Beijing’s Transformation Free Essays

From a walled city to a modern metropolitan, from a closed culture to globalization and from ancient teashops to modern cafeterias and from birdcages to subways; the road to modernity has been a very long one for Beijing. There is a plethora of driving forces for the drastic changes that Beijing has undergone. There are huge contradictions about the way common people react to these changes and about how the new Beijing measures up to their vision of their city. We will write a custom essay sample on Beijing’s Transformation or any similar topic only for you Order Now This dilemma of choosing between tradition and modernity, between old values and new ethics and between age old culture and the world order, is not unique to Beijing. Developing countries, particularly oriental ones, are often faced with these difficult choices on the road to progress. The choice has to be made and made judiciously. Beijing’s cultural ethos is very closely related to the walls which were symbolic of so many things in Beijing’s culture, such as social status, direction, space, class, privacy and even prejudices. The changes that took place in the mindsets of people who were at helm, and the changes that were responsible for Beijing’s new look, can be tracked through the treatment meted out to these walls in different eras. The city was earlier enclosed within walls and the courtyards were separated from each other by walls. The walls contributed to Beijing’s mystery and charm that was part and parcel of its magnificence. But the first step towards modernization of Beijing was the flattening of these walls which had stood for so long as a symbol of Chinese culture in vogue in Beijing at that time. Right after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, the onslaught of modernization was brought on and the walls were the first to feel the brunt of this modernization. The walls were pulled down to make way for fast tracks and western style buildings. This was the beginning of the end of old Beijing with its aura, cultural heritage and glorious history. Mao, in association with Soviet communists who had money, technical know-how and a vision, laid out extensive plans for the modernization and industrialization of Beijing. Though the Soviet Union and China fell apart in 1960, the foundation of the plans had already been laid and the modernization proceeded on similar lines. Factories were built in and around Beijing in large numbers. Rural agricultural faced a setback because the peasants abandoned the villages in order to join the urban work force. Worker’s settlements sprang up like mushrooms and Beijing became a modern industrial city of the world. The air which was earlier pure and healthy, now became smoky and has till now not been able to regain its earlier freshness. The walls now symbolized feudalistic attitudes to the new generation who were more for rapid industrialization. Hence the remaining walls, temples, courtyards, teahouses and pleasure houses, were sheared down. Their place was taken by dull and drab official buildings, standardized stores, apartment buildings and so on. Even holiday rituals were not left untouched. From folk fairs, the generation graduated to parades and rallies. Beijing was changing and changing rapidly. The walls were later sacrificed for the need of materials for civil defense and subway lines. Mao’s obsessive fear about Soviet invasion, caused tunnel digging to become the national occupation, in the 1970’s. The tunnels dug during that period still lie under the city. In a way, the walls that were once the awe inspiring feature of Beijing’s architecture now lie forgotten under the city. Historical reasons were at the forefront in the causes of Beijing’s makeover from a conservative, mysterious and culturally rich society to a modern, global village with loads of modern architecture and almost no historical heritage to speak of. Elitist Chinese architect Liang Sicheng wanted Beijing to grow to modernism but still remain in a delightful sync with its rich culture by concentrating the modernization outside the walled city. The plan was a beautiful orchestration of the divergent forces of tradition and modernity but the plan was laughed off for being too idealistic and impractical. Had it been implemented, Beijing would have had a different look altogether. The Chinese population, by and large, is divided into two major sectors- one segment consists of people who are all for modernization even if it comes at the cost of culture. The other genre is of people who believe that old cultural traditions must not be shed off like extra baggage in the long journey to progress. They must be preserved, nurtured and slowly evolved into what may be a great culture in the times to come. This conflict is foremost when we come to understand the psychology of people in developing countries about what they feel is the right way to attain development of economies and nation building. Beijing’s Urban Planning Commission member Hou, with his respectable credentials, firmly believes that architecture of any city should reflect the theme of the era. Chinese architecture, for centuries, was only reproducing itself and had made little progress. It had become stagnant and modernization calls for modern architecture as well. There are a lot of people who conform with the above views, people who believe that modernization is the new mantra and no country should be weighed down by its past. For many, the destruction of old values and ethics and old architecture does not amount to cultural vandalism simply because they believe they no longer serve any purpose in the modern world. All the things, artifacts, architectural wonders, rituals and values that are obsolete and impractical and unsuited to modern life styles, must die a natural death and people must not pine