Why is the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge ironic Essays

Why is the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge ironic? ( irony : a situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what might be expected Scoring Guide: 95: Response correctly identifies the basis of the irony and explains in in clear and organized language. Question is restated, underlying facts are identified, ironic relationship is explained, conclusion offers closure. The name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge is so ironic because it was named after a man who was the head of the most notorious white terrorist group in Alabamathe Ku Klux Klan, and which is where part of the Civil Rights Movement took place. The Edmund Pettus Bridge is very important in U.S. history because it was where the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, ended, representing a true iconic structure during the Civil Rights Movement era. Although, before it was created into an icon for racial equality, it was a representation of the white supremacist movementthe Ku Klux Klan. As John Giggie, a professor at the University of Alabama, explained, the bridge was named after the head of the most notorious white terrorist group in AlabamaEdmund Pettus. Therefore, even though this bridge was very important to the Civil Rights Era, it can also be seen as the icon for white supremacy. Hence, this is where the irony of the bridge can be seen. Norma Lawrence who lives near the br idge, stated that, the Edmund Pettus Bridge has been there for her whole life, explaining that that part of history is very important, since it preserves the racial and civil rights part of history of Selma, Alabama. As Norma Lawrence explained, this bridge is not just notorious, but also represents the Civil Rights Movement. It is where the Civil Rights Movement participants walked, even though they didn't know it was named after a notorious Ku Klux Klan leader. They did not know and the citizens of Selma did not know for all these years, which is the irony. In conclusion, these are the reasons that support the fact that the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge is ironic.

6 Dos and Don’ts for Answering “Why Should I Hire You”

6 Dos and Don’ts for Answering â€Å"Why Should I Hire You† In an interview, few questions can throw off a candidate’s poise like the simple, â€Å"Why should I hire you?† After all, it seems redundant. What have you been talking about this entire time, if not the reasons why the company should hire you?! But while it may seem like a filler question, it’s one you should definitely pay close attention to answering. Here are 6 things to keep in mind as you prep for your interview.DON’T panicThe question isn’t a trap designed to trip you up and take you down. It’s a legitimate question that asks you to demonstrate why this job, specifically, is a great fit for you. Take a deep breath if you need to, and make sure you keep up the same tone you’ve been using throughout the interview.DO understand why the question is askedThe interviewer isn’t being lazy, or outsourcing the hiring decision to you; she or he is trying to find out if you can answer well and coherently after the conversational ba lance shifts a bit. After all, you’ve likely been fielding questions about yourself. This question asks you to jump perspectives and see yourself from someone else’s view.DON’T take too long to answerHemming and hawing makes you look indecisive- or worse, like you’re scrambling for reasons the company should hire you. You may merely be trying to phrase the answer in a sophisticated way, but any gap between question and answer looks bad. Have an answer ready to go before you even set foot in the interview. It’ll make you look confident and able to think on your feet- two qualities tested by this kind of question.DO research ahead of timeWhat does this position/company need? And how can you fill that need? Articulating that is the key to answering this question. Ahead of time, familiarize yourself with the job description- but don’t stop there. Look up the company in general, particularly their mission statement. It’s a win if you can c asually answer the question with something along the lines of, â€Å"I know that ABC Widgets is looking for someone to take their marketing in new directions that fit with ABC’s commitment to sustainable widgeting, and my 8 years of hands-on widget experience show that I have the connections and creativity to get this done.†DON’T rehash the entire interview up to this pointThis is not a question where you need to go into a detailed list of your education, your previous jobs, and your 4th  grade award for neatest desk and how it foreshadowed your awesome organizational skills. The interviewer was there. (Well, not in 4th grade, but for the earlier part of the interview.) He or she doesn’t need a recap, but rather a reassurance. Think highlights, not blow-by-blow: focus on one or two points that make you especially well-suited to the position.DO be confidentLike every other interview question, the interviewer wants to see that you feel comfortable fieldin g questions about your qualifications and your vision for the job.You know they should hire you†¦now it’s time to make sure they know why.

Facts About the Ambulocetus Prehistoric Whale

Facts About the Ambulocetus Prehistoric Whale Ambulocetus dates from the early Eocene epoch, about 50 million years ago, when the ancestors of modern whales were literally just dipping their toes into the water: this long, slender, otter-like mammal was built for an amphibious lifestyle, with webbed, padded feet and a narrow, crocodile-like snout. Name: Ambulocetus (Greek for walking whale); pronounced AM-byoo-low-SEE-tussHabitat: Shores of the Indian subcontinentHistorical Epoch: Early Eocene (50 million years ago)Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 500 poundsDiet:Â  Fish and crustaceansDistinguishing Characteristics: Webbed feet; narrow snout; internal rather than external ears Oddly, an analysis of Ambulocetus fossilized teeth shows that this walking whale thrived in both fresh and saltwater lakes, oceans and rivers, a characteristic shared only with a single modern-day crocodile hailing from Australia (and no identified whales or pinnipeds). Given its slim, unprepossessing appearanceno more than 10 feet long and 500 pounds dripping wet how do paleontologists know that Ambulocetus was ancestral to whales? For one thing, the tiny bones in this mammals inner ears were similar to those of modern cetaceans, as was its ability to swallow underwater (an important adaptation given its fish-eating diet) and its whale-like teeth. That, plus the similarity of Ambulocetus to other identified whale ancestors like Pakicetus and Protocetus, pretty much seals the cetacean deal, though creationists and anti-evolutionists will always continue to doubt the missing link status of this walking whale, and its kinship to more recent beasts like the truly enormous Leviathan. One of the odd things about Ambulocetus, and its above-mentioned relatives is that the fossils of these ancestral whales have been discovered in modern-day Pakistan and India, countries otherwise not well known for their abundance of prehistoric megafauna. On the one hand, its possible that whales can trace their ultimate ancestry to the Indian subcontinent; on the other, its also possible that the conditions here were particularly ripe for fossilization and preservation, and early cetaceans had more of a worldwide distribution during the Eocene epoch.

