Social Satire :: essays research papers

In the United States, there are certain inalienable rights granted to all. As the Declaration of Independence of the original thirteen colonies states, "among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."(Jefferson, 1787, Declaration of Ind., Pg. 1) These rights are not "special rights." While the U.S. government cannot hold back upon these rights, it does have the power to ratify and enforce laws that will enable or restrict its citizens' use of them. As a realistic part of the rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, freedom in one's domestic relationships is very important. The freedom to put together one's domestic relationships in ways that best fit one's needs, desires, and life is critical in one's pursuit of happiness. The importance of this freedom to arrange one's domestic relationships freely becomes understandable in versions of the "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), which is proposed, and sometimes passed, on the national and state levels. DOMA legislation, in its different forms, limits the legal definition of marriage to the â€Å"legal union of a man and woman.† (Sullivan, 1976, DOMA Act, pg. 2) As the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." (Jefferson, 1787, Constitution of U.S., PG. 4) The tradition of Judeo-Christian "marriage" is the life-long heterosexual union of one male and one female; this definition excludes all other possible combinations. The U.S. government has given itself the power to make this definition of "marriage" (which is a religious establishment) a state definition and to give it special privileges and legal status. The legal status, privileges and other benefits of legally recognized marriage are withheld from those unions that are different from the traditional union of â€Å"marriage†. The "benefits" of legally recognized marriage include medical care and visitation rights, death and distribution of one's estate, child custody and parental rights. Expanding the definition of marriage to include homosexual and heterosexual domestic partners, as certain popular political movements have requested, will not solve this issue. There are many different ways people can have relationships and to define them all in a state definition would be difficult. Even if this could be done it would still exclude single men and women who choose not to be in such a relationship from these benefits. The just answer is to eliminate marriage as state establishment, and to place it within the private jurisdiction as the definition of religion is.

Government and Politics - The Atheist Civil-Liberty Union :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Atheist Civil-Liberty Union      Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Civil Liberties Union has a public agenda, and that agenda appears to be this: to make the United States in all her public manifestations reflect an atheist's view of the nation's founding and continuing existence. Is it item #84 on the ACLU's published agenda that calls for the elimination of "In God We Trust" from our coins? "Under God" must also be torn from the Pledge of Allegiance. The Commandments given Moses must never appear as public symbols. This nation must so thoroughly appear to be atheist in public as to be, in fact, and for all practical purposes, atheist in all public spheres.    The sweet air of liberty must be replaced with an invisible gas that detects, exterminates, and suffocates any breath that would expel a religious word in public life. Publicly, religion must be totally repressed, so that soon only atheists will find the public atmosphere comfortable.    The accommodation this nation long ago reached between believers and nonbelievers must be abandoned. Religion shall be banned from all public appearances under government auspices, until it is totally squeezed down into private life, underground. There, harmless, it can survive as long as it may.    Ideally, some atheists have written and many have heavily implied, religion will perish forever. Its vanishing will free the planet from divisiveness, intolerance, hatred, persecution, and the desire to sweep alternative views from public existence. Secularism, the world's best hope for tolerance, will then rule triumphant, sweetly, having driven its foes from every inch of public existence.    To save the world from intolerance, the ACLU must be rigorously intolerant.    Atheism is a long-term project. It is not completed when one ceases believing in God. It is necessary to carry it through until one empties from the world all the conceptual space once filled by God. One must also, for instance, abandon the conviction that the events, phenomena, and laws of the world we live in (those of the whole universe) cohere, belong together, have a unity. What is born from chance may be ruled by chance, quite insanely.    Most atheists one meets, however, take up a position rather less rigorous. To the big question - Did the world of our experience, with all its seeming intelligibility and laws, come into existence by chance, or by the action of an agent that placed that intelligibility there in the first place?

Creationism vs Evolutionism Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most people view the theory of evolution as being a feasible explanation of how life became what is today. Evolution is a theory that the various organisms are descended from others that lived in earlier times and that the differences are due to inherited changes that occurred over many generations. It must be realized that evolution is a theory and cannot be considered a fact. Even though it’s roots are from Greek anatomists, the theory of evolution came to light in 1859 when Charles Darwin published his book The Origin of Species, which dealt with natural selection. Since then, scientists have been continually searching for proof for the theory through research and experimentation. Some of the topics that are associated with proving the theory are fossil records, carbon-14 dating, and DNA testing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These are also noted as part of phylogenetic systematics, which is the term used for classifying and understanding the relationships and history among species of the past and present. Natural selection, or â€Å"survival of the fittest†, is the mechanics of evolution. Natural selection deals with the dying of weaker offspring of an organism, and the survival of the stronger offspring. When a strong organism survives, its dominent genes are passed on to its offspring. Over time, these genes will lead to mutations, which allow a species to adapt as they slowly move to different environments or other natural change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is a broad interpretation of how evolutionists explain, for instance, sea creatures becoming land creatures. Evolutionists believe that life began on earth when chemicals combined to produce the first cell. Throughout the course of millions of years, single cell organisms arose to life as it known today. Fundamentally, evolution is based on scientific reasoning and experimentation. As with most sciences, inaccuracies do occur through new discoveries and the theory of evolution must be rethought. Creationism deals with the theory that the world was created in a brief amount of time by a higher being. Creationism has been the way humans explain the making of the earth and the inhabitants on it for thousands of years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This has been depicted through ancient hieroglyphs, stories, and popular mythology. Al... ...on. The only people who do think there can be coexistence are those who are less educated on the topic. A popular opinion that I share with these people is that evolution has and is happening as scientists believe, but at the fate of a higher being. An example of this belief is that when non-organic chemicals came together to form the first living cell, as scientists give credence to, there was a deity involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One way that evolution might gain more acceptance is the decline of religion in society. Since most creationism is based off of religion, which is declining in participation from generation to generation, more people might turn to science. Creationism would require a supernatural occurrence to turn evolutionists over to accepting it as fact.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The opposition between the theory of evolution and the belief in creationism is in an idle balance, and without any extravagant changes in evidence or approach, it will be for an extensive time. I myself, have personally come to a stand still. It might not be a life or death decision, but just the same it is a question that I do not think anyone is in the position to decide.

