A Hermeneutical Critique on the Conquest and Occupation of the Land Belonging to Others from the Perspective of the Indigenous Peoples Essay Example

A Hermeneutical Critique on the Conquest and Occupation of the Land Belonging to Others: from the Perspective of the Indigenous Peoples Essay From the perspective of the indigenous peoples. Prepared by: Kyrshanborlang Mawlong, Lamjingshai and Friends Introduction: This study is an attempt to dwell upon the historical event in the ancient world of the Hebrew Bible. A familiar narration about the Israelite, taken into exile in Egypt, later, the episode from Moses up to the entry into Canaan under the terrific leadership of Joshua.This is a turning point for the history of the Israelites; this Meta happening have been usually considered as an important dates in records, conventionally it was interpreted as an act of victory. The main objective of this study is therefore to revisit the event from the other aspect. The Canaanites as indigenous indwellers of this captivated region. They were defeated under the influential forces which are foreign originated in nature. The paper starts with a brief biblical survey about the time when the Israelites, reached the promise land.A clear cut understanding about the term indigenous peop le is the next steps that follow. Salient features of the indigenous people were selectively highlighted. Categorizing the Canaanite as indigenous people is a careful consideration done here. Nearer to the end there is an application of hermeneutical critique on the settlement, but before that, since this is no longer a conventional interpretation, a brief preference for methods and approach were inserted. The discourse will be put in empty space without contemporary challenges, for this reason it occupy certain part before reaching the reflection.An attempt has been made to simplify all these in a comprehendible manner, though there are some unavoidable portions. 1. Summary of Israelite’s Conquest and Occupation of the Promise Land: Biblical Perspective: Some scholars they marked the events during the 13th century BCE; while N. Lemche, dates it to the 14th century BCE. This is a hint that the event occured somewhere around this period. The biblical accounts of the conquest c over four main areas: Transjordania, the Central Hill country, the Southern region, and the North. A summary of Israel’s conquest is made in the book of Joshua.Encamped at Gilgal, Israel was realistically prepared for Canaan as God’s chosen nation. Circumcision is a rite for the new covenant and of the promise God had made to bring them into the land. Entrance into the land was also marked by the Passover observance and cessation of the provision of manna. The people would henceforth eat of the fruits of the land. Joshua himself was prepared for conquest. By a theophany God imparted to Joshua the consciousness that the conquest of the land was not dependent solely upon him but that he was divinely commissioned and empowered.The conquest of Jericho was a sample victory. Israel simply followed the instructions of the Lord. The Israelites marched around the city seven times, the walls of the city fell and they could enter to take possession. Ai was the next objective for conquest. Assured of success, Joshua renewed his plans to conquer Ai. The enemy forces were lured into the open so that the thirty thousand men who had stationed beyond the city by night were able to attack Ai from the near and set it afire. The defenders were annihilated, their king was hanged and the site was reduced to rubble.When Israel makes its second attack, the people of Ai as well as the inhabitants of Bethel vacate their cities to pursue the enemy (Josh. 8: 17). Gibeon was one of the great cities of Palestine. When it capitulated to Israel, the king of Jerusalem was greatly alarmed. In response to his appeal other Amorite kings from Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon formed a coalition with him to attack the city of Gibeon. Having made an alliance with Israel, the beleaguered city immediately dispatched messengers to appeal for aid from that quarter.By an all night march from Gilgal, Joshua unexpectedly appeared at Gibeon, where he defeated and routed the enemy through th e Beth-horon pass (also known as the valley of Ajalon) as far as Azekah and Makkedah. At Makkedah the five kings of the Amorite league were trapped in a cave and were subsequently dispatched by Joshua. Joshua then assaulted the well fortified city of Lachish and on the second day of siege overthrew this stronghold. Next Israel moved on in victory to take Eglon, from there the troops struck eastward into the hill country and beset Hebron, which was not easily defended.Then moving southwest they stormed and took Debir or Kirjath-Sepher. The conquest and occupation of Northern Canaan is very briefly described. The opposition was organised and led by Jabin, king of Hazor who had at his command a great force of chariot. A great battle took place near the water of Merom with the result that the Canaanite coalition was utterly defeated by Joshua. The horses and chariots were destroyed and the city of Hazor was burned to the ground. In summary the territory covered by the occupation forces extended from Kadesh-Barnea, or the extremities of the Negeb as far north as the valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon.On the east side of the Jordan rift the area which previously had been conquered under Moses extended from Mount Hermon in the north to the valley of the Arnon, east of the Dead Sea. Thirty-one kings are listed as having been defeated by Joshua, with so many city-states, each having its own king in such a small country. Through this conquest Joshua subdued the inhabitants to the extent that during the subsequent period of peace the Israelites were able to settle in the Promised Land. 2.Indigenous People; Understanding the meaning of the term: The term â€Å"indigenous† means natives, autochthonous people (Sons [Sic] of the soil), primitives, minorities, first nation or Fourth World, or Adivasis. Roy Burman quotes a U. N. working definition, â€Å"Indigenous populations are composed of the existing descendants of the people who inhabited the present territory of a country, wholly or partially, at the time when persons of a different cultures or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world, overcame them, and by conquest, settlement or other means, reduced them to a non-dominant situation. Indigenous peoples, men and women, are the voice of the land, the voice of the water, the voice of the air. The indigenous peoples’ struggles for land and identity, farmers’ engagement for sustainable agriculture, action to curb climate change, and people’s initiatives to defend their rights, are just a few key examples for relevant and vital engagement. The Indian indigenous people includes: Adivasis (tribal), Dalits, Manipuris, Jarowa tribes of Andaman Island, Naga natives of Nagaland, Tharus of India and several others. Adivasis literally means original inhabitants.The indigenous people of India amount to about 63 million, they are overwhelmingly the largest group for any single country in the world, constituting 30 percent of the total indigenous population of the whole world. 3. Salient Features of the Indigenous People: Indigenous people in India or in any parts of the world are distinctive in their own way of life, their food habits, customs, traditional practices etc. However, in spite of several differences and uniqueness, following are only few of their salient features which can be taken for the discussion: . 1. Relationship to the Land: For indigenous people, the land is source of life a gift from the Creator that nourishes supports and teaches. They consider the Earth like a parent and revere it accordingly. â€Å"Mother Earth† is the centre of the universe, the core of their culture, the origin of their identity as a people. At the heart of this deep bond is a perception, awareness, an innate wisdom that all of life’s mountains, rivers, skies, animals, plants, insects, rocks, and people are inseparably interconnected.According to indigenous law, humankind can never be more than a trustee of the land, with a collective responsibility to preserve it. Indigenous people do not consider the land as merely an economic resource. Their ancestral lands are literally the source of life, and their distinct ways of life are developed and defined in relationship to the environment around them. Indigenous people know the extent of their lands, and they know how the land, water, and other resources need to be shared. They understand only too well that to harm the land is to destroy ourselves, since they are part of the same organism. . 2. Culturally and Religiously Uprooted: Indigenous cultures which are also known as tribal or primal cultures are generally marked by a transmission of rituals and practices, not by books, but through tradition, stories, proverbs, customs, rites and celebrations handed down orally and codes of behaviour. They are often customs and beliefs rooted in the family, tribe or clan, and aligned with a particular place, without any major central or national organization. They offer their followers a holistic approach to religion and life and pay much attention to the family and to parentage in all its stages.Above all, they inculcate a strong sense of the sacred and are normally so permeated with religious from the cultural elements in them. People belonging to indigenous cultures believe in a Supreme Being and give it different names: e. g. Creator, Unique and Supreme Spirit, Omnipotent, Uncreated King, Omniscient, Omnipresent, One who is above all visible things, the Heaven, the Sun, the Incomparable, Life, Being par excellence, the Transcendent, etc. There is also among them a belief in spirits who are inferior to God.These spirits are thought to vary in their attitudes to human beings: they may be terrible, wicked or vindictive; they may be capricious, or they may be merciful and protective. Ancestors are revered in indigenous cultures. Life has no end. There is no death in the sense of a separation from the clo se family members of the tribal community. Life is eternal. At death, a person joins the ancestors, undergoing a transition from the state of mortality to that of ancestral immorality. The family is highly treasured among the indigenous cultures.This sense of community is gained through the family, the lineage, the clan, the tribe. There is almost a feeling of a divine imperative that life must be given, life must be lived; life is to be long and peaceful: For this reason, many tribal societies have taboos and rituals to protect the divine gift of life. Old people are held in esteem. The community regards their wisdom as prophetic, i. e. as able to give direction for living in the present day circumstances. Religious beliefs and practices enfold the whole of life. There is no dichotomy between social or political or economic engagement and religion.Faith, morality and worship are there in indigenous cultures. Great value is attributed to the word which is uttered. The moral code is regarded as that which has been handed down by past generations and sanctioned by God through the spirits. 3. 3. Injustices: A Common Experience of the Indigenous People: Indigenous communities throughout the world are the extensive diversity as peoples and communities, but there is one thing which is in common they all share a history of injustice. Indigenous peoples have been exploited, tortured, enslaved and killed.Conquest and colonization have attempted to steal their dignity and identity, as well as the fundamental right of self-determination. Indigenous peoples rank highest on underdevelopment; they face discrimination in schools and are exploited in the workplace. In many countries, they are not even allowed to study their own languages in school. Sacred lands and objects are plundered from them through unjust treaties. National governments continue to deny indigenous peoples the right to live in and manage their traditional lands; often implementing policies to exploit the lands that sustained them for centuries.Over and over, governments around the world have displayed an utter lack of respect for indigenous values, traditions, cultures and human rights. 4. Canaanites as Indigenous People: Israel’s task in conquest Canaan, across the Jordan was a land of city states. There was no central government, but there were many cities, each with its own king. The cities were built to withstand siege for months at a time. These cities, too, could band together against a common enemy, as they did later against Joshua, in both a southern and northern confederacy.Besides this, the land was mountainous. Once past Jericho, Israel would be in rugged country most of the time, difficult in which to travel and manoeuvre for war. They didn’t worshipped only one God, but they worshipped many, whom they called Baalim. The Canaanites were mostly farmers, settled lives in villages and towns. They were cultivating wheat, olives and grapes. One festival was held in the early spring when the first of the new season’s crops was reaped, and this was called the Feast of First fruits. At this feast the people ate unleavened bread for a week.It took about seven weeks to get in the harvest and, when all the crops had been harvested, another feast was held. Moses and his followers left Egypt, and Joshua with a second generation entered Canaan. They were not alone. It was a time of change, of migration, of destruction and turmoil a dark age that ended 200 years later with the emergence of nation-states like Israel. It marked the effective end of the history of the Canaanites. The Israelites themselves are portrayed as aliens both in Canaan and Egypt in the so called historical credo.Houten observes that the perception of aliens among the Israelites changes. She said, â€Å"One may belong to a tribe or a city or district or a country and through history the primary group to which an Israelite belonged changed. † Hence, after all these one may observe from their cultural, agricultural, especially their closeness to the land and their manner of life, it may be right to state that the Canaanite by virtue are very much the indigenous people of that era in that area. 5.Biblical Interpretation from the Indigenous Perspective: In Search of Methods and Approaches: The Bible has been interpreted from various perspectives with the new form of reading and interpreting. The book of Joshua which is the selected text for this study cannot escape from this scholarship