Fascinating Moment Essay Example for Free

Fascinating Moment Essay Miller successfully makes the Vinny Bolzano story a fascinating moment to return to by carefully planning the plot of the play. In the beginning, because Eddie told the story of Vinny Bolzano, we believe that no matter how much he hates the cousins, he wouldn’t do anything like Vinny because of his belief in loyalty to family and the community. However, just before he leaves Alfieri’s office, we see the phone-booth gradually light up, symbolizing the triumph of Eddies desperation over his conscience as he contemplates the idea of snitching to the Immigration Bureau. Earlier in the play, Eddie shows his belief in the unspoken code of honour and Italian ‘justice’ when he tells Catherine the story of Vinny Bolzano to warn her about snitching on Marco and Rodolfo and the consequences, and is very particular on pointing out how no one should know that they are harbouring illegal immigrants. The story of Vinny is not merely that of a young boy who betrays his own uncle to the authorities. It also goes to show the price he has to pay for that betrayal. He is humiliated in the street by his own parents and he leaves his house never to be heard of again. The fact that Eddie does the exact same thing of which he has spoken with such horror is ironic, but for the audience who were warned at the start of the play it is dramatic irony. Eddie forgot the words which he made very clear to Catherine, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away. His words foreshadow his own destruction. Now he finds this saying to be true: his feigned horror on finding the Liparis have relatives sharing with Marco and Rodolfo, and his suggestion that they are being tracked, coming just before the immigration officers arrive, is a giveaway. It is also made more of a community issue because now he hasn’t just snitched on his own family but also on the Liparis. Lipari and his wife, Louis and Mike, the stage representatives of the wider community, one by one leave Eddie alone, symbolizing his isolation. Both Catherine and Beatrice are speechless with shock when they realise what Eddie has done, and immediately, their opinion of him changes from love to hate. Miller uses Beatrice’s unbelieving â€Å"Oh, my God, my God† to show that even she, who had stood by and supported Eddie, had now turned against him.  To add further insult to injury, Marco later spits in Eddie’s face, and is then carried away before Eddie can retaliate. This sequence of events further degrades Eddie’s character, and will lead to his end being far more tragic, as he is deserted, disgraced and angry at how he thinks his good intentions are being misinterpreted and thrown back in his face. The climax of the play is a showdown and it clearly shows the ignominious consequences that Eddie brought upon himself. Marco believes it is dishonourable to let Eddie live, but has given his word not to kill him. Eddie pulling a knife out means that Marco can see justice done, while keeping his word. Again the action is symbolic of the plays deeper meaning. Eddie literally dies by his own hand, which holds the knife, and is killed by his own weapon; but Eddie also metaphorically destroys himself, over the whole course of the play. And this is what Alfieri introduces to at the plays opening: the sight of a man destroying himself, while those around him are as powerless as a theatre audience to prevent it. Alfieris speech at the beginning begins by introducing a lot of concepts which are explored later in the play. He begins with a speech on lawyers and the distrust that originates from it, You see how uneasily they nod to me? Thats because I am a lawyer a lawyer means the law, and in Sicily the law has not been a friendly idea. Both Eddie and Marco allow their personal feelings to affect their idea of justice. They are not strong enough to take an objective view. We see that Alfieri is right, people are not strong enough to execute true justice, their desires and feeling always take a part. This is why it is better to rely on the law, which although flawed offers an objective view. We can see later in the play that both Eddie and Marco turn to the law for help, but the law lets them down, You mean to tell me that theres no law that a guy which he aint right can go to work and marry a girl and ?. These two parts of the play link to show us that the law will often clash with loyalty, and when something interferes with loyalty, one often has to turn to the law for help; however, the law may often deal with the problems too severely. We can see this by the drastic action that Eddie has to take to remove Rodolfo from Catherine’s love. Alfieri says This is not God only God makes justice. The idea that the corporate federal law is inadequate comes out in a few places in the play. One example is when Marco is in jail and talks to Alfieri about what will happen to Eddie. Marco says all the law is not in a book. This tells us that Italians have many different rules to Americans to do with punishment and believe in getting justice rather than abiding by the law. With this, Miller tries to show the culture clash as Americans believe more in law whereas the Italians believe in justice. Justice is a very important because it links in with honour. Honour is shown to be very important, especially to the male characters. It means far more to them than the law. To be honourable is to be respected. If you do anything dishonourable, you lose respect. That is why Marco and Eddie are so keen to protect their names and get a just conclusion. Codes of honour bind families and the whole neighbourhood with a sense of community. Everyone should look out for one another, to betray someone is the most dishonourable action imaginable.

