment on human vulnerability and the sometimes irresistible and great temptation of sin.
Get original essayThough she is forbidden, Eve pines for knowledge, claiming that “...wisdom, which alone is truly fair” (4.491) in comparison to “How beauty is excelled by manly grace” (4.490). She immediately inflates the magnitude and greatness of wisdom by arguing that its appeal and importance can not be rivaled, even with that of Adam’s appearance. Her open comments about the wisdom she is forbidden to obtain through the Tree of Knowledge illustrate this uncertainty that plagues Eve’s mind about whether or not she should act on her instinctual longing to obtain something she can not have. especially because she has been told. Her rationalization of her ambition for wisdom that “For good unknown sure is not had, or had / And yet unknown, is as not had at all” (9.756-757), or that being “good” but not having the knowledge of what “good” really is as if not having it at all, emphasizes her lust for wisdom. With this natural tendency to have strong curiosities and yearning for something unattainable, Eve’s character is more realistic and humanistic because it is more relatable, as it is a universal instinct. Because it is more relatable, it creates a connection to Eve that, when she is tempted by Satan to act on her desires for wisdom despite her restrictions, there is an empathetic response which emphasizes the strength of temptation and exposes a vulnerability in humans to such temptation.
While Eve’s urge to seek out wisdom torments her with her doubts and second guesses, her vanity illustrates that she is not a perfect, goddess-like figure. When she awakens for the first time, she first discovers her reflection in a lake, to which “Of sympathy and love; there [she] had fixed / [Her] eyes till now, and pined with vain desire…” (4.465-466). Even when she discovers Adam, Eve finds him “...less amiably mild, / Than that smooth watery image” (4.479-480). Her fixation with her own reflection and appearance and inability to create one for the man she is supposed to be with indicates a flaw, and this flaw, again, encourages a connection to her character, making her more humanlike and less goddess-like. Because Satan uses this flaw against Eve as a way of persuading her to disobey by calling her “ Goddess among Gods, adored and served / By Angels numberless, thy daily train” (9.547-548), it causes her to debate her obedience, adding to her conflicting thoughts and desires for wisdom. This inner torment as a result of this flaw also aids in creating an understanding that Eve’s fall from Paradise is not intentional and that her vulnerability is taken advantage of, based on the constant battle she has with herself.
The debates Eve has with herself would not exist without the initial desire to obey that she does hold. With Adam, in the case of sex, “...nor Eve the rites / Mysterious of connubial love refused;...” (4.742-763), exhibiting her submission and recognition of obligation. This submission exemplifies that she is willing to obey Adam, as well as God, evident in her acknowledgment that “In the day we eat / Of this fair fruit, our doom is we shall die” (9.762-763). Acknowledging the consequences of forbidden actions depicts Eve as knowing and feeling obligated to obey, yet, still questioning it because she seems to have to repeat the consequences to herself in order to remind her what they are. Her questioning becomes more apparent following her reminder of the consequences, wondering that, since Satan claims to have eaten the fruit, “How dies the Serpent?” (9.764) and wondering about their consequence and the validity and fairness of it if, “For [them] alone / Was death invented?” (9.766-767). Eve’s argument with herself between wanting to obey but questioning why and falling into temptation emphasizes the power of sin because, while most will claim to do the “right” thing when prompted, it is not always so clear of a choice and temptation is difficult to overcome.
In summation, Eve’s inner torment as a result of her longing for wisdom because it something she has been told she can not have, her tragic flaw of vanity because it is inevitably her downfall, and her debate of obedience causes her to be a more relatable, humanistic character that is easier to understand and empathize with. With this, Milton uses Eve to comment on the vulnerability and susceptibility of humans to fall into temptations, as sin is far more persuasive than realized, because Eve is not merely a perfect character. She is more human, and humans have instincts, no matter if they are pure or not because nothing can ever be such a clear one thing over another.