“The Cavemen in the Hedges” is a short story that contains many underlying themes of psychoanalytical theory. Themes of the “id,” a selfish, primal, version of one’s self concerned only with physical desires; the “superego,” part of a person’s psyche that is only worried about ideals and morals; and the “ego,” the rational part of the brain that attempts to satisfy both the id and superego natures make up an immense proportion of the breakdown of this story. Repression and other psychological defense mechanisms are also very important in the analysis as well.…
The free market system of the early United States was the greatest hotbed for prosperity and opportunity that the planet had ever seen and was reliant upon a free labor market that enabled ordinary people to achieve extraordinary goals in pursuing their economic self-interest and happiness. This perspective of capitalism, epitomizing an agent of freedom and upward mobility in the early republic, is one often taken by those assessing the free citizens who achieved in their pursuit of happiness. However, in his book, Scraping By, Seth Rockman sets out to reassess these previous inclinations, associated with the economy and labor force of the United States in the 1800s, by laying out a web of conclusive research on the jobs, welfare, and social issues presented to those laborers participating in…
Contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli is not a diabolic political figure in search of power. He is instead an astute politician who uses his extensive knowledge of politics to analyze various princes and principalities in order to educate future…
Rockman does an excellent job of going against the grain in this book, arguing ideas and points that were not specifically stressed in earlier documentation of early America. Rockman covers and references a vast majority of information however a lot of his points seem to overly engulf the concepts of Capitalism in early Republic. Capitalism is a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government. So unlike other historians or authors who usually only talk about the prosperity of Capitalism, Rockman doesn’t: he argues that the deprived work hand in hand with the prosperity, and without the ‘unskilled workers’ capitalism would have not been as successful as he also argues that Capitalism relied on the exploitation of workers unable to fully obtain freedom in the market place, which ultimately were the ‘unskilled laborers’ who were labeled dirty and devalued. Rockman still agrees though that Capitalism “…made the United States arguably the most wealthy, free, and egalitarian society in the Western World.” (Rockman, 3). He just believes it was the deprived, the unskilled but necessary labors that made it happen. Rockman also argued how exploitation enforced by Capitalism unified the race, class, and gender triad in the form of slaves, women, and poor laborers.…
Overall, Machiavelli shows that in order to be an effective prince, one must disregard the morality of one’s actions in certain times for the welfare of the state. This strong belief shows that Machiavelli’s best interests are in the state and not in the general population. Because he…
Machiavelli's philosophy was that "The end justifies the means." This meant that the end result is the most important, and how you got there was of no importance. The Prince was a book of advice to rules on how to found a state and how to stay in power. Machiavelli explained in his book the many different ways to gain power. One way was to acquire land. The four methods that he discusses to acquire more land is: Your own arms and virtue, fortune, others' arms, and inequity. To Machiavelli, the word virtue meant manliness and strength. Machiavelli also advocates the use of evil to achieve any goals. He gives an example of Agathocles of Syracuse as a proof that this works and will enable the prince to rule the land peacefully through fear. "Born of a potter, this one always had an iniquitous life throughout his years: nonetheless, he accomplished his iniquities with such virtue of spirit and of body that, having joined the militia, he rose through its ranks to become praetor of Syracuse. Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and to keep with violence and without obligation to others what had been conceded him by agreement... ...one morning he convened the people and the senate of Syracuse, as if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at a preordained nod…
Machiavelli thought human nature was two-dimensional. He saw humans as predictable, foreseeing their responses to the princes’ actions. Because humans are so unsophisticated in Machiavelli’s eye, they can only love or hate their prince, making them unable to see an intermediate to the good and bad in their ruler. Humans’…
I use imagery to improve my performance on the rock wall. I think about my most successful climbs and try to emulate them. I imagine myself doing everything technically sound. I picture myself focusing on nothing but the rock wall. I use both internal perspective and external perspective when using imagery.…
* Be at a loss; believe that the things he saw earlier were truer than ones he was being shown now…
In the article, "Capitalism and Greed"(1982) by James L. Doti the author states, “In his path breaking work, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith described an economic system based on self-interest"(1). This economic system based on self-interest is the foundation for capitalism and pertains to the 21st century where America still uses capitalism as its economic model. In the article, "America's Disease is Greed"(2004) by Andrew Greeley, he discusses and makes many points how greed comes with capitalism. First glance at a capitalist economy the morals of the self-interest theory might get questioned, but a more in depth look at the capitalist society it shows that it is the best way to gain economic performance.…
The Underground Philosophy The Underground Man lives in a paradoxical state between accepting society, while also resenting it. This mindset has affected his way into integrating himself into civilization. Usually, a person who questions such norms, while also not being sure of his own intentions, is viewed as insane. Conversely, this is not the case, The Underground Man thinks on a philosophical state, which essentially separates him from the society that he is trying to understand.…
The father of the idea that the ends will always justify the means, the term Machiavellian has become connected with selfish, brutal, or immoral actions. Machiavelli has long been associated with totalitarianism, conquest, and tyranny. But is this label deserved? Is The Prince a book that expresses evil? Many argue that Machiavelli is not a teacher of evil, but bases his teachings on a pragmatic realism…
Machiavelli was harsh in his tactics, but they were not only effective by successful. When the Medici family was run out of Italy by the French invasion, there was a period of time where the Italian government didn’t know what to do, so they didn’t operate effectively, if they operated at all. Italy’s power began to grow weaker until a man working for the Italian government, Niccolò Machiavelli, decided that it was time for him to chime in and take control. He wrote a rulebook, essentially, on how the Renaissance Italian government should rule called The Prince. This novella guided the Italian Renaissance government on how they should rule while the Medici’s were out of power. Throughout his novella on modern political philosophy, Machiavelli constantly refers back to his theory that “a ruler should be feared father than loved.” Oddly enough, Machiavelli was a statesman, but he appears to sanction behavior of unethical and scheming monarchs, or princes, to rule over the people they govern. He uses the metaphor to illustrate how a ruler should be like a fox, to recognize the traps, and like a lion, to scare away the wolves, in order to benefit themselves ad their country.…
Throughout the book, there are many examples which show who he was influenced by, particularly the Ancient Romans, like Caesar and Alexander the Great, with which I will discuss numerous examples of what they themselves did in the past and which Machiavelli talks about which shows how it influences Machiavelli,…
He maintains that in order to retain a strong relationship with his people, thriftiness and frugality are of utmost importance, and excess taxation should be avoided at all costs. Machiavelli states that a prince who is economical will eventually have enough money to spend defending his country and on other projects, and will not need to tax his people excessively. He would most likely argue that the current economic crisis in America was caused by money used irresponsibly, and that the United States government should have been more careful with its…