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Is India’s Inclusive Growth a ‘Chimera’ Essay - 646 Words

â€Å"The strategy of inclusive growth pursued by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has helped mitigate the widening social and economic disparities brought about by rapid economic growth.† – Dr. Manmohan Singh on ‘Inclusive growth’. ‘India shining’ has been the political slogan for India since the turn of the new millennium, and rapid economic growth over the last decade enunciated the saga of India rising. However, our â€Å"tryst with destiny† has been a mysterious journey of a struggle with poverty and illiteracy. Every day as millions of English-speaking educated youths chase their ‘big Indian dreams’, millions more continue their fight for survival. The ruling parties boast of our 7-8% economic growth, continuing†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Overall, U.N.D.P.’s report of 2011 is a clear indicator of India’s failure on the social front. India ranks a low 134th in the list of 187 countries. †¢ At the other extreme, India is home to over 126,700 super rich (assets over $ 1 million), and 2.5% of the rural household owns the 30% of land in the ‘Socialist Republic of India’. This clearly signifies the sustained high growth rate. However, failure in raising social and economic development reflects the myopic vision of policy makers who stress the importance of growth statistics over equity and use the phrase ‘inclusive growth’ merely for political interest. Post-liberalization India has followed the mixed economy model with capitalist inclination, and this invalidates a people-oriented development. The path of ‘inclusive growth’ that the Indian economy is supposedly following presents a cocktail of mystery, wonder and despair, one which leaves even the stalwarts bewildered. The experiences from implementation of past policies tell us much of the road ahead in realizing the dream of a developed India, but so far, the journey to inclusiveness is inconclusive. â€Å"Growth, Development and Social sector: An Indian Perspective†, our broad theme for Y.E.S.M. this year, looks to explore the most relevant question for India’s development, â€Å"Should India invest more in its social sector to

Mafia History Essay Example For Students

Mafia History Essay What is the Mafia? Some believe the word Mafia was the battle cry of an Italian rebellious group- this battle of cry was the following: Morte all Francia Italia anelia! (Italian for death to the French is Italys cry!) (www. gambino.com). Others defined the Mafia as, name for loose association of criminal groups, sometimes bound by blood oath and sworn to secrecy. (Microsoft Encarta 97). Despite both of these definitions the Mafia has evolved into a very complex and organized society of crime. Present time it doesnt represent Italian gangs, (even though thats what most people picture) it also includes Russian, Japanese and Chinese gangs just to mention a few. The purpose of this work is to describe some of the aspects of the Mafia. Throughout the course of this work I will use the Italian Mafia as my subject in order to exhibit my views more clearly.The history of the Mafia is sketchy but many believe that the Mafia was born in order to protect and help the less fortunate. The methods used to help and protect were, and still remain illegal. Today, the organization still continues to practice these acts or rituals. The difference between early Mafia and modern Mafia, is that during late 1800s to early 1900s, the Mafia used these illicit crimes to help their families and the noble good less fortunate, now they abuse their power and distribute the dirty money in abundance amongst themselves. (keep in mind that the Mafia was born in Sicily, in a time where authorities werent accessible).The Mafia also has a very organized family tree. This tree includes everything from bosses to soldiers. Soldiers usually belong in the bottom. Followed by these are called enforcers. They usually serve as bodyguards or bouncers who watch and protect their establishment. These enforcers are able to have their own gambling or other financial establishment. They are also able to hire others to carry out tasks. Above enforcers are commissioners. They control the area of the city and are more widespread. Next is The Boss. He controls one of the several organizations. Ultimately these are controlled by the godfather. Many times these Mafiosi have what is notoriously known as Murders Inc (Italian Mafia). This group of individuals specialize in murders. They consist of a small group of heartless individuals who kill whenever ordered to. In order for an individual to join the Mafia he would pledge the following: I (name given) want to enter this secret organization to protect my family and to protect my brothers. Morte alla Francia Italia Anelia!. With my blood (a knife is used to place a cut in the index finger or band) and the blood of all the saints and the soul of my children. (the sign of the cross is made) I swear not to divulge this secret and obey with love and amerta. I enter alive in this organization and leave only in death! (www.gambino.com). Within this pledge there are many clues which reveal the lifestyle of a Mafioso.A person who belongs to the Mafia, or Mafioso is a very secretive person. This is because if any information is revealed which may harm another Mafioso, they be punished by death. The value of silence is a requirement of any Mafiosi, it is a norm of those who participate in criminal activities and those who violate it will be punished according to the grade of the offense. Depending on the