Shifting Experiences of Work and Non-Work Life

Work, Employment & Society http://wes. sagepub. com/ Life after Burberry: shifting experiences of work and non-work life following redundancy Paul Blyton and Jean Jenkins Work Employment Society 2012 26: 26 DOI: 10. 1177/0950017011426306 The online version of this article can be found at: http://wes. sagepub. com/content/26/1/26 Published by: http://www. sagepublications. com On behalf of: British Sociological Association Additional services and information for Work, Employment & Society can be found at: Email Alerts: http://wes. sagepub. com/cgi/alertsSubscriptions: http://wes. sagepub. com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www. sagepub. com/journalsReprints. nav Permissions: http://www. sagepub. com/journalsPermissions. nav Citations: http://wes. sagepub. com/content/26/1/26. refs. html >> Version of Record – Feb 17, 2012 What is This? Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 Beyond redundancy: article Life after Burberry: shifting experiences o f work and non-work life following redundancy Work, Employment and Society 26(1) 26–41  © The Author(s) 2012Reprints and permission: sagepub. co. uk/journalsPermissions. nav DOI: 10. 1177/0950017011426306 wes. sagepub. com Paul Blyton Cardiff University, UK Jean Jenkins Cardiff University, UK Abstract This article sheds new light on neglected areas of recent ‘work-life’ discussions. Drawing on a study of a largely female workforce made redundant by factory relocation, the majority subsequently finding alternative employment in a variety of work settings, the results illustrate aspects of both positive and negative spillover from work to non-work life.In addition, the findings add to the growing number of studies that highlight the conditions under which part-time working detracts from, rather than contributes to, successful work-life balance. The conclusion discusses the need for a more multi-dimensional approach to work-life issues. Keywords part-time work, po sitive/negative spillover, redundancy, re-employment, work-life balance Introduction Recent discussion of the relationship between work and non-work life – much f it focused on the notion of work-life balance – has tended to give preference to two aspects of that relationship over others. First, there has been a marked tendency to consider the impact of work on non-work life to a much greater extent than vice versa. Second, as Corresponding author: Jean Jenkins, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, Wales, UK. Email: [email  protected] ac. uk Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 27 Blyton and JenkinsGuest (2002: 260) has pointed out, there has been an equal tendency to explore ‘work-life conflict’ rather than examine possible positive associations within that relationship. For Guest (2002: 263), this reflects a widely held view that over the past generation the pressure of work has be come a more dominant feature of many people’s lives, as a result of among other things perceived increases in work demands and a widespread expectation to show commitment by working long hours (see, for example, McGovern et al. , 2007; Perlow, 1999).Coupled with the growth in female labour market participation, particularly among women with dependent children, this is seen to increase pressure on non-work activity by reducing the time and/or energy available to fulfil outside responsibilities. Where the possibility for positive ‘spillover’ (Staines, 1980) between work and nonwork life has been examined, this has mainly been undertaken by social psychologists, generally approaching the issue both from an individual perspective and with the non-work focus primarily on the family.Examples include studies that have identified a positive association between an individual’s job satisfaction and their satisfaction with family life (for example, Near et al. , 1987 ). Less attention has been addressed to more aggregate levels of analysis more typically explored by sociologists, such as the influence of the work group or workplace community on life outside work (for a notable exception, see Grzywacz et al. , 2007, and for earlier sociological accounts, see Horobin, 1957; Tunstall, 1962).Yet, despite the attention given to the potential for positive spillover of individual-level factors, even among psychologists the clear direction of travel has been to examine possible conflictual rather than beneficial relationships between aspects of work and non-work life. In their meta-analysis of 190 studies of associations between work and family, for example, Eby et al. (2005) found almost three times the number of studies focusing on the unfavourable effects of one sphere on the other, compared to those considering possible favourable effects.Even more starkly, of all the studies examining the effects of work on family or vice versa, less than one in fi ve of the studies entertained the possibility of the relationship being characterized by both favourable and unfavourable effects. A recent study involving a largely female manufacturing workforce made redundant by factory relocation, most of whom subsequently found alternative employment in a variety of work settings, allows for examination of some of the neglected aspects of the relationship between work and life outside work.In several respects the nature of this study in terms of the workplace and its location – a large clothing manufacturer, Burberry, in the Rhondda Valleys of South Wales – is somewhat distinctive. In earlier times the plant had been one among a cluster of factories in its locality, but the decline of coal and manufacturing meant that it had become the biggest employer for a relatively isolated community in an economically depressed area. Thus, while in operation, the factory exerted a considerable impact on the non-work lives (both in terms of fa mily and community) of its workforce.Indeed, there was a symbiotic relationship between community and workplace in our case that resonates with Cunnison’s (1966) earlier garment factory study. Such windows on the interaction of factory and community are becoming increasingly rare in the context of manufacturing decline in the UK and the changing nature of what a ‘workplace’ has become. The study provides insight into the journey of a redundant manufacturing workforce into new Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 28 Work, Employment and Society 26(1) mployment in the contemporary labour market. In this, there are clear points of reference to be drawn with Bailey et al. ’s (2008) study of redundancy at the MG Rover plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, UK, even though that study dealt with respondents from a quite different demographic and skills base. Manufacturing employment in Britain has typically involved workers employed fulltime and this pattern also prevailed in clothing factories, including our case (see Kersley et al. , 2006: 78; also Phizacklea, 1990: 66).Factory closure and the paucity of good jobs in the immediate locality gave workers limited choice and the subsequent employment experience of many of our female respondents (the majority of whom were over 45 years of age) involved part-time jobs in the service sector. Their responses usefully contribute to discussions (led by Walsh, 2007; Walters, 2005; Warren, 2004, among others) on the extent to which (and conditions under which) part-time working may contribute to (or detract from) a successful work-life balance.It is evident from the present sample that both part-time employment – particularly the lower incomes deriving from that work – and the lack of stability in the hours worked, had a significant negative impact on different aspects of non-work life. What emerges is a picture that highlights the obstacles to positive sp illover in part-time, low wage service sector occupations which fail to offer workers stability and security in terms of contracts, hours or earnings.To explore these issues, the remainder of the article is divided into five sections. First, the context of the study is outlined: the nature of the community and the closure of the factory that was the focus for our enquiry. Second we describe our investigation and our maintained connection with a sample of the workforce made redundant and their trade union representatives. The third and fourth sections trace the changing nature of the relationship between workplace and life outside work: the shift from a largely positive o a more problematic association as employment experiences altered. While the third section examines the association between Burberry and broader features of workers’ lives, the fourth explores work and non-work experiences of workers following the Burberry closure. This fourth section explores, among other thi ngs, the effects of parttime working and unpredictable work hours on the families and social lives of our respondents.The final, fifth section reflects on the findings and underlines the value of work-life enquiries adopting a more context-sensitive and multi-dimensional approach to the interconnections between work, family and community. The context: the locality and the factory This study centres on the experiences of women and men employed by Burberry, until the closure of its manufacturing plant in South Wales in 2007. The Burberry factory studied was located in Treorchy, a former coal-mining town in the Rhondda Valleys.This region saw ‘permanent structural change’ during the last quarter of the 20th century, due to the acute decline of coal mining and steel (Williams, 1998: 87, 121). Regeneration has been a regional government priority but the relative geographical isolation of valley towns like Treorchy presents particular challenges for individuals in travelling for work and also for agencies charged with attracting alternative sources of investment (Bryan et al. , 2003).Founded in 1939, the factory changed ownership more than once, with Burberry being a customer throughout its history and taking full ownership in the late Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 29 Blyton and Jenkins 1980s. At its height, the factory employed 1500 employees and though employment levels had contracted to around 300 by 2007, it remained a key employer in the area. As was the case in Cunnison’s (1966) study, the community outside the workplace entered the factory gates in the form of amilial ties, friendships and long-established associations and over time the plant had acquired a strong local identity as an example of the surviving manufacturing sector and a bastion of ‘jobs in the Valleys’. The factory’s workforce was overwhelmingly female, reflecting the gender profile of the clothing sector gener ally (Winterton and Taplin, 1997b: 10). Low levels of recruitment in latter years had resulted in an ageing workforce, with the majority of workers at the factory being 45 years or older.As part of a ‘buyer-driven’ global value chain (Gereffi, 1994), the British clothing industry has experienced structural change associated with outsourcing and outward processing of production (Jones, 2006: 101). While Burberry had formerly set itself apart from the trend to off-shoring