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The End of America a 2008 documentary adapted from Naomi Wolfs book
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The End of America
The “The end of America” is a 2008 documentary adapted from Naomi Wolf’s book “The end of America: Letter or warning to a young patriot”. Primarily, the documentary focuses on the eroding civil rights in America especially after the September 11, 2001 terror attack in America. Further, it explores the federal laws enacted since the terror attack that remain in effect. Consequently, it compares the President Bush’s endeavors to discourage dissent and to exercise an increasingly unchecked power to the events that preceded the 20th Century dictatorial governments in some countries like Germany, Chile, and Italy. Without openly stating it, the documentary implies that since the terror attack, America has slowly shifted to fascism in the name of combating terror. According to the documentary, the first tool for power acquisition is the creating of fear. Ms. Wolf claims this was achieved after the terror attack with the passing of the patriotic act that allows for expanded surveillance and an acceptance of whatever measures seen to be keeping Americans safe. Additionally, the use of color-coded alerts that have kept Americas on the edge are being used to create fear. The documentary goes further to outline the steps towards creating an authoritarian rule that include the creation of secret prisons where torment take place. Other steps are the development of paramilitary forces, development of internal surveillance systems, harassment of citizen’s groups, and the unwarranted arrest and release of civilians. To support the claims, the documentary shows accounts of an American Army chaplain held in Guantanamo for 76 days. He was accused of spying as well as that of a Canadian engineer imprisoned for a year and later cleared of terrorism charges. In addition to this, the documentary also delves into the case of a journalist detained for 226 days for refusing to surrender recordings of police cruelty during a protest in 2005. Finally, the documentary cites the suspension of the rule of law as another step towards changing the rule of law. Here she cites a case in which top government officials summoned to appear in court refused to do so. Ultimately, the documentary insinuates that the administration is keen on curtailing the freedoms and rights of the American people. Moreover, it is evident from the film that it targets people who feel oppressed by the changing policies adopted by the government.
Within the documentary, The End of America, the assertion is made that to an emerging closing society creates secret prisons where torture takes place. According to Joachim Hagopian, a writer for global research, there are CIA-like locations where people are held without being booked to be beaten with reported scenarios of death (Hagopian). Further, the center for constitutional rights in its website says that America has constructed a confinement structure for those it designates as terrorists where they hold people giving an example of Guantanamo Bay (Center for Constitutional Rights). Finally, David Hicks in his book describes his time in a secret American person where he was held for five years (Hicks). Based on these accounts, there is evidence that indeed America has created secret prisons where people are tortured.
Additionally, the documentary asserts that another sign that a nation is shifting towards a closed society is the setting up of internal surveillance systems. Naomi Wolf in her book claims that the government is closely monitoring e-mails of Americans especially activists (Wolf). Next, according to The New York Times, the American postal service reportedly approved numerous requests from law enforcing agencies to monitor secretly citizens’ mail (Nixon). Moreover, The Guardian in a report stated that America has paid at least 100m Pounds to a UK spy agency to gain access to Britain’s intelligence gathering systems (Borger and Hopkins). Based on these claims and evidence, the assertion that America is secretly monitoring its citizens is correct.
Next, a nation keen on imposing a closed system of administration controls the press by restricting access to information and what the media reports as asserted by the documentary. As the Constitutional Rights Foundation explains in their website, the American government continues to control what the press releases especially in Iraq where the press is not allowed to interview the soldiers without special permissions (Costly). Moreover, the Committee to Protect Journalists asserts this claim on their website saying that the White House often controls information disclosure by positioning its media to avoid press scrutiny (Cpj.org). Next, America’s press freedom is on the decline at 49 out of 180 in 2015 down three places from 2014 (Resnikoff). Based on these statements, it is clear that America is curtailing press freedom. This goes to show that America does not want its citizens to know all that is happening thus creating an opportunity for imposing the closed system of governance.
