White Man’s Prejudice against Native Americans in the Film, Dances With Wolves :: Movie Film Essays

White Man’s Prejudice against Native Americans in the Film, Dances With Wolves The Movie "Dances With Wolves" shows the stereotypical view of American Indians as uncivilized savages who murder innocent settlers, but most Indians are kind, caring people who were driven from their homes and land as discovered by John Dunbar, the film's main character. John Dunbar was stationed at a small abandoned fort located in the Great Plains where he was to monitor the activity of wildlife and Indians. He first encountered the Indians attempting to steal his horse while he was bathing, and then later again that evening. But gradually over time he had meetings with the Indians where they tried to learn ways to communicate with each other. After countless gatherings and a successful buffalo hunt John is accepted into the Indian tribe. He learns that the Indians are more caring and dedicated to their family than the whites he called friends. Eventually he lives with Indians after marrying "Stands with a Fist," a white woman taken in by the tribe when she was very young. At first John had thought these people to be different then he was but not savage murderers. He thought that Indians were thieves who sacked the fort before his arrival, so he kept his guard up for any strange sounds. One night while he was sleeping he heard some children trying to steal his horse. He promptly sat up and smashed his head on the wooden frame of his cabin, which knocked him out cold. This confirmed his belief that they were merely thieves. Then a party was sent to scare him off but he simply held his ground and the Indians left. These first introductions lead John to believe that they were not thieves or murderers but people who had a different purpose. The Indians were only trying to scare him off to protect their homelands from the invasion of the white people. If the whites had not been so judgmental of the Indians, a people which they knew so little about, then friendships might have been formed and a common ground established. The Indians openly accepted John as a friend after he embraced the ideas and traditions of the Indian tribe. An example of this is after John reports that the buffalo are near and he joins in the hunting party they welcome him into their village to the victory festivities where many times he tells his story of the great hunt.

Gaming Addiction study Essay

According to Daria J Kuss in the 2000s, online games became popular, while studies of Internet gaming addiction emerged, outlining the negative consequences of excessive gaming, its prevalence, and associated risk factors. Internet gaming is a booming market. In 2012, more than one billion individuals played computer games, which fuelled the 8% growth of the computer gaming industry in the same year. A recent report by the market research company Niko Partners has estimated the People’s Republic of China’s online gaming market at $12 billion in 2013. In her research she stated that Internet gaming addiction has increased both in quantity as well as in quality. Research on gaming addiction dates back to 1983, when the first report emerged suggesting that video gaming addiction is a problem for students. Shortly thereafter, the first empirical study on gaming addiction was published by Shotton, based on self-reports of young male players who claimed they were â€Å"hooke d† on their games. The early studies suffered from a lack of standardized psychometric instruments used for assessing gaming addiction. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), on the other hand, appear of particular interest to players because they offer a variety of incentives for play relative to other game genres. Of all online gamers, 46% play MMORPGs,3 confirming their position as the most popular online games. MMORPGs are game universes inhabited by thousands of players at the same time (massively multiplayer) with no spatial or temporal boundaries because they are played online, and they allow players to adopt various virtual personas in their avatars (role playing). In South-East Asian countries, the negative impacts of Internet gaming  addiction have led governments and health care providers to take the problem seriously and to develop a series of initiatives to curb and alleviate the problem. In South Korea, Internet gaming addiction is viewed as a significant concern for public health, and up to 24% of children who have been diagnosed with Internet addiction are hospitalized. In Japan, the government has recognized the problem following a study by the Ministry of Education, which has led to the development of â€Å"fasting camps† where individuals suffering from Internet and gaming addiction are helped by being cut off from technology completely. It has been stated that the higher the Internet penetration and social acceptance of gaming, the higher the prevalence of gaming problems, partially explaining the higher prevalence rates reported in South-East Asian countries. In addition to this, there is good reason to think that the lower acceptance of excessive gaming in a culture, the more distress (not less) gamers experience in engaging in the