Germany and its Economy Essay -- Economics

Germany and its Economy Known as the "fair" capital, Germany lies in the center of Europe and in the center of the European home market. Approximately two thirds of the top international fairs take place in Germany. Germany is successful. A leader in world trade, Germany is the third largest economy in the world and the biggest market in Europe. It wasn't always this way though; European power struggles wounded the country in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country dominated by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. Germany has been through all of the phases of the business cycle many times. It even suffered immense depression after World War One in the early 20th century. The Treaty of Versailles dug a deep hole in Germany's economy because the Allies had gotten a little greedy with their revenge. Payments made by Germany to the Allies represented a drain of capital that would have otherwise been directed toward the growth of German industry. In order to pay its debts for World War I, Germany engaged in a huge "hyperinflation" of its currency, printing paper marks until, in 1923, when they became worthless. The destruction of the currency wiped out the people's savings, which meant that there would be very little capital available within the German economy for years to come. With Adolf Hitler rising to power in 1933, the German economy became increasingly socialized and militarized, passing through recovery to prosperity, which scared their foreign investors and made a healthy economic recovery nonexistent. Germany is referred to as a "social" market economy and remains a key member of Europe's economic, polit... ...Germany is doing well other than a few scarcities. Because they are the third leading economy in the world, they rank up there with the U.S.and France. Germany has a few shortages in labor and energy, but overall they succeed in exports and GDP growth. Germany is an economy not much different than our own. Besides both being defined as market economies, Germany and the U.S. also share the same periods of business cycle changes. They both experienced the Great Depression in the 1920's and '30s and are even witnessing a recession now. I would agree that an economy is just like a business. An economy goes through the same downfalls and good times just like a business, an economy experiences depressions, recessions, recoveries and prosperities and the goal of an economy is to have a surplus of money while supplying its citizens with needed goods and services.

