The thought Police Essay Example for Free

The thought Police Essay For centrys writers in literature have written about about their ideal world their utopia. This ideal world is a place were every thing is as your heart desires it to be. This is somethig all human beings can relate to , every person has their own vision of how the world should. But what if this eutopia turned into a living nightmare, world full fear,misery,depression and doubt. This would become the criteria of a dystpian worlld. A place far from the fantasys of utopia. In the oxford dictionary of litercy terms Dystopia is defined as an imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad possible. The opposite of utopia. This exactly the case in the novel nineteen eighty four by George Orwell and the handmaids ale by Margaret Attwood. In both these novels the autos have created worlds which are dark, suppressed and painful for the characters involved. They have created these worlds to such a great effect that the reader is left thinking about how it would be to live in these dystopia. The critic Bernard Richards once said dystopias are useful; they warn us about what might happen. This is one of the many strengths about working with the dystopian genre. Though the novels are depressing which may not be what a reader wants initially from a book, the dystopian genre is extremely thought provoking. It allows the reader to reflect and appreciate the world we have at present. The novels dismal tones make the reader realise that maybe their lives arent so bad when in comparison to character involved in these dystpoipian nightmares. Another more positive side to the dystopian genre is that there is generally an important message behind the darkness whether it is political religious etc Both authors have a similar messages within their books, and these message aer mainly religeous and political ones. Atwood and orwell looked at the world and societys of their times and wrote novels warnings of the dire consequences of fundemental ideal and dictatorship can lead to. In the the handmaids tale a grooup of fundamentalist christians establishes the state of gilead in new england. Imeadiatly all womens rights, such as votin, owwing propewry or making any type of descisions are revoked. The constant civil war in the background of the book has left a majority of women infertile. Inspired by the biblical tale of rachel and billah, gileiad decres that all fertile women are to act as handmaids. Surrogate mothers who will bear the children of the infertile couples. Atwood weaeves many elements into her book:hatred of feminism, religious bigotry, rascism, enviromental destrution and of course atwood explores the consequences ofa reversal of womens rights. in this totaliterarian society, womens bodys serve purly serve as political tool. Atwoods novel is clearly inspired by the ideals of christian fundametalism and her visit to afganistan in 1978. A country with a distorted view of islam and led by fundamentalist muslims. This is very much present in the red dress of the handmaid which is very simililar to the chador worn by afgan women. In george orwells 1984, he has constructed a dystopian world in which every individual can be monitoed. There thoughts and actions can be controled by the government. 1984 is said to be one of orwells best crafted novels as it gives an incredibly powerful warning against the dangers of a toterian society. In spain germany, germany and the soviet union orwell had witnessed the danger of absolute political authority in an age of advanced technology. He illistrated this in 1984 harshly. He portrays the perfect totliterian society, the most extrem realisatioin imaginable of a modern day government with absolute power. Both orwell and atwood have main character by which the story is told to the reader. These two characters have many similartys and differences. In the handmaids tale tale the entire story is told directly from the point of view of ofred . she is narrator and prtagnist of the novel. In 1984 the entre novel is narrated in the third person, through the main character winston. Both characters are rebels within theier socity and completely against the ideals of their leaders. Winston is very thoughtful in nature and his main attributes are his rebeliousnes and fatalism. Winston hates the party pationatlyand wants to test the limits of its power, he comits a numerous amount amounts of crimethroughout the novel ranging from writing DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER in his diary to his illegal love affair with julia( another character within the book) to secretly getting himself into the anti party brotherhood. The effert winston puts into his atempt at feedom ultimatly underscores the the partys devstating power. And By the end of the novel winsto is a loyal servent to big brother. The main reason for winstons rebelion and eventual down fall is his imense sense of fatalism. He is intensly paranoid about the party and his belief that the party will eventualy capture him and punish him. whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The thought police would get him all the same. As soon as he writes into his diary he is positive that the thought police are coming for him. Winston is so sur of his doom that this causes him to take unnessary risks, such as trusting o birian , renting a room above the shop and continuing to rebel because of his belief that he will be caught any way. In handmaid tale ofred like winston is a rebel, but unlike winston who rebel externaly, she rebels internaly. Ofred is by no means the heroin of the novel, she resist giliads concepts and ideal but does not act in a physyicaky open way on them. On the outside she submitts to gileads rules and her role as a handmaid once her attempt at escape fails. She is hardly a feminist champion; she always felt uncomfortable with her mothers activism, and her pre-Gilead relationship with Luke began when she became his mistress. Although she is friends with Ofglen, who is a member of the resistance, she never makes the move to join up herself. After she begins her affair with Nick, she seems to lose sight of escape and begins to feels that life in Gilead is almost bearable. If she does finally escape, it is because of Nick, not because of anything she has phisicaly done herself. Offred is a mostly passive character, good-hearted but complacent. Like her peers, she took for granted the freedoms feminism won and now pays the price. Like most of the women in Gilead, she is an ordinary woman placed in an extraordinary situation Another subject or theme which both these dystopian novels share is th esubject of gender. The reprsenttation of male and females especialy in 1984 is very stricking. In 1984 orwell has given women in the novel a very negative light. Winston who can be said to reflect the voice of orwell has extreamly sexist views towards women. The only women in the novel that can be said to have a more positive oulook is winstons mother. He sees her pure safricial women and constantly reminises about her in the novel. 19984 is a very male dominated novel, there are few females character in it. Julia is the main female charater in the novel, and winstons attidude to her at times is extremly negative he would flog her to death with a rubber truncheon. he would tie to a stake and shoot her full of arrows. he would ravish her and cut her throat at the moment of climax winston applys this vulgar attidude not just to julia but to other female with in the novel her thick arms reaching up fo the line , her powerful mare like buttocks protruded this qote is where winston observes a prole women hanging out her washing and basicaly comparing her to a horse. Julias purpose in the novel is to serve as the male fantasy, she has sex with winston and is very promiscuous in that she has slept with may party men,she brings him forbidden food, she dresses up for him. The critic and feminist beatrix campbell sees the portralel of women in 1984 as very negative- women are akin to the proletarian man in orwells work, they are rendered natural rather than skillful, almost infantile in their unconsciousness rather then alert and organised. I agree with her views, women are cleary given a dismal outlook, and julias character also a very unrealsistic one. The handmaids tale can be said to be a feminist update of 984, this could also be because of the fact that the author is female. The whole tone to the novel is completely different to the cold, dreary, masculine tones of 1984.