by ‘focussed differentiation and niche marketing’ (Winterton and Taplin, 1997a: 194) of its high value garments as ‘quintessentially British’, in 2006 it joined the ranks of other producers and gave notice of its intention to relocate the Treorchy plant’s production to China in the interests of cheaper labour costs.The shock of the notice of closure was deeply felt in a community with limited prospects of alternative work and within a workplace with a strong social networ k. In his earlier study of garment workers, Lupton (1963: 72–3) comments that factory life was made tolerable by the sociable groupings that evolved within their walls, and that workers’ attachment to the company ‘sprang very largely from [their] emotional attachment to the small group of friends rather than any love for work that had little intrinsic value, or for their employer’.As well as the loss of these sorts of relationships, the Burberry workers also feared the loss to the local community of a factory which had, over its 70-year history, become emblematic of secure employment and was regarded, as one respondent commented, as a ‘guaranteed job †¦ a job for life’. Thus, when Burberry made its announcement, the workforce reacted with outrage and disbelief. A fierce campaign attracted considerable media attention, but the plant closed in March 2007 (for a discussion of the closure campaign, see Blyton and Jenkins, 2009).For the majori ty of our respondents, closure meant the end of their workplace community and the rupture of friendships and associations that had been built up over lifetimes. It also meant entry into a new world of job search or enforced ‘retirement’ in the context of low pay and limited choice. The study Using survey, interview and observational methods, we have examined several aspects of the redundancies, and individuals’ subsequent employment experiences, over a longitudinal research period which had key stages in 2007, 2008 and 2009.The research began in January 2007, and initially concentrated on the workers’ campaign against closure of the plant. Regular interviews were held with full-time and lay union representatives, and shop-floor staff, and a short survey was issued to employees in February 2007, while the plant was still open. A further survey of the effects of redundancy was issued in March 2008 (one year after plant closure) and interviews with union repr esentatives have continued up to the present. In addition, the authors attended various public and trade union meetings and workers’ reunions occurring since the plant closure. Downloaded from wes. sagepub. om at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 30 Work, Employment and Society 26(1) As the initial 2007 survey sought information specifically on employees’ response to the union campaign against closure, it has only a limited contribution to make to this article’s focus on the effects of redundancy. The 2008 survey and interviews conducted in 2009 provided the main sources of information about the effects of redundancy. It was in this phase of the research that the focus was on workers’ employment experiences since redundancy as well as aspects of their previous employment and comparisons were drawn between life ‘before and after Burberry’.The 2008 survey was posted to the homes of 191 former shop-floor staff (all the staff we were able to s ecure home addresses for) and 80 usable replies were received (a response rate of 42%). Reflecting the lower levels of recruitment at the factory in latter years, 70 per cent of the respondents were 45 years or older (74% were married or living with a partner, and 70% had no children living at home). Of the 80 respondents, 71 (89%) were female. The full-time union representative for the largest union in the plant, the GMB,1 estimated the ratio of female to male employment within the factory at 80:20.Employment records could not be obtained to verify this estimate but it was a good reflection of the profile of shop-floor union membership, which stood at around 80 per cent density. In January 2009, the 28 respondents to the 2008 survey who had indicated their willingness to participate in ongoing research were contacted and asked to participate in interviews about their experiences since redundancy. Eleven agreed and semistructured interviews took place, focusing on their experiences while employed at the factory and the way their lives had changed in the two years since the closure.Interviews took place in respondents’ own homes and lasted, on average, one hour and 40 minutes. Two interviewees were male, nine were female. Despite the predominance of female respondents in the survey and interviews, male workers at the plant participated in all phases of the research in rough proportion to their representation at the workplace, and work-life issues for both men and women in the study were negatively impacted by low paid, insecure work in the prevailing labour market environment.In terms of its representativeness and relevance for wider social enquiry, it is acknowledged that this study has many distinct features in terms of workplace and location, but it contributes to the building of generalizations (see Gerring, 2004: 341, 352) in two areas. First, Burberry’s own cost-focused rationale for closure highlights the workings of the garment value chain and the fact that low paid female workers in a mature economy are now ‘too expensive’ to manufacture garments – even those at the high end of the retail market.Thus, what is examined in this case is a particular instance of the ‘new forms of inequality’ (Glucksmann, 2009: 878) which result from an international division of labour where labour is casualized and ‘recommodified’ in the service sector of the global north (see Standing, 2009: 70–78) as manufacturing relocates for cheaper people and more favourable regulatory regimes elsewhere. Second, the respondents’ experiences of job search contribute to analysis and understanding of the contemporary British labour market and the increasing phenomenon of nvoluntary part-time working, particularly among women (Yerkes and Visser, 2006: 253). In this respect, Bailey et al. ’s (2008) study of job search and re-employment of Longbridge workers is a useful comparator for th e present enquiry even though their respondents differed from the Burberry workforce in that 90 per cent were male and were mainly professional, skilled, semi-skilled or technical workers. The Longbridge results indicate that, post-closure: Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 31 Blyton and Jenkins igher earning occupations were more likely to travel for work and were consequently much better placed to cope with job loss; men were more likely to find alternative full-time jobs; redundant workers needed ongoing support and training; women were more likely to be found in part-time employment in the service sector; and those workers moving from manufacturing into public services in education, health and social care (as did the majority of the Burberry respondents) reported the largest decline in salary, which Bailey and colleagues (2008: 54) refer to as a particular indicator of ‘growing labour market polarization and inequality’.In det ailing key factors in successful efforts at re-employment, Bailey et al. ’s findings help to illuminate what was absent from the demographic and skills profile of the Burberry respondents and highlight the factors which limited their prospects for re-employment. It is evident in the Burberry case that low paid, full-time female manufacturing workers classed as unskilled became low paid, part-time service sector workers out of necessity not choice.The majority of workers could not travel for work due to a range of factors, among which low earnings, job insecurity and the close intersection between their work and non-work lives were prime considerations. While it was perhaps the very legacy of poor pay and the marginalization of women’s work as ‘unskilled’ at the Burberry plant which presented the greatest challenges for e-employment, the factory had undoubted compensations: it offered a working week that had fixed boundaries of time and effort, perceived jo b security, norms of employment that followed women’s life patterns and strong sociable groupings, all of which allowed workers to make positive accommodations between their paid and unpaid working lives. In the contemporary ‘low-skilled’ labour market outside the plant, most of these compensations were absent and the combined effects of low hourly rates of pay and unpredictable part-time hours in their changed employment eroded any positive spillover from work.The following sections examine these factors in greater detail. The changing relationship between work and life outside work: Burberry and community integration As the majority of employees and our respondents were female, a key issue in the findings related to the intersection of paid and unpaid work in the lives of women workers. Working near to home in a close-knit workplace had helped women manage the integration of their work and non-work lives in various ways; these were explored in interviews at the time of the closure, in unstructured discussions at public events, and in the interviews conducted in 2009.Five factors in particular were most commented on in relation to ways in which the factory was positively interconnected with the lives of the workers in the community. First, frequent reference was made to the advantages of the workplace’s proximity to their homes: No bus fare to pay, on the doorstep. I could leave the house at 25 to eight and be clocking on at a quarter to. We used to finish at 4. 40 and I’d be home by 4. 45. I could get on with my ironing before tea. I absolutely hated it the day I started, but it was so convenient – you’d finish at 4. 0 and be home at five. Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 32 Work, Employment and Society 26(1) This proximity was also helpful in coping with unforeseen domestic emergencies: We didn’t earn a lot but I had a job where I was near to home. I could cope w ith all the commitments in my private life, if my mother was taken ill [for example]. The second most commonly referred-to factor was the reliability of the company as a source of employment, with relatives able to ‘have a word’ with Personnel to secure employment for other family members.Interviewees referred to relatives made redundant several times from other manufacturing jobs before getting ‘security’ in a job at Burberry. Many had several members of their family working at the factory. It was like a family – when I started work, my mother worked there, her sister worked there, my father’s sister worked there, my own sister worked there and I had two or three cousins there. Out of the 14 houses in my street, 10 of them had Burberry workers living in them.Such was the prevalence of familial ties throughout the plant that one interviewee commented that her husband always referred to his mother by her first name when inside the factory, sayi ng that there was no point in calling her ‘Mam’ because ‘there were so many mothers and children on the shop-floor’. A number of people met their future spouses at the plant and patterns of life-time work within the factory traditionally facilitated exit and re-entry into work, following childbearing.The expectation of a job being available resulted in many women giving up work to have families, in the knowledge – accurate up to the last years – of re-employment at a later date. A third advantage for life outside work was perceived to be the factory’s predictable working hours. Almost all staff (over 95%) at Burberry were employed full-time, with the factory operating Monday to Friday, 7. 