Argument for and against the Use of Death Penalty in Contemporary Amer Essay

Argument for and against the Use of Death Penalty in Contemporary America - Essay Example One of the opinions that support the implementation of the death penalty against capital offenders is its effectiveness in eliminating the criminals from the society. This effectively reduces rates of capital crimes by permanently eliminating the criminals from the targets. As opposed to imprisonment that often allows the criminals back to the society to induce high probability of further crimes, death penalty ensures complete elimination of the criminals from the society and hence reduces the rates of such crimes. The death penalty also identifies an economic advantage to the government that can then save its limited financial resources for social utilities instead of using the resources to maintain individuals who have been detrimental to the society’s utility. It, therefore, allows the government to focus on a single interest of providing the society’s utilities instead of dividing resources toward meeting utilities and maintaining individuals who have been detriment al to the government’s utility initiatives. The death penalty should also be implemented because of its retribution effect that not only punishes crimes but also derives utility from achieved justice to victims of capital crimes. Relatives and close friends of a murder victim will, for example, derive social and emotional utility from a death penalty against the murderer besides the general good of a safer society. The death penalty has also been supported for its effectiveness in discouraging criminals. This is major because people fear death and the associated pain. A person will, therefore, be more rational to refrain from a crime that attracts death penalty for fear of losing his or her own life as opposed to crimes that only attract fines or imprisonment, penalties that do not physically affect the criminals’ lives. There are however a number of augments that oppose implementation of the death penalty.  

MSD Construction Business Plan Analysis

MSD Construction Business Plan Analysis The analysis of MSD business plan Introduction The paper is about MSD Construction Company own by an Omani citizen Mr Mujahid Al-Zadjali.it specialized in providing services including concrete fabrication, utilizing framework, concrete placement and excavation. It focuses on commercial as well as residential clients. It aims to become the leading contractor by providing high quality services with affordable prices. This paper is about analyzing of the business plan for MSD. It will evaluate whether the plan is suitable for the firm to achieve their long-term goals. This assignment will be organized as follows. First, it will highlight the owner-personal quality and the skills he possessed. Then, the organizational structure and management skills and duties will be evaluated. Later on, the company product-market will be discussed. It also will discuss about its market and pricing strategy. Next, it will focus on competitive environment and their strategies. Then, the financial performance of MSD will be analyzed. After the analysis of financial statements, the paper will analyze the SWOT of the company. In conclusion, there will be a brief summary about the case and recommendation for MSD to improve their business plan. 1.0 Personal Quality of the owner manager Mr. Mujahid AL-Zadjali is capable to run his own construction business as he has 5 years experience in the field. In addition, he possesses a variety of skills that are required in running this type of the organization, such as marketing, time management and cost control skills. In addition, these will help assists him to solve the crises in future. The business plan had not mentioned whether he has IT skills which are important for all business. Based on the business plan, the owner is willing to hold liable for all debts and obligation related to company. He also established long-term planning for the organization. These all indicate that he is self-motivated and emotionally strong to face all the business risks. Also, it means that the owner definitely desires to growth his business. The objectives of the entrepreneur are to develop infrastructure for long-term planning and to achieve regular profit yearly. Furthermore, it aims to provide quality services at affordable cost to its customers. Another objective of the company is to provide health and safety work environment to its employees. The owner of the firm has adopted leadership style based on responsible and mutual respects between the staff. This is one of the ideal characters for this construction company as there are many technical works have to be performed by specialized employee. 2.0 The Management Team The business already had management team which consists of two administrative assistant and general manager. However, there are not sufficient numbers of management in the team. It should include human resource manager to accomplish the safety requirement on the job and high quality of services. The company should also appoint stock manager to manage in-coming and out-going materials for the constructions. In addition MSD did not appoint proper manger for preparation of the financial statements as it kept in position the administrative assistant with marketing and public relation background. It should hire manager that is specialized in accounting and finance. According to the management team that mentioned in the business plan have adequate mix of outside experience. For example, Ms. Jaya is an administrative assistant has excellent organizational and managing office crisis skills with 25 years of experience in accounts payable and receivable. Except for Mr. Varma which has seven years experience in marketing and public relation but which is not adequate for accounting job. The company set a goal to build an infrastructure for organizational structure but seems it does not applied yet proper organizational chart. It did not mention a detailed organizational structure and who should report to whom. It should clearly set up structure with staff position and duties. The business plan has not mentioned if there is any delegation of authority between staff. They have to plan a proper delegation strategy and to inform staff about it in order to be aware of the responsibilities that are transferred to them. There are no monitoring procedures to check the performance of the employees. The company had to have performance measurement to evaluate how the staffs perform in their duties. The organization philosophy is based on job responsibility and mutual respect between staff. The staff should follow this organization culture to achieve the companys common goals and objectives. MSD consider its employees as it provides health and safety work environment within the concrete industry. Moreover, it trains its employees adequately on the industry work. Although these are satisfying staff, there is probability of cost increasing of the company especially overhead expenses. 