The Current State of Development in Latin America Essay Example for Free

The Current State of Development in Latin America Essay Throughout this paper I will be making reference to Peter Winns book Americas. Winn states on page 4 that Latin America is equally an invention, devised in the nineteenth century by a French geographer to describe the nations that had once been colonized by Latin EuropeSpain, France, and Portugal. In attempting to establish the current state of development in Latin America, historical chronology serves as the foundation necessary for a broad logical position. Latin American development has evolved in distinct phases, which lead to the present day standings of the politics and peoples throughout the region. The conclusion of distinct historical attributes: conquest, colonialism, immigration, capitalism, and industrialism, serve as the developmental path from the past, to allow an understanding of the current state of development. The conquest is a major factor in shaping Latin America. In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of the Caribbean and claimed the new land in the name of Spain and God. From then on the world was changed forever in the sense that there was a whole New World to conquer. Conquistadors like Cortez and Pizarro then followed and claimed entire new lands and people in the name of gold and wealth. These men started a revolution that changed an entire continent. It was transformed from a free race of people at one with the land to one of slavery and oppression in which man was bound to the land. This was the beginning of colonialism in the New World. The newly founded colonialism changed everything about the land, its inhabitants, culture, and religion and even created new races of people, of which we still do not know everything about. With the curiosity of European countries piqued and rumors of cities made of gold, the Old World decided that there were no boundaries established within the New World and the land was for the taking. The controlling influence of the Catholic Church in the social and spiritual life of the colonies was deeply rooted in the Spanish past. Royal control over church affairs, in both Spain and the Indies, was founded on the institution of the royal patronage. As applied to the colonies, this patronage consisted in the absolute right of the Spanish kings to nominate all church officials and found churches and monasteries in the Americas. They converted prodigious numbers of natives, and some championed the rights of the Indians against their Spanish oppressors. Immigration and migration has held a major role in shaping our country. Immigrants have provided many things such as customs, manufacturing, inventions, and entertainment. Many people today dont realize how greatly we have been affected by immigration. Indian culture and the ways in which the Indians responded to the Hispanic invaders were shaped by their own long history on these continents. The Indians arrived from Asia by way of the Bering Strait no less than forty thousand years ago and in the course of time spread over both the American continents and eventually developed a wide range of cultural types, ranging from nomadic groups of hunters and food gatherers to the elaborate empires of the Aztecs and the Inca and the culturally advanced Mayan states. These three civilizations had certain features in common. All three were based on intensive farming that made possible the development of a large sedentary population and considerable division of labor. These civilizations, however, also evolved along distinctive lines. Mayan culture was distinguished by impressive achievements in writing, calendrical science, mathematics, and architecture. The Aztecs were mighty warriors, and a distinctive feature of their religion was large-scale human sacrifice. The Inca were the greatest empire builders of ancient America, and they made a serious and largely successful effort to unify the institutions and language of their extensive empire. On page 21 Winn states that as a result of these migrations, Latin America and the Caribbean is now a polyglot region with diversity of races, ethnicities, and cultures. Industrialism and capitalism go hand in hand in the shaping of Latin America as Winn states on page 13, Yet its geology has also helped the region, forming rich deposits of metals and minerals, as well as petroleum and gas reserves that are among the largest in the world. Side by side with the subsistence-and tribute economy of the Indians, there arose a Spanish commercial agriculture producing foodstuffs or raw materials for sale in local or distant markets. Stock-raising was another important economic activity in the colonies. The introduction of domestic animals represented a major Spanish contribution to American economic life. Mining, as the principal source of royal income, received the special attention and protection of the crown. Silver, rather than gold, was the principal product of the American mines. As in other times and places, the mining industry brought prosperity to a few and either failure or small success to the great majority. These points that I have mentioned are just a few of many that contributed to the shaping of Latin America. Many of the contributions follow the conquest and its consequences. As you can conclude the conquest gave birth to combining of cultures and a collision of European, Native American, and African people in which all helped mold Latin America into what it is today. Work Cited Winn, Peter. Americas. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. 1992.

