Contract Laws In China and America Essay

I.Concepts and Features of Contract and Contract Law I.Concepts A.Concept and Features of Contract 1. Concept of Contract According to the provision of Article 2 of the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Contract Law), contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations. Contract was once divided into agreement and contract. Agreement refers to the civil legal act established by both parties’ consensus with regard to opposite intentions, such as sales agreement. Contract refers to the civil legal act established by two or above three parties’ consensus with regard to collateral intentions, such as partnership contract. However, such division can no longer be seen in our current laws and the two are collectively referred to as contract. Contract has its broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, contract refers to all agreements generating rights and obligations, such as labor contract, administrative contract, civil contract, etc. Furthermore, civil contract may also be divided into creditor’s right contract, real right contract, intellectual property contract, identity contract, personality right contract, etc. In the narrow sense, contract refers to the agreement for involved parties with equal status to establish, alter and/or terminate civil rights and obligations. The contract adjusted by the contract law is generally confined to the contract of creditor’s right, real right and/or intellectual property, etc. 2. Features of Contract It can be seen from the concept of contract — contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations that, contract has the following legal features: Contract is a kind of civil legal act implemented by natural persons, legal persons and/or other organizations with equal status. As the most important legal fact, civil legal act is the lawful act implemented by civil subjects, which can generate, alter or terminate civil right and obligations. Since contract is a kind of civil legal act, it is different from fact behavior in nature. Fact behavior refers to the act which does not take the declaration of intention as an essential condition and cannot generate the legal effect expected by the party involved, such as infringing act, picking up lost property, etc. In nature, contract as the civil legal act belongs to lawful act. That is to say, only under the circumstance that the declaration of intention made by the contracting parties is lawful, the contract is legally binding and protected by national laws. On the contrary, in case contracting parties make illicit declaration of intention, the agreement, even already reached, may not have the effect as a contract. As contract is a kind of civil legal act, general regulations of civil law concerning civil legal acts, such as essential condition of civil legal act, the ineffectiveness and revocation of civil act, are all applicable to contract. 3 Contract is the civil legal act in which two or more parties declare a common intention. The establishment of a contract shall have two or more parties who declare intention to each other and achieve a consensus. If such declared intentions are not consistent, no contract will be formed. Even though â€Å"one party cheats or threats or take advantage of the other party’s precarious situation to make such other party to conclude a contract which violates its real intention†, the party suffering damages is entitled to request people’s court or arbitration agency to alter or revoke the contract (Article 54.2 of the Contract Law. For similar notes cited in the following text, Contract Law will be omitted). Contract is the civil legal act with a view to establishing, altering and terminating civil rights and obligations. Establishing civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, civil rights and obligations thus emerge between; altering civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the previous civil rights and obligations between them is changed and new civil rights and obligations are formed; terminating civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the civil rights and obligations previously existing between them are abolished. â‘ £Contract is a civil legal relationship generated on an equal and voluntary basis by parties involved. That is to say, the subjects concluding the contract have equal legal status and no party may impose its will on the other party. â€Å"Parties of a contract have equal legal status and one party may not impose its will on the other party† (Article 3); â€Å"Parties have the right to conclude a contract voluntarily according to law and no unit or individual may intervene illegally† (Article 4). â‘ ¤Contract is the civil legal act which is legally binding. â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is legally binding upon parties involved. Parties shall perform their obligations as agreed and may not alter or terminate the contract with no consent†; â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is protected by law† (Article 8). Unless otherwise specified by law such as force majeure, the party who fails to perform the contract or whose performance of obligations does not conform to that prescribed in the contract shall assume the liabilities for breach of the contract to continue to perform the contract, adopt remedial measures or compensate losses. B. Concept and Features of Contract Law 1. Concept of Contract Law Generally speaking, the concept of contract law may be comprehended in the broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, given contract is the consensus of parties to the contract in nature, contract law is deemed as the law implementing the promise and agreement of parties involved. â€Å"The core of contract law is the exchange of promise†. However, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense confines the contract law to normalizing the establishment, effectiveness, performance and default liability of the contract, but excluding the non-establishment, ineffectiveness and revocation thereof. Therefore, the scope contained is not comprehensive. Just as Bayless stated, â€Å"The contract law pays attention not only to enforceable contracts and   agreements, but to adjusting the result of no contract or agreement concluded†. Therefore, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense is not suitable to apply. The concept of contract law in the broad sense proceeds from the object normalized thereby, namely the transaction relation, and defines the contract law as â€Å"the law relating to the individual transfer of property or labor service†. Most scholars in our country also consider that contract law is the law adjusting the dynamic property relations. Both contract law and real right law adjust the property relations, however, â€Å"the real right law stipulates and adjusts the static state of property relation while the contract law stipulates and adjusts the dynamic state of property relation†. Given that the contract law comprehensively adjusts the transaction relation and the establishment of a contract equals to the formation of a transaction, the performance, alteration, cancellation and termination of the contract constitute the transaction process. Consequently, it’s necessary for the contract law to stipulate the procedures to conclude the contract by parties involved, ineffectiveness and revocation of the contract, remedies upon the failure or part failure to perform the contract, various specific contracts, etc. In a word, any and all transaction relations may be adjusted by the contract law. The definition of contract law as the law adjusting the transaction relation precisely summarizes the nature and fu nctions of the contract law. 2. Features of Contract Law The contract law takes adjusting the transaction relation as its content and is applicable to various civil contracts, which determines the contract law has the features different from those in other departments of civil law (such as personality right law). These features are: Contract law has strong randomicity. Under the condition of market economy, the transaction development and property growth require the market subjects to be independent and fully express their wills. Laws shall leave broad space for the transaction activities of market subject and the intervention of government in economic activities shall be limited to the extent prescribed in the contract. The requirements put forward by the market economy against the law which endow parties with freedom to act as far as possible are thoroughly expressed in the contract. Therefore, the contract law mainly regulates the transaction through random norms rather than mandatory norms. For example, though the contract law stipulates various contracts with certain titles, it does not necessarily require parties to design the contract content precisely in accordance with the provisions prescribed in law concerning the contract with certain title, but parties may negotiate to determine the contract articles freely. As long as the articles negotiated by parties don’t violate the prohibitive regulations of laws, social public interest or public morality, the effect of the contract is acknowledged by law. Notwithstanding law stipulates the contracts with certain titles, parties are not prohibited from creating new contract forms. Although the form to establish a contract is stipulated by law, unless otherwise specially prescribed about the contract form, parties are allowed to freely choose the contract form in principle. In short, a majority of norms of the contract law may be altered by parties through agreements. The contract law also takes the freedom of contract as its basic principle; therefore, the contract law can be called as law at will in this connection. â‘ ¡Contract law emphasized the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value The object normalized by the contract law is transaction relation, which requires the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value in nature. Just as Marx indicated, the commodity is â€Å"equal by nature†. In the exchange of commodities, â€Å"only the owners of commodities with equal status stand at opposite sides, and the means of occupying others’ commodities may only be used to alienate their own commodities.