Divorce Bill Essay Example for Free

Divorce Bill Essay Divorce has become a major issue in our society, and many causes have been attributed to the incline in divorce rates. Divorce rates have spiked during the past few decades and no on really knows why, but several theories have been formed in an attempt to explain this recent phenomena. Feminist theory, Individualism, and dual income theories will be discussed and analyzed to determine if they apply to the recent rise in divorce rates in North America. These theories do not act alone, that is, a not one of the above theories can be labeled as a definite cause of divorce, but when all three are examined together, a formula for divorce can be seen. The rise in divorce can not be, and should not be, attributed to a single theory, but rather the rise in divorce rates can be linked to all three, and one can see that these theories act collectively, as opposed to individually to cause the dramatic spike in divorce rates. In recent years, Feminist theory has become pushed its way through traditional theory to become recognized. This theory directly applies divorce rates, as it taught women to stand up for their rights, and that they could do anything they wanted. This included activities that were previously occupied by men only. Feminist theory taught women that they did not need to depend on men for emotional support, financial support, or even to give them status in society, rather, feminist theory taught independence. Some forms of feminist theory has established that women do not need men to survive; a quote to back this up is one from Gloria Steinem, and she says â€Å" A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.† This backs up the idea that women do not need men to function, and this can be seen as a cause for a higher divorce rate. Some feminist theories are seen as extreme and Eva Figes displays the radical feminist theory when she says, â€Å"Either one goes on gradually liberating the divorce laws, until marriage stands exposed as a hollow sham in which no one would wish to engage, or one takes a short cut and abolishes marriage altogether.† (Figes, pg. 121, patriarchal attitudes, 1972, Feminism Opposing Viewpoints, 1986) Since feminism has shown women that they no longer need to rely on men for support, some of them have begun to remove men from their lives. This, in turn can be correlated with the spike in divorce rates since the beginning of the feminist movement. â€Å"The end of the institution of marriage is a necessary condition for the liberation of women. Therefore it is important for us to encourage women to leave their husbands†¦Ã¢â‚¬  -Declaration of Feminism. This idea, again, shows the way that feminist theory has attributed to the divorce rates. This idea is essentially telling women that they must divorce their husbands in order to liberate women. This idea directly tells women to divorce their husbands in order to be liberated, and to aid in the liberation in all women. This is a main reason that Feminist theory has aided in the rise of divorce rates since the start of the feminist movement. A second theory on the rise of divorce rates is the theory of individualism. William J. Goode says that â€Å"In our time people have been reducing their personal investments in the collectivity of the family.† (Goode, pg. 9, World Changes in Divorce Patterns, 1993) This statement accurately portrays the idea of individualism as it is saying that people of the past few decades have stopped emphasizing the collectivity of society, and on a smaller scale family, and have begun to focus on personal gain and investment. Individualism is a mainly North American viewpoint that involves placing emphasis on the individual, rather than focusing on the group. Individualism looks at the â€Å"I† instead of the â€Å"We†, and this can be translated into a cause of the recent divorce rates seen in North America. With individualism, people stop staying together for the kids; if a person from an individualistic society feels unhappy, or just simply wants out, they get out. Along with individualism has come a need for personal happiness. Goode believes this may be a reason for the rise in divorce rates and says, â€Å"One might also suggest that the culprit has been the incorrigible romanticism of this population, cherishing the dream of romantic life in marriage, believing in the individual’s right to pursue happiness, so that the grubby reality of daily married life seems to many a personal defeat.† (Goode, pg. 180-181, World Changes in Divorce Patterns, 1993) This shift from cultural values to individual values has put major pressure and stress on existing ideas about what marriage is about. It is this stress that leads to many splits; therefore one can presume that individualism correlates with divorce. A third theory about the rise in divorce rates is a theory brought on by feminist and individualist theory. This is the idea that more families are converting to a dual-income household; that is; both partners in marriage are working and pursuing separate careers. Some people believe that some of these careers move away from each other and can pull two partners apart so each individual can pursue his or her career. Most dual-income families spend less time together than single income families; therefor these families have less time to grow to love each other and more time to grow apart. This theory can also be linked to divorce rates in the sense that if you are focused on making a career work, then it becomes more difficult to provide the focus it takes to make a marriage work. People are just giving up on marriage because it has become less important to them than economical status. The need for dual income families has, indeed, shifted mentalities to economics, rather than marriage or love, and this can impact on existing marriages. When it became almost necessary for both partners to have careers, a strain was put on marriages, and this strain has aided in the spike of divorce rates. The focus is no longer on traditional male/breadwinner, female/homemaker roles, and this has been hard to adapt to for many people. Some people can not adapt, or could not adapt quickly enough to this change, so the force of separate careers pulled couples apart, often times ending marriages in divorce. A branch of the dual income effect is role conflict. Role conflict exists when there is scarce time to be divided between work and family. Gary L. Cooper and Suzan Lewis say â€Å"When people feel torn between the needs of their children and the demands of work, the subsequent conflict can be very distressing.† (Cooper, Lewis, pg. 78, Managing The New Work Force, 1994) This distress can, and often does lead to separation, or, in some cases, Divorce. Cooper and Lewis go on to say â€Å" Problems may arise if partners lack the time and energy to provide the practical or emotional support associated with having a homemaker wife.† (Cooper, Lewis, pg. 120, Managing The New Work Force, 1994) this is essentially saying that with the incorporation of new family ideas comes a change from traditional roles, that, in turn, may produce a lack of actions or support that has grown to be the norm in society. This can cause many problems as dual income situations may remove comfort areas of a relationship and, by doing this, a more stressful situation is created, which may eventually lead to divorce. Each of these theories can provide valuable insight on the rise of divorce rates over the past sixty years, but not one can be considered a cause, and one can not be labeled as more important than the other can. Feminist theory brings up a good point in the sense that it discusses the liberation of women and the new ideas and rights of women today. The points listed above are solid arguments to support the fact that divorce rates do correlate with the feminist movement. The same can be said for dual income families. One can see that there is a correlation with the movement from traditional families and an increase in divorce rates. Again, the same can be said for individualism. With society moving from collectivism into individualism, the sense of family solidarity can be lost. This is why all three theories are applicable to the rise of divorce rates, and these rates will continue to rise as societal value changes. You can order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Divorce topics at our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with custom papers written by highly qualified academic writers. High quality and no plagiarism guarantee! Get professional research paper writing help at an affordable cost.