activity, potentially fuelling problem perception. Therefore, a lack of acceptance of excessive gaming and thus stigmatization of the behavior might contribute to higher rates of addiction and problematic play in some way. Following growing concern, specialized treatment centers and programs have been established in Europe (including the outpatient clinic for behavioral addictions in Mainz, Germany, and the Capio Nightingale Hospital in London, UK) and the US (including the inpatient centers RESTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Seattle and the recently opened digital detoxification and recovery center in Pennsylvania), reflecting the growing need for professional help. Internet gaming addiction is a behavioral problem that has been classified and explained in numerous ways. According to Griffiths,13 biopsychosocial processes lead to the development of addictions, such as Internet gaming addiction, which include the following components. First, the behavior is salient (the individual is preoccupied with gaming). Second, the individual uses the behavior in order to modify their mood (ie, gaming is used to escape reality or create the feeling of euphoria). Third, tolerance develops (the individual needs increasingly more time to feel the same effect). Fourth, withdrawal symptoms occur upon discontinuation of the behavior (the individual feels anxious, depressed, and irritable if they are prevented  from playing). Fifth, interpersonal and intra-personal conflict develops as a consequence of the behavior (the individual has problems with their relationship, job, and hobbies, and lack of success in abstinence). Finally, upon discontinuation of the beha vior, the individual experiences relapse (they reinitiate gaming). Although the core criteria appear to be established, the etiology of Internet gaming addiction has yet to be studied in detail. Research15 indicates that a number of risk factors are associated with Internet gaming addiction. These risk factors include certain personality traits, gaming motivations, and structural game characteristics. The personality traits most commonly associated with Internet addiction include neuroticism,37,50 aggression and hostility,43,50–52 and sensation-seeking.43,50 Factors that appear to protect frequent online gamers from developing problems with their gaming were found to be conscientiousness and extraversion,53 suggesting that for different individuals the same behavior can have different psychological repercussions. In addition to this, the following gaming motivations were found to be most commonly associated with gaming addiction: coping with daily stressors and escapism, online relationships, and mastery, control, recognition, completion, excitement, and challenge. This indicates that the reasons for game play may be an important indicator of potential risk for Internet gaming addiction. Specifically, in comparison with non-MMORPG players, MMORPG players preferred their online friends over their real-life friends. Similarly, significantly more dependent gamers were found to prefer spending time with their online friends than their offline friends relative to nondependent gamers and felt their social needs were met better online than offline. Moreover, while online games provide nonaddicted players with satisfaction, addicted players play to avoid dissatisfaction, which can be an indication of withdrawal symptoms they want to overcome by engaging in gaming compulsively. The motivational differences to play games between dependent and nondependent as well as MMORPG and other gamers appear to be useful clinical information because these motivations can be specifically targeted in treatment sessions. For instance, elements of exposure therapy  may be used for the socially fearful in order to decrease discomfort and reintroduce clients to real-life social environments. Also, alternative pastime activities that are perceived as satisfying can be encouraged specifically in group therapy sessions. Encouraging engagement in group sports might satisfy both the need to engage in competitive and satisfying activities and the need to interact with peers in real life. Moreover, a number of structural game characteristics have been found to increase the risk for developing Internet gaming addiction, namely online relative to offline gaming,61 positive reinforcement,62 the enjoyment of particular game features, such as adult content, finding rare in-game items, and watching game cut scenes,63 and viewing one’s virtual persona as better than oneself.64 These characteristics indicate that particular games can be more addictive than others,15 which appears important for game developers and public prevention campaigns that focus on decreasing risk and raising awareness of potential problems. Prevention campaigns could target school-aged children, teachers, and parents in education settings. They could be based on the principles of providing information and a discussion platform concerning Internet and gaming use and possible negative consequences via psychoeducation, with the ultimate goal of encouraging healthy media use. Success could be determ ined over the long term using triangulation of data and reports obtained from the targeted populations.