3.0 Product-Market Offering The construction company had set target market by supplying its services to both commercial and individual customers. It provides road construction and dirt work for commercial customers. It also provides house slabs and driveways for residential houses. Moreover, it provides concrete fabrication services for both residential as well as commercial customers. The business plan although highlight the services that provided to clients, it did not mention the types of services that are preferred by the clients. It should have a detailed investigation of customers needs to satisfy their requirements. MSD adding-value in their products through provides certain benefits to its clients including solid foundation, long lasting and safety and high quality products with cost-effective prices. Therefore, the clients can enjoy living at their house and feel safety. According to the statistics in business plan the demand of single-family units has been increased by 12% and 1.5% for multi-family units in 2001. This indicates that there is market space for MSD products and services. However, the statistics are out of date and the company should rely only on the recent data. The firm has knowledge of the industry and competitors as it knows that the market is in growth position and the competitors strength and weaknesses, such as Julfar and Bahwan Company. These all will assist firm in having resistance against any reaction by the competitors. The products and services of the firm are well-constructed and durable with high quality but at reasonable price. Therefore, it leads to low maintenance requirements. In addition, it ensures that their products are saved and approved by Muscat Municipality and Ministry of Electronic and Water Resources before providing to customers. This indicates that the company has shown the value of their products for prospect customers. Bahwan and Julfar are well known brand with many years experience in construction services. They have an exemplary skill in customer relation management which enables them to retain their clients. Besides that, they have marketing skills and database resources that create obstacles to MSD to become market leader. Construction Company is trying to stay close to customers by gathering all its services in head office (AL-Khuwair) and it provides 24 hours call centre as a facility for customers if they face or to complain about any problems. In tight economy and high competition, MSD planned to design a unique strategy to keep the cost at reasonable level with high quality of products. It also verifies calls in accordance to their circumstances and then transfers these particular calls to proper department. It can be cost leadership firstly by attempt to gain more market share than its competitors. Then, the cost will be automatically reduced by distributing fixed cost in wide range of products. 4.0 Competitive Environment Based on business plan there are no indicators of whether some of elements will affects the construction industry, such as economic stability and customer needs. MSD firm had collected only some information regarding to its competitors. This include as follows: * Operating method. The competitors using high quality services with reasonable price. These prices will gradually decrease up to the current market price without reducing in quality. * Market strategies. In order to retain their clients, they hired customer relation management for this purpose. On other hand, MSD did not find information related to competitors including size and profitability. It should get some statistical data about the competitors profit, their market shares, number of employees, number of branched and so on. The entrepreneur did not identify of the future marketing mix strategy of the competitors. It also did not investigate of whether the rivals have planned to develop new products for the future. The companys objective if the competitors develop new products or provide new services. It might be the latest one to possess these products or services and these possessions might already reach at their maturity level. MSD should at least try to gets some information about the competitors (through analysis current market strategy of the rivals to predict its future plan) in order to find proper reaction against its competitors to keep their objectives achievable. The company did not have a unique resources that makes it difference from the competitors to attract clients. It should have something that allows them to be differentiating from other. For instance: providing free maintenance after sales. 5.0 Financial Performance * Financial Statements figures The analysts found certain errors in the MSD financial plan. In its projected income statement the amount of retained profit that desired by MSD is same as the break even. Therefore, the firm should make more profit to achieve its target. Moreover, the retained profit for the year 2007 was wrongly calculated. The amount after deducting provision for tax and legal reserve should be R.O 21,000 instead of R.O 42,600. This error affected the rate of some ratios like net profit and ROE. In projected balance sheet of the firm two issues were found. First, the fixed assets were relatively low. The companys fixed assets balance should be higher due to heavy machinery and building that it possessed. If we assumed that most of its fixed assets is in form of leasing, it did not mention in the F.S. secondly, in 2008 the F.A was significantly low compare to previous years. About the projected cash flow, there is one mistake has deducted. The advance pre-payment have to be ‘nil instead of negative balance of R.O 5,000 as it is constant every year. The business plan also includes the calculation of ratios. In calculation of interest cover, MSD did not mention the amount of interest or the amount of loan that will enable it to calculate the interest. There is a financial charge in income statement but it represents beside interest other items, such as transaction fees and cost of credit. Thus, it will mislead all the stakeholders who depend on the statements. * Financial ratios analysis However, the analysis of the ratios was based on the given statement except for 2007 where it calculated after the amendment of net profit. a) Performance ratio: Return on shareholders funds. 2006 2007 2008 22.5% 14% 29% The profit available to owner had been decreased in 2007 by 8.5% but it increased again in 2008 15%. This is because the profit after tax decreased in 2007 and then increased again in the following year. According to the plan the net profit is fluctuated every year. This indicates that company does not have adequate plan for uncertainty. Return on capital employed 2006 2007 2008 25% 33.33% 35% ROCE had been increased continuously every year. It is because the profit before interest and tax increased yearly. This mean the company situation is continually improving and willing to pay its debts. However, long term debt had not taken into account as it was not available in projected balance sheet. This lead to inaccurate identifies the percentage of profit available to pay its debts. b) Profitability ratio: Gross margin 2006 2007 2008 34.84 33.48% 33.33% The projected income statement shows that gross profit has been slightly decreased from 2006 to 2007. This is due to the increasing in cost of sales and the revenue did not increase at the same level while it remained almost same in 2008. MSD should investigate the reason of such decreases as it may affect he net profit in future Net profit margin 2006 2007 2008 17.42% 18.52% 19.40% Although the gross profit had been decreased, it can be noticed that the net profit is increasing every year. The reason for increasing is operating expenses has been increased at acceptable level which let retained profit to reflect the increasing in sales revenue. The total expenses were