The Nature of the Legalism and Its Significance :: essays research papers

In contrary to its contemporary antagonist philosophical schools, who advocate the practices of humanness and the rightness and set ideal of the past, the Legalists, in their complete rejection of the traditional ethics, embraces the efficacy of political power and uphold a society of laws and punishments. As the old feudal states decayed and the smoke of endemic warfare suffused, the need for a more rational government that can afford greater centralized power so as to strengthen a state against its rival increased substantially among the Warring States. Such a rising urge necessitated the emergence of the Legalists and further predetermined the Legalists’ inherent nature – realistic, totalitarian and problem-solving – which, with the realization of its significance and duty in the stream of history, finds its hegemonic character as well. In function, the Legalist is more of a powerful and influential government consultative committee than a philosophical school. In practice, they openly advocate war as a means of state expansion and transforming people into more submissive and loyal or inversely, a way for its people to server the state; they conceive a political structure where all government apparatus and social institutions reside under an absolute monarch, who has the ultimate power and set his foundation in an elaborately self-contained, austerely impartial and severely coercive legal machinery; the state would also find no existence of the earlier schools of thoughts if not their total annihilation; loyalty to their emperor and â€Å"weakened† minds among people would prevail, bringing about social stability enabling intensive and efficient farming. It is thus rational for us to question the validity of preconditions upon which these ideas were acquired and the legitimacy of the ideas; and later but more importantly, how did the Legalists become the only classical thoughts had its teaching adopted as the sole official doctrine of a regime ruling all China and bring about the unification of China; and lastly, the association of the all-too-soon collapse of the ephemeral Qin Dynasty and the Legalists thoughts. As for the precondition of the Legalists’ thoughts, there are a few fundamental premises or judgments that we can find from the texts. As an independent school of thoughts in order to distinguish itself among all Hundreds of Schools and set aside all past ideals and standards, the Legalists, first of all, believed in the inevitability of a constant change in society. As noted by Han Fei (d.

Your MBA classmates

Describe yourself to your MBA classmates. (You may use any method to convey your message: words, illustrations, etc. ) I grew up in a small fishing village in Maine, surrounded by family. Expectations and aspirations are limited in such an environment. I could have made a living exploiting the sea, but chose to do similar work as a corporate executive. Although I have no siblings, my hometown contains over fifty family members, and our agenda of family activities is always packed.Most of my family is employed in the commercial fishing ndustry, which instilled in me at a very young age, the concept of work. At age eleven, I started babysitting and mowing lawns, and at the age of fifteen I applied for my lobster license. The first summer with my license, I took a Job as a sternperson with a fellow female. We were the only two females out there, which was definitely an experience. When the lobstering season ended that year, I took a Job at a grocery store bagging groceries.I saved enoug h money to build a boat and to buy fifty lobster traps; I was on my way. The following summer I continued to work as a sternperson, and I also fished my own traps. I continued lobstering throughout the rest of high school and college, and It helped me finance my college education. In addition to being ambitious and motivated enough to put my heart Into even mundane, low-level tasks, I am also extremely organized. This Is one characteristic that has always received praise. I pay particular attention to detail, which I believe has contributed to my success thus far.I take pride In my work, and I look at It as a epresentation of myself. In my position at Sanford Bernstein as a Consultant Liaison, I market my firm to the financial consulting community. Maintaining the Integrity of the firm Is vital and errors are disastrous. When training new group members, I stress this point most thoroughly. I work In a group that currently has six members. The group serves as a central source of Info rmation for the firm, and Its success relies on an extraordinary amount of cooperation from each of us.As a senior member, I am able to contribute to the roup In several wap Including: training group members, controlling the quality of the group's output, managing and accurately completing multiple requests with short turnaround times, gathering and conveying Information from senior Investment professionals, collecting and calculating data, malntalnlng databases, overseeing projects aimed at making long-term Improvements to the group's processes, and strengthening my own foundation of knowledge to be used as a resource.Recently, as the result of a manager leaving the firm, I have also taken on some of the anagerial responslbllltles for the group Including prlorltlzlng and delegating assignments. Though I am an excellent team player, In business school I would Ilke to sharpen my appearance in order to get my point across.I hope to improve my negotiating skills and to gain more experi ence in getting group members to carry their own weight. At the same time, I do not want to become a tyrant. To be effective, it is important for a manager to maintain the proper balance of power and compassion. Only in this way, will I be able to lead a team of people to realizing the goals of a firm.