Keystone XL pipeline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Keystone XL pipeline - Essay Example â€Å"351 major infrastructure projects in the United States are caught up in regulatory or public acceptance hurdles (sometime the former triggered by the latter), including almost every kind of energy infrastructure imaginable from coal mining to transmission lines to solar or wind power generation facilities† (Ladislaw and Pumphrey). Besides, even if the project is rejected, the problem is not over as America still has to deal with a lot of issues. However, if it is accepted, it will give a boost to the American economy. The Perryman Group is a company of economic analysts in the USA who conducted an independent study and found that the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would create an estimated 50000 spin-off and construction jobs which would range for at least a year in Texas alone. In addition to that, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would create many opportunities of employment indirectly. Above 250000 permanent jobs for Americans would be created by a permanent increase in the supply of oil. The annual expenditures in the USA would be increased by US$100 billion (Minicucci). What further justifies the US reliance upon the oil reserves in Canada is the fact that there are some two trillion barrels of oil in the sands in Canada which is eight times as much oil as is found in the reserves in Saudi Arabia (Minicucci). The Alberta oilsands are a huge source of jobs in Canada. More than 140,000 jobs can be attributed to the Alberta oilsands. Thus, approval of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would break the USA free of its economic dependency upon the Middle East to a large extent. Environmentalists have opposed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline because it would prove a potential risk to a huge aquifer. There is a lot of subjectivity in the estimated risks. The environmentalists are â€Å"hell-bent on stopping the pipeline and, as a result, keeping the nation’s

General System Theory and The Internet Design Idea Essay

General System Theory and The Internet Design Idea - Essay Example The simplest definition of ‘Internet’ is â€Å"A worldwide system of interconnected networks and computers†. A more technical newer version is "A worldwide system of interconnected networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol - Internet protocol" (TCP/IP) (ibid). J.C.R. Licklider, a U.S. scientist wrote in 1962 about interaction through a ‘Galactic Network’ (Schnarr, 2008): Each network should be able to work on its own, requiring no modification to participate in the Internet. Each would have a gateway, to link it to the outside world, a larger computer. This gateway would cut-down workload and to speed up traffic, with no censorship. Packages would go through the fastest available route, bypassing jams. The gateways would always be open and its operating principles would be freely available to all networks, motivating them to carry out independent but coalescing research (ibid). The Americans set up their Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1957 (Griffiths, 2002). By 1968/69, research had developed sufficiently for ARPA to publish a plan for a computer network system called ARPANET (ibid). Data packet switching technology, invented in England in 1965 was imported for integration with their system. Packet switching allowed travel of messages from point A to point B across a network (ibid). Surviving a nuclear attack was not Arpanets motivation, nor was building a global communications network (Griffiths, 2002). â€Å"It was not about communicating over distances either, as we understand the net today. Arpanet was about time-sharing. Time sharing permitted research institutions to use other institutions’ computers when they had calculations to do for which they did not have the facility. This was the prime vision of the named luminaries about the Internet† (Peter, 2003). "What the Arpanet didnt address was the issue of

Gender Inequality Essay Example for Free

Gender Inequality Essay Gender inqualities often stem from social structures that have instiutionalized conceptions of gender differences. Gender inequality has been around for centuries. In many family homes, their lives evolve around gender roles. The responibilties in the family are allocated to their sex (gender). There are certain tasks which are usually allocated to males and females. Some see this division as biologolical differences between the sexes and others see it happening in cultural backgrounds. There are sociological theories that have tended to see gender roles as natural and inevitable. Talcott Parsons, suggested that within the modern nuclear family it was essential that one parent, (the father) performed the instrumental role of the leader and provider whilst the mother performed the expressive role of giving psychological support and taking responsibilty for socialising children. This made sense because women give birth to and nurse their children. It’s a typical sterotype, that is engrained in both men and women. Gender is seen closely related to the roles and behaviour assigned to women and men based on their sexual differences. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is more married women that work outside of the home and some men spend more time at home with their families. Martial roles have become increasingly similar. Historians of the family have made it show how gender roles in the family are socially constructed. The roles pllayed by men and women in any history poont may seem natural and inevitable. When you look back to the past, you see how much its changed according to the reguirements of society and the needs of families at particular times. During the latter of the 20th century the views began to change but still stained ideologies from the past they still exist ath the brink of the 21st century. 82% of women (wives and girlfriends) still do the housework according to a new study in Britain, but when it comes to housework, we are back in the 50s. For the females of today we can pretty much do anything we like, join the army, be a prime misiter, run a company or be a stay at home mum. As the new century, today, we see a greatly altered family landscape in which dual-income and single parents families outnumber the ascendant two-parent, one-earner in the household. There is more single parent families nowadays. So they would be taking on the roles as the breadwinner and home maker. But its not just women doing this, there is a lot of men as single parents and broken families that have to take on these roles. So a lot has changed over the years. And there is more and more working parents. Gender role and inquality is not just geared towards women but also men. As much as women face inqualities, ther are many aspects about the world that’s is unfair towards men. The question remains, â€Å"will men and women ever be found equal? † My answer, no. Men and women are simply too different to be considered be treated the same. Yes, I do believe that men and women should be paid the same, and given equal and all opportunity, but as far as the biological sense goes men and women have two completely different biological makeup. It is scientifically true that women are more nurturing whereas men are found to be much more competitive and aggressive. That is not to say that those traits can not be mixed upon the two genders, but there is still too much that keeps gender separate. In some culturals, gender inequality will never change for most. The women are to stay at home, raise the family and do the household chores. In some of theses culturals domestic violence accurs and the women keep quiet about it because they cant leave because its discrimmination to their society and most culutrals don’t allow women to get a divorce. Many developing countries including India have displayed gender inequalit in education, employment and health. It is common to find girls and women suffering from high mortality rates. India has witnessed gender inquality from its early history due to its socio-ecnomic and religious practices that resulted in a wide gap between the position of men and women in the society. Gender inquality has an adverse impact on development goals and reduces ecnomic groth. It hampers the overall well being, because blocking women from participation in social polical and ecnomic activties can adversely affect th whole society. Discrimination also plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job economy. Due to taste or preference for other men because they share similar characteristics, men in these positions of power are more likely to hire or promote other men, thus discriminating against women. Discrimination against men in the workplace is rarer but does occur, particularly in health care professions. Only an estimated 0. 4% of midwives in the UK are male and according to cbs only 1% of all trainee nurses and only 2% of Secretaries are male. Women have increasingly been finding their place in a male driven environment whether it be in the office, politics, or in the cut throat world business and CEO’s, women have become more and more powerful in a man’s world. Needless to say, women have not reached the level of power that a man would have, but seeing as where woman stood forty years ago it is a step in the right direction. Over the years, gender role has clearly played a big part in the way that women are treated, whether it be being confined to the kitchen, or rendered to emotional to run for office, it seems as though society has built two completely different species of human to live amongst each other. It may sound drastic, but if men and women were to be more similar, there would be more chance for equal treatment. As unfortunate as it is, it seems as though society is at a stand still on where to go with gender inequality, and if there is no way to convince an entire generation to change they way they treat each other, then it might as well stay that way. Unfortunately society is way too stubborn to be able to change its ways about said subject. All that being said, we have come a great deal over the years, and maybe one day we can point that everyone can agree on.