increased from 2006 to 2007 by 1.13% (27,000/24,000) whereby retained profit had increased by 1.58% (42,600/27,000) for same period. c) Asset efficiency ratio: Debtor turnover 2006 2007 2008 177 days 143 days 155 days The debtor collection period has decreased in 2007 by 34 days and it increased again in 2008 by 12 days. However, it is still considering high. (Further explanation in III) Creditors turnover 2006 2007 2008 74 days 88 days 76 days Average payment period to MSDs suppliers is 79 days whereby average collection period is 158 days. Company might face problem in cash flow because it pays to supplier before receiving from customers. It should make sure that the money collected earlier than the payments although customers may not like it otherwise the firm will suffer to pay to its suppliers. If this situation is continued, the suppliers may not renew the contract or may ask the firm to pay on delivery. d) Liquidity ratio: Current ratio 2006 2007 2008 5.36:1 4.18:1 4.78:1 The current ratio of the firm has been decreased in 2007 and 2008 compare to 2006 but it is still at acceptable level. This is probably because the current liabilities in 2006 are less than in 2007 and 2008. MSD attempted to ensure that its current ration did not fall below 4:1. Quick ratio 2006 2007 2008 3.79:1 2.76:1 3.27:1 Again, the current liabilities in 2006 are more than in next two years. It was noticed that the inventory was less in 2006 than the inventory in following years. MSD should ensure their inventory level should not increase further otherwise it might face difficulties in cash flow. e) Gearing ratio Interest cover 2006 2007 2008 21 times 26 time 29 times The interest coverage of less than three times is considering low. It can be seen that the interest cover is increasing every year from 21 times in 2006 to 29 times in 2008 which is good news to company. The reason behind this increasing is the profit before interest and tax is greater in 2007 and 2008 than in 2006 regardless of increasing in total expenses. * Sensitivity analysis The following table will help to calculate the sensitivity to profit. 2006 2007 2008 R.O000 R.O000 R.O000 Sales 155 230 300 Less: Material cost (101) (153) (200) Less: Labor cost (8) (9) (10) Contribution 46 68 90 Less: Fixed cost (16) (18) (20) Net profit 30 50 70 I) Calculation of sensitivity Since the plan had not given clear figures for calculating sensitivity of the project, we had assumed the following: * Cost of sales had been taken as a material cost. * Staff salaries as a labor cost. * Other expenses had used as fixed cost. 2006 2007 2008 Profit to sales 19% 22% 23% Profit to material 30% 33% 35% Profit to labor 375% 555% 700% Profit to fixed cost 187% 278% 350% It had found that sales were the lowest percentage among the others. Therefore, it was more sensitivity to profit. It means that the sales will affect the profit more than other element if it decrease or increase. II) Calculation of BEP Profit to BEP (in value) = sales*(F.C/contribution) 2006 2007 2008 R.O54,000 R.O61,000 R.O67,000 The company had to sell an average of R.O54000, R.O61000 and R.O67000 in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively in order to cover all of its expenses. III) Margin of safety 2006 2007 2008 65% 73% 78% The company can allow its sales to decrease by 35%, 27% and 22% in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively without incurring any losses. 6.0 SWOT analysis of MSD construction * Strength: MSD provides quality construction services by providing an honest, fair working relationship with residential and commercial clients, subcontractors and sales people. Since the biggest concern within the concrete work industry is the health and safety of its employees as well as the customers. Also, it developed a comprehensive infrastructure designed, long term planning with a safety policy and secure company. They did good analysis about the strength and weaknesses of their competitors. The company management has different facilities which enhance them to perform better such as, experience and qualification in different areas in the market started from the owner. The ability of company to provide superior quality services at highly competitive and guaranteed price. * Weaknesses: There is no clear organizational structure of the company. They dont have a famous brand name yet. Also, they focus only in few department and duties. Moreover they did wrong calculation in different areas like in concrete work and in single-family housing construction. In order to overcome these weaknesses, MSD should create additional departments, such as IT and human resource department. Furthermore, it should hire financial analyst to analyze market accurately. * Opportunity: The owner and his management team are highly experienced and qualified in construction work. The growth in population, demand increase in construction and increase in government projects will help them to survive. Also, competitors have high overhead expenses, bad contractual terms with its key suppliers that often delay particular project and because of that they are losing some of their strategic partnership with significant firms. * Threats: MSD faced strong competitors with strong capital and shares, which they already in the market and they have high construction services and distribution quality at very competitive price. The competitors have exemplary skills in customer relationship management and leading marketing skills with efficient database management. In pricing strategy the competitors seems to be the expert in the field by offered reasonable price with high quality for a year and then slowly moves it down to compete with current price in the market. Government regulation to apply omanization which could lead to high cost and the labors May not have a good experience. MSD can merge with other construction company to get extra capital for competing with competitors. It can build its own IT department to process the data efficiency. It should have proper procedures for recruitment so it can minimize after employment cost. Conclusion and Recommendation This paper had analyzed the appropriateness of MSD business plan. There were some issues against the plan that is necessarily to succeed the business. Some of importance investigation had not carried on, such as competitors strategy. On other hand, there were some incomplete statements and improper collection of market statistic. Moreover, the firm F.S had included errors that would affect its financial goals. In addition, the company did not have PEST and Porters five forces analysis of the industry. These missing statements will lead to business failure. If it is plan to propose their business plan to the any of financial instruments to seeking loan there is potential of rejecting this proposal. Recommendation MSD should review some of its plan, such as market statistic and attempt to get more accurate data. Beside the correction of data, it should also collect significant data like competitive market shares, profit and the size. In addition, it should collect information about competitors Porters five forces. It had found that some of the management holds inappropriate position in accordance to their qualification and experience. The firm should review this and try to appoint right person for the right job. It should also hire some additional managers in management team, such as human resource manger and stock manger to implement the companys strategies.

