Nigerias Rigid Expectations of Men :: essays research papers fc

In September 1997, in Oslo, Norway, a meeting was organized in co-operation with the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO where international observer B. Mustakim said, â€Å"Highlighting masculinity may be seen as a way of excusing violent men, since their behavior is attributed to a masculinity which many believe to be "natural" and unchangeable.† Georg Tillner, author of Men and Masculinities, responded, â€Å"Power is the one aspect all variants of masculinity have in common, not necessarily as the real possession of power, but rather as a "demand for dominance" or an "entitlement to power". Masculinity is an identity† (Mustakim). Throughout Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, masculinity takes an impressive role in molding the clan’s male-dominated society, and plays a vital part in influencing characters’ decisions. In the novel, Achebe reveals the definition of what it means to be a man in Nigerian society ; he should be masculine and protect his family and friends in that he is willing to fight, earn his good reputation, and preserve and expand the honor of his family. In Nigerian society, a man was responsible for the protection of his family and friends in that he was willing to fight. No character in Things Fall Apart demonstrated this ideal better than that of Okonkwo. This was apparent in the very beginning of the novel when it is brought to the reader’s attention that Okonkwo had, at such a young age, already taken two titles and demonstrated undivided skill in two inter-tribal wars. At the closing stages of the novel, Okonkwo yet again attempted to protect his clansmen when five court messengers arrive at one of the clan’s meetings. Without any hesitation, Okonkwo pulled out his machete and killed the head messenger. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, however, did not fit the same mold of masculinity as that of his high-achieved son. While Unoka and his neighbor, Okoye, were sharing a kola nut (a symbol of life and vitality) one day, they talked about several things including that of the impending war with the village of Mbaino. U noka did not condone war, but not because he believed that it was barbaric. He was simply a coward and could not stand the sight of blood. Thomas Alva Edison, a great inventor, businessman, and true Renaissance man, once said, â€Å"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do† (Woopidoo!). Okonkwo became an important and successful asset to his clan by achieving things in which his father refused to partake.

