The Sublime Savage: Caliban on Setebos Essay -- Caliban on Setebos Ess

The Sublime Savage: Caliban on Setebos "Caliban my slave, who never / Yields us kind answer." (The Tempest, I.ii.310-1) "Caliban on Setebos" was one of Robert Browning's more popular poems among the Victorians, for its presumed satire of orthodox Calvinism, Puritanism, and similarly grim Christian sects. And Browning as Shakespeare's savage does indeed seem to hurl a few barbs in that direction, but the poet's exercise seems to be as much one in alternative theology. Caliban's bog-bound conjectures, in their significant departures from standard religious doctrine, serve as both an interesting repudiation of Archdeacon Paley's attempts to rationalize God, and as an entertaining 'science-fiction' tale, if you will, of religious thought under alternate circumstances. Caliban is, of course, the "salvage and deformed slave" of Shakespeare's dramatis personae in The Tempest, son of the deceased witch Sycorax, servant of the mage Prospero, consort of and bootlicker for Stephano and Trinculo, failed plotters and drunken buffoons. "As disproportion'd in his manners / As in his shape" (V.i.290-1), he has tried to ravish Prospero's daughter Miranda before being exiled to his cave, and in the course of the play attempts to overthrow Prospero himself and install Stephano on the throne of the island. At last, though, Duke Prospero comes to pardon even Caliban -- "This thing of darkness I / acknowledge mine" (V.i.275-6), and his drudge promises to "be wise hereafter, / and seek for grace" (V.i.294-5) or favor with his master. Browning certainly did his research in crafting the poem: near the end of the work, Caliban cowers under Setebos' "raven that has told... ... in a way, / Taketh his mirth with make-believes" (ll. 168-9). Caliban's easy acceptance of a capricious, often cruel deity, and his willingness to abase himself in penance for irrational divine anger, serves as a satiric reproof to both Paley and the Calvinists, and eloquent support for Browning's more palatable God of love. Shakespeare's Prospero claims that, without his help and education, Caliban "didst not, savage, / Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like / A thing most brutish" (I.ii.357-9). Some of Browning's detractors considered "Caliban on Setebos" still to be brutish, for its harsh language and unpleasant philosophy. Yet the poem is successful in its aim: it is an effective purgative to complacent religious theory, and an entertaining glimpse into a putative religion based on quite different tenets from Victorian Christianity.

Western Countries Influence on China in the 19th Century

For quite a long period of time, China has had the largest economy in the world. Concepts such as use of money and development of merchant class were introduced by the ancient China. The Chinese exhibited a false sense of superiority as they believed that they had nothing to gain by trading with other countries. The country was locked to external trade and it was not until after the Opium War that the country was forcefully opened to the world, which carried both positive and negative effects (Rawski, Para. 2). In the time of cold war, the literature which talked about China’s development focused on two major issues, one was that the involvement in international trade was less likely to be helpful in search of economic development for poor countries. The second was that the culture and social structure of China was a great impediment to its development. It was believed that substantial development in the country would only arise after major and dramatic changes were carried out to the social structure and individual behavior (Overholt. 22). According to Rawski (Para. ), the 19th century was in the Qing Period of the Canton trade and the balance of payment was in favor of Chinese as the silver flowed into the country. It was at this period that the British discovered a favorable market for opium in China as it shipped opium from India. This new discovery made the silver flow to reverse as outflow of silver increased. The balance of payment was no longer favorable as the trend decrease d money supply in the economy. The resultant effect was a downward pressure on general prices of goods and services that led to economic problems. The Qing court wanted to stop the outflow of silver and Commissioner Lin was sent to Canton in the efforts to stop the trade of opium. He confiscated property that belonged to the British traders and destroyed this business. When the traders complained to their government, the British government responded with military pressure which led to the opium war and unequal treaties system. The British soldiers easily outgunned the Qing forces as they had superior weapons. The Qing then surrendered in the year 1842 and the treaty of Nanking was signed. It allowed unrestricted European access to Chinese ports and the island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. During the war, farm areas were destroyed, and millions of lives were lost that made China’s income to fall. Another war that emerged between the British and the Chinese led to grievous losses and British warships obtained unlimited access to all rivers in China provided they were navigable. All official Chinese documents were to be written in English (U. S. Department of State, Para. 10a). The system of unequal treaties had economic impact on China and it also infringed on their political sovereignty. It led to the imposition of a free trade regime that allowed unlimited trade in all goods and services which eventually was obliged to allow foreign investment and foreign trade as well. The fact that China was large and far from the coast, was a reason that the foreign trade was not a large component of the economy. However, with the coming of new technology which involved rail road and telegraph, the Chinese were eager to utilize these opportunities. New commodities were thus adopted and organizational innovations implemented. In 1860s, the Qing dynasty initiated several institutional reforms in order to deal with the problem of modernization (Gibson 59). The Chinese had a vague concept of European countries and it was not until the opium war that they tried to understand the west in form of their ideologies, social and political structures. Technology was thus introduced into the country as much as democracy and capitalism were recognized by the citizens. They realized that by being locked to other countries, they were left ignorant of significant concepts and ideologies from other countries. The need to conquer the west made them interested in understanding the west in form of their economic structures and political structures. It was certain that the defeat in the opium war was due to the better technology; lethal western weapons, and strong ships. It was then that