attempt. In this regard, the indigenous people are also having their own lens to look at, when Limatula Longkumer therefore said, â€Å"Employing western tools and its framework of interpretation without relating properly to the social location of the people (present context) does not help us much.Western methods of reading the Bible are too academic oriented and theoretical which the general reader finds difficult to understand. There is a need to formulate her meneutical tools from tribal perspectives-from the social location of the people. † In this connection, B. J. Syiemlieh proposition though explicitly for the North Eastern part of India, but this is very much applicable to the indigenous people elsewhere, he indicated that, there â€Å"†¦are problems of contextual interpretation in the context of Northeast India, the problem now shifts to the search for avenues and openings towards a meaningful interpretation.In this search, it may be prudent to go back to the process of identifying and describing the determinants in the process of interpretation of a text which are the text, the context and the reader or the interpreter†¦ Hence, the implied reader of the new literary criticism and social sciences can be taken as the principles and methods of contextual interpretation of the New Testament in the Northeast India. † 6. The Conquest and Occupation of Canaan by the Israelites: An Indigenous Interpretation: Histori cally, during the Pre-Critical criticism Joshua is read in the light of theology.In the Reformation reading it was read with the perspective that God’s historically dealings and covenant with Israel were both preparatory for and analogous to this dealing with Christians. Critical interpretations were no longer looking for Christian doctrines saw in the book rather as evidence of the historical emergence of Israel. Modern literary approaches draw attention into the discrepancy as having as function in the meaning of the book. Finally, Sociological reading understand Joshua, not as the history of an actual conquest, but as the delineation of cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries.Applying along with the indigenous methodologies mentioned above, it is necessary to focus on the biblical event, and in the mean time to re-read it. As indicated earlier, aiming at analyzing the conquest of Canaan critically from the hermeneutical point of view, applying the indigenous methodologic al propose ahead, it is an insightful excavation. At the same time, keeping in mind the entire salient features, and experiences of the indigenous people in general, the encounter of the Canaanites, following are few of the comparative results: 6. 1.Canaan: An Indigenous Land that Oozed Milk and Honey: Milk and honey were regarded as necessary and choice foods in ancient Israel. They were offered to guests and given as gifts. One wonders, do the soils of Canaan really qualify as â€Å"oozing milk and honey†? Archaeological evidence has indicated that Syro Palestine was in fact a fertile land. â€Å"Oozing milk and honey† is thus a favourite phrase or cliche for describing the fertility of the land. Egyptian texts described the abundance of the region as: â€Å"It was a good land Figs were in it, and grapes. It had more than water. Plentiful was its trees.Barley was there, and emmer. There was no limit to any (kind of) cattle Bread was made as daily fare, wine as dai ly provision, cooked meat and roast fowl, beside the wild beats of the desert and milk was used in all cooking†. For those who were landless slaves, being freed to a land that oozes milk and honey, was a life- long yearning. The emphasis might not be necessarily on fertility alone. It could also well be an emphasis on an ordered and stable normal life. So â€Å"oozing milk and honey† could be a traditional and proverbial phrase to describe the normal life of the chaotic life in Egypt and Babylon.Life in the Promised Land would be a life of, for, and with the land and with Yahweh. There would be land, there would be work, there be food, and there would be rest as well, and they would run their own course. Everything would be normal. This would be even more desirable and attractive than a mere fertile land. This is also a common hallmark of indigenous land in terms of soil fertility, which attracts foreigners to occupy their land. 6. 2. Land Displacement: The Israelite oc cupation of Canaan led to intermittent fighting over a long period as the quest for new territory xtended into the period of the settlement proper. According to Martin Noth, this process took almost two hundred years, from the second half of the fourteenth century B. C. This verifies the fact that when Israelite’s get inside the promise land, surely there prevails the displacement of the original inhabitants. They were divorced from their own land. Similarly, in different parts of India, the tribal’s have become the victims of big reservoirs, mega projects, wild life sanctuaries, mines, industries, etc.They are forcefully evicted from their ancestral land and often without proper compensation. They are simply ignored, silence and despised. For example, one lakh people are going to be displaced by the Sardar Savovar Project in Gujarat, 60-70% of whom are tribal’s. And around 1, 30,000 are expected to be displaced by the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh of whom 65-70% are tribal’s. Being improvised and disposed, people flee in large numbers to the cities and the towns to eke out their existence around slums and shanties in abject poverty and misery. 6. Resettlement: Consequently, when there is displacement and departure, the problem awaiting the indigenous Canaanite is that they have to relocate themselves by any means. This reinstallation will aggravate the chaotic circumstances lying ahead of them. Searching for a new settlement is not an overnight play. But it is a process that requires several probabilities and also time consuming. 6. 4. Occupational Alterations: Among these ‘indigenous Canaanites’ there were formed pastoral nomads from Transjordan. But, envisages a gradual settlement of various nomadic groups in the course of an occupational shift i. . transition to agrarian way of life. This is an open impact of the Israelites claimed for the land belonging not to them, but to others. As a matter of fact, the re appear occupational alterations during that time. They can hardly adopt the livelihood of the indigenous people in that region which they newly settled. So, there provoke an alterations from agrarian to pastoral, and reciprocally the same from pastoral to agrarian. 6. 5. Religious Assimilation: Religious opposition belonged to that context. The God of the Hebrews was very different from the Canaanite deities.The religion of the Canaanite peoples was a crude and debased form of ritual polytheism. It was associated with sensuous fertility-cult worship of a particularly lewd and orgiastic kind, which proved to be more influential than any other nature religion in the Near East. The principal deity acknowledged by the Canaanites was known as El, who was credited with leadership of the pantheon. The identification of this God with El of Israel must probably also be understood as taking place only gradually during the military stage.The Canaanites they didn’t worshipped only one God, but they worshipped many, whom they called Baalim (a Plural word), and they believed that each piece of land had its own baal who helped it to produce good crops. The baal could be worshipped only on his own plot of land, and if a person moved to another district he/she was compelled to offer worship and gifts to the baal of the district to which he had moved. But with the arrival of the Israelites, it was found that the Canaanites on the west bank were capture with a belief in a new God, Yahweh.This continue to spread to the other parts as well, it was interesting to see that the Hebrew slaves fought not only for their existence or for their â€Å"religion† but for their identity. While achieving this, the victims were the native people of the land whose religion will surely be assimilated under this brand new religious practises and ideas. 6. 6. Infiltration which leads to Imperialism: There is a pattern of peaceful infiltration which is confirmed by the biblical stor y of the Gibeonites and the absence of any battles in the central part of Canaan in the Joshua stories. As propounded by The German school of Albright Alt and Martin Noth.Unfortunately this placed the opponent of infiltration at risk; usually this is not the end in itself, because in most of the cases, learning from the indigenous people experiences, wherever there is an influx it mainly leads to imperialism. There may be numerous factors which contribute to the increase of migration from one place to another. It may be political, economical, sociological, and even religious for that matter. In India for that matter, for a contextual introspection, As S. P. Sinha comments that, â€Å"In fact Christian missionaries are there not for advocating a faith but for keeping imperialism alive. Therefore, it is important to remember that where there is infiltration, migration, influx the end point is imperialism, colonialism and other form of means in replacing those who settle in that place . 6. 7. Cultural Confrontation: In the words of A. R. Ceresko, concerning the biblical event of the conquest, it is visible that there is cultural confrontation during the conquest, when he said, â€Å"The opposition of Israel to Canaan was no mere ‘war of religion’ It was not simply one religion facing another. The conflict was cultural; it implied all the economic, social, political, and religious dimensions of culture.Another civilization faced the city-states. That political conflict implied a clash of totally opposite conceptions of society, of clan egalitarianism versus a hierarchical establishment, of mutual justice against royal absolutism, of concern for the poor rather than the imperatives of production and the preservation of social stability. † Incidentally, there is an alarming cultural confrontation, which ignites during the entrance of the Israelites. This is also very common for the indigenous people as pointed out before, when religion can never be separated from their culture or vice versa.Therefore, if there is any transformation in religion, their culture cannot remain untouched. Interestingly, in the same manner it happens for the Canaanites, their occupations have been shifted, their religion was under attacked these evidently signify that there can be demolition of existing cultural norms and practises. 7. Contemporary Challenges: The experience story of Indigenous/tribal is colonialism and post –colonialism, alienation, discrimination, uprooted from their own land, prejudice, and stereotyping.There were destruction of Indigenous culture and social system by powerful and elite people with no exception to the white missionaries. Globalization is a threat to the indigenous/tribal people. In the name of development government machineries took indigenous people’s land and resources away. Today there are numerous challenges. A journey to build the nation on secular ideal and it is our endeavour to provide a j ust and adequate society for all. But the situation in the realm of economic change and social life has brought attention to some crucial problems and difficulties.In spite of signal changes in certain sectors in our society, poverty and misery is the lot of a large number of people in slums and villages. A majority of them are Dalits, the victims of caste system. It is incumbent on the Church to involve in this struggle, especially since the Christian Church has begun a process of liberation of the Dalit. The Church should own it and declare unequivocally its commitment to the struggle of the Dalits. Suppression is the main problem facing the indigenous people till today.In the search for a fuller life, justice and equality and to project our identity and land, people are involved in various uprising movements. Since the dominant societies do not listen to the cries and do not recognize tribal’s with human rights and dignity, some people have gone up to the extent of armed s truggle, as a result of which many innocent people have been killed and properties have been lost. In a context where people are systematically oppressed people seem to see no alternative, except to involve in an armed struggle.The Policy Makers, instead of recognizing the movement as justice issue, try to suppress the movement by army rule. In the process, many tribal dominated places have been brought under many laws. Being empowered to shoot and kill; to enter and search and arrest any suspected person without warrant, many tribal leaders have been shot dead, while many fled to the forest for safety. Many villages were burnt down to ashes, not only once, but three to four times. Such human right violations go on and on. Many continue to live in tears, pain, fair and suffering.Silent tears of the heart crying for a just existence have become the air that people breaths in and out each day. Reflection: After all these, we find that this account of the Israelites taking over of Cana an, throughout decades, it has been classically interpreted only as the fulfilment of God’s promises towards his people. This may be well accepted before, but the experiences and development of biblical scholarship leads to the profound biblical evidences. Perceiving things in a different way is the outcome of such research data. We can see that it was an august time for the Israelite after a very long journey.The leadership of Joshua is an incredible achievement. When they reached this land, they try to figure out a place for permanent settlement. They started finding their own way of earning and living. This event is a dawn for the complete capture of this foreign land. They were supposed to be strangers and aliens in this place, but it is only a matter of time that they can fully remove and replace the native of this place. There is always a tendency to reject the picture and suffering of the people of this land, who had occupied this land for centuries.The Canaanite was d ismantled from their land; it is really a difficult time for them to be alienated from their very own land. The land which they spend most of their living, their resources have been abducted. They were scattered for the cause of others. Their rights upon their own land and properties have been subjugated. It is beyond imagination where, the people of the land were deducted of their ownership and close relationship to the land. Exactly, the