Impact of Boxer Rebellion on Chinas World Relations

Impact of Boxer Rebellion on Chinas World Relations What impact did the Boxer Rebellion have  on China’s relations with the rest of the world? The Boxer Rebellion instigated an unprecedented coordinated military response from international powers after The Righteous and Harmonious Fists more commonly known as the Boxers had mutilated and slaughtered thousands of Chinese Christian converts, Western missionaries and foreign nationals.[1] The atrocities occurred between 1898 and 1900 when the Boxers began targeting their perceived enemies in the Shandong region of China before spreading north to Beijing. The Boxers could not differentiate between the Christian missionaries’ desire to proselytise China’s peasants and forced westernisation. This paper contends that the Boxer Rebellion both wounded and opened relations between China and the outside world. Clearly, the discriminate violence of the Boxers shocked and angered the international community.[2] Therefore, far from achieving their objective of purging China from globalisation and the westernisation of Chinese peasants, it caused the world to hone in on Chin a. Inadvertently the Boxer Rebellion opened international relationships with China and the outside world. Countries like the United States refrained from argumentative dialogue and began to have meaningful diplomatic discussions with the Chinese government. Nevertheless, the Boxer Protocol, signed in 1901, seriously affected China’s relationship with the world. The protocol virtually bankrupted China’s economy. The Qing Dynasty was forced to pay three hundred and thirty three million United State dollars indemnity to foreign countries affected by the Boxer’s violence.[3] The Boxer Rebellion like the majority of insurrections has no narrative from the insurgents. The historiographies of rebellions are a combination of texts of victims, politicians, historians and other academics as in the case the Boxer Rebellion. The majority of eyewitness accounts are usually anonymous but reveal the harsh reality of death associated with insurrections. Cohen gives a perfect ex ample of this when he cites an eyewitness account of a Chinese individual who witnessed the scene of death during the Boxer Rebellion in Tianjing in 1900, the eyewitness describes the atrocities of the rebellion, they declare, ‘There are many corpses floating in the river. Some were without heads, others were missing limbs. The bodies of women often had their nipples cut off and their genitalia mutilated†¦ There were also bodies in shallow areas by the banks with flocks of crows pecking away at them. The smell was so bad we had to cover our noses the whole day. Still, no one came out to collect the bodies for burial. People said that they were all Christians who had been killed by the Boxers and the populace dare not get involved.’[4] Boyd contends that ‘most Westerners went to China to make money or to make converts.’[5] Neither reason was popular with the Righteous Harmonious Fists (Boxers). They viewed themselves as representatives of the Chinese peasantry and rigorously opposed all foreigners. Although, by the end of the nineteenth century, China’s population had reached three hundred and fifty million the majority of Chinese peasants had never encountered foreigners or Western missionaries.[6] Nevertheless, the Boxers held a strong belief that foreigners and Christian missionaries were responsible for the breakdown in the fabric of simple Chinese peasant society and they dishonoured their traditional spiritual and community. Furthermore, the Boxers attributed China’s natural disasters such as flood, drought and famine to the corruption of Christianity. Drought followed the great flood of the Yellow River in 1898 and left two million peasants starving and desperate. The Boxers a bott om up organisation without official leadership saw themselves as representatives of the peasantry in the Shandong region of northern China.[7] Likewise, the missionaries imposed power in the villages they occupied and they were involved in legal decision-making. The missionaries infuriated the Boxers even more because they were not just content to proselytise Christianity they also rejected Confucianism.[8] Harrison contends that the Boxers believed Catholic missionaries posed the greatest threat to Chinese morality. She argues that the Boxers targeted villages where the well-established Catholic missionaries had taken on the role of officials. The Boxers believed that because central government had failed to tackle the issue of village politics and moral issues they would take the law into their own hands.[9] However, this argument is neutralised by the excessive violence and murder of Catholics committed by the Boxers in the villages of central Shanxi.[10] The Boxers believed they were impervious to pain; they could withstand attack from both sword, and bullet. Their strange beliefs made them merciless fighters and a therefore a dangerous enemy of foreigners, Chinese Christian converts and missionaries. Even if their beliefs were well founded and justifiable, their methods of resolving their perceived problems were inexcusable and crude.[11] The Boxers fervent mystical beliefs are not a new phenomenon because allegedly, in preceding years Chinese peasants had experienced similar supernatural powers following natural disasters. Male peasants believed that they acquired special ‘religious’ spiritual powers to overcome the disasters.[12] However, the Boxers method of dealing with the threat was incomprehensible. Fleming’s contentious claim that at the beginning of the Boxer regime, ninety percent of the Boxers were just peasants in ‘fancy dress’ is debateable. However, he declares that as time went by thei r ‘sartorial costume’ of red and yellow turbans and sashes became less important and the majority of Boxers held strong political ideologies.[13] Following the suppression of the Boxer’s by the international counterinsurgency force,[14] each nation affected by Boxer violence sought retribution. However, some nations were less harsh than others were. For example, the United States highlighted this in their response. Secretary of State John Hay fearing China’s partition by European nations following the Boxer Rebellion issued a memorandum in July 1900 to those countries affected by the rebellion. Hay suggested that they should continue to support China’s ‘administrative and territorial integrity.’