The Death Penalty is Wrong Essay -- essays research papers fc

The death penalty is absolutely outrageous. There is no real reason that the government should feel that it has the right to execute people. Capital punishment is murder just as much as the people being executed murdered. The is no need for the death penalty and it needs to be abolished. It goes against the Constitution which states that there will be no cruel and unusual punishment. There is nothing crueler than killing a person. A perfect example of the death penalty going awry is the state of Illinois. Former governor George Ryan has put a stay on all executions. This came as a result of finding thirteen death row inmates not guilty of their convicted crimes. Also, by staying executions, Illinois is not spending the three hundred million dollars to almost three hundred men and women to death row in the past twenty two years (Ryan 14). That is a ridiculous amount of money to send only three hundred to death row, making it approximately one million dollars a person. Those people make up only two percent of all convicted murders in Illinois (Ryan 14). This leaves ninety eight percent of killers in jail. Why are only three hundred people acceptable to kill when the other ninety eight percent are not? In New York as well, prosecutors have only sought capital punishment in twelve out of one hundred ninety eight possible cases. They have found that the penalty of life without the chance of parole works well, and have come to prefer it (Shipp). Without the philosophy of life without parole, inmates who are tried for the death penalty are tried unfairly. In the year 2000 in Illinois, eight out of ten inmates sentenced to capital punishment were minorities (Mendieta). â€Å"Minority inmates constitute 83% of those who have thus far been shown to be wrongfully convicted.† One study has shown that people who murdered white people were found more likely to be sentenced to death than people who have murdered African Americans (The Death Penalty is Wrong. Dead Wrong). â€Å"Between 1930 and 1990, 4,016 persons were executed in the United States. Of these, 2,129(or 53 percent) were black† (Bedau). But race is still not the only discrimination. â€Å"During the 1980s and aerially 1990s, only about 1 percent of all those on death row were women, even though women commit about 15 percent of all cri... ...s even more wrong to kill those people instead of forcing them to live day after day in a tiny cell to think about, and hopefully, feel remorseful about killing. Ending the lives of these criminals is letting them have the easy way out, which is certainly not what they deserve at all. The government needs to imprison these criminals because there is always a possibility that the person convicted is not guilty and if they were killed the government could do nothing at all to console those poor families of the wrong victim. Works Cited Bedau, Hugo Adam. â€Å"The Case Against the Death Penalty.† July 1992. ACLU Free Reading Room. 14 May 2003. . Mandieta, Ana. â€Å"Death Penalty Still Unfair, Report Says.† Chicago Tribune. 31 Jan 2001. Ryan, Bill. "Abolish the Death Penalty." Chicago Tribune. 05 Jan 2001: 14. "Second Judge Rules Against Death Penalty." Christian Century. 09 Oct 2002: 15. Shipp, E.R. "Justice's Doubts Bolster Case Against Death Penalty." Daily News. 10 July 2001. Willing, Richard. "Fight Against Death Penalty Gains Ground." USA Today. 11 Feb 2002: 3a. The Death Penalty is Wrong. Dead Wrong. 01 Aug 1999. 14 May 2003 .