Crisis De-escalation Team

A lot change of initiatives have been developed over the years on different ways to manage escalating crisis in the psychiatric hospital wards and there are triggers to these violence, aggression and crisis that often escalate and end up resulting to using restrictive practices. In response to these violence and aggression from the service users on the ward and physical intervention used to manage the behaviour, Crisis de-escalation team change initiative proposal will aim at the triggers to violence, minimise rising behaviours from escalating, improving quality of care provided to the service users by healthcare professionals and ultimately meeting the needs of service users to reduces distress. This intended change implementation initiative will draw references from Centre for the Advancement of Positive Behaviour Support on the organisation's crisis reduction strategy; references will also be drawn from Royal College of Nursing Consultation on guidance to the minimisation of and alternatives to restrictive practices in health and adult social care. The change initiative will recognise the fact that service users will engage in challenging behaviours because of their unmet needs, exposure to environment and interactions which they may disagree with or find challenging to their believes and often have generally less quality of life. Often times people's behaviour represent a desperate attempt to change the status quo, do things their own way or attempt to meet their own unmet needs. Background There are rising incidents of aggression and violence from the service users on the ward. This report is based on accuracy observations incident reports on the ward and research/ data analysis carried out, which shows that about 9 in 10 of service users interviewed on the ward agreed that aggressive challenging behaviours from service users have increased and healthcare professionals unanimously agreed to that. These are negative attitude and challenging behaviours that can better be managed if the ward has a plan to tackle the causes or better known as triggers. Change proposal to implement Crisis De-escalation Team in an intensive care unit (ICU) ward of a mental health hospital will challenge triggers of aggression and crisis from escalating and manage the situation. It will further help to limit the frequent use of restrictive practices and reduce isolation of service users that exhibited challenging and unmanageable behaviour. Crisis De-escalation Team is not about stopping any specific interventions, nor to have general overhaul of existing practices, but it is rather to have some ward based healthcare professionals specifically trained to identify potential crisis and the triggers, then be ready to step in at any escalating situation on the ward, engage with the situation and everyone involved and de-escalate the issue. The change initiative was motivated through research studies that showed likely change implementation was successful in psychiatric hospital wards in Australia and home treatment team unit in an NHS trust in London.According a review carried out by Australian Mental health commission (2014) on evaluation studies of crisis escalation and restraint reduction programmes, it identified that increasing staff level and implementation of crisis de-escalation/resolution team is successful on reducing the regular and duration of seclusion and restraint use while maintaining safe environment on the ward. Crisis de-escalation team should comply with all the policy protocols, ensures the ward and trust standard are maintained with regards to quality of services provided, work to ensure the safety of everyone on the ward, encourage other colleagues and ward management to consider their approach to resolving crisis. They will assess the situation and if necessary call for restrictive measures to be used which will be evidence based, reasonable and justified. The crisis de-escalation team will be part of the ward staff team and will be directly involved in the service user's care, they are also required to fulfil other functions on the ward as a full staff member as to dilute their abilities not focusing on deescalation team duties only.Employees that will be part of this crisis de-escalation team will receive training and on-going training on new proposed change while retaining their full time staff employment on the ward. This is to ensure that ward does not lack the resources and understaffed while the training is on-going and change implementation is rolled out on the ward.Funding for this change initiative will come from the ward budget, manager being part of the change champions will facilitate the fund. It is important to note that the change does not call for more employment rather it asked for special training given to the staff implementing the change. Encouragement to fund this change will be from the positive feedbacks from consultation of the ward management and healthcare professionals, and it was also the major drive towards the proposed change implementation strategy. Methodology The description and analysis of the research studies are evidence based which were rallied through qualitative data, detailed accounts of an actual experience and observations, also through implementation of ideas and resourcefulness from a success elsewhere in Australia, America and hospital ward in Scotland. The implementation was assimilated into a draft restructure practice strategy. Fifteen of the research studies carried out was a retrospective analysis that examined incidents on the ward through incident reports and restrictive practices used, but in some cases additional information was obtained from descriptive statistics gotten from other sources.Nineteen research studies were rallied from questionnaires or data that are collected on a periodic basis to obtain information, and 10 of them are done through qualitative research methodology. Twenty research studies were focused on the instances where