for them or be nostalgic. In the opinions of this new brigade of people, change is always for the better and we must learn to accept it in order to be in sync with the times. The old timers, conservationists, intellectuals and even some students, on the other hand, are less than happy about Beijing’s changing skyline. They are the cult who believes that modernization need not come at the destruction of old values and traditions. They still believe that Chinese architecture is still contemporary and practical, Chinese rituals are still relevant and Chinese values are still capable of illuminating the correct moral path to any individual. They believe that modernization of Beijing could have proceeded on different lines, tracks that would have ensured that the old traditions would have blended beautifully with the new traditions that came in with globalization. Chinese culture would then have been a colorful melange of values old and new, would have shed it weaknesses and evolved into a great culture. Development often brings with it loads of difficult choices which have to be made and made correctly by the people who hold the reins. If these choices are not made judiciously and the common people are not comfortable with them, we will get to see a divided society on the question of how good the progress is. Beijing is undergoing that phase today, where its citizens are into an intense conflict about whether the development is the need of the hour or is it just a burden on the culture and tradition which have worked for so long. The development has taken place so fast that people did not get the time to come to terms with it and were left wondering and gaping at what was happening to their system and to their ethnicity. By the time people realized that new values had infiltrated their society, it was already too late and they were left to adjust to the surroundings as far as they could for their own good. However, increasingly large numbers of people believe that development had to happen and the way it happened is of no consequence. New traditions and cultures are all part and parcel of this package and should be accepted as such. In all, this genre has no regrets about anything except the few minor mistakes like the deterioration of Beijing’s skyline which even they regret. By and large, the conflict is immense, the debate is still on and the result is eagerly awaited so that the road for future can be chartered insightfully. Such discords are common and all countries have either faced it at some point of time in history or are still into it like China. At the essence of such conflict is the vast difference in public opinions and their mindsets. Some are more akin to changes and take to them positively; others are averse to them and look at everything new with raised eyebrows and in suspicion. Hence the divided opinion about the sweeping changes accompanying the progress is somewhat expected. The people in power have to create an environment which is conducive of changes and take most of the people with them in the long voyage to progress. Public opinion will always be conflicting as such a vast number of individuals cannot think alike. But the operative word is ‘majority’ of the people. It is possible to create a favorable opinion in the minds of most of the people about what is happening around them and they have to be convinced that some good will come out of it. The development should be paced in such a way that the changes are not too drastic too fast and the people are allowed to adjust slowly to the changes. There are not two views about the fact that the cultural heritage of the countries is to be preserved. The rituals need to change a little bit to be more relevant and practical in the fast paced world. But the required changes in the ritualistic part to culture have to evolve and not coerced on the people. Only if the changes take place slowly will they be incorporated into the existing structure without creating ripples upon the surface of the calm water. It needs to be understood that what has been going on for a long time will take a bit of time to be mummified and we cannot and must not expect it to disappear as soon as we wish it to or as soon as something new comes up. On the road to progress, a fine balance and harmony needs to be struck between tradition and modernity. Beautiful old architecture, artifacts, and some delightful customs need to be remembered if only for the sake of tourism. The developing countries need to uphold their culture for posterity. It may sound cliched that the coming generations need to know their forefathers and their ancestral traditions; but in truth it is very important for the future that the progeny know, respect and appreciate their past. In the fast road to progress, we need to know about the values that made life livable, the customs that called for celebration and the traditions that created compassion and insight. The question Beijing is facing now is of great importance and needs to be dealt with properly by the people who have the power in Beijing. The city is in the throngs of a cultural crisis and in order to stop another Cultural Revolution from taking place, something needs to be done and done fast. What has been destroyed cannot be replenished but whatever still remains can be preserved. Beijing has too great a culture to be left to the elements of modernity. It needs to be preserved carefully so that it can be a legacy to the coming generations. No doubt, modernity is the need of the hour but the overlooked fact is that even cultural preservation is a requirement. If this fact is realized in time, maybe Beijing can be a utopia, with the desired blend of culture and globalization; like a beautiful modern city where relics of golden past have been carefully and passionately preserved. How to cite Beijing’s Transformation, Papers

