Vitasoy †Sparkling Soy Milk

VITASOY – Sparkling soy milk †¢ Executive summary †¢ Background of Studies †¢ Environmental scanning †¢ Advertising and Promotion strategies/ tactics †¢ Conclusion †¢ Reference †¢ Appendices †¢ Executive summary †¢ Background of Studies In 1940, Vitasoy was established by Dr K. S. Lo in Hong Kong. Soya bean is the main source of protein for Chinese people for 4,000 years. Mr. Lo brought this big idea to Hong Kong market, he began to sell his Soya bean milk from delivery in fresh to customers’ homes on bicycle, expanded his business to retail outlets after the World War. Nowadays, VITASOY group’s products sell in over 40 markets around the world and become the international organization which is standards in quality and innovative products. Vitasoy’s key product is soybean drink and tofu, which is nutritious and high-protein healthy for people. Vitasoy was built-up nearly 70 years, it is still the one of the most famous local trademark beyond Hong Kong, through the high quality, the great tasting, healthy and sold at affordable price, those are the factors why Vitasoy is successful its unique selling proposition. The industry uniqueness: 1. Brand loyalty Through nearly 70 years, Vitasoy is still a leader in the industry in Hong Kong 2. 3 main competitors HI-C Ribena Yeo’s 3. Affordable price For wide customer segment (e. g. student, adult, elders) †¢ Environmental scanning 1. Conduct Situation Analysis Vitasoy is the biggest supplier of the soymilk market in Hong Kong. According to Mingpao Finance (2008/08/04), she has 75% of the market share of the soymilk in HK, 50% of Shenzhen & Guangzhou, 35% of Australia & New Zealand. The most traditional & strong brand the soymilk product in Hong Kong which is Vitasoy, because she is carrying out her business 69 years in Hong Kong, so everyone knows as her. Although she is much advantage for business in HK, she still needs to care a few points, quality of the soymilk. In 1996, after the incident of soymilk taste deterioration, Vitasoy had a bad reputation for her branding and lost HKD 60,000,000 profit. Nowadays, customers advocate the health food, soy bean of soymilk is an organic food without artificial preservatives, genetically-modified (GM) foods. This is the biggest business opportunity for Vitasoy, so she begins the overseas business, like Australia and New Zealand, that she has a good return. On the other through, when the similar product like milk occur problems, soymilk will get the extra profit. It’s a fact, when last year, the main land China happen the poison milk, at the same time, the soymilk get the great sales, it increase 56% for the total sales. However, the opportunity brought a threat of competitors, like Yeo’s and Coca Cola. The largest competitor, Coca Cola has much capital to attack the soymilk market. Vitasoy cannot bear this risk, so she needs to be a pioneer for the overseas and the Mainland China market, to make the strong subtraction for the future expansion 2. ) Conduct a customer analysis Up to 31 March 2009, the major sales market of Vitasoy is Hong Kong and Macau, which carries 53% of total sale amount. The second market is Mainland China, which is 20%. Other markets are Australia, Zealand, North America and Singapore. All these markets are growing gradually. In the recent years, Vitasoy is keen on launching different varieties and promoting benefits of soy to customers who concern their health. Such strategies widen the customer groups to all ages as well as both genders. It raised Vitasoy’s sales growth and market share. Besides, the Group’s tuck shop business and catering business also recorded a healthy contribution growth. From the Vitasoy products, most of our customers (44%) choose soymilk while 20% select Lemon tea products. In September 2008, mass alertness to the safety of dairy milk was awakened by the outbreak of the melamine issue. Because of similarity between dairy milk and soymilk, soymilk of Vitasoy became a popular alternative for customers. Vitasoy is enjoying good reputation and good quality image among Hong Kong people. Apart from Vitasoy’s existing customer, we have to explore more potient customers to increase the market share. Further to the information from the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong 2008, there are more females (52. 7%) than males (47. 3%). In the demographic characteristics, the largest age group is 35-64 year old (64. 6%) The second large age group is 0-14 year old (12. 2%). We will base on these statistics for product development. 3. ) Conduct a product analysis Vitasoy is a kind of well-known soymilk in Hong Kong. Despite it is a traditional product among people, new product is required to release in order to sustain the market share. The new product is called â€Å"Sparkling soy milk† which will be one of the beverages in line with Vitasoy series that will be released in mid-November 2009. This exclusive product is limited to be sold during this Christmas season. Overview the product: ? Using soymilk as basis ? Nutrient healthy product that is featured with the most low saturated fat and abundant protein ? Using a plastic bottle as a container ? Selling it for both cool and hot option ? Adding â€Å"Konjac† inside the soymilk Shake it at least 10 times before drinking ? Not only can drink it, even can chew it ? Printed with dark in glow snow pattern that will glow white at night ? A heat sensitive feature. After holding it for a while, it will then change into other color. It is created by using thermal color ink This product is especially suitable for children, teenager. Tradit ionally, adult and elder has been chronically drinking soymilk that they are treated as basic advantage. 