reform was underway in China (Beeching 47). Economic Reforms In the early 19th century, China was completely closed and isolated itself from other countries in the world. Foreign trade was limited in the city of Canton and it was not until the opium war that led to the signing of Nanjing treaty, that China’s ports were opened and western merchants found their way into the Chinese market. The effect on Chinese economy was significant as they had least expected it. The effect of opening up of China did not have just the negative effects but it also had good and positive effects on the economy and social relationships which existed in the people of Qing Dynasty. Among the negative effects that we shall look in details are internal struggles, increase in the rate of crime, economic downfall in the city of Canton and the increase in the economic welfare at the cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 7). Chinese local industries were affected by cheaper western machine made products. This created so much pressure on the local industries as they had to adapt and reform in order to compete with the western merchants. The defeat of China in the opium war was enough to convince the Chinese that they were no longer the ‘Heavenly Middle Kingdom’ that they always thought they were. They were thus awakened and exposed to the reality of progress (Gibson 32). Chinese were used to being self reliant as they had a self sufficient domestic trade. This was occasioned to a large extent by the fact that it has an immense home trade. It has a vast land that their internal trade is sufficient to perform commercial operations. In opening up, China was able to compare itself with other nations internationally and thus realized that it was no longer on top of the world. Chinese thus developed a sense of purpose and a desire to improve their economy; it was a period of awakening the giant (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 53). Various economic repercussions were obtained after the opening of China. The flourishing of foreign trade was evident as China increased its export from 7. 5 million kilograms of tea in 1843 to 42 million kilograms in 1855. The export of silk also increased significantly. The demand of tea and silk led to the expansion of tea and silk producing regions as they greatly benefited from foreign trade. Another economic effect was a monetary crisis which resulted from the increased volumes of trade activities. There was a reduction in the Spanish silver dollar and it appreciated so much that it was abolished and the Mexican dollar introduced. These problems were enhanced by internal monetary crises that were instigated mainly by poor administration. The copper cash that prevailed in China depreciated significantly as a result of inadequate supply of copper. This devastated Chinese financial system and in 1853, the country had to result to paper money (Beeching 67). There was a significant effect on the textile industry. Prior to the Opium War, the Chinese made cloths by hand. This industry was almost eliminated as open system led to the importation of cheaper machine-made cloths and other products. The native textile industries had to adapt by lowering their charges, though this was detrimental to the textile workers. Their wages were reduced as the textile industries looked for ways of reducing their operation costs and led to lowering the living standards of these workers (Beeching 63). The old Chinese self-sufficient economy was changing under pressure. China’s social-economical development was affected by western capitalistic societies. This however did not lead to the formation of capitalistic China but rather made it to a semi-colonial semi-feudal state. The Chinese industries had been exposed to the outside states but at a time when they had not anticipated it. They were thus less prepared and less equipped to compete with these international industries. The opening up of China meant that the people who used to transport goods to Canton (mostly the Hakkas) were left without jobs. The majority of trade shifted from Canton to Shanghai as Shanghai had been opened for foreign trade. The Hakkas were considered to be ethnic minorities by the natives of Canton which led to a competition between the two clans in form of farming and economy. This led to wars between the two clans and as a result, hundred of thousands of lives were lost and the effect was quite significant to the China’s economy. The population which had made the country prosperous was being threatened by this internal wars and struggles (Chung, Para. 4). China was no more affected as a series of natural disasters also stroke the country. The Huang He River had burst its banks and flooded a vast portion of land in the year 1851. In 1855, the river flooded again and the fertile and among the most productive province of Jiangsu was in ruins as farmland was destroyed and loss of lives intensified. The Qing government could not afford to provide adequate aid to the survivors as funds had been drained during the opium war and against the Taipings rebellion. The government was also busy in negotiating for military aid with the European powers. The Qing government also faced contempt from the Nian movement which had just begun. The government was thus placed in a very unstable situation by all these occurrences and frustrations (Chung, Para. 5). According to Chung (Para. 7), the Muslim rebellions that tried to enhance equal rights among the Muslims and the non-Muslims, the Taipings rebellion, and other groups that were opposed to the Qing government failed to strike a solution to the prevailing social and economic crisis, as millions of people died. The much relied agricultural industry was severely affected by these rebellions as the countryside was ruined in these battles and countless people lost their lives. This led the Qing government to increase its dependence on the European Imperial forces and subsequent purchase of modern weapons. These internal conflicts made it hard for the Qing government to concentrate its military powers and it thus lost external wars: the Second Opium War (1856-1860) and Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The effect was an occupation of Beijing by an international force and the agreement of the Boxer Protocol (1901) which was done under humiliating terms. The government was to indemnify the European powers for the losses that they had suffered. The Qing court resisted reforms and revolutionaries and reformers advocated for overthrow of the Qing dynasty in order to form a republic. The Qing government was eventually weakened by the numerous rebellions as they tried to pursue economic stability as the economic crisis had worsened by the end of 19th century to a national status (Chung, Para. 10). The Rise of China’s Economy The growth and the sudden rise