Economics Land Reform Essay

Lesson on LAND REFORM Land Reform – refers to the full range of measures that maybe taken to improve or remedy the defects in the relations among men with respect to their rights in Land. – Integrated set of measures designed to eliminate obstacles to economic and social development arising out of defects in the Agrarian structure. Agrarian Structure (also known as structural reform) is defined as a complex set of relationship within the agricultural sector between Tenure Structure, Production Structure, and Structure of Supporting services. 3 types: 1. Land Tenure Structure – is a concept which refers to one or more types of Land Tenure Systems regulating the rights to ownership, control and usage of Land and the duties accompanying such rights. 2. Production Structure – is a concept which relates to the nature, type and modus operandi as well as the actual process of production or farm operation. 3. Structure of Supporting Services – is a concept which involves matters like credit, marketing, the supplying of agricultural requisites, processing, storage and other technical assistance in so far as they have some immediate bearing on reforms of tenure and production structures. Agrarian Reform – (wider than Land Reform) the term comprises not only Land Reform but also the reform and development of complimentary institutional framework. It encompasses all programs designed to bring about improvement in all the institutions surrounding farm life. It is concerned not only with the farmer and the land he tills but also with the community he lives in. Philippine Agrarian Structures The pattern of land ownership in the Phils. Has been historically the major cause of social unrest. – by 1960, the problem of tenancy was far from being solved. Some 41% of all farms were cultivated by tenants as compared to 37% in 1948. – Tenancy is still deeply ingrained in our agrarian structure despite numerous land reform attempts of the government. – The problem was even more explosive in the rice – growing, the rate of tenancy was higher (31% in 1971). – These figures explain why the HUK influenced was strongest in Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley. It even resulted to: a. social time bomb in Negros Occidental and b. Sakdalista rebellion in Cabuyao Laguna Evils of Landlordism 1. Inquilinato System – under this system, the tenant bore all the risks. The absentee landlord merely waited for the harvest and collected annual rent. 2. Kasama System – the tenant usually furnished the land, farm tools, seeds and expenses for transplanting and harvesting. Although the sharing was regulated by la, abuses by the Land Lord continued unabated because of the weaker position of the tenants. 3. Takipan System – the tenant paid back two cavans of palay for every cavan that he borrowed. The rate of 100%. 4. Talindua and Terciahan – under the former, the rate of interest was 50%, under the latter, 33% or 1/3. If the Loan had been made in cash and was payable in kind, the scheme called for a 50-75% interest. 5. Latifundia – was the wrong kind of paternalism that it bred in some regions particularly in the Western Visayas. Under this system, the tenant goes to the Landlord for money when someone in the family died nor got married, birth, for school fees, harvest is damaged etc. †¢ Landlordism was often an unjust and inequitable system. But, even more, it was an obstacle to economic progress, because, our farmers were hindered from rising agricultural productivity, a must for long-run growth. LAWS OF AGRARIAN REFORM 1. P.D. 27 – law to emancipate the farmer from the bandage of soil – first law on Agrarian Reform (Oct. 21, 1972) 2. R.A. 1199 – Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954 (Amended by R.A. 2263) 3. R.A. 1400 – Land Reform Act of 1955 4. R.A. 3844 – Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963 (Amended by R.A. 6384) 5. R.A. 6369 – Agrarian Reform special fund (1973) 6. PD No. 2 – declaring the entire Phil. As Land Reform area (1972) 7. E.O. No. 228 – declaring full land ownership to qualified farmer beneficiaries covered by PD 27. (July 17, 1987) 8. R.A. 6657 – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law (1988) 9. E.O. 229 and Proc # 131 – Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program 1987. Imperatives of Agrarian Reform a. Farmers to be independent landowners, increase their production, set them free from poverty and debt, and make them dignified participants in nation building. b. would liberate the capital for investment in new industries, which would increase production and provide employment to the expanding population and raise standard of living. c. It will correct the present imbalance in our society where there are enormous concentrations of land, wealth and power in the hands of a few. d. Not least, the land reform program will make democracy truly meaningful to the people. Lecture # 2 TAXATION Taxation – is the act of laying at tax, ie., the process or means by which the sovereign, through its law – making body, raises revenues to defray the necessary expenses of government. Taxes – are the enforced proportional contributions from persons and property levied by the Law-making body of the state by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of the government and all public needs. IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSE OF TAXATION a. Provide funds to promote general welfare and protection of its citizens b. to finance government’s multifarious activities and c. it is the lifeblood of the nation ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TAX 1. It is an enforced contribution 2. It is generally payable in money 3. It is proportionate in character 4. It is levied by the state which has jurisdiction over the person or property 5. it is levied on person and property 6. It is levied by the law-making body of the state and; 7. it is levied for the public purposes THEORY AND BASIS OF TAXATION 1. Existence of government is necessary. That it cannot continue without means to pay its expenses, thus it has a right to compel all its citizens and property within its limit to contribute. 2. The basis of taxation is found in the reciprocal duties of protection and support between the state and its inhabitants. (Benefit received principle) NATURE OF POWER OF TAXATION 1. It is inherent in sovereignty 2. it is legislative in character 3. it is subject to constitutional and inherent limitations CLASSIFICATIONS AND DISTINCTIONS 1. As to subject matter or object: a. Personal or Capitation – Tax of a fixed amount imposed on individual, residing within a specified territory. b. Property – imposed on property, whether real or personal. c. Excise – any tax which does not fall within the classification of a poll property tax. 2. As to purpose a. General, Fiscal, or Revenue – imposed for the general purposes of the government’s b. Special Regulatory – imposed for special purposes to achieve some social or economic ends irrespective of whether revenue is actually raised or not. 3. As to scope for Authority a. National – Tax imposed by the national government’s b. Municipal – or local – imposed by municipal or public corporations 4. As to determine of Account a. Specific – tax of fixed amount imposed by the head or number or by some standard of weight or measurement. b. Ad Valorem – Tax of a fixed proportion of the value of the property w/ respect to which the tax is assessed. 5. As to whom hears the burden a. Direct – Tax which is demanded from the person who also shoulders the burden fo the tax b. Indirect – demanded from one person in the expectation and intention that he should indemnity himself at the expenses of another. (ex. VAT) 6. As to Graduation or Rate a. Proportional – tax based on a fixed percentage of the amount of the property, income or other basis to be taxed. b. Progressive or graduated – Tax the rate of which increases as the tax base or bracket increases. c. Regressive – tax the rate of which decreases as the tax base or bracket increases. (we don’t have this kind). OTHER TERMS DISTINGUESHED FROM TAX 1.Revenue – refers to all the income derived by the government. (Tax is included as revenue). 2. Internal Revenue – refers to taxes imposed by the legislature other than duties on imports and exports. 3. Custom Duties – Taxes imposed on goods exported from or imported into a country. 4. Debt – Tax is not a debt. Debt is based on contract, it is assignable, maybe paid in kind and person w. debt cannot be imprisoned 5. Penalty – punishment for violation of law NATIONAL TAXES Income – ( for purposes of Tax) all wealth which flows into the tax payer other than as a mere return on capital. Income Tax – tax on a persons income, profits and the like realized in one taxable year. Gross Income –all income but not including exempt income and income subject to final income tax. Example are: 1. salaries/wages services including fees 2. commissions 3. sale of and other dealings in business 4. interests and rents 5. dividends and securities and 6. income derived form gambling and illegal means