[15] In reality the United States were protecting their own trading interests in China. Furthermore, the United States practised a strict anti-imperialistic foreign policy.[16] However, the United States outward support of the Qing Dynasty was a contradiction of their policies towards Chinese immigrants. Ironically, the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 and the Geary Act 1892 effectively prevented Chinese peop le from entering America.[17] After the suppression on the Boxer Rebellion, China supported American military presence in Beijing to repel any further rebellions following the defeat of the Boxers. The United States politely refused and withdrew from China in October 1900. The commander of the American counterinsurgency force stated, ‘Let us hope that this generous, charitable, and magnanimous treatment of the vanquished may prove an example to the nations of the world, and a step forward in the world’s progress toward a higher and nobler humanity. We are glad to know that this work is appreciated to you. It is needless to tell you, however, that the United States does not maintain an army for the purpose of furnishing the city of Peking with good municipal government, and as a business proposition your appeal for the United States forces to remain longer in Peking has little to stand upon.[18] Britain was slow to respond to the Boxer Rebellion.[19] However, retrospectively the Boxer Rebellion caused Britain to adopt a more vigorous foreign policy. Indeed, because of the inadequacies of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Lord Salisbury in dealing with the Boxer Rebellion, the Conservative government made significant changes to the Diplomatic Service.[20] Sir Claude MacDonald the British minister in Beijing despite being fully aware of the Boxers violence against foreigners, Christian converts and missionaries in northern China refused to contemplate that the Boxer would spread across China.[21] Indeed, Otte contends that Britain’s blasà © attitude to the Boxer violence only changed after the siege of Beijing legation district that began on June 14th 1900. For fifty-five days, the Boxers laid siege to the square mile legation district in Beijing.[22] When the multilateral counterinsurgency force finally arrived in Beijing in August 1900, they displayed to the world for the first time that a sense of unity was possible. The multilateral force consisted of all the nations who had personnel in the legation. The force consisted of approximately twenty thousand troops. The Japanese were the dominant force with ten thousand troops. Japan demonstrated to China and the world that the importance of China was truly international and not just Eurocentric.[23] Furthermore, the multilateral force with the aim of rescuing the personnel and their families from the Beijing Legation district were given different instructions from their governments. German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II commanded his troops to show no mercy to the Boxers after they had murdered the German Minister in Beijing Baron von Ketteler. The Kaiser declared to his troops before they left Bremerhaven, ‘Just as the Huns a thousand years ago, under the leadership of Attila, gained a reputation by virtue of which they still live in historical tradition, so may the name of Germany become known in such a manner in China, that no Chinese will ever again to look askance at a German.’ [24] Clearly, the Boxer Rebellion affected relations with Germany and this was borne out by the first point in the Boxer Protocol, it declared, ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Prince of the First Rank, Chun, was appointed Ambassador of His Majesty the Emperor of China, and directed in that capacity to convey to His Majesty the German Emperor the expression of the regrets of His Majesty the Emperor of China and of the Chinese Government at the assassination of his Excellency the late Baron von Ketteler, German Minister†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The Chinese Government has stated that it will erect on the spot of the assassination of his Excellency the late Baron von Ketteler, commemorative monument worthy of the rank of the deceased, and bearing an inscription in the Latin, German, and Chinese languages which shall express the regrets of His Majesty the Emperor of China for the murder committed†¦[25] The first article of the Boxer Protocol clearly highlights China’s humiliation. Germany like other governments wanted to punish and embarrass China after the Boxer Rebellion. The proceeding articles in the protocol all required apologies, monument erections, the destruction of Chinese arms and fortresses, and the forfeiture of land to foreign powers.[26] However, as previously mentioned, the most damaging article in the protocol was the three hundred and thirty three million dollar indemnity with four percent interest. Undoubtedly, the multilateral troops took revenge on the Boxers and their supporters, Boyd contends that rumours of looting, rape, and torture committed by multilateral troops spread throughout Beijing. [27] Schoppa argues that the Boxer Protocol is the lowest point in Chinese international relations and their ultimate humiliation. The protocol signed on the 7th September 1901 between China and the Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Spain, United State s, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, and Russia was yet another unequal treaty that humiliated the Chinese government. The terms of the protocol not only restricted China’s domestic privileges, they increased foreign interests in China. Therefore, the fifty years of humiliation that began with China’s defeat in the Opium Wars extended into a new millennium. Therefore, the Boxer Protocol crippled Chinese spirit, economy and international prestige.[28] Although, the Boxer Rebellion and the consequent protocol severely damaged China domestically and their international reputation it instigated the dismantlement of their biggest burden, the corrupt Qing Dynasty. The Empress Dowager Cixi deceived the international community by pretending that her troops were suppressing the Boxers. However, the reality was that she despised foreign intervention as much as the Boxers did. She cleverly encouraged the Boxers to turn the Chinese peasantry and country against the foreigners. The Boxers declared ‘Support the Qing, destroy the Foreigners.’ Foreigners included missionaries and Chinese Christian converts. As Esherick contends, the Boxer Rebellion was not a true rebellion, as they did not oppose the Chinese Qing government.