of China is one of the greatest economic successes in the world. With economic reforms in China which started in the year 1979, to 2008 China’s economy is believed to have grown 14-fold in real terms. This has led to the raising of hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty. On per capita basis, China is relatively poor though it is currently the world’s second largest economy. This has led to increase in economic ties between China and the U. S. China is still marked with low-cost labor and as such, most U. S. companies operate in China so as to benefit from the vast and booming Chinese Market and low cost of operations as a result of taking advantage of the low cost labor in their export-oriented manufacturing (Rawski, Para. ). The basic improvements seem to have originated from four modernization strategies in Agriculture, industry, science and technology, and National Defense. This meant that rural electrification had to be initiated, a total industrial automation, a focus on a new outlook of the economy, and an enhanced national security and strength on defense. Mechanization in agriculture and subsequent use of irrigation, led to the modification of the ind ustry so as to enhance production, better farming methods were also encouraged (Rawski, Para. 9). The Chinese social and cultural structure had been thought that it was a major constraint to economic growth and development. The rapid improvement in economic conditions of the Chinese is a clear indication that the social and cultural structures might be conducive to growth. There are certain elements of Chinese culture that generate an enterprising spirit which is not found in most cultures in poor countries. One would pose to wonder why this enterprising spirit didn’t have major effects in the 19th century as it had after the minor reforms in 1978 which initiated explosive growth. China used improvements in the heavy industry and infrastructure. Development of modern highways, and compounding of Petrochemical, steel and other industries ensured that the economic capacity of the nation was improved. This rapid growth was also initiated by the use of cheap labor which was used extensively in manufacture and subsequent export of low-end products (Overholt 23). The Implications The opening up of China and the subsequent catastrophic occurrences had negative impacts on the economic well being of China. The Western countries undermined China’s self sufficient economy, the rural homestead industries were as much adversely affected as the development that occurred in the urban market economy. On the other hand, it opened the nation to compare its progress with other nations as well. Technology was imported from the western countries and all this worked to enable the nation develop unbiased opinions on the working of international economies. The Chinese government established commercial and modern enterprises as a result of stimulation from the western capitalism. Many of the established enterprises went bankrupt as a result of poor administration, but the established modern industries thrived which enhanced the social-economic development of China. The modern industries stimulated the growth of Chinese capitalism and formed a basis which has marked a tremendous improvement of the Chinese economy (Chesneaux, Marianne & Maie-Claire 48). It is a wonder that a nation that could barely feed its citizens is an industrial giant with the leading capacity in steel production, aluminum, cement and coal. The U. S. ad been the world’s leading auto market but in January 2009, China had turned the tables. It had also been named the top producer of merchant ships in the year 2007. It is clear that the western influence had negative impacts to China at first but today China has all to gain. The exposure to the western markets at such a critical time gave the nation a clear understanding of improved technology and the workings of international markets and economies. China thus used its capacities and its capabilities so as enable it obtain control in this international market. When we compare China to North Korea, a country that was free from western influence, then we can confidently say that Western Influence was what was needed to awaken the sleeping giant in China (Overholt 29). According to the U. S. Department of State (Para. 20b), in the Mid-19th century, the western countries focused the capitalist diplomacy on Korea. The policy which was adopted by the Leaders made the region to be termed as Hermit Kingdom. Korea remained independent until late 19th century when China wanted to block the influence Japan had on Korean Peninsula and the pressure by the Russians. This led to the afore-mentioned Sino-Japanese war in which Japan emerged victorious. Korea was thus annexed as part of the Japan Empire which had strong colonial administration and control and it was not until the end of World War II in 1945 that Japan surrendered. This led to the division of Korea, where the United States administered the southern part and the U. S. S. R. took over the northern side. North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950 and the United Nations sent troops to support South Korea. China Supported North Korea until an armistice agreement was signed in 1953. North Korea is governed by a centralized government under the Communist Korean Worker’s Party (KWP). Minor parties do exist but under limited power and scope of authority. It has a record of wide violations of human rights as the government has total control on all issues in the state. The media is controlled by the government that it is not a wonder that ‘North Korea was ranked second to last on the World Press Freedom Index’ (U. S. Department of State, Para. 23b). North Korea spends quite a substantial proportion of its income on military, but the nation has not yet become self-sufficient in food production. Technological links were disrupted and affected with the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union in 1989. The GDP of the nation has stagnated for quite a while and it is far much below China in economic development and in the living standards of its nationals (U. S. Department of State, Para. 18b). Conclusion The Chinese people were against the opening of China by the Opium War, but the control of China and influence by the Western countries made China a semi-feudal semi-colonial state. It was not until then that technology found its way into China and the Chinese were quick to use it to their advantaged. The shameful defeat in the Opium War made the Chinese vow to strengthen their country in order to prevent a repeat of the same. This has inspired the nation to the current situation of growth and influence in the world. In fact China is very reluctant to succumb to international pressure as it is on its way to gain the title the world’s economic giant.

