Bertrand Russell essays

Bertrand Russell essays Bertrand Russell is a very adamant philosopher and he feels strongly about how philosophy relates to people and everyday life. He is a strong believer in philosophical thinking and casting doubt upon everyday questions and actions. Russell believes that philosophy can enlarge our intellect by asking questions to various things which can be analyzed to a greater extent. Not to find exact answers to these questions, but to further our knowledge and to, Enlarge our conception of what is possible. In the reading on the value of philosophy, Russell makes a distinct difference between science and philosophy. He says that philosophy is separate from science because philosophy does not present any definite answers to its questions. Those questions that have definite answers are placed in the sciences. He states that as soon as definite knowledge concerning any subject becomes possible, that subject ceases to be called philosophy, and becomes a separate science. Russell believes that people should study philosophy to increase their knowledge and step out of what they know is real and true. He mentions the practical man in his writing as a person who is only concerned with what they need to survive physically. Russell thinks that people need to feed their minds with knowledge to better the person and all of mankind. He thinks society would be better off thinking in a philosophical sense, rather than sticking to what they already know and what they were raised to think. He thinks that the more people to do so, the better. He wants people to practice philosophical thinking, more so than studying the subject. He thinks all people should do so that are serious about philosophy, but not the people who are closed-minded individuals who stick to concrete beliefs and are not open to interpretation and questioning of issues. While taking this philosophy class this semester, I hope to further my knowledge in...

Code of Ethics for US Government Service

Code of Ethics for US Government Service   In general, rules of ethical conduct for persons serving the U.S. federal government are divided into two categories: elected members of Congress, and government employees. Note that in the context of ethical conduct, â€Å"employees† includes persons hired or appointed to work for the Legislative Branch or on the staffs of individual Senators or Representatives, as well as those executive branch employees appointed by the President of the United States. Active duty members of the U.S. military are covered by the codes of conduct for their specific branch of the military. Members of Congress The ethical conduct of the elected members of Congress is prescribed by either the House Ethics Manual or the Senate Ethics Manual, as created and revised by the House and Senate committees on ethics. Executive Branch Employees For the first 200 years of U.S. government, each agency maintained its own code of ethical conduct. But in 1989, the Presidents Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform recommended that individual agency standards of conduct be replaced with a single regulation applicable to all employees of the executive branch. In response, President George H.W. Bush signed Executive Order 12674 on April 12, 1989, setting out the following fourteen basic principles of ethical conduct for executive branch personnel: Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws and ethical principles above private gain.Employees shall not hold financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty.Employees shall not engage in financial transactions using nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of such information to further any private interest.An employee shall not, except as permitted ... solicit or accept any gift or other items of monetary value from any person or entity seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by the employees agency, or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the employees duties.Employees shall put forth honest effort in the performance of their duties.Employees shall not knowingly make unauthorized commitments or promises of any kind purporting to bind the Government.Employees shall not use public offic e for private gain. Employees shall act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual.Employees shall protect and conserve Federal property and shall not use it for other than authorized activities.Employees shall not engage in outside employment or activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, that conflict with official Government duties and responsibilities.Employees shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities.Employees shall satisfy in good faith their obligations as citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially those- such as Federal, State, or local taxes- that are imposed by law.Employees shall adhere to all laws and regulations that provide equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap.Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in this part. Whether particular circumstances create an appearance that the law or these standards have been violated shall be determined from the perspective of a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts. The federal regulation enforcing these 14 rules of conduct (as amended) is now codified and fully explained in the Code of Federal Regulations at 5 C.F.R. Part 2635. Part 2635. Over the years since 1989, some agencies have created supplemental regulations that modify or supplement the 14 rules of conduct to better apply to the specific duties and responsibilities of their employees. Established by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics provides overall leadership and oversight of the executive branch ethics program designed to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest. The Overarching Rules of Ethical Conduct In addition to the above 14 rules of conduct for executive branch employees, Congress, on June 27, 1980, unanimously passed a law establishing the followinggeneral Code of Ethics for Government Service. Signed by President Jimmy Carter on July 3, 1980, Public Law 96-303 requires that, â€Å"Any person in Government service should:† Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.Uphold the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the United States and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.Give a full days labor for a full days pay; giving earnest effort and best thought to the performance of duties.Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not; and never accept, for himself or herself or for family members, favors or benefits under circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of governmental duties.Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of the office, since a Government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.Engage in no business with the Government, either directl y or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of governmental duties. Never use any information gained confidentially in the performance of governmental duties as a means of making private profit.Expose corruption wherever discovered.Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust. Is There a Presidential Code of Ethics? While the elected members of Congress have chosen to adopt their own code of ethics, the President of the United States, as an elected rather than hired or appointed representatives of the people, is not subject to any specific statute or rule governing his or her ethical conduct. While they are subject to civil suit and criminal prosecution for violations of common laws, presidents are generally immune from punishment for conduct related to their official acts. In other words, presidents are generally free to lie or misrepresent facts, as long as they do not intentionally defame any specific person or persons in doing so. In fact, the only the only practical remedies to unethical conduct on the part of the president are the constant vigilance of a well-informed public, congressional oversight, and ultimately the threat of impeachment for â€Å"high crimes and misdemeanors.†