Rock Or Bust by AC/DC free essay sample

The hard rockers from down under are Back In Black, and as legendary as ever! Their new, highly anticipated 15th studio album, â€Å"Rock Or Bust† stays true to their ‘guitar band’ sound. As soon as the first riff kicked in on the first Rock Or Bust by AC/DC track, I knew I was in for an (other) inconceivably outstanding performance from Angus Young, and proved once again that rock and roll is indeed not noise pollution. What I wasn’t expecting was Stevie Young’s ease in taking the place of his uncle, and one of the band’s founding members, Malcolm Young who is no longer with the band due to medical complications. Brian Johnson’s vocal work still kicks butt and Angus can hold energy throughout; exactly what you’d expect from 60-somethings in a hard rock band. The riffs, solos, and licks are still in that good, old AC/DC fashion we’ve grown to love about the band. We will write a custom essay sample on Rock Or Bust by AC/DC or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Go and buy the album, and crank those speakers up to eleven. The release is very much worth the money. And for those about to rock†¦ †¦We salute you.

The Advantages Of Stupidity Essays - Intelligence, Stupidity

The Advantages of Stupidity Most people say being stupid will lead no where. They claim that it is the worst possible condition in which to spend one's life, and if possible, it should be completely avoided. They would even suggest if the symptoms of stupidity are caught in the early stages, it could easily be treated by a surgeon. The most effective method used to do this is the chainsaw technique, later described in volume two. Yet, perhaps if people took a closer look at some of the advantages stupidity had to offer, they wouldn't have such a negative attitude toward it. After reading this paper, one will understand the advantages of stupidity. Admittedly, stupidity has certain disadvantages. Life isn't a bowl of cherries. And being stupid doesn't make it any fruitier. Being stupid can annoy even the most sensitive people. If one acts stupid, and does it in the wrong crowd, like a group of adults, it will seem more immature than funny. If one is forced to act stupid while dealing with lower life forms, for example, high school teachers, one may encounter barriers such as cruelty and insensitivity, with the utterance of statements like, "Think with your head straight!" or, "You have a brain, use it." Yet these are all true, there are still many advantages to stupidity. The first advantage is very easy to understand. Stupid people are never asked to do a lot. Many have noticed that people tend to steer away from someone they feel may be stupid. This is for a very good reason. The stupidity which they posses makes a name for themselves, a name which can be very difficult to shake. Possibly, it is a word which describes the working habits of the person, such as "crappy". Yet, this creates a positive situation for the stupid person. They will have a lot of free time on their hands for more of lifes truly meaningful pleasures. Some of these activities are combing facial hair, and counting the pixels on a Sony TV. Now, there has been a rumour going around that suggests that stupid people have low expectations. This is true. They are so stupid that they don't realize great from O.K. They could have a Sanyo cordless phone, but would probably choose instead a Pierre Cardin alarm clock telephone, because it comes free with their sensamatic folding bed. And someone with the "advantage" of stupidity might have a hard time doing certain tasks, or setting things up. Yet this isn't all bad. For example, if a stupid person leaves the chore, and comes back to it later, no one will be able to understand it. Would they get fired from their job? No. For the very simple reason that no one would understand their work except for them. The job would have to be given back to the stupid person, perhaps with a higher salary, or someone would do it for them, leaving them with even more free time! Free time is great for brainstorming (Admittedly this seems to be a bad choice of words!). Yet the ideas stupid people create tend to be original. For example, when was the last time someone stupid said something, and made one think about it? It seems that people are always talking about someone elses dumb idea. An example of such an idea would be, "How many stories will that english teacher drop before having a stroke?" This would suggest that stupid people may have the upper hand when it comes to thinking up original ideas. In fact, the next time someone wants an original idea for something, they should try talking to their local, community stupid person. The reason for this is that while a stupid person thinks with his head, he does not do so an organized manner. This is why they have so much creativity. By thinking in this fashion, their ideas have a natural tendency to flow more easily, without the interruptions which occur from the editing of thoughts that logical people would have normally. Thus if someone else should say to one, "That was a stupid idea!" one should merely look that person straight in the eye, and say, "Thank-you!" This also means that the claim, "Stupid