† The exchange of commodities inevitably requires conforming to the law of value so as to carry out the exchange of equivalent labor, which determines that the contract law attaches more importance to the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value than other laws of civil law. â‘ ¢Contract law is a uniform property law. Market economy is an open economy, which demands for the integration of domestic market with international market, domestic trade and international trade. As the basic law of the market economy, the contract law should not only reflect the requirements for a uniform market with a set of uniform rules, but also integrate with international conventions. â‘ £Contract law is the law producing social wealth. Market economy is a developed credit economy, with all credit systems established on the basis of contract relations. A developed credit economy needs promise and agreement. At the same time, the more solid and universal the promise and agreement are, the more developed the credit economy is. II. Comparison of Development History and Textural Difference between Chinese and American Contract Laws A. Different Development Histories of Contract Legal Systems in China and US 1. Emergence of Contract and Contract Law Contract is the result of commodity economy, which emerges along with the emergence of commodity economy and develops along with the development of commodity economy. The contract law is accompanied with the emergence and development of the contract. In later period of clan society, due to the emergence and accumulation of private property, the exchange of products among people was becoming increasingly extensive and certain rules came into shape gradually. In the beginning, these rules were guaranteed by oaths, customs and other ways. When the oaths, customs and other ways were incapable to guarantee the implementation of trading rules, the social community emerging as the times required (organ of state power) thus formulated legal norms to supersede the foregoing. The earliest contract law of human society was developed from customs, so it’s called as customary law. However, the continuous development of society, especially the development and change of social   imbalance, made the customs different in various regions and groups, which resulted in customs here and now being inconsistent with those there and then, thus leading to transaction disputes. This determined that the written law would gradually substitute the customary law. The Code of Hammurabi promulgated by ancient Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC is the most ancient and most well-preserved written law discovered so far in the whole world, which has 282 articles in total, among which over 120 stipulates contract norms directly. The Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis promulgated by ancient Rome have more complete legal norms about contract, acting as the most complete and typical law reflecting the production and exchange of commodities among ancient laws and playing an important role in the legislation of capitalist countries in later ages. The French Civil Code in 1804 was based on Roman law. The civil laws in European countries, except Britain, mostly originated from Roman law and formed the so-called â€Å"Roman Law System†. Along with the colonial expansion of these countries, the impact of Roman law was further extended to more regions of the world. After the Second World War, the contract law of early modern period was properly modified to become the modern contract law. 2. Development History of China’s Contract Law The ancient laws in our country had some regulations about the contract. According to the records of Rites of Zhou, there appeared written contracts such as â€Å"panshu (bamboo or wooden slips on which the texts of borrow and loan are written)†, â€Å"zhiji (sales contract)†, â€Å"fubie (borrow and loan contract)† in Zhou Dynasty. â€Å"Where any party asks for the government authority to deal with any dispute arising from debt borrow and loan, the case may only be accepted with the â€Å"panshu† previously co ncluded present†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a borrow and loan contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make a judgment according to the articles specified in fubie†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a sales contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make an award according to the articles specified in zhiji†. All these written contracts were main basis for government authorities to judge right and wrong and determine the debt liabilities. In the following dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, laws had several regulations about contract and contract system. However, in ancient times, our country was always with the agricultural economy which was self-sufficient and self-supporting, and the commodity economy was not developed. As a result, the norms of contract law centering on trading rules was also not developed, with no specialized civil code. Even in the collection of various laws such as Tang Code and Great Qing Legal Code, articles pertaining to contract and contract system are also rarely seen. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the contract law of our country has achieved significant development. In the initial stage of new China, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Government Administration Council under Central People’s Government promulgated the Interim Measures for Organs, State-owned Enterprises and Cooperative societies to Conclude Contracts or Agreements on September 27, 1950, and the Trade Department formulated the Decision Pertaining to Earnestly Concluding Contracts and Strictly Implementing Contracts as well as the norms relating to various specific contracts such as sales contract and contract labor agreement of capital construction in the same year, all of which ascertain the legal norms of contract system and contract in the new China. Needless to say, due to the impact of wrong course and wrong trend of thought, the legal nihilism was rampant and the contract system was once cancelled in late 50’s. Especially in the period of the â€Å"Great Cultural Revolution†, all the contract systems, relevant laws and regulations were discarded. In the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the wrong policy of â€Å"taking the class struggle as the outline† was abandoned, the focus of work of the Party and the nation was shifted to developing economy, and the strategic decision of reform and opening up to the outside world was made in the session. All of these opened up a promising prospect for the development of contract leg islation. The Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law were successively approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 13, 1981, March 21, 1985 and June 23, 1987. It is especially worth mentioning that the General Principles of the Civil Law approved in the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress explicitly regulates the system of civil rights and the system of civil liabilities, playing a very important role in perfecting the system of contract laws in our country. Through more than a decade’s legislation, our country has formed the legal system of contract laws which is guided by the General Principles of the Civil Law, backboned with Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law, and based on the contract norms in specialized laws such as Maritime Law, Civil Aviation Law and Copyright Law and a set of administ rative laws and regulations normalizing contracts. All these laws have greatly promoted the economic development and the establishment and development of socialist market economy in our country. However, along with the establishment and development of socialist market economy, this legal system gradually presented new defects. In order to adapt to the requirements of economic construction and development, it’s necessary to proceed from the actual situations of our country, summarize the experience of ten years’ contract legislation and borrow general international practices to formulate a uniform and relatively complete contract law. On October 1993, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress embarked on drafting the contract law on the basis of the legislation program approved in the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to the advice from all sources, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further modified the draft for many times to form the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress for deliberation. Through serious and earnest deliberation by people’s representatives, this important law was finally approved on March 15, 1999, which is a glorious page in the legislation history of the Republic, marking that the legislation of our country’s socialist market economy is ushering a new phase. 3. Development History of American Contract Law As a whole, the American laws are developed on the basis of inheriting British laws. Although American laws are influenced by British laws at different levels in different fields, the contract rules formed in the British common law and equity law have a significant impact on American contract law. Therefore, when investigating the historical evolution of American contract law, it’s necessary to review the early development history of British contract law. a. Lawsuit of Promise in Early Britain In the medieval period, British law had not formed the concept of contract. The earliest to emerge was the so-called lawsuit of promise, namely, when the promisor violated his/her promise, the promisee might file a lawsuit with the court to force the promisor to implement the promise. The principle pursued by common court when trying such lawsuit was: only making a promise cannot generate a right of action; under normal conditions, promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory ex ecution, exceptional situations excluded. In contrast to the practice of common court as mentioned above, other courts showed more active attitude towards accepting the lawsuit of promise. First of all, ecclesiastical court regarded the promise with oath as an irreversible one according to canon law and rendered the implementation. Secondly, in the court of equity, the Chancellor decided that since one party suffered loss because of the other party’ failure to perform his/her promise, such party shall obtain the compensation. However, till the 16th century AD, common court won the battle with the court of equity and ecclesiastical court striving for jurisdiction. In this process, the jurisdiction of common court was increasingly enlarged and the common law became the main part of British law. The opportunity for the contract law to develop through the judgments of ecclesiastical court and court of equity was always limited. From the 15th to the 16th century, along with the development of the relations of commodity production within the feudal society, to develop a kind of general basis for enforceable promise within the previous lawsuit procedures of common law was the urgent task to be resolved which was confronted by common court. At the beginning, common court just confirmed more exceptional situations under which the promise may be executed mandatorily. However, this didn’t change the basic principle that promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory execution under normal conditions. Since the second half of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the enforceable effect of sealed covenant, which was a kind of written promise with a seal on. Some people considered, if common court could loosen its requirements about the form of this written document, such document may also be mandatorily executed even with no seal on. The existence of such covenant might become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise, while till the 14th century, this possibility disappeared. Common court considered, the seal not only proved that one party had already made a promise, but also indicated that the promisor had seriously expressed that he/she would perform the promise for the promisee. Therefore, a covenant which was not sealed couldn’t be compulsorily executed. At the end of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the debt of a borrow and loan relation as the cause of action: In case one person borrowed an   amount of money from another person, the borrower should pay back the money to the lender. If not, the lender might file a lawsuit with the court to force the borrower to pay back money. Later on, common court further expanded the scope of lawsuit of debt repayment: Once a person granted a kind of material interest to another person, such person might lodge a lawsuit of debt r epayment against the latter one, no matter the interest provided was a valuable thing or personal service. However, the existence of such debt also didn’t become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise for this debt