While America continues to refute the existence of secret holding facilities, in recent times, President Obama has renewed his 2008 campaign promise to close one such facility, Guantanamo Bay despite opposition from Congress. Meanwhile, the American government continues to spy secretly on its citizens in the name of protecting them against terror. Still, the government quietly listens to phone conversations claiming it is one way of intercepting possible communication from potential threats to the nation’s security. Finally, the government’s agenda to control media freedom seems to be advancing as shown in the declining press freedom index. Nonetheless, Americans are determined to fight for their rights in the seemingly declining democracy.
Works Cited
Hagopian, Joachim. ‘Totalitarian Rule In America: False Flags, Secret Prisons, Extrajudicial Assassinations, Media Censorship, The Rounding Up Of Alleged “Terrorists” …’. Global Research. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Center for Constitutional Rights,. ‘Faqs: What Are Ghost Detentions And Black Sites | Center For Constitutional Rights’. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Hicks, David. Guantanamo. North Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House Australia, 2010. Print.
Wolf, Naomi. The End Of America. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub., 2007. Print.
Nixon, Ron. ‘Report Reveals Wider Tracking Of Mail In U.S.’. Nytimes.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Borger, Julian, and Nick Hopkins. ‘Exclusive: NSA Pays £100M In Secret Funding For GCHQ’. the Guardian. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Costly, Andrew. ‘Press Freedom – Constitutional Rights Foundation’. Crf-usa.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Cpj.org,. ‘The Obama Administration And The Press – Committee To Protect Journalists’. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Resnikoff, Ned. ‘Report: Press Freedom Experienced ‘Drastic Decline’ In 2014 | Al Jazeera America’. America.aljazeera.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
The Enclosure Movement
History 4A Final Study Guide
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The Enclosure Movement
The Enclosure Movement entailed a period in which the influential people in Britain seized public land and converted them into private property. The movement began around mid 16th centuries and later gained momentum between 18th and 19th centuries. One of the significance of the Enclosure Movement is that it led to a new farming model, crop rotation. These way different crops were grown in different strips and the following seasons new ones planted in enclosures. The movement also saw emergence of squatters as the poor were left landless after the hedging of the farmlands. This led to land related conflicts and revolts in Britain.
Edict of Nantes
This decree issued by King Henry IV is significant as it helped to end religious wars in France. Issued in 1598, the edict allowed the Protestants as Catholics to have public worship in France, expect in Paris. Significantly, the decree, helped to deal with religiously instigated wars that had characterized Europe. This therefore helped to end the bitter catholic-protestant rivalry. Also, it set the centre stage for religious tolerance and integration in France. This had a net effect in Europe in which fierce opposition to Protestants toned down.
Montesquieu
Montesquieu is credited with setting the stage for the formation of a fundamentally sound American constitution that has been modeled global. In his ideological thoughts, Montesquieu is credited with emergence of such ideas as respect of human right and liberty, and need to do away with slavery. As such, his contribution has helped advance the need for observance and practice of the rule of law while at the same time desisting any kind of despotic reign. His ideology has therefore helped the US to prosper peacefully and put in place a sound constitution that adequately distributes power and authority while at the same time ensuring that proper checks and balances are effectively applied.
Council of Trent
The council helped to initiate reforms in the Catholic Church while at the same time deal with the Protestants’ surging influence. As a strategy to counter the Reform Movement that was spearheaded by those opposed to certain catholic doctrines, the council exposed the fact that certain catholic top management were against any attempt to revise the church teachings. Through the council, the issue of church and modernity come into play. As such, the Council of Trent illustrates the fact that the protestants largely wanted change in the church doctrines while the papacy wanted continuity with the traditions. Council of Trent thus helps explain why the catholic still practices its old traditions to date as entrenched in its doctrines even with the rise of Pentecostal churches.
Mary Tudor
By successfully identifying and beating a well orchestrated scheme to stop her from becoming a queen, Mary Tudor is credited with a show of might and soft women power. Her life also shows the religious struggles in England where those opposed to her ascent to the throne were motivated by the fear that England could return to Catholicism. This shows how much the system were against the papacy and attempted, through all means, including violence to ensure that a preferable and puppet like queen was enthroned.
