Relativism and Morality Essay Example for Free

Relativism and Morality Essay Is it ethical? Will it be right? Is it a small sacrifice for the betterment of the future? All these questions do not have exact answers. You can never give a straight cut answer to all the above questions. You can never exactly say that a particular thing is completely right or completely wrong. All this varies from people to people and culture to culture. Individual personalities have different philosophies regarding particular thought and belief. There is never completely a black or white it is in between. It is grey. This is relativism. Relativism can be defined â€Å"as the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration†. According to relativism all views are considered valid. Well relative truth varies with people for example, a person prefers a red coloured car over black coloured car, where other person may disagree. True for one person is not true for another. So relative truth can’t be right or wrong. But greater than relative truth is Morality, where you see whether your actions are causing any harm to another and stop doing such things. Here which causes problems or harm someone should be considered as wrong. It is absolutely wrong on the part of our moral values to harm someone. There is a very fine line between morality and relative truth, moral values also varies from people to people and culture to culture but morality will never do any bad(even if it’s right for the other person). It is rightly said about moral by Ernest Hemingway â€Å"About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after. † There are some things that are absolutely wrong and therefore I agree with Lenn Goodman. He is right on his part in challenging relativism and I fully support him. Just suppose if everyone was allowed to do as they wish, what a horrid place this could have been. If everything was so relative and there was no right or wrong then one person could have killed other for his better future, and he would never have got any punishment. Because on his part, he was right. Also sometimes we have to rise above principles to challenge wrong. For example, America would have never got independence if slavery was discussed on principles. But if we see overall, it was a good thing going against the principles because slavery was the wrong being done. Same goes with the case of India’s independence where the freedom fighters were called terrorists just because they fought against the government for their own rights. But not every compromise is that easy to digest. It was wrong what happened with Germany in the first world war was bad but what followed in the second world war by Nazis may be a reaction was not tolerable. It was like removing a whole community from the world, that was worst. How can one have the right to destroy the being of the whole community or clan, just to satisfy one’s own selfish motives. Or you thing this is right for your own community or culture, but this is completely wrong. It is not human. Our moral values and love and respect for each other is what differentiates us from ruthless animals. Every human deserves respect, love and moral behaviour even if there is culture difference or some other difference. We all are made of same thing and thus have the same needs which mainly includes Respect. The main examples which truly challenge relativism are genocide, famine, terrorism, slavery, chid warrior and rape. Everyone has the right to life, no one can take away that right just because he thinks it’s right. Killing a single person and killing the whole community is different. Killing of whole community(genocide) being uglier, because it destroys not only dreams but destroy the being of the whole community, it can then well said to be extinct just like the bird Dodo. Genocide simply destroys a way of life. This is not humane. What the soviets did to Ukraine or Mao to China, was the part of a so called bigger plan, a small compromise. But a compromise which is difficult to live by. Millions of people lost their lives, and people lost their mother, father, brother and what not. This was simply wrong and cannot be considered relativism. The cultural revolution in China which was brought about by Mao, was wrong. It was relatively a right thing on the part of Mao. But it was wrong on the moral, ethical and human part. The number of Deaths during Mao’s period was about 70 million and he was ready to sacrifice 300 million. He had no right to control people’s life like that. This is where relativism should be challenge, because this is simply unfair and unacceptable. The other example is of terrorism, it’s also like mass killing of a community out of frustration and anger, which is illegal. As compared with the above example which is considered legal, as it is for some revolution; terrorism is you can say illegal. You don’t have the power to destroy someone’s life but you want to have that power, power is confused with violence. Terrorists say that they fight for some values, but they themselves destroy values by guns and bombs, by killing innocent people. By bombing school bus or by exploding some monument, to build fear in people. This is what the terrorists are doing, how can this be said to be fighting for your rights when today you can be creating people who want to take revenge from you, the same way you did, and someone else did to you. This is a never ending chain. Humanity will be the sufferer and this is completely wrong. It is unacceptable. The damage is devastating and not by any chance humane. Child warriors is also very wrong on the part of humanity. The innocence of child is lost, he becomes emotionless after all the what he suffers. There are around 300,000 child soldiers, it is legal to have children below 15 in the army, no one is convicted of it till now. They are even used as sex slaves and exploited. They grow up with these scars and in return are ready to give scars