Monetary Policy vs. Fiscal Policy Essay

People always struggled with an idea of prosperity and success, whether it was a personal goal or whether it was something major – like wealth of a country. Nowadays, we are studying a science, which is really significant and valuable – Economics. Economics is a tool for achieving those goals, knowledge that people can use and imply in real life, and at the present time probably undividable part of governments’ performances around the world. For us, students, there are two different matters we study – Macroeconomics, the study of the performance of national economies and Microeconomics, which focuses on the behavior of individual households, firms, and markets. During the fall quarter of 2001, I was exposed to the basic ideas and uses of the Macroeconomics. Macroeconomics policies – government actions to improve the performance of the economy – are of particular concern to macroeconomists, as the quality of macroeconomic policymaking as a major determinant of a nation’s economic health. Monetary and Fiscal policies are two policies that we were concentrated on, and were the most significant part of the course for me. There is too much involved in these policies and they interact with each other consistently. I decided to write this paper, summarizing the basic functions of two policies, tried to explain what it is that makes them work, how effective these two policies can be, and how one relates to another. In looking at the effectiveness of Monetary and Fiscal policies, it must be understood how the two relate to each other within the government structure. The Federal Open Market Committee – FOMC – is the most important monetary policy-making body of the Federal Reserve System. It is responsible for the formulation of a policy designed to promote economic growth, full employment, stable prices, and a sustainable pattern of international trade and payments. The seven Board members constitute a majority of the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee, the group that makes the key decisions affecting the cost and availability of money and credit in the economy. The other five members of the FOMC are Reserve Bank presidents, one of who is  the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Board sets reserve requirements and shares the responsibility with the Reserve Banks for discount rate policy. The FOMC is the policy arm of the Fed and the tasks of the Federal Re serve are to supervise banks, fixing maximum rates of interests. The U.S Treasury, though it aids in much of the monetary management, represents the fiscal sector, which is the U.S Congress. Fiscal policy covers, such areas as taxation and other revenue gathering and spending measures. Fiscal policies are those actions that are enacted by the Legislative Branch of the U.S government, the Congress. Their fiscal policies are enacted through the U.S Treasury. Therefore, the Treasury is the arm of fiscal policy and the Federal Reserve is the arm of monetary policy. For example, even if Congress has allocated some amount of money to take over failing banks and savings and loans, and it is not enough, than the Fed can pump capital into the system by buying bank stocks. So, this is example of how the Fed interacts and influences the ups and downs of the economy. In looking at the relationship between the Fed and The Treasury, essentially, the Fed was set up to provide the U.S Treasury with a more satisfactory fiscal agent. In acting as the fiscal agent for the U.S Treasury, or more specifically, as the primary banker for the federal government, the Fed acts as Financial advisor, depository and receiving agent, agent for issuing and retiring treasury securities, agent for other transactions involving purchases and sales of securities for Treasury account, agent for the government in purchasing and gold and foreign exchange, and lender to the Treasury. The Treasury influences monetary and credit conditions as well, through its revenue and expenditure policies, its debt management policies relative to the size and location of its money balance, and so on. As an instrument of monetary management, the Treasury keeps its money balance in cash in the vaults as Treasury deposits at the Federal Reserve, and Treasury deposits at commercial banks. Owing to the degree of Treasury operations, these policies have marked effect on monetary and credit conditions, especially over periods. Ordinarily, the Treasury does not use these powers for intentional and continuous monetary management; this is primarily the function of the Federal Reserve. However, it does try to use its powers in such a way as to avoid creating serious problems for the Federal Reserve, and on occasion, it uses them intentionally to supplement Federal Reserve policies. The following is an example of how this occurs. The Treasury can implement restrictive actions. For example, the Treasury increases it money balance $1 billion by taxing the public or selling securities to the public. When the Treasury cashes the checks, the public loses $1 billion of its deposits. If the Treasury holds these deposits at commercial banks, this is the extent of the effect; the reserve positions of the banks are unaffected. But if the Treasury uses the $1 billion to build up its cash in vault or its deposits at the Federal Reserve, member banks reserves will be reduced by $1 billion. Basically, if we find an increase in the Treasury’s money balance, this tends to be restrictive unless the Treasury acquires the extra money by borrowing from the Federal Reserve. If it acquires the money balance by taxing the public or selling securities to it, the public’s money supply is directly decreased. If it acquires money by selling securities to commercial banks, the public’s money supply is not directly decrease, but the ability of the banks to create deposits for the public is reduced because they must use some their reserves to support the Treasury deposit. However, given the size of any increase in the Treasury’s balance, the degree of restrictiveness depends on the form in which it is held. On the other hand, the Treasury can affect monetary policy, by easing restrictions as well. Sometimes the Treasury utilizes liberalizing actions in a positive way to ease credit to supplement Federal Reserve actions. More often, however, it uses them to a void creating conditions that would make the job of the Federal Reserve more difficult. Given, this information, we can see what the relationship is between the  Federal Reserve and the U.S Treasury. They often complement each other and balance each other out. However, the prime job of the Federal Reserve is to act as the federal government bank, as well as regulating monetary policy, credit regulations, and supervising function of member banks. The U.S Treasury is the element of the government, which collects money from the public, either through the sale of securities or through taxation. The U.S Treasury is that arm of the government, which provides the government with money it needs to operate, which of course is part of fiscal policy operations. The Fed is the bank that the Treasury uses for its banking needs, to be it in the most simplistic terms. *** We were all shocked by tragedy that happened on September 11, 2001. There was a tremendous impact on the entire world by that event. People were heavily affected emotionally same as financially. Many lives were taken by the coward act of those who responsible for such disaster. The US faced a number of consequences followed by many bumps on its way to the future. Unbelievable economic downturn made all sectors of the economy to suffer this impact and force them to make decisions, which they probably didn’t thought of. Because Fiscal and Monetary Policy have a straight connection to the several actions taken by the government to stimulate weakened economy, I decided to cover what is going on right now within government structure and briefly explain what people should expect from policymakers, who are doing their best to respond to these obstacles, which we are facing right now, as quick as possible. Considering that today’s U.S. economy is already in mild recession and many indicators show it might face the most severe economic downturn since 1970s of the last century, President Bush and his administration called for additional stimulus package for fiscal 2002. Policymakers in Washington are considering a number of actions that could stimulate the economy. Among them the options being considering are tax cuts that could spur consumption or investment, and additional federal spending that could directly increase economic activity. Republicans are the majorities in the House of  Representatives and Democrats, who control the Senate, have very different and opposite visions about ways to stimulate the U.S. economy. Republicans consider that economic growth is generated through investments by businesses, which encouraged by cuts in taxes and tax rates. Democrats support the proposal that stimulates consumer spending such as through tax rebates for low-income, extensions of unemployment insurance, and government spending to promote construction and other infrastructure. A several weeks ago, the House Ways and Means Committee have passed a $100 billion economic stimulus package main part of which – 85% – for permanent tax cuts, mostly for corporate tax cuts. The major components of this plan are: Elimination of the corporate alternative minimum taxes and refunds AMT credits. This is a most controversial point of the House Republicans proposal. The minimum tax was designed to make profitable companies to pay a basic amount even if they owe no corporate income tax because of some deductions. Democrats support the fairness of this tax cut but disagree with its retroactive method because although these refunds would effectively reduce the tax rate on corporate income but those compensations for the previous investment, not new investment. Permit 30% immediate expensing write-off for purchase of capital assets over the next three years. Reduce the maximum tax rate on long-term capital gain from 20% to 18%. Deductions of net losses from taxes paid up to five years earlier. Republicans argue that all these corporate tax cuts are necessary to encourage businesses to invest more into new capital because businesses would have more income or retained earnings. And as a result it would spur the economy. Democrats disagree. They tell that businesses would not  necessary to invest; some of any tax cuts will be saved or businesses can simply to pay down their debts or to spend them for dividends to their stockholders and maybe only small part would go into new investment. Permanent cut in the former 28% tax cut rate to 25% would be accelerated to 2002. Democrats argue that this tax cut would be more effective if it will be temporary rather than permanent tax cut because this acceleration significantly shorten government revenue in later years and in the long run the government can’t afford these rates cuts. Moreover, most of the tax relief would benefit only the top one-quarter of all income tax filers, who are likely to save more and spend less from tax cuts than those who have lower incomes and tend to spend whatever extra income they have. That is why Democrats support the proposal to send additional tax rebates for low-income workers, because the more rebate is spend the more effective it is as a stimulus. Democrats want to freeze marginal tax reduction in previous 39.6 bracket to 38.6% rather to decline it. It would save roughly $100 billion between 2002 and 2011. Democrats have proposed a smaller package with far fewer and temporary tax cuts and significantly more new spending – 75% of the stimulus plan. They support the ways that spur consumer spending that has kept the economy afloat such as through tax rebates for lower income workers, expansions of unemployment insurance and government spending for construction and other infrastructure. For instance, temporary changes in the unemployment insurance program or any additional benefits provided would likely be spent and go directly to output. Public capital investments involve direct government purchases of goods and services and therefore directly add demand into economy.