less restrictive measures was used to deescalate challenging situations and the method that was applied. The research involved a comparison of outcomes on the more use of restrictive practices and less restrictive practices used on the ward to analyse the effectiveness of each these measures before, during and after it was applied.The research studies were conducted in 3 different Intensive Care Units (ICU) in a psychiatric hospital/ward. Research studies were also done in an acute inpatient ward and early intervention unit within the psychiatric hospital.Definition of the change proposal Crisis de-escalation team is about having special trained staff on the ward that will be designated to manage the triggers of aggression and crisis, engage with service users in polite and calm manner to better understand their point of view and seek for possible alternatives to stop the crisis from escalating. The team should employ empathy and compassion, know what to do and say at any situation, respecting the crisis circle, remained composed, cool and calm when dealing with crisis and try to resolve the situation without applying the use of restrictive practices.Violence can sometimes arise unexpectedly on the ward and overwhelmed everyone; it is true to say that when healthcare professionals are overwhelmed and understaffed they are likely to react in such a manner that may escalate the crisis. Implementing the crisis de-escalation team is to also reduce tension, minimise any panic and frustration from staff members when they are face with circumstances beyond their control.When it come using restrictive practices to manage these ongoing rising challenging behaviours on the ward, healthcare professionals have often struggled to come up with explanations to justify what accounts to good practice on restrictive practice in the context of keeping everyone on the ward safe. Barriers to change implementation Barriers to the change implementation were encountered mainly from three different areas, hospital management, what need to change and the employees. Before a successful change strategy can be developed, barriers to the change need to be identified.n? Employees unwillingness to embrace change? Employees resistance to change? Ineffective communication strategy? Ward Financial shortfall and funding ? Shortage of staff and shift patterns? Lack of understanding of what needs to change and knowledge of skills needed for the implementation? Employees fear of the unknown.Overcoming the barriers to change implementation Identifying the barriers to the proposed change and how to overcome them is a good step towards achieving successful implementation of planned change initiative.Ways to overcome to overcome these barriers are follows: Effective communication strategy:- There should be a clear and honest communication to employees and the stakeholders about what need to change and why it needed to change. Employees should be explained probably benefits the change will bring to them and hospital ward.†¢ Good Leadership:- This is needed for the change implementation to be successful. Employees need to be carried along and be involved in the change process. As some employees are reluctant to embrace change, they should be made to understand why the change is better than status quo and why it is necessary. Training should be provided to the volunteered employees that will Help drive the change forward. Also awareness is very important because healthcare professionals on the ward need to understand the planned change goals, targets and the strategies of implementing the change.†¢ Provision of incentives and resources to help drive healthcare professionals towards the change, this will be a motivating strategy to get them on-board with the change. Simplifying the planned change initiative:- It should not be complex to understand and implement. The change should be localised, small but meaningful change that will not require a lot more staff than already existed. The implementation will not be made to result in big shakeups within the ward and should be phased. Whom the proposed change initiative will benefit/affect Based on the index analysis, research studies and observations at the ward on the restrictive practices, the proposed change initiative (crisis deescalation team) will benefit everyone on the ward including the service users, employees and management. How the proposed change will be implemented Identifying the barriers to proposed change initiative and overcoming the barriers is a good step towards the successful implementation of the change.The change implementation is planned and will happen by incremental change. Based on evidence, experts opinion and research analysis have proven that implementation of a successful change in a hospital ward is always difficult and challenging because of complex relationships that exists stakeholders, management, managers and healthcare professionals. Despite these barriers, any small meaningful change that will bring about evidence based best practice to positively improve the quality of care provided the service users on the ward is worth implementing and evaluated to monitor the progress.