...description of failure of capitalism in The Grapes of Wrath and the latter is a description of the failures of capitalism in The Great Gatsby. In The Grapes of Wrath the Joad family is traveling from Oklahoma to California, a distance of about 1,500 miles, in search of work to sustain their family. Their home in Oklahoma is taken by the bank because the farm is unusable after the dust bowls have started. The novel The Great Gatsby follows the lives of a few rich people and shows the way their money has the ability to do. Both Fitzgerald and Steinbeck condemn the idea of the...
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...look around the world, we see an increase in the number of corporations; as capitalism has spiraled to a peak. While corporation’s products and services are needs and wants of the economy, their moral actions, or lack there of, are not, however, directly or indirectly affect us each day. Are corporations people? Can corporations be considered moral? Questions such as these have been raised by Shaw and Barry in the text Moral Issues in Business. While the answers to these questions are debatable, the infamous Enron Corporation shows us that while the people make up the company, the company as a whole receives the reputation of being immoral or unethical. We consider Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffery Skilling, the former president and CEO of Enron, the driving forces behind Enron’s bogus success and responsible for the moral code that should have been set for the organization. These unethical actions Enron took part in even had support by auditor, Arthur Anderson, and attorneys, Vinson & Elkin. The top leaders of Enron had a passion for capitalism, which drove the company to illegal and unethical behaviors, eventually leading to the catastrophic fall of the company. However, in order for Enron to deceive as long as they did without being caught, a lot of their actions were actually legal, but immoral. Enron’s use of mark-to market (MTM) accounting and taking advantage of energy deregulation in California, led to their “profit at all costs” mentality, legal, moral, or otherwise. ...
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...born John Griffith Chaney, in San Francisco, California. London worked in the Klondike for a few years and then began to write and publish books and stories. His books became very successful which made him one of the most popular authors of the nineteenth century. Jack grew up in a hard working-class. He pretty much paved out the way for his own life and success. He rode trains, worked on oyster ships, shoveled coal, and found employment in a cannery. These experiments inspired him in writing some of his stories, as he really enjoyed to read and write at libraries in his free time. His writing career basically began in 1893, the year that he went out on a sealing voyage in which him and his crew almost got taken out by a typhoon. Jack London’s writing career started off by his mother encouraging him to submit one of his stories to one of the local newspapers for a writing contest. Jack was 17 at the time and even though he only had an eighth grade education, he had won the first prize of twenty-five dollars, and had beat college students from Stanford and Berkley. After this experience, he decided that he would begin to dedicate his life to writing short stories, but he had a difficult time finding publishers. He then enrolled at the University of California Berkeley, but only for a brief time before he traveled north to Canada to try and find at least a small fortune of gold in the Yukon Gold Rush. After returning to California, Jack was still determined to be a successful...
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...Daniel McClure California Culture October 1, 2014 California Sunshine and Noir California, the Golden State, where the sun is always shining, the waves are always crashing, and dreams are coming true. Right? Well, not exactly. It hasn’t always been sunshine and smiles for the great state of California. The state has gone through a variety of stages both economically, and politically. Throughout these phases, there have been a fair amount of themes that have helped build the foundation of California culture. Of course, there is the notion that anyone can move to California and strike it rich. This dream that is still very alive today has contributed in the past and present with massive booms in immigration into California. This popular conception is warm and welcoming, but it does not tell the entire story of California. When looking into the past and understanding how this state came to be, there is a dark and iniquitous aura that suggests that California isn’t really that enchanting, glamorous place that it is made out to be. The California Dream all started in 1848 when discovery of gold sparked a rapid movement known as the California Gold Rush. Word quickly spread when John Marshall first made his discovery in the American River. As Albert L. Hurtado explains in his paper, “Sex, Gender, Culture, and a Great Event: The California Gold Rush, ‘It is impossible to give more than rough estimates for the number of hopeful people who poured into California from 1848 to the...
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...Dustin Jones There were many social theorists from the period of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This period of time is regarded as the period of the Enlightenment. A few of the major figures of this particular “movement” were Rene Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant. They altered the way in which the social world was viewed and helped pave the way for other classical social theorists to explain the individual’s role in society. Karl Marx, Alexis de Tocqueville, Henri De Saint-Simon, and Emile Durkheim are only the names of a few classical social theorists who set out to explore the role of an individual within society. These men believed that Reason, along with the application of a scientific approach, would be able to positively change the world and break through to a new form of power and authority. Although the ideas and theories of these men give rise to far greater advancement in sociological theory, there is a failure in intuition, and thus, a failure of the classical sociological element. The first section of this paper includes an explanation of classical sociology along with an overview of the theories associated with some of the greatest sociologists of this time. The next section of this paper explores reasons and explanations for the failure of classical social theory and interpretations to why before-mentioned theories were compromised. The final section of this paper summarizes some of the conclusions drawn about the...
