Martha Stewart: The Goddess of Greed Essays -- Exploratory Essays Rese

Everywhere you look, there she is. Martha Stewart has invaded every avenue of domesticity. Her "radiant presence... seems to be infinite, like that of the Almighty, or of Starbucks" (Lippert & Ferguson: 26*) The outposts of her "omnimedia empire" are quite fortified (Africannet page). Reigning over a vast technical spectrum, her multi-million, multi-media kingdom includes a magazine with a circulation of 1.2 million, a syndicated column, and a TV show with audience of 5.3 million, but she does not have an official web site (Lippert & Ferguson: 26). There are numerous webpages that fans and foes have dedicated to her.   Martha Stewart is energizing the homemaking marketplace. The home is a key part of the American Dream, Her ideas of housekeeping depart from the long-standing tradition of frugality, where practicality was paramount. She mentions Helen and Scott Nearing's The Good Life in an essay in Martha Stewart's Living April edition. While she enjoys foraging for 'nature's hidden treasures,' she does not share the Nearing's core values. Their idea of getting back to nature is to live lightly-- few things, low energy consumption. Hers is highly technical, wasteful and showy. "Make due with less" is not Martha's motto, it's "Just have more." Perfectionism is integral to her image. Having her audiences attempt the impossible ideal of perfection which she claims gets them hooked (if it's easy for Martha, it can be easy for you, too). Most people never realize the staffing that is involved for a layout in her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, or the production hours that go into a few minute long segment on her Lifetime cable show. The photo layouts in her magazine regularly have both a director an... ...ecome more profuse. To proselytize the population must be one of the things she thinks about during the mere four hours she allows for sleep each night. Sources Cited Hoge, Sharon King. "The Place Settings of Kilimanjaro." Forbes (Oct, 23) 1995: 39-40*. Kasindorf, Jeanie Russell. "Martha, Inc." Working Woman June 1995: 26-31*. Leyner, Mark. "Martha Stewart." Esquire Aug. 1995: 52. Lippert, Barbara. "Power Hausfrau vs. Working Woman." Working Woman Dec. 1992: 98. Lippert, Barbara and Sarah Ferguson. "Our Martha, Ourselves." New York (May 15) 1995: 26-35*. Money, Joe. "Little Ms. Perfekt." Boating, March 1995: 30. Speidel, Maria et. al. "The Best Revenge." People Weekly (Oct. 2) 1995: 100-110*. --"*" Indicates an article was obtained through online services, exact pagination is not available (estimates were made).

Iraq or its capital of Baghdad was not accustomed to “freedom”