Abortion - More Questions than Answers :: abortion argumentative persuasive argument

Abortion - More Questions than Answers      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is abortion?   Is it the killing of a defense less child or is it the freedom of a woman.   In the case of the latter, it is easy to see how abortion can be very beneficial for the mother.   Perhaps she is a teenager who is too young and too scared for such an awesome responsi bility or perhaps she simply does not have the resources for or want another child.   The situation becomes more complicated when the father of the fetus wants the baby.   Does the father, whose very DNA was transferred to the fetus, have any right to determine whether the mother receives an abortion or is the decision totally that of the mother, who must endure the nine month pregnancy and the birthing process as well as any lingering physical or psychological effects.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even if abortion is considered the killing of a defenseless child, serious and difficult questions cannot be avoided.   Certainly, it is illegal and immoral to kill a week old baby; but can the same be said of the termina tion of a week old fetus?   When does a fetus become a life entitled to the same protection as a newborn baby or when is it too late to end a pregnancy?   Some would say at any point before birth; however, a fetus can be viable and live outside its mother's womb quite some time before its natural birth otherwise would occur.   Is that the point at which abortion is inappropriate and, thus, illegal as well as immoral?   While there are those who would answer in the affirmative, many would argue that a life entitled to protection began at the time of concep tion, the entry of a sperm cell into the egg.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any event, abortion must be viewed as an issue with many angles.   If a person is pro-life, is he or she opposed to abortion altogether, is there a