Christ the Savior Essay

Augustine took birth on 13 November, 354, at Tagaste. He was born in a respectable, middle class family. His father, Patricius who was one of the curiales of the city was still a pagan. However, his wife, Monica was an ardent Christian and her devotion and faith brought her husband too to follow Christianity before he died in 371. It was in a Christian atmosphere that Augustine received his formal education. . It is said that once when he was very ill, he asked to be baptized, but, as he recovered fast he did not want to receive the sacrament then. Augustine’s friendship with â€Å"men of payer† gave him three great ideas which he deeply engraved upon his soul: â€Å"a Divine Providence, the future life with terrible sanctions, and, above all, Christ the Savior. † In Confessions I, he writes: â€Å"From my tenderest infancy, I had in a manner sucked with my mother’s milk that name of my Savior. Thy Son; I kept it in the recesses of my heart; and all that presented itself to me without that Divine nature, though it might be elegant, well written, and even replete with truth, did not altogether carry me away† (Augustine) Augustine was doing well in his school and his father Patricius wished to send him to Carthage to study forensic medicine, but it took Patricius many months to make the necessary arrangements. Augustine, in the meantime had to spend another year at his school at Tagaste in total idleness. It is said, â€Å"an idle mind is the devil’s workshop†, (Proverb) and Augustine plunged himself wholeheartedly to the pleasure of the flesh. Even when he joined Carthage, the many seductions of this great city which was half pagan pulled him towards untoward things. He had a great desire to excel in everything, even evil. Very soon he made his confession to his mother that he had a son outside wedlock. Augustine had a certain dignity about himself even in his fall. By the age of nineteen he had got over his problems and in 373, when he read Cicero’s Hortensius he imbibed a love of the wisdom which Cicero speaks of. He was now heart and soul into philosophy. But this faith underwent a great crisis when he along with his friend Honorataus became prey to the Manichaeans. He was taken up by the promise of free philosophy. They claimed that they had found a scientific explanation to nature and Augustine’s inquiring and probing mind was attracted towards it. Moreover it was alluring as it â€Å"propagated a moral irresponsibility resulting from a doctrine which denied liberty. † Now Augustine devoted himself fully to the sect. He read all their books and it was during this period that he developed his literary faculties. When his student days at Carthage were over, instead of practicing forensic, he returned to Tagaste to teach Grammar. He was an excellent teacher and his students adored him. One of his students, Alypius followed him to the wrong path but later along with him was baptized at Milan. His mother Monica was so upset about him joining the Manichaeans that she would not have him in the house, but a saintly bishop told her, â€Å"the son of so many tears could not perish. † ( Bishop Ambrose) Augustine went back to Carthage where he taught the students rhetoric. He pursued liberal arts and his intellect sharpened and gained full maturity at this time. His first works on aesthetics were completed around this time and it was now that he started deploring Manichaeism. According to him Manichaeism philosophy —– â€Å"They destroy everything and built up nothing. † (Augustine, Confessions) Their arguments he found feeble now and he could find no science in them—â€Å"science in the modern sense. † (Augustine, Confessions) When he met Faustus of Milve, the Manichaen bishop, the spell was broken and he left the sect. He had been with them for nine years. It was in Italy under the influence of Bishop Ambrose, whose kindness made Augustine attend his sermons that he embraced the faith. For three years his mind underwent a struggle. First of all he turned towards the philosophy of Academics, then neo-Platonic philosophy. Finally it was the reading of the Holy Scriptures which told him that Jesus Christ was the true Savior. In 386 Augustine took himself to the country side of Verecundus, where he devoted himself to true philosophy which he considered was all about Christianity. He slowly studied Christian doctrine and became acquainted with it. In his book, ‘Against the Academics’ Augustine had described â€Å"the ideal serenity of this existence, enlivened by a passion for truth. † He held philosophical conferences where they discussed truth, certainty, true happiness and God and soul. In 387, during Easter time, Augustine received the sacrament of Baptism. In the Dialogues he tells us about his conversion, the progress he made in the Faith, his conferences with his friends on the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the transformation of his own soul, the calming of his passions and his decision to choose wisdom as his spouse. Frankly his philosophy is neo-Platonic, but he never hesitates to subordinate his philosophy to religion. He was a Christian first of all, and he tried to find harmony between the two doctrines, but it was the fundamental points of Christianity that he sought. â€Å"First— the great mystery, the word made flesh and then love, resting on the basis of humility. † He sought Divine grace in Christian baptism. Though he and his friends resolved to retire to Africa in solitude, it was his mother Monica who retired to Africa in solitude. Augustine was in Milan writing his works, On Music and On the Immortality of the Soul. In 387, his mother Monica left this world to be with her maker. Confessions IX tell us about Augustine’s grief and her saintly death. In 388 Augustine returned to Tagaste, here he wanted to lead the perfect life, so the first thing he did was to sell all his worldly belongings and give the proceeds to the poor. He then went to his estate and there with his friends lived a life of prayer, and poverty. It is during this time that he wrote De Vera Religione, De Genesi contra Manichaeos and De Magistro. Augustine never thought of entering priesthood, however he was called to Hippo by one of his friend’s who wanted him to pray over him. Augustine was praying in the church when the people gathered round him and begged the bishop of Hippo Valerius to ordain Augustine as a priest. He was ordained in 391. He went back to Tagaste to resume the religious life and there he preached for five years as a priest. He fought against Manichaeaism now and his success was great. Valerius at this time was getting old and he took the permission of Aurelius, Primate of Africa to have Augustine preach with him as coadjutor. Augustine was Bishop of Hippo for thirty four years. Augustine now combined his pastoral duties with the ‘austerities of the religious life’ he lived in a monastery with his clergy and they all bound themselves in poverty. He thus founded the order of monks who had their training with him and then went out and founded monasteries throughout Africa. Augustine was the defender of the truth and so he combated the Manichaean, the Donatists, and the Pelegian Controversies. In 426 the holy Bishop of Hippo, at the age of seventy-two chose deacon Heracles as his successor and departed from this land on 28 August, 430. He was seventy six years old. In Confessions a notable thing about it is Augustine’s confessions about his sexual career. As a young man, he was sexually alive, lived out of wedlock with his mistress and had a son through her. Critically observing, he was not much different from other youngsters but the difference lay in that his sexual exploitations were a source of immense pain to him. This may be the reason why he emphasis on it. He describes his sexual impulses in the negative form. â€Å"Thorns, (2. 3) desire in the mud (2. 2) an open sore (3. 1); he feels he cannot control his sexual feelings until he has help from God. Augustine was not unique in this negative attitude. There were many wealthy young men in Rome who gave away everything they had when they converted to the faith. Confessions represent a literary milestone. According to A. F. West it â€Å"dates the entrance of a new kind of autobiography—the autobiography of introspection, the self registered record of the development of a human soul. † In his Retractions Augustine says of his Confessions, â€Å"The thirteen books of my Confessions whether they refer to my evil or good, praise the just and good God, and stimulate the heart and mind of man to approach unto Him. And, as far as pertaineth unto me, they wrought this in me when they were written, and this they work when they are read. † Augustine clearly meant that Confessions was not a book of his confessions only, but one which the reader should ponder upon and praise the one who is to be praised, the just and good God. He says that his account of his past sin is to draw attention to the love of God: â€Å"I will now call to mind my past foulness, and the carnal corruptions of my soul, not because I love them, but that I may love Thee, O my God. For love of Thy love do I it. † (2. 1. 1) ( Augustine, Confessions) His intention of his book is to focus the reader’s attention on God and not on his life. â€Å"Why, therefore, do I place before Thee so many relations of Things? †¦ that I may awaken my own love and that of my readers towards Thee, that we may all say, â€Å"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. † (11. 1. 1) (Augustine, Confessions) This was the purpose of his book. Yet it would be wrong to say that he did not confess and there is no repentance. â€Å"But yet do Thou, my most secret Physician, make clear to me what fruit I may reap by doing it. For the confessions of my past sins, – which Thou has â€Å"forgiven† and â€Å"covered,† that Thou mightest make me happy in thee. † (10. 3. 4) Bonner comments â€Å"The Confessions first and foremost a work of praise, as is made clear by the opening words, taken from Psalm 145: ‘Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is Thy power, and infinite is Thy creation. ‘ ‘Confession,’ then, for Augustine, is primarily confession of praise and thanksgiving to God for his mercies. Confession of sin has its place, but in relation to God’s grace and not in its own right. † In conclusion, we can summarize his book by his words: â€Å"For Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. † (Augustine, Confessions) He is talking about his spiritual journey when his heart was restless till it found rest in God. Works Cited: Augustine. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002. 1222. Web link: www. cce/org/a/Augustine/confessions/html