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...Business Project- Part II Baker College: Intro to Business Management 101 Devin N. Burns October 30th, 2015 Whole Foods Market brands themselves as “America's Healthiest Grocery Store.” They were founded in 1980, when four local business people decided that the natural food industry was ready for supermarket format. They started with one small store in Austin, Texas and now are the worlds leader in natural and organic foods, with 431 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Much of the growth of this fortune 500 company, has been accomplished through mergers and acquisitions. They operate as a high profitable corporation while maintaining an aura of commitment to social justice and environmental responsibility. Although Whole Foods Market operates on a profit, it also has established three non-profit organizations; Whole Kids Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, and Whole Cities Foundation. 100% of donations help to support and achieve the mission of each of these organizations. Many of Whole Food Markets distributors and global partners are contributors to these organizations. Whole Foods Market is not only a highly successful business, but a movement in shaping the future of a world that values human creativity, diversity, and individual choice. Whole Foods Market, the first National Certified Organic Grocer in the United States, is a Fortune 500 company and ranked as the 10th-largest food and drug store in the United States. The four founders of Whole...
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...Today, we live in a more controlled world, us as people have developed a better way to progress. How can we tell? Well with a better understanding of how our world started out and how it progressed to the 21st century. When I hear efficiency for a country, I think of capitalism. I believe that in fact, it does work, and makes the working class happier. Capitalism produces more wealth and it helps money cycle more efficiently because more and more companies start booming and real estate starts to become better. I have a feeling that if we have the flow of capitalism in our country it will improve people's needs to work harder. When I think of taxes, I think of spending our hard-earned money on things that really do need the money. I believe...
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...Erica Anguiano Socialism vs. Capitalism December 21st, 2014 Socialism vs. Capitalism Socialist is not state presidency. It does not law over individuals and places, but it could inspire us citizens to decree over things. Socialism signifies a government in which the society together own and constitutionally function the businesses and social services through a financial fairness and the things required to create and issue households, automobiles and all the necessities we need and want. In socialism the workers who control the businesses and services work together. Owning shops and other workplaces. Rankings would designate our direct managers and organization groups and also elect reps to local and national meetings of the business or service. Work with all- manufacturing congress to organize and distribute of all goods and amenities through the nation. Socialism would replace the biased government that is ran by representatives of an industrialized government operated by workers. Instead in its place of a representative from California or New York, there would be employee representatives from the motorized industry, from the transport systems, from the mines, from the clothes factories, from services such as diners, hospices, schools and so on. These representatives would have the single duty of determining what should be manufactured and how best to manufacture it. Today we have political equality only. Labors don’t have economic democracy. The owners...
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...Black Gold HST 370.05 Prof. Hoikkala October 19, 2015 In Oil! by Upton Sinclair, published by Penguin Books, Sinclair writes to expose the corrupt oil industry in California through the education of both readers and main character, Bunny Ross, on the proceedings for success in the oil business, including bribery and propaganda. Through the start of the book, the reader learns that the main characters father is a rising business man on the verge of becoming a magnate, although only through bribery of politicians and land proctors. Unfortunately Bunny sees both from a upper class and a lower class frame of reference and does not wish to abuse his power and take advantage of the lower class, yet still become a rich individual such as his father. This battle between the classes is seen with Bunny’s fight in favor of workers unions and against religion, using propaganda to aide him. I chose to write on this novel because I was familiar with Sinclair’s work in The Jungle, and after researching more about this book and his inclusion into the real-time history of California and how big of an impact Sinclair caused, I couldn’t choose another book to interest me as much as Sinclair engages his readers. The idea of capitalism and the processes in its execution always grab my attention due to their need for wealth and lack of inclusion from outside aide in order to better increase their wealth. Sinclair is also excellent in his ability to give a rich character development, leaving...
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...Through foreshadowing events that occurred in the interchapters, Steinbeck reveals the Joads are just average Americans trying to survive. Interchapters allow readers to understand the themes of the novel better, as they contain more information about life during that era. The characters in the regular chapters are magnified as they symbolize the events of the interchapters to paint a bigger picture of all people on their way to California. The interchapters intensify the importance of the Joads reaching their destination and the hardships they face along the...
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...how to utilize their strengths, capitalize off their weakness, take advantage of opportunities and evade threats. Business in a capitalism or a free market are competitive and can be brutal if you don’t do a proper S.W.O.T analysis and understand the internal and external factors that impact businesses. Even though the family’s business has alway been different and had little competition since the close of their small business in Detroit, the Overton family has had great pie. Yet, it was the relentless work ethic and the open mind to new technology that allows The Cheesecake Factory Inc. to currently have 151 restaurants under their name; not to mention being the United States distributor of cheesecakes. The way Evelyn, Oscar, and later their son, David, used the S.W.O.T analysis to build the American dream was difficult at times, but the Overton family made it look easy as a cheesecake pie. The moral and work ethic of Evelyn and Oscar was the backbone of this successful company, along with a warm, casual dining experience, and great menu options. In a free market you want to make your business and product different so that you can have an advantage; Evelyn’s recipe was this advantage. The Cheesecake Factory Inc. began in Los Angeles during 1972, where the elderly couple worked long hours and to build a solid reputation and clientele. Capitalism allows for free competition in the free market so the Overtons capitalized on the weaknesses of moving to a new area by, utilizing...