The Value Of A Jury System Essay -- essays research papers

The Value of a Jury System The Founders of our nation understood that no idea was more central to our Bill of Rights -- indeed, to government of the people, by the people, and for the people -- than the citizen jury. It was cherished not only as a bulwark against tyranny but also as an essential means of educating Americans in the habits and duties of citizenship. By enacting the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments to the Constitution, the Framers sought to install the right to trial by jury as a cornerstone of a free society. The Framers of the Constitution felt that juries -- because they were composed of ordinary citizens and because they owed no financial allegiance to the government -- were indispensable to thwarting the excesses of powerful and overzealous government officials. The jury trial was the only right explicitly included in each of the state constitutions devised between 1776 and 1789 . And the criminal jury was one of few rights explicitly mentioned in the original federal constitution proposed by the Philadelphia Convention. Anti-federalists complained that the proposed constitution did not go far enough in protecting juries, and federalists eventually responded by enacting three constitutional amendments guaranteeing grand, petit, and civil juries. The need for juries was especially acute in criminal cases: A grand jury could block any prosecution it deemed unfounded or malicious, and a petit jury could likewise interpose itself on behalf of a defendant charged unfairly. The famous Zenge r case in the 1730s dramatized the libertarian advantages of juries . When New York's royal government sought to stifle its newspaper critics through criminal prosecution, New York grand juries refused to indict, and a petit jury famously refused to convict . But the Founders' vision of the jury went far beyond merely protecting defendants. The jury's democratic role was intertwined with other ideas enshrined in the Bill of Rights, including free speech and citizen militias. The jury was an essential democratic institution because it was a means by which citizens could engage in self-government. Nowhere else -- not even in the voting booth -- must Americans come together in person to deliberate over fundamental matters of justice . Jurors face a solemn obligation to overlook personal differences and prejudices to fairl... ... jury service. If the jury system is to remain a central institution of democracy and citizenship, it must be refined. Jury trials must attract engaged and thoughtful citizens; the rules of the courts must treat jurors as sovereign, self-governing citizens rather than as children. To this end, we suggest a number of reforms. In many instances, these changes would require no new laws, but merely a willingness on the part of the courts to unleash the common sense of the ordinary citizen. References Alschuler, Albert, "Our faltering jury.," Public Interest, Jan 1996, pp. 28. Culp, Douglass, "Do criminal juries let too many defendants loose?," Vol. 12, Birmingham Business Journal, 18 Dec 1995, pp. 15. Curriden, Mark, "Jury reform.," Vol. 81, ABA Journal, Nov 1995, pp. 72. McElhaney, James, "Jury instructions.," Vol. 81, ABA Journal, Nov 1995, pp. 91. Savage, David., "A jury of your peers.," Vol. 81, ABA Journal, Oct 1995, pp. 40. Zobel, Hiller, "The jury on trial.," Current, Nov 1995, pp. 8.

Henry David Thoreau Essay

â€Å"Simplify! was Thoreau’s motto† in his life (Stanley 20). He showed people how to live simple life by living a simple life in Walden. Due to Thoreau’s efforts and works on nature people considers a nature an important part in their lives, as a result nature became one of the top topics in 21st century. Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts (Meltzer 11). His parents were John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau (12). Henry had three siblings named Helen, John Jr. and Sophia (12). The Thoreau family continuously moved to different places in search for better living conditions (11). Henry’s father John had difficulties finding a job (13). He eventually started a very famous pencil making business (13). Henry’s parents named him David Henry Thoreau, â€Å"after his uncle David Thoreau† (Stanley 16). Thoreau changed his name to Henry David Thoreau (Olson 14). He changed his name because â€Å"people called him Henry† (Stanley 16). Henry and his siblings went to same school (Stanley 16). First, they went to school called â€Å"Concord’s Public Grammar School† (16). At his school all students for all grades, â€Å"sat together on hard benches† (16). Although Henry’s family could not really afford a private school, Henry still went to private school named â€Å"Concord academy† (16). He went to Concord academy from age eleven until sixteen (16). He was very quite child at school, as he often did not play games with children (Olson 30). Henry had many nicknames like â€Å"Judge† and â€Å"the fine scholar with big nose† (30-32). These nicknames came from children at his school because he did not join in their play (30-32). Since he was born, he was very interested in nature and natural phenomena (Olson 33). At age eleven, he wrote famous piece of writing about seasons (Meltzer 15). The writing about the seasons stated like this: The Seasons Why do the seasons change? And Why Does Winter’s stormy brow appear? Is it the word of him on high? Who rules the changing varied year? (15) Henry went to Harvard University for college education (Olson 34). He was not interested in going to college as he barely passes his entrance exams for Harvard; he thought he might work as a carpenter (34). In college, his interest in writing and poetry grew especially with poems of English poets such John Milton, William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer (35). In Harvard university, William Ellery Channing became Henry’s one of the best friend (35). Later Henry realized that William Ellery Channing was the one who helped him towards his writing (35). In college, Henry started to read many books from college library (Stanley 17). On August 30, 1837, Henry graduated from Harvard University (Olson 37). After graduating from Harvard University Henry did not