[29] The rebellion failed to resemble the excepted definition as ‘an organized armed resistance to an established ruler or government.’[30] Once the Qing dynasty realised that counterinsurgency would overthrow the Boxers they soon renounced their involvement so they could continue in the eyes of the West as a legitimate government.[31] However, inevitably the Boxer Rebellion demonstrates that China’s international relations were damaged by the more primitive actions the Boxers and the more sophisticated and sinister intervention of the Qing Dynasty.[32] In conclusion, the Boxer Rebellion clearly left an indelible mark on China both domestically and internationally. The ruthless action of the Boxers against foreigners, Chinese Christian converts, and missionaries was viewed by the outside world as unjustified and inexcusable. The Boxers clearly believed that they were acting in the best interests of peasants who made up the majority of the Chinese population. Their violent activities led to the Boxer Protocol in 1901 that almost bankrupted China through the huge financial reparations. The further articles of the protocol heaped further humiliation on China and allowed international powers access to prominent trading areas. However, arguably inadvertently the Boxer Rebellion prevented China from being colonised by major international powers. The Boxer Rebellion undoubtedly stirred the United States to intervene in order to save their trading rights in China. They sent a clear message to Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russ ia to support China’s administrative and territorial integrity. Furthermore, the Boxer Rebellion was the catalyst for disintegration of the dishonest Qing Dynasty. Although, the Qing Dynasty under Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers it was not to protect the interests of China’s peasantry. Even though the Boxer Rebellion eventually instigated improved foreign diplomacy, it is indisputable that their actions not only led to the massacres of foreigners, Chinese Christians and missionaries it led to thousands of deaths of their own people. The international counterinsurgency forces showed no mercy when they exacted retribution on the Boxers and their sympathisers. The ease in which the Boxers and Imperial guard were defeated by the multilateral counterinsurgency forces compelled the Chinese government to modernise their military. The Boxer Rebellion reiterated the Eurocentric ideology that the Chinese are uncivilised. Furthermore, the rebellion alienated the western community from China even though it inadvertently improved international diplomacy and rid China of the corrupt Qing Dynasty that ultimately led to China becoming a republic in 1912. The ease in which the Boxers and Imperial guard were defeated by the multilateral counterinsurgency forces compelled the Chinese government to modernise their military. Bibliography Books Boyd, J., A Dance with Dragon. The Vanished of Peking’s Foreign Policy (London: I. B. Tauris Co. Ltd, 2012). Cashman, D., America in the Age of the Titans: The Progressive Era and World War I (New York: New York University Press, 1998). Cohen, Paul, in ‘Humanising the Boxers’, in Bickers, R. Tiedemann, R. (eds), The Boxers, China, and the World (Plymouth: Rowman Littlefield Publishers Ltd, 2007), pp. 179-197. Cullinane, M., Liberty and American Anti-Imperialism: 1898-1909 (New York: Palgrave MacMillian, 2012). Durschmeid, E,. Beware the Dragon, China: 1,000 Years of Bloodshed (London: Carlton Publishing Group, 2008). Esherick, J., The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (Oakland: University of California Press). Fleming, P., The Siege at Peking (Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd, 2001). Harrison, Henrietta, in ‘Humanising the Boxers’, in Bickers, R. Tiedemann, R. (eds), The Boxers, China, and the World (Plymouth: Rowman Littlefield Publishers Ltd, 2007), pp. 1-15. Otte, Thomas, ‘Heaven knows where we shall finally drift’: Lord Salisbury, the Cabinet, Isolation, and the Boxer Rebellion’ in Kennedy, G. Neilson, K. (eds), Incidents and International Relations: People, Power, and Personalities (Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2002). Schoppa, K., The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000). Seonnichsen, J., The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011). Spence, J., The Searching of Modern China (London: Century Hutchinson Ltd, 1990). Steiner, Z., The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy, 1898-1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970). Journals Oulett, ‘Multinational counterinsurgency: the Western intervention in the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901’ Small Wars Insurgencies. 20: 3.4 (2009): pp. 507-527. Radio broadcast Bragg, M., ‘The Boxer Rebellion’ In our Time. BBC radio 4 archive broadcast (21.30, 9 March 2009) Internet source ‘Rebellion.’ Oxford English Dictionary (03 April 2014). Available online: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/159201?isAdvanced=falseresult=1rskey=nNKkrE Date accessed: 02 April 2014. ‘Boxer Protocol, 1901, Peace Agreement between the Great Powers and China 09/07/190’ (03 April 2014) Available online: http://china.usc.edu/(S(ivfmlzuvquerbb45edthpbze)A(irVj2QZVywEkAAAAYWQzZmNiZGMtZTBhNC00MDc1LTg5ZTItOGQ4OGU4MGI0NTk3Uo36FF2grKtLe_4GD64z6sKQqsw1))/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=420 Date accessed: 03 April 2014 1 [1] Oulett, ‘Multinational counterinsurgency: the Western intervention in the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901’ Small Wars Insurgencies. 