to others. War, genocide or terrorism whatever is there, whosoever is the winner, humanity will always be the looser. Innocence of people, their dreams to live a happy life, their achievements, what good they could have given to the world all get killed along with them because of the inhumane ways of so called humans, the ways being war, genocide, famine or terrorism. Slavery can be equalled to murder, but here it is the murder of one’s wishes, desires and dreams. The person is alive but his soul is no less then dead. Human trafficking mainly includes women and children. Women and children are mainly used in prostitution, as labors and for agriculture mainly men are trafficked. Around four million people are trafficked and people from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Mexico, Russia, and the Czech Republic are the victims. This is completely wrong. The use of humans here is not tolerable and unfair. It is taking advantage of other people’s weakness. This is not fair on part of humanity. Rape is also exploitation, it aims to abuse and humiliate the sufferer. It violates one’s personhood. It is an act of hate and not love. Rape is used even today in wars or genocide wars, it is a weapon to humiliate and abuse the opponent. This is not good at all, and should be stopped. It is wrong on the part of humanity. Here also humanity is the one that suffers. Exploitation of people for your own benefits has always been wrong and should be stopped. It takes away one’s freedom to live life his own way. Whether it is the case of genocide , warfare, murder, slavery, rape or child warrior, nothing can be considered right and can never be right even according to relativism. It is not moral, it is not humane. Even if there are relativistic truths in this world. And ethics and morals have evolved over time. It changes from people to people, culture to culture, with time and with place. Even then somehings are simply wrong when it comes to humanity. It is well known that two hundred years ago there was slavery in America. It was considered right at that time, we can consider it was right, that doesn’t mean it was actually right. It was inhumane. If this was not thought at that time, then slavery would have existed till now in America. If it was not wrong even at that time, then no one would have made an effort to stop this exploitation of human being. There should be global moral norms made, inorder to stop this evil on human race. Everything should not be left on relativism and such logics should not be given, that is is right according to me and it is for the betterment of the society. Then it should be made clear that by doing genocides and practicing slavery, the society will never get better. People should rise above their culture limitation, to achieve a greater goal, i. e. success of humanity. By practicing norms that benefit us but without compromising other people’s life, dreams and freedom. This will make the world a better place to live. People should see to it that everyone has the right to life, and we are no one to take it away from him. Everyone should take care of others emotion, ritual, feeling and should not violate it, this is right for sure. Individuals should see to ot that everything contributes in the success of humanity, and then everything can be considered right. This I can say for sure is Absolute Truth and not Relative Truth. It is rightly said by Martin Luther King â€Å"The first principle of value that we need to rediscover is this: that all reality hinges on moral foundations. †

New Economic Imperialism Essays -- Essays Papers

New Economic Imperialism Those in power define national interests as the preservation of the existing set of economic, social, and political relationships. Therefore, the national interest of the supranational capitalist society is the interests of the upper class, allied throughout the globe. The United States capitalist class has proposed to preserve and extend U.S. capitalism by a policy of empire building to satisfy the need for large export markets that could supply cheap inputs and guarantee consumption. The road to the current economic imperial structure prevalent in international affairs is a long and complicated one. During the twentieth century the capitalist elite began forming organizations in which to formulate and implement their policies on the supranational level, most of which were founded by John D. Rockefeller based on principles developed by Cecil Rhodes. These included the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and countless others scattered throughout the developed world. During the 1940s they began to create institutions with real power, sanctioned by nation-states, which would have the ability to implement policies on the international level, something they needed. These included the United Nations, the political arm, NATO, the military arm, and the two monetary funds created during the conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It was decided international monetary instit utions were needed to â€Å"stabilize currencies and to facilitate programs of capital investments for constructive undertakings in backward and underdeveloped regions.† (Sklar 148) Corporations would float bonds guaranteed by the ... ... Subsequently, a global imperialistic strategy has developed designed to keep developing countries in a position where the West wants them. Works Cited â€Å"IMF funding system unfair – Mugabe†. Mon, 04 Jun 2001. Mohan, Giles, et al. Structural Adjustment: Theory, Practice, and Impacts. New York: Routledge, 2000. Munoru, John. â€Å"Zimbabwe: IMF Applies More Pressure†. 1999. Onimode, Bade. The IMF, The World Bank and The African Debt: The Economic Impact. London ; Atlantic Highlands, N.J., USA : Zed Books, 1989. Shaoul, Jean. â€Å"IMF Tightens The Screws on Zimbabwe†. 18 August 1999. Sklar, Holly. Trilateralism and Elite Planning For World Management. Boston : South End Press, 1980.

