Faith And Belief Essays - Philosophy Of Religion, Belief

Faith And Belief In every day life we experience many internal conflicts and crisis. These crises often manifest themselves as moral dilemmas and are a part of being human. But the question that arises is what causes us to handle ourselves the way we do in those situations. Some people might say faith, but the true answer is our beliefs. That is why we seem to be at an all time low in morality, we are having a crisis of belief. Most people believe that faith is what holds us together, and our beliefs are just a guide. However, it is our culture and the sets of meanings people share that mediate our experiences with one another along with the combination of these experiences which our behind our religion. Our beliefs are a reflection of our culture and this becomes obvious when we observe other cultures. Saudi Arabia, for example has a very different belief system than the United States and these religious beliefs are function of their faith and culture combined. As their culture changes, their beliefs, too, many change. As the sets of meanings people share change, their beliefs will follow. In a religious aspect the difference between faith and belief is easy to see if you go to church the week before Christmas and then Christmas day and look at the difference in the number of people. The regulars who give of themselves one day a week for God truly believe in God, those who show up for Holy Days more than likely have faith. Not to sound cynical, having faith is better than nothing, it is just not all that a person could give. But why are we being so lazy? The answer comes to us in the context of our current society. In the dark ages people had little to do, and very little enlightenment, so religion was turned to as a way to fill a void. In that time people knew what it was to believe in something. Men of the dark ages fought wars for their religion and died for what they believed was right. No, I am not saying the holy wars were a good idea, but it is a way to see what it is like to fully believe. Today people dont even have the ambition to fight and defend their country, much less give anything extra. We have things to occupy our selves and do not rely on a God for everything that happens to us. This is where cultural shift comes into play when looking at religion. As people have advanced and explained things that used to be a mystery, needing to believe in religion became unnecessary. In the Classical times of Greek culture, the gods played an important role of everyday life. Everything that occurred was accredited to a god; thunder meant Zeus was angry, a rough sea meant Poseidon was having a bad day on Mount Olympus. They needed that to keep order in things that were inherently chaotic. Everything was made certain by religion. The Classical stage in history held the Earth to be deep, permanent, and fixed. We were at the center of the universe and everything revolved around us. Deductive logic to give reason to all cases where there was a lack of understanding. A logical assumption to the Greek was that lightning was a sign of anger from the gods. As time progressed religion took on a slightly different role, as a guide for those in despair. People stopped thinking everything was done by a group of gods and began to believe in a creator that was responsible for the Earth and the moon and all of the stars. In the 1500-1600s we hit the Modern or Empirical stage. We realized Earth wasn't permanent and new science a discoveries forced a new way of thinking. Socially, our views became relative to our experience and this was acceptable. Nothing was certain anymore, but things became probable and individual cases reflected a new importance. Modern science developed several theories that systematically explain how we came to be, from the big bang to the theory of evolution. With this change in science, came a revolution in society. It is for that reason that the purpose of religion in a modern context has changed dramatically. People were factioned into those that believe science and those that believe religion. It caused tension in society and made discussing religion a taboo. It also narrowed the types of questions that one could ask about the

The magic and illusion Essays

The magic and illusion Essays The magic and illusion Essay The magic and illusion Essay Essay Topic: Invisible Monsters Prospero has a servant in the form of the spirit Ariel. Ariel has lots of special powers himself. He can be invisible and cause lots of apparitions to take place. Sometimes, Ariel is visible to everyone on the stage. Obviously, the audience can see him whenever he appears on stage, but during certain times in the play, he is invisible to different people. To show this in the 17th century would have been very hard. Clues have to be taken from the script which suggests when Ariel was invisible to certain people. Another way of learning when he is visible to different people is to study the way in which he speaks. If he speaks to someone directly, he will normally be visible to them. If he speaks to the audience rather than to the person, he is invisible. A 17th century audience would have to bear this in mind when watching the play. Being very superstitious, they would understand, however, that spirits only appear to certain people at certain times, so it would not be too hard for them to take this on board. An example of Ariel being invisible to only a section of the actors on the stage is in Act 1 Scene 2, when Ariel sings an enchanting song to