4. Conduct a competitor analysis Even Vitasoy is the one of the largest soymilk companies, but there are many companies intend to replace its position. After our observation, we can divide their competitors in three parts: Direct competitor, indirect competitor and Potential competitor. HI-C is the main direct competitor. HI-C has developed several soymilk products to against Vitasoy, HI-C is the second line of Coca-Cola in Hong Kong, which enjoys a huge resource backup against Vitasoy. Melon Flavored Soymilk is the most favorable product of HI-C. As Vitasoy has already existed in this market for 50 years, and became a household brand, so HI-C is still hard to replace Vitasoy’s position in Hong Kong. Ribena is one of the indirect competitors for Vitasoy. Nowadays, Hong Kong people always care their health as the first priority and Ribena provided a high quality drink which offers delicious blackcurrant taste and it provides with a rich Vitamin C, it is very powerful for the customer to choose their product according to the healthiness. Although Vitasoy’s soymilk also provides a health drink to people, but as customers haven’t the brand loyalty for every product, so Ribena should be the big challenge for Vitasoy. Yeo’s should be the potential competitor for Vitasoy. Although their sales amount still cannot threaten in the market, but Yeo’s always develop new product like black soymilk, green bean soymilk etc. And their main product is organic soymilk, this can attract more and more people to buy their products, so we list them to the potential competitor with Vitasoy. 5. ) Justify the customer segment, targeting and positioning strategies In accordance with the data of customer analysis, we target the group of children, teenagers and family for our new product as they are in the large popluation. Our new product is named as â€Å"sparkling soy milk†. It is Vitasoy soybean milk with Konjac, which increases the elements of nutrient. And will shake it before consumption. Customers can make fun with such drink into the boring life. As we know, in Hong Kong, females are in the majority. The product appearance will increase their purchasing interest. In order to catch the attention of female customers, the drink will be dressed up with glow-in-dark snow pattern and heat sensitive feature on the packaging, which will have festival atmosphere and romantic feeling. In fact, the drink packaging is also giving the warm and cheerful outlook to attract family group for purchase. The drink consists of two sizes, 330ml and 500ml in volumes, which provide options to different consumers. During the promotion, we will use both â€Å"above the line† and â€Å"below the line† strategies. For the â€Å"above the line† strategies, Road Show and MTR advertisement are our first launch. We will also introduce the drink to customers via internet, for instance, Facebook and Yahoo website, together with advertisements on teenagers’ magazine. For the â€Å"below the line† strategies, we will put the promotional materials such as store banner and promotional corner on the store to draw the ustomers’ attention. Besides, we will distribute the free sample at the density of crowd districts, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, to let the popular taste our product. We will contact primary and secondary schools to offer the promotional purchase of our new product with special discount. Compared with our other products and other similar drinks in the m arket, we will suggest selling the new drink at HKD 4. 50 per bottle (for small one) and HKD 6. 50 per bottle (for large one). Consumers can get the drinks from supermarkets, 7-Eleven, Circle K and other self consumption machine. These places can let our products to get reach of consumers at anytime and anywhere. It is much suitable for busy people in Hong Kong. †¢ Advertising and Promotion strategies/ tactics 1. Identify the overall branding strategies Base on the result of the environmental scanning, we find that our target customers will be children and teenagers. And our product is a funny health drink. For the overall branding strategies, we will keep the original and add a little factor for the brand, Creative and Funny. Vitasoy the brand is very strong in HK, so we don’t need promo the brand with great exertion. On the other hand, the other factor make Vitasoy success is creative, but we haven’t used the promo before. So this time, we will use a great exertion for the creative and remind the customers the soymilk is the health drinks. Our new product will show how funny of the brand. Therefore, there are three main points for current branding strategies, Health, Funny and Creative. First, Health – we will through the about the line thematic to remind customers, when you drink Vitasoy soymilk, the how many advantages for you health that you will get. Second, Funny – we will through the about the line tactical (dispatch sample) and below the line thematic (POS display) to education the consumer how to use and how to have fun from the product. Third, Creative – we will through the new product to stick out Vitasoy always is a creative brand. It will bring a message to the consumers, that’s soymilk not only for health, it’s can be fun, an ornament and the order usage when you make more creative. 2. The system approach of communication strategies The concept of marketing communication planning which recognizes the value of an all-inclusive plan that measures the strategic roles of variety of communication disciplines (general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact. Clarity means clearness of appearance. Our product has a clear message to all customer which is â€Å"Health†, â€Å"Warm† & â€Å"Have Fun†. In all advertising, we will base on these three messages to promote to the customer how the drink is healthy, why you will feel warm and how you can have fun in this. Consistency means being in conformity with a set of rules, guidelines or policies. Since Vitasoy was born, their name, logo, mission was keep for 50 years. Because of these consistency factors, Vitasoy can keep their name in every people mind. On the other hand, the drink will promote to a limited period product in the last season, but we will still promote this drink which without the dressed up with glow-in-dark snow pattern and heat sensitive feature on the packaging after this period. We will promote this drink which base on the healthy when the soymilk plus Konjac. Therefore, the package will different, very normal. Maximum communication impact which gives the customer a profound impact by the products or advertising. As our product will be dressed up with glow-in-dark snow pattern and heat sensitive feature on the packaging, which does not have any other