20: 3.4 (2009): p. 511. [2] Durschmeid, E,. Beware the Dragon, China: 1,000 Years of Bloodshed (London: Carlton Publishing Group, 2008)p. 172. [3] Spence, J., The Searching of Modern China (London: Century Hutchinson Ltd, 1990), p. 235. [4] cited by Cohen, Paul, in ‘Humanising the Boxers’, in Bickers, R. Tiedemann, R. (eds), The Boxers, China, and the World (Plymouth: Rowman Littlefield Publishers Ltd, 2007), p. 186 [5] Boyd, J., A Dance with Dragon. The Vanished of Peking’s Foreign Policy (London: I. B. Tauris Co. Ltd, 2012), p. xvi. [6] Fleming, P., The Siege at Peking (Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd, 2001), p. 36. [7] Bragg, M., ‘The Boxer Rebellion’ In our Time. BBC radio 4 archive broadcast (21.30, 9 March 2009) [8] Ibid. [9] Harrison, Henrietta, in ‘Humanising the Boxers’, in Bickers, R. Tiedemann, R. (eds), The Boxers, China, and the World (Plymouth: Rowman Littlefield Publishers Ltd, 2007), p. 12 [10] Harrison, Henrietta, in ‘Humanising the Boxers’, p. 7 [11] Oulett, ‘Multinational counterinsurgency: the Western intervention in the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901’, p. 508. [12] Bragg, M., ‘The Boxer Rebellion’ In our Time [13] Fleming, The Siege at Peking, p.36. [14] Oulett, ‘Multinational counterinsurgency: the Western intervention in the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901’, p. 508. [15] Cashman, D., America in the Age of the Titans: The Progressive Era and World War I (New York: New York University Press, 1998), p.436. [16] Cullinane, M., Liberty and American Anti-Imperialism: 1898-1909 (New York: Palgrave MacMillian, 2012), p. 4. [17] Seonnichsen, J., The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011), p. xiv. [18] cited in Oulett, ‘Multinational counterinsurgency: the Western intervention in the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901’. p. 518. [19] Otte, Thomas, ‘Heaven knows where we shall finally drift’: Lord Salisbury, the Cabinet, Isolation, and the Boxer Rebellion’ in Kennedy, G. Neilson, K. (eds), Incidents and International Relations: People, Power, and Personalities (Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2002), p. 30. [20] Steiner, Z., The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy, 1898-1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 180. [21] Otte, Thomas. ‘Heaven knows where we shall finally drift’: Lord Salisbury, the Cabinet, Isolation, and the Boxer Rebellion’, p. 26 [22] Otte, Thomas. ‘‘Heaven knows where we shall finally drift’: Lord Salisbury, the Cabinet, Isolation, and the Boxer Rebellion’, p. 29 [23] Bragg, M., ‘The Boxer Rebellion’ In our Time [24] Fleming, The Siege at Peking, pp. 135-136 [25] ‘Boxer Protocol, 1901, Peace Agreement between the Great Powers and China’ (09/07/1901). Available online: http://china.usc.edu/(S(ivfmlzuvquerbb45edthpbze)A(irVj2QZVywEkAAAAYWQzZmNiZGMtZTBhNC00MDc1LTg5ZTItOGQ4OGU4MGI0NTk3Uo36FF2grKtLe_4GD64z6sKQqsw1))/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=420 Date accessed: 03 April 2014 [26] Fleming, The Siege at Peking, pp. 250-251 [27] Boyd, J., A Dance with Dragon. The Vanished of Peking’s Foreign Policy, p. 22. [28] Schoppa, K., The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), p. 171. [29] Esherick, J., The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (Oakland: University of California Press), p. xiv. [30] ‘Rebellion.’ Oxford English Dictionary. 2014, Available online: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/159201?isAdvanced=falseresult=1rskey=nNKkrE Date accessed: 02 April 2014. [31] Ibid. [32] Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising, p. 312

The Reconstruction Era in the US (1865 to 1877)

The Reconstruction Era in the US (1865 to 1877) Can the period be evaluated as both a success and a failure? The Reconstruction Era occurred from around 1868 to 1877. Preceding the Civil War, the Souths industry and infrastructure was virtually left in ruins. It was in great need of help, and had to rely on the government that they had tried to stray away from. The Reconstruction can be evaluated as both a success and a failure of ideals chiefly because of the bills and laws that were passed, as well as the failures and step backs that were encountered. The restoration of all 11 ex-Confederate states to the Union, the Radical Republicans, and the Reconstruction Acts that were passed are all examples of accomplishments made during the time. The Black Codes, the belief in white supremacy, and the corruption in business and in government are among the many failures of the Reconstruction. Overall, the period was a time of corruption, greed, and discrimination. To begin with, one of the greatest accomplishments of the Reconstruction was the restoration of all 11 ex-Confederate states to the Union. This was accomplished during the Lincoln and Johnson administrations. By 1868, they were successful in the readmission of South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee into the Union; and by 1877 the readmission of Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia (Doc H). Another accomplishment would be the creation of a new agency called the Freedmens Bureau. The Freedmens Bureau offered shelter, food, and medical attention to anybody in need of it after the war. Many criticized the agency and accused it of keep[ing] the negro in idleness at the expenses of the white man (Doc D). Under General Oliver Howard, it was successful in the establishment of some 3,000 schools for freed blacks, which included several black colleges. Soon after, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were passed. The Fourteenth Amendment st ated that the first section prohibits the states from abridging the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, or unlawfully depriving them of life, liberty, or property, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (Doc C). Thaddeus Stevens, a Radical Republican, declared that the amendment allows Congress to correct the unjust legislation of the States, so far that the law operated upon one man shall operate equally upon all (Doc C). The supporters of the rights for freed blacks were called Radical Republicans. Among this group was a man named Benjamin Wade who endorsed the rights of women, northern blacks, and labor unions. African Americans were adjusting to their new freedom and branching out to do new things. Many joined Negro Baptist and African American Episcopal churches, and some migrated from the South to form new communities. A popular place they went was Kansas (Doc F). They also created colleges, like Howard and F isk, which trained black ministers and teachers. At the same time, many things were going wrong in the country. Sharecropping became very popular among freed African Americans trying to fulfill their dreams of owning their own farm and providing for their families. Unfortunately, the corrupt style in which these farms were run kept them in an unending cycle of debt. It was almost a new form of slavery. Meanwhile, Republican politicians in the South were beginning to take advantage of the kickbacks they received and took bribes. This illustrated a decline in peoples morals. Black Codes were another failure of the Reconstruction. They were created to restrict the rights of freed blacks. One code stated, Every