Hr1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Hr1 - Essay Example Explain the Purpose of Human Resource Management Policies in Organisations 16 3.2. Analysing the Impact of Regulatory Requirements on HRM Policies of Millennium Hotels 18 3.2.1. Positive Impacts of Regulatory Requirements on HRM Policies 18 3.2.2. Negative Impacts of Regulatory Requirements on HRM Policies 19 Task 4 20 4.0. Examining Human Resource Management in an Organisation 20 4.1. Analysing the Impact of Organisational Structure and Culture on HRM 20 4.2. Impact of Culture on HRM 21 4.3. Effectiveness of HRM on Monitoring Organisational Performance 22 4.4. Recommending Steps towards Improving HR Functions 23 Conclusion 24 References 26 Introduction The organisations in the present competitive business environment seek to increase their capability of managing and controlling the performance of their workforce for the purpose of competing with their major rivals and accomplishing superior competitive position. In this similar context, the idea concerning Human Resource Management (HRM) of different organisations play a fundamental role towards strengthening the optimal performance of the workforce and enabling the organisations to gain overall business or operational efficiency in this composite business environment. The conception of HRM considerably ensures to provide adequate potential synergy in order to empower the substantial growth of a particular organisation. Moreover, the concept of HRM can also be considered as one of the major influencing factors of an organisation which facilitates to enjoy adequate capability of increasing the performance of the workforce and attaining the desired objectives of the organisations (SAGE Publications, n.d.). In the context of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), the thought i.e. HRM can be regarded as a holistic approach which ensures to align human resource (HR) related functions of an organisation with its strategic objectives. The primary objective of SHRM implies the practice of identifying the key area s of HRM and developing effective strategy to meet the ultimate organisational goals and objectives (Salaman & et. al., 2005). With this concern, the primary objective of this report is to understand the contribution of SHRM in Millennium Hotels towards the attainment of its desired business objectives. Additionally, the discussion would further identify and analyse the major factors that underpins the need of an adequate HRM plan for Millennium Hotels. Furthermore, the purpose of HRM policies and their potential impacts will also be analysed in accordance with the HRM policies of Millennium Hotels. At last, the report will be concluded through analysing the impact of organisational structure and culture in the HRM practices and examining the efficiency of HRM in Millennium Hotels. Task 1 1.1. Significance of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Functions The practice of SHRM can be observed as the approach of preserving effective interrelation between the organisational strat egic decisions and overall HRM strategies. It intends to build a paramount approach for an organisation on achieving a greater degree of managing capability to efficiently attain its predetermined business goals (Gratton & Truss, 2003). In the context of Millennium Hotels, the approach i.e. SHRM can be viewed as one of the major attributes behind the continuous success of the organisation in the global hospitality industry. In relation to the fiercely growing competitiveness in the modern business

Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Poverty - Essay Example Being in a different position however blurs the audience that cannot perceive what poverty means. Class also plays a significant role in the essay as the narrator uses possession to define poverty. Whether social or economic class, people in a given class are characterized by possession that members of lower classes may not afford comfortably and the narrator uses inability to afford underwear to communicate the article’s theme of poverty. She associates herself with a poor class that cannot afford the type of cloth and explains this to the audience as an approach to explaining her poverty. The concept of class is similarly significant to the essay’s theme because it established difference in leaving standards towards definition of poverty. People in higher classes, whether social or economic, considers a lot of factors in life such as sanitation and the narrator uses this by identifying her poor condition of being dirty and having odors. The narrator’s use of th ese class-based factors communicates the significance of class as the essay’s theme of poverty (Nazario, Borchers and Lewis 323). Significance of class in the essay extends beyond developing a basis for defining the core theme, poverty, and facilitates understanding of reasons for persistence of poverty in the society. ... Using this concept, the narrator explains that poor people wake up in their same state daily, a condition that is not healthy. He further notes that this condition is permanent and this identifies the concept of immobility across social classes. Significance of class in the essay is also identifiable from the narrator’s perception of the reasons for persistence of poverty among some classes in the society. While the poor class does not like the condition, despite accepting it as part of their lives, tools to eradicating poverty are not accessible to them. Further, the tools are available among other classes but members of these classes are not keen to use these tools or aid their application by members of the poor classes. The narrator also associate the tools with economic resources such as money that are more limited among members of poor classes that other members of the society. In this application, the essay identifies the importance of class in sustaining existence of po verty in the society (Nazario, Borchers and Lewis 323). The concept of class also plays a significant role in the essay’s identification of the position of the poor in the society. Class identifies inferiority of the poor who lacks a voice to speak for them and ability to satisfy their needs as members of other classes would. Based on the concept of the type of life that people have adapted in different classes, the narrator identifies the type of food that she, and supposedly other members of her poor class, consumes with a medical complication and this means that the complication is limited to poor people who cannot afford high standard diets. Class also determines the type of treatment that people receive in the society. The rich are able to argue and discuss