similar product in the market and it is a limited product in the last season, so we think this is most impactful to the customer. Through the advertising, we can achieve to attract the consumer to buy our product. â€Å"Pull† & â€Å"Push† are the two promotional strategies in our advertising. Pull is the promotional strategy which a new product is heavily advertised before its retail and boost up the demand which draws customers attention into the retail stores. As one of our target groups is teenagers, we will hire some model and send them to Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Causeway Bay etc which the teenagers always go shopping and dining in these places. The models will present them a present which include a sample of our new product and a leaflet to introduce. In addition, we also promote our product in Road Show and MTR advertisements are our first launch. The advertising agency can always broadcasts the advertising in the golden hour which the most audience watch the television or listening the radio. We will make a 20 second advertising and play it in Roadshow and posters in every MTR station because there are more than million people travel bus and MTR every day. We will also introduce the drink to customers via internet such as Facebook and Yahoo website, together with advertisements on teenagers’ magazine. Because there are over million people watch these media every day, so the message can always recall. On the other hand, we will setup promotional counters in the mainly supermarket, because many housewives go to the supermarket everyday and they always go with their children, so they can taste and feel our product together. Also, we will promote the drink in primary school and give free samples to the students. This strategy calls â€Å"Point of Sell†. According to these promotions, we can also call this as â€Å"Above the line† which is a promotional method, included all media, and is under controlled by the client. This can have a long term effective to boost up the customers’ attention. Push strategy which is through the difference channels with a product that customer will be attracted by the advertising and other factors such as rebates. Push strategy also like â€Å"Below the line† strategy which is through the media like sales promotion, banner etc. We will setup some banner and promotional corner in the stores to attract the customers’ attention. 3. The advertising and promotion program elements It divides into 3 major communication objectives to customers: – Health – Warm – Have fun Health It is aimed to present a health image to customers that it is more benefit than they are expecting. Obviously, soy product has been widely introducing into Asian market that can bring health to the customers. In the western, Soymilk is the top soy products by awareness in the United State. It benefits people to prevent Heart Disease, Cancer, Osteoporosis and Menopausal symptoms (Consumer Attitudes About Nutrition (2008) Online PDF). Macronutrient Composition of Soybeans (% Kcal) [pic] Complete protein, providing all 9 essential amino acids As Soymilk is mainly made from soybean, so it has abundant nutrient drink for children, teenager and elder. Thus, it is regarded as healthy and emphasize on low saturated fat (not Trans fats) and high protein. Since more and more people have concerned about their food whether it is harm to their health, and received a knowledge of trans fats product were being used from Macdonald and KFC widely in the market. Recently, such components are going to be removed and refused. In other words, Market is seeking a product who is selling along with health features. All in all, Vitasoy, sparkling soybean milk which is high protein and low saturated fat that can prevent heart disease. Protein can be supplying children’s need of their growing. By releasing this new product, additionally it is added with â€Å"Konjac† which is including a high proportion of fiber to help the digestive system. It is what the parent are looking for. Warm Sparkling soybean milk is positioning at giving delighting and warm to people, such as children, teenager and couple. Children could drink it whenever they have a breakfast, lunch time in daily lives. It accompanies with their childhood. For teenager, it is also appropriate for a party beverage when holding a party. People can keep in connection with their community with drinking together. Couple feels harmony and romantic by drinking hot soymilk with glow in dark plastic bottle during winter and Christmas season. Have Fun It can be playful. First of all, sparkling soymilk with adding â€Å"Konjac† inside. So, it is not only a drink but also can be masticable. Before drinking it, people have to shake it at least 10 times to make sure â€Å"Konjac† are well mixed. Second, it can glow. The container is printed by dark in glow ink to let the bottle glowing in darkness. It is awesome when drinking it at party, birthday celebration and dating. Apart from that, the bottle can be changing its color when holding it by hands. Yet, Couple holds the bottle each other to feel warm and make it colour changing. All above gimmicks can bring people to have a romantic, fantasy and the warmest Christmas festival that they have not experienced ever. By the above 3 objectives, customer should get a feeling and perspective of the new product featured in healthy, warm & harmony and even funny thing. Our key message is â€Å"Warmest Christmas, Sparkling Health† Marcom Tactics: Advertising Creative strategies Story Board: 1. [pic] 2. [pic] . [pic] 4. [pic] 5. [pic] 6. [pic] Media planning For the new product â€Å"Sparkling soy milk†, we design to make above the line & below the line promotion. Above the line active: |Roadshow Advertising – it will be a two parts advertising. First a whole shelter poster in the |[pic] | |densely populated districts, Causeway Bay, Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok. The promotion wil l| | |contain the high level of the line of vision. The poster will show 3 images of our communication | | |objectives. Second, it will be a 30 sec advertising for Warm, Have fun and Health. | | |MTR Station Promotion – it will be a 4-Sheet Panel poster in all line of the MTR. The