knew what to do for living (Stanley 18). He was usually was call upon to do land surveying but he thought it was not a great profession although he had a skill to do land surveying (17). Ralph Waldo Emerson was Henry’s great friend and mentor as Henry got many ideas from Emerson towards his writing (Olson 9). Emerson also allowed Henry to live in his house until Henry has some job to do (Stanley 18). While living with Emerson, Henry was introduced to,† Concord’s elite circle of writers and philosophers† (18). While living with Emerson, Henry thought, he needed to do something in order for living so he did, â€Å"odd jobs like gardening and fence mending† (8). Emerson held informal meeting at his house in which the group of writers and philosophers were welcomed to attend (Olson 27). Henry was also present during these meetings (27). Transcendentalists were the people who used to attend these meeting (Stanley 18). They talked about topics such as political, cultural and regional etc (Olson 27). These Transcendentalists were concerned about, â€Å"society’s materialism† (Stanley 18). â€Å"They believed each person is born with an inner voice, or conscience, and those who live simple lives, close to nature, can hear the inner voice more clearly† (18). These Transcendentalists people keep their journals with them for writing their ideas and works (19). The Transcendentalists influenced Henry so much that he came up with this famous quote, â€Å"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears however measured or far away† (19). After college, Thoreau gave many lectures in Concord Lyceum (Stanley 87). On April 11, 1838, Thoreau made his first lecture in Concord Lyceum (Olson 43). His topic of first lecture was â€Å"Society† (43). On 1838, Lyceum elected Henry as secretary and curator but due to various reasons, he only held these positions until December 1840 (43). Thoreau wrote and read many lectures about Nature while working in Concord Lyceum (Stanley 8). Thoreau disliked slavery as in Concord Lyceum he lectured against it in his lecture, â€Å"Slavery in Massachusetts† (Woodlief). Thoreau also supported John Brown efforts in ending slavery as he told in front of Concord Lyceum in his lecture, â€Å"A Plea for Captain John Brown† (Woodlief). Henry David Thoreau gave nineteen lectures in Concord Lyceum (Stanley 87-88). Henry was not paid anything for lecturing in Concord Lyceum (88). When Emerson said town and people of Concord Lyceum about fees people started giving fees (88). Due to Emerson help, fifty dollars was paid to Thoreau because of his lectures that he spoke (88). Thoreau’s fees in Concord Lyceum were always low (88). Thoreau did not care about fees in Concord Lyceum, as he only wanted to help people and show them right path (88). In 1847, Thoreau worked as land surveyor (Meltzer 86). Thoreau was appointed surveyor-in-chief by Concord (86). As a surveyor-in-chief, Thoreau has to do many jobs such as, â€Å"to lay out roads, walk the bounds with town officials, and supply the technical documents for lawsuits involving his craft† (86). Thoreau left his land surveying paper after his death. (86). His land paper were so complete that it included every farm in town (87). Most of Thoreau’s surveys were made between 1849 and 1861 (87). According to Meltzer the survey made between 1849 and 1861 were about two hundred. These surveys are still found in Concord Free Public Library (87). Thoreau was able to make more than one hundred and fifty land surveys (87). Most of the Thoreau’s surveys were made in Concord but some were in different cities (87). Even modern land surveyors who use modern technologies and tools appreciate Thoreau’s work (87). They said his work as a land surveyor was phenomenal (87). Modern surveyors made surveys of Walden Pond could not disproves, â€Å"Thoreau conclusion† about Walden Pond, â€Å"made only from a string and a stone† (87). Thoreau as a talent land surveyor he made the map of Walden (Olson 80). Thoreau was very conservative when it came to land and because of him, government made the, â€Å"National Park Service (NPS) in 1916† (81). The National Park Service was more than fifty million acres (81). It, â€Å"became important part of America’s conservative effort† (81). The National Park Service â€Å"preserves natural resources and save the nation’s forest for future generations† (81). After studying in college, Henry David Thoreau tried to teach schools in Concord (Stanley 18). After two weeks of teaching schools, Henry David Thoreau was fired because, â€Å"he was expected to flog children if they were bad† (18). So as a teacher Henry David Thoreau was not successful†(18).   After college, Thoreau also worked in his father’s pencil making business (Woodlief). Although Thoreau worked in his father’s pencil, making business he really did not wanted to join him in his pencil making business due to various reasons (Stanley 18). In 1838 Henry’s brother John and he himself, â€Å"took over Concord Academy† (18). In Concord academy they started to teach students as they,† introduced many new ideas in education† (18). In Concord academy, â€Å"John and Henry took students for weekly nature walks to observe animals and plants so that they would learn through discoveries and firsthand experience† (18). Henry and his brother were very profitable in running Concord Academy (18). The academy closed in 1840 due to John’s sickness (18). The Concord Academy was very successful when John and Henry ran it (18). In 1843, when Henry David Thoreau was twenty-six years old, â€Å"he believed he was ready to make literature his profession† (Meltzer 53). Henry’s first writing work came in the periodical named Dial published by Hedge Club (Olson 48). In his first work, he wrote a poem named â€Å"Sympathy† (48). The poem was about Thoreau’s friend Edmund Sewall, â€Å"a young friend whose free and pure spirit Thoreau admired† (48). Margaret Fuller was the first editor of Dial (48). She remained editor of Dial from 1840 to 1842 (50). Tension between Thoreau and the editor Margaret Fuller began as later Margaret Fuller rejected many essays and articles written by Thoreau (48). Margaret Fuller also rejected Thoreau’s essay, which was about, â€Å"four-day walk Thoreau took with Fuller brother, Richard† (48). Thoreau was rumored to like Margaret Fuller and wanted to marry her (48-50). In 1842, Emerson became editor of Dial as a result Thoreau’s essay was more published in Dial (50). Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay on nature in an edition of Dial called â€Å"Natural History of Massachusetts† (50). In 1844, Thoreau wrote his last essay in the edition of Dial (97). In 1839, Henry and his brother went for a trip together (Olson 53). Their trip was to sail from Concord River to Merrimack River (53). For going on this trip, they needed transportation system, so they made a boat called Musketaquid (53). Musketaquid is a Native American name for Concord River (53). The boat they made was fifteen ft in length and three feet in width. This trip provides material was Thoreau’s book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (53). On the trip Henry went with his journal to write down ideas and notes about the trip (Stanley 15). Henry David Thoreau published his notes for the book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers ten years after the trip (16). During the trip, the friendship between Henry and John grew, as they became more and more close (Olson 55). For the past few years, Henry and John used to hate each other, as they wanted to marry same woman named Ellen Sewall (55). Although Henry wanted to marry Ellen Sewall, he never got married to anyone (6). In 1849 Henry’s, book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was published. The book was not that popular when it was published as only two hundred twenty copies of that book was sold when it was published but in the modern times the book got more and more popular (53). Shortly after the trip, Henry’s brother John died on January 11, 1842, from lockjaw, which was caused by cut while John was shaving (Woodlief). After John’s death Henry was, â€Å"freed to become what he really wanted to be: a writer who embraced the transcendentalist notion of the self-reliant man† (Olson 57). On July 4, 1845, when Thoreau was 27 years old he started living near Walden Pond (Stanley 20). The Walden Pond became the sight of his famous book Walden or Life in the Woods (Olson 58). Henry David Thoreau admired Walden Pond and it beauty when he was very young (Burleigh 6). Thoreau book Walden or Life in the Woods was based on the beauty of nature as many of Thoreau’s work came from nature (6). Near Walden Pond, â€Å"he often walk and sees the animals, river and trees, all beauties of nature and writes it’s down in his journal† (6). Walden or Life in the Woods was a book that described lifestyle of Henry after returning from Concord to Walden Pond and how he spent his life near Walden Pond (Olson 60). Near Walden Pond Thoreau built up his own cabin (Woodlief). Thoreau’s cabin was built on the land owned by Emerson (Woodlief). While living in Walden Thoreau did extensive amount of reading and writing (Woodlief). While living in Walden Thoreau looked up the nature very closely (Woodlief). While living in Walden Thoreau just saw the nature all day long (Burleigh 10). While living near Walden Thoreau, â€Å"wanted to get so close to nature that he became one with it† (10). Henry went to Walden because he wanted to prove himself (14). â€Å"He wanted to show that someone could live very, very simply† (14). Thoreau went to Walden, as he wanted to enjoy his life (16). Thoreau didn’t like any luxuries in his life, as he wanted to be as simple as he could (16). At Walden, he lived very simple life as he with only forty-seven dollars he provided himself with food, clothing and shelter (Olson 60). In Walden, Thoreau made a desk for himself in which he wrote Walden or Life in the Woods and his famous essay â€Å"Civil Disobedience† (Meltzer 85). Thoreau got his intelligence from, â€Å"natural world and the experiences of his life† (13). Walden or Life in the Woods was the last book that he published and it was the last book published before his death (61). Walden or Life in the Woods was not that popular on its publication and did not make a lot of money but it was one of the famous works of American literature (12). After returning from Walden Thoreau had very tough time in Concord (Olson 65). Henry David Thoreau got imprisonment for not paying his poll tax for last several years (66). He refused to pay his poll taxes because he was against Mexican War as he thought it was another way to extend slavery in U.S (Meltzer 77).Sam Staples was the constable who arrested Thoreau (66). Sam offered to give money for Thoreau but he rejected (Olson 66). Thoreau got so angry that he asked Staples to quit from his job as a constable (66). Thoreau was surprised to find out the conditions of jail in which he was (68). He said, â€Å"it was the neatest apartment in town† (68). While Thoreau was in the jail, that night a woman came and paid poll taxes for Thoreau (Meltzer 76). The woman who came neither told who she was nor shared her identity (76). Some people thought that woman who came was the Thoreau’s aunt Marla (76). When Thoreau was free to go, he refused it and was â€Å"mad as the devil!† (77). In the jail, Thoreau started to write his essay called â€Å"Resistance to Government† later called â€Å"Civil Disobedience† (77). Many of Thoreau ideas in his essay were shares by many abolitionists (Olson 71). As always Thoreau essay got little popularity in the beginning (Meltzer 79). In 1866, four years after Thoreau’s death his essay was renamed as â€Å"Civil Disobedience (79). In his essay he said, â€Å"that a law should be respected not because it is a law, but only if it is just and right. If unjust laws exist, civil disobedience, such as refusing to pay taxes, is an effective way to oppose and change them† (80). Thoreau thought there were two types of laws, conscience laws and government laws and â€Å"when these two laws conflict, it’s citizen duty to obey the voice of conscience rather than that of government† (81). Many people were influenced by Thoreau because his essay â€Å"Civil Disobedience† and not paying his poll taxes (â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau†). Among these people were two great leaders known as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. (Meltzer 81). As people were influenced by Thoreau, during