Dental Clinic System Essay Example

Dental Clinic System Essay Example Dental Clinic System Essay Dental Clinic System Essay 1. Problem Definition The Dental Clinic wasn’t not that modernized, they didn’t have a system, which can help them on faster and accurate access in all of their records according to every transactions they had every day. Including to this problems are the manual record keepings, scheduling of every patient’s transactions, billing and payments, revenues and expenses of the clinic and lastly the reports of monthly transactions that occurred and the progress of the Dental Clinic. 2. Major Objectives The major objective would be the existence of a system which could be helpful to both users and clients as well. A system which could fulfill or solve every problem that was listed and everything should probably work well, that will help the dentist or the clinic to record all of the transaction made by them, to compute all of their expenses, to record their bill and all of the outside payment and to make every transaction’s accurate and useful on both sides and the existent of a new and modernized Dental Clinic. 3. Conceptual Model 4. Scope or the Study The scope of this study will be more focused on the problem and major objectives of the Dental Clinic itself. Where we can conduct a study and interview about the Clinic and to summarized and create a solution in the end. 5. User Beneficiaries The Dental Clinic’s beneficiaries would be their patient’s or clients that will undergo on a dental check up. It will also help the user for the faster process on every transactions and to avoid the lost of records and forgotten schedules or appointments of the clinic. 6. Nature of the Study

Overused LinkedIn Buzzwords of 2014 ... At Long Last!!

Overused LinkedIn Buzzwords of 2014 ... At Long Last!! The Power of  A  Single Word On Friday, I received two pieces of information that I would not normally put together into one blog, but they coincided too well to resist: 1. One of my clients, on the heels of an interview, wrote to me excitedly that the interviewer loved her resume- especially the word â€Å"unstoppable† in her summary section. The interviewer had never seen this word on a resume before. 2. LinkedIn came out with its list of Top Ten Global Buzzwords. Cautions LinkedIn: â€Å"Pledge to banish trite buzzwords [from your profile].† The article gives excellent advice on how to avoid using meaningless phrasing to describe yourself, as does my book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile. I encourage you to read the article- and my book- for the tips they offer! Here’s the list of 2014s overused LinkedIn buzzwords: 1. Motivated 2. Passionate 3. Creative 4. Driven 5. Extensive experience 6. Responsible 7. Strategic 8. Track record 9. Organizational 10. Expert Are You Unstoppable? You might notice that â€Å"unstoppable†- the word that so impressed my client’s interviewer- is not on the list of LinkedIn buzzwords. It’s no coincidence that the word caught the attention of someone who probably goes through hundreds of resumes every week. I’m not advocating that you use the word â€Å"unstoppable† in your resume or LinkedIn profile, unless it is the absolute best adjective to describe you. I dont want to be â€Å"responsible for† adding â€Å"unstoppable† to next year’s list! Rather, I want you to find some language that doesn’t include the above trite words and phrases used by multitudes of LinkedIn users. (I’m willing to bet these are the words showing up most often on resumes too.) I also want you to comb through your resume and LinkedIn profile to see how many overused buzzwords show up. Then ask yourself how you can say things differently so that you don’t sound like everyone else. How  to Stand Out on LinkedIn Here’s a hint: Whereas anyone can claim to be motivated or creative, or to have a track record, not everyone can claim that they stepped into a competitive [insert type of] market and drove an organization from #2 to #1 worldwide, or that they conducted a multi-media campaign that increased a customer base by 500K. Whatever your achievements, get to the details and stop using the same words everyone else is using to â€Å"try† to sound good. It’s not working! Instead, use LinkedIn best practices for each section of your profile, especially your headline, job titles, special sections, skills expertise, and recommendations. That’s how you’ll call positive attention to what you have to offer. On a personal note, I must admit I’m saddened to see the word Expert on the buzzwords list, given that the word is in the name of my company. But that is something I’ll have to live with.