Crime in America Essay

Crime statistics tells us the variation of crimes that are being committed in the United States. The Bureau of Statistics compiles information processed in the federal justice system and gives us statistics on the many different crimes in America. This is a site that compiles crimes and tells us about how many different crimes are being committed and how many times they are being committed. This also gives us an idea of how much space we need to house these criminals. There are many jails and prisons that are over populated. Statistics also tell us that our crime fighting is not as good as it should be. With the websites for crime reporting this helps us to see what crimes are being committed and, how we can prepare for this and, how to prevent it. There is not a way to stop all crime or even prevent it but if we know what crimes are being committed more it will help us get a better understanding on how to catch the criminals that are involved in this type of behavior. In my honest opinion no crime is ever going to be completely stopped. If we all work together to pinpoint the main crimes we may also be more prepared to deal with them and catch the individuals involved. Crime in America today is on the rise the question is how to fix it before it gets out of hand. There are many different crime reporting measuring systems today. These help us get an idea of what crimes are being committed the most in what areas. With these types of statistics we may be able to start fighting crime in these areas to prevent further destruction in our communities. The Nation’s two crime measures are the UCR program and the NCVS. The UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) this program collects information on crimes reported to law enforcement agencies. It compiles data monthly from the state agencies that report to the FBI. This system examines each report for accuracy or errors that may have occurred. It compares each monthly report to previous months and years to determine how much crime was committed from each month to each year. It gives us a detailed annual report. This comes in handy when trying to figure out if crime is on the rise or it is decreasing. The NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) this program gives us a detailed picture of crime incidents, victims and trends. This is used to uncover crime, update the survey methods and broaden the scope of crimes measured. The survey is designed to collect detailed information on the frequency and nature of the crimes that are being committed. This helps us to determine how many times this crime is committed and how it is being committed. It does over 43,000 personal household interviews twice a year. They rotate new houses every couple of years to make sure that it remains as accurate as possible. It also estimates crimes that have been reported and those that have not been reported. It also summarizes the reasons that individuals give for reporting or not reporting the crime. These programs share many similarities and differences. The similarities that they have are that they both measure crimes. The way that they measure crimes are very different from one another. But they both hope to achieve the same things. How they differ the most is in what they do. The UCR is designed to gather information and determine the statistics of the crimes reported by the law enforcement officers. The NCVS was designed to provide information about crimes that used to be unavailable. Also the two crime programs are different in other ways a well. One may judge crime by the size of the household, why the other judge’s crime by the number of crimes divided by so many people in that area. So as you can see even though they are out to achieve the same thing they just do it in different ways. It is hard to tell if the public’s perception of crime has changed over time. American’s perception of crime may be influenced by their assessments of how things are going in the country today. They also perceive it to be on how the country is economically. If America has a higher amount of jobs the crime rate may go down. When jobs are low and there is no work the crime rate may go up. Looking at the amount of crimes committed each year can also determine the public’s perception from one year to another. If they see more crimes in the last two years then they did in the previous years they are going to see that crime is on the high. I think that the future of crime depends on the economy. It also depends on how much crime is reported, and how people relate the experience of their crimes. If crimes are not being reported it is hard to figure out what types of crimes are being committed. It is hard for me to predict the future of crime because each criminal and each crime is different. If there were more people in America that would work as a whole to keep their community as safe as possible, I don’t think that crime would be big in that particular community. Also there are crimes today that are being committed due to lack of jobs. Most people will do what they have to, to make sure that their families are being taken care. A lot of problems today in my opinion depend on job security. If more people could have jobs then I don’t think that there would be as many crimes being committed. The American crime rate in my opinion just depends on the economy and the people in the economy. If you want to make a difference you will. If you don’t then you will be part of the problem not the solution.

