Review of Platos The Allegory of the Cave :: World Literature

In Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave," Socrates tells an allegory of the hardship of understanding reality. Socrates compares a prisoner of an underground cave who is exploring a new world he never knew of to people who are trying to find a place of wisdom in reality. According to Socrates, most people tend to rely on their senses too much and believe the world as it is appeared to our sight. In order to free our souls from this mental prison, Socrates suggests that we should go through a phase that does not only prepare ourselves for the real world but also prevent us from heading to the wrong direction to seek the truth - education. In conclusion, Socrates believes those who have reached a higher level of knowledge and wisdom should bear a responsibility to lead the community and improve it because they are blessed with better education and are able to enjoy a different reward than the power to control others like most politicians do. Two thousand years after Plato has written down the allegory, it is amazing how we can still relate it to our everyday lives. As Plato wrote in "The Allegory of the Cave," education is a very important phase that leads us to wisdom and helps us to get accustomed to the real world with less difficulty. Apparently, this theory has proven to be correct for the past two thousand years. Until today, those of higher wisdoms are mostly people who have mastered a thorough and solid education; and they certainly have become the leaders of the community who share their knowledge and enlighten many people. We can also find Plato's theory on rulers of countries relevant to the world today.

The Idea Of Romantic Love Essay -- essays research papers

We are brought up on romantic love. Is this true in your experience? If so write a paper on which you first define this amorphous concept and then discuss how you came about it. For eg. Have you been influenced by media, T.V., movies in particular. Conclude by stating whether you believe in romantic love or have cast of the idea. â€Å"I don’t care what you think, when he comes I’ll leave and won’t even turn back and look at you, he’ll love me, he won’t be like you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Words spoken by me when I was barely 10 years of age. I was addressing my mother after we’d had an argument and referring to the arrival of my prince charming who would understand all my dilemmas and make life ‘heaven’ for me. Such is the perception of romantic love that I formed ever since I began to realize the dynamics of the relationship between a man and woman. It is what is fed to us through nursery rhymes, and fairytales and it is a world that we do not wish to leave for fear of abandonment and loneliness. As we progress through life we are constantly exposed to the likes of television serials, movies and of course ‘mills & boon’ romances, all aimed at reinforcing the very first impressions of bliss that we formed with regard to the loved one and love life in general. Infact, falling in love with a handsome young prince and galloping away with him into a hazy, peach orange sunset, is a romantic concept that most young girls, irrespective of race or background, embrace and ultimately grow up to anticipate. They are taught that it is a magical paradise where they will have all of their needs met - and live happily-ever-after. They are taught that getting the romance is the goal and that after that everything is smooth sailing. Romantic love is thus an emotion surrounded by myths and metaphors, motivated by false hopes and the desire for a guarantee that somehow, a miserable life can be turned into happiness at a single stroke. Obviously that is not how it works in reality. Robert Solomon once remarked, â€Å"Love has become an obscure ideal, like TV ads, full of promise of something fabulous yet to come, hinted at but never spoken of as such.† We are told that we can we are in love by the we feel; the giddy disorientation, shaky, shivering hands, and your heart leaping within you. Unfortunately, these are also the warning signs of dengue fever, so it’s always a good idea to check with your do... ... romantic feelings to emerge before they initiate romantic activities. But it works the other way around! I personally would not cast of the idea of ‘romantic love’ as such because I believe that romantic love is powerful, but at the same time it is not omnipotent. Doubts, fears, insecurities, weak self-esteem, and silence can prevent its achievement. The problem lies not in the concept of romantic love but in the impossible demands made in its name. To be love is to realize that in the authentic relationship each person stands by his own perceptions. Sometimes its okay to go by the clichà ©s, which facilitate togetherness, but if it becomes permanent, communication is cancelled, and one is left with a low sense of oneself. The essence of true love can infact be compared to gift giving. The immeasurability of gift-giving, its wearying effects on the spirit when not reciprocated, can leave a person open to a tremendous sense of disappointment. This is just one of the risks a creative spirit takes in the world. Pursuing and maintaining romantic love is a risk too, but it is a wonderful risk, and it is the heavy price one might pay for it, that makes it so valuable in the first place.