was only confined to the interest which was already granted to others. If a promisee just accepted a promise from the promisor while obtained no actual interest from the promisor, he still couldn’t lodge a lawsuit of debt repayment. In the beginning of the 15th century, common court developed such a principle in its judgment: If someone made a promise of undertaking some kind of obligation to another one, and the promisee suffered damages in the process of the promisor’s performance of the obligation, the promisee might lodge a lawsuit to require the promisor to compensate. This is called the Action of Assumpsit for Misfeasance, whose basis was the theory of law of torts then already approved. In this kind of lawsuit, if the promisor didn’t perform the obligation it undertook, the promisee couldn’t obtain the remedy. In the second half of the 15th century, the judges of common court realized that, in order to win the battle for jurisdiction with other courts, the scope of lawsuit of commitment must be expanded. New legal precedent rule in this period was: If the promisor changed his status due to his dependence on the promise and the non-performance of the promisor made the promisee suffer damages, the promisee might also obtain the remedy. Till the 16th century, the previous scope of lawsuit of commitment was newly expanded, namely, when two persons made promises to each other and the promise of one party constituted the transaction object promised by the other person, even if no party of the two performed his obligation, the promise to be carried out shall have the effect of compulsory execution. The reason to adopt such rule was that, once the promise was made, the promisee has an expectation for the implementation of the promise, which should be protected, even if the promisee didn’t perform the corresponding obligation, nor suffered â€Å"damages†. Generally speaking, the 17th and the 18th centuries were the period during which British contract law slowly developed. b. Evolution of American Contract Law in Modern Society The American historian Henry Maine said in 1861 that, â€Å"till now, the movement of this developing society has always been a movement from identity to contract.† This sentence indicates the profound revolution undergone by western society from the feudal times of middle ages to the times of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†: In the feudal society, human relation was determined by their identity; in the period of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†, human relation was determined by the agreement reached between them. The whol e 19th century is regarded as the century of contract by western historians. The United States, just independent from the colonial domination of the Great Britain, entered in such a century soon after its establishment. In this period, main systems of British and American contract laws were both confirmed. With regard to the main body, American contract law remained consistent with British contract law. In this period, the consistency of American contract law with that of western countries was: The contract concluded by parties involved was generally considered as having the effect of compulsory execution. Once confirmed, such effect shall become absolute, and may not be changed by state will. In the second half of the 19th century, as the laissez-faire economy developed toward an extreme orientation, to safeguard individual’s right to freely conclude contracts had become the primary goal of laws. In the eyes of Americans at that time, â€Å"in nature, justice is to safeguard lawful contracts†. The freedom of contract in the 19th century gave a full display of personal â€Å"independent will† and made private economy taking the â€Å"struggle for existence† as the motive power obtain rapid development with no government restraint and intervention. However, in late 19th century and early 20th century, the defects caused by this unlimited freedom of contract had fully appeared. In this period, contract laws of western countries underwent a new round of modification. The result was, the previous social movement â€Å"from identity to contract† started to turn to the social movement â€Å"from contract to identity†. In the US, since this century, especially since the Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 30’s, personal freedom of contract has received more and more restrictions. Today, the â€Å"identity† is playing an important role in determining the relation of rights and obligations among people for the second time: Workers are protected by â€Å"workers compensation law† due to their identity, and the article of employment contract preventing the employer from undertaking the compensation liability for industrial accidents is no longer legally binding. Similarly, the lessee of rental agreement, the insurer of insurance contract and the demanders of various contracts of public service are all protected by certain laws due to their special identities. It can be seen from the aforementioned change that, in modern American contract law, to provide special legal protection for the vulnerable party of a transaction has already become a consistent policy. Another feature displayed by American contract law in the process of its modern development and evolution is that, the impact of traditional British common law and systems and principles of other laws is decreasing, which is fully reflected from the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code abandoned and modified the traditional system of British contract law. B. Textual Difference and its Reasons between Chinese and American Contract Law Systems Given the development history of contract and the difference between Chinese and American political systems, there are following features when comparing Chinese contract law with American contract law: First, the contract law in our country is a uniform contract law applicable to all regions of China, whether in capital Beijing or western provinces. Second, this contract law is drafted with a round axis structure. Basic principles  are firstly stipulated, and then some specific contracts, such as sales contract, lease contract, etc. In this way, the basic principles are regarded as the axis, and many specific contracts are radiated to satisfy different transaction requirements. For example, the transport contract has the problem which cannot be covered by basic principles. This problem can be resolved by combining the axis and the excircle. American political system is different from Chinese political system, and the development history of American contract law is also different. In America, it’s impossible for the legislative body to approve a law with the two features as mentioned above. America has no uniform contract law, nor state contract law. The international contract laws, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and New York Arbitration Treaty are commonly used in all used in the whole United States. However, with regard to the contract among American individuals, no law is promulgated by the federation. Consequently, there is no federal legislation with a round axis structure in America. Basically, each state has its own contract law and is responsible for developing basic principles of such law. The contract law of one state is not only applicable to the court of the state, but also binding on the federal court sometimes. In other words, as long as the state contract law exists, the federal court shall apply it. Of course, when 50 different contract laws are adjusting the same legal fact, the court will be confronted with a problem, namely, how to achieve the consistency of application of law? It’s also necessary to notice that American contract law is developed by the court rather than the legislative organ. You must be familiar with the concept of common law, which was formed in Britain and then introduced to America. The contract concept of the common law is formed th rough a long time. Their judges make the judgment and give opinions on the judgment. Now, in this connection, the greatest exception is the UCC. American UCC is a uniform law. In America, every state has its own laws, but these laws cannot cover all transactions. Some are involved with transaction of several properties, such as the transaction and lease of products and some are related to bank business, security trading, e-commerce, etc. However, the construction contract and real estate contract are adjusted by commercial law. Since different state laws may result in different court judgments, if the Congress can approve a law with the round axis structure, these problems will be soon resolved, because doing that can get all transactions under the adjustment of one law. C. Summary The development histories of Chinese and American contract law systems are different. Chinese culture has a long history and the contract law system was born very early. On the contrary, the US is a new country breaking away from the colonization. Although American economy is developing rapidly, its legal systems are mainly inherited from the Britain; especially the American contract law is significantly influenced by the contract rules formed in Britain common law and equity law. In short, China has a uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation, while America has no uniform contract code other than international contract laws. In addition, the difference of Chinese and American political systems leads to a great difference in the textural structures of Chinese and American contract law   systems: Chinese contract law system is based on basic principles which guides various specific contract law systems so as to form a complete set, while America has neither guidance of basic principles in the contract law nor uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation. All in all, the development history and political system of a country influence its legal system. III. Conclusion The economic globalization and political polarization are two trends of the world development. Since China has joined the WTO, how to coordinate our laws is the central issue in the field of law. Nowadays, the world has ushered in the era of knowledge economy and the advancement of science and technology is crucial to the economic development. However, the development of economy as well as the development, transfer and application of technology will inevitably require reforming the traditional contract law system. Some countries have already been reforming the current contract law systems quietly. The birth of China’s new Contract Law is confronted with the era of knowledge economy rather than that of planned economy or the transitional period from planned economy to market economy. The development of science and technology in the era of knowledge economy is so vigorous that it’s probable that difficulties in application will soon emerge after the implementation of new contract law, or even some regulations are already outdated. This situation may be considered as normal because law is the superstructure, which is always behind the economic development. Therefore, any law has to be continuously reformed and perfected. Bibliography 1. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com 2. Wilmot et al, 2009, Contract Law, Third Edition, Oxford University Press 3. Ewan McKendrick, Contract Law – Text, Cases and Materials (2005) Oxford University Press 4. P.S. Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979) Clarendon Press 5. Randy E. Barnett, Contracts (2003) Aspen Publishers 6. Scott Fruehwald, â€Å"Reciprocal Altruism as the Basis for Contract,† 47 University of Louisville Law Review 489 (2009).