45 a. m. to 4. 40 p. m.As one respondent commented after the closure, she ‘really missed the Monday to Friday routine’ – this routine being something else that was seen to compensate for the low wage rates paid at the factory (and a routine absent from many jobs subsequently obtained, as discussed below). Fourth, many references were made to the social aspects of work, with interviewees and survey respondents using terms such as their ‘Burberry family’ and ‘one big family’, where they saw their neighbours every day.Though aspects of the work routines were reported as ‘strict’, the work atmosphere was clearly punctuated by ‘all the laughs’ they had, and the everyday chat. Comments on the latter included: Officially we were supposed to start at 7. 45 but some of us used to go in 15 minutes early for a chat before we started work. Once you’d done your number [piecework target] you could take a break and go upstairs to the toilets for a chat.As in Lupton’s study (1963: 72–3), the workers did not idealize the tensions or the work of factory life at the Burberry plant, which was hard and low paid, particularly for the majority of female workers who earned little more than the national minimum wage. Comments about their ‘Burberry family’ were made alongside derogatory remarks about Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 33 Blyton and Jenkins their former employers. Thus nostalgia for factory life was reserved for memories of events and those friendships and people that had characterized workers’ experience of employment at the plant.There were also more organized social activities such as charity fund-raising events, works trips and parties which were clearly valued (and missed) and, in combination with the informal relations between workers, had contributed significantly to the ongoing contact with others in the community. In addition to these four aspects of positive connection between work and non-work life, respondents identified two further, related attributes of their work that had relevance for life outside the factory.First, several commented on the skills they had acquired at Burberry and the positive feelings that this had given them (‘pride at being a Burberry worker’). Examples of reported skills were numerous, including the interviewees who pointed out ‘hand-sewers’ still working at the plant in 2007, and indicated their level of skill in comments such as ‘we used to prove the methods’ (‘proving a method’ involved transferring a design from planning into full production, something necessary from time to time with difficult garments, and requiring considerable expertise).Several referred to the national awards for excellence won by the factory, to the long hours they had worked beyond their contracts, and being always keen to ‘get the work out’. Closely associated with the pride in their skills, a number of respondents reported an acquired status that reflected responsibilities held within the factory which they felt had been undermined by job loss. The quest to maintain social status and social identity has been recognized in studies of redundancy among men, such as former steel workers (Harris, 1987: 36).From several ex-Burberry respondents came comments that they were shocked to find themselves treated in the job search process as ‘low skilled’ or ‘unskilled’ (as a result of generally lacking certified or accredited qualifications), with their former status within the plant often being replaced by alternative employment in junior-level service sector jobs. One interviewee, for example, who had held supervisory responsibilities at Burberry, commented that her next employer (the retail chain Argos) entrusted her with virtually no responsibility: ‘they didn’t know me or what I’d done’.In their study, Bailey et al. (2008: 50) comment on the crucial influence of the local labour market for re-employment, together with accredited skills, the need for ongoing training support and help with travelling for work. Our findings lead us to agree that the propensity to travel and retrain for work are key determinants of success in job search, and this former supervisor at Burberry was an example of what occurs when low paid, insecure, unpredictable work makes travel too costly.Though she had taken advantage of short-term training courses offered by local employment services, she was unable to gain recognition for the skills she had acquired over 40 years of factory working and had been able to obtain only two temporary jobs since factory closure. She described the consequent effects on her sense of purpose and identity and the negative physical and emotional effects of being a ‘job-seeker’ for the first time in her life in her mid-50s, as ‘devastating’ and the cause of depression.All told, our respondents (even those who said they had grown to enjoy their new employment and were earning more) expressed regret at the loss of the social factors that have been d iscussed in this section, which constituted significant compensations for the comparatively low wage rates at the Burberry plant. After closure, the legacy of years of low pay and particularly the marginalization of women’s work as ‘unskilled’ meant that Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 34Work, Employment and Society 26(1) job search was an activity that prioritized the local labour market. Once workers entered new forms of employment, however, they did so without the supporting structure of the social network and sense of identity that (for them) had defined the experience of being a Burberry worker. The changing relationship between work and life outside work: redundancy, re-employment and social isolation The vast majority of the redundant Burberry workers restricted their job search to their own locality.This choice was partly facilitated by the building of a new Wal-Mart Asda store, along with the availability of care work with the local authority. Data from the local Job Centre Plus confirmed our finding that the majority of Burberry workers prioritized proximity of alternative employment over other factors such as remaining in similar occupations or moving for alternative manufacturing opportunities elsewhere. The context of low pay made relocation financially unrealistic, even if it had been desired. In 2007 the local jobs market was dominated by part-time hours, relatively low earnings and little perceived security.These criteria fall far short of an incentive to move established households and lose the support network of family, community and friends. As well as the risk of not finding better or secure employment elsewhere, workers faced the constraints of the housing market and the low property values characteristic of deindustrialized areas, which effectively trap people in regions of high unemployment (McNulty, 1987: 42). Relocation was therefore an unrealistic option for the majority of our respondents, but this did not prevent it being proposed for consideration during the process of job search.One male interviewee recounted his first visit to a local Job Centre Plus, where he was faced with a question he found outrageous: Do you know the first thing they [Job Centre staff] said to me was, ‘Are you prepared to move? ’ Can you believe that? Why would I want to move away? I said no, I wouldn’t. This reaction was typical of the majority of our respondents. While the plant was still open but under notice of closure, Burberry provided employment consultants to help with job search and vacancies were posted on the factory notice-board.One interviewee described how she and other workers used to ‘have a laugh’ about the jobs being advertised hundreds of miles outside Rhondda, many of which were also part-time at minimum wage rates. Several interviewees commented (during the run-up to closure and in later interviews) that they regarded the posting of such jobs as not only ridiculous but also a cynical ploy to misrepresent their situation, feeling that Burberry could claim it was doing all it could to meet its responsibilities to a workplace community that could find alternative work if only it took up the opportunities the company had researched on their behalf.For workers though, not only relocation but the option of daily commuting was constrained by the precise nature of work available. The costs and difficulties of travel for variable shifts and short daily hours spread over 24 hours and five or seven days of the week were not likely to be sustainable on a low income. All these factors made relocation and travelling for work to different degrees economically impracticable. Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 35 Blyton and Jenkins Table 1.Summary of patterns of work and earnings for former Burberry workers one year after redundancy Respondents Male (n=9) Female (n=71) As % of total respondents 11% 89% Working patterns prior to factory closure, March 2007 No. and proportion employed full-time 9 (100%) 68 (94%) Working patterns following factory closure, March 2008 No. of respondents in paid work 7 46 No. and proportion employed full-time 7 (100%) 19 (41%) No. and proportion in part-time work 0 27 (59%) Proportion of respondents in paid work, 28% 23% eporting an increase in weekly earnings Proportion of respondents in paid work, 71% 56% reporting a fall in weekly earnings All (n=80) 100% 77 (95%) 53 26 (49%) 27 (51%) 24% 59% At the time of our 2008 survey, just over two-thirds of the respondents were in paid work with the remainder divided roughly equally between those who had retired and those still seeking employment. The majority of those in work were in the same job that they found on leaving Burberry, while 15 respondents had had two or more jobs since their redundancy.The areas of paid work entered by our sample were mainly in the manufacturing, home -care or retail sectors; two-thirds of respondents in paid work entered relatively low-skill service sector employment. Table 1 highlights the study’s findings on the nature of re-employment patterns. Just over half of the respondents in paid work were employed part-time, on hours ranging from six to 30 per week (and with a mean and mode of 20 hours).Most (88%) of those with part-time jobs reported that their actual hours varied week by week. Those in care work and retail jobs were especially likely to hold part-time contracts with variable hours. The care contracts, for example, typically began as (effectively) zero-hour contracts with no hours guaranteed until a training period was completed. After that, just 16 hours per week were commonly guaranteed, though workers could be asked to work as many as 30 hours in a week depending on demand.The same was true of retail work, though attaining a 30-hour week was far less common in that sector. For many, their parttime status (ra ther than their hourly rate of pay) was the principal reason why their weekly earnings were lower than they had been at Burberry. In several subsequent interviews, respondents commented that making ends meet while working part-time was only made viable by supplementary state benefits and that part-time employment dominated available opportunities rather than being a chosen option.Both from survey responses and interview comments, it was also clear that many were subject to working time patterns that not only varied from week to week but were also highly unpredictable, in terms of both timing and duration. For those on variablehours contracts, their shifts could be scheduled during the daytime, evening or weekends, and for many their forthcoming weekly schedule was known only at the latter end of the previous week. In interviews, the majority of respondents commented on the difficulties Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 6 Work, Employment and S ociety 26(1) created in their home lives by the variability and unpredictability of their new work commitments. One interviewee, for example, employed full-time as a hotel receptionist in 2008 had had her hours cut to 20 per week when interviewed in 2009, and she received just ? 