Analysis of Hills Like White Elephants Essay -- Hills Like White Elepha

Analysis of Hills Like White Elephants â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in 1927 that takes place in a train station in Spain with a man and a woman discussing an operation. Most of the story is simply dialogue between the two characters, the American and Jig. This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. Hemingway also uses many examples of symbolism in â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place. Clearly, this short story crosses timelines to become relevant to both the early twentieth century and modern times. The most obvious theme recognized early in this short story is that of choices and consequences. The couple is unmarried and the girl has become pregnant, but the man wants her to have an abortion. The American obviously believes that the abortion will free the couple from any responsibilities, which is what they have been experiencing before this turn of events (Short Stories for Students 158). The man also feels that the pregnancy is the only thing that has caused them to have arguments and become unhappy with each other in the relationship (Hamid 77). Clearly, the girl is reluctant in her decision to have the abortion. She feels that either choice she makes will not have much of an effect on their long-term relationship and hopes of finding true love and happiness (Short Stories for Students 158). Another theme found in â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† is that of doubt and ... ...ingway allowed this story to be open for discussion for many years to follow, allowing it to not only reflect the ideas of pre-World War II Europe, but to be adapted to the thoughts of modern societies. Bibliography: Works Cited Akers, Tim (Ed.). Short Stories for Students (Vol. 6). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1999. 158-170. Beacham, Walton. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1981. 6-8 Hamid, Syed Ali. â€Å"Men with Women: Hemingway ‘Love Stories’†. The Short Fiction of Ernest Hemingway. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1985. 77-78. Johnston, Kenneth G. Short Stories for Students (Vol. 6). Ed. Tim Akers. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1999. 167-168. Weeks, Lewis E. Jr. Short Stories for Students (Vol. 6). Ed. Tim Akers. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1999. 169-170.

Management Assignment: Human Intelligence Essay

Traditionally organisations have concentrated upon the intelligence of individuals and held the point of view that intelligent people in terms of IQ succeeded more. However, these ideas are continually challenged by the idea of emotional intelligence being key indicators of management performance (cited in Khosravi, Manafi, Hojabri, Aghapour and Gheshmi, 2011, pg 3). Emotional intelligence is ones ability to perceive and regulate other people’s emotions (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 536). In present society, emotional intelligence of management is essential to positive communications in projecting ideas, increasing value of teams through creating common team values and hence increasing the job satisfactions of individuals in workplaces from corporations to sales. Emotional intelligence is consequently directly related to the overall performance of a company and also the efficiency of individual employees. It can also be said that emotional intelligence is much more important then pure intelligence in shaping leadership success (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 537). Managers use communication as a method to transfer meaning to others for the ultimate purpose of achieving their goals and objectives. The ability to communicate efficiently depends upon the manager’s capability to empathise with his or her peers, that is, the manager’s level of emotional intelligence. Goleman’s study asserts the notions of emotionally intelligent individuals are more successful at communicating their ‘ideas, goals and intentions’ (cited in Zeidner, Matthews, Roberts, 2004, pg 386). Similarly, Wasielewski’ studies suggests emotionally intelligent individuals are able to ‘excite and enthuse’ or make others ‘feel cautious and wary’ (cited in George, 2000, pg 7). This sort of behavior will consequently motivate or demotivate individuals in the workplace. Thus emotional intelligence is crucial as it allows managers to communicate effectively and therefore achieve his or her goals by influencing the mood and emotion of his or her team. Bar On further asserts that managers are also able to use communication to ensure a positive result in environmentally demanding work situations (cited in Zeidner, Matthews, Roberts, 2004, pg 374). Managers will only be able to do this if they understand their employees’ personal feelings, hence emotional intelligence is the tool that lets managers communicate effectively in any sort of situation. Regardless of whether the situation is difficult or not, emotional intelligence will always be significant because it allows the manager to communicate effectively with his or her employees (cited in George, 2000, pg 8). A consequence of managers who communicate with high emotional intelligence creates value adding member interaction, which in turn increases team productivity. Positive emotions of certain individuals such as managers can influence team member mentality and is high likely to increase group cohesion through relationship building, this is also known as positive ‘emotional contagion’ (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 79). However oppositely, negative emotions of an individual can decrease the efficiency of other team members since negative attitudes can ‘infect’ co-workers and is hard to reverse (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 79). Consequently due to these polar outcomes the need for emotionally intelligent managers is crucial to the operation of a team to complete tasks efficiently. More importantly, high emotional intelligence can impact a leaders and teams ability to construct team goals and objectives (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002 pg 81). This is asserted by Rosete and Ciarrochi study in which concluded that high emotional intelligent leaders performed more efficiently and was not affected by cognitive ability (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 538). Apart from leadership highly emotional intelligent team members also increased team efficiency. A Study by Jordan and Troths concluded this through their experiment where they concluded high emotional intelligent team members performed more exceptional then low emotional intelligent teams (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 538). Thus leadership through high emotional intelligent individuals increases the value of a team, however high emotional intelligent team members also contribute to positive team interaction. Another aspect of high emotional intelligent leaders is improved job satisfaction and hence increased performance. Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to influence ‘shared beliefs’ of groups, allowing them to shape ones abilities and skills to communicate and co-ordinate with each other (cited in Zampetakis and Moustakis, 2011, pg 84 ). These ‘shared beliefs’ allow groups to have high job satisfactions due to improved performance due to positive emotional norms created by the manager (cited in Zampetakis and Moustakis, 2011, pg 84). Henceforth, an increase in group job satisfaction will allow individual satisfaction growth, this will in turn increase overall efficiency. In the studies of Ashkanasy and Daus, we can also view the importance of emotionally related job satisfaction. The study contains scenarios, which stress how negative satisfaction partly due to leadership problems can have adverse affects upon other team members. Research has also exemplified the need for emotionally intelligent managers to heighten positive emotions with employees particularly in the sales industry to increase customer rentention (cited in Ashkanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 77). Hence, job satisfaction is highly correlated with the emotional intelligence of managers. Job satisfaction is clearly an important factor in the workplace as it is able to increase efficiency. As organisations and businesses seek to increase efficiency, the use of emotionally intelligent individuals will be employed to redefine groups and individuals in the workplace. Over time as stronger evidence builds upon that high emotional intelligent individuals make better leaders, companies will undergo a transition to recruit or train emotionally intelligent individuals. As companies continually gain knowledge in this field, competitive strategies will be formed to better firm performance. As they embrace these types of changes, competitive advantages particularly in the sales industry will experience large competitive advantages. Communication from highly emotionally intelligent allows more positively regulated team ambitions and hence allow greater team collaboration, which increases inter-personal relationships. Team collaboration is highly effective in producing superior job satisfactions and consequently job efficiency. Hence, emotional intelligence is essential for leaders to manage successfully in workplaces. References: Sadri, G. , (2012). Emotional intelligence and leadership development, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 535-548 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://web. ebscohost. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/ehost/detail? vi d=3&sid=7e41ae83-e0b2-455b-ac25-1568e4f33f6f%40sessionmgr110&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=79656429> Khosravi, R. D. , Manafi, M. , Hojabri, R. , Aghapour, A. H. , Gheshmi. R. , (2011). The relationship between emotional intelligence and effective delegation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2 No. 19, pp. 223-235 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013 lt;http://search. proquest. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/abiglobal/docview/904526890/13D5FC8D9CD73AEC7F5/1? accountid=12763> Zeidner, M. , Matthews, G. & Roberts, R. D. , (2004). Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: A Critical Review. Applied Psychology, 53(3), pp. 371–399. Dated Views – 10 April 2013 <http://online library. wiley. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/doi/10. 1111/j. 1464-0597. 2004. 00176. x/abstract;jsessionid=BC2DC14C7B9282FD9361B666E034A2C9. d02t02> George, J. M. , (2000). Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence. Human Relations, 53(8), pp. 1027–1055. Date viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://search. proquest. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/docview/231437575/fulltextPDF? accountid=12763> Ashkanasy, N. M. & Daus, C. S. , (2002). Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers. The Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), pp. 76–86. Date viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://www. jstor. org. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/stable/4165815> Zampetakis, L. A. & Moustakis, V. , (2011). Managers’ Trait Emotional Intelligence and Group Outcomes: The Case of Group Job Satisfaction. Small  Group  Research, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 77-102 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013