My Life Essay

Above anything else, I still think that the most ambiguous term, concept, and thing in the world aside from its existence is life. A person’s life can be the most difficult thing to describe, to define, to expound, and to measure. It will always be very challenging for an individual to summarize his of her entire life in nothing but words that do not even measure up to life’s vague beauty, wonders, and mysteries. But in the very best way that I can, combining everything I learned from writing, recounting history, and expressing my thoughts, I shall try to tell you what and how my life is so far. I will choose to tell how my life was in the past, what it is like now, and how I envision it to become in the future in my own tone and perspective. Simplicity is a very relative and subjective term. Some would associate this term with peace and serenity, but I would rather connect it with the ideas of non-extravagant beauty and non-chaotic momentum. And so, I would rather call my life a simple one in this sense. As for my childhood, I realized that this phase is not a completely natural incident and event which happens to everyone. In one way or another, and at least in my own life, I have come to understand that having a childhood is also partly an individual choice that people have to make. More importantly, having a happy childhood is the greater choice which people have to decide on whether they would have it or not. With regard to my own, I chose having a childhood and a worthwhile one. Twenty-three years ago, I cried meaningfully on the [insert date of birth; ex: 25th of December, 1986] which told my parents that I am already existing as a person. Throughout my entire childhood, I cried for various reasons — whenever I got hurt, got disappointed, felt sad, felt annoyed, and felt overwhelmingly happy. All these cries, my life proved, are part of growing up. In my life’s context, these things made me realize that I am but a human being who feels and learns to express what he feels whenever he feels the need for it. Growing up in Turkey, I can say that my past is as colorful and vibrant as my country. My mind never ran out of iridescent and crazy ideas when I was going through my primary and secondary levels of education. I think I owe to my parents the considerable amount of effort they had to sacrifice in order to give me and my one and only sister the kind of education which we can both be proud of. My heart never skipped a beat as it vigorously lived with the glorious days of my childhood and adolescent years when I felt like I was the most powerful and liberated man that God has ever created. In a nutshell, my childhood is something I would always want to reminisce over and over again. And so, I rekindle that vibrant feeling every now and then, especially now that I write this chronicle of my life. Excellence and being well-molded never fascinated me until my parents, together with my mentors at the previous schools that I attended, injected into my consciousness the significance of education to an individual’s betterment. I think that it safe to say that generally, young people dislike going to school very much; however, it was during those days, when I was on the verge of hating school, when I started to realize that education is actually the strongest foundation I could ever have that will equip me with the skills and knowledge to become a competent person in the future. As an average person who grew up with his parents in Istanbul, Turkey and who is still spending his days as a university student under the custody of his parents, I can say that I now have a considerably complete idea of what being a well-molded individual is like. Upon seeing and knowing successful people around me, I have to realize that all their authority, wealth, honor, valor come from a sufficient amount of education and dedication to it. But for me, aside from this, one thing which also aids in creating a well-molded individual in each person is his or her choice of submitting and staying under the guidance of his of her parents, for no parent shall wish for his or her child to go astray. And so, I chose to stay aligned with my parents’ guidance and proved to myself that indeed, parents have the innate ability to know the best and only the best for their children. I have never learned and realized the power of material things. I may have become fascinated with some, but one of the most amazing and valuable things I have learned in my life is that most of the things that can actually give true happiness to people are the intangible things that money cannot purchase in anyway. In several instances, I have also experienced the most typical emotional and psychological milestones that a human being goes through in life. As I entered adulthood, I have realized the value of true friendship and the value of having a special person caring for me. I have also been able to go through several rites of passage that defined my membership to the so called â€Å"in-circles† in my youth. Many times I fell hard and stood up again, never surrendering to the most miserable heartbreaks yet the most meaningful lessons that I can consider indispensable for the rest of my life. Truly, no material form of wealth and luxury can ever compare to the most special things that I regard as my greatest achievements in my life so far; and these include my self-dignity, the seemingly everlasting friendship that I share with my peers, the love I constantly receive from the people around me, and the bright future that shines ahead of me in this point of my life. I chose to value these intangible treasures that will last longer than me and than the ones that will fade after I passed. Yet, no matter how colorful or pleasant my writing will turn out to be, I also believe that life is not always a bed of roses. For several instances, I have received harsh criticisms from people who tried to judge me from a far and tried to measure me as a person without knowing me completely. I have faced several failures that brought me serious humiliation and deep self-disappointment. I also have failed to live up to other people’s expectations a number of times. At one point, I thought these falls were bound to identify and label me as an individual and as a man. But my hopes, aspirations, and visions inside of me that have been kept hidden behind these failures always manage to float above everything else and take over my consciousness. Thus, I chose to believe that I as an individual can only be judged and measured according to how strong and triumphant I succeeded after a fall and not by how hard I fell flat on the ground. I chose to tell you this tale of my life in my endeavor to give myself a hint on how I would want to envision myself in the future. If there is one thing this chronicle has taught me and made me understand about myself, it is that my life is truly made up of great choices, and each choice is a fruit of a trial-and-error process of learning. Right now, the life of being a university student is giving me all the positive thoughts of what my life ahead would become. I could be successful like today’s powerful and affluent people, yes I can say, but I would choose to follow this tale and make a success story of my own, keeping in mind all the vibrant memories I have had from my childhood, all the valuable lectures my parents and my mentors taught me, the inspiration that my sister, my friends, and loved ones gave me, and the indispensable lessons my failures made me realize. Most especially, I would choose to remember my own ambiguous yet insightful definition of what my life is right now and what it will be tomorrow. Thus, I would still choose, and in the future, I know there will still be more choices to make, but I guess that is what life is to me basically — a never-ending ball of choices which define who we are.

Analyzing the Narrative Essay Example for Free

Analyzing the Narrative Essay It was the winter of 2006, in the month of January, and my junior year of high school. By this time in high school I’d had some quirky teachers and to be honest Mr. DeBruyn didn’t seem so uniquely special but apparently he had his moments. English class began on a day when it seemed like school should have been cancelled due to the blizzardous weather earlier that morning. Mr. DeBruyn had an auspicious look on his face then says, â€Å"We’re doing an in class writing assignment today but it’s not going to be in class†. The whole class paused and waited for his next sentence. He told everyone to go to our lockers and get prepared to go outside. Everyone protested and all he could say is â€Å"you have three minutes, dress warm†, as if we wouldn’t! Back in the classroom we grabbed our notebooks as best we could with our gloves, scarves, hats, and puffy winter coats to hold us back. The assignment was to write about nature, as usual, but this time from a first hand experience. We were to pick a certain aspect of what we say outside and discuss how the snow and winter weather affected it, whether it be a plant, bush, tree, or whatever. Once outside everyone was shivering and freezing trying to slap down notes as fast as possible. Mr. DeBruyn then pulled out a digital camera and took a picture of the spot each student examined. Back inside everyone rushed to finish an essay of their choppy notes. I’d hoped it wasn’t worth much of our grade. A few months went by and he hadn’t mentioned anything about the assignment, nor gave it back to us. It was April now. He returned the assignment and no one scored higher than a ‘B’, which was expected. He then gave us each a copy of the area we studied, from the pictures he had taken, and sent us back outside to re-examine the same spot. We were told to re-write the assignment and now descriptively compare the two images and had the weather conditions made the images vary. Mr. DeBruyn turned out not to be so bad, in fact he was kind of cool. I liked that he had challenged us in unique ways, and apparently so did everyone else. Turns out, his creative teaching style touched the hearts of a lot of students, not just me. As proof, he was voted as the teacher to speak at our graduation. And that is no small honor. The privilege of addressing the graduating class at their commencement exercises is a direct testament to to how much the teachers is loved and appreciated by the class. The teacher chosen, therefore, is the one who has the most positive impact on the entire class. And I most certainly agree that Mr. DeBruyn has been an inspiration, and I will never look at winter the same way again. The story of Mr. DeBruyn is a compelling piece of narrative, very simple in its use of words, but highly poignant and raw with emotions. The use of simple words and straightforward imagery makes the material accessible to everyone. However, while simple and highly accessible, the piece is equally provocative, engaging the reader in philosophical musings, while reading the piece and afterwards. Teachers and students alike will find lessons in the simple story of Mr. DeBruyn and the lessons about life that he imparts to his students. The most striking theme in the essay is the concept of education being practice by the teacher, Mr. DeBruyn. John Dewey, the great educational philosopher, once said that there is no better context for learning than the context of real life. Sadly, most classes offer pure theories without any exposure on how such theories find practical form in the real life. In particular, Dewey’s ideas on using real-life tasks and challenges find great significance in my class with Mr. DeBruyn.   The opportunities he provided the class to experience real life is truly one lesson that everyone in that class will never forget. Teaching is perhaps one of the most meaningful of all professions because every day you are given the chance to make meaningful and lasting contribution to an individual’s life. In fact the No Child Left Behind Act recognizes the singular power of teachers in the learning process; so much so that the bar has been raised for teachers in the hopes of improving the educational system. I believe that a big part of the decline in education is that most teachers have lost pride in their vocation. Teachers must have a sense of dignity of work. Unfortunately, when the work is hard and the money is tight, that is easily forgotten. As such, there is an urgent need for reforms, and the community should take an active role in making teachers feel more valued through active support and acknowledgement. By the single act of capturing winter and seeing the image compared with another season, the class became more aware of their surroundings and became more appreciative of the world around them. In one singular stroke of genius, Mr. DeBruyn was able to rekindle our sense of wonder and discovery, things which are at the very heart of learning, and is essential for every student and teacher to have, regardless of whatever subject is being taught or learned. Of course, of utmost importance is what I have learned from this class. If there is one thing that I will carry from my experience with Mr. DeBruyn, it is that you have to let your students take the lead. As a teacher you have to be very sensitive to the signals that your students are sending you individually and collectively as a class. Learners will always give you signs whether you are doing the right thing or not. You have to be ready for contingencies and be prepared to make on the spot adjustments. Let them tell you how they want to learn, because they know what they need from their teacher. I have learned to look at things from all possible levels and adopt my thinking from those perspectives. If I become a teacher, I should never impose myself on them; instead let them teach me how they want to be taught. This is an important realization that I will always keep in mind should I decide to enter the teaching vocation. Indeed while it is true that students need to feel that someone is in control and responsible for their environment and sets classroom limits but maintains them (Wong, 2001), it is more important for teachers to let the minds of the students soar in wonder and discovery. Of course it deserves to be mentioned that the things I have learned from Mr. DeBruyn goes beyond the classroom; more than teaching a lesson, Mr. DeBruyn taught us about life. Much has been said about the nobility of the teaching profession, and indeed, the high sense of duty and the self-sacrifices required from a teacher on a daily basis is nothing less than heroic. I see this first hand in the story of DeBruyn’s class. From this very simple essay I have realized that educational reforms do not necessarily need to cost anything. Indeed, Mr. DeBruyn has shown that it does not take too much time or money to effect a change inside the classroom. As what Mr. DeBruyn has shown, all that is needed is the passion for teaching and genuine desire to share in the learning experience. It is not difficult, and all that is needed to go back to the basics. In the educational process, all teachers must be reminded that the learning process starts with what the child knows. Prior learning is the framework where new concepts are built upon. As such, every teacher should begin with the previous lesson and connect it to the new material. Let the child see the relationship and build their own concepts. This way the child earns ownership of what he has learned because it was a result of what he already knows. These are the things I have been able to reflect upon, and it has had a profound effect in me as an individual looking her place in the sun. From firsthand experience, I have witnessed the power of the teacher to make meaningful and lasting contribution to the lives of students. Indeed the teacher is the single biggest factor that determines the success or failure of the students to learn what they should. I have realized that it is the teacher who creates the atmosphere that focuses the class on their tasks and keeps them engaged in the lessons. Indeed, every moment is an opportunity to learn, and the teacher must create that opportunity for the students. (Mujis, 2005, 75) Reading Mr. DeBruyn I have realized that Mr. Paul Trout of The Chronicle Review would be very pleased by his story. Mr. Trout, in her article entitled Shame on You, takes a critical look at education and forwards the idea that the more the classrooms are threats to the students morale and well-being. While Mr. Trout’s arguments may be valid, Mr. DeBruyn flies in the face of Mr. Trout’s thesis. There can be redemption and life-changing inspiration within the four halls of the classroom. The negative view of the teachers and the school, while not unfounded, is not always true. Across the country, teachers are making a difference in the lives of students, one kind word and encouragement at a time. According to Paul Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1993),   Ã¢â‚¬Å"A careful analysis of the teacher-student relationship at any level, inside or outside the school, reveals its fundamentally narrative character. This relationship involves a narrating Subject (the teacher) and patient listening objects (the students).† This description of Friere depicts a one-way relationship between students and teachers, and as such, the transfer of knowledge occurs when the teacher narrates or uses words to teach. But words, while extremely powerful and effective at initiating change is not the only tool at a teacher’s disposal. Actual experiences go beyond any words to properly describe. Mr. DeBruyn proved this by immersing his class in authentic experiences, which did not need much explaining. It was an exchange of knowledge that took place in the heart. I think that the philosophy that comes closest to Mr. DeBruyn’s teaching style is the one espoused by Ms. Rachel Toor. In her article, It’s Mr. Orwell to You, she promoted a teacher-student relationship that was informal. Not informal in the sense that the students treat teachers without any respect. Rather, students approach the learning system with intimacy. They view a piece of literature as someone written by a real person, and as such, is someone they can very well relate to. By â€Å"humanizing† lessons, the students become less intimidated, are able to relax their mind and be open to more learning. Indeed, education is a complex issue that is fraught with difficulties. But no other profession is more fulfilling. To the individual who has the calling to teach. Pursue it with a heart open to all kinds of possibilities. It will not be easy, not by a long shot. But remember that a meaningful life is always fraught with sacrifices. But at the end of the day, the fulfillment is something that you cannot get anywhere else. And that alone is the reason that keeps true teachers inside the classroom each and every day. Analyzing the Narrative. (2017, Jan 30).