â€Å"For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying, and whoever becomes master of a City accustomed to live in freedom and does not destroy it, may reckon on being destroyed by it† (Machiavelli: 11).   â€Å"Hence we may learn the lesson that on seizing a state, the usurper should make haste to inflict what injuries he must, at a stroke, that he may not have to renew them daily, but be able by their discontinuation to reassure men’s minds, and afterwards win them over by benefits†Ã‚   (23). While it can hardly be argued that Iraq or its capital of Baghdad, which reflects the divisions of Iraq, was accustomed to â€Å"freedom† before the American invasion, it at least enjoyed freedom from foreign occupation.   The above quote is relevant to the American experience in Iraq because, pursuant to the failure to destroy the enemy in the opening stages of the war, the American mission is in serious risk of being destroyed by that very enemy, years after taking nominal â€Å"control† over Iraq. A failure to pacify restive Sunni centers such as Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul during or immediately after the initial invasion, a failure to â€Å"destroy† in Machiavelli’s parlance, left the American occupation armies among its enemies rather than victorious over them.   This negligence, and the willingness to bypass centers of resistance on the drive to Baghdad rather than to subdue them, led directly to the next stage of failure, and the next piece of relevant advice from The Prince. â€Å"If, however, the newly acquired City or Province has been accustomed to live under a Prince, and his line is extinguished, it will be impossible for the citizens, used, on the one hand, to obey, and deprived, on the other, of their old ruler, to agree to choose a leader from among themselves†Ã‚   (11-12). The Prince in this scenario, of course, is Saddam Hussein; Hussein’s â€Å"line† was both biological, in the form of his sons Uday and Qusay, and political, in the form of the brutal and brilliantly organized Ba’ath Party.   The United States willingly destroyed the heart, brain, and nerve center of the Iraqi state and came with no workable plan to replace them.   It should hardly have come as any surprise, bearing all of this in mind, that the Iraqi people have been unable to come to any sort of consensus on what form their new government should take.   The entire gamble of the Iraq War, from the perspective of the Bush administration, hinged on the hope that Machiavelli was wrong, the hope that citizens deprived of a powerful prince would be able to peaceably choose a new leader from among themselves. A further failure of the American enterprise in Iraq has been the inability to instill a sense of loyalty for the new Iraqi government and army among a critical mass of the Iraqi people.   Loyalty should not be taken to imply affection, but merely respect and deference.   Employing historically brutal methods, Saddam Hussein garnered a certain sense of â€Å"loyalty† from the Iraqi people.   The new Iraq government, however, is not recognized by most Iraqis as the legitimate or competent representation of the Iraqi state; instead, a slew of militias and insurgent groups command far more loyalty on the street than do the national institutions sponsored and supported by the United States. The first rule of any government, democratic or not, is the rule of â€Å"one gun†.   In other words, the state must be perceived to be the only legitimate employer of violence.   That is most decidedly not the case in post-invasion Iraq.   As Machiavelli wrote, â€Å"a wise Prince should devise means whereby his subjects may at all times, whether favourable or adverse, feel the need of the State and of him, and then they will always be faithful to him†Ã‚   (26). The legitimacy and the staying power of the Iraqi government is the most important factor of the American mission in Iraq, since the emergence of an openly anti-American government would dissolve any theoretical benefit from the original invasion.   The trouble is that a self-perpetuating cycle is at work; the Iraqi government likely cannot survive without American military protection, yet that very protection ensures that the Iraqi government will never be genuinely legitimate in the eyes of its citizens.   â€Å"Mercenaries and auxiliaries are at once useless and dangerous, and he who holds his State by means of mercenary troops can never be solidly or securely seated†Ã‚   (31). In a country as divided by clan and ethnicity and religious sect as Iraq is, an invading army must have a solid appraisal of what groups it must count as allies in order to effectively govern the country.   Several of the decisions taken by the American proconsul, Jerry Bremer, imply that this appraisal was either never made or was horribly blundered.   Two such decisions come to mind.   Firstly, the Iraqi army was disbanded and its soldiers and officers were sent home without any way of supporting their families but with their weapons.   Secondly, the Ba’ath Party was dissolved, and a massive proportion of its members were excluded from meaningful participation in the new Iraq. Due to the nature of the Iraqi military, especially its officer corps, and the Ba’ath party, these decisions effectively made enemies of the Sunni minority in Iraq, which included the most militarily competent, technocratic, educated, secular, and Western-oriented elements of the society.   The very Iraqis, in other words, who could bring either the greatest harm or the greatest aid to the American occupation.   â€Å"As Princes cannot escape being hated by some, they should, in the first place, endeavor not to be hated by a class; failing in which, they must do all they can to escape the hatred of that class which is the stronger†Ã‚   (51). After dismissing the Iraqi army, and thereby humiliating a large portion of the population, it became evident that the American occupation could never succeed without an Iraqi army, as there were not nearly enough American soldiers to pacify Iraq.   The Americans therefore began training and arming a new Iraqi army, but the damage had been done.   By dismissing the nearest thing to a truly â€Å"national† institution in Ba’athist Iraq, the Americans proved their distrust of the Iraqi people.   It was therefore inevitable that the new, American-backed Iraqi army would be tainted as occupation collaborators by the population and occasionally as insurgent collaborators by the Americans. Most experts now point to the decision to disband the Iraqi army without pay and with weapons was the single biggest blunder that the United States made in Iraq.   This single decision instantly created a vast class of humiliated, impoverished, idle, and armed young men, which essentially guaranteed the emergence of an insurgency.   â€Å"By disarming, you at once giver offence, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either as doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you†Ã‚   (56). It seems unreal now, but it is important to note that there was no insurgency in the early months of the American occupation; it seems now that the Iraqi people were giving the Americans a chance to make clear their true motives and intentions.   One wonders what may have happened had the Iraqi army been called upon by the American army to join together in rebuilding and securing Iraq, a goal that both groups shared.   One wonders what may have happened had thousands of mid-level Ba’athist technocrats been allowed to keep their jobs, such as running electrical grids, hospitals, and water purification plants.   One wonders indeed. The above quotes and examples are all variations of one unifying theme; the American errors in Iraq have been driven by a failure to recognize its natural allies, to preempt the emergence of natural enemies, and to win the trust and loyalty of the local population.   Each of these necessities was articulated in The Prince, and one wonders if George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld ever read the book. Works Cited Machiavelli, Niccolo.   The Prince.   New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1992.