†¢ Support and approval from the leadership for the change initiativeSometimes good change initiatives ended up not been implemented because there was no leadership support for it. Getting the leadership support and the stakeholders on the board with the proposed change initiative is a huge step in the implementation stage of the proposed change initiative, the need for the change should to be properly communicated to the ward manager, and a case on need for the change to happen should be communicated to the manager. Data analysis, surveys based on observations and research findings should be presented to the manager and the leadership team on the ward to get them involved in the change initiative plan.With the manager's approval for the change to happen, the manager will therefore help to resolve conflicts of interests and negotiate with the stakeholders to help make the case why the change initiative is needed to be implemented on the ward. The manager as part of the agent for the change should appoint leaders of the change initiative, and will help provide the tools, skills and training, and possibly the funding for the change from the budget or increase in the budget. Identifying the proposed Change agentsVolunteers will be identified within the ward and it will be ward employees that will be trained to help champion the proposed change. They should be given the chance to decide on their own to become the change agents and will work closely with the ward manager for provision of information and resources needed to push forward with the change. Communication and awarenessThe appointed leaders of the change will use all communication methods (Mass, interactive and face to face) to explain what need to change is an important step in change implementation. These involves ? Explaining the change initiative to the employees and everyone that will be impacted on the change initiative.? There should be an open dialogue to entertain concerns, questions and individual opinions on the change initiative.? There should be a constant reminder and follow-up of the planned change initiative. Skills and learning required for the implementation Training will be provided to healthcare professionals that will champion the change initiative. There are private training institutions (BSI) that offers best training in crisis management planning, with the approval of the manager, the volunteered staff will undertake short course training. Also other trust provided practical courses on crisis resolution should be provided to enable them know when and to put their knowledge into action. This is to carry out best evidence based practice on de-escalate the triggers of violence and aggression from service users.Although the team members of this change initiative will be on voluntary basis, the ward manager will provide incentives to team members of this change as an encouragement and motivation. Implementing change initiative through engaging employees and healthcare professionals at all level within the ward.All the change agents including the manager, stakeholders and volunteered champions of change will actively engage with every staff member on the ward. This will be to create a better understanding of why this change initiative is very important and how it is small necessary step towards resolving the rising violence and aggression from service users. This change implementation is bottom-up approach and will require genuine interest and participation from the employees, employees are the ones that have been directly affected by the status quo and will be impacted more from the new change initiative. Healthcare professionals will to be motivated to participate fully in the change implementation timeline and initial goal plans. Monitor the implementation, examine the results and recognise the successEarly stages of implementation will be closely monitored to assess strengths and challenges; there will be follow ups and reviews. There will be surveys and audits carried out to compare the status quo and change, this will be done to know if the change is having the expected outcome and also know if there are areas of the change that will require further improvement. Change champions will be encouraged and motivated through celebration of change success. Momentum will be built on the change by rewarding the employees that are championing the change implementation. Other staffs will be encouraged to become part of the change team; this is to reduce any change resistance that may exist within the employees and create way for successful change implementation.

Issues and Traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Essay

Religion takes on many different forms and there are several definitions in as many languages used to describe the practices. For the purposes of this paper, the following basic definition will be used. Religion is the belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. Also, a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship (Company, 2000). This paper will examine three major religions of today: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. An attempt will be made to identify the top two current issues each religion faces as well as look at two sacred traditions and study the significance and major characteristics of each. Judaism Judaism is monotheistic in nature and has been described as a religion, a race, a culture, and a nation. All of these descriptions have some validity to them but Judaism is best described by some as an extended family (Rich, 2006). This extended family consists of four movements Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist. All of which, still find themselves victims of discrimination known as anti-Semitism which is based on stereotypes and myths and often invokes the belief that Jews have extraordinary influence with which they conspire to harm or control society. For those Jews living in the Middle East there is also the very real danger and threats from a powerful country possibly in possession of nuclear weapons. The president of Iran threatened them publicly with annihilation. Discrimination and threats of violence Jews are a very real part of Jewish life but there are just as many positive popular time honored traditions that exists still today. One of which is the wedding tradition. The tradition begins with the husband signing a Ketabuh, the groom’s marital contractual obligation to the bride. The groom is then led to the Chuppah, a tarp this symbolizes their future home together. The bride is led in with singing and dances and then she circles the groom seven and comes to stand to the right of him. After several additional steps the marriage is blessed and ends in a wedding feast. Another Jewish tradition performed prior to Yom Kippur is called the ceremony of kapparot. The