same way they fall under the umbrella of indigenous people. Bombarded with the same hardships and struggling against the same hurdles.This infected even their faith, worship and thoughts. Ironically, there was religious controversy when these foreigners enter their land. Together with this their culture and indigenous practices were drifted and get carried, by something which they may never embrace before. It is not an easy time for them, to control massive infiltration and the agony is that they were suppress and unjustly treated. Conclusion: It is very important to find out related knowledge about the journey of the Israelite. This paper has no intention of justifying any side of the coin.But the only aimed is to revisit and portray some realities, which were hardly emphasized. As a matter of learning, this study opens the space for an in-depth research in this single field. Which may serve as tool to draw the scripture closer to those people, specifically those who were neglected, ignored and hardly visible in this circle like the indigenous people. This may bring the relevancy of the text to the context of the reader. Bibliography: Abraham, K. C. â€Å"Towards An Indian Christian Identity. † In Christian Identity and Cultural Nationalism: Challenges and Opportunities. Edited by E. C.John amp; Samson Prabhakar. Bangalore: BTESSC/ SATHRI, 2008. Anderson, G. W. The History and Religion of Israel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Broadie, Elsie. The Chosen Nation; Book one; Founders and Leaders. Headington Hil l Hall: The Religious Education Press, 1968. Ceresko, A. R. â€Å"Potsherds and Pioneers: Recent Research on the Origin of Israel. † Indian Theological Studies, vol. 34 (1997): 11-20. Convillle, J. G. Mc. â€Å"Joshua, Book of. † In Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, et. Al,. Kevin. J. Vanhoozer (Michigan: Baker Book House, 2005), 400-402. Dias, Ivan Cardinal. Identities, Aspirations and Destines of Indigenous Peoples of India. † In Understanding Tribal Cultures: for effective education. Edited Joseph Anikuzhikattil et. al,. New Delhi: Commission For Education and Culture, 2003. Fachhai, Laiu. The Land Must Be Distributed Equally: The Promise and Covenant Aspects of Land in the Old Testament. ISPCK: Delhi, 2009. Gunneberg, Antonius H. J. â€Å"Israel. † In Encyclopedia of Christianity. Edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Vol. 2 E-I (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 766-771. Harrison, R. K. Old Testament Times. Massa chusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1970.Hnuni, R. L. The People of God in the Old Testament. New Delhi: Lakshi Publishers, 2012. 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Longkumer, Awala. â€Å"Experience of the Context: Socio-Political, Historical and Cultural Context of the Tribal. † In Critical Issues in Mission Among Tribals. Edited by Awala Longkumer. Nagpur: NCCI, 2011. Longkumer, Awala. â€Å"Voices of the Indigenous People. In National Council of Churches Review (March 2006): 50-56. Longkumer, Limatula. Tribal Feminist Reading of the Bible, Tribal Theology and The Bible: A Search for Contextual Relevance. Edited by Yangkahao Vashum. Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011. Majhi, Murali Dhar. â€Å"Cultural Rights of Indigenous People. † In Social Action: A Quarterly Review of Social Trends vol. 60 (Oct-Dec 2010): 405-408. Raj, P. J. Sonjeeva. â€Å"The Call of the Indigenous People. † In Asia Journal of Theology vol. 10 (April 1996):62-66. Rhoades, B. L. The Old Testament. New York: Harper and Brother Publishers, 1960. Rojesh, Seram. Whither Indigenous Peoples and their Culture? † In Social Action: A Quarterly Review of Social Trends vol. 60 (October-December 2010): 360-366. Satterthwaite, P. E. and D. W. Baker, â€Å"Nation of Canaan. † In Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 1984, 598-605. Syiemlieh, B. J. â€Å"Contextual Interpretation of The New Testament in Northeast India: A search for Principles and Methods. † In Tribal Theology and The Bible: A Search for Contextual Relevance, edited by Yangkahao Vashum. Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011.Temsuyanger, â€Å"Israelite Tribal As Resistance And Revolt Against Domination: Some Insights For Coalition Politics In Contemporary India. † In Journal of Tribal Studies, . XII/2 (July-December 2007): 74-89. Thanzauva, K. â€Å"Tribal/Indigenous Interpretation of the Bible: A Keynote Address. † In Tribal Theology and the Bible: A Search for Contextual Releva nce. Edited by Ynagkahao Vashum. Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011. Vashum, Yangkahao. â€Å"Colonialism, Christian Mission and Indigenous: An Examination from Asian Indigenous. † In Journal of Theologies and Cultures in Asia, Vol. 7amp;8 (2008/2009): 74-79. - [ 2 ]. R. L Hnuni, The People of God in the Old Testament ( New Delhi: Lakshi Publishers, 2012), 38. [ 3 ]. G. W. Anderson, The History and Religion of Israel (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), 28-31. [ 4 ]. A visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god. [ 5 ]. Joshua sent an army of three thousand men, which suffered a severe defeat. Achan has sinned in the conquest of Jericho by appropriating for himself an attractive garment of Mesopotamian origin plus some silver abs gold. [ 6 ]. B. L. Rhoades, The Old Testament (New York: Harper and Brother Publishers, 1960), 95-100. [ 7 ].Modern Tell ed-Diweir. [ 8 ]. Hazor, which is excavated by an Israeli expedition under the direction of General Yigael Ya din, is located about ten miles north of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) near the water of Merom (Lake Huleh) on a direct route between Syria and Egypt. Garstang (1926) identifies Hazo, the modern Tell-el-Qedah, as a typical Hyksos center. This large mound covers 25 acres. A huge enclosure, 2000 by 3000 feet, located to the north had an earthen wall around it about 50 feet high. This undoubtedly was the compound used by the Hyksos people for their horses and chariots when they maintained a strong kingdom around 1700 BCE. hat extended from Syria into Egypt. Since Garstang identified the destruction of Hazor with a date about 1400 BCE. and Yadin relates it to the thirteenth century, the ascertainment of the correct date will have to await further study. The last occupation of Hazor had an estimated population of 40000 Canaanites who extended the residential area to nearly 200 acres surrounding the city mound. [ 9 ]. B. L. Rhoades, The Old Testament , 95-100. [ 10 ]. Awala Longkumer, à ¢â‚¬Å"Voices of the Indigenous People,† in National Council of Churches Review (March 2006): 52-54. [ 11 ].Murali Dhar Majhi, â€Å"Cultural Rights of Indigenous People,† in Social Action: A Quarterly Review of Social Trends vol. 60 (Oct-Dec 2010): 406-407. [ 12 ]. P. J. Sonjeeva Raj, â€Å"The Call of the Indigenous People,† in Asia Journal of Theology, vol. 10 (April 1996):64-65. [ 13 ]. She connects them with their past (as the home of the ancestors), with the present (as provider of their materials need), and with the future (as the legacy they hold in trust for their children and grandchildren). In this way, indigenousness carries with it a sense of belonging to a place. [ 14 ].The idea that the land can be owned, that it can belong to someone even when left unused, uncared for, or uninhabited is foreign to indigenous peoples, they are holding land collectively for the community. [ 15 ]. Pushpa Joseph, â€Å"Indigenous Knowledge for Survival A Descriptive E nquiry,† in Jeevandhara : A journal For Socio-Religious Research XXXIX/ 229 (January-2009): 82. [ 16 ]. Ivan Cardinal Dias, â€Å"Identities, Aspirations and Destines of Indigenous Peoples of India,† in Understanding Tribal Cultures: for effective education, edited by Joseph Anikuzhikattil et. l. , (New Delhi: Commission For Education and Culture, 2003), 265. [ 17 ]. Seram Rojesh, â€Å"Whither Indigenous Peoples and their Culture? † in Social Action: A Quarterly Review of Social Trends vol. 60 (October-December 2010): 364-365. [ 18 ]. They believed that each piece of land had its own Baal who helped it to produce good crops. The baal could be worshipped only on his own plot of land, and if a man moved to another district he was compelled to offer worship and gifts to the baal of the district to which he had moved. [ 19 ].In those days there was no yeast to make bread rise when it was baked, they discovered that if they kept a piece of dough from one week’ s baking and allowed it to go sour, it would happen as this went on. If this went on it would make the bread unpleasant to eat. In order to break this chain and make a fresh start, week’s baking was done without the addition of any sour dough, and therefore the bread did not rise: it was ‘unleavened’. [ 20 ]. Elsie Broadie, The Chosen Nation; Book one; Founders and Leaders (Headington Hill Hall: The Religious Education Press, 1968), 71-73. [ 21 ]. C. G.Libolt, â€Å"Canaanites,† in The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia vol. 1, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 4589. [ 22 ]. K. Thanzauva, â€Å"Tribal/Indigenous Interpretation of the Bible: A Keynote Address,† in Tribal Theology And the Bible: A Search for Contextual Relevance, edited by Ynagkahao Vashum (Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011), 20-23. [ 23 ]. Limatula Longkumer, Tribal Feminist Reading of the Bible, Tribal Theology a nd The Bible: A Search for Contextual Relevance, edited by Yangkahao Vashum (Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011), 140-141. 24 ]. B. J. Syiemlieh, â€Å"Contextual Interpretation of The New Testament in Northeast India: A search for Principles and Methods,† in Tribal Theology and The Bible: A Search for Contextual Relevance, edited by Yangkahao Vashum (Jorhat: Eastern Theological College, 2011), 42. [ 25 ]. J. G. Mc Convillle, â€Å"Joshua, Book of,† in the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, et. al. , Kevin. J. Vanhoozer (Michigan: Baker Book House, 2005), 400. [ 26 ]. Laiu Fachhai, The Land Must Be Distributed Equally: The Promise and Covenant Aspects of Land in the Old Testament (ISPCK: Delhi, 2009), 23. [ 27 ]. Walter C.Kaiser, A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age Through The Jewish Wars (USA: Broadman and Hollman Publisher, 1998), 145. [ 28 ]. A. Wati Longchar, â€Å"Tribal Theology: Issues, Method and Perspective,† in Journal of Tribal Studies, vol. 1 (December 1997): 76-80. [ 29 ]. Peter Ignatius, â€Å"Interpretative Theories of Israelite Settlement,† in Jeevadhara: The Struggle for the Past: Historiography Today XXXII/187 (January 2002): 95-106. [ 30 ]. Temsuyanger, â€Å"Israelite Tribal As Resistance And Revolt Against Domination: Some Insights For Coalition Politics In Contemporary India,† in Journal of Tribal Studies, . XII/2 (July-December 2007): 76-88. 31 ]. He was a rather shadowy figure who was worshiped as the â€Å"father of man† and the â€Å"father of year†. A stele unearthed at Ras Sharma showed him seated upon a throne with a hand upraised in blessing, while the ruler of Ugarit presented a gift to him. [ 32 ]. R. K. Harrison, Old Testament Times (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1970), 162. [ 33 ]. Antonius H. J. Gunneberg, â€Å"Israel,† in Encyclopedia of Christianity, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Vol. 2 E-I (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Pub lishing Company, 2001), 769. [ 34 ]. Their offering was the fertility deity Baal, sometimes known as Haddu (Hadad, the god of rain and storm.He succeeded El as the reigning king of the Canaanite pantheon, and lived in the lofty mountainous regions of the remote northern heavens. A stele from ancient Ugarit portrayed him in his role of storm deity. His titles included the epithets Zabul (Lord of the earth) and Aliyn (the one who prevails), the latter being prominent in Ugaritic poetic literature. The theme of the Baal and Anat cycle was that of his struggle with Mot, the deity of misfortune, who had challenged the kingship of Baal. The latter descended to the Underworld realm of Mot, and there was slain.When his death was followed by a seven-year cycle of famine, Anat, the consort of Baal, revenged herself by killing Mot, after which she planted his body in the ground. Aliyn Baal then recovered, and a seven-year period of prosperity ensued, followed once more by the resurgence of Mot . The depraved nature of Canaanite religion is indicated by the character of Anat, the sister-spouse of Baal, who was variously identified with Astarte, Asherah, and Ashtoreth in cultic worship. An Egyptian text of the New kingdom period described Anat and Astarte as â€Å"the great goddesses who conceive but do not bear. The Canaanites evidently regarded their fertility goddesses as combinations of virgins and begetters of life, and they spoke of Anat in her role of sacred prostitute as â€Å"qudshu,† â€Å"the holy one. † This term is somewhat related to the Biblical term for â€Å"holy,† but it is important to realize that among Semitic peoples generally the idea of â€Å"holiness† was applied to anything that had been dedicated to the service of a deity. [ 35 ]. P. E. Satterthwaite and D. W. Baker, â€Å"Nation of Canaan,† in Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch, edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W.Baker (Illinois: Inter Varsity P ress, 1984), 600-605. [ 36 ]. Walter C. Kaiser, A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age Through The Jewish Wars †¦ 147. [ 37 ]. Lucien Legrand, The Bible on Culture; Belong or Dissenting? (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2001), 6-8. [ 38 ]. Walter C. Kaiser, A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age Through The Jewish Wars †¦ 145. [ 39 ]. Yangkahao Vashum, â€Å"Colonialism, Christian Mission and Indigenous: An Examination from Asian Indigenous,† in Journal of Theologies and Cultures in Asia, Vol. 78 (2008/2009): 75-78. [ 40 ]. A. R.Ceresko, â€Å"Potsherds and Pioneers: Recent Research on the Origin of Israel,† Indian Theological Studies, vol. 34 (1997): 11. [ 41 ]. Awala Longkumer, â€Å"Experience of the Context: Socio-Political, Historical and Cultural Context of the Tribal,† in Critical Issues in Mission Among Tribals, edited by Awala Longkumer (Nagpur: NCCI, 2011), 36-37 [ 42 ]. K. C. Abraham, â€Å"Towards An Indian Christian Iden tity,† in Christian Identity and Cultural Nationalism: Challenges and Opportunities, edited E. C. John Samson Prabhakar (Bangalore: BTESSC/ SATHRI, 2008), 23-29. [ 43 ]. A. Wati Longchar, â€Å"Tribal Theology: Issues, Method and Perspective,† , 76-80.

