Morality in Politics Essay Example for Free

Morality in Politics Essay Civic virtue is the formation of habits of personal living that are claimed to be important for the success of the community. This term was important to Aristotle’s theories on politics. He felt that all humans should take pleasure in civic virtue and that it was essential for living â€Å"the good life†. Today, our democratic government is well-suited to promote civic virtue and participation of all people in the country. Although times have changed since Aristotle’s days, this ideology can be seen actively in our society. One of the main ideas in Aristotle’s philosophy was teleos, or the purpose or goal of something. To fully understand something, we must also understand its teleos. For example, I have an apple. I know that it is red, kind of round, and grows on a tree, but the real purpose or teleos of that apple to me is food. As far as humans go, Aristotle says that humans are meant to be happy. To be happy, humans must live a life of virtue, which means they always choose what is morally good. Humans have the abilities to think and speak, and therefore decide what is good and bad, right and wrong, etc. People that may think they are living a good life but are not making moral decisions are not truly happy in Aristotle’s eyes. Politics provides a place for people to interact with each other, talk about what is right and wrong, just or unjust, and to make laws reflecting these things. It allows people to participate in their lives, make ethical decisions, and fulfill their happiness potential. Politics is dynamic, unlike math or science that are concrete and unchanging. People can work with each other in politics and work for the greater good. The development of civic virtue allows for a person to relate to their community. It helps them understand their ties to the community and responsibility within it. It helps them see beyond their own personal interests. Some examples of civic virtue would be voting, volunteering, or going to a town meeting. Today, anyone can participate in these things, but Aristotle believed differently. He held that women and slaves were not eligible to participate in politics, and very young men were not ready to participate because they did not understand how the society worked yet. Because of this, a small number of people in his time actually participated in politics compared to today. The American democratic government is well suited for civic virtue. The first reason is that everyone can participate, which means that everyone has the opportunity to become happy people living their life to the fullest. Anyone, provided they are 18 and a citizen, can vote. They can vote for the candidate they feel will represent their moral views and put them into action. People can run for office and put their views to work. Another reason is freedom of speech. Americans have the opportunity to speak freely about issues and share their opinions with others. This helps them create those habits of morality that become a part of their civic virtue. A third reason is the freedom to assemble. Any person can start a club or a group to meet with others. Active participation in public life is essential to civic virtue. A group may be a philanthropy group aimed at helping others. Reciprocity or giving back to the community is another key element of civic virtue. Virtue is closely related to free will. Through active participation, people develop their moral compass and they develop their ideas of what is right and wrong, and their habits of how to react in situations accordingly. People develop their own morality. How can one legislate free will? You cannot. But the legal system can shape morality. By setting laws in certain ways, people will develop their moral views around them. Laws can shape habits by reducing the frequency of certain acts. Giving prison time, fines, probation, and so on can help people learn that they do not want to do the things that caused those punishments. Laws can shape morality as well because people naturally draw influence from other sources. Some may create their moral background on the basis of religion or their family, but the law can be one of those influences as well. The legal system is important for developing morality in society and promoting civic virtue. Civic virtue is important in society. By actively participating in the community, Aristotle believes that people will be ultimately happy. The true purpose of humans is to be happy, and civic virtue is the pathway to this happiness. The American government gives many opportunities for people to participate in both politics and the community, which promotes civic virtue.

Harry S. Truman :: essays research papers

Biography: During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry S Truman scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President. He told reporters, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and for 12 years prospered as a Missouri farmer. He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning, he married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, and opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. Active in the Democratic Party, Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court (an administrative position) in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars. As President, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed. In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace. Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's policies, but he soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote, "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right." It became known as the Fair Deal. Dangers and crises marked the foreign scene as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. In foreign affairs he was already providing his most effective leadership. In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enunciating the program that bears his name--the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe. When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down.