120. 00 gross weekly pay. Though contractually her employer undertook to issue shift patterns and times one month in advance, in practice working patterns were given to her weekly. Shifts ran from 7 a. m to 3 p. m. , 10 a. m. to 6 p. m. , and 3 p. m. o 11 p. m. , and it was quite normal to have to undertake ‘back-to-back’ shifts finishing at 11 p. m. and starting work again at 7 a. m. She commented that the ‘worst thing’ about the job was the timing and unpredictability of the shift work: You can’t plan anything. I’ve just had to cancel a dentist’s appointment because they’ve called me in for a shift and I can’t make another appointment because I w on’t know what I’m working next week. Without her parents’ help, this interviewee commented that she could not have coped with caring for her daughter.It was family support that allowed her to achieve any sort of balance, however imperfect, between her paid and unpaid working life and the tax-credit state benefit (effectively acting as a subsidy for a low paying employer) was an essential factor allowing her to afford to travel to work and keep her employment. A further example of the negative impact of unpredictable hours concerned another respondent who now worked for the local authority (via their care work agency) and was a married mother of two children.Her employment was typical of work in this sector in that it began (in 2007) as a zero-hour contract, with actual hours of work determined wholly by demand. She received notice of her hours each weekend, for the following week. Her shifts were normally based on notional patterns of 8 a. m. to 10. 30 a. m. an d 4. 30 p. m. to 6 p. m. over a seven-day period, but she never knew exactly how many hours she would be given (or which days she would work) for the week ahead. As a new employee, in common with all new recruits, she was classed as ‘casual’ and therefore had no guaranteed hours of work.The interviewee explained that this meant that she sometimes had four hours’ work for a week, but that this could just as likely be twenty or thirty, depending on what her supervisor assigned. ‘Permanent’ status was necessary to attain guaranteed minimum income equivalent to 16 hours’ work per week. As a ‘casual’, she said that planning her income or any sort of family event was impossible; even knowing her hours one week in advance did not help as ‘they can call you, phone you, any time and ask you to come in’.And as a worker hopeful of allocation to a permanent team and reliant on the support of her line manager, this interviewee did not feel she had the scope to refuse any such request. In January 2010, she had still not been upgraded from casual status and could depend on just three hours’ work a week. Unpredictable work patterns were not the sole preserve of women workers. Men were more likely to obtain full-time work but, anecdotally, were more prone to lay-off or seasonally influenced working patterns.One of our male respondents found a seasonal, 40-hour a week job marginally above the national minimum wage rate after several months of unemployment. With no security of contract or predictability of hours, he worked entirely according to the employer’s demand. In the summer he could work as many as 65 hours a week, reducing to 20 at other periods, and was laid off altogether in Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 37 Blyton and Jenkins the coldest months.Hours of work were notified one week in advance, but were frequently subject to change on the day. He re garded placing his time completely at the employer’s disposal as essential to keep his employment. This interviewee had a history of 30 years of regular employment at Burberry and commented that his new working life was a source of anxiety for the future. Jobs with such variable and unpredictable hours have become common in sectors such as retailing (Backett-Milburn et al. , 2008; Henly et al. 2006; Lambert, 2008; Zeytinoglu et al. , 2004) and care (Henninger and Papouschek, 2008; Rubery et al. , 2005). It is also clear that further variability occurs in ‘real time’ as employees are requested at short notice to stay on, or leave early, to reflect particular work circumstances. For management, this access to variable hours offers a means of deploying labour to shadow fluctuations both in demand and available staff but for the people we were interviewing, this variability and unpredictability had many drawbacks.In particular these disadvantages included: a general uncertainty over their work schedule, making it difficult to plan activities outside work; for some, increased problems of organizing childcare and maintaining a consistent care arrangement; a disruption to domestic routines such as meal times; and a lack of stable income as earnings fluctuated with actual hours worked. In the 2008 survey, questions were also asked about changes in other areas of respondents’ non-work lives since the factory closure. Responses to a question about socializing and friendships since the closure showed a marked deterioration.Almost three in five (58%) indicated that this aspect of their life had got worse, compared to 30 per cent saying it had stayed the same and a minority reporting an improvement. In subsequent interviews, several commented that they saw friends and neighbours much less now that Burberry had closed and female interviewees remained emotional about their changed situation even two years after the closure: I miss the company †¦ I can pick the phone up and speak to people, but it’s not the same. Now, I have no social life. There are no friends passing here nd although people say they will keep in touch, they don’t. A similar picture was evident in relation to community involvement. Over two in five of the survey respondents reported a decline in their community involvement since the factory closure, compared to approximately one in seven who reported an increase (the remainder reporting no change). Both in comments on the survey and in interview comments, several references were made to having ‘less money for going out’, compared to former full-time earnings at Burberry.This was especially the case for part-time workers. Those working part-time were more likely (compared to their counterparts in full-time jobs) to indicate that both their level of friendships and community involvement had deteriorated in the time since the factory closure. From comments in interviews, it was ev ident that reduced involvement with friends and the community were issues related to the break up of the workplace community (which had acted as a conduit to wider community involvement), lack of income and the consequence of more fragmented work patterns.Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 38 Work, Employment and Society 26(1) Conclusion While other responses made by the former Burberry workers indicated that the clothing factory was far from an ideal place to work, the factory nevertheless engendered a strong sense of workplace community which in turn extended to various aspects of workers’ non-work lives. As a consequence, the workplace had a number of positive spillover effects into the non-work lives of its workforce.The frequency of interpersonal contact, access to employment for family members, the sense of pride, skill and status that the work generated and the proximity of work to home: all were seen to create a beneficial effect on the workers’ lives more generally. The way that, for many, these factors later diminished, further underlines what the workers had gained from working at Burberry. Subsequent work, much of it part-time and/or with irregular and unpredictable hours, undermined the stability of contact, interaction and social life that had prevailed hitherto.Widespread reductions in earnings exacerbated this situation with less disposable income to spend on a social life. These insights into work to non-work spillover contribute to the work-life debate in two ways. First, they underline the limitations of couching the discussion, as has been common, in terms of the negative impact of work on non-work life. It was clear among this group of workers that their former work experience at Burberry had generated various positive spillover effects, these only diminishing as they moved to other employment after the factory closed.Second, as was discussed at the head of the article, any attention tha t has been given to positive spillover from work to home has focused largely on the influence of individual work-related variables such as job satisfaction. Aspects of these individual-level factors were certainly present among the ex-Burberry workers: a sense, for example, that the status acquired through responsibilities in the factory also had meaning in the non-work community.Importantly, what the present study underlines are more group level, sociological factors positively affecting areas of non-work life: the importance, for example, of interaction among the workforce, reinforced by chat, gossip and ‘having a laugh’. Further, the way the factory represented a source of family, rather than solely individual, employment and the proximate location of the factory in the Treorchy community further reinforced a sense of community both inside and outside the factory.The study’s findings also contribute to the discussion on the extent to which parttime working can contribute to work-life balance or, put differently, the way part-time work reflects a preference for a particular balance of time between work and non-work (Hakim, 2000). Several authors (for example, Walsh, 2007; Walters, 2005; Warren, 2004) have already pointed to the shortcomings of using part-time work as an indicator of a preference and a strategy for achieving work-life balance – noting in particular that this fails to take into account the heterogeneity of