Advertising Principles And Practice

However the Effie is one important award which is given for effectiveness (visit EFFIE Worldwide at mad. Effie. Org ) The New York American Marketing Association introduced these awards in 1968 and it honors the ‘real world' work of agency/client partnerships that create, manage, and build brands In August 1996 Ionians launched one of the most memorable ads – lively, music-filled commercials featured dogs, dolls, a grinning Japanese man, and the tag line â€Å"Enjoy the Ride† yet the campaign failed as no car was shown and Ionians lost share and posted losses that year Characteristics of Effective AdsTypes of Advertising The Ideas and Struck are examples of Brand Advertising which is most visible and some commercials use humor to create brand awareness Retail or Local Advertising focuses on retailers or manufacturers in small areas tit objective of stimulating store traffic and create distinctive image for store or manufacturer e. G. White Wave Political / Directo ry Advertising Politicians advertise to vote for them or their ideas as in ASSAI and some other countries. Critics feel this can focus more on image than on issues, and voters concentrate on the emotional parts ignoring the critical differences Directory advertising helps people in how to buy products and services e. G.Yellow Pages Direct-Response advertising can use any medium including Direct mail and tries to stimulate sales directly and Internet helps here How Ad Agencies are Organized Account Management acts as liaison be;en the client and the agency. Once the client establishes the guidelines for a campaign and perhaps even one advertisement, accounts management handles day-to-day progress Creative Development and Production includes copy,'rites, art directors, producers, master creators, coaches, etc Media Planning and Buying – plans, buys and researches on the use of different media Account Planning and Research act as strategic specialists who prepare recommendations about consumers wants, needs and relationship to the client's brand, and how advertising should work to satisfy those needsInternal Services includes traffic department, print production, financial services, and human resources or personnel a-to-8 Advertising and Institutional Advertising B-to-B includes messages directed to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors and also to industrial purchasers, professionals like lawyers, physicians but not to general consumers through professional journals This is also called corporate advertising and aims to establish corporate identity or winning public over to the company's point of view e. G. Tobacco companies are running ads on positive things they are doing, also ads for pharmacy companies Public Service / Interactive In Public Service Announcements (AAAS) the message is on behalf of good causes like stopping drunk driving or preventing child abuse. These ads are usually created by ad professionals free of charge and the media often don ate space and time Interactive advertising is delivered to individual consumers who have access to computer and internet.

Research Into The Uncertainty Within The Financial Markets Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2246 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The financial market environment in an economy is of strategic relevance in most of the corporate decision-making. Most of the developed and even emerging economies have market-based financial system. Instability within the stock market brings uncertainty in the financial system that adds complexity to corporate decision-making. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Research Into The Uncertainty Within The Financial Markets Finance Essay" essay for you Create order The major cause of uncertainty within the financial market environment is change in structure, regulations, and market sentiments. The financial crisis 2007 further increased the uncertainty within the market and resulted in high lending rates and crisis of confidence. This uncertainty influences the investment, financing and other financial decisions of the corporate. It is argued that the managers might deploy some extra risk factors to estimate the cost of capital. Furthermore, the complexity in decision-making is briefly explained with the impact of giant mining BHP Billiton bid to take-over the fertilizer company Potash Corporation of Canada. The paper also highlights the acquisition plan of Kraft to take-over Cadbury in early 2010 influence its stock performance. Furthermore, the paper illustrates the principles to manage uncertainty and reduce complexity in decision-making. Introduction Uncertainty can be regarded as a situation where both future and probability of possible future is unknown whereas, risk is a state of uncertainty where the future is unknown but the probability of possible future outcome is known. However, the distinction does not have much relevance today as decisions are made on the basis of the estimates of possible probabilities. Though, it might be relevant in understanding the essay effectively. The future is always unpredictable or uncertain that adds complexity to the decision making. However, some academicians regard uncertainty as essence of business environment. Without the element of uncertainty, the bringing off of even, the greatest business triumph would be dull, routine, and eminently unsatisfying.James Paul Getty (https://strategicbusinessteam.com/famous-small-business-quotes/j-paul-gettys-quotes-famous-business-quotes-from-oil-billionaire-jean-paul-getty/) Uncertainty within the financial markets The financial market environment is the nuclei around which most of the corporate decisions revolve as it is either directly or indirectly associated with the profitability of the business. The financial market comprises of banks, building societies, stock market, money market, foreign exchange market and derivative market. Source: Oxford review of economic policy, vol.20, No. 4 The corporate are dependent on the financial