The Speckled Band Essay Example for Free

The Speckled Band Essay Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in 1892, about Sherlock Holmes, his famous detective. Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859, and was a known as a keen pigeon-lover. He studied medicine there and eventually served as a physician in the Boer War, and many other battles. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first Sherlock Holmes tale, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887. He was so successful in his writing that he gave up his career as a physician only five years after the creation of Sherlock Holmes. He wrote a total of fifty-six short stories and four Sherlock Holmes novels over forty years. The stories are realistic representations of the moral and cultural settings of this period of the Victorian era. The nineteenth century is known as the Victorian era due to Queen Victoria ruling between 1837 and 1901. Many changes came about during this period in Britain, and many discoveries were made. Inventions such as the steam train made travel more common, and journeys easier to pursue. There is evidence of this in The Speckled Band, when the daughter of Dr. Roylott is able to travel faster to the city to meet Sherlock Holmes as she took a train, You took a train I see. Along with this was the industrial revolution, which brought rising crime rates and pollution. As the cities were crowded, due to large amounts of working class going to towns to get work, the Victorian rich were scared for their safety. In The Man with the Twisted Lip Mrs St. Clair was to said to be, In the hope of seeing a cab as she did not like the neighbourhood. This shows how scared the upper class were of the neighbourhoods with working class. With the Industrial Revolution also came a transformation within the social landscape. New wealth was looked down upon by upper classes, and with capitalists and manufacturers being able to acquire great fortunes the upper class were in disgust. The upper class were strict and there were rules in Victorian Britain that governed behaviour. Manners and morals were of great importance to Victorians, along with the Church and religious beliefs. Victorian society believed that an English gentleman should have certain mannerisms, and dress and speak properly. His intentions were consistently good, and his manners impeccable. A gentleman should uphold laws and societys rules; leading a respectable life, not squandering it. As far as Victorians believed, gentlemen were superior, although they should never give offence to anyone, even lower classes. They should not be arrogant or of a snobbish disposition, yet should act wisely at all times.

The Image of Christopher Columbus Essay -- American America History US

The Image of Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus is honored as the man who opened the doors to an Age of Discovery and exploration. Although he may not have been the first European to set foot onto the Americas, he did begin a wave of exploration in a new hemisphere. The time period of the age of discovery follows the end of the Middle Ages, which Columbus himself is a product. If it were not Columbus that brought European settlement to the New World, then it would have been some other explorer who probably started out with the same goals and ideas. However, there are many individuals who would disagree with the above statement. They would say that Columbus destroyed all that was beautiful in the New World with his thirst for greed and fame, that he raped the lands and the women, and disrupted a civilization that lived for hundreds of years. The question then becomes â€Å"Who is Christopher Columbus?† Is he really the man that some Americans describe as a hero, whose â€Å"journey was the first step in a long process that eventually produced the United States of America† (Royal 1) and to the â€Å"North American Revolutionaries, he was the Founding Fathers’ father† (Gates 29). Or is Columbus’ character flawed as other Americans might suggest. Some describe him as a ruthless slave trader who raped the virgin islands of the Caribbean and started the slave trade between the Old and New Worlds. So which image is right? That question is one that has been debated for years and will continue to be for years to come. It is one in which an individual alone can answer because it not only deals with historical facts but also ethics. This paper will present two opposing sides with enough facts concerning the controversy of the myth of Col... ...n, John. â€Å"Columbus: For Gold, God, and Glory.† 12/91, vol. 6 no. 12: 357-321. Gates, David. â€Å"Who was Columbus?† Newsweek Magazine. Fall/Winter 1991: 29-31. McNeil, William H. â€Å"How Columbus Remade the World.† NEH Humanities. Vol. 1 no.6: Dec 1985. (CIRS McNeil1.ART) Royal, Robert. â€Å"Columbus on Trial: 1492 v 1992† (CIRS Royal02.ART) Sale, Kirkpatrick. Conquest of Paradise. A Plume Book. New York, NY 1990. Sanoff, Alvin P. â€Å"The Myths of Columbus.† U.S. News and World Report. 8 Oct. 1990. (CIRS Sanoff01.ART) Schroeder, Richard C. â€Å"Should We Scuttle the Admiral of the Ocean Sea?† The Times of the Americas. 29 May 1991: 20+. (CIRS Schroed1.ART) Sokolov, Raymond. â€Å"Stop Knocking Columbus.† Newsweek Magazine. Vol. 1 no. 6, Dec. 1985. (CIRS Sokolov2.ART) Todorov, Tzvetan. The Conquest of America. Harper Perennial Publishers. New York, NY 1982.

What are the arguments for and against the state taking on responsibility for social welfare?