Ferdinand, luring him to meet Miranda. Neither Miranda nor Ferdinand can see the spirit, but Prospero can, and he talks to Ariel, promising to set him free. In Act 3 Scene 3, Prospero conjures up a banquet for Alonso and the rest of the royal party. Just as the members of the party prepare to eat, the banquet disappears. This would have been very difficult to show in the 17th century. I cannot think of any way 17th century actors would have been able to show this, apart from standing the banquet table on a trap door and then releasing the trap door. This is not a perfect way of showing the table disappear, but it is the only way I can think of showing it in 17th century theatre. Towards the end of the play, a lot is said about Gods of the Ancient Romans, particularly Juno, Ceres and Iris. In most Jacobean masques, there was a lot of emphasis on classical mythology. Prosperos masque is no different. Audiences in 17th century England would have a basic knowledge of Ancient Roman and Greek gods. They would know the names of the gods and what they stood for. Before the masque, Ariel appeared as a harpy to Alonso and his friends. A harpy was part of ancient mythology. A 17th century audience would take the events in The Tempest as gospel. They believed in witchcraft and spirits. The Tempest was all about these things, so the people just took it as a play which included, and may have been based on, real incidents. The inclusion of Caliban within the play gives an insight into 17th century travel. America was a relatively new country as far as Europe was concerned. Europeans considered themselves civilised. When they encountered a new race of people, they were considered uncivilised and savage. This is emphasised in Caliban, who is shown as a monster. He is ridiculed by Prospero an educated and civilised Duke, and when Trinculo discovers him, he considers taking him back to Italy as a sort of freak-show. Were I in England and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver: there would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Europeans did not understand the new race of people that they had found, and because they were different, they were considered dangerous. In the play it is said that Calibans mother was a witch. This adds to the bad attitude of the Europeans to the Native Americans. The Tempest is based around Italy, but Shakespeare still refers to the Englishs attitude towards foreigners, by making Trinculo talk about what it would be like if he were in England. He does not just mention any country in Europe he mentions England. Maybe this is because Shakespeare did not have any knowledge of other European countries attitudes, or perhaps he just thought England was the worst in this way. Things are very different in the 21st century. We no longer believe in superstitions such as witches and evil spirits. There is always the odd person who holds onto old beliefs, but generally, we are rid of those superstitions. Science and mathematics can explain most things that happen. For a world that no longer believes in witches and monsters, we still have a lot to do with these things. We read horror books about beings coming back from the dead; we still celebrate Halloween; we watch films of vampires and witches. In the 17th century, these things would have been taken very seriously. Nowadays, however, it is only for fun that we do these things. Shakespeares plays are still watched the world over, the same plays that were watched when he first wrote them. They have not been changed and so still contain wizards, witches, monsters and spirits within them. However, modern-day directors have to find a way of presenting these magical creatures to a modern-day audience without them appearing comical. As part of the play, the characters must be taken reasonably seriously so that the story can be appreciated. 21st century audiences expect more from a play than they would have done 300 years ago, even if the play were written that long ago. Although modern directors have a somewhat harder task than their 17th century counterparts, they have technology on their side. Technology has increased magnificently since The Tempest was first performed, and this enables directors to create more spectacular special effects. Electricity plays a massive part in these effects. With the use of electricity, different lighting can easily be used for different scenes, to create different atmospheres. The first major part of the play takes place on the ship during the storm. More elegant scenery can be used to create the impression that the actors are indeed on a ship. Special lighting used alongside sound effects, can be used to give the impression of sailing on the sea. Thunder and lighting can be heard in the distance with the aid of a sound recorder. Prospero has a lot of powers. As well as controlling the elements, he has power over human beings. After telling Miranda the story of how they arrived to be on the island, Prospero wishes to talk to Ariel. Miranda does not know of the existence of Ariel, so before he talks to his servant, Prospero sends her to sleep. He does this by making her sit on his magic cloak, and then by a sort of hypnosis, she falls asleep. This act of magic does not require any special effects. All it needs is good acting by the actors playing Miranda and Ferdinand for the audience to believe that it is happening. A lot of the magic events that take place in the Tempest are similar to the one above. Many do not need special effects, and just rely on the talents of the actors. When