Hybridity

According to Bhabha, hybridity is the straddling of two cultures and the consequent ability to negotiate the difference. Bhabha developed his concept of hybridity from literary and cultural theory to describe the construction of culture and identity within conditions of colonial antagonism and inequality. For Bhabha, hybridity is the process by which the colonial governing authority tries to convert the identity of the colonized within a singular universal framework. The colonizers would look at the colonized in their own environment and judge their behavior and practices from their own frame of reference.Bhabha contends that a new hybrid identity or subject-position emerges from the interweaving of elements of the colonizer and colonized challenging the validity of any essentialist cultural identity. Hybridity is positioned as an antidote to essentialism, or the belief in invariable and fixed properties which define the ‘whatness’ of a given entity. (The Location of Cul ture 1994) According to Ashcroft, most postcolonial writing has focused on the hybridized nature of postcolonial culture as strength rather than a weakness. It is not a case of the oppressor obliterating the oppressed or the colonizer silencing the colonized.In practice it stresses the mutuality of the process. The clash of cultures can impact as much upon the colonizer as the colonized. It is proof that even under the most potent of oppression those distinctive aspects of the culture of the oppressed can survive and become an integral part of the new formations which arise. (Papastergiadis 1997) Ashcroft says how â€Å"hybridity and the power it releases may well be seen as the characteristic feature and contribution of the post-colonial, allowing a means of evading the replication of the binary categories of the past and developing new anti-monolithic models of cultural exchange and growth†.In conclusion, I believe that hybridity is everywhere. It represents in many instanc es the triumph of the postcolonial or the subaltern over the hegemonic. The resistant always appropriates the cultural onslaught and modifies its products or processes for its own purposes. Hybridity can be a history of slavery colonialism, and rape, inherited in terms of race. It is a difficult and painful history of interracial identity. It deals with issues of choosing one’s affiliations or having ones affiliations thrust upon one.

Freedom of the Colleges essays

Freedom of the Colleges essays Last month, members of the Appropriations Committee of the North Carolina House of Representatives voted to use the power of the state budget to block the assignment of a book to all freshmen and transfer students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations (White Cloud Press, 1999), by Michael Sells, a professor of religion at Haverford College. Denying public funds to the reading program unless "all other known religions were offered in an equal or incremental way," they stipulated that their prohibition "is not intended to interfere with academic freedom, but to ensure that all religions are taught Even if well intended, however, the move does, in fact, demonstrate the significant and growing threats to academic freedom that can occur in times of economic and political The controversy began in June, when three unidentified freshmen sued the university in federal court, arguing that assigning the book inappropriately blurred the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. The legislative committee then took its action, and, in response, the university system's Board of Governors dithered over passing a resolution in support of academic freedom in part, for fear of further alienating the state's budget writers. (A resolution by a committee of the board passed unanimously on August 22; the full board will vote on the The legislative committee's move signifies, in a number of ways, how much the independence of public colleges and universities may be in jeopardy. First, it inserts state politicians directly into the administration of a university by using the power of the purse to censor the curriculum. Ever since the founding of most land-grant institutions, in the mid-19th century, state legislatures have refrained ...