Power of the Mind Revealed in Albert Camus The Guest Essay -- Albert

Power of the Mind Revealed in Albert Camus' â€Å"The Guest† In â€Å"The Guest†, a short story written by Albert Camus, Camus uses his views on existentialism to define the characters’ values. Camus’ effective use of descriptive words and individual thoughts and actions allows the reader to understand and sympathize with the characters’ judgments of one another, predominantly pertaining to the characters Daru and the Arab. Daru’s responses to the Arab and his decisions, Camus’ description of the Arab, and the Arab’s respect for Daru, prove that there is a basic goodness in humans, allowing them to accept responsibility and consequences for their acts of free will. In â€Å"The Guest†, Daru forms his own opinion about the Arab based on his personal morals, even though the Arab is given qualities that brand him a problematic character. Camus uses intensely descriptive words to describe the Arab’s stinging appearance. â€Å"†¦the whole face had a restless and rebellious look that struck Daru when the Arab, turning his face toward him, looked him straight in the eyes† (318). Even with these seemingl...

Coral Bleaching Proposal

Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection and often called â€Å"rainforests of the sea†. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. Coral reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are very sensitive to water temperature.They are under threat from climate change, oceanic acidification, blast fishing, cyanide fishing for aquarium fish, overuse of reef resources, and harmful land-use practices, including urban and agricultural runoff and water pollution, which can harm reefs by encouraging excess algal growth. According to Brian Skoloff of The Christian Science Monitor, â€Å"If the reefs vanished, experts say, hunger, poverty and political instability could ensue.Since countless sea life depends on the reefs for shelter and protection from predators, the extinction of the reefs would ul timately create a domino effect that would trickle down to the many human societies that depend on those fish for food and livelihood. There has been a 44% decline over the last 20 years in the Florida Keys, and up to 80% in the Caribbean alone. Coral is very sensitive to changes in seawater. It requires the temperature is moderate but clean without sewage. As long as there is enough time, coral reefs can naturally recover a little natural damage, and sometimes even make the coral reef biological richer.Human activities on coral can cause the pressure of the reef so long and extensive. These pressures may be generated on coral reefs forever. The method of restoring the damage even of coral death is researched into four parts: coral Introduction, what is the coral bleaching phenomenon, causing bleaching, and the strategy to save coral bleaching. Coral bleaching caused by the decline in species diversity of coral reef ecosystems, and even affect the entire marine physical system. Once the coral reef is dying, the whole ecosystem out of balance.There are many actual reasons why the maintenance of biological diversity is important. Many resources can be prepared in the coral reef in order to made pharmaceuticals, chemicals and food. Before the coral reef caused serious destruction, many species will be found disappear. No one knows what we destroy, but if we do not stop destroying the coral reef deterioration. The situation will continue, and will lose a lot of value to be discovered. So we want to make a comprehensive conservation and strategies to save disappearing coral.