Globization is bad essays

Globization is bad essays Globalization; for better or for worse. Capitalism is a way of life based on the ability to exploit the lower classes and rule by force. Exploiting others is nothing new for man as class inequalities can be dated back to recorded human history. Capitalism first took off on a global level in the fifteenth century, during the mercantilist period of European history. The mercantilists enforced uneven trade relations and manipulated foreign countries like Africa and India into adopting, and spreading the capitalist system. The major problem with this system that governs our lives today is that the further capitalism evolves, the further the gap between the rich and poor becomes. The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least developed countries. (C. Petroni, 1998) Due to the fact that the eight most flourishing countries economically have united in pushing the system of globalization; much like the mercantilists did, called the G8 organisation, shows that reform is upon us. To no surprise, five of these countries are European, as they still have the power that was established five hundred years ago. Because European elites are those that were responsible for creating capitalism, protests follow the G8 conferences as some people firmly believe this is the next step towards the highest stage of capitalism, and its self destruction. Mass production also intensifies the alienation of labour because it encourages specialisation and it makes people view the workers not as individuals but as machines to do work. It is this attitude that incites the uprisings of the lower classes against the higher classes, namely, the nobility. (G. Johnson, 1999) Of course globalization would do some good, depending on your situation. The impact of globalisation has improved global communication throughout the world, with inventions like the internet, and ...

To answer questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

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Commodity Price Movements in the Twenty first Century