How Not Getting Enough Sleep Affects Your Body Essay Example for Free

How Not Getting Enough Sleep Affects Your Body Essay It is extremely important for people to understand how lack of rest affects the body so that they will be more aware of the effects of not getting enough sleep every night. A lack of sleep can cause loss of brain function, and even death if continued for a long period of time. The effects of a consistent lack of sleep can be very dangerous to the person and others around them. The longer the person goes without sleep, the worse the effects will be until the person passes out and becomes hospitalized or has a fatal accident. A lack of sleep affects different parts of the body in more than one way and in different degrees depending on how long the person has gone without sleep. The largest effects of lack of sleep on the body can be seen on the brain of the individual. Going without sleep for a 24 hour period can result in the person exhibiting behavior resembling drunkenness, with studies showing that people in this condition are more dangerous when driving than people that are legally drunk. People that are suffering from lack of sleep can experience memory lapses, decreased concentration, and hallucinations. As this continues, the person can experience depersonalization where they do not believe that they or any of the people around them are real, almost ass they feel they are living in a dream. Psychotic episodes may also appear in the person which may or may not disappear after the person has returned to a normal sleeping schedule. A lack of sleep does not only affect the brain, but affects money other areas throughout the body as well, People that have gone without proper amount of sleep for a long amount of time can experience muscle fatigue, a weakened immune system, blurred vision, headaches, and nausea. Other effects such as muscle tremors, color blindness, hyperactivity, and weight loss or gain may occur. Lack of sleep has been linked to many different health conditions including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and many different mental conditions. In most cases, returning to normal sleep each night can stop these conditions but in some cases, the damage is irreversible. There are many ways that a lack of sleep can affect the body and each of the consequences of not getting enough rest can be dangerous to the person health and well being. Washington

Labor Supply Responses to Taxes and Transfer Payments Essay -- America

A good understanding of labor supply reactions to tax and transfer policies is necessary for achieving related policy goals. Income support programs intend to alleviate poverty and create a more equitable society. However, the reaction of the labor supply can derail the intended results and need to be carefully evaluated for effective policy. Economic theory suggests that as taxes and transfer payments increase, the amount of hours and/or number of employees will decrease (Borjas 2005). The exception is transfer payments with work requirements, where the labor supply moves in the same direction as benefits. In the labor market, individuals have two basic choices: how many hours to work (intensive), and whether or not to work at all (extensive). If the labor supply has largely intensive reactions, certain types of programs, such as food stamps, are most effective, when EITC type programs are more effective for extensive reactions. Government tax and transfer policies affect the labor supply because when the real wage changes the labor supply reacts. This paper will look at the response of the U.S. labor supply to changes in taxes and transfer payments. It will determine if the response is concentrated towards intensive or extensive margins and observe the direction and magnitude of the changes. Understanding labor supply responses is crucial for governments desiring to reach intended policy goals. Labor market behavior can have significant long run effects on potential output. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the size and quality of the labor force, capital stock, and the efficiency of production, determine a country’s potential output. When policies influence relevant factors, such as the size of the labor force, the... ...e to participate at a paid wage lower than they would typically require. More people working expands the tax base while reducing the amount of transferred income. The government is able to collect more revenue and still provide a guaranteed income level. (Dickert et al.1995; Browning 1995). EITC type programs can help the government achieve its objectives with minimal negative effects to the economy. Not all labor markets have identical sizes or types of responses to government decisions. The direction and magnitude of each response will inform policy makers about optimal decisions. Section II of this paper reviews the empirical literature on tax and transfer policies and the labor market. Section III discusses the methodology. Section IV summarizes the results of this study. Section V presents the conclusion as well as identifies areas for further research.