Black Movements of 1960

Kelsey Kindell Lauren Cherneski English 102 5 September 2012 Black Arts Movement of the 1960s The history of BAM, the types of entertainment, and their effects on society has the upmost impact on history today. Due to it being the only American literary movement to advance â€Å"social engagement† as sin qua non of its aesthetic. The movement broke from the immediate past of protest and petition (civil rights) literature and dashed forward toward an alternative that initially seemed unthinkable and unobtainable: Black Power.One of the most important figures in the Black Arts movement is Amiri Baraka (formerly Leroi Jones). Following the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka) made a symbolic move from Manhattan’s Lower East Side to Harlem, where he founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/ School. According to the â€Å" Norton Anthology of African American Literature,’’ no one was more competent in the combination of the experiment al and the vernacular than Amiri Baraka, whose volume Black Magic Poetry 1961- 1967(1969) is one of the first products of the African American creative energies of the 1960s.Umbra, which produced Umbra Magazine, was the first post-civil rights Black literary group to make an impact as radical in the sense of establishing their own voice distinct from, and sometimes at odds with, the prevailing white literary establishment. The attempt to merge a Black-oriented activist thrust with a primarily artistic orientation produced a classic split in Umbra between those who wanted to be activists and those who thought of themselves as primarily writers, though to some extent all members shared both views.Black writers have always had to face the issue of whether their work was primarily political or aesthetic. Black Arts Movement influenced the world of literature, portraying different ethnic voices. Before the movement, the literary canon lacked diversity, and the ability to express ideas fr om the point of view of racial and ethnic minorities was not valued by the mainstream. Theatre groups, poetry performances, music and dance were centered on this movement, and therefore African Americans were becoming recognized in the area of literature and rts. African Americans were also able to educate others through different types of expressions and media about cultural differences. The most common form of teaching was through poetry reading. African American performances were used for their own political advertisement, organization, and community issues. The Black Arts movement was spread by the use of newspaper advertisements. The first major arts movement publication was in 1964. The movement lasted for about a decade, through the mid-1960s and into the 1970s.This was a period of controversy and change in the world of literature. One major change came through the portrayal of new ethnic voices in the United States. English- language literature, prior to the Black Arts movem ent, was dominated by white authors. The theatres, as well as cultural counters were based throughout America and were used for community meetings, study groups and film screenings. Newspapers were a major tool in spreading the Black Arts movement.In 1964, Black Dialogue was published, making it the first major arts movement publication. As the movement matured, the two major locations of Black Arts' ideological leadership, particularly for literary work, were California's Bay Area because of the Journal of Black Poetry and the Black Scholar, and the Chicago-Detroit axis because of Negro Digest/Black World and Third World Press in Chicago, and Broadside Press and Naomi Long Madgett's Lotus Press in Detroit.The only major Black Arts literary publications to come out of New York were the short-lived (six issues between 1969 and 1972) Black Theatre magazine published by the New Lafayette Theatre and Black Dialogue, which had actually started in San Francisco (1964-1968) and relocated t o New York (1969-1972). In conclusion, the impacts of Black Arts activities were the development of Black theater groups and Black poetry performances and journals, and both had close ties to community organizations and issues.Black theaters served as the focus of poetry, dance, and music performances in addition to formal and ritual drama. Black theaters were also venues for community meetings, lectures, study groups, and film screenings. Resources http://aalbc. com/authors/blackartsmovement. htm http://www. english. illinois. edu/maps/blackarts/historical. htm