Sustainability Analysis And Reporting System Essay

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Bullying Is A Form Of Abuse - 1399 Words

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Take America Back Free Essays

The Christian Right and Major Players’ Influence in the Values of Middle and Working Class America† Introduction! It’s February 2011. Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Despite sagging poll numbers, a slowly recovering economy is supporting the push of health care reform. We will write a custom essay sample on Take America Back or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Democratic Party controls the Senate. The Republicans, led by midterm-elected John Bonder, control the House. Progress is tedious, but moving. Disdain for the President, spurred on by mass media and the murmurings of the Tea Party, is gripping hold of what seems to be a substantive chunk of voting Americans. Wing for the Republican nomination, looking to feed off these energies, Georgia businessman Herman Cain stands in front of a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Cain is good at the rhetoric. He takes the underpinnings of conservative media and turns them on the crowd. † â€Å"Stupid people are ruining America,† he says to applause. â€Å"It’s sad†¦ I’m talking about the liberals. They don’t have tactics. They don’t have a strategy. They have an objective. The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country. The objective of the liberals is to make America mediocre Just like everybody else who aspires to be like America. † Cain takes in the applause and pauses for the audience to sit down. â€Å"They are trying to destroy this country at all costs! â€Å"† Fast forward to March 2014. Americans have seen the failings of the roll of Beam’s Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby has refused to offer birth control to its 2 employees under the plan, citing their religious beliefs. Arizona governor Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to LIGHT people. Seizing the opportunity, former congresswoman Michele Buchanan gets on the radio with a conservative talk show host. † l think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they’ve so intimidated politicians. † She goes on to insinuate that the â€Å"liberals† have initiated an attack on religious Americans: â€Å"Just like we need to observe tolerance for the gay and lesbian community, we need to have tolerance for the community of people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs. † † This type of speech from right-wing populists isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s been surfacing for some time, since the mid-twentieth century, a stand against the moving regressive of women’s rights, civil rights, challenges to the traditional patriarchy, and fear of communism. Pushed for some time beginning with post-World War II and beyond, today, rabid defense of religious libe rty and unapologetic perpetuation of deregulated capitalism as a divine force infiltrates the very fiber of American political, public, and religious discourse. This project will examine several angles, arguments, and accounts of the power of right wing populism, religiously motivated or otherwise, in the mainstay underbelly of middle and working class white America. Presupposing that this regiment of withdrawing American â€Å"conservatives† is modernly strong and the consideration of it is worthwhile, I will offer research and commentary. To accomplish this, I will consider several academic and media sources, authored by political scientists, religious studies scholars, sociologists, philosophers, and ethnographers. 3 The main concepts necessary for context on this project are two. First, I will take into account William E. Connelly â€Å"Christian-capitalist resonance machine,† an idea articulated in his 2008 book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style. Second, a good deal of this study will focus on analysis of Thomas Franks 2004 book What’s the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America and his notion of a â€Å"backlash culture. â€Å"† These two trends, as they may be called, are powerful and are ingrained into American political culture, embedded in a power structure of the Right Wing, both Christian and secular. Now, the backlash drives the Right Wing, and the Wing itself is a volleying voice in the Christian-capitalist resonance machine. Importantly, however, these trends did not always exist and emerged over some time. † † So my thesis argument is this: the unconditional accepting of the Christian- capitalist resonance machine has been growing in the national discourse of government over time, beginning with anti-communist movements after the Second World War and a wave of Southern evangelicalism establishing an effective empire on the tails of earlier labor movements. This coincidentally intersected with the changing face of populism to resent the progressivism of the second half of the Twentieth Century, namely desegregation, increased legality for abortion, and increased teaching of evolutionary science in public schools. This occurred as the Right learned from its failings during the Goldwater campaign and transformed itself into a force ready for alliance with the Christian Right, which itself had become more powerful on account of television and radio. Now, nostalgic sentiments of a supposedly better America in the past permeate the psyche of a white middle and working class that dollies the Christian-capitalist 4 resonance machine and unleashes blame of what it perceives to be moral flaws at the feet of the â€Å"liberals,† effectively promulgating a backlash culture. † † I will supplement the study of those two trends with theoretical methods of interpretation, analysis, and study, heavily relying on Sarah Diamond’s 1995 book Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. With Diamond as a starting point to understand the comprehensive formation of power to create a culture of backlash and Connelly Christian-capitalist resonance machine, pushed by an unlikely alliance of libertarians, evangelicals, conservatives, and moderates, I will add to her analysis with other scholars, most notably Michael Akin, Darrel Docks, and Lisa McGuire. † Thomas Frank, Joe Pageant and the Backlash Culture! Patriotism has woven itself deeply into this generation’s personality. The attacks on September 1 1, 2001 solidified a culture of burgeoning nationalism. The United States became an identity for many young people in a new, vibrant way. To disgrace the flag is to disgrace the people who were victims in terrorist attacks and to undermine the military, whose interest, after all, is rooted not in violence but in protection. The PATRIOT Act of 2001 called into question the importance of personal privacy in an era with the nation’s enemies are technologically as’. N. And that foe is n insurgency with no national ties, but who seemingly target the red, white, and blue hostilely. For a time, resulting from disgust for the French for seemingly not supporting the Just cause of the 5 United States, French fries were Jokingly renamed â€Å"freedom fries† and the French kiss dubbed the â€Å"All-American lip lock. â€Å"† Even discarding trivial pop culture phenomena like these, it is clear that the government denial that bubbled toward the end and in the aftermath of the War in Vietnam became questionable at best for the public in the early new millennium. President Bush, to many, represented a strong, moral, religiously devout leader hose intentions in super sizing the United States military were only a vehicle through which to enact democratic change on behalf of oppressed people in the Middle East, specifically in Afghanistan and Iraq. For a time, intervention in the Middle East was patriotic and an offshoot of the De facto mission of the nation: that all people should be free and entitled to certain rights of privacy and prosperity in a venue of individualism and free exchange of ideas. This obsession with capitalism with shades of manifest destiny eventually wavered when it was clear that there old be no â€Å"winning† the War on Terror, at least for the time being. It wasn’t until President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of Seal Team Six in 2011 that it looked like the insurgent al-Qaeda was on the run at A growing disparity of wealth in the United States resulting partially from offshore labor and the continuing success of Internet companies coupled with an unwavering patriotism in the new millennium. What used to be a substantially sized white middle class in the United States was either being absorbed into the upper class or pushed downward into the working class. Combine this with a recession at the hands of the housing market collapse and you have an environment rich for what political scientist 6 Thomas Frank calls â€Å"backlash culture† Just at the time that Barack Obama took the oath in January 2009. † In What’s the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, Frank discusses how a progressive hub like Kansas gradually turned into a prototypical example of the effects of the New Right on the middle of America and became symbolic of what he calls the â€Å"backlash culture. â€Å"† † Backlash, by definition, is reaction to social change among a mass group of people toward what they feel is an outside, intervening power. For our purposes, the backlash of the second half of the twentieth century can be boiled down to a dist rust of both big government and Wall Street powers, both of which are run by the elite and neglect the average, pious American. However, according to Frank, an opportunist group of conservatives hijacked the distrust and malaise toward elite east-coast and west-coasters and morphed it into a political machine. We will examine this shift more, but it safe to say that Kansas was an exemplary microcosm of such radical change. † Frank alleges that the backlash is a working-class movement hat has done incalculable, historic harm to working-class people and that confident liberals who led America in a previous wave of populism are a dying species. Carefully cultivated derangement in places like Kansas have stirred these movements. The narrative has been perpetuated to paint liberals as out of touch and move Middle America from liberal to staunchly conservative. † Frank is a Kansas insider, having grown up outside Kansas City on the KS side. 7 One of Franks big themes is the idea of â€Å"Two Americas. Fox News, Heartland, and others have espoused two entirely separate Americas where red-starters are down to earth and reverent and blue-starters are lazy and elitist. Kansas used to be extremely progressive, but the red-states dynamic combined with huge telecommunications industries have pushed taxes low and labor cheaper. The huge industries play towns off against each other; it’s economic growth that makes an area less wealthy and less healthy as its population increases. Farm towns are in decay. Deregulated capitalism has allowed Walter to crash local businesses. Huge food reparations have used legislation to get richer while disenfranchising farmers. † Kansas has found its most aggressively pious individuals and elevated them to public officer. He gives an example: the leader of the Wyandotte County Republican Party reportedly once told a reporter, â€Å"Primarily my goal is to build the Kingdom of God† (69), a statement that any secularist might find alarming. Another prominent example of this trend is Sam Brownian, who as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, may have been responsible for running the state’s small farmers into the grips of large agriculture corporations (73). Ironically, even though