Prospero freezes Ferdinand, all the actor playing Ferdinand has to do is simply stand still. After the storm, the next magic event that would require some thought would be when Ariel sings a song to Ferdinand about his father. Ariel at this time is invisible to Ferdinand. To make this clear to the audience, Ariel could be suspended by some wires above Ferdinand, so he cannot see the spirit. Alternatively, only Ariels voice could be heard, so it is clear that the spirit cannot be seen. This trick could be used when Ariel overhears Sebastian and Antonio plotting to kill Alonso. He could hover above the traitors in the same way that he did when luring Ferdinand to Miranda. When he sends the group to sleep, he could sprinkle some glitter or some kind of dust over them. That way, it is visible to the audience that something is going on. The main acts of magic are the banquet, the masque and Ariel appearing as a harpy. The banquet and the harpy incident could be shown by the same method. Both are illusions that disappear after being seen by Alonsos group. Both these incidents could be shown by holograms, which could be projected from the back of the theatre onto the stage. Advanced computer imaging could make it seem as if the harpy was talking, then the hologram could simply disappear, making it seem as if the objects were actually on the stage and have vanished. Despite what the audience believes outside a theatre, once inside, they are usually willing to believe anything as long as it makes good theatre. Most people will let go of their normal beliefs if it means that they will enjoy the show more. Directors have to keep this in mind. Maybe the audience will not believe in spirits and witches in everyday life, but if a play they are watching contains these things, they will accept them, as long as they are made reasonably believeable. For a play to be successful, a director has to make sure that the illusions and magic are portrayed as realistically as possible and the audience can believe for a while that these things are real.

Trading for Meatingly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Trading for Meatingly - Essay Example It was 1985; I was 13 and had just beheld a goddess at the baseball card show. Looking back with the experience that years bring, I have often tried to unearth if she really was as beautiful as I first imagined, or if the impact of her appearance was simply some sort of ode to the relativity of all things. In essence, I have tried to discern if she really was as awesomely radiant in an absolute manner or if she appeared so simply because she was the only other girl of my age in the entire Ramada conference room that day. The crowd at baseball card shows in those days was predominately male and could be sorted into two general categories. First was the pre-to-young adolescent cohort. This was made-up of kids that were old enough to have some sort of job that provided income for their baseball card habit. They were also old enough to be trusted by parents to walk or ride a bike to the Ramada without stopping to take candy from strangers or getting into a rusty Dodge van with a man that promised to show you his pet turtle. We were a decidedly pimply lot with greasy hair, greasy smiles and pale skin from marathon baseball card trading sessions in basement entertainment rooms of friends and relatives. The second cohort was the gentlemen whose waist sizes were keeping pace with their age well into their late forties and early fifties. They were a beefy, jovial bunch of men that found great pleasure in statistics, speculation and talking with young adolescents for hours on end about baseball players. They never talked baseball. It was always the players. Like a secret language, the mention of certain surnames among these gentlemen could inspire awe and reverence or loathing and argument. Names from the recent past such as Yastremski and Morgan were invariably compared to older players such as Ruth and Young. Not just compared as players, but compared as commodities. This was the real love for these men. Who’s card would raise in value, fall in value? The future was the real interest for these men. Who was playing now that would be the next Ruth or Aaron? And more importantly, how can I get his cards cheap now so I can sell them at a profit in the future? So it is understandable why, given this backdrop of greasy, pimply, fleshy maleness, I might think that her beauty was somehow a mirage. How I might think she was the most beautiful girl simply because she was the only girl in the room at the time. For years, pondering on this first vision of her loveliness was one of my great pastimes. When I was too tired to pick up a book to read or simply didn’t want to invest the effort, I’d think about seeing her for the first time. Over time, I have come to believe that she was not lovely in relation to anything else, she simply was lovely. I now believe that had I seed her for the first time at poolside in the midst of a wild party full of gyrating, bikini-clad supermodels, her immaculate high-tops and ponytail would have had the exa ct same effect upon me. I would have forgotten my name, surreptitiously glanced her way at every opportunity and chiefly, nearly forgotten that I had embarked upon this particular trip to the card show on a special mission. I was, in fact, convinced that I had out speculated the men with the bellies. I was certain in 1985 that I had seen the future of baseball. I could see my fortune being made with a few purchases of a particular player.