offense he may have to prove himself to his boss, may be out on the street (the American Mafia) or if it was extremely important information, he would be killed. This information is kept within their own families (fellow gangsters) and is discussed amongst themselves despite the fact that there are several other families (chapters) within the same are or state. The reason for this is mainly concerned with financial situation.The murder, if done, may be completed using several methods. One method is by hiring someone, usually from another family, to kill the individual. This is the method most commonly used when the individual knows m ost of the Mafiosos in his family. Another way may be to be set up. In this case the individual may be set up by fellow gangsters he trusts. Many times these trusty individuals are required to kill their friend because of a big favor owed to the boss. The final way the individual may be murdered is purely by favor. This means that a member may kill the individual with the intentions of moving up in rank within his family. Violence is the primary use of the Mafia, but at times it is in the Mafias interest to use nonviolent means. For example, when dealing with small offenses, Mafia bosses may use debt as means of punishing the individual. This is accomplished through secrecy and cheating during gambling bets. Another way used to punishing individuals is by taking their right to take part in any profiting activity. Any enterprise, like gambling, or any way to receive money is either crippled or taken from the individual. Non-violent means are also put through violent means. For exampl e, if an individual borrows money and refuses to pay he will be punished but not killed. They will often scar the individual in order to warn others of what could happen if they refuse to pay. Th. final way of punishing an individual is by making him work for free until his debt is completely paid. On the other hand, violence is the tool which is most often put to use. Violence is not only used to punish, it is used to take over competitors enterprises. (The American Mafia) Some types of violence may include threats, destruction of property, or mugging. All of these are used to take over their competitors establishment. This is not done directly to the competitor (other than destruction of property) but rather indirectly, meaning through customers. For example, they will not threat or mug the owners of the establishment, instead they will do this to the customers. Other times warfare may be the violent tool used. This is almost always the case when we hear of territorial battles. Ma ny times individuals of these organizations take advantage of these battles and revenge upon previous, unrelated matters. This often leads to bigger death tolls. Todays Mafia in the is different from Sicilian Mafia in the beginning of the century. This European Mafia was built upon a sense of respect, loyalty, culture, family, and heritage (Sicilian heritage) They only chose people of Sicilian background and followed their beliefs very closely. This belief was that justice, honor, and vengeance are for a man to manage, not for the government. They were also loyal to the norm of the Mafia which was secrecy. Todays Mafia, on the other hand, include a large group of thieves, murderers, and a unloyal individuals. Despite the fact that it inherited some of the basic norms, these are often broken and abused. For instance, one norm no longer followed (in respect to Italian Mafia) is their selection of only Sicilian individuals. The main purpose of todays Mafia is to use any illegal means t o get money. These means include, gambling, murder, bootlegging, prostitution, and kidnapping. A major difference between this type of society and a normal society would be in the justice system. In our society we are able to sue anyone with reasonable cause. This may vary from money owed to an automobile accident. This isnt the case with the Mafia. How can a Mafioso take someone to court for not paying gambling fees or drug sales? This is where their own form of punishment, which we have discussed, come to play. This is also where they take advantage of their belief, justice, honor, and vengeance are for a man to take care ofThe society, which we call Mafia, has evolved very drastically. It has evolved and adapted to new ways much like a normal society, this being a society under government and police regulations. It is a very complex and organized group of individuals who follow old norms and take part in criminal activity in order to achieve one goal, money. I have described most of the aspects of this organization in terms of history, organization (ranks, etc.) norms, and goals. All of these elements are essential in making any society thus proving that the Mafia is a society within our society. Hopefully now you have a more clear understanding of this underground society. .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .postImageUrl , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:hover , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:visited , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:active { border:0!important; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 { 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; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:active , .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .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; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6 .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uafde7a302f4a0b22196b9938745c82c6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: In 1794 The Temporary Capital Was In An Extreme St Essay