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...industrial might of nations as well as the rapidly growing wealth and poverty apparent in most industrialist cities and was further enforced by the onset of the First World War. The Metamorphosis reflects upon the economic struggle caused by the onset of the industrial revolution and the chaos caused by the onset of the First World War in Europe, between the large number of diverse economic and social philosophies such as the struggle between communism and capitalism which shaped the global struggles in the latter half of the twentieth century. In 1847 Frederick Engels, defined communism in The Principles of Communism as, “the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the proletariat” (1), the proletariat’s being the lower working classes which sell their labor to gain capital (Engel 2). The communist ideal calls for the rejection of capitalistic ideals and the adoption of a classless society with no private ownership of resources but rather public ownership of capital resources in order to avoid the evils of capitalism (Engel 13). The Metamorphosis reflects communistic ideals in its depiction of Gregor and the Samsa family, Gregor in the first pages of the book is depicted as a massive vermin, unable to provide or care for himself or his family (Kafka 3). Soon after we learn that Gregor works a low paying menial wage job as a traveling salesman (Kafka 4), Gregor’s lowly position presents him as the proletariat enveloped into...
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...Classical Social Thought (SP 212) Semester 1, 2012-13 Lecturer: Tony Varley Room 309, Second Floor, Árus Moyola Office Hours: Monday: 5-6pm; Wednesday: 4-5pm. Email: tony.varley@nuigalway.ie Course Description: The classical sociological tradition has been heavily dominated by the writings of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. Each of these three theorists has carved out a distinctive approach to the study of society and, in the process, has contributed substantially to our understanding of the transition from pre-modern to modern society. There are many who would argue that the ideas of these three classical figures continue to have much to offer to an understanding of contemporary society and politics. There are several possible ways to study the ideas of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. In this course we will attempt to take a thematic and comparative approach by comparing the views of Marx, Weber and Durkheim on a number of central topics. We will look therefore at their ideas concerning the methods appropriate to the study of society, their views on class and the division of labour, on democratic politics and the state and on culture, religion and ideology. Our discussion will begin with a consideration of what a ‘classical’ tradition might look like in the social sciences; and of why Marx, Weber and Durkheim merit inclusion as the most significant members within such a tradition. For a fuller appreciation of the classical tradition in social theory there is no substitute...
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...Guide to Capitalism: A Summary Naomi Craig Mount Vernon Nazarene University The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism: A Summary The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism is a 2007 publication from Regenery Publishing, Inc., and written by Dr. Robert P. Murphy. The central idea of this work aims at dispelling myths and notions that capitalism is based on greed, and inherently evil. This aim of this report is to summarize the work of Dr. Murphy by providing a brief history of the author and recapping the major points of his book. Author’s Professional History Dr. Robert P. Murphy received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hillsdale College in 1998, and his Ph.D. in 2003 from New York University (Institute for Energy Research, 2012). He was a college professor for nearly three years before pursuing his writing and research endeavors. He is a now senior fellow in business and economic studies at the Pacific Research Institute, an economist with the Institute for Energy Research, a research fellow with the Independent Institute, and an associated scholar with the Ludwig Von Mises Institute. In addition to the topic of this summary, he has written another book titled “The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Great Depression and The New Deal,” and regularly writes articles for financial publications including Forbes and Barron’s (Institute for Energy Research). Summary of Literature Dr. Murphy presents many commonly held misnomers of capitalism in his...
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...Act had several conditional impacts on the work that was supplied in the developing world. Most importantly, they aided food/currency deficient countries with agricultural products and promoted international trade. A major condition of that has changed the landscape of developing countries is the shift from rural agriculture to manufacturing in urban areas (Lecture #6). This causes uneven development which allows the spread of capitalism to be more accessible. It also denotes the lack of responsibility being upheld for regulatory work rules. This ultimately results in unsafe work environment, unbearable hours/schedules, and mass pollution of hazardous materials. Rural agriculture began to transition to manufacturing in urban areas. This created specialized jobs, yet jobs nonetheless. However, it would have a lasting impact on the job market as it deskilled the general public. Once that occurred, finding work became more difficult to a achieve. People begin to become desperate and offer labor for prices that are astronomically low. This granted capitalism seized the opportunity to open factories like free trade zones for deskilled workers. Some of the negatives conditions that occurred were undercuts of developing countries’ small scale famers, swelling of displaced peasants to urban centers, undermines the viability of household food production, and shifts rural agriculture to manufacturing in urban areas (Lecture #6). These negatively impact the social lives of the country’s...
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