Doomsday Windows XP End Support Essay - 1465 Words

Doomsday: Windows XP End of Support Doomsday, the beginning of the end, there are many words which can describe what is to come from the end of support for one of the most widely used Computer Operating Systems in the world; windows XP. The software was introduced almost twelve years ago, and it still remains relevant, and regarded highly by many today (â€Å"A History of Windows†). With the announcement of software giant Microsoft’s end of support date, those using the operating system Windows XP will no longer receive security patches, support, or helpful assistance (Support for Windows XP for Enterprise Business Is Ending). Should Microsoft be obligated to continue support the more than decade old software, or are they making the†¦show more content†¦Now twelve years after the October release of Windows XP, there is a crisis in the computer world. The operating system was very popular, and so widely adapted over the years that most companies are still using it to this very day (Wolpe, Window s XP: One Year to Go but Is It Already Too Late to Move?†). For example a survey on what percentage of computers still run Windows XP was conducted on information technology departments across the United Kingdom (Wolpe, End of XP Support: Why so Many CIOs Are Still Not Ready). The results yielded a staggering 40 percent of desktop computers are still running XP, which is almost half of all of the corporate computer systems in the United Kingdom (Wolpe, End of XP Support: Why so Many CIOs Are Still Not Ready)! Why is it so devastating if Windows XP goes out of support? Spyware, malware, computer viruses will all likely infect machines running the operating system without any hesitation (â€Å"What does it mean if Windows isn’t supported?†). This is due in part to Microsoft no longer sending out security patches, which are basically updates that protect the computer from new threats being produced (â€Å"What does it mean if Windows isn’t supported?†) . For consumers that are using XP at home on personal machines, this means that the computer can become susceptible to an infection, and personal