promotion will|[pic] | |be watch by 3,500,000 passengers for every day. The poster will as same as the bus stop promotion. | | |Radio Advertising – it will be a 3 part of 5 sec advertising. The voice will be record form a famous| | |DJ Sammy. It will produce the audience three images of our communication objectives. | |Print Advertising – it will be advertising on the Eat & Travel Weekly. It’s a page of the new |[pic] | |product usage and key message. | | |Online Web Site – it will be advertising on our main homepage to describe the new product feature. |[pic] | |And open an account on the Facebook to promotion the whole brand and communicate with the consumers. | | |Also we will advertising on yahoo too. | |Dispatch Sample – it will be make people keep an eye on the new product. We will engage some models |[pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] | |to dispatch the sample in densely populated districts, Causeway Bay, Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui and |[pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] | |Mong Kok. | | |Cooperative Advertising – it will be advertising with supermarket, Welcome & Parkn shop. We will | | |make a discount for the new product and the cost will be share with each other. It will also affect | | |the consumer buy more. | | Below the line active: |POS Display – it will be me people attention for the new products in the shop. It will carry out on |[pic][pic][pic] [pic] | |Mannings, Watson’s, 7-Eleven and Circle K. | | Sale Promotions activities Beyond the advertising, we will carry out some promotions activities: Coupons – we will provide coupons in the newspaper, Apple daily, The sun. Consumer can use the coupons to buy our new product for save 1. 5 dollars. Premiums – we will provide a small key chain (a small soymilk finger) for buying two of soymilk, it will produce two types. †¢ Conclusions †¢ Appendices †¢ Reference 1. Consumer Attitudes About Nutrition (2008) [Online PDF] Available from: http://www. soyconnection. com/health_nutrition/pdf/ConsumerAttitudes2008. pdf [Accessed 9/11/2009] 2. Product Vitasoy http://www. vitasoy. com. hk/eng/product/soya001. html 3. Annual report of Vitasoy http://www. vitasoy. com/download. php? id=105&lang=en 4. Mingpaonews, Finance http://finance. sina. com. hk/cgi-bin/nw/show. cgi/2880/2/1/1642787/1. html ———————– [pic]

Arendt-Theory of Totalitarianism Essay

Hannah Arendt is widely regarded as one of the most important, unique and influential thinkers of political philosophy in the Twentieth century. Arendt was greatly influenced by her mentor and one time lover, Martin Heidegger, whose phenomenological method would help to greatly shape and frame Arendt’s own thinking. Like Heidegger, Arendt was sceptical of the metaphysical tradition which tended towards abstract conceptual reasoning; ultimately at odds with the reality of human lived experience. Consequently, Arendt was highly dubious of being referred to as a philosopher, as she felt philosophy was, by its own essence, confined to the proverbial ivory tower. She believed political life was at the apex of human experience and so she identified as a political thinker/actor. Her emphasis on the phenomenological nature of the lived political experience permeates her life’s works and perhaps can be said to constitute her own distinct brand of political philosophy. Arendt’s early publication, Ideology & Terror: A Novel Form of Government, is a profound elucidation of the nature of the theretofore unprecedented (she argues) phenomenon of Totalitarianism and its â€Å"origins†¦ elements†¦ and functioning†¦ † A Novel Form of Government: Arendt posited that the totalitarian forms of â€Å"government and domination† (Arendt. 03) which characterised the Nationalist Socialist party in Germany and Stalin’s oppressive regime in Soviet Russia, which saw systematic genocide and terror visited upon literally millions of innocent people, were unprecedented in the history of political systems, and were not mere modern manifestations of ancient forms of violent government such as despotism or tyranny. She went further even, to suggest that totalitarian systems had destroyed the very foundations upon which traditional ideas and presuppositions of government rested. Although totalitarianism seemed to contain elements of tyrannical or despotic forms of government i. e. terror, violence, absolute power etc Arendt contended that totalitarian regimes differed in important ways which rendered them qualitatively distinct. Tyranny and dictatorships, she argues are marked by â€Å"Arbitrary power, unrestricted by law, yielded in the interest of the ruler and hostile to the interests of the governed, on one hand, fear as the principle of action, namely fear of the people by the ruler and fear of the ruler by the eople†¦ †(Arendt. 306) Terror, according to Arendt, has traditionally been used as a means to an end, or tool for tyrannical regimes, namely the end of maintaining and sustaining a position of power over its subjects. Totalitarian systems however, do not function in this way, ideologically at least, According to Arendt. â€Å"total terror leaves no arbitrary lawlessness behind it and does not rage for the sake of some arbitrary will or for the sake of despotic power of one man against all. † (Arendt. 311) Context and Content: In order to understand the nature (if there is one) of Totalitarianism forms of government, it is important first to understand both their historical contexts and the Ideologies which underpin them, as Totalitarian regimes, are by their nature ideological, as Arendt shows. Take for example National Socialism, the political ideology which took root in Germany during the 1930’s, characterised by militant nationalism and overtly inherent racism. The context in which the Nazi party rose to prominence was the extreme devastation, debt and resulting poverty and hunger left in Germany in the wake of the First World War. It can indeed be argued that Adolph Hitler’s demagoguery and flair for rousing public sympathy with his intense speeches, was also crucial to the widespread proliferation, acceptance and support for Nazi ideology, at a time when people yearned for a clear solution to their plight and poverty. Hitler’s bellicose rhetoric displayed a typical trait of ideologies; a final solution, the idea that the answer to all of life’s problems can be understood and solved by following a particular stringent course of action determined by a single unambiguous worldview. Ideologies-isms, which to the satisfaction of their adherents can explain everything and every occurrence by deducing it from a single premise† (Arendt. 