Commodity Price Movements in the Twenty first Century Commodity Super Cycles and Bubbles Sharp movement in commodity prices, especially of oil, and some base metals like copper, since the turn of the century, have attracted enormous international attention and debate. The price of oil, which shot up from the sedate levels of approximately twenty-eight USD per barrel, a few years ago, to the high seventies, in 2006, sent ripples through the economies of advanced nations, even as it added billions to the current account surpluses of oil rich nations, like Kuwait. While the movement in oil attracted international attention because of its universal usage, prices of items like copper, steel, cement and uranium also soared to new heights. These developments led to intense discussion among economic experts and business thinkers, who were divided in their opinion about the causes of commodity behaviour, as well as its future movement. While a large number of scholars feel that the recent movement in commodity prices is no more than the initial movement of a wave that will last for many more years, if not decades, others put it down to wrong economic policies and the work of market speculators. This research assignment aims to study and explore the various aspects of this extremely intriguing and globally significant development, and thus arrive at findings and conclusions that are able to illuminate the complex topic. Executive Summary This research assignment attempts to delve deeply into the causal factors behind the sharp upward movement in prices of commodities during the last six years. The assignment is structured into sections that describe the situation in totality, and then take up the many theories that have gained ground in recent years on the issue. While many people believe that a commodity super cycle is under way, powered by the demand for materials from an enormously fast growing China, others feel that these movements, like the one in the price of oil, is a twenty-first century reminder of the commodity bubble that took the price of tulips to astronomical heights in seventeenth century Holland. The study includes an analysis of the commodity super cycle, the roles played by the growth of China and India in increasing commodity demand, the effect of liberal monetary policies, and that of speculative activity, in the price movement process. Detailed analyses of the thoughts and writings of experts on the subject, including thinkers like Jim Rogers and financial professionals like Stephen Roach, along with the study of texts and journals available on the subject, have led to findings that have lent themselves to some interesting analyses and conclusions. These will hopefully prove to be relevant in providing fresh perspectives, and increase available knowledge on the issue. 1. Introduction a. Overview Recent years have witnessed enormous changes in the global economic scenario. Much of what is happening in the cross continental market place owes its origin to the vision and determination of a slightly built and thrice married octogenarian, Deng Xiao Ping. Deng, the Chairman of the People’s Republic in the 1980s, introduced broad and sweeping changes in the Chinese economy under the name of the four modernisations. His reforms, which covered agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military, opened up the Chinese economy, and were instrumental in transforming it into one of the largest and fastest growing economies of the world. (Deng Xiao Ping, 2007) Years of double-digit economic and infrastructural growth in China profoundly affected the economies of other countries, and, in the process, set off a huge tide of economic movement that encompassed the whole world. In the mid nineties, the socialist government of India, threatened by international debts, shrinki ng foreign exchange reserves, and an exasperated population, decided to catch up with its larger neighbour, and initiated a series of economic reforms that led to sharp increases in economic development, and catapulted the country into the ranks of the fastest growing world economies. The unharnessing of these two countries, which together account for a third of global population, from the shackles of state economic control, has created an unprecedented demand for commodities. As China and India rush to make up for decades of low growth, poor living standards, and abysmal poverty, their booming economies are hungrily devouring ever-increasing quantities of metals, agricultural produce and oil products. This insatiable hunger, in the opinion of economists and market analysts, has led to the development of a sustained increase in prices of commodities, known in economic parlance as a commodity super cycle. Other thinkers and columnists have expressed dissenting views, blaming market speculators for building up prices to unrealistic levels and creating artificial bubbles; which were bound to burst, and cover all connected with a good amount of unpleasant and possibly disastrous debris. b. Definition of problem The current upward movement of commodity prices has assumed worrying overtones. The escalating prices of crude oil, which moved up, in a period of a few years, from the regions of the mid twenties per barrel, to that of the high seventies, perplexed and worried governments, and economic thinkers all over the world. Apart from oil, prices of many commodities, particularly metals and agricultural produce, have escalated to unprecedented levels, impacting price indices, affecting buying power, and unsettling economies on a cross continental basis. Price behaviours of different commodities are under detailed scrutiny, with experts trying to pin down their reasons. While the sharp increase in the price of maize is attributed to the diversion of corn for production of bioethanol for the US and Brazilian markets, (Trade aspects of Biofuels, 2007) the increase in prices of oil is thought to be due to its increased consumption in China and India. The huge boom in the Indian stock market, on t he other hand, appears to be due to the large influx of foreign institutional investors, who have taken indices in the last two years to more than twice that of 2005. While the enormous increase in economic activity has resulted in increased profitability for business corporations, and has presumably contributed towards reduction of poverty and want, the accompanying inflation has also brought with it enormous worries, particularly for governments of developing countries. Recent months have seen governments, (under tremendous pressure from angry citizens) and central banks raise prime lending rates, and use other economic tools to suck extra money out of the system, in futile attempts to contain runaway inflation. In the midst of numerous theories, the only constant appears to be in the movements of commodity prices, which continue to climb, of course with periodic pauses, and occasional corrections. The development of a long lasting commodity super cycle, in the opinion of many experts, appears to be the major causal factor behind the present circumstances. In this scenario, it becomes important for economic thinkers to focus on the actual reason s for this phenomenon, and its likely consequences, in order to take corrective action. c. Objective This assignment delves deeply into the issues related to commodity life cycles, and commodity bubbles, from economic, political and social perspectives, and with particular reference to the current global economic scenario. The subject matter is enormous and covers local and international developments in politics, society and economics. The assignment involves examination of primary and secondary information sources, and the study of available literature and research. It makes substantial use of secondary material in the form of texts, journals and magazine articles as well as internet sources for purposes of data availability, analysis and investigation. A good amount of thinking on the subject has occurred in the past few years with numerous experts expressing frequently contradictory and quite confusing views in their syndicated and one-off columns. Despite serious and sincere effort, some important information regarding the topic may well have not found place in the assignment, a deficiency that could limit the validity of its conclusions. The bibliography provides complete details of the accessed information. The order of issues taken up for discussion is sequential, for the sake of logical progression of ideas and thought. 2. Literature Review a. The Commodity Super Cycle Economists have, for decades, believed in the theory of cyclical growth, characterised by periods of growth, followed by years of depression or slump. Events, economies, and political systems move through cycles similar to the natural life cycles of living beings. These cycles, while observable, have no obvious reason and involve changes between periods of comparatively swift increase of production, income and prosperity and periods of relative stagnation. (Business Cycle, 2007) These periodic movements do not follow an established or expected pattern and behave randomly, with extended, or short, growth or slump years. In the stock and commodity markets, these boom and bust periods have been famous for causing widespread prosperity or destruction. Cycles generally comprise of four distinct phases namely contraction, trough, expansion, and peak. Whereas expansions and contractions account for the major portion of the cycle, the troughs and peaks denote the lower and upper turning poin ts where contractions change into expansions and vice versa. These cycles have been the focus of detailed economic study for ages with governments trying, mostly without success, to smoothen slumps, periods that have historically caused widespread unemployment, losses and suffering. Business cycles are as applicable to commodities as to other elements of the economy and are generally measurable in movement of national or regional GDP. Occasionally, commodities move into a phase of upward movement in prices for extended periods, which continue for many years, sometimes even many decades. They mainly occur because of major economic developments that are significant enough to drive demand and consumption on a global basis for long periods. Super cycles form because of the industrialisation or urbanisation of a major economy, (Heap, 2005) a process that normally occurs over decades, and leads to situations wherein increases in supplies of commodities are unable to catch up with increases in their demand. These imbalances, while originating in particular geographical areas, occur for years and result in substantial price increases of commodities, and that too on a global basis, for extended periods. What we can say is that there clearly are long-term cycles and that they are driven by fundamental changes in the world around us. Global wars, the industrial revolution, major innovations in transport and communications are just some of the factors that can instigate long-lasting shifts in economic growth, that in turn stimulate demand for commodities. Increased demand drives prices higher while producers struggle to increase the capacity to meet that demand. Ultimately, prices peak when excess capacity has been developed – the cycle is then completed when demand abates and general surpluses force prices lower. (Guthrie, 2007) Two discernible super cycles have occurred during the last 150 years. (Heap, 2005) Huge economic and infrastructural growth in the USA, during the turn of the nineteenth century, created a super cycle in commodities. Later, commodity super cycles developed during the post war reconstruction of Europe followed by enormous economic activity in Japan. If you look at history, there have always been super cycles in demand for commodities. There was a super- cycle during the British industrial revolution, during America’s huge period of growth before and after the second world war and during Japan’s industrialisation in the 1970s.† (Cooper, 2005) Many economists feel that the movement of commodity prices since the turn of the millennium indicates that the global economy is in the midst of a strong commodity super cycle, a phase that has just about started and still has a long way to go. Gary Dorsch, writing for SafeHaven (2006) states that the Reuters Jefferies Commodity Price Index (CRB), which comprises of futures in â€Å"live cattle, cotton, soybeans, sugar, frozen concentrated orange juice, wheat, cocoa, corn, gold, aluminium, nickel, unleaded gasoline, crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, coffee, silver, copper and lean hogs† has reached levels 91 % higher than what it was four years ago, its highest level in 26 years. Apart from the behaviour of the CRB index, prices of oil have increased seven times from its 1999 levels. Demand for oil is about 85m barrels a day at the moment and most people forecast that it will hit 125m barrels a day in the next 15 to 20 years. I see no way in which this will be met, so oil prices will stay high.† Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, has even forecast that the oil price could hit $100 a barrel in the event of a â€Å"supply shock† — a disruption to the supply of oil as a result of natural disaster, sabotage, war or political upheaval. (Cooper, 2005) Copper has also behaved in virtually the same manner from the lows it saw in 2001. â€Å"Now it’s the turn of the grains, where wheat and particularly corn have exploded higher on the US futures exchanges.† (Guthrie, 2007) A number of other experts are reinforcing this phenomenon. While metals, led by base metals such as copper, aluminium and zinc, as well as precious metals like gold, silver and platinum have, until now, along with oil, led the price charge, prices of agricultural produce are also beginning to rocket. â€Å"Recently however, commodity traders have doubled sugar prices to 24-year highs, and are moving into coffee and soybeans.† (Dorsch, 2006) Prices of iron ore have risen to dizzying heights, practically 72 % in 2005. While tracking of commodity prices is an ongoing activity, the frenetic movement of prices during the last seven years has added another dimension to the issue. Numerous articles, either prophesying its continuation for many more years or predicting a roll back in the near future, pack the pages of financial journals and magazines. Each minute movement in commodity prices is subjected to detailed scrutiny, compared with trends and used as a base for future forecasts. The majority however appears to be in consensus that the current trend of increasing prices, across a cross section of fuel, metal and agricultural commodities should remain in place for quite some time. b. Main Causes behind Current and Expected Price Behaviour in Commodities While numerous major and minor reasons affect commodity price behaviour, this discussion focuses on a few major reasons, widely accepted to be the primary causal factors behind the constant and significant price increases of the past few years. The liberalisation process kick started by Deng Xiao Ping, in China, in the early eighties, led to developments that were possibly beyond his wildest expectations, and catapulted him into the ranks of those whose actions changed today’s world. The implementation of economic reforms accompanied with the opening of the Chinese economy resulted in unprecedented and unimaginable growth rates. During the last twenty-five years, the country’s economy changed from a centrally administered system, largely closed to international trade, to a market oriented economy with a rapidly growing private sector. Reforms, which commenced with the phasing out of collective farming, expanded to incorporate freedom from price control, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state controlled enterprises, a large and diverse banking infrastructure, vibrant stock markets, the growth of privately owned and controlled enterprise and the opening of the economy to trade and investment. As C hina implemented the reforms in a phased manner, the restructuring and consequent efficiencies led to a year on year GDP growth well in excess of 10 % and a tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. The country, in recent years, has overtaken the most advanced nations of the world, and in terms of purchasing power parity, stands second only to the United States. Exports are a key driver behind the Chinese economic miracle, with Chinas currency exchange controls and trade surplus with the US topping $204 billion in 2005, a 25% increase on the previous year and nearly 30% of the total US deficit. The lynchpin of Chinese exports is the low Yuan /dollar exchange rate pegged at 8.11 per dollar, undervalued by 30% to 40% on a trade-weighted basis. (Dorsch, 2006) Growth has also driven enormous spending on infrastructure and urbanisation, with millions of Chinese relocating from villages to urban centres. Foreign investors, from the west, as well as from East Asian economies like Japan and South Korea have invested significantly in the PRC, making it, in many ways, the world’s factory. The country has the largest current account surplus, nearly 180 billion USD, in the world. (CIA Factbook, 2007) This phenomenal economic and industrial growth, involving a ten-fold increase in GDP, has made the country a huge commodity consumer. â€Å"In China, intensity of use is now three times that of the USA, with demand driven by urbanisation, industrialisation and fixed capital formation.