A Critical Analysis of the Advantages Essay Example for Free

A Critical Analysis of the Advantages Essay It is argued that urbanization causes changes in the livings conditions under which people live and work. Some of these changes are positive (advantages) while others are negative (disadvantages). The positive effects include; improving housing conditions and provision of enhanced amenities. The negative effects include; stress on amenities, congestion and urbanization of poverty (Kawonga, 1999). Therefore, this essay will briefly explain these using real and valid examples from Malawi. To begin with, provision of better amenities as an advantage of urbanization. It is said that increasing urbanization provides communities with social and cultural benefits as well as access to education and health services (Hammond, 1985). This is evident at Nkhorongo in Mzuzu near Luwinga Township. With the development of the area many services are now being located there. For example, Mzuzu Academy, Trust Academy, Good Samaritan Internet Cafe and some Tobacco grading Companies that provides jobs to the masses. Improving housing conditions is another advantage of urbanization. It is noted that urbanizations brings with it innovations in technology and modern ideas and ambitions in the people engulfed by what are said to be urban areas (UN Habitat report, 2010). To meet the demand for shelter by the ever increasing urban population, Habitat for Humanity and Malawi housing Corporation dedicates itself to building low cost but high standard houses for the less privileged urban population. For example, the Habitat for humanity houses in Luwinga Township and the Malawi Housing corporations houses in Katoto and Mchengautuba in Mzuzu. Lastly, the disadvantages of urbanization; stress on amenities is one of the disadvantages of urbanization. It is argued that in most areas the authority designs everything to serve the population of that time but due to increase in population as areas develop leads to people scramble over the few available facilities/services (UN Habitat report, 2010). The example is on power cuts and availability of tap water for few hours per day in the city of Lilongwe. The presence of large consumers of water and electricity at Kanengo put pressure on these two facilities as the providers try to regulate their quantity so as to sustain the production force of the manufacturing industries. This leaves areas around Kanengo with no electricity or water for many hours per day. Congestion of traffic and pedestrians is another disadvantage of urbanization. With the availability of valuable amenities in urban areas, people flock there to have access and benefit from them. This results in an increase in urban population which leads to congestion (Cohen, 2006). This is usually manifested during rush-hour commuting. There is an intense concentration of people in the center of urban areas during working hours. This strains transportation systems, because a large number of people and traffic must reach a small area at the same time in the morning and disperse at the same time at noon and in the evening (Rubenstein, 2005). This is more evident at Lilongwe old town, hyper junction near the game stores and Shoprite. There are longer queues of traffic and large number of pedestrians struggling to find their way out. Urbanization of poverty is another disadvantage of urbanization. It is argued that in Malawi, rapid urbanization is not associated with the commensurate of economic growth and effective redistributive measures required to alleviate poverty, but the result is increasing urban poverty whose manifestation is the slums which develop in and around the acclaimed urban areas (Kawonga, 1999). It is further argued that urbanization of poverty in Malawian urban areas is enhanced by the change in locus of poverty from rural to urban spheres. This means that as people run away from the hardships of rural areas to urban areas, they carry with them their economically challenged life and continue it in the urban areas. As a result they lead to an increase in the number of the poor living in urban areas (Gonndwe, Fang Ayenagbo, 2011). This is more evident in Lilongwe at a place known as â€Å"N’gona†. It is located in the midst of well developed areas but it is not developed itself and it harbors one of the less previliged population of Lilongwe. In conclusion, this paper has critically pointed out and briefly explained the advantages and disadvantages of urbanization in Malawi.

Bell Hooks Essays -- essays research papers

Is Education Equal?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States provides our society with the undeniable right to learn. The right to higher education is not limited to the middle and upper classes; it allows the less privileged, minorities, as well as both sexes, to receive an equal education. Two arguments which present interesting views on higher education are bell hook’s “Keeping Close to Home'; and Adrienne Rich’s “What Does a Woman Need to Know?'; Hooks views higher education with a concern for the underprivileged, whereas Rich views it with a concern for women. Of the two works, I personally do not agree with Rich’s argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bell hooks views higher education to be a time in which we find ourselves and learn more about who we are. This concept remains difficult on the underprivileged because they do not want to be known for their background. They see themselves as less privileged, and therefore want to keep this hidden from their new society. These students face many obstacles in their lives; college presents a whole new and much larger challenge. The transition is also hard on them. They want to fit in and hide their past, but at the same time, they do not want to lose sight of their upbringings. Hooks felt that she was an outsider in college, because she herself came from an underprivileged background, while most of her peers came from privileged backgrounds. Hooks states, ̶...