Coursework 3 Individual Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Coursework 3 Individual Report - Essay Example Pension crisis is a foreseen problem or difficulty in settling federal, corporate, and state pensions in the European nations and US. This might come about due a difference in the available resources to settle the pension and the pension obligations that arise. Studies show that the major factors contributing to this situation include lower birth rates, and most retirees living longer (The Economist, 2008). Reasons for this situation sometimes may vary depending on the nation. A good example is the current pension crisis in Pennsylvania. The country is facing this crisis due to its two-pension systems Public School Employees and State Government Workers both have over 40 billion dollars in debt (Priya, 2013). This crisis started surfacing back in 2001. A ten billion dollar hole was created in the pension systems when â€Å"Facing a flush stock market and a fully funded system, legislators raised benefits for state and school workers by 25 percent, hiked their own benefits by 50 percent, and created a cost-of-living increase for retired workers a year later† (Priya, 2013, para. 5). Therefore, from the above situations it is clear that the pension crisis situation is a predictable future situation. It is affected by the current financial actions carried out by the pension system and changes in demographics. There are a few key differences in taking up Money Purchase pension scheme or final Salary Pension scheme. These differences revolve around; who bears the risk, the calculation of pension to receive and performance of markets. In a Final Salary scheme, the benefits are promised, meaning individuals can compute the pension they are going to receive in advance basing on the salary at retirement and number of years as a member (WorkSmart, 2012). Money Purchase, on the other hand does not provide a means to calculate the final amount of pension an individual will receive. The size of benefits they

Khadijah bint Khawailid

Khadijah bint Khawailid Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) Introduction: Have you ever wondered about the right way of living and what may human being may do and may not? Human being can do anything they want except what Allah has prohibited them to do. The right path of living that human should adopt the Islamic principles in accordance with the Quran. The teaching of Islam illustrates the limits of humans behaviors. What is right and what is wrong that individual can do rightly. If someone decides to go beyond these principles, he will face troubles both in this world and in hereafter. Strictly, without exceptions, both men and women must follow the laws of Islam. As I looked throughout the history of people who influenced our lives variously, I decided to examine a group of women who are the Prophet Muhammads wives (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him) due to their importance in our lives and specially women. I believe that they are the best women that have immensely lived their lives according to Islamic laws, as well as, they have accomplished greatness, mainly through their actions. They gained the pure love and ultimate respect by everyone both at their time when they were alive and also after they died; therefore, I will mainly focus on Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid (the first wife of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them) exploring her character qualities. Background: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her) was porn in the year 556 CE. She is the daughter of Khawailid bin Asad and Fatima bint Zaed. Her father was a well-known businessperson and leader in the trip of Quraish. She got married to Abu Halah Malak bin Nabash at-Tamimi and had two children named, Halah and Hind. After he passed away, she married Atiq bin ‘Aith al-Makhzoomi and had a daughter named Hindah. Their marriage did not last for a long due to incompatibility, which they divorced thereafter. Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) ran her fathers business. Her long-term vision and intelligence accommodated her to further succeed and expand her business. She hired very skilled business people to export superior Makkan commodities to other countries, which may be as far away as Syria through them. They would, in turn, bring back commodities from these countries to Makkah, which made Makkah considered as a central trading town in Arabia. She use d to compensate her managers who forerun and lead the trading fifty percent of the profit as well as motivation and promising. When Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) heard about the prophet Muhammad honesty and integrity (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him), she sent him a job offer, then, he accepted the offer. In the first business trip, Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) sent her trusted servant Maysara to associate the Prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him). Maysara was very astonished by Prophet Muhammads behaviors, character, and qualities (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him). On their way back, Maysara disclosed some events to Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) that made her beyond impressed with her new manger prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him); therefore, she was so impressed by him and considered marrying him because such principles and values were not common in all men. She decided that he would be the best of the spouses although a lot of the most well known upper clas s men of Quraish had previously proposed to her; however, she rejected all of them and proposed to the prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him). Subsequently, Abu Talib, the