† (Heap, 2005) The Chinese miracle, with its huge demand for commodities has affected commodity prices profoundly in the past few years. â€Å"As China’s economy expands, it is sucking in raw materials to build up its infrastructure, including roads, power stations and factories.† (Cooper, 2005) This demand led to the country picking up a huge share of the overall growth in global consumption with growth in internal consumption. â€Å"The International Monetary Fund reports that its share of the overall growth in global consumption of industrial commodities between 2002 and 2005 was massive – 51% for copper, 48% for aluminium, 110% for lead, 87% for nickel, 54% for steel, 86% for tin, 113% for zinc, and 30% for crude oil.† (Guthrie, 2007) The country now accounts 12 % of global industrial production, compared to 6 % in 1995, 4 % of GDP on an exchange rate basis and 13 % on a purchasing power parity basis. Appendix A provides details about China’s demand for various metals. The constantly increasing demand from China, despite regular predictions of slowdown, has served to propel commodity prices year after year. While these price surges have had their periods of relative stagnation, as well as corrections, the demand shows no sign of abating and should grow for many more years. The per capita consumption of beef, for example, in China is 12 pounds per person, compared to 100 pounds per person, in western countries. As perceptions change and the possibility of the country catching up in the prosperity scales with advanced nations becomes a reality, the projected increase in demand assumes overwhelming proportions. While China has been and should continue to be a major driver of commodity prices for many more years to come, other factors have also contributed towards price movement and their effect may well increase in future. India, the world’s second largest country and its’ largest democracy started opening up its economy from the mid nineties. Shackled for years under a bureaucratic mixed economy regime that favoured the public sector, the country suffered from an abysmally slow growth rate for practically fifty years since it achieved independence in 1947. The opening up of the economy, and the introduction of economic reforms, while slower in implementation than China’s, (due primarily to the democratic and debate oriented nature of Indian society), nevertheless picked up steam by the end of the millennium, and entered an era of high growth in the early years of the present decade. The country is today, after China, the second fastest growing economy in the world, and is achieving growth rates of nearly 9 %. While both industry and services are growing at rates much faster than 10 %, agricultural growth has been comparatively slower. Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wants his country to achieve 10% economic growth in the next two to three years, to create more jobs and help lift a third of the countrys 1.1 billion people out of poverty. Asias fourth-biggest economy expanded 8% in the second and third quarters of 2005. Singhs government wants industrial production, which makes up a quarter of Indias economy, to grow 10% annually to boost the incomes of Indians, one in three of whom live on less than $1 a day. Indias industrial production grew at an annualized 8.3% rate between April and November 2005, faster than major economies like US, UK, the Euro zone, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and Russia. Only China and Argentina recorded faster industrial production rates of 16.6%, and 9.6% respectively. (Dorsch, 2006) In India, domestic demand makes up practically 70 % of the national GDP and dominates the economy, as opposed to exports, in many other nations. Indian imports, though lesser than that of China, doubled in the last three years, adding to commodity demand and strengthening the consumer super cycle. Terming Indias economic growth since 1991 phenomenal, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz on Saturday said its GDP (gross domestic product) growth could be pushed up by one to two per cent with speedy reforms. He said: The dynamism shown by India in the last 15 years is phenomenal. India can do better A couple of percentage more growth can be possible. But it needs sound fiscal and monetary policies. Continuity of reforms was important for the high growth, evident in the last 15 years. Indias incredible growth story was a policy model to the world. It showed continued development in democracy and open society. (India’s growth story, 2005) Apart from India, the two other BRIC countries, Brazil and Russia, are also growing strongly, strengthening the demand for major commodities. While the sharp spurt in growth shown by Japan in recent years has also fuelled demand, the growth generated by the BRIC countries, as well as economies of countries like Argentina and South Africa should continue for many years, even for some decades, as these countries try to achieve parity with the advanced nations. Monetary policies followed by the central banks of most countries have also played a significant role in fuelling commodity price increases. Central banks of most countries, Japan, Europe, China and India have followed super easy money policies from the beginning of the millennium right upto the last quarter of 2006 and this along with the demand from the Chinese and Indian economies have worked towards pushing prices up to record levels. The Peoples Bank of China increased its M2 money supply by 18.3% last year, issuing more Yuan to soak up foreign currency earned through foreign trade and direct investment into Chinese factories from abroad. Explosive money supply growth, in turn, boosted domestic retail sales by 13% last year, and industrial production was 16.6% higher in November from a year earlier. Chinas central bank raised its M2 money supply target to 17% in the third quarter from 15% earlier, to offset stronger demand for the Yuan, and maintain the peg at 8.11 per US dollar. (Guthrie, 2007) In Japan, money markets have received trillions of yen, more than required by local Japanese banks, pushing interest rates on deposits to levels even below zero. This enormous amount of excess and free liquidity has enabled both Japanese and hedge fund traders to take up large speculative positions in global commodity markets. While conservative counsel advocates a stricter monetary policy, authorities are reluctant to make changes in a policy that has seen overnight lending rates staying at zero for nearly five years. In Europe, loose money availability has also helped in fuelling inflation and price instability. The growth rate of M3 Money supply in Europe in Europe has become considerably higher than the previous year, and helped in lifting stock markets to higher levels. All over the world, bankers have seen commodity indices running away but refrained from taking action lest growth rates get hurt. Another factor that hinders bureaucrats from taking action after inflation starts hitting significantly high levels is the underlying fear of small course-corrective measures not working and the risk of dampening growth.† If a central bank stops excess liquidity too late it has to raise rates much more strongly and that causes turbulence on the markets.† (Guthrie, 2007) Indian policy makers, found to their chagrin, that inflation growth rates that had crossed 6.5 % (and were threatening to destabilize the government) proved immune to three doses of interest rate hikes, by 50 basis points each time. A sharp hike in borrowing and lending rates took place in recent weeks. With inflation up at 6.4 per cent and the RBI saying it will take â€Å"all the necessary monetary measures†, further hikes in interest rates could come. But will raising interest rates bring inflation under control? Does India have the markets and institutional framework in which raising interest rates is an effective instrument for inflation control? Does India have a central bank that has learned how to conduct monetary policy in an open market economy? The answer to these questions is: No. In this sphere, India lags behind modern practices. (Patnaik, 2007) While lack of faith in the measures taken by one’s own government appears to be a generic trait with analysts all over the world, sustained increases in commodity prices have led to a consensus that economic and monetary policies, followed all over the world, have been unbalanced in their blind preference towards growth, to the exclusion of inflation. The unbridled use of liberal monetary policies has contributed towards this present climate of inflation, and in strengthening the commodity super cycle. The creation of shortages because of rapid and unexpected growth in consumption is a fait accompli, and a short-term discomfort economists are ready to bear, (in the interest of growth), until increased supply stabilizes the situation. In the absence of measured intervention, unbridled increase in prices, apart from inducing speculative activity, also attracts hordes of genuine investors, big-ticket investment funds, pension funds, and even individual retail investors. Pension funds, as well as small, retail investors are looking to commodities as a crucial part of diversification of any investment portfolio. Although schizophrenic commodity day traders could decide to turn massive paper profits into hard cash at a moments notice, causing a 5% shakeout, the longer-term odds still favor a continuation of the Commodity Super (Guthrie, 2007) c. The Future of the Present Inflationary Movement Commodity super cycles, by their nature and their reasons of origin, run for extended periods, for many years and some times for decades. Modern day literature refers to just two or three super cycle in the last two centuries, one caused by American industrial growth at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the other caused by post war reconstruction in Europe, followed by intense Japanese economic activity. The second super cycle lasted for nearly three decades from the late forties until the depression of the eighties. The current super cycle, if at all it is one, has gained momentum only during the last six years, and prima facie still has a long way to go. While monetary policies of powerful and rich individual nations, like the USA and Japan, as well as regional groupings, like Europe, will be able to influence commodity prices through tightening or loosening money supply, the extent of the commodity super cycle will depend primarily upon the growth stories being played ou t in China and India, and to some extent in the other two countries, Brazil and Russia. While China and India are both on the fast track to economic prosperity, they remain countries with low per capita incomes and consumption. The desire to achieve economic prosperity, in these economies, will not be satisfied with achievement of national GDP targets but will continue until individual aspirations of people are met in these two countries. We have China embracing capitalism. We have India embracing capitalism. That’s brought 2.2 billion people into play as very ambitious earners, who aspire to middle class status. If we take Asia, there are 3.5 billion people who aspire to the same middle class lifestyle many of us in the West take for granted. If we look further beyond Asia, this same phenomenon is evident with many other developing countries. We see it in parts of the Middle East with the Dubai city-state as an example. (Finch, 2006) Two simple examples will serve to elaborate this argument. As stated earlier, per capita consumption of beef in China is 12 pounds per person whereas it is more than 100 pounds per person in the advanced countries. Similarly, in India, where the majority of the people do not eat beef, and around fifty percent are vegetarian, the per capita consumption of chicken is around 12 pounds compared to more than 200 pounds in the west. A recent report by Goldman Sachs states that even if, as predicted, both these countries reach the GDP levels of the USA by 2050, their per capita income will not exceed half that of the USA. This gives rise to two inferences, (a) the huge amount of latent demand in these countries and (b) the extended period over which these growth stories will possibly play out. Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wants his country to achieve 10% economic growth in the next two to three years, to create more jobs and help lift a third of the countrys 1.1 billion people out of poverty. Singhs government wants industrial production, which makes up a quarter of Indias economy, to grow 10% annually to boost the incomes of Indians, one in three of whom live on less than $1 a day. (Dorsch, 2006) Apart from the enormous potential for prolonged economic and industrial growth that can occur because of progress in these two countries, the fact that India is moving roughly ten years behind China, could lead to a situation where India’s growth rates start improving further when China’s starts tapering off; thus extending the period of the cycle. Climbing markets are prone to periods of lulls, stagnation and even correction. Experts feel that these phenomena are bound to continue to happen, but the demand for commodities will grow at such an overwhelming pace, not just in China and India, but also in other countries of the developing world that it will soon reassert itself and bring back bullish behaviour. While there is intense speculation in academic circles about the probable period of the inflationary run, very few people are ready to take a bet on its probable date of demise. Economists are quite sure of phases of economic activity where waves of activity and growth follow periods of slowdown and even stagnation. The problem arises when quantification is called for. In the past Dewey and Dakin in their book â€Å"Cycles: The Science of Prediction† (1947) that a super cycle that moves from trough to peak to trough can last for as long as fifty to sixty years. Obviously, these longer waves comprise of a number of sm aller waves, where activity increases and decreases in finite periods Even as convinced a believer in the commodity bull cycle as Jim Rogers points out that the shortest boom lasted 15 years, while the longest lasted 23 years. His conclusion is that we have much further to go, but don’t expect a great deal more precision than that. Oh, and don’t forget that we’ll endure some huge corrections along the way. (Guthrie, 2007) Much of the current discussion on commodity super cycles owes its initiation to