Meralco’s Pricing: an Assessment

I. Introduction Meralco is a natural monopoly. Natural monopoly exists when a firm is able to supply the total market demand more efficiently because of economies of scale that allow the firm to lower its cost as it expands capacity. However, like any firm in a market situation where there is imperfect competition or in a less-than-competitive market, a natural-monopoly firm, when left to its own, tends to limit its output to a point where its marginal cost equals its marginal revenue but charge a much higher price than what would have prevailed when there is a highly-competitive market.In a highly-competitive market, the output tends to settle at a point where marginal cost equals marginal revenue, which also equals its price and where the unit cost of production is the lowest possible because of competition. When the price is greater than unit cost and profits are high, more firms will come to compete in the market and drive down the price back to where it is just equal to unit cos t. When the price is below unit cost, the resulting losses will drive out some of the firm from the market, thus raising the price back again to where it is just equal to the unit cost of producing the product concerned.Because a natural monopoly, like any firm in an imperfect market, charges a price way above the equality of marginal cost and marginal revenue, it also produces at a certain level of output that is less than what would have prevailed when the market is highly competitive. These twin evils (higher price than necessary and lower output than possible), which arise from the presence of a monopoly, make for a very strong case for government intervention. In line with this, the researchers ought to know if Meralco has really an absolute control over the output produced and therefore charge the highest price to increase their profit.They also want to know the basis of pricing per kilowatt hour (kWh) and how do they implemented this to their consumer. II. Methodology The des criptive research method was used in this research, as it points out conditions and relationships that exist or do not exist. Furthermore, this method emphasizes more on descriptions rather than on judgments or interpretations. Descriptive research is thus a type of research that is primarily concerned with describing the nature or conditions and degree in detail of the present situation. (Landman, 1998:59)Descriptive data for research are collected by using different methods. It may be presented qualitatively or in verbal forms or symbols, or quantitatively in mathematical symbols, depending upon the nature of the material and the purposes for which one is doing research. III. Respondents of the study The respondents of this study consisted of Meralco consumers and some people from the Department of Energy (DOE). The above-mentioned respondents qualified to the most needed criteria of the researchers, who were currently situated at the survey site. IV.Discussion A. Overview of Mono poly A. 1 Definition of monopoly Pure monopoly exists when a single firm is the sole producer of a product for which there are no close substitutes. A. 2 Characteristics of Monopoly Here are the main characteristics of pure monopoly: a. Single seller. A pure, or absolute, monopoly is an industryin which a single firm is the sole producer of aspecific good or the sole supplier of a service; thefirm and the industry are synonymous. b. No close substitutes. A pure monopoly’s product isunique in that there are no close substitutes.Theconsumer who chooses not to buy the monopolized product must do without it. c. Price maker. The pure monopolist controls the totalquantity supplied and thus has considerable controlover price; it is a price maker (unlike a pure competitor,which has no such control and therefore is a pricetaker). The pure monopolist confronts the usualdownward-sloping product demand curve. It canchange its product price by changing the quantity ofthe product it produc es. The monopolist will use thispower whenever it is advantageous to do so. d. Blocked entry.A pure monopolist has no immediatecompetitors because certain barriers keep potentialcompetitors from entering the industry. Those barriers may be economic, technological, legal, or ofsome other type. But entry is totally blocked in puremonopoly. e. Nonprice competition. The product produced by a puremonopolist may be either standardized (as with naturalgas and electricity)or differentiated (aswith Windows orFrisbees). Monopolists that have standardized products engage mainly in public relationsadvertising, whereas those with differentiated productssometimes advertise their products’ attributes.B. Meralco and Pricing The  Manila Electric Company  ,also known as  MERALCO  , is the Philippines' largest distributor of electrical power. The word MERALCO, is an  acronym  for  Manila  Electric  Railroad  And  Light  Company, which was the company's original name from 1903 to 1919. MERALCO is the  Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for some 22 cities and 89 municipalities, including the whole of  Metro Manila  and  Mega Manila  region. B. 1 Retail price compositionIEC confirmed that the main component or 65 percent of the average of Meralco’s retail pricing is the generation charge. Charges by independent power producers comprised 44 percent, National Power Corp. ’s transmission billing was 35 percent, spot market pricing was 13 percent, and the ancillary service charge was 8 percent. The table below shows the composition of the total of retail price charged to consumers: IEC also estimated that the embedded fuel costs comprised approximately 50 percent of the total generation charge, while the transmission charge comprised 9 percent of the average tariff.VAT and other taxes and statutory charges comprised 10 percent. Lastly, the distribution charge, which is the only part of electricity billing that goes to Meralco, comprised 16 percent of the average tariff. All other charges were thus collected by Meralco on behalf of third parties. B. 2 Price as Compared to other Countries IEC conducted a detailed survey and analysis of retail electricity tariffs and costs in 13 countries and two U. S. states, as well as a supplementary, less comprehensive â€Å"meta-analysis â€Å" of 27 countries in the Euro area and the 50 remaining U. S. states.The 15 core markets in the survey included Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan (Kansai), Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia (WA), Sri Lanka, NZ, California (PG;E), Hawaii, Canada (Ontario) and South Africa. For each of the core markets, retail tariffs were calculated for residential, commercial and industrial customers. IEC enumerated seven factors behind Meralco’s pricing as compared to other countries: subsidies, high intrinsic cost of supply, import-parity fuel, grid size/plant mix, higher financing cost, geographical challenges and cross-subsidy in transmission rates.Surprisingly, a number of countries in the study like Korea and Taiwan have electricity prices that are lower than Meralco’s because of government policies that provide subsidies of up to 50 percent. The subsidies come in the varied form of frozen tariffs, sale of fuel to utilities at below market rates, and utility losses shouldered by the government. IEC noted that Meralco’s estimated cost of supply was in the top quintile (9th highest and 19 percent above the average) among the 44 markets surveyed.The cost of producing and delivering electricity in Luzon (and in the Philippines, more generally), it seems, was intrinsically high largely because of the high price of imported fossil fuel. Interestingly, IEC also pointed to the relatively small grid size, geographic challenges of transmission and higher