practice was first discussed at the beginning of the ninth century. It was believed that the sins of an individual could be transferred to a fowl, a rooster for men and a hen for women. The fowl was to be held over the head and swung in a circle three times while the following was spoken: â€Å"This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace. † (Schwartz, 2009) The fowl was then donated to the poor and hoped to take on any misfortune that might have occurred to the one who took part in the ritual. The primary sacred text used by the Jews is the Torah. Christianity is currently noted to be the largest religion in the world today, with around two billion followers. Christian beliefs center on the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the son of God. Jesus’ teachings focused on the kingdom of God, love of God, and love of one another. Today there are many different views his teachings and the meaning of some forms of love. One of the most controversial topics in the faith today is that of practicing homosexuality. The Christian bible stems from the Jewish sacred text which banned homosexuality of any kind. The bible even talks of God destroying two cities over homosexual behavior (Clark, 2009). Today many leaders condone the behavior and some are even practicing it themselves. While homosexuality may serve as a religious divider here in the U. S. , persecution is served cold as a divisionary disabling tactic abroad. It is the number one issue facing many Christians today, outright discrimination as in the case with Jews as mentioned earlier. In countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Saudi Arabia, and others Christians are being martyred because of their refusal to denounce Christianity. Everyday there are approximately 465 people killed because they will not give up their faith in Jesus (Dearmore, 2009). Most Christians in the U. S. attend a church service of some kind one to three times a week. This is a time honored tradition, just as the wedding tradition is in Judaism. The reason behind this is to participate in a time of fellowship with one another. Normally, the tradition includes worship service, private and corporate prayer, the study and reading of scriptures, and collection of tithes and offerings. There is also the coming together for celebration of special holidays. The most important Christian holiday is Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ and Christmas the celebration of his birth. Christian practices differ by denomination. Easter is a central theme for most if not all denominations. The origin of the word â€Å"Easter† is not certain but it was probably derived from Estre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring (Dreamweaver, 2009). It is a celebration of the central event of the Christian faith, the belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day following his death and burial. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year. There is evidence that the resurrection used to be celebrated every Sunday until some point in the first two centuries when it was agreed to move it to once a year. The sacred text of Christianity is the Bible. Islam The Islamic religion is monotheistic in nature; they follow one God named Allah. The primary meaning of Islam is peace and the prime message is the Unity of God. Islam identifies Jesus and John the Baptist as prophets. They also believe that there will be no other prophet after the prophet Muhammad. One of the primary concerns facing the Muslim community still today is retribution after the terrorists’ attacks of 11 Sept 2001. Many Islamic followers faced discrimination on all fronts because of the fear of their culture and religious stereotyping (Clark, 2009). The attacks on American soil left a scary imprint of terror in the minds and hearts of many. The media portrayal added fuel to the fire and did nothing to ease the tensions caused by the scary pictures of death left behind. Unfortunately, there is also the fight with fundamentalist ideology and division among their own religious sects. Some groups are teaching others to hate Jews, Christians, and Americans as well as others. In the midst of this hate is a tradition of peace and goodwill towards others. One of the most important traditions is the observance of the Five Pillars of Islam. This involves witnessing to the fact that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. The second pillar is Salat, facing toward Mecca, the Holy Land of Muhammad, five times a day and kneeling in prayer. The third pillar is Alms giving, which encompasses giving charitably to other Muslims. The fourth is the performance of a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Last is to observe fasting during Ramadan. Muslims normally worship in Mosque; they kneel prostrate on small prayer rugs. The rugs may look to be small oriental carpets. Muslims kneel as a sign of humility before God. There is only one requirement that the place of prayer be clean. The rug is approximately one meter in length just long enough for an adult to fit on comfortably. When prayer time comes the rug is placed on the ground with the top pointed in the direction of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After prayer the rug is immediately folded and put away until next time. The Arabic word for a prayer rug is â€Å"sajada,† which comes from the same root word (SJD) as â€Å"masjed† (mosque) and â€Å"sujud† (prostration) (Huda, What are prayer rugs, and how are they used by Muslims? ). This paper discussed three major religions of today and two current issues that they face. It also examined the characteristics of some of their valued traditions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have one central theme in common besides the discrimination they all endure; they are all monotheistic in nature. They all believe in their own sacred text, their own version of truth. References http://islam.about.com/od/prayer/f/prayer_rugs.htm http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kapparot.html

The Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Antigonid kingdoms

Alexander, son of king Philip II and Olympias was born in 356 B. C. E, and at age 19, became king of Macedon. With a great army at his disposal and his brilliant military mind, he started his conquest. From 337-323 B. C. E Alexander conquered Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and a large part of Asia. Alexander ruled from Macedonia to the northern part of India. He defeated the Persians numerous times with his incredible military strategies, even when his armies were outnumbered by almost 200,000 Persian soldiers.The sheer size of his empire was unlike anything ever seen before but when he died in 323 B.  C. E, the three main areas he conquered (Greece/Macedonia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia/ Asia) were split up and became their own kingdoms. The area that was once Greece and Macedonia became the Antigonid Kingdom, the Egyptian are became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Asia/ Mesopotamia area became the Seleucid Kingdom. The Ptolemaic Kingdom came about when one of Alexander’s cavalry com panions, Ptolemy, took his loyal troops to the Egyptian area to take over the wealthy land. Once there, Ptolemy diverted Alexander’s body to Egypt, which was originally being sent to Macedonia for burial.Once in Alexandria, Ptolemy took Alexander’s body and built a massive and imposing tomb for his late king. After defending Egypt from some of Alexander’s other generals who wanted Egypt, the Ptolemies ruled Egypt as their god/kings. This only took place after they struck up a bargain with the Egyptian priests and in which the Egyptians could continue living under the same Egyptian god belief system while the Ptolemies ruled as kings. Along with that agreement, the Ptolemies promised to allow the priests to maintain the up keeping of their temples and deceased pharaohs.The Ptolemies departed from the beliefs and rules set forth by Philip and Alexander by allowing the Queens of the rulers more power then they ever had before. The perfect example of this was Cleopa tra VII who even challenged the growing power of Rome. The Ptolemies also didn’t really blend with the Egyptians, which was a major idea Alexander wanted to make happen (the blending of Page 2 cultures). This can be seen when the Ptolemies stayed in Alexandria conducting business and trading with Rome, where the Egyptians maintained their old religion.The Seleicid Kingdom is named after one of Ptolemy’s generals, Seleusid. After the death of Alexander, Seleusid entered Babylon in 311 B. C. E and captured the imperial treasure there. With the vast wealth at his disposal, Seleusid claimed the land as the old heartland of Persia. Unfortunately because the area was so large, Seleusid had to trade back northern India and eventually lost Asia Minor. Seleusid imported Greek and Macedonian bureaucrats and colonists. North of Babylonia a new city was built and it was named Seleucia and would eventually become its capital.Knowing that trade with the eastern countries were vital to their survival, Seleucid’s major cities were built around trade routes that connected the countries. Around 20,000 Macedonians came to Seleusid and they felt as if they were world conquerors and felt they needed to be compensated. The Macedonians were given a significant amount of farmland because when they arrived, Seleusid realized that these people were the backbone of their society because they had no religion already set up in the area. Unlike the past rulers, Philip and Alexander, Seleusid was very worried about expanding, rather he was worried about losing land.This was because when Seleusid came to Babylon to start his new Kingdom, he had only brought a few military forces with him. This was a problem because he controlled so much land that he didn’t have enough military personnel to control the kingdom. If I was in Seleusid’s position I would have asked for everyone in the old countries such as Greece and Macedonia to come over. Doing so would give m e a much larger army and then I would not have to worry about losing land, rather I could expand. The last area of land left was Alexander’s home country, Macedonia, and Greece which he conquered.This land would become Antigonids once Alexander died and would be situated in Greece. The kings of Antigonids were descendants of Antigonus the one eyed, who was a general in Alexander’s army when Alexander died. Unfortunately, Antigonus died without conquering the land, but his descendants eventually claimed Macedonia and Greece as Antigonids. At the time of Alexander’s death, many of Alexanders treasures that he took were taken back to Page 3 Macedonia. It was said that the last shipment taken back to Macedonia before Alexander’s death took 110 warships just to carry all the treasure back.So the country was very wealthy but the wealth hardly even changed society. In fact, hardly anything had changed in Macedonia since Philip II was king. The army in the kingdo m still consisted of only Macedonia nobles who fought for the king and unfortunately in the 280’s B. C. E the Gauls (group from the north) invaded Antigonids and caused them serious damage. Along with the damage from the north, in the south, the Greeks, who had never really accepted the Macedonians, started revolting against the Antigonids.The Antigonids branched away from their past rulers, Philip II and Alexander by never expanding and never blending the neighboring cultures together. The Greeks never accepted the Antigonids’ rule and although total warefare never broke out, it damaged the Kingdom as a whole. Not only did the Kingdom fail to expand, they couldn’t even keep their own citizens in tact. If I were any of the kings in the Antigonids kingdom, I would have tried to resolve the differences with Greece and the Gauls because if they could have become allies, there would have been room for expansion.