Vietnam War four hundred and forty eight writers didn’t pay their poll taxes and protested against them (â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau†). During their protest, they had two major points (â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau†). The first point was, â€Å"None of us voluntarily will pay the proposed ten percent surcharged or any war designated tax increase† (â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau†). Their second point was, â€Å"Many of us will not pay that twenty three percent of our current income tax which is being used to finance the war† (â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau†). In Thoreau’s last twenty years, he began his observation about vegetation in Concord (Gray). Thoreau’s goal was, â€Å"to find God in nature† (Gray). Henry got his goal about nature from his mind and from Emerson (Gray). After leaving Walden, Thoreau tried to find scientific things in nature (Gray). In 1999, Thoreau book Wild Fruit was published (Gray). The book was imprint because of Thoreau’s friend Bradley Dean (Gray). The manuscript of this book was â€Å"neatly stacked and wrapped at time of his death† (Gray). The manuscript of the book was lost many times because of change of owners of Thoreau’s house and due to it bad handwriting (Gray). This book was written as Thoreau took notes on each plant in order, which they grew (Gray). In that book, the sentences were mainly poetic (Gray). In the book, he asks people to pay close attention to fruit grown by nature (Gray). In the book he take stand against destruction of environment especially wilderness (Gray). The advised Thoreau made during the book was to, â€Å"let us try to keep the New World new† (Gray). His advised is being taken a century later (Gray). After writing this book Thoreau traveled to Main Woods and Cape Cod very often as traveling there he was interested in Native American and their frontiers (Woodlief). In 1860, Thoreau got a cold as the symptoms of tuberculosis such as cold created problems for him (Olson 84). Tuberculosis also created problems for his family as Henry’s elder sister who was a schoolteacher died of tuberculosis (Meltzer 12). Even with cold, he lectured in lyceum in Waterbury, Connecticut (Olson 84). Thoreau’ cold felt worse after the lecture â€Å"as he found that his deepened into bronchitis† (84). Later his cold and health got much worse (84). On May 1861, he planned to go to trip to Minnesota in order to study plants (84). The trip was not fully completed due to Thoreau’s bad health (86). Thoreau thought his end of his live was very near (86). In September 1861, he made his last visit to Walden (86). On November 3, 1861, Thoreau made his one last final entry in his journal (86). Thoreau last words before his death was, â€Å"Moose and Indian† (Woodlief). Henry David Thoreau died on May 6, 1862 at the age of forty-four years (Meltzer 145). Henry left his essays and his two books after his death (Woodlief). Henry also left his huge journal after his death, which was later published in twenty volumes (Woodlief). After Thoreau’s death, his friend Emerson and Luisa May Alcott wrote memorials for him (Woodlief). Emerson memorial was, â€Å"Emerson eulogy† and May’s memorial was, â€Å"Thoreau’s Flute† (Woodlief). â€Å"Thoreau is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. The cemetery also contains the graves of authors such as Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Thoreau long time friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson is also buried in the cemetery† (Olson 87). Although Henry David Thoreau was very simple, he gave many things to people in this world that people can benefit from. His works on nature forced people to realize that our nature was something as people benefited from Thoreau’s work almost a century later (Olson 88). Works Cited Burleigh, Robert. A Man Named Thoreau. New York: Atheneum, 1985. Gray, Paul. â€Å"Unregarded Berries.† Time 29 November 1999. 18 May 2009 Meltzer, Milton. A Biography Henry David Thoreau. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2007. Olson, Steven P. Henry David Thoreau American Naturalist, Writer, And Transcendentalists. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 2006. â€Å"Part Way with Thoreau.† Time 9 February 1968. 5 May 2009 Stanley, Phyllis M. American Environmental Heroes. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 1996. Woodlief, Ann. â€Å"Henry David Thoreau.† American Transcendentalism Web. 26 June 2007. 19 May 2009

King Leopold’s Ghost

The subtitle of King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild reads more like an ad for a current spy movie than a history occurring in the Congo in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Hochschild writes about the conditions in the Belgian Congo, approximately modern day Zaire, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.This is the story of the transformation of a country from a colony greatly abused and used by the policies of King Leopold II of Belgium. Forced labor, stripping of natural resources were common. King Leopold's Ghost is the story of the terror that occurred because of King Leopold's greed and of the affects felt many years after his death. It is the story of honorable men such as, Edmund Dene Morel, an English business man from Liverpool and George Washington Williams, an American African American who had served the Union during the Civil war and had fought against Emperor Maximilian (brother-in-law of Leopold II) before beginning work in journalism. It is the story of these men and others and their efforts to mobilize the world against the abuses in the Belgian Congo (Hochschild 1-5, 101-103).Adam Hochschild has a long distinguished career as a journalist and writer. He has published a wide variety of books and articles, some also dealing with social political history in Africa such as King Leopold's Ghost and The Mirror at Midnight that deals with apartheid in South Africa in the mid-1800s. In Bury the Chains Hochschild writes of the attempts to bring slavery to an end in eighteenth century throughout Europe and the Americas.According to his publisher, Houghton Mifflin, King Leopold's Ghost was a finalist for the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Awards. He