he once denounced the presence of PACK money in politics, corporate telecommunications front groups soon funded him and he and eventually voted against McCain-Feinting (74). Some of Franks conclusions to the change of culture in Kansas may be representative of much of middle America. The â€Å"rebels† (as they are called) of Kansas Imagine Georgia, Texas, or much of the Southeast and Midwest. Imagine ideally Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Washington, and Oregon. When you are looking for a change in d ialogue, why not find the person who cares hyperbolically the most? Want to tear down federal farm programs and privative utilities because big business has told them to. Towns that are dependent on the government want the â€Å"liberals† to pack up and leave them alone because the Cat Institute and others have created this mindset, and corporations dangle money over their heads because they are mobile and cities are not. † The most consequential shift has been within the Republican Party, which has been pushed more and more to the right. Through the sass, the legislature was dominated by traditional moderate Republicans. This changed in 1991 when a pro- fife group pushed conservatives and rendered Democrats helpless. Strangely, this populist movement was at the heeding of a policy that is is difficult to defeat in legalized abortion. Even so, anti-abortion protesters who were looking to build a â€Å"kingdom of God†, worked harder than the moderates to achieve their success. † † Only the conservatives’ complete opposition to taxes has any sort of tangible use anyway, but they stir the pot and push what would seem to be a class war, except that the war is from the top down, not the bottom up. The working class heroes are even more Republican than their bosses. This echoes Joe Pageant, whom I will mention in a moment. The conservative social critique always boils down to the message that liberals are rich and lazy, and Frank alleges all claims on the right advance from victimized. The backlash suspends material needs for grave social grievances. Frank writes that the backlash movement says that nothing can protect humble Americans from the alien forces of liberalism. For b acklasher, business is natural and good, and the liberals want to destroy business. Frank alleges that Republicans have to lie about being the 9 party of the common man by concealing that huge business is actually their main interest. Then, the backlasher label universities as places of evil â€Å"liberal† elitism, attempting to articulate that the future for them is doomed as well. Thus, conservatives pretend to be â€Å"persecuted, powerless, and blind. â€Å"† The backlash is about individual identity, and those who perpetuate it have used gun control, abortion, and evolution to manipulate voters. Ann-intellectualism is one of their unifying themes. Backlasher blame intellectuals for calling the shots in the political sphere. This anti-intellectualism can be dated back to the sass against New Deal regulations. Then more came in the sass with McCarthy, as we have already seen. Republicans have hijacked several anti-intellectual traditions including Protestant evangelicalism (194) and in every social issue Republicans perceive the same pattern of a conflict of the â€Å"authentic† with the liberal and arrogant. Anti- intellectualism makes pro-life movements central to contemporary conservatism (198). † † The idea that the liberals are calling â€Å"all the shots† in America in a time of a worsening economy and the perceived debilitation of traditional morals affects these average Americans directly. Social movements in LIGHT progress allegedly threaten heir families and religious freedom. The advancement of gun control legislation threatens their sacred constitutional rights. In all, I argue that the election of an Africanizing president contributes to a white fear that the average white American is somehow being made to pay for the inherent advantages in opportunity that they did not choose. † The resonance was that the liberal elite were meddling in the definition of human life with their cliquey liberalism. The backlash movement is becoming permanent in the 10 resonance machine, like the liberals against which they dissent (242). But what it has in common with mainstream culture is the refusal to think about capitalism critically. Because liberals have dropped the class language that distinguished them from Republicans, they have left themselves vulnerable to the cultural wedges. In short, the backlash works. † It is no secret that Frank is writing from a left-leaning perspective, lamenting the ways large businesses like Boeing have taken over legislative imperatives in his hometown. Even so, I think his argument is pessimistic and is one of more description than action, as we will see in Connelly. † In summary, the government backlash has been emerging over time, a product of the response to progressive social movements. Because those social movements were often pushed by those called â€Å"liberals,† the other side of the coin blames the liberals for irrevocable progressivism that has negatively changed the values of the nation. † † Franks commentary connects well with Joe Pageant’s 2007 book Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War. In a return trip to his home town of rural Virginia, Pageant, a Journalist, condenses interviews and relationships into this book, articulating what he calls the â€Å"American hologram. This hologram is the belief that white people must be middle class, even if they are living paycheck to paycheck. Starkly, Pageant writes,† â€Å"If middle-class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state of the PATRIOT Act, it is because they live comfortably enough to exercise 11 their liberties very lightly, never testing the boundaries. You never know you are in prison unless