How to Develop an Organizational Training Plan Essay

Introduction To achieve its business objectives, an organisation needs people with the right skills and knowledge to be in place at the right time. The Training Plan describes how the organisation is going to achieve this. Creating an Organisational Training Plan: †¢ Is an opportunity for the management team to step back and identify the skills and knowledge gaps in the organisation †¢ Encourages the exploration of various options for training and development before deciding what to do †¢ Enables the budget and resources required for training to be planned and allocated during the business planning cycle †¢ Captures strategic training requirements in a single document as a point of reference for everyone. Definitions An Organisational Training Plan is a document created by the senior team that explains what strategic training the organisation needs to do and how it will do it. It does not address maintenance training, or personal development, both of which can be picked up at team level or through the appraisal system. Strategic training is any training and development of people that is required to enable the organisation to achieve its objectives. Maintenance training is the routine training that an organisation carries out to meet its legal requirements and operate smoothly. For example: first aid skills or basic IT. Personal development is developing individuals so that they fulfil their longer-term career potential in the organisation. Key steps in developing an Organisational Training Plan Consider the following questions as you develop your plan: 1. Have you developed a vision? 2. What are your organisational objectives? 3. Are the objectives SMART? 4. How do the various groups in the organisation help achieve these? 5. Have you involved people and representative groups in the development? 6. Does each group have the skills and knowledge it needs? 7. What training and development do you need to do? 8. How will you evaluate its effectiveness? 9. Do you know how the impact will be measured? 1. Organisational objectives An essential starting point is an understanding of the organisational objectives. This can be in the form of a Business Plan, or at its simplest, a set of SMART objectives. 2. How do the various groups in the organisation help achieve the organisation’s objectives? Start by identifying how each of the teams, departments or occupational areas in your organisation contributes to your organisational objectives. CBX is a medium sized software company that develops database management systems. It has 51 staff: Next year, CBX is planning two major business growth initiatives: †¢ It is planning to release a new on-line version of its flagship product ‘Lab Manager’. The market for the existing version of Lab Manager is approaching saturation, and CBX believes that the new version will kick start demand again. Development is currently behind schedule. Product Development will build the on-line version, the Sales and Marketing team are preparing sales and marketing plans that include global product launches. Operations are involved in creating the new packaging, and the Customer Services team needs to tool itself up to support the new product. †¢ It is extending its chain of sales agents to include the Middle East, Far East and Australia. The Sales and Marketing team are working with the newly appointed agents to create plans and sales literature. The Customer Services team will initially support the new agencies. 3. Does each group have the skills and knowledge that it needs? Now, think about the skills and knowledge that each group needs. What are their strengths and do they have any development needs? Here’s an analysis for some of the teams at CBX: Product Development (PD) Strengths in line with achieving the organisation’s goals †¢ Good understanding of the target market and its requirement †¢ Experience of building similar applications †¢ Well established team that works well together. Development needs to achieve the organisation’s goals †¢ More effective project management †¢ Advanced development in Internet technologies. Sales and Marketing (SM) Strengths in line with achieving the organisation’s goals †¢ Good understanding of UK/European market and their requirements †¢ Relationship building skills †¢ Good knowledge of existing products. Development needs to achieve the organisation’s goals †¢ Improved understanding of cultural diversity †¢ Briefing on new on-line product †¢ Project planning skills. Management Team (MT) Strengths in line with achieving the organisation’s goals †¢ Works well as a team †¢ Good understanding of market and its requirements †¢ Global vision. Development needs to achieve the organisation’s goals †¢ Briefing on new on-line product †¢ Improved understanding of cultural diversity. Tel: 08456 047 047 Web: www.traintogain.gov.uk Email: traintogain@businesslinksw.co.uk 4. What training and development do you need to do? Now, think about how what training activities you will put in place for each of the development areas in the matrix. Here are some options for you to consider: Team briefings Team training sessions run by the team leader. Useful for cascading information about new initiatives or for improving work standards in a group. Training sessions with an external training organisation to develop a new skill or knowledge. Can range from a one day workshop to a longer-term programme. 1:1 guidance and support for an individual who is developing a new skill or solving work problems. Individuals work though learning resources (e.g. interactive workbooks or on-line learning sessions) at their own pace. Useful for learning a new skill or gaining new knowledge. Run by people from within your organisation. Useful for delivering organisationspecific knowledge. The individual works with a more experienced staff member who shows them how to do the job or a particular task. The plan has to be achievable, and so you should allocate budget and resources to it at the planning stage. Many organisations believe that Investors in People assessors will be impressed with how much money the organisation spends on training and development. This isn’t true. The standard is about effective training and development in line with your organisation’s goals. 5. How will you evaluate its effectiveness? Think about how you will measure the success of the training activities in your plan. Try to develop success criteria that express the outputs or results that you expect in each development area. Your criteria should be measurable in terms of money, quality, productivity or time.

Real Business Cycle Theory and Demand Shocks Cycle Free Essay Example, 1750 words

Real business cycle models are characterized by a neglect of demand shocks and highlight technological productivity shocks that are the primary source of economic fluctuations. The strong assumptions of supply-driven dynamics and demand determined influences are considered in accordance with real business cycle theory. According to Entorf (1992), the backward propagation mechanism of demand shocks dominates the forward propagation of supply disturbances .In certain cases, business cycles are hit by productivity shocks that in turn affect consumer expectations and this has all the features of an aggregate demand shock that increases output, employment, and inflation. Productivity shock tends to have a temporary negative effect on inflation and employment (Lorenzoni, 2006). A demand shock is captured by a shift in consumer expectations and a disruption in market equilibrium or market adjustment that leads to a demand detriment and shifts in the demand curve. A demand shock can repres ent demand increase or demand decrease and an increase in demand is seen as a shift of the demand curve resulting in either increase or decrease of equilibrium quantity and price. According to Lorenzoni (2006), demand shocks can be related to changes in public sector expectations and productivity shocks can be associated with aggregate supply shocks. We will write a custom essay sample on Real Business Cycle Theory and Demand Shocks Cycle or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In the certain traditional Keynesian description and business cycle theories and models, the demand shocks or sudden growth in demand of products and services actually drive growth and business cycle and bring about changes in the market ad economy. For the real business cycle model which is seen as different and quite opposed to the demand shock cycle, the focus is on supply rather than demand and real business cycle highlights the fact that shocks or economic variations are driven by technological changes and technological or supply shocks in which there are rapid fluctuations of supply-driven by changes in technology.