The different arguments for and against the state taking on responsibility for social welfare have been powerfully put across by people of opposing political persuasions in Britain over the last 60 years. In this essay, therefore, I intend to use Britain's welfare state to exemplify arguments for and against the state taking primary responsibility for social welfare. The welfare state in Britain was introduced in 1945 by the newly elected Labour government. Although this was the first comprehensive attempt at creating a functional welfare state it is important to note that it was not an entirely new policy. In fact, we can trace back to 1601 to find an early attempt at implementing a state welfare provision – the Poor Law. The theory behind this legislation was that the poor were to be categorized into the deserving (â€Å"the impotent poor†) and the undeserving (â€Å"the persistent idlers†). There were many obvious flaws in the methodology and logic in the implementation of the Poor Law but it must be recognised that this was an early attempt at providing a social welfare system. This demonstrates that for hundreds of years a case has been made for some measure of state social welfare provision. It is also vital not to underestimate the impact the studies carried out by social researchers such as Rowntree (1901) and Booth (1902) had on the forming and implementation of a social welfare provision in 1945. The Beveridge report (1942) pointed to the â€Å"chaotic† and â€Å"piecemeal† introduction of changes into the system and stated the need for a new and more comprehensive system to be installed. Beveridge's report was underpinned by the need to cure the â€Å"five giants†. Beveridge identified these â€Å"five giants† as: Idleness, Squalor, Ignorance, Want and Disease. He identified the need for a state commitment to securing full employment to combat idleness. He argued public housing must be available for all citizens to rent. To cure ignorance he suggested the need for a free education system for anyone up to the age of 15. He suggested the implementation of a national health service to help cure disease. Finally, Beveridge argued that National Insurance benefits should be handed out to all in need. The welfare state had to be introduced in a series of acts, notably the National Health Service Act (1946), the Education Act (1944), the Family Allowance Act (1945). At the time there was much reluctance towards carrying out all of the proposals. The arguments against this degree of state provision stemmed from concerns about cost and the fundamental principles of welfare (e. g. how decisions are made and who should be entitled to receive welfare). Because of the reluctance that grew from the fact that these arguments were never resolved. Beveridge's suggestions were never fully implemented but his ideas still clearly formed the inspiration for the future of welfare reform. One of the main criticisms of Beveridge's proposals and of the concept of a welfare state is that a number of important assumptions have to be made for it to function successfully. For example, within the report, Beveridge makes the assumption that married women would be full time housewives and that for most of their lives women would not be employed. Therefore, married women would only receive benefits through men, thus, creating a culture which encourages women's reliance on men. Because of this feminists have argued that the British welfare state relied on a â€Å"familial ideology† and treated women as second class citizens. This example of the role of women within the welfare state illustrates the point that any welfare system is not neutral that is based on ideological assumptions. These assumptions will influence the way that different members of the public will respond to state provision of welfare. Another example of these ideological assumptions would be the 17th century belief that only the â€Å"impotent poor† deserve state welfare. The economics of Britain's state welfare system have also come under a lot of criticism. These critics argue there are some fundamental flaws with the economic ideology underpinning the system. Firstly, for the welfare state to operate properly and fairly their must be nearly full employment in the country where it is based as, in theory, this will maximize tax revenue and minimize unemployment benefits. This system worked relatively effectively until the early 1970's. However, due to the relative decline of the UK economy, Britain suffered an economic crisis and unemployment started rising rapidly. Since then mass unemployment has been a serious problem within British society. Critics suggest that this is proof of how dependent a welfare state is on a prosperous economy. Basically this meant that the welfare state was reliant on capitalism – rather than contributing to the undermining or softening of its most brutal aspects . The New Right have made strong arguments against state welfare provision. The 1979 election brought into power a conservative government that had a new and radical approach to public expenditure and the welfare state as a whole. Probably the most notable change in policy brought in by the New Right was the end of the commitment to full employment that previous governments had encouraged. The New Right believed in a â€Å"natural level of employment†. They felt that this â€Å"natural level of employment† was being undermined by wages being too high due to the actions of trade unions. Therefore, they argued that the market would solve unemployment by creating downward pressure on wages. Because of this, the differential between wages and benefits was increased by creating downward pressure on benefit levels and therefore welfare expenditure. However, despite this right wing shift in political thinking, there was no major change in welfare expenditure until the late 1980's. The year 1988 was an important one in terms of implications for the welfare state as it represented a far more radical application of New Right thinking towards the welfare state. Firstly, the New Right introduced a shift from the previous system of universal provision towards a system based more upon selective provision. For example, some of the benefits that were previously available to everyone (universal) became only available to some via a â€Å"means test† (selective). This was a big move that completely contradicted the universal method employed by previous more left wing governments. Another change made by the New Right was the introduction of privatization and marketization. An example of this is the case of the sale of council houses. The public housing stock was privatized and sold off in an attempt to create a market for the council housing which had originally in Beveridge's thinking, been intended for public ownership and private rent. Another major shift made by the Conservative government was towards community care. There was a trend for mentally ill, elderly and disabled people to be moved from institutions to care in the community. However, what this basically meant was that rather than institutional care the responsibility was shifted onto the family. It is also very important to note that care in the community was considerably cheaper for the state to maintain than institutional care. The New Right also consciously made an effort to change the public's perception of welfare – shifting away from the view that the state is the only provider of welfare. The responsibility of the state was reduced through the encouragement of private provision and by emphasizing the importance of the charitable and voluntary sector. This is one of the central strands of the argument against state welfare provision. At this juncture it is important to consider the effect privatization has had on society and the welfare state. Since the New Right introduced new policy pertaining to welfare in 1979 there have been a number of examples of the UK government seeking to encourage private provision of welfare. People have been encouraged to take out private insurance plans for their welfare needs and the number of people covered by private health insurance rose from 2. million to 5. 2 million between 1976 and 1986 (Julian Le Grand, 1990). In the mid 1980's the Conservative government tried to shift sickness insurance and pension insurance into the private sector also. These plans, however, never came to fruition owing to major criticism and insurance companies expressing a reluctance to take up policies for all employees Hutton (1996) strongly criticizes the New Rights welfare expenditure policy. He argues against the belief that public expenditure should be reduced during troubled times for the economy. Hutton believes that the cuts are spurred by political ideology rather then by economic need. In Hutton's words â€Å"apart from Iceland, Britain runs the meanest, tightest, lowest-cost social security system in the world†. Hutton alleges that the twenty-first century will see a large rise in the amount of tax revenue available to fund welfare payments. The voluntary sector must also be discussed when considering arguments for and against the state taking on responsibility for the welfare state. Organizations such as Barnados, the Salvation Army and the NSPCC provide voluntary care. They serve a different role to statutory bodies set up by Parliament, but the views of these voluntary providers are respected and need to be taken into account as well. These organizations tend to have specialized expertise and experience in certain areas and the government can benefit from this knowledge. A major bonus of voluntary provision is that they are often very cost effective as unpaid volunteers are often used. It is estimated by Knapp (1989) that the total amount of public-sector support for voluntary provision between 1983 and 1986 was i3151 million. However, there are also inherent weaknesses in voluntary provision. The biggest and most blatant problem stems from the nature of voluntary work as it cannot be guaranteed. Critics also point to the fact that voluntary work may be unequally provided across the country. The service can therefore be inconsistent and the advice from the voluntary sector to government might differ depending on the region. It is also suggested that due to financial restrictions the voluntary sector will never be anything more than a secondary level service that relies on the state or private sector provision. Social security benefits are the most redistributive aspect of the welfare state as they distribute income to the poorest people in the country. A point in favour of a social welfare system, from a socialist or social democratic perspective, is that the social security benefits can be used to redistribute wealth to make society economically fairer by heavily taxing the rich and giving it to the poorest people in society. On the other hand, opponents see this as a Robin Hood aspect of state social welfare which demotivates both the richest and the poorest people in the country – encouraging idleness (one of the â€Å"five giants† beveridge was trying to eradicate) amongst the poor and encouraging the rich to leave the country. The New Right when in power, therefore, cut back on the redistributive aspects of welfare provision. The one-off grant system that was previously in effect was replaced in the 1986 and 1988 security acts and 16 to 18 year olds entitlement to income support was revoked. In current political debates the Conservative party, now in opposition frequently accuse the Labour party of redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor via â€Å"underhand† or â€Å"stealthy† methods. This is an indication that the argument about the extent to which the state should take responsibility for social welfare remains highly contested. Where you stand on this issue is fundamental to your political beliefs and how you will vote.