Arguments For and Against a Smoking Ban Essay -- Tobacco Cigarettes Pa

Tobacco is one of the most widely-used recreational drugs in the world; mainly in the form of cigarettes, but also in cigars and pipes, and in combination with cannabis and marijuana in 'joints'. Although most countries put age restrictions on its use, over a billion adults smoke tobacco legally every day, and supplying this demand is big business. As well as having serious health consequences for smokers themselves, the pollution of other people's atmospheres with cigarette smoke also makes this an environmental issue. Attitudes have changed rapidly over the past twenty years. In the developed world, public opinion has shifted against smoking. By the 1990s, the sheer weight of evidence had forced major tobacco companies to admit that their products are both harmful and addictive. Many governments have substantially increased taxes on tobacco in order to discourage smoking, and often to alleviate the economic costs of smoking-related illness. However, while smoking has declined amongst some groups, it has increased amongst others - particularly young women. Meanwhile restrictions on the industry in the developed world have seen a new emphasis on developing nations, and new markets. Key questions for this debate are: Is it the proper role of government to legislate to protect citizens from the harmful effects of their own lifestyle decisions? Does tobacco advertising increase tobacco consumption? Do health warnings, however much of the cigarette packet they cover, reduce consumption? What would be the effects of banning smoking in all public places, or even completely? AGAINST THE SMOKING BAN 1) While a government has a resp... ...ed to smokers themselves. So-called 'passive smoking' is becoming an important issue: in a smoke-filled environment, non-smokers are also exposed to the risks associated with tobacco. Research suggests that partners of smokers have an increased chance of developing lung cancer, even if they do not use tobacco products. Beyond the health risks, smoke can also be extremely unpleasant in public spaces, in the workplace or in bars and restaurants. Smokers are therefore causing discomfort - as well as actual harm - to others. On top of the harm cause to the smokers themselves, this is surely enough reason to ban smoking. 6) At the very least there should be a ban on all tobacco advertising and even more prominent and graphic health warnings on cigarette packets to deter young people, in particular, from starting to smoke.