315) Nazi Ideology had at its core, a politically and indeed racially motivated perversion of the Darwinian concept of a natural hierarchy of species, in which the stronger/more successful species would inevitably replace the weaker ones. Darwin’s profound insight into the ways in which organisms evolve was warped and misrepresented by the Nazis, who filtered it through their racist and nationalist worldview, justifying the extermination of Jews and other supposed degenerate races by claiming they were following and indeed implementing a Law of Nature. In Darwin, Arendt explains, the Nazi party had found what they saw as an unbending Natural Law, the very source from which positive (manmade) laws had been traditionally derived. far from being â€Å"lawless,† it goes to the sources of authority from which positive laws received their ultimate legitimation† (Arendt. 307) Arendt argues that this Law of Nature was taken to be a suprahuman edict which was used justify their campaign of terror and genocide, and furthermore usurp any positive laws which were counter-productive to their cause. Nature itself mandated the extermination of lesser â€Å"degenerate† races according to Nazi ideology. And so the carrying out and indeed hastening of the process of this â€Å"Natural† decree was the end which the Totalitarian regimes sough to effect. In fact, Totalitarian ideology sought for the actual societal embodiment of these supposed Laws of history and nature, and asserted that by the strict implantation and of these laws, a utopia on Earth would be realised. â€Å"the Law of Nature or the law of History, if properly executed, is expected to produce mankind as its end product† (Arendt. 307) Arendt is highly critical of this thinking which she describes as particular to Totalitarian government. One of the most obvious critiques which she makes is the complete disregard in this line of thinking for basic anthropological concerns i. e. ow humans actually tend to behave and function. â€Å"It applies the law directly to mankind without bothering with the behaviour of men†¦ Totalitarian policy claims to transform the human species into an active unfailing carrier of a law to which human beings otherwise would only passively and reluctantly be subjected† (Arendt. 307) Terror as the essence of Totalitarian rule: Built into the notion of executing the Laws of nature and history is an inherent eschewing of the legitimacy, importance and even relevance of manmade or positive laws, which are intended to govern and ease the functioning of societies in which people participate. The denial of positive laws and their replacement with the bringing into effect, a Law of Nature or indeed a Law of History as per Totalitarian ideology, is, Arendt argues largely what separates Totalitarian regimes from despotism and tyranny. Because they drew their justification from the very source of all positive laws i. e. Natural law, Totalitarian regimes were able to substantiate this denial of the legitimacy of positive laws by claiming that in aiming to produce the perfect rule of Natural Law on earth, that mankind itself would become the very â€Å"embodiment of the law† (Arendt. 08) By claiming to actualise and bring into effect fundamental laws which determine the inevitable course of history by establishing the perfect rule of Natural law on earth through use of terror, Totalitarian regimes subvert at the same time traditional notions of government and also notions of the utility of terror. Terror was no longer merely an arbitrary tool of oppression, (although it was of course the methodology with which the terrible ideology of Totalitarianism was realised) Terror was itself the embodied form which submission to the supposed Law of Nature took, or as Arendt puts it â€Å"Terror as the execution of a law of movement†¦ Arendt. 311)† Terror was in fact now the end goal itself; as such Terror is indeed Totalitarianism’s essence. Arendt uses a good analogy to illustrate this point. â€Å"the absence of crimes in any society does not render laws superfluous but, on the contrary, signifies their most perfect rule-so terror in totalitarian government has ceased to be a mere means for the suppression of opposition, though it is also used for such purposes. Terror becomes total when it becomes independent of all opposition; it rules supreme when nobody any longer stands in its way. If lawfulness is the essence of non-tyrannical government and lawlessness is the essence of tyranny, then terror is the essence totalitarian domination† Dangerous Ideology: What made Nazism and Stalinism so dangerous, according to Arendt, were not merely the ideas which characterised their respective ideologies i. e. racism and dialectical materialism, but the logic which one could arguably follow from these types of thinking. If Ideologies are the logic of ideas, (which they are! ) then it is the seemingly logical implications of these ideas, which made them dangerous. To put it simply, if one concludes that there are suprahuman forces which determine the very course of history, as espoused by Nazism and Stalinism, then one must be bound to follow the logical steps which lead from this idea. â€Å"Whoever agreed that there are such things as â€Å"dying classes† and did not draw the consequence of killing their members, or that the right to live had something to do with race and did not draw the consequence of killing â€Å"unfit races,† was plainly either stupid or a coward†. (Arendt. 318) The dangers of commitment to the logic of ideas bviously are determined by the extremity of the ideas themselves, however as Arendt rightly points out, it is this ice cold reasoning which both Hitler and Stalin were very fond of which gave their ideologies a trajectory of power and an pseudo-scientific guise which legitimated them. Rather than a principle of action aimed at some common good or societal benefit such as the prevention of crime, this â€Å"logicality of ideological thinking† (Arendt. 