Prophets uncle, had given the proposed marriage. Then, the prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him) and Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) got married. When the prophet Muhammad got married to Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with them), he was twenty-five years old whereas she was forty years old. Qualities and Characteristics: First, Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) had important qualities. One of which, she was a very supportive wife to her husband, the prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him). She helped him in very difficult moments by her cheerful words, judgment, and wisdom. She was always as a good companion when the world was opposing him. She perfectly illustrated a good Muslim marriage from many different prospective. They shared everything mutually in a loving way that spouses should do to maintain ideal and easy life. She was a great supporter and partner that he could rely on in some matters. At the beginning of the prophet mission, he faced many obstacles; however, she stood next to him compassionately. When he heard any unpleasant word from people, he would return to her, and she would advise and strength him. To further demonstrate her supportive rule of the Prophet Muhammads life (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him), he once stated that â €Å"She believed in me when people denied me, she trusted me when people belied me; she supported me with her wealth when people refused to support me and I was blessed with children by her when I was denied children by other women.† Furthermore, Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) was devoted and dedicated wife to her husband the prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him) and ideal mother to her children. She gave birth to most of the prophets children except Ibraaheem. Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) bore five children. The first child, son, they had was named Qasim. He passed away at an age of two years. They also had another son named Abd-Allah who died in his infancy. Unfortunately, they both died in their early years. In addition, the prophet Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with them) had four daughters. They fortunately survived. Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum, Zaynab, and Fatima Zahra. The prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him) had another child, named Ibrahim, from Maria al-Qibtiyya that he married years after Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away. Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) was fundamentally fulfilled with outstanding manners. She never argued with her husband or annoyed him. The prophet Muhammad (may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him) said: â€Å"Angel Jibreel came to me and said: ‘Give Khadijah the good tidings that she will have a palace made of hollowed pearls in Paradise and there will be neither noise nor any trouble in it.† (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim) Moreover, Khadijah bint Khawailid (may Allah be pleased with her) was a perfect icon in her religion. She was the first person and female to convert to Muslim. She lived the righteousness, greatness, and glory. Allahs Messenger said, â€Å"Maryam [Mary, Jesus mother] was the best woman of her time, and the best woman of this Ummah is Khadijah.† (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim) In addition, she was noble and created a noble family. She would reap the fruit of her labor. She and her daughter became the best in paradise of females; therefore, the prophet said the foregoing statement. Work Cited http://www.sharaaz.com/index.php3?menu=describetable=Bookcat=Booksid=b00074p http://www.muslimahsource.org/muslimah-ofthe-month/khadija-bint-khuwailid/

Microeconomics Samuelson Essay

Explain how the cool head might provide the essential positive economic analysis to implement the normative value judgments of the warm heart. Do you agree with Marshall’s view of the role of the teacher? Do you accept his challenge? In order to achieve the ultimate goal of economic science which is to â€Å"improve the living conditions of people in their everyday lives† (*) a cool head attitude has the knowledge and wisdom acquired through a lifetime relation to the economic momentum. Balancing this with a warm heart compassion vision, and a willingness to improve society, is the most appropriate way to use certain economic models in order to acquire economic sustainability with social improvement. We agree with Marshall’s view which was conceived through a social corporate responsibility. We, as leaders, accept his challenge through developing projects which should be not only profitable but also socially accepted and with respect to the environment. Also, we should use our cool heads to objectively take challenges and make difficult decisions that will lead us to a prosperous society with a sustainable economic growth. Some scientists believe that we are rapidly depleting our natural resources. Assume that there have only two inputs (labor and natural resources) producing two goods (concerts and gasoline) with no improvements in society’s technology over time. A. Show what would happen to the PPF over time as natural resources are exhausted. B. How would invention and technological improvement modify your answer? On the basis of this example, explain why it is said that â€Å"economic growth is a race between depletion and invention. It is said that economic growth is a race between depletion and invention because the continuous use of the natural resources of a country will tend to deplete them, over a long period of time but in the contrary, the invention of new technologies can extend a country PPF – making a race between them, since both things