The Great Gatsby American Dream Essay -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the society in the 1920's and the associated beliefs, values and dreams of the American population at that time. These beliefs, values and dreams can be summed up be what is termed the "American Dream", a dream of money, wealth, prosperity and the happiness that supposedly came with the booming economy and get-rich-quick schemes that formed the essential underworld of American upper-class society. This underworld infiltrated the upper echelons and created such a moral decay within general society that paved the way for the ruining of dreams and dashing of hopes as they were placed confidently in the chance for opportunities that could be seized by one and all. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the American Dream and the "foul dust" or the carelessness of a society that floats in the wake of this dream. By looking at each character and their situation and ambition it can be seen that the American Dream was not limited to one social class or type of person, that it was nation wide and was found within everyone. From the position as narrator the reader has access to the thoughts and feelings of Nick Carraway more than any other characters, but this same position also reduces the effectiveness of the reader as a judge of character because he is presented in a biased way compared to others. With that said, it can be seen that Nick suffers greatly from his experiences in New York. His regard for human decency is ruined and he leaves with his hopes dashed and a disgust at how the materialism that runs rampant throughout his social class is capable of ruining lives and dreams. Nick, as with all characters is a believer in the American Dream because even he moves East to work in the bond bu... ...hen she talks about careless people, saying she "hates careless people" when she admits that she is one.) that contribute to the overall ethical decay within the American aristocracy. Fitzgerald shows that in the social classes that were represented in The Great Gatsby there is a running theme of how the American dream affects all of the characters, they each have their own aspirations for their own life but more often than not they revolve around money and the effects that wealth has on their style of life. Because of the tragic events within The Great Gatsby and the fact that the characters who are still alive at the end of the novel, bar Nick, are not drastically altered by their experience lend to the view that the 1920's and 1930's or the Jazz Age held a society of people who were ruled by materialism and trivial and depthless beliefs and values. -Cam

International Bus Essay

1. Who are the various stakeholders that Anglo American needs to consider as it adopts an effective HIV/AIDS strategy? The people are said to be the driving forces of a country’s economy. In South Africa, AIDS has greatly impacted the nation’s economy. As evidence, it was stated that from 1992 to 2002, the economy of South Africa lost over $7 billion annually which is approximately 2% of the country’s GDP. This is because of the death of workers with AIDS. As AIDS continue to spread, it will continue to bring down the per capita growth of South Africa by 1 to 2% every year. Being a mining conglomerate, Anglo American operates in 45 nations and has over 107,000 employees. As Anglo American adopts an effective HIV/AIDS strategy, it should considering gathering as stakeholders all nations that are greatly reliant on the goods produced by the African workers. Anglo American must also consider health organizations, South African government, and big companies. It is im perative for the people in power to realize the impact of AIDS to the South African economy. 2. What are the pros and cons of Anglo American’s adoption of an aggressive strategy in combating HIV/AIDS among its South African workforce? What recommendations would you give the company concerning its HIV/AIDS policy? Since Anglo American was greatly hit during the outbreak of AIDS, the company developed comprehensive and dynamic approaches to combat the disease as it has become very ravaging to the workforce and its operations. The program was made up of prevention initiatives with focus on education and awareness. The program also included dissemination of condoms, financial as well as skill-related training to lessen poverty, and a survey system that would monitor the pervasiveness of the disease. Later on, the policies were expanded and included counseling, testing, as well as care and wellness programs. Some of the pros of the program include decrease payment for the patient as the number of people participating in the program increases. Despite the benefits of this aggressive strategy, there were many cons to this including the disapproval from many other interested parties. The program has also been unsuccessful because of refusal of some employees to undergo ART. Some even stopped during the treatment regimen. Other workers did not try submitting to the program because of fear of discrimination while others were in denial of having been contacted with AIDS. A robust approach is essential in this matter. If discrimination is an issue for workers, then as much as possible, the company should adopt a program that will respect the privacy and confidentiality of the patient’s condition. In addition, since some patients are anxious about the cost of the treatment, the company must consider encouraging more stakeholders to support the program and deliver the treatment for free. 3. Because such a large percentage of its workforce consists of migrant workers who are more likely to acquire and spread HIV/AIDS, should Anglo American adopt the policy of not hiring migrant workers? Should the South African government close the doors to migrant workers? Closing the doors to migrant workers would be another case of discrimination. Since the majority of the company’s employees are migrant workers, the company must consider proper screening before hiring. In hiring employees, companies must make sure that the people are in good condition and are ready for work. A physical check-up must be required. Migrant workers should not be stopped from working in Anglo-American provided that they meet the criterion of being HIV/AIDS-free. 4. What role do pharmaceutical companies play in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa? What policies or courses of action would you recommend to a company that produces HIV/AIDS drugs? Pharmaceutical companies are the ones responsible in manufacturing drugs needed for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. GSK for instance, deliver drugs to South Africa. However, Anglo American is hoping that pharmaceutical companies would reduce their prices to be able to provide more drugs for the people infected with HIV/AIDS. Though pharmaceutical companies wish to  reduce their prices, they are also somehow hesitant in fear of violating the intellectual property rights. Policies or courses of action to consider to a company that produces HIV/AIDS drugs would be to lift up the intellectual property rights of drugs in nations such as South Africa which is in dire need of treatment.

Freedom Versus Determinism Freud Versus Sartre Essay

Freedom versus Determinism In Class Essay The person portrayed in The Scream clearly is in distress, they looked extremely surprised and scared. This is because they have just realized that they have been living in-authentically, that is, they have set certain parameters to live by that has ultimately affected, and taken away , their freedom. This debate about whether or not we have freedom in the decisions that we make is one that Sartre and Freud both are strongly opinionated about. Freud, being a soft determinist, claims that much of what we do, especially the things that define our lives, is determined. Sartre on the other hand says that we have so much freedom that it scares us and the person in the scream is in anguish due to how†¦show more content†¦Because of the presence of this voice, however, we as the human are either choosing to follow our instincts or to abide by social boundaries, and thus it is always our choice, we have free will. Freud Continues his determinist argument with psychosexual stages: Be ing disrupted at certain early stages of our life is out of our control, but it can correspond to our character later in life, thus determining our actions. For example, if a child’s development is disrupted in the â€Å"anal† Stage, they will be especially analy retentive as an adult. However these correlations have been shown to be arbitrary, as one could be inclined towards being good at math through DNA or other reasons, instead of their retentiveness due to their Anal stage disruption. Finally, Freud identifies â€Å"Ontogenic history,† our own personal history which continually influences us and defines our personality. This point contains validity, because I will not strip naked and run around even though I should theoretically be able to. My personal history, however, has taught me that I shouldn’t thus I am obeying the SuperEgo, and it was determined by my upbringing that I should do so. However ultimately this point is invalid because I made con scious choices earlier to bow down to the SuperEgo, which led me to decide not to strip naked. Ergo the Superego’s deterministic power is undermined because at some point I had to chooseShow MoreRelatedFate and Destiny7886 Words   |  32 Pages\\server05\productn\T\THE\26-1-2\THE1203.txt unknown Seq: 1 26-FEB-07 9:49 Fate and Destiny: Some Historical Distinctions between the Concepts Richard W. Bargdill Saint Francis University Abstract There has been a great deal of attention given to the â€Å"free will versus determinism† debate. However, little attention has been paid to the most common expressions from this controversy—people’s everyday experience of fate and destiny. In fact, fate and destiny are terms that are often used as synonyms as if there were no differences