Ethical concerns Essay Example for Free

Ethical concerns Essay In this report I will be examining and explaining ethical concerns that communities face when a business operates. In this case I will be using Primark as the selected business. Primark within the past year or so have faced many concerns that have heavily affected the surrounding communities of where their businesses operate such as the sweat shops discovered within the UK. This was a big ethical concern due to the child labour and the incredibly low pay rate which broke UK trading laws and human rights. Although this was not as shocking as the Bangladesh disaster which involved the collapse of a large factory that Primark produced products in. The result of this caused many lives to be taken and serous court action taken on the managers and owners of this factory. While these workers worked within this factory they worked under incredibly poor conditions and an incredibly low pay rate of 25 pounds a month to live on. This conditions which workers lived under not only affected them for the worse but their entire community was surviving on barley enough money to eat or live in acceptable conditions. What this factory was doing to the community before it collapsed is enough to break most trading laws such as human rights and workplace safety. But when the factory collapsed killing close to a hundred of its workers it has had a bad effect on the environment and communities due to the debris and rubble that surround the site. Primark have admitted liability and paid compensation but a lot more could have been done to prevent this; * Safety – Primark could at least send one health and safety officer to examine the workplace before Primark makes business deals with. If problems arise then Primark could invest in the work place raising its safety standards instead of having to pay fines then being known as an unethical business. * Wellbeing checks – Primark could send Human resources employees to examine the wellbeing of the employees of the business which business deals are to be made. This would make sure that the business is operating ethically and to the standard of what their customer’s expect. * Send assessors on a yearly or monthly basis – To make sure the safety of the workplaces and the wellbeing of its workers is kept up to the average standard from the first visit assessors should be sent to document the businesses maintained standard. To which it is then reported back to superiors. What Primark have done after the Bangladesh; Spending $1 million (? 640,000) on short term aid and food aid the victims. * Compensating thousands of families that where effected by the disaster. * Opened a website -http://www. primark-ethicaltrading. co. uk/ on this website it has information on what further action Primark is taking to help and aid the local communities such as an improved safety programme and the HERproject which focuses on the wellbeing and health of female workers.

monuments :: essays research papers

Monuments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Monuments are a symbol of a significant time in history. Monuments represent life, death, success, and struggle just to name a few. They have become as important to society as the events they represent. They bring history alive to new generations and memories to those who experience them firsthand. Monuments create a bridge between generations. Many parents feel a certain indescribable joyfulness when they see the look in their child’s eyes they had went they viewed the same monument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people feel a strong sense of patriotism and nationalism when they view a monument. Pride in one’s country is a great feeling. Monuments help bring out those feelings of nationalism. Homeland monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and Madison Square Garden makes one feel special. Millions of people from all over the world come to where you call home to view something that is special to you. We take such things for granted too often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I came across many monuments in my research for this paper. I was very intrigued by monuments in New York City. Many people forget about the less talked about monuments. Such as the Flatiron Building and Gracie Mansion. Of course they are those well-known monuments as well. There is the UN building, which has been around since 1949. Penn Station is also another well-known monument. It has been around since the early 1900’s. There are many others including Grand Central Station, the George Washington Bridge, the Cathedral of St. John and Yankee Stadium just to name a few.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have seen and been to a few monuments in my life. The one that’s sticks out in my mind the most is my visit to the World Trade Center after the first bombing. I remember the first couple of floors were being worked on, and you couldn’t really walk pass the building. Still, it was a magnificent site to see. I must have looked like a tourist because my eyes were constantly focus on all the huge skyscrapers that surrounded me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another monument I recently visited is the Reynolda House in North Carolina. The mansion was transformed from a place of living to a thriving monument.