321) is what makes Totalitarian government tick. Isolation, The Phenomenology of Terror: As we have seen, terror is the essence of Totalitarianism. But it is important to realise exactly what this means for the experiencing subject of Totalitarian rule. Terror, Arendt explains, destroys the ability to engage in any public life. Isolation is the most salient feature of terror. Terror wrought isolation has been used throughout the centuries by tyrannical rulers to inhibit political agency and thus destroy the possibility of revoltâ€Å"†¦ terror can rule absolutely only over men who are isolated against each other and that, therefore, one of the primary concerns of all tyrannical government is to bring isolation about†¦ Isolation and impotence, that is the fundamental inability to act at all, have always been characteristic of tyrannies. † (Arendt. 321-322) The final way in which Totalitarian governments differ from those regimes of tyranny, which have also employed terror as a tactic, is for Arendt, the destruction by terror of the private sphere of human life. Total terror, as it were, is not content with merely destroying the public life of people and their ability to interact. Total terror permeates the mind and destroys the faculties of creativity and mental autonomy. Totalitarianism seeks to destroy the entire ability for people to create something new and bring it into the world. While it obviously needs to destroy the ability of political life, it also enforces utter personal isolation (loneliness) on the mind of the individual, so that he or she has no outlet vent and indeed no ability to form ideas of their own. â€Å"In isolation, man remains in contact with the world as the human artifice; only when the most elementary forms of human creativity, which is the capacity to add something of one’s own to the common world, are destroyed, isolation becomes altogether unbearable†¦ Totalitarian government, like all tyrannies, certainly could not exist without destroying the public realm of life, that is, without destroying, by isolating men, their political capacities but totalitarian domination as a form of government is new in that it is not content with this isolation and destroys private life as well. It bases itself on loneliness, on the experience of not belonging to the world at all, which is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man. † (Arendt. 24) The phenomenological and anthropological implications of this total terror are for Arendt the complete breakdown of the human actor. She argues that humans are essentially social beings who need social interaction to function and live as we are hardwired to do so; our complete sense of who we are and what our world means ultimately derives from our experience of interacting with others. â€Å"For the confirmation of my identity I depend entirely upon other people† (Arendt. 324) In conclusion I think it may be prudent to summarise the central elucidations which Arendt makes in Ideology and Terror. . Totalitarian governments were unprecedented governmental forms before the early 20th century. 2. Totalitarian governments are ideological in nature and functioning, and derive their justifications from suprahuman â€Å"Laws of Nature and History† and implement the logic of these ideas through use of terror. 3. Terror is the primary tool and also the essence of Totalitarian governments, i. e. Total terror becomes the actual embodied form of the Laws of History and nature made manifest 4.  Totalitarian governments destroy the ability to act politically as all tyrannies do, but also they destroy the realm of private life as well, rendering human existence a miserable one in attempting to make each person the actual embodiment of Natural and Historical Laws Arendt’s masterful work has shed light on one of the darkest periods in human history and it al so lends insight into the nature of government, society and the human subject more broadly speaking. She remains a seminal figure in the discipline of political philosophy and continues to inspire thought and debate to this day.

The Clash Of Two Cultures essays

The Clash Of Two Cultures essays In the early 1600's, different cultures came to "The New World", in search of many different things, freedom of religion, to look for the Indies,in search of treasure and many more.When these "white men" came to the America's change for the Native Americans did not happen all at once, but over time the traditional way of everyday life changed for the Native Americans.Wonder, and curiosity rather than bitterness were some of the first expressions when these different cultures came into first contact. The great barriers of religion, ethics, language and values are some of the biggest factors that divided the Indians and Explorers from eachother. According to the puritan's beliefs, God has already chose which people will have salvation. Native American's however, believe that everyone is the same and that no single person is better than another. The belief's of these two groups were also carried out differently, the Puritan's relied on their bible, and the Native americans relied on oral transmission of their theolgy. The Native Americans worshipped their own "great spirit", that took refrence for all living and once living things.The Puritan's however hold their bible literal and sacred, they saw the worship of other living things or than God as sinly, and therefore held the Native American society as a society drowning in sin. Moral And ethical values also differed greatly between the two societys, explorers didn't understand the barbaric ways of the Indians, and the Indian's didn't understand why the explorers viewed their lack of clothing, and organized worship as "savage". Language, a huge barrier always made it hard for the society's to communicate with eachother. Soon, the "invaders" found a way to somewhat communicate with Native American sign language, but this did not always mean they understood eachother. No matter how hard these two cultures tried there was always the language barrier holdin ...