The An Lushan Rebellion in Tang China

The An Lushan Rebellion in Tang China The An Lushan Rebellion began in 755 as a revolt by a disgruntled general in the Tang Dynastys army, but it soon engulfed the country in unrest that lasted nearly a decade until its end in 763. Along the way, it nearly brought one of Chinas most glorious dynasties to an early and ignominious end. An almost unstoppable military force, the An Lushan Rebellion controlled both capitals of the Tang Dynasty for most of the rebellion, but internal conflicts eventually brought an end to the short-lived Yan Dynasty. Origins of Unrest In the middle of the 8th century, Tang China was embroiled in a number of wars around its borders. It lost the Battle of Talas, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, to an Arab army in 751. It also was unable to defeat the southern kingdom of Nanzhao - based in modern-day Yunnan - losing thousands of troops in an attempt to put down the rebellious kingdom. The only military bright spot for Tang was their limited success against Tibet. All of these wars were expensive and the Tang court was quickly running out of money. The Xuanzong Emperor looked to his favorite general to turn the tide - General An Lushan, a military man probably of Sogdian and Turkic origin. Xuangzong appointed An Lushan commander of three garrisons totaling more than 150,000 troops which were stationed along the upper Yellow River. A New Empire On December 16, 755, General An Lushan mobilized his army and marched against his Tang employers, using the excuse of insults from his rival at court, Yang Guozhong, moving from the area that is now Beijing along the Grand Canal, capturing the Tang eastern capital at Luoyang. There, An Lushan announced the formation of a new empire, called the Great Yan, with himself as the first emperor. He then pushed on toward the primary Tang capital at Changan - now Xian; along the way, the rebel army treated anyone who surrendered well, so numerous soldiers and officials joined the rebellion. An Lushan decided to seize southern China quickly, to cut off the Tang from reinforcements. However, it took his army more than two years to capture Henan, severely dampening their momentum. In the meantime, the Tang emperor hired 4,000 Arab mercenaries to help defend Changan against the rebels. Tang troops took up highly defensible positions in all of the mountain passes leading to the capital, completely blocking An Lushans progress. Turn of the Tide Just when it seemed that the Yan rebel army would have no chance to capture Changan, An Lushans old nemesis Yang Guozhong made a devastating mistake. He ordered the Tang troops to leave their posts in the mountains and attack An Lushans army on flat ground. General An crushed the Tang and their mercenary allies, laying the capital open to attack. Yang Guozhong and the 71-year-old Xuanzong Emperor fled south toward Sichuan as the rebel army entered Changan. The emperors troops demanded that he execute the incompetent Yang Guozhong or face a mutiny, so under intense pressure Xuanzong ordered his friend to commit suicide when they stopped in what is now Shaanxi. When the imperial refugees reached Sichuan, Xuanzong abdicated in favor of one of his younger sons, the 45-year-old Emperor Suzong. Tangs new emperor decided to hire reinforcements for his decimated army. He brought in an additional 22,000 Arab mercenaries and  a large number of Uighur soldiers - Muslim troops who intermarried with local women and helped form the Hui ethnolinguistic group in China. With these reinforcements, the Tang Army was able to retake both of the capitals at Changan and at Luoyang in 757. An Lushan and his army retreated east. End of the Rebellion Fortunately for the Tang Dynasty, An Lushans Yan Dynasty soon began to disintegrate from within. In January of 757, the Yan emperors son, An Qingxu, became upset by his fathers threats against the sons friends at court. An Qingxu killed his father An Lushan and then was killed in turn by An Lushans old friend Shi Siming. Shi Siming continued An Lushans program, retaking Luoyang from the Tang, but he also was killed by his own son in 761 - the son, Shi Chaoyi, proclaimed himself the new emperor of Yan, but quickly became quite unpopular. Meanwhile in Changan, the sickly Emperor Suzong abdicated in favor of his 35-year-old son, who became Emperor Daizong in May 762. Daizong took advantage of the turmoil and patricide in Yan, recapturing Luoyang in the winter of 762. By this time - sensing that Yan was doomed - a number of generals and officials had defected back to the Tang side. On February 17, 763, Tang troops cut off the self-proclaimed Yan emperor Shi Chaoyi. Rather than facing capture, Shi committed suicide, bringing the An Lushan Rebellion to a close. Consequences Although the Tang eventually defeated the An Lushan Rebellion, the effort left the empire weaker than ever. Later in 763, the Tibetan Empire retook its Central Asian holdings from Tang and even captured the Tang capital of Changan. The Tang had been forced to borrow not only troops but also money from the Uighurs - to pay those debts, the Chinese gave up control of the Tarim Basin. Internally, the Tang emperors lost significant political power to warlords all around the periphery of their lands. This problem would plague the Tang right up until its dissolution in 907, which marked Chinas descent into the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.