Business Behaviour in Changing World Hyundai Motor Company

Business Behaviour in Changing World Hyundai Motor Company Problems faced by HMC and measures taken Since its inception, Hyundai Motor Company has encountered numerous challenges both in the local and foreign market. The company was established under the authoritarian leadership of Ju-Young Chung. Consequently, the Chung family assumed the responsibility of making all the decisions affecting the company.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Business Behaviour in Changing World: Hyundai Motor Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the challenges that the company encountered both in local and foreign markets was the decision-making process. The success of any organisation dwells on the ability by the management team to make informed decisions. The executives ought to have a chance to present their opinions on matters affecting the organisations. At the beginning, the leadership of HMC denied the executive a chance to share their ideas on how to manage the company. Hen ce, the company could not benefit from the wide knowledge and expertise that most of its professional managers possessed. Chung fired all the executive members that opposed his decisions and replaced them with others who showed veritable loyalty to him. Later, Ju-Young handed over the leadership baton to his younger brother who made efforts to enhance the leadership culture of the company. He promoted autonomous management coupled with equal opportunity and called for harmonious human relations in the company. Unfortunately, he introduced these aspects at a time when Korea was also experiencing political democratisation. In spite of the positive changes made by Ju-Young’s brother, the company suffered from numerous labour-management disputes. The company saw its first labour union established in 1987, which was responsible for presenting employee complaints and bargaining for better employment terms on behalf of the employees. Disagreements between the leadership and labour u nion led to strikes in 1987 and 1988, which pushed the company into huge loss. In 1997, the company suffered liquidity crisis because of the financial crisis that swept across the East Asia. Moreover, Hyundai group had to restructure its business in line with the International Monetary Fund policies. The restructuring process subjected the company to public distrust as it involved allocating most of the company’s properties to the Chung family instead of coming up with novel management strategies.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the United States, Hyundai Motor America started at a high note, but later its performance plummeted. At the beginning, the Americans associated the company with Japan; hence, they freely purchased its cars leading to high sales volume recorded during the early days of HMA. Nonetheless, it did not take long before people lear nt that HMA’s car, the Excel, had immense quality problems. The car started exhibiting engine failure and some of its components, as air conditioners did not function properly not to mention its body, which rusted fast. In 1989, the sales volume for Excel went down significantly, which left the company in huge losses. In the process, the dealer profit went down with numerous dealerships closing down. It became hard for Hyundai to get lenders to cater for its consumer loans. In 1990, J.D Powers and Associates started rating and publicising Hyundai cars. The ratings showed that vehicles manufactured by HMA were of poor quality relative to those manufactured by other automakers. Eventually, Hyundai cars became the synonym for sloppy products. After Rodney assumed the leadership of HMA, he thought of enhancing the company’s image by enhancing the quality of its cars and increasing their costs. Poor organisational performance coupled with poor leadership are recipe for empl oyee turnover. Whenever employees feel that they do not have the opportunity to make decisions on matters affecting their company, they tend to slacken and eventually look for another company that allows them to partake in the decision-making process. Besides, whenever employees learn that their company is not doing well, they fear for their job security, which forces some to quit. Another problem that affected HMA was employee turnover. In 1996, the company lost seven of its talented managers. In an effort to address all these challenges, the Hyundai Motor Company used numerous strategies. Some of the strategies proved successful while some solved the problems only for a short period. After Se-Young took leadership from Ju-Young, he tried to address the leadership problems by restructuring the organisational culture.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Business Behaviour in Changing World: Hyundai Motor Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/p age Learn More He advocated for autonomous management, equal opportunity, and harmonious human relationship. This move helped in delegating duties to the executive managers that for a long time had been denied the opportunity to participate in managing the company. Later, in an effort to boost production efficiency, Se-Young merged some of the job functions, which eventually helped the company in downsizing thus cutting down on operations cost. In 1996, Se-Young relinquished the HMC leadership to his son, Mong-Kyu Chung. Mong-Kyu sought to continue with the leadership style used by his father and in a bold move to improve the company’s image; he set a vision to ensure that HMC became one of the reliable companies in the world. Consequently, he embarked on improving the quality of products sold by the Hyundai Motor Company. He aimed to use move as an avenue for enhancing organisational brand and realising consumer satisfaction. His humane attitude helped the co mpany in solving the labour-management disputes, thus improving its performance between 1996 and 1998. In the United States, HMA tried to use varied strategies to address the challenges facing it. For instance, the company came up with advertisements and promotions, offered dealer incentives, and established new packages as ways of regaining its past glory. Nevertheless, these strategies did not work due to the immense tension between HMC and HMA. Moreover, the company tried to diversify its product mix as away of enhancing its performance in the United States. In 1991, it came up with the Elantra car with an aim of closing the gap between Excel and Sonata. Nevertheless, the introduction Elantra posed a threat to the sales of Excel in the American market, thus rendering the strategy unsuccessful. In 1994, the company embarked on an advertisement strategy using a popular NBA player. This move helped the company to increase the sales volume of the Sonata model, but only for a short pe riod.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hyundai’s global strategy In a bid to facilitate in improving the image of Hyundai Motor Company both locally and internationally, Bob Martin helped the company in establishing bold market strategies. The company not only sought to enhance the quality of its products, but also worked on enlightening its target customers about the quality of its vehicles. In the process, the company came up with a global approach that sought to help it to realise product differentiation as well as market diversification. One of the factors that made Hyundai Motor Company not to make substantial sales in the global market was the consumers’ perception that the company offered poor quality vehicles. This perception hinged on the low prices of the vehicles sold by both HMC and HMA. Therefore, to address this challenge, the company opted to come up with a packaging strategy, which sought to repackage their vehicles at higher prices to impart the notion of quality on its target consumers. On e of the challenges that faced this approach was the fact that most of the sales made by the company in the global market relied on the cost of its vehicles. Hence, repackaging the vehicles at a higher price would have resulted to reduction in sales. The challenge was addressed by differentiating some of the equipments installed in its cars from those installed by its competitors. This approach helped the company to change its image in the public eyes. Customers started perceiving HMC vehicles as reliable just like those manufactured by other automakers. The main reason why customers fail to associate with a particular organisation is its brand image. The brand image facilitates in selling an organisation (John et al. 2002). No matter how hard an organisation advertises its products, if its brand image is poor, it is hard for consumers to use its products. Differentiating the car equipments from other automakers helped HMC to regain its glory and attract more customers. This move ma de customers to realise that Santa Fe did not have a cheaper car image as they thought, and thus they developed the willingness to purchase the vehicle. In 2000, HMC deliberated on selling a luxury car in the American market as a way of enhancing its image. The company felt that selling the entry-level models in the international market, even after being in the market for a long time, sent a negative image about the company. HMC borrowed this idea from its competitors. Other motor companies were selling luxurious cars like Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti. Building a luxurious car would thus help HMC in boosting its sales in the global market. Besides, it would make the public change their perceptions about the company, and thus start buying even its intermediate models. Normally, companies always strive at being at par with their competitors. Failure to come up with strategies to counter competition waged by rival companies may lead to a company losing its customers. One of the reasons t hat prompted HMC to come up with the idea of developing a luxurious car was the fact that the Japanese automakers were already using the approach, which gave them both quality and price advantages. Besides product differentiation, HMC also opted to establish market differentiation to ensure that it benefited from all the market segments. Hyundai worked in liaison with