you try the door† (263). † Though Pageant’s people are less the backlasher than Franks people, they are a group of working class white people who have come to ascribe to the political levels of their bosses so as not to hurt their Job status. Pageant tells of a world where â€Å"liberals† are dubbed weak-willed people, and social questions aren’t about complexity, but about good guys versus bad guys (67). A good example of the cause of the malaise that Pageant describes is the actions of Rubberier, who, at the time of publishing, employed a good many of people in his hometown. Walter, in an attempt to lower the prices that Rubberier cost them, began replacing Rubberier with other products. After seeing a sales drop, Rubberier caved, shutting down sixty-nine of its 400 facilities and firing 1 ,OHO workers (76), some of whom Pageant knew. † But for the people Pageant knows, this is the fault of the liberals, partially because they never reached these people with any message at away. As Republicans became uneasy in the sass with change, they trapped into the uneasiness among middle Americans by lamenting the â€Å"loss of community and values and attributing it to the ‘cultural left’s feminism and Antarctica,† etc (82). Guns are American, and liberals are against them. Cultural freedom is American, and liberals are against it. He sums it all up â€Å"That’s what they [the people he knows, whites living paycheck to check] voted for – an armed and moral republic. And that’s what we get when we stand by and At least the Republicans had a message, even if it was only about values. 2 watch the humanity get hammered out of our fellow citizens, letting them be worked cheap and farmed like a human crop for profit† (91). † Finally, the Christian element about which Pageant writes cannot be neglected. He writes, â€Å"you don’t need a degree in sociology to see that the most obvious class indicator in America is religious belief and that religious zeal is concentrated in lowercases and working-class whites† (182). † † Franks culture of backlash is a common one through the history of the United States. There has always been contempt for those in power on the part of a certain sect. In sum, after the Second World War, ideas of anti-communism turned any type of progressivism into a wary opponent to â€Å"true† Americanism. Social Justice between desegregation and increased women’s rights, including eventual rulings on Roe v. Wade, added to a middle class restlessness about changing times, threatening the class’ prosperity. That middle class fed on alleged threats of progressivism to promulgate a backlash culture against the amoral and progressive government, effectively ensuring a discourse of the â€Å"two Americas† in Franks book that were at war for the heart of a real America. Even though there have always been backlash movements, times changed in the twentieth century when mass media became available to the backlogging populists who used a rhetoric of fear to convince others to Join them. This backlash culture culminated at the right time with the Christian Right and the New Right to form a pervasive Christian-capitalist resonance machine. † William E. Connelly and the Christian-capitalist Resonance Machine† 13 In his book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style, William E. Connelly explores how an ethos of existential revenge permeates a culture, including those of â€Å"work, investment, church assemblies, educational practices, modes of consumption, avowing habits, electoral campaigns, and economic theory’ (4). With an ethos a â€Å"shared spirituality,† this theme of revenge has been incorporated into an evangelical wing of Christianity and resonates with â€Å"exclusionary drives and claims to special entitlement running through the cowboy sector of American capitalism† (7). To me, it seems clear that the ethos of existential revenge is another facet of the backlash ultra introduced in the previous section. This ethos of existential revenge exists in a vacuum of what Connelly calls the â€Å"Christian-capitalist resonance machine. † The confluence of backlash culture with the resonance machine creates a powerful motive for political activism in the Right. In his book, Connelly articulates this resonance machine and prop oses a way to combat it. I will summarize his articulations and, at the end of the project, offer analysis and a new thesis of how to combat the resonance machine from the Left. † † Connelly posits as early as page 7 that he would like to explore what it would How to cite Take America Back, Papers

Sergei Rachmaninoff Essay Example For Students

Sergei Rachmaninoff Essay Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was born on April 1, 1873, at the family estate in Oneg, deep in the Nogorod countryside. His parents were Lubov Boutakov and Vasily Rachmaninoff. His father, Vasily, was an ex-officer in the Russian army. He had two elder sisters, Elena and Sophia, and an older brother named Vladimir. He had two younger siblings which joined the Rachmaninoff family, a girl named Varvara and a boy called Arkady. Varvara died when she was just a baby. Music was an important part of the Rachmaninoff family tradition. His father and his grandfaher had both played the piano. Alexander Siloti, Rachmaninoffs cousin, was already an acomplished pianist and was becoming popular by the time Rachmaninoff was born. Sergei was six years of age when he had his first piano lesson from Anna Ornatsky. She was from the St. Petersburn Conservatory. Rachmaninoff seemed to have a natural ability at the piano. Anna recommended that he receive a scholarship at the St. Petersburn Conservatory in 1881. He was but 9 years old when he began his formal lessons at the Conservatory. During the next few years he would skip his classes to play games and train hop, which would eventually result in failure at school. By