part-time work and that, for ome, working part-time is not a means to achieve work-life balance but rather a source of low pay and poor-quality jobs. The present study further underlines the need for a more differentiated view of part-time working. In our sample, while many working part-time in principle had more time available for non-work activities – even when taking longer travelling times into account – this did not translate into more time for friends or community activity. On the contrary, part -time working was associated with work-life Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 9 Blyton and Jenkins impoverishment for this group more than work-life balance. For most of those on part-time contracts who had been used to working full-time, part-time work was an undesirable consequence of the kind of paid work available within the local labour market. The lower earnings that the part-time jobs generated and the variability and unpredictability of many working patterns detracted from, rather than contributed to, the quality of workers’ non-work lives. Overall, these findings signal the value of a nuanced approach in discussions around ‘work-life balance’.In focusing on the associations of work to non-work life, this article has identified the ways in which associations may be positive or negative and has indicated that the nature of those associations may vary over time and from one context to another. As a result of tracing t he subsequent employment experiences of the former garment workers in this study, it became clear that there is a continuing need for wider recognition not only of the heterogeneous nature of part-time work, but also the reasons why people are working part-time and the degree to which it is a voluntary, employeedriven choice.It was also clear that variable and unpredictable work patterns may exert a significant deleterious influence on the ability of workers successfully to organize and fully enjoy their lives outside work. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the union representatives and former Burberry employees who participated in this research. We would also like to express our gratitude to the editor and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. Note 1 The GMB describes itself as ‘Britain’s general union’.It currently represents over 600,000 workers across a range of sectors, and the National Union of Tailor and Garment Workers was merged with it in 1991. References Backett-Milburn K, Airey L, McKie L and Hogg G (2008) Family comes first or open all hours? How low paid women working in food retailing manage webs of obligation at home and work. The Sociological Review 56(3): 474–96. Bailey D, Chapain C, Mahdon M and Fauth R (2008) Life after Longbridge: Three Years on. Pathways to Re-Employment in a Restructuring Economy, Report for the Work Foundation and Birmingham Business School.Birmingham: Birmingham Business School. Blyton P and Jenkins J (2009) The end of the campaign. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association, Cardiff, 2009. Bryan J, Jones C, Munday M and Roberts A (2003) Manufacturing and Trade in Wales: Briefing Paper for the Welsh Affairs Committee, Working Paper Series No. 13, The Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS), Cardiff University , Cardiff. Cunnison S (1966) Wages and Work Allocation: A Study of Social Relations in a Garment Workshop.London: Tavistock. Eby LT, Casper WJ, Lockwood A, Bordeaux C and Brinley A (2005) Work and family research in IO/OB: content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(1): 124–97. Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 40 Work, Employment and Society 26(1) Gereffi G (1994) The organization of buyer-driven global commodity chains: how U. S. retailers shape overseas production networks. In: Gereffi G and Korzeniewicz M (eds) Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT: Praeger, 95–122.Gerring J (2004) What is a case study and what is it good for? American Political Science Review 98(2): 341–54. Glucksmann M (2009) Formations, connections and divisions of labour. Sociology 43(5): 878–95. Grzywacz JG, Carlson DS, Kacmar KM and Wayne JH (2007) A multi-level perspe ctive on the synergies between work and family. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 80(4): 559–74. Guest DE (2002) Perspectives on the study of work-life balance. Social Science Information 41(2): 255–79. Hakim C (2000) Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century: Preference Theory.Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harris CC (1987) Redundancy and class analysis. In: Lee RM (ed. ) Redundancy, Layoffs and Plant Closures: Their Character, Causes and Consequences. Beckenham: Croom Helm, 24–39. Henly JR, Shaefer HL and Waxman E (2006) Nonstandard work schedules: employer- and employee-driven flexibility in retail jobs. Social Service Review 80(4): 609–34. Henninger A and Papouschek U (2008) Occupation matters – blurring workforce boundaries in mobile care and the media industry. In: Warhurst C et al. (eds) Work Less, Live More?Critical Analysis of the Work-Life Boundary. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 153–72. Horobin GW (1957) C ommunity and occupation in the Hull fishing industry. British Journal of Sociology 8(4): 343–56. Jones RM (2006) The Apparel Industry, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Kersley B, Alpin C, Forth J, Bryson A, Bewley H, Dix G and Oxenbridge S (2006) Inside the Workplace: Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. Abingdon: Routledge. Lambert S (2008) Passing the buck: labor flexibility practices that transfer risk onto hourly workers. Human Relations 61(9): 1203–27.Lupton T (1963) On the Shop-Floor: Two Studies of Workshop Organisation and Output. Oxford: Pergamon Press. McGovern P, Hill S, Mills C and White M (2007) Market, Class and Employment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McNulty D (1987) Local dimensions of closure. In: Dickson T and Judge D (eds) The Politics of Industrial Closure. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 35–69. Near JP, Rice RW and Hunt RG (1987) Job satisfaction and life satisfaction: a profile analysis. Social Indicators Research 19(4) : 383–401. Perlow LA (1999) The time famine: toward a sociology of work time. Administrative Science Quarterly 44(1): 57–81.Phizacklea A (1990) Unpacking the Fashion Industry: Gender, Racism and Class in Production. London: Routledge. Rubery J, Ward K, Grimshaw D and Beynon H (2005) Working time, industrial relations and the employment relationship. Time and Society 14(1): 89–111. Staines GL (1980) Spillover versus compensation: a review of the literature on the relationship between work and nonwork. Human Relations 33(2): 111–29. Standing G (2009) Work After Globalization: Building Occupational Citizenship. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Tunstall J (1962) The Fishermen. London: MacGibbon and Kee.Walsh J (2007) Experiencing part-time work: temporal tensions, social relations and the workfamily interface. British Journal of Industrial Relations 45(1): 155–77. Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013 41 Blyton and Jenkins Walters S (2005) Making the best of a bad job? Female part-timers’ orientations and attitudes to work. Gender, Work and Organization 12(3): 193–216. Warren T (2004) Working part-time: achieving a successful ‘work-life balance? ’ The British Journal of Sociology 55(1): 99–122. Williams LJ (1998) Digest of Welsh Historical Statistics 1974–1996.London: HMSO. Winterton J and Taplin IM (1997a) Making sense of strategies for survival: clothing in high wage economies. In: Taplin IM and Winterton J (eds) Rethinking Global Production: A Comparative Analysis of Restructuring in the Clothing Industry. Aldershot: Ashgate, 189–98. Winterton J and Taplin IM (1997b) Restructuring clothing. In: Taplin IM and Winterton J (eds), Rethinking Global Production: A Comparative Analysis of Restructuring in the Clothing Industry. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1–17. Yerkes M and Visser J (2006) Women’s preferences or delineated policies?The development of p art-time work in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. In: Boulin J-Y et al. (eds) Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues. Geneva: International Labour Office, 235–61. Zeytinoglu IU, Lillevik W, Seaton IMB and Moruz J (2004) Part-time and casual work in retail trade: stress and other factors affecting the workplace. Relations Industrielles 59(3): 516–43. Paul Blyton is Professor of Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology at Cardiff Business School and Research Associate in the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University.His research interests include employee responses to organizational change, working time and work-life balance. Recent publications include The Sage Handbook of Industrial Relations, co-edited with Nicolas Bacon, Jack Fiorito and Edmund Heery (Sage, 2008); Ways of Living: Work, Community and Lifestyle Choice, co-edited with Betsy Blunsdon, Ken Reed and Ali Dastmal chian (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010); Reassessing the Employment Relationship, co-edited with Edmund Heery and Peter Turnbull (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and Researching Sustainability, co-edited with Alex Franklin (Earthscan, 2011).Jean Jenkins is a lecturer in HRM at Cardiff Business School. Her research interests include labour conditions and unionization in the global garment sector, working time and union-management partnership. Recent publications include Work: Key Concepts, with Paul Blyton (Sage, 2007). Date submitted January 2010 Date accepted November 2010 Downloaded from wes. sagepub. com at University of Bath on March 21, 2013

Space Exploration