The eNotes Blog Your New Textbook, Brought to You by BillGates

Your New Textbook, Brought to You by BillGates Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold have filed a new patent that could change the way we read textbooks, and possibly the way we learn, forever. Bored of reading the same textbooks, the same old way? Well, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, the duo behind an invention that can actually slow hurricanes, are looking to change that. In 2012 they filed a patent for a device that will have the capability to automatically create a customized video snippet from any random selection of text, according to GeekWire. That means that as you read a textbook on, say, a tablet or your phone, that device could generate a video based on the content of the textbookturning a boring old piece of text into essentially a short film. This new patent, titled Autogenerating Video from Text, would certainly be a game changer in the educational community. While interactive instruction has been on the scene for some time, never before has any technology been able to show a human sort of understanding of the text at hand, let alone an understanding of how best to teach it to a student. In one of the scenarios the patent poses, a student could theoretically snap a picture of a textbook page and watch a video rendering of the facts therein; as opposed to (or perhaps we should say in addition to) reading paragraphs of names and dates, the student could watch a video of soldiers running across a battlefield. In yet another possible application outlined by the patent, the app/devices personalization features could really make the information hit home: Someone reading Shakespeare could scan a section of text to create a video depicting one of the scenes - and the system could be set to â€Å"insert family members into the video clip instead of the typical characters.† Because it wouldnt be at all creepy to see your family members tragic roles. My advice: stay away from Oedipus Rex, kids. If the idea does indeed come to fruition, the capability to generate video and images from texts could greatly aid the visual learners among us, or maybe just better engage students with shorter attention spans. Its likely that this technology is a long way off, but with the rapid changes technology constantly brings to the field of education, I wouldnt discount it as a possibility. The question is, what do you think of this new way to read texts? Foul or fair? For their part, the geeks seem none too impressed:

Two Party System - Why Democrats and Republicans Win

Two Party System - Why Democrats and Republicans Win The two party system is firmly rooted in American politics and has been since the first organized political movements  emerged in the late 1700s. The two party system in the United States is now dominated by the Republicans and the Democrats. But through history the  Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, then the Democrats and the Whigs, have represented opposing political ideologies and campaigned against each other for seats at the local, state and federal levels. No third-party candidate has ever been elected to the White House, and very few have won seats in either the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. The most notable modern exception to the two party system is U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a socialist whose campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination invigorated liberal members of the party. The closest any independent presidential candidate has come to being elected to the White House was  billionaire Texan Ross Perot, who won 19 percent of the popular vote in the 1992 election. So why is the two party system unbreakable in the United States? Why do Republicans and Democrats hold a lock on elected offices at all levels of government? Is there any hope for a third party to emerge or independent candidates to gain traction despite election laws that make it difficult for them to get on the ballot, organize and raise money?   Here are four  reasons the two party system is here to stay for a long, long time. 1. Most Americans Are Affiliated With a Major Party Yes, this is the most obvious explanation for why the two party system remains solidly intact: Voters want it that way. A majority of Americans is registered with  the Republican and the Democratic parties, and thats been true throughout modern history, according to public-opinion surveys conducted by the Gallup organization. It is true that the portion of voters who now consider themselves independent of either major party is larger than either the Republican and Democratic blocs alone. But those independent voters are disorganized and rarely reach a consensus on the many third-party candidates; instead, most independents tend to lean toward one of the major parties come election time, leaving only a small portion of truly independent, third-party voters. 2. Our Election System Favors a Two Party System The American system of electing representatives at all levels of government makes it almost impossible for a third party to take root. We have what are known as single-member districts in which there is only one victor. The winner of the popular vote in all 435 congressional districts, U.S. Senate races and state legislative contests  takes office, and the electoral losers get nothing. This winner-take-all method fosters a two-party system and differs dramatically from proportional representation elections in European democracies.   Duverger’s Law, named for the French sociologist Maurice Duverger, states that a majority vote on one ballot is conducive to a two-party system ...  Elections determined by a majority vote on one ballot literally pulverize third parties (and would do worse to fourth or fifth parties, if there were any; but none exist for this very reason). Even when a single ballot system operates with only two parties, the one that wins is favored, and the other suffers. In other words, voters tend to choose candidates who actually have a shot at winning instead of throwing their votes away on someone who will only get a small portion of the popular vote. By contrast, proportional representation elections held elsewhere in the world allow for more than one candidate to be chosen from each district, or for the selection of at-large candidates. For example, if the Republican candidates win 35 percent of the vote, they would control 35 percent of the seats in the delegation; if Democrats won 40 percent, they would represent 40 percent of the delegation; and if a third party such as the Libertarians or Greens won 10 percent of the vote, they would get to hold one in 10 seats. The basic principles underlying proportional representation elections are that all voters deserve representation and that all political groups in society deserve to be represented in our legislatures in proportion to their strength in the electorate. In other words, everyone should have the right to fair representation, the advocacy group FairVote states. 3. Its Tough for Third Parties to Get on the Ballot Third-party candidates have to clear greater hurdles to get on the ballot in many states, and its difficult to raise money and organize a campaign when youre busy gathering tens of thousands of signatures. Many states have closed primaries instead of open primaries, meaning only registered Republicans and Democrats can nominate candidates for the general election. That leaves third-party candidates at a significant disadvantage. Third party candidates have less time to file paperwork and must collect a greater number of signatures than do major party candidates in some states. 4. There Are Just Too Many Third Party Candidates There are third parties out there. And fourth parties. And fifth parties. There are, in fact, hundreds of small, obscure political parties and candidates who appear on ballots across the union in their names. But they represent a broad spectrum of political beliefs outside of the mainstream, and placing them all in a big tent would be impossible. In the 2016 presidential election alone, voters had dozens of third-party candidates to choose from if they were dissatisfied with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. They could have voted instead for libertarian Gary Johnson; Jill Stein of the Green Party;  Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party; or Better for Americas Evan McMullin. There were socialist candidates, pro-marijuana candidates, prohibition candidates, reform candidates. The list goes on. But these obscure candidates suffer from a lack of  consensus, no common ideological  thread running through all of them. Simply put, theyre too splintered and disorganized to be credible alternatives to the major-party candidates.