Definition and Examples of Abstract Nouns in English

In English grammar, an abstract noun  is a  noun or noun phrase  that names an idea, event, quality or concept — for example, courage, freedom, progress, love, patience, excellence and friendship.  An abstract noun names something that cant be physically touched. Contrast that with a  concrete noun. According to A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, abstract nouns are typically non-observable and nonmeasurable.†Ã‚  But, as James Hurford explains, the distinction between abstract nouns and  other common nouns is relatively unimportant, as far as grammar is concerned. (James Hurford, Grammar: A Students Guide. Cambridge University Press, 1994) Examples and Observations Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.(Robert Frost)Her face, which was long and dark chocolate brown, had a thin sheet of sadness over it, as light but as permanent as the viewing gauze on a coffin.(Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969)Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.(Erich Fromm)Silence can be  a source of great strength.Men say they love independence in a woman, but they dont waste a second demolishing it brick by brick.(Candice Bergen, quoted by Catherine Breslin in The Mistress Condition. Dutton, 1976)When love is gone, theres always justice.And when justice is gone, theres always force.And when force is gone, theres always Mom.Hi, Mom!(Laurie Anderson, O Superman. 1981)Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.(Bertrand Russell, An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish. Unpopular Essays. Simon Schuster Inc., 1950)More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.(Woody Allen, My Speech to the Graduates. The New York Times, 1979) The Nature of Abstract Nouns Abstract and concrete are usually defined together or in terms of each other. The abstract is that which exists only in our minds, that which we cannot know through our senses. It includes qualities, relationships, conditions, ideas, theories, states of being, fields of inquiry and the like. We cannot know a quality such as consistency directly through our senses; we can only see or hear about people acting in ways that we come to label consistent. (William Vande Kopple, Clear and Coherent Prose. Scott Foresman Co., 1989) Countable and Uncountable Abstract Nouns Although abstract nouns tend to be uncountable (courage, happiness, news, tennis, training), many are countable (an hour, a joke, a quantity). Others can be both, often with shifts of meaning from general to particular (great kindness/many kindnesses).(Tom McArthur, Abstract and Concrete. The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992) Inflection of Abstract Nouns [M]any abstract nouns are generally not inflected for number (lucks, nauseas) or they do not occur in the possessive (the commitments time). (M. Lynne Murphy and Anu Koskela, Key Terms in Semantics. Continuum, 2010) The Grammatical Unimportance of Abstract Nouns [R]ecognizing abstract nouns is relatively unimportant, as far as grammar is concerned. This is because there are few, if any, particular grammatical properties that affect just the set of abstract nouns. ... One suspects that the reason for the recurrent mention of abstract nouns is the clash between their (abstract) meanings and the traditional definition of a noun as the name of a person, place or thing. The existence of obvious nouns such as liberty, action, sin and time is a sore embarrassment to such a definition, and the pragmatic response has been to apply a distinctive label to the problematic words. (James R. Hurford, Grammar: A Students Guide. Cambridge University Press, 1994) The Lighter Side of Abstract Nouns It represents Discipline, said Mr. Etherege. ... And to the uninstructed mind, Uniformity. His abstract nouns were audibly furnished with capital letters. But the latter notion is fallacious.No doubt, said Fen. He perceived that this incipient homily required punctuation rather than argument.Fallacious, Mr. Etherege proceeded, because the attempt to produce Uniformity inevitably accentuates  Eccentricity. It makes Eccentricity, as it were, safe. (Bruce Montgomery [aka Edmund Crispin], Love Lies Bleeding. Vintage, 1948)