English Composition II There are many issues that occur within our planet such as the so called upcoming war with North Korea, animal extinction, economy issues, lack of Jobs, etc. That needs attention and a well thought out plan so It can be dealt with. The subject area that I will be discussing Is based on Science, Health and Environmental Issues. The main topic I will be discussing and debating on the issue whether or not should the United States continue to fund space exploration even though we have our own matters to attend on planet Earth.My research project Includes with the supporting point of view, the UN-supporting point of view, ending with my personal opinion towards which is more worldwide beneficial. People Supporting Space Exploration: Based on the National Aeronautics And Space Administration A lot of people believe that the money e use to fund space projects can be used for a more economical relevant cost, such as helping Africa, or helping our own economy. But in fa ct funding space projects does help our economy. Space exploration creates Jobs; It employs engineers, mechanics, astronauts, highly educated scientist and many more. Billions of taxpayer dollars goes to NASA but in reality Nanas budget is less than 1% of the national budget.United States spends about 20 billion dollars on air-conditioning tents In Afghanistan opposed to the 19 billion dollar budget that NASA has. Although NASA Is electing billions a year, that money doesn't go to waste. NASA has designed a new type of technology called vortex combustion, which makes rockets fly further, faster with using less fuel. This design was built by one of Nanas contractors ORBITER. More Information and facts describing the Vortex Combustion RamJet (VICE) can be found in the on this link under NASA. Gob http://sibs. Gaffs. Nonages/Sober/abstracts/98/ sibs/phases/Sober-98-1-07. 4-AAA. HTML. ORBITER took the same design and instead of making it work with a rocket, they put it with a water hose . By doing this ORBITER as created the world's fastest water hose of today. Let's say we find a way to make mars habitable, wouldn't it be great to extend mankind. Space exploration continues to grow and give valuable information that the united States requires to grow. Some of the items we use in today society, such as GAPS system, cellophane, cordless power tool, the padding Inside the football helmet and even clean water Is all thanks to space exploration.A well known Scientist and Internet's favorite astrophysicist, published a book originally named â€Å"Failure to Launch: The dreams and delusion of OFF explains about how the American people mislead themselves into believing misconceptions about space exploration and as a result the purpose and necessities of a space program are now misunderstood. He argues and pleas to give NASA the money it needs in order to stimulate the economy and inspire students to pursue innovative projects.It is essential that space exploration be fun ded by government funds instead of privately funds, because the government has the necessary power and money to make and continue to have a successful discoveries and it ties along tit the military due to classified information being safe guarded from others doesn't have the need to know, rather than being funded private funds with less funds and will lose the advantage of working with the military and vice-versa. Today on earth there are more than 7 billion people and growing, the world is over populated and if we would ever get a chance to move we would.Living on another planet may sound like the science fiction movie Star Wars, but it can be possible. This is why we explore, c(Iroquois is what built the world we have today. People Against Space Exploration: Thousands of people believe that we should be studying our own planet first then move on to others, but who's to say if we shut down space programs we will use the left over money to explore our Saracens, or give the money dir ectly to us people. We have 314,686,189 living in the United States, if we divided Nanas budget to give every person in the United States a share of the money everyone will only get about $60. 7 a year. That doesn't sound very attracting, so chances are we the people will not get any share directly if NASA were to be shut down. There are so many social problems n the world like poverty, unemployment, medical diseases, sanitation, food and safe drinking water, which is yet to be solved. So it is suggested that the people should utilize this amount for eliminating this social problem rather than funding for space exploration. My reason for supporting fund space exploration Based on the statistics on the resourceful website debate. Rag 68% of the people support the funding towards exploring in space and 32% goes against this factor. Human beings by nature are explorers. We enjoy going to new places, discovering new things and seeking out knowledge. If this were not the case we might st ill be thinking the Earth was flat. Exploring space not only fulfills a nature driven quality in humans, it also gives us the knowledge we need for advancement. Whether this knowledge provides us with new sources for energy, how the Universe came to be or the possibility of expanding humankind to new worlds.My opinion for supporting funds for space exploration is that it is a better decision to choose because it has greater impact. When it comes to making a decision of two different perceptions, I tend to think of the big picture. Who is to say we may have meteor hitting earth and e happen to come across a better way to track and avoid another big bang theory on earth by continuing and persuading space exploration or even have already a 2nd planet such as mars ready to have human being living in as the new home.To me, I see that there is more to see than meets the eye, by this I mean that there is no point on discovering our own planet earth if, god forbid, we will meet the end of o ur destruction due to unexplained outer source, that could've been avoided. Support be more accurate and aware of our surrounding in this universe to keep mankind living longer. Reference Has, Fen; Cox, Ken (February 20, 2009). â€Å"Sustainable Space Exploration and Space Development – A Unified Strategic Vision†. Space Exploration English Composition II There are many issues that occur within our planet such as the so called upcoming war with North Korea, animal extinction, economy issues, lack of Jobs, etc. That needs attention and a well thought out plan so It can be dealt with. The subject area that I will be discussing Is based on Science, Health and Environmental Issues. The main topic I will be discussing and debating on the issue whether or not should the United States continue to fund space exploration even though we have our own matters to attend on planet Earth.My research project Includes with the supporting point of view, the UN-supporting point of view, ending with my personal opinion towards which is more worldwide beneficial. People Supporting Space Exploration: Based on the National Aeronautics And Space Administration A lot of people believe that the money e use to fund space projects can be used for a more economical relevant cost, such as helping Africa, or helping our own economy. But in fa ct funding space projects does help our economy. Space exploration creates Jobs; It employs engineers, mechanics, astronauts, highly educated scientist and many more. Billions of taxpayer dollars goes to NASA but in reality Nanas budget is less than 1% of the national budget.United States spends about 20 billion dollars on air-conditioning tents In Afghanistan opposed to the 19 billion dollar budget that NASA has. Although NASA Is electing billions a year, that money doesn't go to waste. NASA has designed a new type of technology called vortex combustion, which makes rockets fly further, faster with using less fuel. This design was built by one of Nanas contractors ORBITER. More Information and facts describing the Vortex Combustion RamJet (VICE) can be found in the on this link under NASA. Gob http://sibs. Gaffs. Nonages/Sober/abstracts/98/ sibs/phases/Sober-98-1-07. 4-AAA. HTML. ORBITER took the same design and instead of making it work with a rocket, they put it with a water hose . By doing this ORBITER as created the world's fastest water hose of today. Let's say we find a way to make mars habitable, wouldn't it be great to extend mankind. Space exploration continues to grow and give valuable information that the united States requires to grow. Some of the items we use in today society, such as GAPS system, cellophane, cordless power tool, the padding Inside the football helmet and even clean water Is all thanks to space exploration.A well known Scientist and Internet's favorite astrophysicist, published a book originally named â€Å"Failure to Launch: The dreams and delusion of OFF explains about how the American people mislead themselves into believing misconceptions about space exploration and as a result the purpose and necessities of a space program are now misunderstood. He argues and pleas to give NASA the money it needs in order to stimulate the economy and inspire students to pursue innovative projects.It is essential that space exploration be fun ded by government funds instead of privately funds, because the government has the necessary power and money to make and continue to have a successful discoveries and it ties along tit the military due to classified information being safe guarded from others doesn't have the need to know, rather than being funded private funds with less funds and will lose the advantage of working with the military and vice-versa. Today on earth there are more than 7 billion people and growing, the world is over populated and if we would ever get a chance to move we would.Living on another planet may sound like the science fiction movie Star Wars, but it can be possible. This is why we explore, c(Iroquois is what built the world we have today. People Against Space Exploration: Thousands of people believe that we should be studying our own planet first then move on to others, but who's to say if we shut down space programs we will use the left over money to explore our Saracens, or give the money dir ectly to us people. We have 314,686,189 living in the United States, if we divided Nanas budget to give every person in the United States a share of the money everyone will only get about $60. 7 a year. That doesn't sound very attracting, so chances are we the people will not get any share directly if NASA were to be shut down. There are so many social problems n the world like poverty, unemployment, medical diseases, sanitation, food and safe drinking water, which is yet to be solved. So it is suggested that the people should utilize this amount for eliminating this social problem rather than funding for space exploration. My reason for supporting fund space exploration Based on the statistics on the resourceful website debate. Rag 68% of the people support the funding towards exploring in space and 32% goes against this factor. Human beings by nature are explorers. We enjoy going to new places, discovering new things and seeking out knowledge. If this were not the case we might st ill be thinking the Earth was flat. Exploring space not only fulfills a nature driven quality in humans, it also gives us the knowledge we need for advancement. Whether this knowledge provides us with new sources for energy, how the Universe came to be or the possibility of expanding humankind to new worlds.My opinion for supporting funds for space exploration is that it is a better decision to choose because it has greater impact. When it comes to making a decision of two different perceptions, I tend to think of the big picture. Who is to say we may have meteor hitting earth and e happen to come across a better way to track and avoid another big bang theory on earth by continuing and persuading space exploration or even have already a 2nd planet such as mars ready to have human being living in as the new home.To me, I see that there is more to see than meets the eye, by this I mean that there is no point on discovering our own planet earth if, god forbid, we will meet the end of o ur destruction due to unexplained outer source, that could've been avoided. Support be more accurate and aware of our surrounding in this universe to keep mankind living longer. Reference Has, Fen; Cox, Ken (February 20, 2009). â€Å"Sustainable Space Exploration and Space Development – A Unified Strategic Vision†.