laborer shall not be allowed to leave his place of employment until the fulfillment of his contract (Doc B). They restricted every right and movement of the freed blacks and subjected them to even more discrimination. Particularly corrupt was the idea of white supremacy that was growing in the South. Many men organized groups of secret societies to intimidate the freed African Americans and white reformers. One group in particular, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), were especially famous for their burning of blacks buildings and the murder of many freedmen to keep them from voting. Simultaneously, there was the corruption in business and government that was distracting the North from the issues in the South. Spoilsmen, such as Conklin and Blaine, were politicians who unfairly displayed patronage on their supporters. The Credit Mobilier scandal was brought to the attention of the government. They had been giving stock to members of Congress so that they wouldnt investigate the profit they were making from government funding for the transcontinental railroad they were building. Another scandal involved Jay Gould and James Blaine who along with Grants brother-in-law attempted to corner the gold market. They were discovered but Blaine had already gotten away with his own profits. The Whiskey Ring involved federal agents conspiring with liquor companies to take millions of taxes from the government. One man, William Tweed, may have profited the most from the money he stole from taxpayers. He was the one behind many plans to help himself to large quantities of graft. He was successful until a cartoonist from the New York Times, Thomas Nast, exposed him and led to his arrest. In time, the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, agreed to a compromise. The Compromise of 1877 was mainly to end the support for Republicans in the South and to build a transcontinental railroad. Eventually Hayes withdrew the troops that were protecting the freedmen, and the Supreme Court repealed the Reconstruction laws that protected the blacks from being discriminated against. In essence, the period can be evaluated as both a success and a failure of ideals. It just depends on how it is viewed. They did make many accomplishes in the rights for African Americans. They freed them, provided education for them, and allowed them to form black communities. On the whole, the Reconstruction was not a good thing. It was a failure, in a sense. Everything that had been accomplished were basically forgotten or taken back with the Compromise of 1877. It was a period of corruption in business, government, and in ethics. In the long run, the only thing that was a living accomplishment was the freedom of African Americans. More innovations were yet to come.

Disparate Objects in Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass Essay -- Walt Whit

Reconciling Disparate Objects in Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman begins this excerpt from Leaves of Grass by describing an elusive 'this': "This is the meal pleasantly set . . . . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger." These two clauses that are set next to each other describe 'this' as very different things. "A meal pleasantly set," evokes a quiet table in a genteel household. In contrast, "the meat and drink for natural hunger," recalls a more rugged table at which the food will be consumed after strenuous activity. How can one thing--'this'--have such opposing properties? The entire excerpt is defined by the outward contradictions such as this one. Whitman's poetic rhetoric, however, attempts to create an internal unity from the contradictions. By unifying things that seem diametrically opposed Whitman emphasizes the possibility for reconciliation between disparate objects. Whitman places two contrasting ideas next to each other at all levels of the excerpt. The most prominent level at which he does this is in the images, as in the first line. H...

Event and Milieu :: Language Sociology Essays

Event and Milieu ABSTRACT: I consider how the notion of event is used in such important branches of twentieth-century thought as relativity, quantum mechanics, Marxist sociology and psychoanalysis. I show that in each case there is the same concept of event as of a series of communications. It is also shown that this new concept of event corresponds to traditional concepts of historical events. I analyze the difference between the concept of event and that of fact. Since a fact presupposes "an external observer" it is impossible to deal with an event without being involved in it. Since a fact presupposes its permanent logical form as a necessary condition of knowledge about it, any condition of knowledge about an event appears to be empirical itself. I show that the division between history and prehistory has the same basis as that between event and fact. The crucial question is how knowledge about an event is possible. The problem is that the concept of identity applicable to fact appears to be inap plicable to event. However, it appears possible to define an identity of event with an identity of media or "places" of communication. An open system of such "places" we call "milieu." A language is a paradigm for it. However, I suppose that unlike "the linguistic paradigm," the "paradigm of milieu" should refute the idea of the exceptional status of human language. The notion of event became to play a basic role in science with such revolutionary physical theories as relativity and quantum mechanics. Today the notion of event is widely applied also in synergetic. To make clear the importance of the notion of event for sociology and psychology of 20-th century it is enough to name such a key figures of the century as Marx and Freud. The notion of social even (revolution) is essential for Marxism as well as the notion of psychological event (child’s trauma) for Freud’s psychoanalysis. We cannot say that the notion of event was neglected by philosophers of our century: Heidegger and Deleuze among others presented elaborated concepts of event. These concepts (which can not be analyzed here) however do not relate directly to science nor to knowledge in general. What is an event as a matter of knowledge remains beyond considerations of these authors. To answer to the question is the first purpose of this paper. The second purpose of the paper is to elaborate a notion of environment or milieu that as it is shown below appears to be correlative to that of event.