Naturalism in Jack Londons “To Build a Fire” Essay

Even with our ability to tame some sides of nature, there are still certain conditions and forces which are beyond control; we inevitably are left with no will, powerless against nature’s indifferent influence. This struggle against nature is depicted by many authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries, using key concepts of naturalism and determinism, a key component of naturalist theory, as a foundation and philosophy for many of these stories. Jack London and Stephen Crane are notorious for their writings which have been regarded as cornerstones of naturalist theory in classic American literature. Stories such as â€Å"to Build a Fire†, â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky†, convey themes of naturalism and universal determinism in order to show the protagonist’s lack of free will in his constant battle with nature, often foreshadowing catastrophe and displaying natural instinct found within each character. In theory of Naturalism, nature holds certain p recepts that even our own will and integrity cannot bend or break. Charles Darwin, creator of the theory of evolution, believed in patterns of natural selection and that over time our environment will shape our genetics. Even we as humans, in Darwin theory, are susceptible to change as we have no free will and our environment shapes and determine things for us. We in speculation have no control over our own fates; we only have choices that will lead us towards a certain future, one that is decided by nature, and not the individual. In the story, â€Å"To Build a Fire†, London makes us aware that the protagonist is completely unaware of that notion, he believes with his own determination and will he can conquer the deepest hardships of the wild, attempting to defy the words spoken to him by the old man at Sulphur Creek. The adventurer simply believes through his own resolve that this expedition is simply an obstacle to which he can survive, but when set against nature in this environment, survival is the key concept, a profound element when talking about Naturalism. The forces of nature and its destructiveness are beyond the protagonist’s control, and London makes that point when he talks about the cold and its effects on the explorer, saying â€Å"But, rub as he would, the instant he stopped his cheekbones were numb, and the following instant the end of his nose went numb.†(London, pg 1064) Though the man, through his own determination, attempts to warm himself by  rubbing his cheeks and the end of his nose with his mitten, he is unable to fulfill this desire, as nature takes hold of his destiny. This sense that nature prevails can also be read in lines such as â€Å"He pulled the mitten on the right hand, and beat it fiercely against his knee† (London, pg 1064) He is essentially fighting, savagely, against nature though is unable to triumph. It is somewhere between his spittle freezing and his face forming frostbite that the man should come to some conclusion about his place in nature. Yet as London described before, his inability to recognize the â€Å"significance† of nature and her power puts him in an awful position. His conceit will continue to lead him towards a desolate and bleak future, until finally he will become helpless and feeble amongst the supremacy of nature. It is important to note that the first incident sprung on to the character in this story is passed off as something of bad luck, â€Å"He cursed his luck aloud†(London, pg 1063 ). The word luck whether bad or good, implicates his lack of free will, luck is something not controlled by him, as suggested by the naturalist theory. It is even more important to take note of phrasing used in his second and most devastating incident. London uses the phrase, â€Å"It was his own fault or, rather his mistake†(London, pg 1062) when describing the occasion when the spruce tree collapses onto his final chances for survival. London follows fault with mistake in order to convey to the reader that his fault would mean him bearing responsibility, rather it is then stated as a mistake, meaning an incident a bit more outside of his control. In the naturalist theory there are choices, but all choices lead towards certain predetermined futures. The man made the ill-fated decision to build his fire under the tree shrouded in tons of snow, just as all through the story he has been continually attempting to overcome nature’s wrath throughout the story. His conceit had caught up with him as nature took control of the mistake and extinguished his only chances of making it out alive. Survival as mentioned before is a key concept of Naturalism, it is vital in the struggle against nature, in order to beat the unfavorabl e conditions of nature, one must survive. In order to survive one must have keen instincts to thrive in the wild, and in the story, London uses the man’s mammal companion and his owner, in order to show this necessity for instinct. The protagonist has a certain level of intellect, which gets him by, yet he still needs matches to create his fire  and he needs a map in order to guide him to certain locations, all which exercise ones intellect. None of these require instinct, only a certain methodology and knowledge of the items. In the sense of his intellect as opposed to the dog’s instinct, the man’s knowledge of his complicated tools can only take him so far, but eventually lead to error, such as his fingers becoming too numb to strike his matches to create a fire. The dog on the other hand is able to rely solely on instinct in order to overcome the veracity of nature, such as burying itself into the snow when it becomes cold or gnawing the ice between its extremities. Although the man cannot rely on fur in order to keep his warmth, London still shows us that the instinct of the dog prevails the man’s subpar intellect. London even agrees upon the statement, â€Å"This man did not know co ld. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge.†(London, pg 1061) If the man had similar instinct as the dog and understood the severity of the cold, he could have been more cautious in his approach and possibly survived the misfortunes to come or not even have began the expedition of impending doom. Though the man took his intellect for granted, if his instinct were stronger he would have known not to build his fire under the tree. His method had led him thus far and would eventually lead him to death, as the dog would survive and using his instincts to find the nearest suppliers of food and fire. In Crane’s novel, â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky†, Crane has set up an environment which contrast the more natural element of the Yukon in â€Å"To Build a Fire†. The story revolves around a more civil setting, with the town of Yellow Sky which serves as a reflection of the old west. Coming back to the notion of determinism, it can be found that every character has a notable lack of free will amongst society. Even at the beginning of the story the protagonist, Jack Potter, is on a train which is very symbolic of his lack of free will, a continuous and predetermined path. Also we get a sense of the influence of nature on Jack as the story depicts , â€Å"The m an’s face was reddened from many days in the wind and sun, and a direct result of his new black clothes was that his brick-colored hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion†.(Crane) As the story progresses the reader is informed of Jack’s current condition, to which he  has claimed to have â€Å"gone headlong over all the social hedges†( Crane ) This custom of going against social norms describes yet another characteristic of naturalism, just as in London’s story, we see a man who defies advice and travels into the heart of the Yukon alone. Also this defiance of social values shows the animal like instinct within Potter, whether he was acting out of lust or loneliness, he resorted to some â€Å"sharp impulse† which presents an instinct within himself, one not well thought out. He is nervous in his approach towards home and his attempt to exercise free will has proved disheartening as he fears what others might think of his illicit behavior. He is confined and his will is broken. As the perspective switches to Yellow Sky we see a town very much stuck in the tradition of the old west. With the social conventions surrounding Yellow Sky, society have again proved as an authoritive and dominating control. The town is almost dictated by societal customs, such as the closing of the saloon when scratchy strolls through befuddled and bellicose. This is routine for the town as the bar tender mentions â€Å"No, he can’t break down that door,† replied the barkeeper. â€Å"He’s tried it three times.†(Crane) Almost satirizing the idea of the old west as nobody is that distraught except for the drummer from the east. This act of Scratchy continuously terrorizing the town gives us the idea of the force of social conventions and their plight upon the town. Determinism dictates the town as they wait while Scratchy displays his power and for their sheriff to eventually show up and smother Scratchy’s hostility. When Jack shows up with his new bride it can be inferred that Crane introduces the hero aspect detailed in the theme of naturalism. Throughout the book we see a man who is quite nervous and hesitant around his bride, but when pitted against his old adversary Scratchy, Jack takes up the role of the hero. When approached by Scratchy he is vulnerable and relates this to scratchy when he says, â€Å"You know I fight when it comes to fighting, Scratchy Wilson, but I ain’t got a gun on me. You’ll have to do all the shootin’ yourself.†(Crane) Throughout the story we see that Jack has a hindered sense of free will as he frets over societies view of himself and it is t hen foreshadowed he will encounter his long time foe Scratchy who dictates Jacks everyday job as Sheriff. But it is here at the end that we see Jack triumph over these social concerns by sacrificing himself and then overcoming Scratchy. By the end of the story we Jack as the ideal naturalist  hero, one who has overcome the dilemmas of the natural world. Naturalism is an idea that can explain many aspects of society. For instance the very reason I write this paper is to earn a degree that I must obtain in order to live a better life in the future, whether or not it is truley what I want to pursue. There are non-fictional accounts of men whom have abandoned the tyranny and mediocrity of their society and entered the wild only to gain a freedom they’ve never had, some of whom are inspired by these naturalistic writers. London and Crane give their readers a sense of what nature holds, often conveying how wonderfully aesthetic the natural world can be. It is possible to learn from naturalism and the literature that surrounds it, to understand how powerful nature is and how corrupt society has become. All of our naturalistic heroes whether fictional or non fictional, depart this life in a similar manner. They pass fighting the wilderness, conquering society, or stepping outside of their own confines and crossing new bounds. When they depart this life it is death by surviving in the natural world, a place where only few truths in this world are found. In the midst of their last moments, they slip into the most comfortable sleep they have ever known.

My First Attempt At College - 993 Words

Starting college can be a daunting task for anyone, let alone starting as an older student. Most people start college straight out of high school, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They may be a little nervous, but for the most part, they start with a certain sense of confidence. The future is so bright, they have to wear shades. For others, myself included, the idea of college was incredibly intimidating. I was terrified of my post-high school educational career. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea of what truly interested me. For me, starting college later in life was a better choice. My first attempt at college was an epic failure. After high school, I enrolled myself in four classes at Hillsborough Community College and paid for my tuition. Freshman English, Beginning Algebra, American Government, and Intro to Sociology. Despite my ambitious class load, I wasn’t interested in any of this college nonsense. I spent the entire summer following graduation drifting aimlessly and not doing much of anything, aside from working my days away at my job at a local sandwich shop. Being a chronic procrastinator, I put off any preparation for school as long as I possibly could. As the beginning of the fall semester approached, a wave of crippling anxiety began to wash over me. Every time I thought about being in class, my heart would begin to race. I felt as though I was being crushed by the responsibility of turning in assignments for four different classes. IShow MoreRelated justification for higher education Essay1661 Words   |  7 PagesJustification For Higher E ducation After analyzing William A. 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