has written for a variety of magazines Ramparts, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker Magazine among others. Currently he teaches narrative writing at University of California at Berkeley gradua te school. Hochschild's writing style is a combination of journalism, historical, and at times travel writing. It fits nicely into the niche commonly called new journalism or creative non-fiction. His work reads well and, although disturbing, is engaging and important to read.Hochschild begins his book with a brief history of the development of the slave trade beginning in the mid to late fifteenth century. Portuguese exploration led to the discovery of the Congo River in 1482. This marked the first sustained contact between Europeans and the African nation the Kingdom of the Kongo.Hochschild points out that slavery had been practiced within the African Continent before but when the Europeans arrived the â€Å"institution† dramatically changed, â€Å". . . when Europeans showed up ready to buy endless shiploads of slaves, they found African chiefs willing to sell† (Hochschild 10). As exploration of the Western Hemisphere grew and more land came under European dominance a need for a large market for laborers in mining, on sugar and coffee plantations. Consequently the slave trade flourished (Hochschild 6-16).Hochschild presents an interesting account of the relationship between Leopold II and Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley was a Welshman, masquerading as an American, journalist working throughout the United States. Stanley had served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil war. On the second day of the Battle of Shiloh Stanley was captured by Union soldiers and sent to what later became known as a notorious Union POW camp just outside of Chicago. Stanley showed his ability to land on his feet and make the best of any situation by enlisting in the Union army to obtain his freedom. His army career was short-lived when he received a medical discharge because he suffered from dysentery (pun enjoyed, but unintended).After working at sea, Stanley enlisted in the Union Navy where he worked as a clerk on the Minnesota. In early 1865 Stanley deser ts the navy and begins writing journalism about the American West. Soon he was hired by the New York Herald and sent to Africa to cover the war in Suez. From there he joined a variety of journalists writing dispatches from Africa. He traveled the Nile, found international fame when he found Dr. Livingstone and came under the influence of Leopold II (Hochschild 21-60). Leopold contracted with Stanley for five years at the rate of 25,000 francs per year for time and 50,000 francs for time spent in Africa (each franc is about $5 in current funds). Stanley was to head expeditionary forces that would look for resources such as ivory that could be sold in Europe.From this point Hochschild writes about the increase of Belgian influence in the Congo along with increased funneling of Congolese natural resources into Leopold's treasury and increased violence. At the same time Morel and Williams increased their efforts to inform the world of conditions in the Congo. Their efforts were successf ul as organizations throughout the western world began to lend their support to the effort. As the story of events in the Congo became better known, people such as Stanley tried to distance themselves from Leopold II and his past.In chapter 15 â€Å"A Reckoning† Hochschild summarizes the horror under Leopold's reign. Although not technically â€Å"genocide† as it was not a deliberate, sanctioned attempt to eliminate a particular ethnic group, the effects were of such proportion. Hochschild attributes the large number of deaths to four sources: murder, starvation, disease, and a â€Å"plummeting† birth rate† (226). Force Publique soldiers were known to kill everyone they could find when a district failed to produce its quota of rubber. According to Hochschild â€Å"the list of specific massacres on record goes on and on† (226-228).As the terror increased thousands of people fled from their villages. The French government estimated that at least 30,00 0 entered French controlled countries. Others fled to the English controlled Northern Rhodesia. Along the way many died due to starvation and exposure. According to one Presbyterian missionary, there were at least 40,000 refugees living in the forests without shelter within a seventy-five mile radius of Luebo (Hochschild 229-230). Hochschild points out the far more people died of disease in the area during this period than by being shot. Smallpox was endemic; sleeping sickness (caused by the bite of the pink-striped tse-tse fly) killed an estimated 500,000 in 1900 alone (Hochschild 230-231).Due to the forced labor where men were sent to work camps for weeks at a time the number of children born decreased alarmingly. A visitor in 1910 reported a distinct absence of children between the ages of seven and fourteen; this corresponds exactly with the height of the rubber harvesting.   According to estimates Hochschild writes that the population of the Congo had decreased by half betwee n 1880 and 1920. A 1924 estimate of the population was ten million. This indicates ten million people died or fled the country during this period without being replaced by new births or immigration (Hochschild 231-233).Unfortunately, as history expands its areas of specialization from the traditional all-white, male dominated governmental emphasis into the more marginalized people it becomes apparent that throughout world history genocide has been a much more common phenomenon than previously believed. This is a very good book that should be read by more people. The number of people killed is shocking. It would be nice to think such things only happened in the past; unfortunately events in Somalia, Rwanda and throughout the Middle East indicate this is not the case. It is to be hoped that such events are never forgotten nor repeated.Works CitedHochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, A Mariner Book, 1999. â€Å"Adam Hochschild.† 2007. Houghton Mifflin Company. 27 Feb. 2007 ;http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/authordetail.cfm?authorID=2188;.