Multicultural and ethnic sensitivity

Paper should discuss multicultural and ethnic sensitive an individual might encounter or face in working in Human Service Agencies. Nowadays people are inseparable from the economic, social, political and historical context. It is very important to comprehend the impact of this on the individuals` conduct. The word â€Å"multicultural† can be defined as interplay between the individuals that represent different minor racial and ethnic groups. We should understand the factors that call forth the attitude to the people from different groups. At this there is a tendency to overstate the differences between groups and conformity inside a particular group as well as the trend to support one group more than the other and can be done thoughtlessly. (G.Ramsey, R.Williams & Vold, 2002) People within one group show more value and trust, better cooperation contrary to competition. When affiliation is strong they show a lot of prejudice. If one group is more powerful than the other one or if resources are not distributed justly it may cause problematic issues. This is what is going on in the United States. (G.Ramsey, R.Williams & Vold, 2002) Such prejudice and viewpoints may cause miscommunication as behavior that corresponds to norm in one group may not be realized or valued by another group. For instance, when one addresses clients by their first name can be admissible for the ones, but can be totally unacceptable by the other minor racial or ethnic group representatives that are used to more proper relations. (G.Ramsey, R.Williams & Vold, 2002) It is said that we could see improvements of the relations within group if affiliation is amended. This can be attained if those who would like to make relationships inside the group better use a â€Å"color-blind† approach while interacting with individuals from other minor groups and differ from them. This may decrease racial or ethnic differences and an accent is made on the global or human slants of behavior. (G.Ramsey, R.Williams & Vold, 2002) In essence the rightful relations between groups can not be achieved only by color-blind approach. From all evidence this kind of approach is not as accurate as multicultural one. But even if we realize every point of individual’s ethnic and racial context this is not enough to get efficacy unless we treat people with the global view. Such a global view is useful to touch on relations between the different groups. (Grant & Lei, 2001) One could treat the client or any other individual in a various ways and this could cause the problems in communication process or could even result in a hasty break of relationship. (Grant & Lei, 2001) The existing works on characterization in the society consider the interaction between the groups within a cultural context and emboldens the comprehension of different factors that have an impact on how we perceive others. (Grant & Lei, 2001) It is very important for everybody to have multicultural awareness and knowledge along with skills. (Grant & Lei, 2001) It is said that in order to reduce the attitude full with stereotypes one should have knowledge of the attitudes and values, The research on reducing stereotypic attitudes and biases suggest a number of Strategies awareness of those attitudes and values, make reasonable efforts for changing the auspicious attitude within group that is shown automatically and reduce the negative perceive of people that represent another ethnic and racial groups. (Grant & Lei, 2001) It is necessary to treat individual as individual and do not divide people into groups. Numerous researches were made in order to help people to decrease prejudice of the members of other groups as if we will be close to those groups and establish contact with their members this will definitely result in a better multicultural interaction and will break the stereotypes. (Shepard, 1994) It is of vital importance to comprehend better and value the outlook of the other groups` members and understand the prospects they have even if they are racially or ethnically different. When you understand the outlook that the client has, including the feeling that he might have being a member of disgraced group, it will help you to realize the prospects he or she might have and eventually the behavior of your client.   (Shepard, 1994) Depending on the outlook and life experience customers may behave in a different ways. They might seek for support in social networks, treatment and persistency in treatment. If you get the sufficient knowledge and will realize the cultural context of the clients you can address this problem. (Walsh, 1996) More over it is recommended to learn the process of historical development and study the history of the United States with the object to its difference form another major social groups` history. We had many examples in the past history like American Indian holocaust, concentration camps in Asia, Latino groups colonization and all this had an impact on the history development and outlook of the individuals. (Shepard, 1994) Any relations between individuals can be considered to be multicultural. One should also gain knowledge on the federal legislation in order to increase susceptibility and to understand the things deeper. In the United States there are major demographic shifts. There are a great number of immigrants from different countries such as China, Mexico, India, the Philippines, Latin America. These people speak their native languages at home while they speak English in their social life. One should be aware of the social environment and how the clients will find it, for instance to offer phone line services in a couple of languages, to offer press in different languages in the waiting rooms and use another methods to show linguistic and cultural susceptibility. (Shepard, 1994) Anyway everyone should show cultural competence while delivering services to the clients. References G.Ramsey, P., R.Williams, L., & Vold, E. B. (2002). Multicultural Education: A Sourcebook. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Retrieved May 21, 2007, Grant, C. A. & Lei, J. L. (Eds.). (2001). Global Constructions of Multicultural Education: Theories and Realities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Shepard, K. B. (1994, February). ACA, PERF Develop Training on Multicultural Awareness. Corrections Today, 56, 94+. Retrieved May 21, 2007, Walsh, C. E. (Ed.). (1996). Education Reform and Social Change: Multicultural Voices, Struggles, and Visions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved May 21, 2007,