this time, circumstances at home had left Lubov and the children with next to nothing because Vasily had pissed away all of the families earnings. With no money and the school threatening to expell her son from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Lubov turned to her cousin Alexander Siloti. They made an arrangement that Sergei could continue to study at the Conservatory, at which point the family moved to Moscow. There Sergei became a student of Nikolai Zverev. Nikolai was known throughout the country as both a teacher and a diciplinarian. Hard daily schedules of long practice sessions soon helped Rachmaninoff settle down and become focused. Over a period of time the dicipline began to pay off as their musical evenings soon attracted many of Russias principal musicians. Among some of the more notable guests was Tchaikovsky, whom Rachmaninoff became close friends with. During his career as a musician, Rachmaninoff was greatly influenced by his new found friend, Tchaikovsky. Rachmaninoff had his first introduction to composing at The Moscow Conservatory, There, under the instruction of Sergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky, he obtained a better understanding of counterpoint and harmony and began composing on his own. Of his earlier works, some of the more notable are the tone poem Prince Rostslav and First Piano Concerto, along with some solo piano pieces and several songs. His instructer, Zverev, felt that he was wasting his talents composing at the keyboard. They never reached an agreement, and Rachmaninoff transferred to study under his cousin Alexander Siloti.. Rachmaninoff took his final exams a year early, demonstrating remarkable talents at the piano, and graduated in 1891, a year earlier than expected. During this time he entered an opra entitled Aleko for his exam assignment, which he wrote in just one month. This piece went on to earn the highest possible mark, the Great Gold Medal, and became one of his more well known works. Shortly after graduation he composed C Sharp Minor Prelude which he came to be known for for the rest of his life. In January of 1895, he began thinking of ideas for his first major orchestral work, his First Symphony. It took him eight months to complete this undertaking. It was another year and a half before his symphony debuted in St. Petersburg, five days before Rachmaninoffs 24th birthday. The performance was a disaster , which left young Rachmaninoff devasted. .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .postImageUrl , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:hover , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:visited , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:active { border:0!important; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:active , .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1 .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7f8a3297d32d740838cb4783094effc1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Lesson before Dying EssayHe later went on to say of Glazunov, who conducted the premier, I am amazed how such a highly talented man can conduct so badly. It was later believed that Glazunov conducted the dramatic work while piss drunk. Rachmaninoff lacked the confidence to compose anything after the shambles of the First Symphony, although the years following were not without musical activity. During this time he obtained a position conducting for a famous private theatre in Moscow. Still struggling with his ability to compose, he wrote only a few piano miniatures. After being introduced by a friend to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, it was speculated that Rachmaninoff was hypnotized in order to bring back his confidence, but it is more likely that he simply talked to Dahl on subjects like music and the arts. These conversations, along with encouragement from close friends, provided Sergei with assurance and a peace of mind, and he once again began to compose. He began by writing down ideas for his Second Concerto in 1900, and introduced it to the public in October of 1901. He composed most of his lifes works during this time. Some of his more well known were the Second Symphony, the Third Concerto, The Miserly Knight, and Francesca Da Rimini. He made a name for himself in London, Leeds, and New York, and his career was at the peak of success as a composer in Russia. By 1917, he and the public both viewed himself primarily as a composer and second as a pianist. Times in Russia were becoming filled with turmoil and entropy, and after the October Revolution in 1917 he found the atmosphere in Russia unbearable, writing at the time; Everything around me makes it impossible for me to work and I am frightened of becoming completely apathetic. Having virtually no money and their family estate at Ivanokva demolished by revolutionaries, Rachmaninoff and his family decided to leave Russia. With a small repertoire made up of his own works, some Chopin, Listz, and Tchaikovsky, he spent the next twenty five years broadening his repertoire and making his living performing piano recitals around the world. He lived in Switzerland for much of the 1930s, but returned to the United for the later part of the decade. On March 28th, 1943, Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff died in Beverly Hills. His complete works entailed over forty-five major compositions. My favorite, I might add, is the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. While he might not have been the most influential composer of his time, his skills at conveying the emotions behind the pieces he played far exceeded that of most any other man. His works still continue to be heard to this day, and are just as soul-stirring today as they were the day he scrawled the first note onto the now yellowed parchment. Bibliography miscellaneous internet sites