John Smith’s Letter to the Queen

John Smith's 1616 Letter to Queen Anne of Great Britain: Most admired Queen, The love I bear my God, my King and country, hath so oft emboldened me in the worst of extreme dangers, that now honesty doth constrain me to presume thus far beyond myself, to present your Majesty this short discourse: if ingratitude be a deadly poison to all honest virtues, I must be guilty of that crime if I should omit any means to be thankful.So it is, that some ten years ago being in Virginia, and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan their chief King, I received from this great Salvage exceeding great courtesy, especially from his son Nantaquaus, the most manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit, I ever saw in a Salvage, and his sister Pocahontas, the Kings most dear and well-beloved daughter, being but a child of twelve or thirteen years of age, whose compassionate pitiful heart, of my desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect her: I being the first Christian this proud King and his grim attendant s ever saw: and thus enthralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say I felt the least occasion of want that was in the power of those my mortal foes to prevent, notwithstanding all their threats. After some six weeks fatting amongst those Salvage courtiers, at the minute of my execution, she hazarded the beating out of her own brains to save mine; and not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown: where I found about eight and thirty miserable poor and sick creatures, to keep possession of all those large territories of Virginia; such was the weakness of this poor commonwealth, as had the salvages not fed us, we directly had starved. And this relief, most gracious Queen, was commonly brought us by this Lady Pocahontas.Notwithstanding all these passages, when inconstant fortune turned our peace to war, this tender virgin would still not spare to dare to visit us, and by her our jars have been oft appeased, and our wants still supplied; we re it the policy of her father thus to employ her, or the ordinance of God thus to make her his instrument, or her extraordinary affection to our nation, I know not: but of this I am sure; when her father with the utmost of his policy and power, sought to surprise me, having but eighteen with me, the dark night could not affright her from coming through the irksome woods, and with watered eyes gave me intelligence, with her best advice to escape his fury; which had he known, he had surely slain her. Jamestown with her wild train she as freely frequented, as her fathers habitation; and during the time of two or three years, she next under God, was still the instrument to preserve this colony from death, famine and utter confusion; which if in those times, had once been dissolved, Virginia might have lain as it was at our first arrival to this day.Since then, this business having been turned and varied by many accidents from that I left it at: it is most certain, after a long and trou blesome war after my departure, betwixt her father and our colony; all which time she was not heard of. About two years after she herself was taken prisoner, being so detained near two years longer, the colony by that means was relieved, peace concluded; and at last rejecting her barbarous condition, she was married to an English Gentleman, with whom at this present she is in England; the first Christian ever of that Nation, the first Virginian ever spoke English, or had a child in marriage by an Englishman: a matter surely, if my meaning be truly considered and well understood, worthy a Princes understanding.Thus, most gracious Lady, I have related to your Majesty, what at your best leisure our approved Histories will account you at large, and done in the time of your Majesty's life; and however this might be presented you from a more worthy pen, it cannot from a more honest heart, as yet I never begged anything of the state, or any: and it is my want of ability and her exceeding d esert; your birth, means, and authority; her birth, virtue, want and simplicity, doth make me thus bold, humbly to beseech your Majesty to take this knowledge of her, though it be from one so unworthy to be the reporter, as myself, her husbands estate not being able to make her fit to attend your Majesty.The most and least I can do, is to tell you this, because none so oft hath tried it as myself, and the rather being of so great a spirit, however her stature: if she should not be well received, seeing this Kingdom may rightly have a Kingdom by her means; her present love to us and Christianity might turn to such scorn and fury, as to divert all this good to the worst of evil; whereas finding so great a Queen should do her some honor more than she can imagine, for being so kind to your servants and subjects, would so ravish her with content, as endear her dearest blood to effect that, your Majesty and all the Kings honest subjects most earnestly desire. And so I humbly kiss your gra cious hands, Captain John Smith, 1616 Related essay: â€Å"Co Curricular Activities Letter†

Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin

Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin both knew that success sometimes requires persistence along with compromise. Compromise is defined by The Oxford Dictionary as an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. By using this definition and analyzing these speeches, it is obvious to readers that both politicians were willing to make compromises. There are however many differences as to the extent and what type of concessions these gentlemen were willing to make.The Second Virginia Convention met March 20, 1775 inland at Richmond–in what is now called St. John's Church. This is where Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise a militia, and to furthermore put Virginia in a posture of defense. Henry Basically says in his speech that the colonists have tried to compromise already and it has had no effect.â€Å"Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.†(Henry102) By reading this statement, Henry’s feelings are fairly obvious. While he believes that other routes should be taken first, the colonists now have no other choice. By analyzing this closer, it is apparent that Henry believes in compromise, but there is a very thin line on where it is time to push forward.â€Å"I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.† (Franklin105) Benjamin Franklin’s opinion of opinions. What this statement shows, is a form of compromise. A change of opinion on an important subject because of the influence of another, is a form of compromise. Franklin admits in the  very beginning of his Speech that he is very apt to do so.When we compare Henry and Franklin together, a few similarities are shown. There are however a lot of differences. One of the main things that has to be taken into consideration here, is the fact that these politicians are speaking at two different times in America’s history. If Franklin would have been speaking before the revolution occurred, he most likely would have been a lot more persistent and not wanting to compromise nearly as much. On the flip side, if Henry would have been speaking post-American revolution, he most likely would have been quite a bit more lax and not as prominent about the issue.Because of the change of opinions due to different circumstances, it is nearly impossible to compare these to politician’s views based upon these speeches. If they are analyzed closely enough, however, it is seen that they both view compromise as a necessity. The real question is, how far are they willing to take it?