Math Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Math - Essay Example help students have good economic life in future, that is, be employed and deal with life issues such as handling money, interacting with other people, and be well conversant with spiritual life (Peter, 2001). The other aspect of education is to produce a person who is physically, morally, and spiritually upright. All these should be instilled through teaching of mathematics. This paper therefore emphasizes on how mathematics leads to spiritual development. Mathematics as a subject is normally used by people to give a better understanding of very great things including description of natural phenomena normally use mathematics as a subject, how they occur in the world. For instance, knowledge of probability may make a person tell whether it would rain the next day or not (winter, 2000). Even explanation on the depths of ocean waters, heights of mountains and calendar of the days. All these descriptions require the knowledge of mathematics. Mathematicians are philosophers on their own since they can sit and think how great things came into existence there giving an insight to occurrence of infinite things of the world (Downes, 1997). As a matter of understanding wonders and infinite things, mathematics teachers apply the methods of using surprises in order to make complicated things become real. For example, Movshovits Hadar (1988) argues that using the concept of Pythagoras theorem in bringing ideas of squaring sides of a right-angled triangle is a surprise to students. Mathematics has been used to promote spiritual development in learners. This can be clearly explained in terms of religion, philosophy and science that attempt to explain how Christians are linked with charity and social justice through mathematics. The origin of mathematics can be traced back from great philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato who through rational thinking did a lot in the field of mathematics. According to Morshovits (1988) mathematics play a spiritual function by providing a

Exporting Local Saskatoon Berries from Canada to Australia Assignment

Exporting Local Saskatoon Berries from Canada to Australia - Assignment Example Marketing to this region can bring the company profits with high margins. The political scenario in the region is sound, with a growing economy and an established central legal system. The social environment in the region is very similarity that in Canada, making the target market much more understandable and easier to relate to. The business climate in for the Saskatoon berries is very strong and profitable right now as the berries are quite in demand due to their tastes, their use in dairy products, bakeries as well as ice creams as well as due to their antioxidant properties. The fruit has heritage links with China where a version of the fruit was originally grown, however it has been discovered in the central north Canada and has become a native original fruit to the region. It would be more profitable for the company to operate through Canada, as the cost of the logistics ad the transportation of the Saskatoon berries would be much more feasible for the company than if its was outsourcing to China or operating form there. The main risks that are present to the company for exporting to the region of Australia pertain to the risks associated with spoilt and bad harvest, which can affect the supply of the product to the region. Moreover the changes in the prices of the berries are also very volatile according to their demand and supply each season and the quality of the harvest produced. This can make operations very volatile with unpredictable revenues. Moreover the Australian dollar is valued at a lesser denomination than the Canadian dollar with considerable fluctuation. This can affect the revenues of the company with the volatile exchange rates applicable. Other risks that the company would be exposed to are conforming with and getting approval from the local Australian food control authorities. A case took place in 2004, when the Saskatoon berries were ordered off the shelves in the UK due to their bad quality of packaging which effected the quality of the berries. (Gillis, 2004) Consumer Profiles The consumers who will be the direct target market for the Saskatoon berries and would be buying the berries in Australia would include restaurants, organic food and fruit retailers as well as the housewives and catering service providers. The restaurants and the caterers would be buying the product to add the exotic flavor to their dishes while the housewives, and the general consumer will be buying the berries due to their intense and unique taste, their diverse usage in dairy products, baking and cereals as well as due to their properties of being high in fiber and a major source of antioxidants 5. Market Entry and Marketing Strategy SWOT The strengths of exporting Saskatoon berries to Australia include the increased business operations, the increase in the profit margin as well as the positioning and the placement of the company name and brand in the international market. The weaknesses pertain to incurring larger cists for logistics and the transportation the frozen berries to the region of Australia. The opportunities that exporting to Australia provides for the company include the increased market share of the company, and future prospects of operating in the Australian market with other wild berry based produce and

DOES AUDIT REGULATION ENSURE AUDITOR INDEPENDANCE Essay

DOES AUDIT REGULATION ENSURE AUDITOR INDEPENDANCE - Essay Example The objective of the present research is to define the UK auditor’s independence in the regulation of audit, the scope of competences and responsibilities of various professionals, and to evaluate who and what can be the best practice in auditor independence. The writer will define and analyse the concept of auditor independence in the audit regulation and will investigate effectiveness of audit regulation in the current state of UK auditors’ independence. Specialized accounting corporations and various government authoritarian organizations throughout the globe have accentuated that auditor autonomy is both an ethical and a professional matter, essential to auditors. Independence has been examined as â€Å"an intensely felt professional philosophy†. It is supposed that part of the solution in deciphering ethical impasses regarding potential and identified risks to assessor independence is to put more stress on professional beliefs (Mednick, 1990). The Ethics Committee of the International Federation of Accountants has also highlighted the notion of independence as an ethical subject in its principles on assessor independence covenanting with veracity, neutrality, and secrecy. Many writers have turn up with behavioural, theoretical, sociological and officially authorized definitions of independence and what makes up a mutilation to auditor’s independence. Elijah Watts Sells (1908) emphasized the significance of the auditor’s independence in relation to the auditor: The place of the public accountant in regard to corporations and their management is at all times an independent one. Unlike the legal representatives, he is not projected to make out a case. The nature of the service he provides is impersonal (Sells, 1908). Near the beginning of 1928, a perspective in the Paper of Accountancy emphasized the subsistence of a clash of interest when an auditor is a stockowner, executive,