Kia. Moreover, they operated at the same market level. Moreover, the two companies opted to differentiate their markets and products to ensure that they reap optimally from all market segments. Kia Company was to focus on the low income earners by selling the entry-level car models, while HMC targeted the high-income market segment by selling expensive car models. This approach could work without opposition from Kia Company. Every organisation would wish to enhance its image by selling products of presumably good quality. Requesting Kia Company to continue selling low priced vehicles would make the public doubt the qua lity of its vehicles. Consequently, the company could not just agree with this idea, as it would be detrimental to its profit margin. In spite of this approach standing out as the most appropriate, it had significant drawbacks to the company. For the company to change the brand image through enhancing the quality and increasing the prices of its product, it had to give up its price benefits. Hyundai Motor Company made significant sales in the global market due to the prices of its vehicles. Low-income earners and young families bought their vehicles from the company since their prices were affordable. Consequently, increasing the cost of these vehicles would lead to the company losing most of the low-income customers. Moreover, the company would incur huge costs in manufacturing and distributing high quality car models. Even though the approach would facilitate in building the company’s brand, the management had to dig deeper into the company’s financial reserves to fu nd the approach. Theory/concept behind the Hyundai’s strategies Most companies come up with business strategies based on the market forces that rival companies exert. It would be hard for a business organisation to stand out in the market without differentiating itself from rival companies. In a bid to achieve this goal, the organisation ought to have a good understanding of its rival companies, their operations strategies, and be in apposition to forecast future market changes that might affect its performance (Teece et al. 1997). Apart from learning from rival companies, a company ought to understand its customers as well as suppliers in terms of their bargaining power and its probable effects to the company. Hyundai Motor Company formulated its business strategies under the concept of the five forces of competition established by Porter. The forces include competition from substitutes, new entrants, and rival companies. Besides, the company considered the suppliers and buy ers’ bargaining power in coming up with its strategies (Teece et al. 1997). In coming up with the operations strategies, HMC considered the level of competition waged by rival companies, especially in the American market. The Japanese and European automakers were already manufacturing and selling luxurious and expensive cars in the market by the time Hyundai Motor Company opened HMA in the United States, and thus to capture the market, HMA started by selling the entry-level cars. The cars were cheaper relative to cars sold by other automakers. With time, customers started doubting the quality of the vehicles that HMA was selling in the market. The competition waged by rival companies triggered the move to embark on enhancing the quality of the vehicles as well as the image of the company. It was hard for HMA to remain competitive in the market since people perceived that the company sold its vehicles at lower prices due to their poor quality. Therefore, in an attempt to overc ome this challenge, Hyundai Motor America had to start selling vehicles that were at par with those offered by rival automakers like the Japanese. Hyundai Motor America was afraid that new companies would venture into the American market. Hence, it had to look for ways to ensure its establishment in the market before the new entrants. The company feared that in the next ten or fifteen years, the Chinese automakers would establish themselves in the American market. This move would lead to the introduction of vehicles that sell at lower prices thus being detrimental to the price advantage that HMA had been enjoying in the market. The fear of new entrants’ inevitability in the American market forced HMA to embark on the strategy of enhancing the quality of its cars. The company felt that by enhancing the quality of its cars, it would surmount competition waged by new entrants. Besides the competition from new entrants and rival companies, numerous vehicles acted as substitutes t o the ones sold by Hyundai Motor America. For instance, Elantra competed with Nissan Sentra, Chevrolet, and Dodge Neon. On the other hand, Santa Fe competed with RAV4 and Toyota Highlander. These substitutes were mainly from companies known for manufacturing quality vehicles, thus making it hard for HMA to assert itself in the American market. The main reason why HMA decided to differentiate some of the standard components in its vehicles was to outdo the substitute cars in the market. It was hard to prove that its cars were superior while they did not reflect anything unique relative to their substitutes. This aspect compelled Hyundai Motor America to install unique air conditioner components, power windows, and other components to its cars as a way of signifying the cars’ uniqueness relative to the substitutes offered by other automakers. In coming up with the warranty strategy, HMA considered the bargaining power of its suppliers. The strategy was to be compensated by deve loping quality vehicles thus boosting the company’s sales volume. Therefore, to come up with quality vehicles, the company had to liaise with suppliers to acquire quality materials. This aspect meant that suppliers would have an upper hand in influencing the company’s strategy. Moreover, to ensure that they continued acquiring quality materials from the suppliers at a cheap cost, the company worked closely with suppliers in its research and development strategy. Consumer bargaining power played a significant role in the business strategy that HMA adopted. The company benefited most from the low-income earners and the young families. Hence, in the effort to come up with high quality and expensive vehicles, the company had to consider this group of buyers. The reason why the company embarked on a market differentiation strategy was to ensure continuity in serving this group of buyers, which acted as it main market. Policies affecting Hyundai Motor Company The success of any business organisation depends on its policies. Through policies, a business establishes a set of guidelines that direct its operations. Moreover, every market has some policies that direct the operations of all the stakeholders. Technological, international, and local policies are some of the policies that influence organisational performance in any market (Metcalfe 1994). Therefore, to enhance its operations, Hyundai Motor Company adopted a technological policy that sought to promote innovation in the company by enhancing management capacity and knowledge acquisition. After operating in the American market for a long time, HMA learnt that it was hard for it to continue enjoying substantial sales without working on the quality of its cars as well as building its image. Hence, the management embarked on looking for the most innovative enhancements to include in its cars. The company sought the assistance of its research and development personnel to achieve this objective. The per sonnel members were to work in liaison with suppliers to ensure the acquisition of quality supplies. Moreover, the company worked in collaboration with its customers to identify some of their preferences. It would be hard for an organisation to meet all the customer needs without liaising with its customers (Metcalfe 1994). Consequently, HMA adopted a technological policy that allowed for cooperation between the company and its customers in building its new car models. One of the local policies that affected Hyundai Motor Company in Korea was political democratisation. Initially, the Korean Chaebols did not allow their employees to form labour unions. Nevertheless, the democratisation process led to the emergence of labour unions, and as the unions started fighting for employee rights, they led to HMC encountering a series of labour-management disputes. The disputes made it hard for the company to maintain its consistency in vehicle production and distribution. In 1987 and 1988, the company recorded numerous employee strikes because of labour unions. Besides the local policies, international policies also had significant effects on Hyundai Motor Company. In 1997, East Asia suffered a severe financial crisis. Most of the Korean companies were forced to close down due to bankruptcy. The crisis did not spare the Hyundai group. In the process, the International Monetary Fund and other foreign companies imposed their foreign policies on the Korean government forcing it to ensure that local Chaebols restructured their operations and enhanced transparency. Hyundai had no option but to restructure its businesses. In the process, the company lost about 70 associate businesses, thus affecting its performance. Another foreign policy that significantly affected the performance of Hyundai Motor Company in the United States is the tendency to publicise the information about how its products were fairing with respect to quality. When the company entered into the American mar ket, consumers did not know anything about the quality of its cars. Some associated it with Japanese automakers; nevertheless, as time went on, J.D. Power and Associates started broadcasting the ratings of Hyundai cars. Hyundai’s cars ranked low in the market, which stirred doubt amongst customers regarding their quality. This aspect made most of the potential customers to shun from buying Hyundai cars. Reference List John, R, Cox, H, Gillies, G Grimwade, N 2002, Global Business Strategy, Thomson, London. Metcalfe, S 1994, ‘Evolutionary economics and technology policy’, The Economic  Journal, vol. 104 no. 425, pp. 931-944. Teece, D, Pisano, G Shuen, A 1997, ‘Dynamic capabilities and strategic management’, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 18 no.7, pp. 509-533.