Family Created Essay -- essays research papers

The Family Created The dream of a getting married, starting a family , a house with a white picket fence, two kids and a dog eludes a huge number of couples in America and abroad. The perfect picture of a family is usually made complete with the addition of children. There are now more options to create a family than the traditional natural conception. The advances in technology have opened up the option of assisted reproduction such as artificial insemination, invitro fertilization, donor egg or sperm, and assisted hatching. Another option for family creation is adoption. Each option has advantages and drawbacks. With either option there are emotional, financial, and moral issues associated with these options. Finding a perfect fit for the fertility impaired couple, each option, assisted reproduction, or adoption, must be reviewed and weighed for the emotional, moral, and financial aspects, to see whether the end justifies the means. It is important to explain the emotional issues associated with infertility. A couple who has tried for many months to conceive a child and find that there are physical issues that are causing this continued problem, are emotionally mortified. The shock causes feelings of loss and failure that at affect the very core of a person, delivers a terrible blow to their self esteem and self value. Once the shock has passed and decisions need to be made about the option of assisted reproduction or adoption, a whole new slew of emotions arise. In assisted reproduction the initial testing and prodding and digging into the couples lives and sexual history causes a huge amount stress and emotional strain. There are skeletons in the closet for most people that are exposed, in an attempt to find a cause for the infertility. The secrets exposed very possibly can lead to a breakdown of the trust respect and bonds for a couple, discussions then become loaded and judgmental. Once the testing is over and the relationship is back on a somewhat even keel, the treatment plan comes along. The person who is found to have the main infertility problem suffers additional emotional trauma besides being the cause of the problem they are now being pumped with either pills or shots of hormones. These hormones cause such a change in that persons chemistry their emotions are swinging from moment to moment. The time comes near for the plan to ... ...range of $3000.00, just to find the root of the fertility problem. The range of costs for the medications associated with the procedures can be anywhere from $10,000 to $18,000 for one cycle. Many couples do not have insurance policies that will cover the costs, because it is generally deemed as elective. For adoption the costs can be free if state adoption is a consideration. The children that are wards of the court have been victims of some sort of abuse. Infants usually have been abandoned or are drug addicted. The time involved in seeking termination of parental rights is a drawn out process. The other options for adoption would be either private domestic adoption or foreign adoption. The costs for either are in the ranges of $8,000 to $25,000. In review, both assisted reproduction and adoption come at extremely high costs, emotionally, morally and financially. The decision in choosing one or none depend heavily on the situation and desperation of the people who are trying to create a family. The considerations are great and the outcome is dependant on many outside individuals. The question still remains which end justifies the means for the perfect family.

System Integrity and Validation Kudler Foods

This company has established a new accounting information system to assist in all three stores. As part of this system, this firm recommends utilizing audit productivity software to enhance the system already recommended by this firm. Using audit productivity software will decrease the time necessary to audit the accounts as this will now be computerized. This will also increase profitability by decreasing money and time spent in the audit process and Kudler will be able to make alterations to the process more quickly than if audits were handled manually.Another recommendation by this firm would be the installation of continuous audit software that would continually monitor the data being input into the system. This would increase the effectiveness of auditing the stores. With the continuous audit software, Kudler would be able to follow-up on any abnormalities earlier as this software runs automatically. This would assist Kudler in handling any fraud issues that might arise as well. System Integrity and ValidationKudler Fine Foods hired this corporation to establish a new electronic data system to handle the accounting and inventory needs of the company. As part of the proposal, this company will recommend ways to audit the information that the system creates. Once the data has been input into the system, audit procedures can take place to ensure the information is correct and that the company is performing well. This company will help Kudler establish audit processes for each area of the business.As Kudler moves forward with the new automated accounting software as recommended earlier, it is important that an auditing process be established also. Since the accounting process has been converted to an accounting information system, computerized audit productivity software needs to be established as well. This will increase the productivity and profitability of Kudler because the data used by either internal auditors or external auditors can be more quickly obta ined and analyzed than doing the process manually. Kudler will need to determine which software works best for the needs of the company.Electronic work papers have many features to evaluate which include the importing of data, the analysis of that data, being able to export this data to excel or other formats, and automatically generating the working papers at the conclusion of the audit. All the recommendations for Kudler Foods are to make the company more profitable and automated. Computer assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) â€Å"assist auditors in obtaining sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful evidence to support predefined audit objectives† (Hunton, p.184). It is important that Kudler audit the accounts even though the company is not a publically held company. As outlined previously, this company recommends different auditing techniques depending on the area being audited, but highly recommends the findings and recommendations audit to ensure that the new system i s operating appropriately and the information is accurate. There are 10 key steps in the CAATs system that range from planning and implementation to documenting in the work papers.With each audit, it is critical that the auditor know what information is being looked for so when the data is accumulated, the auditor will understand the data and know if it is accurate. The auditor will work closely with the accounting personnel at Kudler to determine the objective of the audit. Based on the objective, the correct auditing format will be chosen. The ISACA Standards Board has issued guidelines governing the use of CAATs and provides guidance to the auditors. There are two categories of techniques that CAATs is used for.The first is to validate the application integrity, â€Å"the objective being to determine whether the source code has been compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally† (Hunton, p. 188). Tests might be run with a parallel simulation to determine if the soft ware is working properly. In this situation, the auditor will create a test set of data and run the auditing techniques against that data. If the system creates the expected