usually happens at the same time. Chapter 2 1. Question 1 . – What determines the composition of national output? In some cases, w e say that there is â€Å"consumer sovereignty† meaning that consumers decide how to spend their income on the basis of taste and market prices. In other cases, decisions are made by political choices of legislatures. Consider the following examples: transportation, education, police, energy efficiency of appliances, health-care coverage, television advertising. For each, describe whether the allocation is by consumer sovereignty or by political decision. Would you change the method of allocation for any of these goods? National Output includes the total amount of goods and services that a country is capable to produce in a certain period of time. It is also known as the country? A country has the responsibility to decide what outputs to produce and in what quantity, how to produce them and for whom should they be produced. In a market society, the national output is influenced by consumer tastes and the resources and technology available in the country. On the other hand, governments may intervene to compensate for market failures that usually occurs inside a country, or to fund social programs. Here there are some examples that show mixed economies between consumer sovereignty and government interventions. Generally speaking transportation means are controlled by the private sector through companies that provide transportation services such as airlines, company taxis, trains, etc. Inside a country, there also exists public transportation for those people who can not afford the private one. In Peru, specially for the ground transportation, the government plays a fundamental role regulating tariffs, taxes and making sure we have a safe an organized transportation system in the country for the society. Education In a country generally exists public and private education. Usually, private schools tend to have a higher price but also delivering high quality and it is market driven. There are different private schools with different prices in the market. On the other hand, public education is provided by the government to lower socio economic levels in order to make education accessible to the whole population. Government applies procedures in order to maximize its quality. In Peru for example the government is trying to break the poverty cycle incentivizing the rural population to attend school through monetary allowances. There are also regulations in terms of the requirements asked for being a public teacher, the education syllabus of the country, etc. Police Police is a government regulated service to the population which is part of the arm forces of a country. Its function is to assure security to the population. However, in some countries where there is scarce resources allocated to this public entity, private police petrol are created. In Peru even in rural areas where police is not present, communities organize themselves to fight against crime. Energy efficiency of appliances Energy is a strategic scarce resource for a country. Therefore, the importance of having government regulations to control it, its tariffs while having private companies supplying the service in order to assure this service on the long term to the community. Health care coverage Health care is a private and public good also. Government provides health care services to the majority of the population by building public hospitals and providing insurance coverage programs. Usually private health care provides a higher quality service and is accessible to higher socio-economic levels of the population. Television advertising It is a consumer sovereignty good, driven basically by program ratings and market price. Usually, the government owns public television channels but even in those cases the advertising is not controlled. What government usually does is to control advertising of some products such as cigars, or the time and programs where you can advertise such products. Would you change the method of allocation for any of these goods? We would not change the method of allocation for any of the goods mentioned above. We think that in the examples mentioned, a mixed economy of public and private goods is the best to make services accessible to the whole population while having a market driven economy. However, if we customized this question to the Peruvian reality, we think that an example where government could intervene more is the banking regulations entity which should improve the credit policies in order to create a sustainable finance growth. 2. Question 3. – This chapter discusses many â€Å"market failures† areas in which the invisible hand guides the economy poorly, and describes the role of government. It is possible that there are, as well, â€Å"government failures† government attempts to curb market failures that are worse than the original market failures? Think of some examples of government failures. Give some examples in which government failures are so bad that it is better to live with the market failures than to try and correct them. A possible failure can be represented by a tax system that discourages private and foreign investments in the country that at the end will affect government’s income. Another example is a bad monetary policy in which inorganic emission of currency will impact over inflation rate dramatically, affecting purchasing power of nationals (Peru 1985) . During this time Peru suffered more than 7000% inflation generating scarcity of basic goods and creating a parallel black market. During this time, another bad example would be that the banking system was nationalized and generated a lack of confidence in the population towards the banking system, loosing a high percentage of the savings of the population decreasing the country’s investment.