Mystic Monk Coffee Essay

Introduction Mystic Monk coffee company is a cloistered monastic environment where monks from the Carmelite monastery of Clark, Wyoming spend their daily manual labour hours roasting coffee (Thompson, 2012, pg. 420). The monks are a religious sect of the Catholic church and are fully dedicated to their religious and spiritual side, which requires most of their daily hours, be spent praying or contemplating in silence; this leaves little time to spend on coffee roasting productions, especially due to the small population of monks that are able to live at the Carmelite monastery. There were many restrictions that the Carmelite monks faced with their coffee productions such as having restricted roasting capacity, inadequate land and partial workers. Father Daniel Mary, the prior of the Carmelite order, had a vision of expanding the small monastery of 13 monks, by creating a new Mount Carmel in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. There is a nearby location called the Irma Lake Ranch that would include a large house, caretaker house, guesthouse, a gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, a hunting cabin and a dairy and horse barn; this would allow the monks to expand their opportunities, as well as expand their Carmelite monk residents (Thompson, 2012, pg. 421). This vision is everything that Father Daniel Mary ever dreamed, the only thing prohibiting the change, is that the Irma Lake Ranch will cost the monks $8.9 Million. The Mystic Monk coffee company only earns money based on their coffee sales (11% of revenues) and donations from private donators; the Carmelite monastery received a $250,000 donation which they can use at their discretion (Thompson, 2012, pg. 420,423). The following report will take a look at the options that are available to the Carmelite monks and what would be the most strategic plan that should be enforced in order for the monastery to be successful. External and Internal Analysis S.W.O.T. Analysis Strengths * Fair trade/ Organic Arabica beans * Variety of coffee flavors * Accessories (t-shirts, cups, CD’s) * Online shopping is available * Tea has been added to selection * Free labour/ No wages paid * Affordable/ reasonable retail price * Membership â€Å"coffee club† * Favors catholic market (large)| Weaknesses * Limited roasting capability (540 lbs/day) * Limited production due to worship * Cant expand due to limited land * Coffee is not a necessity (trend?) * Caffeine is highly addictive (health) * Purchase beans instead of growing * No business expertise/ experience * No absolute competitive advantage * Poor earnings (11% of revenues)| Opportunities * Expand availability into grocery stores * Collaborations (Keureg, Tassimo) * Other purposes (weight loss, bio fuel) * Increase advertisements * Expand into international market * Start a franchise * Open coffee shops (Starbucks, Tim’s)| Threats * Poor coffee growing season * Natural disaster/ weather * Eco nomic Conditions (recession) * Established competition (Folgers, nabob) * Others’ personal religious beliefs * Dependant on donations/ revenues| (Mystic Monk, n.d., pg. 1) Alternatives The Mystic Monk coffee company has to look at their options before they are able to make a decision regarding the continuation of their business. The two options that are available to the Carmelite monks at this point in time are: 1) stay at the current location of Clark, Wyoming, and continue operations as they are and use some donation money to purchase another roaster to help increase production or 2) see if the owners of Irma Lake Ranch would â€Å"gift† them a portion of the ranch without monetary repayment, as a donation, and they would pay the owners as a lease to own the remaining balance of the land, until a breakeven point has been reached. Discussion of Alternatives The first option is to stay at their current location to continue operations as they are. The advantages of choosing this option are: 1) retaining their donations and revenues to improve their current monastery, 2) there is little to no risk involved. The disadvantages of choosing this option are: 1) there is little opportunity to expand the Mystic Monk Company, 2) they cannot easily increase their Carmelite population. The second option is to move to a nearby area, which would involve purchasing the Irma Lake Ranch. The advantages of choosing this option are: 1) the Mystic Monk Coffee can increase production easily, 2) there is a large opportunity to expand, 3) the new Carmelite monastery would allow its population to double. The disadvantages of choosing this option are: 1) there is a tremendously high level of risk involved, 2) the owners may not gift the monks any land. Recommendation After evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, a decision has been concluded that the most practical and strategic option would be to receive a portion of the Irma Lake Ranch, as a â€Å"gift† without monetary repayment, then pay the land owners on a lease to own schedule with the increased earnings projected from the new Mount Carmel location. This is the most logical selection if they want to expand and improve their Mystic monk coffee brand, as well as their community; the Carmelites will have no opportunity to grow or expand if they choose to stay where they are and continue on as they have been, as well as soon they will not be able to keep the supply at an adequate level to cover the demand for their products. The Carmelite monastery would have more financial opportunities available with this purchase, such as milk production from the dairy cows, horse rides on the trails through the forest, increased population to help roast and package the coffee. Also, the monks would have sufficient land to be capable of growing and producing their coffee beans without the need of suppliers, which in turn will decrease the cost of goods sold and drastically increase the Mystic Monk’s net profit margin from the current 11% of the sales revenue. The risk on this investment is exceptionally high, but if it is successful, the reward and pay off could be far greater than projected. Action Plan A realistic action plan must now be devised, to ensure that the previous decision is executed correctly, otherwise the Carmelite monks and the Mystic Monk coffee company will not be successful. The monastery is incapable of affording the Irma Lake Ranch with the funds that they currently have, including the $250,000 donation. The Mystic Monk coffee company should confront the current owners of the Irma Lake Ranch and see if they would be willing to â€Å"gift† them a portion of the property without monetary repayment, which could be considered a donation; the remaining balance owing on the land could be contracted as a lease or rent to own situation, where a breakeven point would be reached in a reasonable time frame. Also, because the property has been â€Å"gifted† to the Carmelite monks, they would be eligible to receive a tax break, which would significantly affect their financial status. The new property would be able to offer the monastery an opportunity to expand their brand by introducing tourism, sustainability and other financial opportunities. If the Mystic Monk coffee company decided that they would be capable or growing their own beans on the new land, they would be able to drastically cut costs on the cost of goods sold and eliminate suppliers, which in turn will increase their marginal earnings from the sales revenue. All of these new opportunities are realistic and show that the increased earnings would rapidly and effortlessly be able to pay off the remaining balance owing to the original Irma Lake Ranch owners. Conclusion In conclusion, the Mystic Monk coffee company has been successful with its entrance into the coffee market, however demands are increasing and new opportunities are being presented to the Carmelite monastery. If they wish to grow and expand their business and community, they are going to need to take the risk which is to relocate to a more practical location, ideally the Irma Lake Ranch. Irma Lake Ranch offers many new prospects to the Carmelite monks, which they would not be exposed to if they stay at their current location. This property can allow them to be independent from suppliers and venture into new venture projects such as introducing horse trail rides and milk from the dairy cows. Although the monks are a non-for-profit group, the sales revenue will mostly be paid to the original property owners until the principal amount is depleted, the rest of the money from earnings and donations will be put towards building, growing and maintaining the new Mount Carmel Monastery. References Mystic Monk Coffee | Buy Coffee Beans Online | Online Coffee Store. (n.d.). Mystic Monk Coffee | Buy Coffee Beans Online | Online Coffee Store. Retrieved January 24, 2013, from http://www.mysticmonkcoffee.com/store/storefront.php Thompson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., & III, A. S. (2012). Case 1. Crafting and Executing Strategy (18th Edition ed., pp. 420-424). New York: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin.