Negotiating Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Negotiating - Movie Review Example The Secretary of Defense then arrives with a risky plan- a blockade on Cuba to prevent further weapons from entering the nation. When the Russians do not mind the blockade and make efforts to overturn it, circumstances immediately turn from good to hopeless. Based on structure, the movie can be distinguished into two specific components: the initial component of the movie introduces the main protagonists Russia and the US, as well as the innate attitudes and traits of their leaders, and just as significantly, the emerging signs of the potential clash between the two superpowers. The second part portrays America's efforts to combat their worsening fear of invasion by the Russians with the help of peaceful negotiations as they get stranded over the peace talks, and eventually their agreement with Russia to stop the loading of the nuclear weapons. Bridging the two parts are situations where neither the people watching the movie nor the two main countries knows what will happen next, truly a suspenseful masterpiece. Majority of the movie's symbolic imagery is focused on America's diplomatic efforts towards Russia and its mischievous plans. The symbolism of the negotiations in this movie allows the audience to comprehend what happens within two nations stranded in a tug of war fighting for supremacy, when suffering from a terrible dilemma, and most significantly when stepping up to the challenge and making tough decisions that will decide the fate of their countrymen. The negotiations are the primary foundations or the framework of the movie, including their positive and negative results. Much of the negotiations that happened during the movie were between US President John F. Kennedy and Russian President Nikita Kruschev. While President Kennedy was convinced that the photos of nuclear missile build-up captured by their spy planes were indeed authentic and therefore a direct threat to Americans, Kruschev was adamant in mentioning that these weapons were not intended for harmful utilization. Nonetheless, the US government maintained their peaceful ways of managing the crisis at hand, until they learned that the Russian and Cuban government under Fidel Castro had already agreed on various policies as to the utilization of the nuclear weapons. While it was clear that the peaceful efforts of the US to negotiate the crisis failed at first, in the end all the nations involved came into an agreement to remove all their weapons and threats to each other. While the world seemed close to witnessing another brutal war, the insistent diplomatic efforts of the American government led by President Kennedy paved the way for a peaceful ending for this crisis.

The Calabasas Smoking Ban Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Calabasas Smoking Ban - Essay Example their residence) and therefore would greatly reduce their smoking habit. It is such a good move by the city making the ordinance as the reason for smokers to eventually quit smoking. As a result of this, it would no doubt lessen their risks from diseases brought about by smoking. Moreover, I believe that the ordinance has been thoroughly justified through statistics and findings on the effects of the secondhand exposure to smoke. The numbers of death outcome due to the effect of secondhand (or side stream) smoke greatly supports the ordinance which also, I suppose, provides a solid foundation. The figures give explanation for it all and have constructed reasonable argument in defending the ordinance. In my own point of view, this is one of the good reasons that the City Council does not have any opposition to the ordinance. The City of Calabasas is in one way preserving the community. Through the no-smoking ordinance, residents and the public will greatly benefit from it thus making the city a healthy place to live in. The city may be just a small place to be the starting point and the example of a smoke-free place but what the city council has come up with is just and reasonable although to some people think it sounds ridiculous. Well for me, it is not ridiculous.

Students should go to colleges better than universities from the Essay

Students should go to colleges better than universities from the beginning - Essay Example One of the problems is that most of these students study for the sake of passing their examinations (Fernando, 50). As a result, most of them finish campus with no adequate knowledge required by the employers. This makes most of them jobless for a long time, which is problematic for the generation of these productive individuals. The reason is some individuals may not have gotten the required grade to join their desired course (Nitza, 135). Thus, the university admits the individual for a much lower course than the one the individual yearned for. They will only study for that course for the sake of getting a degree. This is unlike in joining college first since the individual can get the required marks in college and then join university to pursue their desired courses. Most of these individuals joining university are fresh from high school where their parents monitor their every move (Chin, 18). However, with university, most of them even move out to live in campus premises. The joy of being able to live away from the parents finally is a relief for most of them who tend to put it in their heads. They become party animals in campus to an extent of forgetting their studies. There are even cases of students caught cheating during exams due to failure of adequate preparation. It is important for such students to realize that despite how long it takes, it is important to join university for the right reasons- working hard to get a well-paying job in future. This brings us to the next

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Those who think Transcendentalism is just a literary movement that took place in the early 1800s are only half correct. Transcendentalism is indeed a literary movement; however, it is much more than that. It is meant to challenge people to think for themselves and cause change. Authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee taught the importance of non-conformity and civil disobedience through short stories such as â€Å"Self Reliance† and â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience†, and the play, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that knowledge is derived from experience and personal reflection as opposed to reason. Transcendentalism promotes self-revelation because it encourages people to form their own opinions and then voice them in a way that will promote change in society. Transcendentalists ground their philosophy with the idea that every persons inner self is where knowledge is gained. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s â€Å"Self Reliance†, he says, What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think†¦It is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Emerson realizes that it is easy to conform to society, but there is value in forming one’s own opinion. What makes a person great is if he or she can stand out in a crowd of people. While in a crowd, one can see the overall ideas of the group but never the individual thoughts that made up these ideas. Emerson is saying that to be great, one must be able to be with the crowd physically, but mentally remain one’s own person with their own ideas. Because Transcendentalism values individual opinions, it is also important to people such as Henry David Thoreau that everyone, especially the government, is open to other peoples’ opinions. In â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience† Thoreau says, â€Å"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power†¦ and treats him accordingly. † Thoreau understands that citizens should be able to influence the government and cause change. To do this, the government needs to treat its citizens with respect. Politicians and other government workers need to do away with their pride and listen to what is really important- the citizens. When people can form their own opinions, respect others’ opinions, and voice their opinions, there will be harmony. In Transcendentalism, people are encouraged not only to form their own opinions, but to voice them as well. Thoreau tells everyone to â€Å"make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it† (Thoreau). He supports transcendentalism by encouraging people to stand up and talk about their opinions. Thoreau understands that change, especially in government can only occur when individuals make their opinions heard. During his life, Thoreau challenged the idea of slavery, government corruption, payment of taxes, and the Mexican-American War. In The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau is talking to his old professor about how he should voice his discontent with the Mexican-American War. When Thoreau’s professor asks when he should voice his opinion Thoreau yells, â€Å"‘NOW! A year ago was too late! I’ll get you an audience. This afternoon. At Concord Square! †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 89). In the play, Thoreau expresses that opinions are no good if they are not proclaimed to the world. If opinions are not voiced they cannot be heard. Transcendentalism values individual opinions and acknowledges that voicing them is crucial if they are going to spearhead change in their society. Transcendentalists agree that self-revelation is wasted if it is not voiced and then heard and thereby causing change. During The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau spends a small amount of time as a schoolteacher. While Thoreau is a schoolteacher, he gets into trouble with the schoolmaster because he lets his kids â€Å"Huckleberry† in order to come to a conclusion in a class discussion. After he gets in trouble Thoreau sarcastically tells his students, ‘â€Å"You must not listen to a cricket or smell a flower that has not been approved by the School Committee. You’d better close both ears and hold your nose- though you may have to grow an extra hand to do it†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 20). In this instance, Thoreau is trying to speak out against the strict policy of the school committee. He sees that the policy is unfair and that students should be able to learn in a way that is effective for them. By speaking out against the school committee, Thoreau is opening up the possibility for a reform in the education system. Thoreau sees that there is an opportunity to promote change so he takes it and speaks his opinion. According to Thoreau and other transcendentalists, the government needs to be ameliorated. Thoreau says, â€Å"The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it† (Thoreau). Transcendentalists agree that the government usually does not work for the people it is protecting. However, they do realize that it is necessary for the survival of the United States. Thoreau is encouraging people to take a stand against the current government, which he hopes will lead to a reform that will empower people to demand more influence in politics. Transcendentalism emphasizes that individuals need to voice their opinions if change is going to occur. According to Transcendentalists, promoting change in society occurs through self-revelation. There must be free thinking people in the world who are willing to make their voice heard if change is ever going to occur. Today many people think that the American school system is something that needs to be reformed. There is a problem if most students are no longer engaged and excited to go to school. Transcendentalists would say that students should be learning things that are interesting to them and cause them to think beyond what is being taught. Students should be encouraged to investigate and debate ideas in order to come up with their own. If America were still in the Transcendentalism time period, people would be insisting on these types of changes. They know that if they do not speak out, nothing will happen.