Analyse the ways in which the themes of intimidation Essay

Analyse the ways in which the themes of intimidation and persecution are presented in the crucible.  In Arthur Miller’s play, he uses a lot of intimidation and persecution. Intimidation means that someone is made small, powerless and weak. Persecution is when someone is being hurt or picked on because of their race, religion, appearance, political views or if their different to everyone else. Intimidation and persecution link to the play as people were being accused of witchcraft and they felt powerless and hurt, as they were different in some way. Take Tituba for example, she was made powerless and was whipped because of her race and her status. Miller presents the play as an allegory, which has an underlying meaning as well as a literal meaning. Firstly, the underlying meaning is the McCarthy trials towards the communists, and people lost their lives over a dishonest politician. Secondly, the literal meaning is the witch trials in Salem and people lost their lives all because of lies. They both link as people lost their lives over silly things. The Historical context is about Salem and the witch trials; The Crucible took place in the 17th century in Salem. Girls felt ill in Massachusetts, no one could explain the illness so everyone thought it was the devil and witchcraft. There were many puritans who blamed the devil and often blamed people of devil worshiping if they took part in sinful activities such as dancing. Many people were accused of being a witch with no evidence; nineteen people and two dogs were convicted and hanged. One man was crushed to death as he refused to admit he was a witch. To avoid being accused of being a witch they said that there neighbour. The girls felt better and the hysteria died down. The Literary context is about Miller and McCarthyism; McCarthyism is making accusations of disloyalty, of pro-communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or irrelevant evidence. Joseph McCarthy led America to become anti-communists, as communism was Russian. America was scared of Russia because of the cold war. McCarthy put many people on trial including Miller, he was accused of being a communist as he refused to answer questions. These link to the three scenes I have chosen as they show the history, such as the girls were ill, witchcraft, devils and deaths. Miller also links the literary context to the three scenes I have chosen, such as McCarthyism and trials.  Firstly I have chosen Act 1. Miller presents intimidation from the beginning of the scene, â€Å"I- do believe there was some movement-in the soup.† This shows Parris is being intimidated as the stage directions in front said fearful; you can tell he is fearful as the quotation has hyphens, which indicates a shocked pause. Abigail’s cousin, Betty, is in bed felling ill. Hale is desperate to know if the devil is involved. Abigail blames Tituba, â€Å"I never call him! Tituba, Tituba†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Abigail is persecuting Tituba as she has a lower status then her. There is an ellipsis at the end of the quotation; this shows that there is a pause. Abigail and Hale spoke about what happened in the forest. Abigail lies â€Å"I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m proper girl!† Miller shows Abigail is getting angry because there are explanation marks at the end of each sentence. It is dramatic irony, the audience know that Abigail had an affaire with John but the characters don’t. Tituba then enters the room; Abigail then blames Tituba again, â€Å"She makes me drink blood! †¦She makes me laugh at prayer!† Miller shows Abigail persecuting Tituba as she treats her unfairly because of her race and status, she also uses Tituba to cover up her story. Hale now thinks that Tituba has sent her spirit upon Betty. Tituba disagrees, â€Å"I love me Betty!† Tituba is getting angry; it also shows Tituba getting annoyed because there’s an explanation mark in the quotation. Tituba’s pronouns are mixed up because she’s from the Caribbean. Parris wants Tituba to confess, â€Å"You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!† This shows Parris was persecuting Tituba as he was going to hurt her. You can tell he was shouting, as there’s an explanation mark at the end of the quote. Tituba loses her power â€Å"terrified falls to her knees† Tituba’s scared she doesn’t want to get hurt so she falls on her knees with no power and confesses, this is intimidation as she feels small and is literarily small, she wants someone to comfort her like her childhood. Tituba lies to save her life. Hale is trying to get answers out of Tituba, â€Å"Who came to you with the devil? Two? Three? Four? How many?† Hale is asking short questions to find out about the devil, before the quote stage directions said kindly this shows Hale wasn’t trying to scare Tituba. Tituba is getting all the attention and Abigail is jealous â€Å"I want to open myself †¦ I want the light of God† Abigail has changed her mind as earlier Abigail said she never called the devil. Then Betty wakes and started shouting names that she supposedly saw with the devil. The curtain falls with hysteria.