Essay on Effects of Hip-Hop Culture on the Youth - 1773 Words

Hip hop culture is known for its negative reputation. It is often thought as an entrance way into gangs, illegal drug activity, and malicious behavior. In today’s culture it is important to lead kids toward a positive direction in life but the hip hop culture of today is not steering youth in that direction. This is because hip-hop has moved away from what it was supposed to be used for. This genre of music was supposed to be used to for personal expression and growth not to create negative images for the youth and encourage them to change their behaviors and beliefs. Hip hop was supposed to give hope to the youth. Give them a reason to pursue their dreams and give them a positive outlook on life. Are there artists who keep it â€Å"old†¦show more content†¦Yet, some of the images that are shown in the media are the reason why hip hop culture is viewed as an infectious genre of music that will put kids in jail. This culture has come a long way from what it used to b e. It has reached from one end of the globe to the other. It has spanned across all ages, all races, and all ethnicities. For many years, the youth have been known for singing along to their favorite song and taking that song as whole and using it as their motto for life. It may seem that sometimes these kids do not know what is being said in the music but this shows that they do know what the lyrics are saying. According to Franklin B. Krohn and Frances L. Suazo in their article â€Å"Contemporary Urban Music: Controversial Messages in Hip-Hop and Rap Lyrics,† many teenagers and minority groups view rappers as their spokesmen because of their ability to speak in street language and bluntly express their frustration (Krohn, 1995). Unfortunately, hip hop lyrics usually tend to talk about drugs, sex and violence leading kids to think that everything they hear is okay and that is how they have to live their life. 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