Holiday Decision Making Processes Tourism Essay

Holiday Decision Making Processes Tourism Essay The following essay attempts to critically analyze the traditional problem solving approach to consumer decision making process with support of the study that the case study has discussed. The writing is done over nine steps. It begins with the introduction phase that discusses the importance of consumer behavior and the importance of decision making and in particular the importance of traditional consumer decision making in consumer behavior. The following subsection defines the detailed stages involved in traditional consumer decision making. Following this, is a comparative study done between traditional consumer decision making and holiday decision making based on the stages of traditional consumer decision making model. This is further, followed by a conclusion that summarizes the outcome of the study altogether. Consumer behavior is the study of the mental and emotional processes and observable behavior of consumers during searching, consumption and post purchase of a product or service. Assessing consumer behavior and understanding the same is vital and essential for the success of any marketing strategy. Consumer decision making process is the sequential stages of processes that a consumer goes through when opting to purchase a product or a service. Any consumer is assumed to go through five staged decision making process before attempting to make any purchase. This is referred to as the Traditional Decision making process. It is very necessary for the marketer to understand the decision making process that the consumer goes through in order to successfully market the product. III.TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS The five important stages of the traditional consumer decision making process are: Need Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase and Post-Purchase evaluation. Need Recognition Problem Awareness: Need recognition is when a consumer has identified a particular need or a problem that has been unmet and has to be immediately met. Two different styles of need/problem recognition styles exist within consumers. The categories of consumers are those who opt a product as the present product that they are using fails to function efficiently. These consumers are referred to as actual state type consumers. The second type of consumers are the desired state types, who need a product just because to desire to have one. So the desire becomes the trigger in their decision process. Altogether, a consumer at this stage can be referred to as an aroused consumer who is vulnerable to any stimulus of the marketers appeal. Information Search Information search is the search is the next subsequent stage wherein, the consumer has already identified a product that will cater to his/her need. There are two types of searches , the internal search and the external search. The internal search is when the consumer recollects his/her past experiences and makes that the base for his/her current decision making. An external search is when the consumer consults external environment factors for making his/her choice decision. This is because the consumer lacks sufficient experience. In many purchase decisions, a consumer conducts an internal search in combination with an external search as well. Normally, the consumers tend to involve themselves in extensive information search in products that involve high risk and are more costly than in case of products that involve low risk and are inexpensive. The search conducted before buying a shoes would differ from the search conducted before buying a car. Evaluation Of Alternatives In this corresponding stage, the consumer has identified a number of particular product/service that will satisfy his/her need. It is here that the consumer makes the decision between the available potential alternatives on the basis of brands and number of preferred criteria against which these products are assessed. The set of brands that comes in the consideration list of the consumer is called evoked set. Inept set is the set of brands that the product does not consider because it is looked upon by the consumer as unacceptable. Inert set is that set of brands that the consumer is indifferent towards because the consumer, does not consider the product to be having any particular advantages. Purchase This is the stage wherein the consumer actually purchases a particular product after identifying need, conducting search and evaluating possible alternatives. Consumers are normally identified to be making three types of purchases which are namely trial purchases, repeated purchases and long term commitment purchases. The trial purchase refers to the instance wherein a consumer tries to evaluate a product or brand by using it for the first time. Repeated purchase is a case of established brand loyalty wherein consumers repeat product purchases. Long term commitment is when consumers associate themselves in opting to purchase a particular brand of a product and over again in time. Post purchase Evaluation This is the stage wherein the consumer has bought and used a particular product, the consumers reflection on whether the product was satisfying or disappointing. In cases where the consumers needs are met or exceeded the consumer can be referred to as satisfied. If that does not happen, the consumer begins to experience cognitive dissonance which is an internal conflict that the consumer experiences because of having conflicting ideas. (Schiffman G.L, Kanuk L.L, Hansen.H , 2008) IV.IDENTIFYING THE NEED FOR A HOLIDAY DECISION MAKING When the holiday decision making plan of 27 Belgian households were analyzed, it was found that Holiday decision making model did not have any fixed sequential stages, unlike the traditional decision making model. It was observed that in the Holiday decision making model, the administrative factors played a vital role in deciding choice and time of holiday decision making. Apart from this, it was found that unlike in the traditional decision making model, while planning for a holiday, there was no sequential evolution of holiday plans. The typical factors that influence the need and the decision of holiday decision making process was found to be situational factors, levels of involvement, day dreaming nostalgia, anticipation. This is completely different from the Traditional Decision making process which has very well structured and sequentialized. The need for a particular product/service is identified, following which the information search and evaluation of alternatives is done. This further leads the consumer towards making a purchase and then post purchase evaluation. Unlike in the Holiday decision model the factors that influence the decision making process of a consumer in traditional consumer decision making is the need that is triggered due to the failure of a product that they are using or the desire to have a new product. Decision for choosing a product is done here. V.SEARCHING FOR AN IDEAL HOLIDAY DESTINATION . The information search in traditional consumer decision making is well structured, which is at times internal or external or a combination of both based on the value /risk of a product. The information search phase in the holiday decision model was found to be unstructured unlike the traditional decision making model .In holiday decision making, information collection was identified to be an ongoing process that still continues even after the holiday has been booked. Information is gathered during and after the holiday experience owing to cognitive dissonance, prolonged involvement/hedonic consumption. Moreover, the information search in holiday decision making is found to be more internal or memory based, than external or stimulus based. However, all the information collected were not always used. The holiday decision makers were also found to be low information searchers. Information accumulated naturally in a non purposive way and they become really important in the last days before a booking is made. There is a shift observed from internal to external source of information and from general to more specific information altogether. Hence in holiday decision making , information search information collection is not a direct predictor of actual choices but helps in strongly pointing out the preferences of a consumer. Whereas, in traditional consumer decision making the information search is mainly internal oriented (like past experience) for products with low risk and products that are less expensive, external (like person reference) for products those involve high risk and are expensive. The higher the past experience, the lesser the external search would be done. Information is considered very important and the information gathered becomes the driving force in the decision making of a consumer. The kind of shift from general to specific information hunt is not quite significant in traditional consumer decision making. In traditional consumer decision making, the search begins as internal and then proceeds to external and then a combination of both. It is also observed that unlike holiday decision making, traditional consumer decision making consumers are keen information searchers and conducts a thorough research before deciding on a particular product. And finally, in traditional consumer deci sion making, information collection strong points the preferences of consumer, and also is a vital predictor of the actual decision that the consumer tends to take. VI.EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE HOLIDAY DECISIONS When it came to the evaluation of alternatives in case of holiday decision making, the study conducted brought to light that holiday decision making was an ongoing circular process that began with the making of a decision. Ideally, as one holiday ended, the holidays decision makers involved themselves in making the next plan. It was also observed that the decision makers involved themselves in making a number of plans at the same time. So does the evaluation of alternatives. As they constantly keep gaining information they tend to keep switching their preference for alternatives. And each of the plans that the holiday maker made comprised of different time horizons, different formulas and different types of decision making processes. Another instance in the case , highlighted the fact that holiday decision making was mostly found to be adaptable and opportunistic. In these cases holiday decision makers , though had willingness to go to a particular place for a holiday , they were found to be going only when the opportunity struck. Hence, adaptability and opportunity were found to be the two major criterias on which a holiday decision maker was found to evaluating and deciding on the option of a holiday destination. Moreover, these strategies were found to be aligned with situation and to the type of decision making unit in which they were involved. So while evaluating the alternative, the alternative that is more favorable to adapt and to which there was a prevailing opportunity was given more importance than a on e which wasnt favorable and for which there w as no opportunity. Altogether, it was found that while evaluating alternatives and decision making, adaptability and the decision making unit to which a holiday decision maker belonged influenced to situations and decision making unit to which they belong. When it came to evaluation, preferences were more given to experience based techniques than pre-planned ones. Many holiday makers didnt use any well defined strategies while making their decisions. Needs and desires were directly connected to choice solutions because they are evoked at the same time. Finally, they prefer simple decision rules even if they are not accurate. Alongside, holiday makers decision strategies were characterized by factors like limited amount of processing, selective processing, qualitative reasoning, attribute based non compensatory rules and a lack for the evaluation of each alternative. In comparison to this, in the traditional consumer decision making model the consumer evaluates products based on brands and critetrias. Unlike in holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making consumers follow a method wherein initially, a evoked set is generated based on the list of brands from which they plan to make their selection following which criterias will be used to evaluate each brand separately. Based on the ranking of criterias, the final product choice is made. Evaluation of alternatives is not an ongoing process and it is done only when a particular product is recognized to be catering to a particular need/problem identified. Hence traditional consumer decision making is not in any manner not adaptable nor opportunistic rather its completely need/desire oriented. Also pre planned decisions were the one that was given more importance when it came to evaluation. Strategies are clearly made based on ranking of features of a particular product of a brand . In traditional consumer decision making, evaluation of alternatives is characterized by the knowledge of the brand, information gathered and the preference of criterias evaluated for each brand/product of the evoked set. VII.PURCHASE OF A HOLIDAY PLAN AND ITS POST PURCHASE EVALUATION: When analyzing the purchase stage of the holiday decision making, it was found that the final decision making was made by consumers in the last minutes. This was mainly done to reduce the risk involved, expectancy, availability, loyalty and personality. It is also found from the case that the purchase of the holiday decision making, is done instantaneously depending on momentary moods and emotions. Emotional factors in fact were identified to be a major factor based on which the holiday choices were made. The purchase is also done instantly as the holiday decision makers are consumers whose choices are made suddenly for sudden pleasure. This highlights the fact that affective choice mode is more relevant than traditional information processing mode in Holiday decision making model that in itself is a highly experiential product. Most of the holiday decision makers tend to be optimistic and idealistic in the starting but they become realistic only over time and final purchase is made only the last moment. The reason for this trend of shift was identified to be the objective intervention or subjective perception of contextual factors. However contextual factors like occupation, family, situation are first considered before contextual inhibitors like time, money and budget. The feeling of cognitive dissonance can be thoroughly noticed in case of holiday decision making. Because of this experience of cognitive dissonance that is a post purchase concern it was seen that the informants involved themselves in gathering information during and after the holiday experience altogether. The informants in many cases were found to be experiencing cognitive dissonance which continuously strived to reduce. In the traditional decision making model, model of feel-learn-do is observed to be important whereas the feel-learn-do and feel-do-learn sequence appear more important in the holiday decision making. Contrary to the holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making the consumer plans sequentially before making the purchase. They discover a need, conduct information search, evaluates the alternatives and decides to purchase a chosen product. Unlike in holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making the consumers are observed to be optimistic, idealistic and realistic right from the need recognition stage till this stage of purchase. Also, in case of traditional consumer decision making, the post purchase cognitive dissonance experienced by a consumer was found to be directly proportional to the risk or value involved with the product. VIII.CONCLUSION Based on the comparative study made it can be evidently summarized that holiday decision making processes evidently varies from the traditional consumer decision making. Right from the beginning stage of need recognition till the stage of post-purchase evaluation stage the disparities are evident and noticeable. holiday decision making is highly based on opportunities, adaptability and emotions to a very large extent. Unlike traditional consumer decision making holiday decision making is found out to be combination of many processes. Hence altogether holiday decision making, is identified to be a rational process and holiday decision making processes and considered to be quite important as they are vital in achieving higher order goals. IX.REFERENCESBIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Peter Robinson. (2008). Holiday decision making: the family perspective. Available: http://www.insights.org.uk/articleitem.aspx?title=Holiday+Decision+Making:+The+Family+Perspective. Last accessed 25th Jan 2. Michael Richarme. (2004). Consumer Decision Making Models, Strategies and Theories. Available: http://www.decisionanalyst.com/publ_art/decisionmaking.dai. Last accessed 23rd Jan 2010. 3. Lars Perner PhD . (1999). Consumer Behaviour: Psychology Of Marketing. Available: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011 4. Hawkins, Delbert, Best, Roger, Coney, Kenneth (March 2003). Consumer Behaviour: Building Marketing Strategy. London: McGraw-Hill/Irwin .71-99. 5. Leon G.Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Havard Hansen (2008). Consumer Behaviour. England: Pearson Education Limited. 75-91. 6. Encyclopaedia of business 2nd edition. (2011). Consumer Behaviour. Available: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Comp-De/Consumer-Behavior.html. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011. 7. Kevin moore, clive smallman, jude Wilson, David simmons . (2010). Yield-Relevant Tourist Decision Making. Available: http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/PageFiles/6830/6197_YieldRelevantIn_s20222.pdf. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011 8. Murthi, B.P.S., and Kannan Srinivasan (1999). Consumers Extent of Evaluation in Brand Choice.. London: Journal of Business. 23-77. 9. Solomon, Michael R (2003). Consumer Behaviour. 6th ed. New York: Prentice Hall . 43-88. 10. Mantel, Susan Powell, and Frank R. Kardes (1999). The Role of Direction of Comparison, Attribute-Based Processing, and Attitude-Based Processing in Consumer Preference.. New York: Journal of Consumer Research. 30-54.