Yanomamo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Yanomamo - Essay Example The Yanomamo â€Å"foot-people† are spread out in about 125 villages scattered far and wide (Chagnon, 1983). Yanomamo is essentially a kin-based foraging and horticultural society. Kinship is a basic human trait. It is an important component that drives social behavior in every culture around the world. So also among the Yanomamo. Their social and political life is wholly controlled by kinship relationships (Chagnon, 1983). The Yanomamo communities live in small settlements or villages numbering 363 having 30 – 90 residents each, but sometimes reaching 200 or more (Hames, 1995). According to Chagnon (1974), larger the village size more intense their warfare. The people (numbering about 30 to 200) grouped by families live in one large circular communal dwelling, called a Shabono, having an open-air central plaza. Such an area of residence helps create strong bondsamong the people living there. Social organization of the Yanomamo based on kinship The people of the Yanomam o tribe classify themselves into two groupings - sibs (that is, clans) or lineages, both of which are formed based on kinship ties (Kensinger, 1996). Sib members trace their descent through their father from a named ancestor, â€Å"†¦.are dispersed throughout many villages and provide hospitality and safety for visiting kin.† (Kensinger, 1996).... As lineages are generally formed to promote the political ambitions of actual or wannabe leaders, they reflect the oscillations in political power. Usually disputes over leadership within lineages leads to village fissioning, and thereby to the scattering and even destruction of lineages. Yanomamo marriages The marriage exchange system of the Yanomamo people is generally based on kinship. It follows 4 main principles namely, lineage exogamy, bilateral cross cousin marriage, village endogamy, and polygyny. The Yanomamo society is exogamous and persons from the same localized lineage are prohibited from marrying. The members jointly take part in the selection of marriage partners for their children from within the allied lineage groups. The marriage system builds regular relationship between pairs of lineage groups who commonly intermarry through a system of bilateral cross cousin marriage (www.umanitoba.ca). A moiety system is created by such intermarriages when the intermarrying unit s co-reside in the same village. The co-settlement of intermarrying lineages is an example of village endogamy .Although under such a marriage system the Yanomamo lineages have collective rights to marry off their women and claim wives in exchange, they are not vested with the rights of administering joint assets such as land (www.umanitoba.ca). The practice of polygyny by the Yanomamo is exemplified by the fact that the men of the tribe commonly marry more than one wife. Polygyny among the Yanomamo is typically associated with the men’s rank or other achievements (Chagnon, 1983). Yanomamo political system The Yanomamo political system is not centralized which is because the community does

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example There are six main factors, which affect the employee behavior at the workplace. These factors include communication, organizational structure, work design, organizational design, jobs, and performance appraisal. All of these factors play a considerable role in shaping the behaviors of the employees working for any company or organization. Let us discuss how organizational communication affects employee behavior at the workplace. Organizational communication is somewhat different from simple form of communication. In simple communication, people can transmit any kind of information anywhere or can send messages to each other whereas organizational communication refers to the concept of sending work related messages or transmitting information to different kinds of audiences at the workplace. Organizational communication is a field, which makes employees learn effective communication skills from each other.   Consistency of the messages with goals, objectives, strategies, and implem entation plans is very important in organizational communication. Organizational communication is based on two general approaches, which include container approach and social constructionist approach. In container’s approach, a channel is used to transmit information from the sender to the receiver whereas in social constructionist approach, employees make use of language to create different teams, networks, and relationships. Communication is a process, which involves a sender and a receiver.... In container’s approach, a channel is used to transmit information from the sender to the receiver whereas in social constructionist approach, employees make use of language to create different teams, networks, and relationships. Study of organizational communication plays a very critical role in shaping communication behaviors of the employees, which eventually lead to the creation of a productive work environment. Communication Process Model Communication is a process, which involves a sender and a receiver. The sender sends a message to the communication channel, which encodes the message and sends it to the receiving end where the receiving end first decodes the message and then presents it to the receiver. The receiver provides the feedback to the sender, which make the communication process more effective. Encoding and decoding of a message is based on one’s own perceptions, which include the concepts of feelings, cultural values, attitudes, and behaviors. The thr ee main components involved in a communication process include channel of communication, environment or circumstances of communication, and interference that occurs during communication. Formal and Informal Communication Formal communication takes place through formal channels whereas informal communication takes place through informal channels. Formal communication plays its role in maintaining authority relationship whereas informal communication never includes lines of the authority. Formal communication takes place due to job related needs whereas informal communication takes place due to personal needs of the employees. Formal communication needs proper location whereas in formal communication can be done anywhere. Answer: No: 2 Key Areas of