Poverty in India Essay - 2344 Words

Poverty has been a serious and a long-lasting issue in India. India is set to become a global economic power in decades to come. The hype of this booming economy causes great socio-economic concerns for this country and is being ignored by the government. This paper will argue the recent rapid increases in population, growth of cities, the burgeoning economy and government corruption in India. These factors all combine to create growing inequities in the provision of the basic needs of society; food, water, shelter, health care and education result in an increased gap between rich and poor in the country. Poverty is a condition in which a person fails to maintain a standard living adequate for a comfortable lifestyle. India has the†¦show more content†¦Inflation plays a major role towards the economy of the nation. These concerns raise problems within the Indian democracy that have always been challenged by market prices. In addition, it poses serious threats to welfare of t he population and for those living below the poverty line. The education sector of India has been atrociously affected by inflation rates as they play an important factor for ones’ financial educational plans. There are two expectations among the workforce state of education, the amount of workers in India unable to graduate with college degrees hence creating a decline in the number of workers with specialized and technical skills. Secondly, the ones graduated seek employment outside of the country. (Nesmith, K. 2005) India will overtake China for the most populated country title in a couple of decades. A boost in the nation’s population increases burden on natural resources like land and shelter. More people share wealth and land is becoming scarce, especially for one to either own or construct a property. This leads to poverty and is truly the case with India. Despite all the hype about fast growing economy and a phenomenal GDP, the government and the citizens will suffer from growing poverty. Around 350-400 million people in India remain below the poverty line. It is worth mentioning that poverty line will raise the percentage of poor people to greater numbers.Show MoreRelatedEffect Of Poverty On The Poverty Of India1948 Words   |  8 Pagesboth themselves and the world. The effects of poverty can be felt at every level of society — from the individual living in the poverty stricken environment to the political leader attempting to provide specific solutions. According to statistics, India has seen significant falls in poverty since the 1980s, rates that accelerated into the 1990s. This has been strongly related to India’s impressive growth record over this period. 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