Isalm, the West, and Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Isalm, the West, and Democracy - Essay Example hammed, the Prophet of Islam, started his preachings of true and one God, ALLAH, almost 1400 years ago on a very small scale when he was called upon on the duty to be a Prophet by God. However, the subsequent battles, the increase in the strength of Muslims, the so called followers of Islam being called, provided enough manpower to start a spree of conquests and establish one of the largest empires of the world. However, due to its uniqueness, it failed to find a match with the governance styles prevalent in the world at that time. Based on Khilafa, which is the system of governance where few good and pious men choose the Khalifa or King, does not match in its entirety with the democratic systems of government where collective self governance is done through a popular election. This compatibility of democracy and Islam is one of the most debated topics in academic as well as non-academic circles especially in the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent re-defining of world order and the war on terror. The history of Islam suggest that the concept of election was present but to a very limited level. As discussed above that the Kalifa was chosen with the consent of the pious men of the society does indicate a certain level of crude electoral school present in the primitive Islamic society. It must also be noted that the earliest Islamic society was very limited and Medina, where the Islamic empire begun comprised only few thousands inhabitants. Islamic therefore necessarily do not advocate any particular form of governance therefore to argue that democracy and Islam are two incompatible issues is basically a flawed argument. All the earliest evidence of Islamic society and its teachings do not point towards a single system of governance in the country. Caliphate does not mean an Islamic system of governance as it was not the chosen method of governance. The issue of democracy and Islam need to be traced back to its origin. As Feldman has started to trace the

The Balanced Scorecard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Balanced Scorecard - Essay Example The Balanced Scorecard Though the balanced scorecard system was originally developed by Kaplan and Norton to be implemented as a technique for performance management and evaluation, the technique is now used extensively by the organizations as a framework for implementation of new strategies in the business by the identification and deployment of the value drivers in the business with an aim to create strategic advantage. The Balanced Scorecard is a management framework comprising of the performance measurement system as well the process of meeting the key strategic objectives for the business. But there are several deficiencies associated with the original Balanced Scorecard framework as designed by Kaplan and Norton. These may be recognized as: The framework does not have a sufficiently codified mechanism to enable the organization to take decision regarding the inclusion and sustainability considerations in the design of the scorecard. Also, the balanced scorecard framework seems to lack the appropriate processes to evaluate risks that are beyond the client related risks. Other drawbacks of the balanced scorecard technique include the dependence of the scorecard on the performance and control features that do not originate from within the organization, the lack of rationality in the original framework of the scorecard model and the validity of the identified objectives based on which the cause and effect mappings are formed. (Banker and Chang, 2004). Also, the balanced scorecard technique does not take into account the effects of external competitive forces and the new technological necessities which are critical in deciding the performance of the organization and play a major role in deciding the risks and future strategies associated with the business. These shortcomings of the balanced scorecard framework can be addressed by including a wider array of people like social and environmental managers effectively in every critical step of the design and implementation of the balance d scorecard and considering the explicit social and environmental risk factors in the different perspectives involved in the building of the scorecard framework (Hoque, 2012). To effectively address the strategic issues created by both the external and internal factors affecting the performance of the organization, a number of techniques should be included in the balanced scorecard building and implementation processes (Merl, 2007). These may include encouraging the collaboration levels between the operations management unit, financial controllers, marketing management and the social or environmental management within the business, integrating a number of innovative strategic indicators into the balanced scorecard which are related to the social and environmental concerns and result in more value creation by the use of these activities and lastly, the identification of the critical strategic concerns related to the operations of the environmental and social wings of the organization . These strategies can be implemented by the use of mapping models and cause and effect diagrams (Kaplan and Norton, 2008). The balanced scorecard is often unsuccessful in meeting its objectives when there