Enculturation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enculturation - Essay Example I was not a little kid, and my mother did not need to say that grandpa would not come to play with me. I became very sad, and my mother openly talked with me and explained that when our closest people died, they went to a better place. It was difficult for me to believe that grandpa was actually dead. It was the first time I experienced death in my family circle. I had seen death in cartoon and movies, but it was so distant that I had no idea how to cope with feelings related to the loss. Discussion with my mother helped me to understand that our closest people stayed with us in our memories even when they died. She comforted me and showed that she also was sad. Perhaps, her understanding was more helpful than words in that situation. When grandpa died, the atmosphere in our family changed. Parents did not laugh or spent their days as usual. They also wore more black clothing items to show that they were mourning. They were involved in the preparation for funerals and had to arranged many things. The organization of the funeral had to be fast and perfect, so my parents paid much attention to it. I had already observed many things related to the formal part of the funeral, so I did not require additional explanations concerning my behavior. I had more problems with coping with death emotionally. It was difficult to express the feeling of loss because it was so deep. My parents told me that during the funerals people were not expected to hide their feelings. On the contrary, the whole procedure was designed to expressed their sadness. From the movies and observations I had already known that people would be sad; some of them would cry. Being 10 years old, I understood how I was expected to behave during the funeral. Even though some of our relatives arrived with kids, it was not the right place to discuss something or play. All people who arrived at the funeral were dressed in black or dark

Summary for Iraq Politics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary for Iraq Politics Paper - Essay Example Issues of oil have also dominated international debates and Iraqi’s influence on the entire world economy. This paper seeks to assess the Iraqi situation in the past, present, and the future, in the light of the research questions presented below. The above questions are based on conflict avoidance and conflict resolution in the Middle East, especially Iraq (Anderson, Seibert and Wagner 105). This country holds a significant percentage of an important resource; oil. One, Iraq has not had political stability for quite some time. It has also engaged in wars and violation of human rights. Using this as an excuse, a number of countries have been observed to want to control the Iraqi oil fields (Pelletiere 48). For instance, the US has installed a peacekeeping initiative in Iraq. However, over and above the peace mission, US have also been observed expressing interest in one way or another to control the rich Iraqi oil fields. The specific role and interest of the US in Iraq is ambiguous, and the US’s benefits or harm to Iraq needs critical analysis. THERE IS A GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF RULING ELITES WHICH IS ALSO IN COMPETITION WITH EACH OTHER OVER CONSUMER MARKETS, RAW MATERIALS, LABOR MARKETS. THIS IS THE CONCEPT KNOWN AS  "COMPETITOR PEERS† (Lecture: â€Å"Liberalism, Realism, theories of International Relations, and Neo-conservatism). However, the primary role of the US presence in Iraq has been to promote peace and stability of the nation Possible answers can be predetermined in relation to the research questions presented earlier. Failure to put a stable government in place and the violation of human rights from time to time have made Iraq what it is today (Smith 386). Even before the US made an entry into Iraq, this scenario had been observed.