market to finance their business either through equity or debt. The US financial market has a large amount of bank loans outstanding, but there is also a large stock market and bond market. The United States is also said to have a market-based financial system. The stock market value is also high in United Kingdom and Asia, although the bank loans are of greater relevance than the bond market in these countries (Brealey.A.R, Myers. C.S, Allen. F, p.931). Currently, the global financial market reciprocates variations in the short-run along with the prominen t changes in the long-run. It may be argued that the instability in stock market in an economy has its influence on the marco-environment level. The uncertainty in stock market is the result of geopolitical events, economic changes and market sentiments. It is also said that Uncertainty and centrality go hand-in-hand (Webber 1972; Code 1991). In times of uncertainty certain geocities tend to gain strategic importance as in some cases the holders of capital acquire labour from one country against others through demonstration of the spatial fluidity of capital. (Ronald L. Mitchelson and James O. Wheeler) More precisely change in political structure, rules and laws, demutualisation, changing roles, globalisation and integration of markets creates fluctuations in stock prices and gives rise to uncertainty within the capital market. Financial crisis further increases uncertainty within the financial markets The global financial crisis 2007 has further increased the uncertainty in the financial market. Its fundamental causes may be regarded as prevalent excess liquidity in global financial markets by the key central banks and the proliferation of mortgages in the United States along with inadequate assets to liabilities ratio, ineffective financial supervisory and regulatory frameworks. The large capital inflows from high saving countries (notably China, India Japan) to US securities market (particularly government bond market) enhanced liquidity in the economy. The crisis followed a wandering asset-price bubble process, began with the housing bubble in the United States which was inflated by the easy availability of mortgage loan. The credit was given without proper documentation to least credit-worthy applicants with low credit scores. Lick your candy now and pay for it later the entire subprime mortgage market seemed to encourage those with a sweet tooth for have-it-now investment s.ÂÂ  The US mortgage crisis was just a set off to the global financial crisis. When people did eventually start to see problems, confidence fell quickly. Lending slowed, in some cases ceased for a while and even now, there is a crisis of confidence. The mortgage crisis was followed by the global downturn of interbank markets, wholesale capital markets and the securities market. (Willem H. Buiter, p.13). In the United Kingdom, lack of co-ordination between the Bank of England, the Treasury and the FSA (Financial Services Authority), an inefficient insolvency laws and deposit insurance arrangement for the banking sector, weakened liquidity management practices of Bank of England led to the financial dismantle. (Willem H. Buiter, p.1) The stock market witnessed a significant plummeting in the prices of securities during late 2008 and early 2009 resulting in the stock market collapse worldwide. This collapse increased volatility in the stock market and the speculative market be came more vulnerable to even small flow of information. Uncertainty still exists Despite the fiscal stimulus and monetary policies enforcement by the central banks and the government, though unprecedented; there is still uncertainty in the global financial market. It is believed that the global financial system is still unstable which can fail that emphasises the lack of market confidence in the economy. (W. Max Corden, p.10). Having said that the financial crisis 2007 enhanced uncertainty within the financial markets, it resulted in substantial contractions in economic activity and credit. The interest rates uncertainty has an impact on the liquidity in the economy and substantiates the relationship with the stock market volatility. (Jincai Xu, p.2). The increase in CRR (cash reserve ratio) resulted in fund deficit with the bank and the banks offer credit at high interest rates. The higher interest rates leads to substantially low borrowings as people are sensitive to interest rates. As a result, the liquidity is low in the economy and consumers tend to hav e less spending power. Thus, the market is more rational and least growth is expected in the stock market. Uncertainty adds complexity to corporate decision-making In an uncertain environment any change in strategy/structure would substantially impact the financial market on a whole. Furthermore, uncertainty in an imperfect financial market diminishes the risk-taking capabilities of a business to avoid default. (Patrick Kehoe, p.31). The management strategically involves into decision-making to look for best alternatives that gives high returns with minimal risk. For many multinational organizations, the financial crisis in major markets and the impact on investment returns were unanticipated, and they paid insufficient attention to risk management activities, such as scenario planning and extreme event modeling, said Vicki Stokoe, Global Governance Consulting leader at Mercer. The focus of most business people is on the future with regard to investment strategy or the financing strategy. Appropriate decisions are therefore dependent on how effective the managers performance and evaluated and rewarded. Hence, it is essential to mitigate the agency problems by monitoring the managers effort and by offering them right incentives and fair value to deal with the complexity in decision-making effectively and efficiently. Raising funds through equity or debt The firms present portfolio of total assets may be regarded as the determinant in evaluating the best alternative investment strategy and then the best financing strategy to be