Civil Rights Definition

Civil Rights Definition Civil rights are the rights of individuals to be protected against unfair treatment based on certain personal characteristics like race, gender, age, or disability. Governments enact civil rights laws to protect people from discrimination in social functions such as education, employment, housing, and access to public accommodations. Civil Rights Key Takeaways Civil rights protect people from unequal treatment based on their individual characteristics like race and gender.Governments create civil rights laws to ensure fair treatment of groups that have traditionally been the target of discrimination.Civil rights differ from civil liberties, which are specific freedoms of all citizens as listed and ensured in a binding document, such as the U.S. Bill of Rights, and interpreted by the courts. Civil Rights Definition Civil rights are a set of rightss of civil rights include the rights of people to work, study, eat, and live where they choose. To turn a customer away from a restaurant solely because of his or her race, for example, is a civil rights violation under United States laws.  Ã‚   Civil rights laws are often enacted in order to guarantee fair and equal treatment for groups of people who have historically faced discrimination. In the United States, for example, several civil rights laws focus on â€Å"protected classes† of people who share characteristics such as race, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation. While now taken for granted in most other western democracies, consideration for civil rights has been deteriorating, according to international monitoring agencies. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the global war on terror has driven many governments to sacrifice civil rights in the name of security. Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties Civil rights are often confused with civil liberties, which are the freedoms guaranteed to the citizens or residents of a country by an overriding legal covenant, like the U.S. Bill of Rights, and interpreted by the courts and lawmakers. The First Amendment’s right to free speech is an example of a civil liberty. Both civil rights and civil liberties differ subtly from human rights, those freedoms belonging to all people regardless of where they live, such as freedom from slavery, torture, and religious persecution. International Perspective and Civil Rights Movements Virtually all nations deny some civil rights to some minority groups either by law or by custom. In the United States, for example, women continue to face discrimination in jobs traditionally held exclusively by men. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, embodies civil rights, the provisions are not legally binding. Thus, there is no worldwide standard. Instead, individual nations tend to respond differently to pressure for enacting civil rights laws. Historically, when a significant portion of a nation’s people feel they are treated unfairly, civil rights movements emerge. While most often associated with the American Civil Rights Movement, similar notable efforts have occurred elsewhere. South Africa The South African system of government-sanctioned racial segregation known as apartheid came to an end after a high-profile civil rights movement that began in the 1940s. When the white South African government responded by jailing Nelson Mandela and most of its other leaders, the anti-apartheid movement lost strength until the 1980s. Under pressure from the United States and other Western nations, the South African government released Nelson Mandela from prison and lifted its ban on the African National Congress, the major black political party, in 1990. In 1994, Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. India The struggle of the Dalits in India has similarities to both the American Civil Rights Movement and the South African anti-apartheid movement. Formerly known as the â€Å"Untouchables,† the Dalits belong to the lowest social group in India’s Hindu caste system. Though they make up one-sixth of India’s population, the Dalits were forced to live as second-class citizens for centuries, facing discrimination in access to jobs, education, and allowed marriage partners. After years of civil disobedience and political activism, the Dalits won victories, highlighted by the election of K. R. Narayanan to the presidency in 1997. Serving as president until 2002, Narayanan stressed the nation’s obligations towards the Dalits and other minorities and called attention to the other many social ills of caste discrimination. Northern Ireland After the division of Ireland in 1920, Northern Ireland witnessed violence between the ruling British Protestant majority and members of the native Irish Catholic minority. Demanding an end to discrimination in housing and employment opportunities, Catholic activists launched marches and protests modeled after the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1971, the internment without trial of over 300 Catholic activists by the British government sparked an escalated, often-violent civil disobedience campaign headed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The turning point in the struggle came on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972, when 14 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers were shot dead by the British army. The massacre galvanized the British people. Since Bloody Sunday, the British Parliament has instituted reforms protecting the civil rights of Northern Irish Catholics. Sources and Further Reference Hamlin, Rebecca. Civil Rights. Encyclopedia Britannica.. U.Civil Rights Act of 1964S. EEOC.Shah, Anup. Human Rights in Various Regions. Global Issues (October 1, 2010).Dooley, Brian. Black and Green: The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland and Black America. (Excerpts) Yale University.Bloody Sunday: What happened on Sunday 30 January 1972? BBC News (March 14, 2019).

Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States Assignment

Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States - Assignment Example The defeat of both Germany and Japan as well as the decline in the French Empires and British Empires created a situation where the United States had to build its military forces after winning a successful war against Adolf Hitler’s German Army and other intruders. In the same manner, the U.S.S.R. set up its own formidable military force to protect its own way of life. The United States’ way of life is grounded on democracy. On the other hand, the U.S.S.R’s way of life is grounded on communism. In response, the U.S.S.R created the Eastern Bloc of communist nations. On the other side of the cold war fence, the United States formed the NATO, a military alliance of nations bent to preventing the spread of communism around the world. In addition, The National Security Council issued Memorandum Number 68 (1) article indicates the Soviet Union had a new fanatic faith that was antithetical to the American people. The Soviet Union’s leaders were serious in their p olitical process to spread communism around the world. In the same manner, the United States was eagerly on its toes ready to aid countries being attacked by the Communist countries. George Kennan (1) opined the cold war B article states the Soviets were afraid of the Americans as much as the Americans were afraid of the Soviets. The Soviets were afraid of the United States’ atomic bombs. The Soviets doubled their efforts to produce their own Atomic bombs as well as thermonuclear weapons to diffuse the American threat son Soviet territories. The Soviets formed the Eastern Bloc of nations to prevent the Americans from attacking their communism- based nations. The Soviets were afraid that the United States would win in the North and South Vietnam War. Soviet Power focuses on reducing war risks by not engaging in conflicts or wars where the U.S.S.R would stand to lose, especially losing to the United States in a war.