Huguenots
The group’s role and significance in history relate to Church reformation and the religious wars in old Europe. As they represent a group of immigrants who were fleeing religious wars and the strict catholic laws, they depict the cruelty of the Catholic Church at that time and the nature of religious intolerance that existed in Europe. By settling in such areas as Netherlands, Britain and Switzerland, the history of the Huguenots explain why such countries become predominantly protestant leaning. At the same time, their history show the France-Brittan rivalry as the former allowed the refugees to settle in its territory. Huguenot’s story thus confirms how intolerance the state and the church were in France, particularly under Louis XIV.
St. Petersburg
The city and its fast growth show how ambitious Peter the Great was to ensure that Russia was developed. Founded in 1875 by John Williams, a native of Detroit, the city has significantly grown fast. The significance of the city is that its history of growth and development shows that with good infrastructure, a city can fast modernize. This is shown by the communication system that was put in place in the early life of the city such as the Orange Belt Railway. Similarly St. Petersburg’s history illustrates the roles of administrative unit’s commerce and tourism in enhancing development. This is because the city grew fast when Peter the Great made it his administratuve headquarters in place of Moscow. At the same time, the booming tourism industry enhanced its growth.
Versailles
The story of Versailles shows the significant influence and role that a ruler can have in the growth of a place. By choosing Versailles as his non official office, Louis XIV showed a governance tactic where one would rule from out side the formal country headquarters. The history of the place also helps to understand the origin of open air museums. It is in Versailles where such museums first existed in the world.
Versailles, as the king’s lodge also had a unique architectures that was admired by many people. As such, the design the palace was one of its kinds in Europe making it influence the architectural designs in Europe significantly.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith is credited with the development of economic theory. Under the concept of the Wealth of Nations, the economist showed the need for specialization in the economy. Based on his ideology, it has become easier to identify the significance of market and need to ensure its efficiency unlike in the medieval times where the market was a vague concept. Smith arguments and the call for beneficent Providence system have therefore helped to promote freedom in the market so that each person who participates in the market has his or her motives driven by urge to satisfy his needs while at the same time ensuring that harmony exists in the society. As such the man’s activities should be governed by ethics and morality so that the production rate is enhanced and each person benefits.
Maria Theresa of Austria
Her reign was characterized by kindliness and respect for all. As such, she is a model for good governance, under a system that recognizes human rights and selfless service by the leaders. Significantly, a reign that is based on sound human respect and recognition of human rights helps to perpetuate stability and continuity. It is on this understanding that her contributions helped to ensure that the Habsburg Dynasty reigned for a very long period, extending into the contemporary era. Also, she helped to advance the fact that ensuring prosperity of a people should form the basic role of the rulers. At the same time, Maria Theresa of Austria leadership helps to understand the importance of positive multiculturalism in ruling of diverse people.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Her literary work is characterized by a break from tradition where some topics such as sex and women roles in the society were mildly covered. She is therefore credited with the advancement of the radical feminism. For example, in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, the writer argues that women too have very strong sexual feelings and this is not pretence. Her contribution in the history of mankind is also marked by need to seek perfection and free women from socially instigated stigma and restrictions. Though her views were dismissed initially, a century later, the rise of feminism movement in 20th century proved her right. Many women began to press for equality, respect and recognition from the authorities, families and husbands.
Isaac Newton
As a leading scientist, he is known to have influenced the world through his views on physics and mathematics. His is thus a great contributor in the scientific Discovery era. Through his experiments, the theory of motion of objects is clearly understood today as applied in various processes. He also contributed to the service to the public as a Member of Parliament. This, way Newton is also known as a public servant. Answer the questions in detail. 2 pages.1. Enlightenment and Italian Renaissance Ideas
The Enlightenment period was characterized by the need for fundamental changes in both social and political mindset of the society. The changes were driven by the fact that the masses were exploited by the greedy and oppressive rulers who did not want their actions questioned at all. The proponents of Enlightenment wanted the people think philosophically, be free to discuss their views and above all reason out every action or step to be taken. Impliedly, the Enlightenment philosophy had it that through reasoning, the societal problems could be addressed in amore humane manner. As such, such differences and issues as religious intolerance should not be a real issue in an enlightened society. An intellectual thus relies more on reasoning as opposed to religious views at all times. The difference between Enlightenment and Italian Renaissance is that the former seeks to do away with any attempt of influence an individuals thinking through an object or religions while the latter seeks to influence the people through art. During the Italian Renaissance , works of art that depict religious views could be worked out with a view to pass a given message. For example, Michelangelo is known to have come up with great religious paintings.