Romeo and Juliet Grade 10 Essay - 863 Words

The Power of Tradition In Veronan society, there are many dysfunctional and unstable relationships. The play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† written by William Shakespeare in the 1500s is about young love and the various relationships between families, friends, and love interests. The play exploits the complexity of a relationships and all the difficulties that can occur between people who are close to each other emotionally. Romeo and Juliet demonstrates that traditions of Veronan society contribute to the ignorance and confusion that leads to tragedy in a relationship. Juliet has numerous issues within her family that cause her trouble maintaining a healthy relationship with them. In Verona, children are not commonly raised by their parents,†¦show more content†¦She wants to help them to maintain the relationship in secret, and does so numerous ways. She fetches a ladder so Romeo can climb up the balcony. â€Å"Ill find Romeo/ To comfort you; I wot well where he is.† (3, 2, 138). She also comforts Juliet and promises to find Romeo so she can see him when he gets banished. This type of relationship between children and nurses is typical in the lifestyle they live in, it is tradition. Juliet and Romeos relationship is another good example of the suffering that tradition can cause two people who arent familiar with one and other. Romeo and Juliet fall in love and practically get married as soon as they meet, without getting to know each other first. Despite that, Juliet is not permitted to choose her own partner. Veronan traditions dictate that her father is the one who has the final say in who she is to marry and when and where the wedding is to take place. This tradition demonstrates why so many relationships in Verona end in tragedy and woe. â€Å"The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head. Go hence to have The forced ways of Veronan society cause Romeo and Juliet to have to hide the love they have for each other, thus causing them both to end up dead. The traditions in Verona cause just as much strife and pain as they do order and peace. The feud that is century’s old still lingerers between the Capulets and Montagues.Show MoreRelatedWhat I ve Learned Throughout Grade 101420 Words   |  6 Pagesbelieve that when reflecting on what I’ve learned throughout Grade 10 ELA, I am able to see a definite improvement since the beginning of Grade 10. I feel that I have become far more well adapted to writing essays and I have a far stronger idea of how to formulate essays under less time. I know that from ELA 10 I have a more advanced idea of the vocabulary and sentence structure to enhance my writing. During ELA 10, I enjoyed the three essays we did for each text. I found these projects to be highlyRead MoreThe Freedom Writers And Romeo And Juliet905 Words   |  4 Pagesenglish would be on my schedule, sometimes even with two different english classes a year. We read different writing pieces, wrote essays, and learned techniques that help us develop our reading and writing skills. In middle school the writing tasks were easier and funner than high school. We read books like the Diary of Anne Frank, The Freedom Writers, and Romeo and Juliet, that I actually found interesting. They would give us the task of writing our own journals. We had to write an entry every dayRead MoreTeaching Strategy in the Classroom2909 Words   |  12 Pagesclassroom I observed, some components of modeling were applied. However, in three classrooms I was able to see all four steps of the process effectively applied. One example is Mr. John Ferrara’s Public speaking class, which consisted of multiple grades. In his lessons on creating â€Å"How To† posters, he kept attention through verbal directions and jokes. He drew diagrams and made his own poster to help retention. Reproduction was automatically included because the â€Å"How to† posters were the homeworkRead MoreHigh School High Homecoming Dance Essay1624 Words   |  7 Pagespoint, my twelve year old self was shaking in her Ugg boots and sweating through her plaid button down from Hollister. Seventh grade was an awkward year for me; I was taller than most of the boys and not quite yet comfortable in my skin. I was sure that I was about to be rejected, but my mama didn’t raise a quitter, so I confidently strode over to the tallest boy in my grade and asked him to dance. Luckily for me, not only did he say yes, but he also asked me to dance during every slow song thereafterRead More Subverting the Conventional: Combining Genre in Kellys Donnie Darko6339 Words   |  26 PagesWars: The Phantom Menace $431,065,444 5. Spider-Man $403,706,375 6. Jurassic Park $356,763,175 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $337,526,600 8. Forrest Gump $329,452,287 9. The Lion King $328,178,880 10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone $317,557,891 Five of the films listed above are Epics with an additional two being purely Action films (most of the Epic films, except Forrest Gump, could be considered members of the Action genre as well)Read MoreLanguage of Advertising20371 Words   |  82 Pages Contents Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 Chapter I. What is an advertising, its definition?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 1. Advertising and the Modern World†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 2. Advertising all over the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 3. History†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 Chapter II. Types of advertising†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 1. Consumer advertising†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 2. Media of Consumer Advertising†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦16 Chapter III. Slogans, Logos, Types†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