Land of Cokaygne free essay sample

The poem that I will study is entitled the Land Of Cokaygne and it belongs to the â€Å"Kildare poems†. The Kildare poems are a group of sixteen poems written in an Irish dialect of Middle English and dated to the mid-14th century. Together with a second, shorter set of poems in the so-called Loscombe Manuscript, they constitute the first and most important linguistic document of the early development of Irish English in the centuries after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. The poems have religious and satirical contents. They are preserved in a single manuscript in the British Library, where they are scattered between a number of Latin and Old French texts. The conventional modern designation Kildare poems refers both to the town of Kildare in Ireland, which has been proposed as their likely place of origin, and to the name of the author of at least one of the poems, who calls himself Michael (of) Kildare. We will write a custom essay sample on Land of Cokaygne or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The authors or compilers were probably Franciscan monks So what is a land of Cockaygne : it is a medieval mythical land of plenty, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand and where the harshness of medieval peasant life does not exist. So it’s actually a utopian world. t’s a theme or a world that belongs to the European folklore Some critics focused on its Irish provenance and according to them the poems have some relationship with the Old French Fabliau de Cocagne (1250) and the Middle Dutch Dit is van date dele Land van Cockaengen ( but in don’t have the date) This poem is seen as a satire, a parody and a burlesque text. We can actually say that his text is also content some element of Utopia because it deals with a sort of mythic world which is better than Heaven. This theme is not something new because according to Professor Bella Millet, it comes from three main traditions: * The classical tradition: and we can refer to True History by Lucian, a Greek work of the second century AD which deals with a comical paradise full of drinks, food and women * The Christian tradition: we can refer to Alexander the Great’s description of the Heaven and the Earthly Paradise * The Goliardic tradition too: one Latin poem of the twelfth century (Carmina Burana 222) is spoken an abbot of Cockaygne who presides over drinking and gambling, and the descriptions of the two abbeys in Cockaygne, which invert the usual norms of religious life, echo themes found elsewhere in Goliardic poetry According to Wim Tigges, who makes an interesting paper on the Land of Cokaygne ( that I used in order to do my presentation) the poem is based or develops some variants of the Other World which are : * the land of fair ease whose bliss consists in a superfluity of food an d drinks. This land is separated from the outside world by an unpleasant obstacle * the earthly Paradise of the Christian legend the Celtic myths of the blessed isles : a land, traditionally located near the place where the sun sets, to which the souls of the good were taken to enjoy a life of eternal bliss. OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY * There is also an echo to the fabulous western island described in the Old Irish Travelogues and it seems to be parodied in the text * Some account of the Golden Age : it echoes the Ovid’s Metamorphoses * It’s based also on the medieval tradition of the locus amoenus ( I will give a def. latter) * And , The notion of the cloister as a paradise We will know focus on the text which is composed of several parts and we will see that the poem is actually a folk-tall based on satire and irony. In this first part, the poem opens on the description of the Land of Cockaygne, a land that seems to be better that Heaven as we see line 3 to 6 : â€Å"no place on earth compares to this – for sheer delightfulness and bliss – thought paradise is fair and bright- cockaygne is finer sight†. The author gives us all the assets of this wonderful land but we quickly realized that there are not a lot of differences between the Land of Cockaygne and Heaven: as in Eden and in Cockaygne there is no care for labor (line 18) there is no nightfall (line 26) – no quarrel (line 27– no death (28) and no dangerous or harmful animals (line 31). But he excludes â€Å"common† animals from the land as horses or cows, which is a bit paradoxical because they are not harmful. So we may relate those exclusions with the absence of labour : people in that land do not have to take care of it. By then, we see that the author invites us to believe that every unpleasant things simply do not exist in that world : as the muck because there is no animal , or bad weather and even blindness. However one element is often repeated in the description of the land which is the elements of food and alcohol and this latter does not exist in Heaven, which is one of its defect : â€Å"no alcoholic drink at all l. 12†. According to me we can associate these references to gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins which is also one of the folkloric feature of the Cockaygne imagery. So first we only have a â€Å"classic† presentation of a â€Å"perfect† Utopia, of an unrealistic place but when we keep reading, we notice that the description of the rivers which are rivers of oil, milk, honey and wine ( which by the way echoes Paradise’s rivers) introduces this notion of absurd and satire that we will find all along the text. Indeed at first we can think that this description is only a metaphor in