set of data, then the system is working as it should. The second category is to verify the data integrity.This technique centers around data extraction and analysis to ensure the data is imported and exported correctly. With using an automated system, Kudler auditors can pull all the information and test for accuracy or abnormalities instead of only being able to pull a sample of the data. These two techniques help to validate the testing that will occur against the real data being reviewed for Kudler Foods. The CAATs is also used to detect any type of fraud that is occurring within the company.By using an automated accounting system along with the automated auditing system, Kudler has the ability to review 100% of the data and locate duplicates and gaps in the data. By using an automated system, Kudler can not only validate the integrity of the application and data, but also determine what could possibly be missing. A continuous audit technique might be one choice to consider for Kudler as it might work well for detecting fraud. A continue audit would be a program that is imbedded within the software that will look for things outside the norm. This would enable Kudler to find erroneous information faster.According to investopidia (2013), a continuous audit is â€Å"an auditing process that examines accounting practices continuously throughout the year. Continuous audits are usually technology-driven and designed to automate error checking and data verification in real time. A continuous audit driven system generates alarm triggers that provide advance notice about anomalies and errors detected by the system. † By using the continuous audit, this could be a time saver not only in auditing but in detecting the issues within the system and correcting them more quickly. System Integrity and Validation Kudler Foods Summary of RecommendationsThis company has established a new accounting information system to assist in all three stores. As part of this system, this firm recommends utilizing audit productivity software to enhance the system already recommended by this firm. Using audit productivity software will decrease the time necessary to audit the accounts as this will now be computerized. This will also increase profitability by decreasing money and time spent in the audit process and Kudler will be able to make alterations to the process more quickly than if audits were handled manually.Another recommendation by this firm would be the installation of continuous audit software that would continually monitor the data being input into the system. This would increase the effectiveness of auditing the stores. With the continuous audit software, Kudler would be able to follow-up on any abnormalities earlier as this software runs automatically. This would assist Kudler in handling any fraud issues that might arise as well. System Integrity and ValidationKudler Fine Foods hired this corporation to establish a new electronic data system to handle the accounting and inventory needs of the company. As part of the proposal, this company will recommend ways to audit the information that the system creates. Once the data has been input into the system, audit procedures can take place to ensure the information is correct and that the company is performing well. This company will help Kudler establish audit processes for each area of the business.As Kudler moves forward with the new automated accounting software as recommended earlier, it is important that an auditing process be established also. Since the accounting process has been converted to an accounting information system, computerized audit productivity software needs to be established as well. This will increase the productivity and profitability of Kudler because the data used by either internal auditors or external auditor s can be more quickly obtained and analyzed than doing the process manually. Kudler will need to determine which software works best for the needs of the company.Electronic work papers have many features to evaluate which include the importing of data, the analysis of that data, being able to export this data to excel or other formats, and automatically generating the working papers at the conclusion of the audit. All the recommendations for Kudler Foods are to make the company more profitable and automated. Computer assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) â€Å"assist auditors in obtaining sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful evidence to support predefined audit objectives† (Hunton, p.184). It is important that Kudler audit the accounts even though the company is not a publically held company. As outlined previously, this company recommends different auditing techniques depending on the area being audited, but highly recommends the findings and recommendations audit to en sure that the new system is operating appropriately and the information is accurate. There are 10 key steps in the CAATs system that range from planning and implementation to documenting in the work papers.With each audit, it is critical that the auditor know what information is being looked for so when the data is accumulated, the auditor will understand the data and know if it is accurate. The auditor will work closely with the accounting personnel at Kudler to determine the objective of the audit. Based on the objective, the correct auditing format will be chosen. The ISACA Standards Board has issued guidelines governing the use of CAATs and provides guidance to the auditors. There are two categories of techniques that CAATs is used for.The first is to validate the application integrity, â€Å"the objective being to determine whether the source code has been compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally† (Hunton, p. 188). Tests might be run with a parallel simulatio n to determine if the software is working properly. In this situation, the auditor will create a test set of data and run the auditing techniques against that data. If the system creates the expected set of data, then the system is working as it should. The second category is to verify the data integrity.This technique centers around data extraction and analysis to ensure the data is imported and exported correctly. With using an automated system, Kudler auditors can pull all the information and test for accuracy or abnormalities instead of only being able to pull a sample of the data. These two techniques help to validate the testing that will occur against the real data being reviewed for Kudler Foods. The CAATs is also used to detect any type of fraud that is occurring within the company.By using an automated accounting system along with the automated auditing system, Kudler has the ability to review 100% of the data and locate duplicates and gaps in the data. By using an automat ed system, Kudler can not only validate the integrity of the application and data, but also determine what could possibly be missing. A continuous audit technique might be one choice to consider for Kudler as it might work well for detecting fraud. A continue audit would be a program that is imbedded within the software that will look for things outside the norm. This would enable Kudler to find erroneous information faster.According to investopidia (2013), a continuous audit is â€Å"an auditing process that examines accounting practices continuously throughout the year. Continuous audits are usually technology-driven and designed to automate error checking and data verification in real time. A continuous audit driven system generates alarm triggers that provide advance notice about anomalies and errors detected by the system. † By using the continuous audit, this could be a time saver not only in auditing but in detecting the issues within the system and correcting them mor e quickly.