Care and Compassion in the Nursing Profession Essay

Honor Code: As a student, I have neither given nor received aid/help on this assignment. Caring and Compassion in the Nursing Profession Nursing is a physically and emotionally demanding job. There are six virtues that should be followed when working as a nurse. Caring and compassion can be viewed as â€Å"nursing’s most precious asset† (Schantz, 2007). Caring and compassion are two different characteristics with similar meanings. Caring is defined as showing kindness or concern for others (Oxford, 2013). Compassion is defined as sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others (Oxford, 2013). Some people choose nursing as their job because their desire to care for others. Being a caring individual allows you to make a therapeutic relationship with a patient. When a patient feels cared for; emotionally they develop trust and self-worth. Caring requires you to physically meet your patient needs. When a patient has a sense a being cared for they may be more willing to participate. Most nurses have a certain mindset as â€Å"Do unto others as you would want done unto you† (Watson, 1988). Along with caring, compassion is reason why people desire to be nurses. Compassion is not sympathy you show toward a patient in need, but rather the sympathy that causes you to act on an inner desire to help that patient (Hart, 2011). When showing compassion it’s not doing things you are accountable to do as a nurse, but doing it because you are urged to do it as a human being to make a difference. All six virtues define nursing characteristic as a whole, but caring and compassion are key things to have when treating patients as nurses. To maintain a high quality of health care revolves around caring and compassion. It makes a big difference to have compassion in your heart to  care for others. Caring and compassion can have such a good impact on a patient to warthere he/she will gain self-worth and dignity. References Caring. (n.d). In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/caring Compassion. (n.d). In Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/compassion Hart, M. (2011). Compassion: A Necessity For Quality Nursing Care. Retrieved from http://www.anurseiam.com/show_winners.php?winning_nurses_id=57 Schantz, M. (2007). Compassion: a concept analysis. Nursing Forum, 48-55. Retrieved from http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-zones/management/compassion-in-nursing-1-defining-identifying-and-measuring-this-essential-quality-/5006242.article Watson, J. (1988). New dimensions of human caring theory. Nursing Science Quarterly, 175-181. Retrieved from http://rnjournal.com/journal-of-nursing/caring-and-the-professional-practice-of-nursing

Forensic lab questions Essays

Forensic lab questions Essays Forensic lab questions Essay Forensic lab questions Essay What evidence do you have to identify the culprit of the crime? There was a trail of glitter hair leading to the Sassy Snips dressing room 3. Who stole the hair products? How do you know? Jade stole the hair products, and I know because after her hair sample was run through multiple tests it matched with hair sample we found at the crime scene N- Squad Your second lab link can be found at http://weaverbirds. Rice. Du/stub/Games/N- Squad. Go through the three episodes and answer the following questions: 1 . Describe the crime that you are trying to solve. There was a car crash and in one car there were two teenagers, and I am trying to determine if the crash was on purpose or not 2. Who is one pioneer In autopsy? What did this person contribute to the practice of autopsies? : Alexander Settler, through various experiments and giving alcohol to dogs now allows forensic scientists to determine if alcohol consumption was related to the death 3. How does alcohol affect the body? Give specific examples from the episodes. It slows down your reaction time 4. Why is evidence important In forensic science? What evidence was Important In the episodes? Why? Evidence Is Important because It helps you determine the facts behind the crime The evidence found around the crime scene, such as the beer bottle was Important because It gives clues as to what happened

Free Essays on Modern Literature

The Lost Art of Short Story Telling A short story is, by definition â€Å"an invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot† (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). Short stories contain certain elements, which consist of the following: plot, characters, theme and setting. In addition, the Short story is told from a specific point of view. All the elements of a short story are used in a specific way in order to comment on a part of our lives as members in a collective society. In order to have a story there must be a series of circumstances known as a plot. A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot brings the reader into the character's lives and gives the reader a better understanding of the character. A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. Plot consists of exposition, conflict, complication, climax, and resolution. Short stories always have all the plot elements in them. First we have exposition which is the introductory information. Second there is conflict which is the introduction of the problem. Then we have the complication which is the tension builder of the story. Following the complication is the climax which is the highest point of action and is the turning point in the story. Resolution is the final piece of the puzzle and it is the result of the story or also called denouement. The next element to the short story is the characters. Characters are the people or things that the story is about. All main characters have significance to the story. These characters, their actions, personalities and values reflect and help illustrate the sole purpose of the story. Maupassant developed an array of different characters such as aristocrats, nuns ... Free Essays on Modern Literature Free Essays on Modern Literature The Lost Art of Short Story Telling A short story is, by definition â€Å"an invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot† (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). Short stories contain certain elements, which consist of the following: plot, characters, theme and setting. In addition, the Short story is told from a specific point of view. All the elements of a short story are used in a specific way in order to comment on a part of our lives as members in a collective society. In order to have a story there must be a series of circumstances known as a plot. A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot brings the reader into the character's lives and gives the reader a better understanding of the character. A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. Plot consists of exposition, conflict, complication, climax, and resolution. Short stories always have all the plot elements in them. First we have exposition which is the introductory information. Second there is conflict which is the introduction of the problem. Then we have the complication which is the tension builder of the story. Following the complication is the climax which is the highest point of action and is the turning point in the story. Resolution is the final piece of the puzzle and it is the result of the story or also called denouement. The next element to the short story is the characters. Characters are the people or things that the story is about. All main characters have significance to the story. These characters, their actions, personalities and values reflect and help illustrate the sole purpose of the story. Maupassant developed an array of different characters such as aristocrats, nuns ...

Shostakovich 8th String Quartet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Shostakovich 8th String Quartet - Essay Example Born on September 25, 1906, into the family of an engineer, in St Petersburg, Shostakovich didn't appear to be, in his first years of childhood, as talented as he proved to be later on. But as his parents loved music very much and considered that it was necessary in the process of a child's education, Shostakovich the child received musical lessons. The young Shostakovich showed great interest in music and began studying it seriously, and more than just interpreting other composer's music, he started composing his own pieces of work. As most of the great composers, Shostakovich spoke through his music. As for his personal life, he didn't like to show too much of it. "He was an intensely private person who guarded his personal life and feelings jealously. What all but a very few close friends and family members were permitted to experience of the man was the stiff faade of a civic-minded public servant and consummate music professional." (Fay, 2000 p.2) It's only after his death that the publication of memoirs, diaries, letters, revealed facts about him and his life, some of them controversial. Christopher Norris (1984) shows that Shostakovich's performances of his own music reveal a great flexibility of tempi and the tendency to exaggerate the extremes of his metronome marks. The same source reveals the fact that the members of the Beethoven String Quartet were life-long friends of Shostakovich and this is what gives flexibility to their interpretation. Norris emphasizes on the fact that there are many examples in Shostakovich's chamber music, of movements of unrelenting loudness. And he presents some of these examples: the second movements of the eighth and Tenth Quartets and the Violin Sonata, and most of the third movement of the Third Quartet. Norris analyses in detail the String Quartets. When dealing with the eighth, he begins by showing that the composer is careful about the placing of accents and stresses. And he gives an example: "when the lower three instruments are intoning the revolutionary song "Tormented by the weight of bondage" fortissimo espressivo in octaves, the first violin's independent part has accents on every note to help the balance."(Norris, 1984 p.23) The composer's commentator also remarks the conflict between dissonance and consonance and the task of the performer who must interpret the music using "the appropriate fingering, stress, balance, rubato and vibrato, to highlight the patterns of tension and release." (Norris, 1984 p.23) Norris admits that sometimes the consonance and dissonance are no more than the result of purely horizontal lineality, but he considers that most of the times, the context is deliberately tonal. About Shostakovich's musical style, Martynov says: "AT A FIRST HEARING of Shostakovich's music one is struck by the remarkable facility of his style. So effortless is his manner of solving the most complex problems of composition that it would seem nothing is impossible to him. Few of his contemporaries can compare with him in this. Such creative ease, moreover, is a sure sign of great talent and consummate skill." (1947 p.154). He points out the fact that the Russian composer "worked with extraordinary facility and speed": "his String Quartet was written