order to praise, to speak highly of the Land of Cockaygne, a kind of continuity of the previous description. But when we reach the second part of the poem we understand that we should take this description seriously because there is in this land an abbey which is completely made of food : as we can see from line 51 to 62 =gt; the author here introduces a folkloric imagery which obviously makes us smile and we can help to imagine that building made of food. And once again, line 61-62, there is another invitation to gluttony: in this wonderful world we can eat everything we want and when you want as well. So here, the author clearly underlines that the monks are living in idealistic and surrealistic world and we may be question the credibility of the monks because at the end of the Middle Ages there was a sort of â€Å" anti-monastic† criticism. The monastery was seen at that time as a place secluded from the world in which monks could play and do their task. This satire may be directed against the Cistercian abbey. As I found on the website of Millet, the Cistercian were a reformed order who followed a stricter and more ascetic way of life than the ordinary black Benedictine monks In our text, the monastery fit with the tradition of Cockaygne ( line 54 to 66) and indeed George Ellis published in his novel In Specimens of Early English Poets ( 1790) a 13th century French poem called â€Å"the Land of Cockaign† where I quote the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing. And it’s also a mixture of LOCUS AMOENUS of medieval romance, as I aid previously in the introduction. A definition of the LOCUS AMOENUS (that I found on the internet) : it’s a literary term which refers to an idealized place of safety or comfort. It is often a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland with connotation of Eden. There are 3 recurrent patterns in a LOCUS AMOENUS : water; grass and trees and we find an accumulation of all of these elements in our text and it give us the impression that the author is exaggerating, that is a parody of the LOCUS AMOENUS Then, in a new episode, we are asked to believe that roasted geese and larks fly in the sky into the abbey and that they announced themselves with a kind of cry I QUOTE line 114 : â€Å" geese all hot, all hot†. It is obviously an absurd scene that invites us to picture the whole scene and there is even a kind of contrast we the previous passage with the birds which are sweetly singing. Obviously the author’s purpose is to amuse the reader, to distract him from the real life. Then, the poet finally tells us the lifestyle of the monks of the abbey. They are young (l. 121) and they are able to flight and no birds can compete them because they have â€Å" Fluttering sleeves and hoods† (l. 126). We know also that they do not obey their Abbot so in order to make them land, he has to beat a maiden’s rear as if he was, actually, giving them the hour in order that they start working again. Once they land, they start to â€Å"dance† around the girl giving her a pat on her rear as well. The poet records us the scene as if it was a common event, a kind of ritual that they do every day. In this episode is a mixture of both absurd and satire. Indeed the author gives us a completely different image, aspect of the monastery’s life, we have a caricature of the monks: they do not respect their vow of obedience and in the next part we will see that they did not respect their vow of chastely as well. In the last part of the poem, we are invited to see another â€Å"side† of the religion: it’s the description of a nunnery. As the monks, the nuns are young (l. 152) and during the hot days of summer they swim naked in one of the fourth river of the Land. As I read in T. D Hill’s explication: the sweet milk, the boating and the naked swimming are supposed to underline their innocence and even their chastity. But obviously the monks see them and they â€Å"instruct† the nuns. It’s a new aspect of the folkloristic Cokaygne which is the sexuality. The act of intercourse in the medieval text, is always â€Å"subtle†, is always paraphrased and here in terms of prayers and dancing. It’s a criticism and a satire of the clerical life, the vows of chastity is not respected. And eventually, the poem closes on another folkloric feature of Cockaygne: the one who will sleep the much will be rewarded and, I QUOTE : â€Å" and the monk who sleep the best – and gives himself a thorough rest- may if he cultivates the habit- hope to end up as Father Abbot. It’s a reference to sloth one of the deadly sins. It’s completely absurd because even now days we will never be rewarded is we do nothing, it will be great if it was true = the aim here is again to make us dream. Then, the end of the text gives us the key to enter into the Land of Cockaygne : we have for seven years, I QUOTE â€Å" wade through pigshit to his chin – the pleasure of Cockaygne to win†. We may interpret it by the fact that we have endured a harsh life in order to have the right to enjoy such bliss. We have to experience a penance to access the land but once again the penance is quite absurd, which is aligned with the tone of the entire poem. Moreover the end of the poem can be considered as a parody of a moral that we found at the end of tall tales To conclude we easily understand that of course this kind of text does not have a serious purpose. The aim of the poem is to allow the reader to enter into a world where all the restrictions of the society are defies, were sexual liberty is open and where food is plentiful. Moreover it is also a kind of text that mix all sort of genres in order to be accessible to everyone.