The Impact of Divorce Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Impact of Divorce - Research Paper Example The status of marriage and the cohabitation of couples, in general, has changed substantially over the past 80 years or so (Saluter & Lugaila, 1996). In 1920, the divorce rate stood at about 12 percent. In 1960, about a quarter of marriages failed and by 1974, the number jumped to a full third of all marriages ending in divorce (Gutierrez, 1988). In 1996, it was reported that almost half (43 percent) of first marriages ended in either divorce or separation by the15th year of the relationship, according to a study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (Saluter & Lugaila, 1996). Men responded that inattentiveness of the children and home, mental cruelty, sexual incompatibility, and infidelity were the main reasons for filing divorce papers. Women cited mental and physical cruelty, alcohol abuse and financial difficulties. In general, persons in the economic middle class are concerned with emotional and psychological satisfaction. Lower-class couples are concerned more with physical actions of their husbands and financial difficulties within the relationship. Numerous background elements are associated with higher rates of divorce. For instance, couples who are better educated have a lower risk of divorce than do those who are less well educated. Accordingly, â€Å"divorce is more common among lower socioeconomic groups than among professional groups† (Gutierrez, 1988). A divorce encompasses many variables, all or some may play a role in contributing to difficulties for children. The loss of daily contact with one parent from the family situation, usually the father, results in the children losing the amount of affection they were receiving when both parents were in the same house. The life-skills, knowledge, and financial resources formerly supplied by the missing parent, whether they are out of their lives on a part or full-time basis is forever lost to the children. Divorce usually means that the children are living with one parent now earning just one salary which creates hardships beyond the emotional crisis of the divorce itself. The stress involved in divorce goes beyond the emotions involved as well. Many children are forced to move to a new, usually less desirable neighborhood, possibly put into a daycare for the first time and must make new friends in an unfamiliar environment. Some are moved father away from the familiarity of the extende d family, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, etc. One, some or all of these life-changing events can cause great and lasting amounts of stress for children of all ages. Whether or not the divorce is amicable and the general stability of the parents plays a role in how the children will adjust to the divorce. â€Å"Much of what happens to children in general is related to the skill of parents in helping them develop. The competence of parents following divorce is likely to have considerable influence on how the children are doing† (Kelly and Emery, 2003) Unfortunately for all concerned, conflict between divorcing parents is frequently the rule rather than the exception. The extent to which parents expose their children to

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment Example For Wright, globalization brings some order in the world while for Kaplan it is a source of chaos but both agree that it is not a new phenomenon as traces of it can be found in history. Kaplan and Wright view globalization as a growth in interdependence among nations enhanced by commerce and improved technology. The expansion of commerce began in the prehistoric period driven by improvements in transport, roads, wheels and boats. These improvements were meant for facilitating wars but when there was no fighting, they were used to do deals (Wright). Even today, trade is enhanced by improved transport and communication making it accessible to cross boarders and trade with other nations. The building of ships, planes, trucks, and railway has connected many countries to the rest of world thereby enhancing globalization. According to Kaplan, the geographical location of a country is vital in determining its success in commerce. America has been able to rise in the global scene due to adva ncement in transport and its strategic position where it can connect to the rest of the world. It can connect to Europe through the Atlantic Ocean, Asia through Pacific Ocean and other countries through the Indian Ocean. It is thus able to exchange with those countries through its shipping lines. Information technology has also been attributed to the spread of Globalization. According to Wright it started in early days when writing was discovered in Mesopotamia as a way of keeping records. It was later used in the form of contracts that enhanced international trade. The discovery of print also accelerated globalization. In Wright’s words, it makes it cheap to transmit information thus giving power to the powerless groups. He gives an example of the rise of Protestantism from the Roman Catholic Church that was facilitated by the emergence of print media in the 15th century. People like Martin Luther used the print to their advantage to spread ideas and attract masses. Today, i nformation technology also helps to advance the terrorism ideals as people from all over the world watch news of terrorism activities through televisions, internet and other social media. The events of 9/11 attacks were broadcast all over the world and Osama bin Laden became a local name thus globalizing the world through media. Technology advancement has also resulted in development of nuclear weapons necessiting the governments to unite against such activities by forming a global security watch bodies. Globalization over time has led to both positive and negative consequences. According to Wright, globalization has led to expansion of governments thereby forming global governance. This is due to increasing interdependence among nations; what happens in one country affects other countries thus creating the need for a world body such as World Trade Organization to regulate commerce and trade. The United Nations is also a world body that ensures security among nations. America being a pertinent player in the global scene therefore has a duty to protect its interests and this makes it necessary for it to intervene in the affairs of other nations to ensure they are stable. This is due to the fact that if trading nations are unstable, then America will be affected due to interdependence. This explains America’s interest in ending Iraq war. Globalization also leads to growth of morality. According to Wri