Background to the drama Essay

‘A View from a Bridge’ is a play inspired by Miller’s own background, in terms of plot and context. Miller grew up in America and was the son of two immigrants. In the late 1940s he became interested in the work and lives of the communities and Longshoremen of New York’s Brooklyn Harbour, a place where he had in fact previously worked. Many of the workers were exploited by their bosses, underpaid and had only recently immigrated to the United States. It was during this time that a young lawyer friend of Miller’s ‘mentioned a story he’d recently heard of a longshoreman who had ratted to the Immigration Bureau on two brothers, his own relatives, who were living illegally in his very own home, in order to break up an engagement between one of them and his niece. ‘ Miller took this story combined with his upbringing and experiences on a recent trip to Sicily and provided the background to the drama ‘A View from a Bridge’. The play takes place in Brooklyn around 1950s. Catherine is an orphan who lives with her aunt and uncle, Beatrice and Eddie Carbone. Eddie agrees to Beatrice’s two relatives, Marco and Rodolpho, both of whom are illegal immigrants. Eddie, the plays protagonist, has a very particular view of the qualities of a man. When other characters don’t conform to these masculine expectations it leads to hostility and aggression resulting in death. Our first impression of Eddie is that of a simple, average man. He comes across as a hardworking, friendly, kind and generous husband and uncle: especially as he is prepared to accept and welcome his wife Beatrice’s illegal immigrant cousins into his own home. However Eddie has a very strong point of view of the qualities of manliness, believing that a real man should be strong, tough and mean. The appearance of a man should be with dark features and big size. He thinks that a real man should be like him, the breadwinner who works hard, doing work that uses muscle and not much brain: â€Å"I worked like a dog†. He perhaps also thinks that a man would always look at a pretty woman in a sexual way rather than just another person; this is shown when he says there are â€Å"bad men† at Catherine’s workplace. Another quality which Eddie considers to manly is power. Eddie’s views on manliness are also based around the ideas of protecting your family and loved ones, providing for your family and keeping your pride and dignity. Eddie tries his very best to keep to these things as he feels very strongly of being a man. He shows this by showing concern when Catherine buys a new skirt. He says, â€Å"Where you going all dressed up? † and, â€Å"It’s too short ain’t it? † He is concerned because he doesn’t want her attracting too much attention from other men, like when he says, â€Å"I don’t like the looks they’re giving you in the candy store†. This overprotectiveness leads to conflict on a small scale between him and Catherine as she says â€Å"Eddie, I wish there was one guy you couldn’t tell me things about! † This dialogue shows that Eddie has been overprotective before and Catherine has realized it. She does not say it seriously but rather, a joke; however she is actually trying to express that he’s being too overprotective. This power that Eddie considers to be manly also creates many other incidents on small scales and Eddie starts to show open hostility towards the other characters. Firstly when Rodolfo, Marco and Eddie are talking about oranges and lemons Eddie becomes very hostile when Rodolfo corrects him, â€Å"Lemons are green†. Eddie lashes out at Rodolfo when he corrects him about the colour of the lemon and becomes slightly aggressive â€Å"I know lemons are green for Christ’s sake†. Eddie becomes hostile and aggressive because he believes knowledge and being ‘right’, amongst other things, is where the power lies. Miller uses this to show how something as insignificant as a lemon can create hostility and aggression all because of a manly characteristic of wanting power and respect. Another example of Eddie’s pettiness is during a conversation about Marco’s family back home in Italy. Eddie tries to suggest an affair with Marco’s wife but Rodolfo again corrects him saying â€Å"it’s more strict in our town† We are able to see how Eddie is becoming aggressive through Miller’s stage directions. Eddie goes from being hostile and sarcastic â€Å"(laughing)† to aggressive â€Å"(rises, pacing up and down)† as a direct reaction to the immigrants differing culture. The stage directions often say a lot more about the characters then the actual script itself and also greatly contribute to the heightening of tension throughout. Not only do they describe the positions of the characters on set; they help the audience to identify with their feelings. Miller begins a scene with a simple conversation about a recent trip to Africa which Marco and Rodolfo had undergone through work. However, tension is still created, regardless of the triviality of the conversational subject, by Eddie, who, from a simple glance at Catherine, appears to be sceptical about whether the trip took place â€Å"They went to Africa once. On a fishing boat. (Eddie glances at her. ) It’s true, Eddie†. Eddie then retreats to his rocker, a prop which Miller makes significant throughout the play as it acts as Eddie’s position of authority, as his â€Å"throne† – when in his rocker, he feels very much at the helm of the household and Miller uses this in order to show how Eddie feels he has power yet a rocker is slightly unsuitable as it does not assume a fixed position The conversation then continues further, though it is clear from Miller’s use of stage directions that Eddie is disregarding anything Rodolfo says to him, and talking to Marco exclusively, creating an uneasy atmosphere and increasing the tension further.

The Organizational Structure Of General Electric ( Ge ) Essay

International business management A discussion of the organizational structure of General Electric (GE) Introduction GE is an American multinational conglomerate which deals in industries like aviation, oil and gas, power and water, health care and capital, to mention a few. The company has a matrix organizational structure, which is characterized by the organization of the company according to multiple metrics. In the case of GE, the structure is matrix in that it combines a functional structure and a divisional structure (Rothaermel, 2015), as illustrated by the GE organizational chart (n.d.). Noteworthy, in an increasingly integrated world, the clash of cultures in the diverse workforce is inevitable. This has given rise to various cultural analysis models such as Hofstede’s, Trompenaars’, Gudykunst’s, and GLOBE’s famous research on culture in international business. However, for simplicity and conciseness, this paper is mostly going to focus on Hofstede’s perspective. This paper therefore discusses the feasibility of the organizational structure of GE, from a cultural perspective. Discussion The current business structure of GE works for it, because at the functional level, it integrates various specialized functions such as global research, legal, and human resources into a competence which it can leverage to serve its mission of innovation in its different business units, such as aviation and energy management. Noteworthy, the slogan of GE is â€Å"imagination at work†Show MoreRelatedEssay on Organizational Structure at General Electric1130 Words   |  5 Pagesmaintain a strong foundation. A company that has managed to be successful through its well use of organization is that of General Electric Company. They have what it is called a ‘flat’ structure in which everyone becomes equal (Clawson, 2012). General Electric used to have 29 levels, but today it has only a handful of layers (Bateman Snell, 2011). 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