considered. In order to take decision to finance a particular project, the firm needs to decide whether issuing more stock (equity) is beneficial or borrowing (debt). The uncertainty in the market may raise a concern that the shares would not be taken up. The issue is made in the primary stock market and depends on the market confidence in an economy. Since, there is still uncertainty in the stock market and investors lack confidence and hesitate to invest in the market. The decision becomes more complex for a business to raise funds through equity finance. On the other hand, considering the debt finance in the present scenario where the banks and other financial institutions does not have enough liquid strength, there is a risk of fluctuations in interest rate. Under a stable financial market environment, t he decision could have been taken on comparing the NPV (Net Present Value) of borrowing and the NPV of the future cash inflows from the investment in the project. Although, some scholars also argue on the human behavioural psychology People are not 100 percent rational/risk averse 100 percent of the time (R. Brealey, p.343). Diversification of portfolio Despite the insurance market is on the verge to stabilize, the companys focus is to generate high return through strategic investment plan. In an uncertain financial system, people still tend to opt towards traditional insurance products and can pay premium for security. The insurance company look for the diversified portfolio of investment to mitigate unique risk and yield maximum cost of capital. It is essential to measure the probability of possible future outcome that is uncertain to understand the risk involved in the market. The balanced proportion of investment portfolio between stock market and bond market is advisable depending on the market scenario in that country1. Dont put all your eggs in one basket Markowitz Portfolio Theory. Further, the investments in stock market can be diversified between the alternative stocks listed in the stock market. As per the CAPM (capital asset pricing model) investors prefer stocks with highest expected return and low standard deviation . Seventy-three percent managers used CAPM to estimate the cost of capital and thirty-four percent used it with some extra risk factors (R.Graham and C.R.Harvey, p.187-243). The uncertainty within the financial markets adds complexity in estimating the cost of capital and the decision regarding diversification of portfolio. Earnings to be reinvested in its own business or dividend paid to shareholders Among the most crucial decisions made by the corporate are those related to reinvestment into its own business to expand or offer dividend to shareholders. The reinvestment decision is heavily based the future cash inflows from its business and is measured by the companys past performance. The NPV of future cash inflows may not be estimated accurately due to volatility in market. The uncertainty in foreign exchange market, inflation and oil prices also influences the stock market and thus it might result in taking absurd discounting rate of return. The discounting rate of return as per the estimate may be different from the actual value. On the other hand, the investor might prefer dividend over capital gain in an uncertain financial market. Hence, in order to retain the investors confidence in the companys performance the company might consider paying off dividends over reinvestment. (McCarthy. A, p. 9-24) Decision regarding mergers and acquisitions with an example of BHP Billiton Potash Corporation and Kraft Cadbury Mergers and Acquisition decisions in an uncertain environment is complex as there is a risk of stock price will fall as the investor lack market confidence and might react to the merger negatively. The total value of deals post crisis came down by 40% and even the number of deals came down to half. (Sharma. M, 2010) Source: www.euronext.liffe The chart above reciprocates the declining trend in the mergers and acquisitions in an uncertain financial market with swings in foreign exchange, shifts in demand and supply and volatility in stock market. BHP Billiton that is the worlds largest by market value was scrutinised by its investors for its takeover bid of $39 billion in fertilizer group Potash Corporation in August 2010. The Canadian government rejected the offer on 03 November 2010 saying it is not in favour of national interest. Since 2007, BHP Billiton incurred around $900 million in fees for its attempt to buy Potash and Rio Tinto which subsequently failed. This creat ed insecurity among the investor who believed that the company is not utilizing the money efficiently moreover misusing it (Money first, massive M A deals second, 2010). A similar trend was seen when Kraft completed its $11.6 billion bid for Cadbury in the beginning 2010. However, Cadbury shares were up by 3.5% the day after the proposal bid (Cadbury agrees Kraft takeover bid, 2010) although, Kraft share price underperformed with this information being released in the market. Apart from properly evaluating the net worth of the business to take-over and the estimated future cash-inflows from the investment, decisions should also consider the market sentiments in the economy. Since, most of the investors are risk averse when there is increased uncertainty within the financial market; the decisions should be made more strategically. We would rather see management teams first have the confidence to invest in their own businesses through capital expenditure, or to return some money t o shareholders, than launch big MA deals at this point in the cycle, (Johnson. M, 2010) Dealing with uncertainty within the financial market According to a report in the Financial Times, European nations are to draw up radical proposals to improve transparency in financial markets and to change the way credit rating agencies operate in an attempt to prevent any recurrence of the financial turmoil arising from the credit squeeze. (https://www.nber.org/~wbuiter/lessons.pdf) Conclusion Uncertainty