Science and Morality in Shelleys Frankenstein - Consequences of Technology :: Frankenstein essays

The Consequences of Technology Revealed in Shelley's Frankenstein      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written in the late nineteenth century, the author proposes that knowledge and technology can be dangerous to individuals and all of humanity.   Frankenstein was one of the first cautionary tales about scientific research.   Shelley's novel offers profound insight of the consequences of morally insensitive scientific and technological research.    Learn from me. . . at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how   much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley 101)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The popular belief of how Frankenstein came to be written derives from Shelley herself, who explains in an introduction to the novel that she, her husband Percy Shelly, and Lord Byron set themselves the task of creating ghost stories during a short vacation at a European villa.   According to Shelley, the short story she conceived was predicated of the notion as the eighteenth became the nineteenth century that electricity could be a catalyst of life.   In her introduction she recalls the talk about Erasmus Darwin, who had preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion," (Joseph vii).   The extraordinary means forms the basis for Frankenstein.   Many people also believe that a nightmare that Mary Shelley had could also be partly responsible for the creation of the novel.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the time the novel was written, England was on the brink of leading the Industrial revolution in Europe.   The experiments of Huntsman (crucible steel manufacture), Newcome (steam-powered pumps), and Cochrane (coal tar production) throughout the eighteenth century in England were decisive in the initial transformation of England into an industrialized country (Burke 137, 173, 195).   The emerging age of technology appears to have found followers throughout the culture and to have become firmly reinforced by the time   Frankenstein was written.   Eric Rabkin (author), says that in England early in the eighteenth century, "there exist a populous discourse community that accepted the rhetoric of science" (Rabkin 39).   This rhetoric has proof extending back to the English Renaissance. Those sensitive to change and those prepared to embrace a rhetoric of change need not be scientists.   While scientists address a discourse community of scientists, novelists   Ã‚   address a wider discourse community of the literate.   If we can accept the earlier   argument that science and poetry are not ontologically antagonistic, then we might well hope to find fictional uses of the rhetoric of science . Science and Morality in Shelley's Frankenstein - Consequences of Technology :: Frankenstein essays The Consequences of Technology Revealed in Shelley's Frankenstein      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written in the late nineteenth century, the author proposes that knowledge and technology can be dangerous to individuals and all of humanity.   Frankenstein was one of the first cautionary tales about scientific research.   Shelley's novel offers profound insight of the consequences of morally insensitive scientific and technological research.    Learn from me. . . at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how   much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley 101)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The popular belief of how Frankenstein came to be written derives from Shelley herself, who explains in an introduction to the novel that she, her husband Percy Shelly, and Lord Byron set themselves the task of creating ghost stories during a short vacation at a European villa.   According to Shelley, the short story she conceived was predicated of the notion as the eighteenth became the nineteenth century that electricity could be a catalyst of life.   In her introduction she recalls the talk about Erasmus Darwin, who had preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion," (Joseph vii).   The extraordinary means forms the basis for Frankenstein.   Many people also believe that a nightmare that Mary Shelley had could also be partly responsible for the creation of the novel.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the time the novel was written, England was on the brink of leading the Industrial revolution in Europe.   The experiments of Huntsman (crucible steel manufacture), Newcome (steam-powered pumps), and Cochrane (coal tar production) throughout the eighteenth century in England were decisive in the initial transformation of England into an industrialized country (Burke 137, 173, 195).   The emerging age of technology appears to have found followers throughout the culture and to have become firmly reinforced by the time   Frankenstein was written.   Eric Rabkin (author), says that in England early in the eighteenth century, "there exist a populous discourse community that accepted the rhetoric of science" (Rabkin 39).   This rhetoric has proof extending back to the English Renaissance. Those sensitive to change and those prepared to embrace a rhetoric of change need not be scientists.   While scientists address a discourse community of scientists, novelists   Ã‚   address a wider discourse community of the literate.   If we can accept the earlier   argument that science and poetry are not ontologically antagonistic, then we might well hope to find fictional uses of the rhetoric of science .