cost of financing costs as reasons for high intrinsic cost of electricity that Mer alco sells. If fact, IEC noted that eight of the 10 highest cost markets in the survey are island nation/states, and this factor may be a fundamental cost multiplier.Because 80 percent of power generation in Luzon was fuelled with imported fuels, electricity prices are expected to remain high. This is the reality of a country that is dependent on imported fuels. Also, the Luzon grid size is smaller and therefore had a high dependence on hydro which requires a higher reserve margin requirement. The weighted average cost of capital in the Philippine power sector is higher than most countries in the region. Debt cost is relatively high and loan tenors are shorter. Transmission costs are also inherently high as power has to be transmitted across several islands.Lastly, the higher cost of transmission to consumers in the Visayas is subsidized by consumers in the Luzon grid. A study conducted by the company and commissioned by Meralco found that at the beginning of 2012 the Philippines ha d the 2nd highest electricity rates in the region and the 9th highest out of 44 international markets. In the study, which was standardized for type of customer, time period, currency price and resource rates, he came to a number of conclusions about why consumer electricity rates in the Philippines are relatively high for the region and internationally.Several of the issues don't seem to have a near term solution in sight. 1. The government doesn't subsidize energy. The main reason prices are likely to stay high is the Philippines can't afford to subsidize its electricity as other countries in the region do,3/4 of the reason energy costs are high is because the government doesn't apply subsidies to keep tariffs artificially low. Several neighboring countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan — all have lower tariffs because of government subsidies.He said up to and sometimes over 50% of costs in these countries are subsidized since government policies freeze tariffs, sell fuel at below market rates and make government shoulder business losses. 2. It's expensive to produce energy in the Philippines. Philippine power generation relies largely on imported fuel pegged to high international fuel prices, The country is making efforts to explore more of its own natural gas resources, but finding deposits and setting up production facilities will take years. In the meantime, the country is reliant on high cost international fuel. 3. Challenging geography.Because the Philippines is made up of thousands of islands, it does not have a unified electricity grid and there are several providers. â€Å"In principle,† said Morris, â€Å"the bigger the grid the cheaper the cost† which can be spread out among more customers. However he thought that creating a unified grid in the Philippines would be problematic given the terrain. He noted that transmission costs are more expensive because power has to be sent across several islands. I EC found that 8 of the 10 highest cost markets in the survey were island nations or states, which could be a â€Å"fundamental cost multiplier. He said, â€Å"It is expensive to make electricity, transmit it and distribute it in this country†¦ I can't see that problem changing in the next 20 years. † 4. Ineffective plants. He pointed out that when some plants don't work well, it is necessary to have a reserve plant, which means additional costs. â€Å"The higher your reserve margin the higher the total cost of supply,† he said. He added that the reserve margin of the Philippines was probably around 20% but should actually be between 33% to 35% since the country has had brownouts in the last year, which he said â€Å"means you don't have enough capacity to meet reliable demand.C. Government’s Intervention to Pricing Natural monopolies traditionally have been subject to rate regulation (price regulation), although the recent trend has been to deregulate whe rever competition seems possible. For example, long-distance telephone calls, natural gas distribution, wireless communications, cable television, and long-distance electricity transmission have been, to one degree or another, deregulated over the past several decades. And regulators in some states are beginning to allow new entrants to compete with existing local telephone and electricity providers.Nevertheless, state and local regulatory commissions still regulate the prices that most local natural gas distributors, regional telephone companies, and local electricity suppliers can charge. These locally regulated monopolies are commonly called â€Å"public utilities. † Meralco as Regulated Monopoly Meralco is a publicly owned and listed company, meaning that anyone can share in the potential price appreciation of its shares and can receive a portion of company profits when dividends are declared. This company is a public utility, which means it has a monopoly in the delivery of service to the public.In return for the benefits of not having any competition, the government regulates how much profit the company can make. Normally, the regulated price that it sells its services to the public depends on the rate of return or profit the company will make and that is controlled by the government. In theory, without government regulation, Meralco could charge whatever price it wanted and the public would have no choice but to pay or not have electric service. But Meralco prices are under government control.Therefore, the government has an obligation to keep the price charged as low as possible to serve the best public interests while, at the same time, allow enough return to keep the company financially sound, able to expand and enhance company business interests and allow the shareholders to make money on their investment. V. Conclusion A public utility must serve both the public interest and the interest of its investors. However, because of the government c ontrol of pricing, it is the absolute obligation of government regulators to protect and serve the public interest.It is not the job of the Meralco management to protect the public. That is the government’s job. It is not the job of government to protect the Meralco shareholders. That is the management’s job. Then, after the regulations are set, it is management’s responsibility to protect shareholder interests within the boundaries that the regulators establish. If we were the shareholder of Meralco, we want the company to charge P50 per kilowatt-hour so my company can make a lot of profit. As a consumer, we want the government to keep electricity prices as low as possible while insuring reliable service.Any reasonable person can see that there can be an inherent conflict of interest in those two positions. That is why public utilities function best when privately owned and operated and regulated by the government. VI. References 1. http://rp1. abs-cbnnews. com /views-and-analysis/05/29/08/meralco-what-issue-really-john-mangun 2. http://www. rappler. com/business/10737-electricity-prices-in-ph-likely-to-stay-high-in-the-short-term 3. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Meralco 4. http://www. bizlinksphilippines. net/102312. htmlPolytechnic University of the Philippines College of Accountancy Sta. Mesa, Manila Meralco’s Pricing: An Assessment ECON 2023 Submitted to: Submitted By: Janine Simbulan Christian Derrick Villafranca Ma. Margarita Matawaran Jemilyn Milan Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Methodology III. Discussion A. Overview of the Monopoly a. 1 Definition of the Monopoly a. 2 Characteristics of Monopoly B. Meralco and Pricing b. 1 Retail price composition b. 2 Price as compared to other countries D. Government’s intervention to Pricing IV. Refenrences