Advantages Of The Ontological Argument - 1261 Words

The Ontological Argument attempts provide absolute proof that God exists so that His existence cannot be questioned otherwise. It is a deductive argument that argues de dicto – the premises involving the definition of God and existence. It is based on a priori knowledge that comes to an analytic statement that is necessarily valid. If the premises of the argument are true, then the conclusion is self-evident and and the argument provides absolute proof for the existence of God. This is in direct contrast with other arguments for the existence of God such as the Design Argument which is an inductive argument that deals in probability rather than proof and so one can always question the conclusion. It is based on a posteriori knowledge that†¦show more content†¦God is necessary, he has no cause and has always existed and always will, while something such as an island is contingent and so it has a cause and will eventually no longer exist. Islands are temporal contingent which have different versions of perfection for each person. Furthermore, an island is finite and so cannot have limitless greatness while God can because he is infinite. In order to criticise the Ontological Argument, one must attack its premises. St Thomas Aquinas believed that arguments for God has to be a posteriori in nature. He argued that no-one can fully understand and encapsulate the nature of God, let alone define what he is. Furthermore, there is no evidence to prove that the definition of God that Anselm posited is correct, a view that 18th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant took as well. God’s existence is only known by Himself alone. Anselm seemed to assume that everyone thought of God the same way as he did and yet they may be many different definitions of God in other people’s minds. Kant criticised many different areas of the Ontological Argument. He argued that, while if one was to believe in God they would have to believe that he was that than which no greater can be conceived, it is not a contradiction, as Anselm claimed, to reject both God and the idea that He is the greatest possible being altogether.Show MoreRelatedThe Ontological Argument For The Existence Of God1509 Words   |  7 Pages Descartes’ ontological argument is an echo of the original ontological argument for the existence of God as proposed by St. Anselm in the 11th century. To illustrate the background of the ontological argument, Anselm’s argument works within a distinct framework of ontology that posits the existence of God as necessity by virtue of its definition. In other words, for the mind to conceive of an infinite, perfect God, ultimately implies that there must indeed be a perfect God that embodies existenceRead MoreUnderstanding Quine s Theory And Ontological Commitm ent1365 Words   |  6 PagesAre there holes? 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