2. Reformation and Counterreformation
Reformation mainly caused by differences in doctrines more so in relation to the marriage of the priests. The reformists wanted the priests to marry while the church opposed this. Also, the clergy were viewed to be living a worldly life with wealth and mistresses. Coupled with political interest of the papacy, the recommits wanted to de-link church from the state. The reformation was characterized by such events as denunciation, where the traditional believers abandoned their faiths. Another event that marked the reformation was use of violence. The reformists instigated and waged violence against the conservatives. This era was characterized by widespread wars against the catholic faiths and the clergy. Another event was widespread migrations as those felt oppressed moved away from persecution. Counterreformation emerged because the Catholic Church wanted to show its position based on the doctrinal issues cited by the reformists. At the same time, counterreformation was emerged because the Catholic Church wanted to remain relevant and protect its political, religious and commercial interests. Of the major event with regards to Counterreformation was the Council of Trent in which the catholic leaders analyzed and come up with strategies to counter the dissenting voices. The English Reformation was mainly based on the role of the church and state, while in Europe, the reformation was mainly on doctrines and way of worship.
3. Enlightened despots
Catherine of Russia was an enlightened despot. Through her brilliance, she managed to work out her ways from Germany, marry a Russian ruler, organize an overthrow and become a ruler. At the same time, her brilliance made her expand the Russian territory to the Black sea. Another intellectual might of her is based on ability to ensure modernization of the state. At the same time, through her intellect, she gained support among the Russians by devoting her service to them so that she could not view a German or a foreigner.
Frederick the Great was equally an intellectual with varied skills and talents. As the Prussian ruler, he promoted sound management of the public resources that were limited, and deployed the same to enhance public needs. His military intellect also was also displayed when he helped capture Silesia. Similarly, the ruler deployed his military acumen to help stop the aggression of Austrians and defeat them in wars.
Joseph of Austria was also very intelligent based on how he fought his way to the throne. Also he successfully employed military tactics to crush the Hungarian revolt thus stamping his leadership authority as undisputed ruler. His leadership style, a unitary central government was also a sign of his intellect as he knew that delegated power could have brought him down. When his country was defeated by Prussia, resulting into a national unrest, he cleverly gave in public demand gave nod to the 1867 Compromise.
4. Absolute Power
Absolute power entails a monarchial system in which the ultimate state and government powers are held by one person. The ruler has the authority over a territory and its people who become his or her subjects. Such a system has their rulers determined by inheritance and marriage. Louis XIV of France, Stuart England and Frederick William of Prussia offer some examples of the system. The powers of such rulers were exercised in unlimited manner in relation to nearly all aspects of the state. They had control and power over the use of land. As such, they could influence land use and allocation. They also exercised power over the subjects and the military that were expected to be loyal at al time, respecting the monarchs’ orders.
5. Discoveries of the Scientific Revolution
The understanding on the solar system was a major discovery during the Scientific Revolution. This led to negation of the notion that the earth was flat and that the earth was the only planet. Newton also made discovery on the gravitational force. This led to understanding of the force of gravity that was applied to understand the laws of motion. The 17th century discovery of Electricity also greatly impacted on man’s life. The discovery by Otto von Guericke, helped to develop ways to generate electric power which in turn improved man’s life through lighting and reduction in reliance on manual labor and machines.
Portakabin Groups main activity is the offer interim or permanent accommodation to its customers.
Question 1
Portakabin Group’s main activity is the offer interim or permanent accommodation to its customers. They specialize is hiring out and sale of space in their infrastructures with the intention of attracting a large number of customer by ensuring that there is quality in their products. For instance, the company is geared to creating a competitive advantage by ensuring that there is effectiveness, affordable prices, excellent customer service, and superior products. The product that the company is specializing in is accommodation services targeted to the people in UK as well as the European countries. The group’s main customers are people from mostly European nations as well as UK.