WeekOneTeamWorkEditTwo

If your sample textbook does not contain NY of the graphs listed below, please indicate that as you complete the table. Grade Book Name Picture Graph (How and when introduced) Bar Graph Line Graph Circle Graph Other Kindergarten Sahara, J. , & Clement, D. H. (2006). Mathematics in kindergarten. (5 De. , Volvo. 61, p. 38). Pro Quest Central. Data analysis is part of kindergarten and includes graphing. Children in kindergarten use different kinds of photographs to represent the answer to a question. Picture Graphs are also used to represent the answers to questions.There Were no bars graphs introduced in this excerpt from the book. Although through further research learned that bar graphs are introduced in second grade. There were also no line graphs used in this book excerpt. In further research I found that line plots were beginning to be taught in the second grade. There was no mention of circle graphs in this excerpt. In doing further research though found that circle graphs are be ginning to be introduced in the fifth grade. Geometric shapes are learned. What is a circle?Where do we see circles in everyday life? Putting shapes together to make other shapes. Transformations, symmetry, measurements, and patterns are also introduced in kindergarten. 4 Hake, Stephen & Saxon, John. (2004) Saxon Math 5/4 Student Edition The picture graph is the first one to be introduced in this book although it is being reviewed because it was introduced in a previous grade. This particular book collected data from the students about which type of food they liked most and used pictures of the food to represent that number.The bar graph was introduced after the picture graph. The information used in the picture graph was transferred to a bar graph to show the students the same information in a different format. The line graph was introduced at the end of third grade, but not in much detail. In this edition, the line graph is used to display a person's height from birth to ID years of age. The circle graph, also known as a pie chart or graph, was introduced after the line graph. The example in the book was someone keeping track and showing how they spend their day.