Mr. Burns as Scrooge of Springfield

In the history of modern popular culture, there have been few American satires as influential and successful as the animated television show, The Simpsons.   With Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and baby Maggie living in the everytown of Springfield, U.S.A., they find themselves in many situations common to most Americans, including being under the rule of ruthless corporate raiders like Charles Montgomery Burns.As owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Mr. Burns displays all the characteristics of a classic egoist, though his satirical portrayal takes many of the attributes and accentuates them to the point of ridiculousness.   Mr. Burns shows absolutely no charitable tendencies, is concerned solely with money and power, and cares little for anyone other than himself, which makes him anything but a relativist or utilitarian, but seems to make him more of an ethical egoist.Mr. Burns is a corporate raider, characterized on the show as being over a century old, putting him amongst the original robber barons.   The character himself is actually based on an amalgam of media magnate William Randolph Hearst and his fictional counterpart Charles Foster Kane, both characters that focused solely on their power and how to use and enhance it.   In The Simpsons, almost every story concerning Mr. Burns includes his blatant disregard for anyone else other than himself and his own interests.One of the most obvious depictions of Burns’ ethics comes in the two-part episode called â€Å"Who Shot Mr. Burns?†Ã‚   In the episode, oil is discovered beneath Springfield Elementary School, and the school seems poised to get a windfall of money from the discovery.   This will allow the terribly dilapidated and underfunded school to make many improvements in every aspect of the curriculum.   However, Mr. Burns discovers the oil and creates a slant drilling company that will draw the oil up from an angle, in the process destroying the Springfield Retirement Home and making the popular Moe’s Tavern uninhabitable for humans.   In addition to alienating the school, destroying the retirement home, and putting Moe’s out of business, Mr. Burns also fails to remember the name of his decade-long employee, Homer Simpson.His selfishness and self-absorption have managed to anger just about everyone in town, though he is only concerned with making more money and becoming even more powerful.   He finally reveals his grand scheme to his loyal assistant Waylon Smithers, which is to build a giant device that will block out the sun in Springfield and require all the citizens in town to use electricity from his plant twenty-four hours a day.   He even feels so good that he wants to steal candy from a baby.When his loyal assistant objects, Burns quickly fires him, never realizing that Smithers’ life desire was merely to work for Mr. Burns.   Burns is blind to everything and everyone, and he finally succeeds at blocking out the su n, incurring the anger of everyone in town.   It is when he celebrates his victory he is shot by an unknown assailant, who after a cliffhanger, is revealed to be baby Maggie Simpson as he attempts to steal her candy and subsequently shot by his own gun (â€Å"Who Shot Mr. Burns?†).While the over three-hundred episodes of The Simpsons have many instances of Mr. Burns making ethically questionable decisions in the name of money and power, this episode remains one of the most famous and obvious examples of his selfishness.   To Burns, nothing is as important as his business success, and this is the single factor dictating his ethics and his actions.   Burns’ morality bleeds into every aspect of his life outside of business, though to him there are no other concerns than business.Morality and ethics are important to every aspect of human life, including in business, and many ethical theorists have sought to understand the extent of morality and the duty that individu als and organizations have to other individuals and organizations.   Though no laws of morality or ethics have been established, there are four core concepts presented by ethical theorists: ethical relativism, which espouses that ethics is a question of individual choice and preference; impartiality, which suggests that humans should treat each other as equals where none count more than others; sympathy, which is the imaginative ability to put oneself in another’s shoes; and moral sufficiency, which seeks to answer just how much moral decency is reasonably possible (Gibson 62-63).In business matters, these issues and the questions they pose are even greater, as businesses have the potential to create great benefit for others, or do them great harm, all the while trying to maximize profit and retain success.   Mr. Burns is far from an ethical relativist, for he shows no concern for the benefit of others.   In fact, he takes joy out of creating misery for others, as long as their misery is profitable to him.   He assumes responsibility for his actions without shame, and feels no remorse if anyone is hurt.   After all, one of his greatest desires was to take candy from a baby, for no other reason than he could.In the essay, â€Å"Thinking Ethically,† the authors attempt to apply various ethical approaches to moral issues in business, which could apply to Mr. Burns’ actions.   One of the first and most widely known approaches is the utilitarian approach, which seeks to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals.   The way to analyze the utilitarian approach is to identify the various course of action available, ask who will be affected by each action and what benefits and harms will come from them, and choose the action that will produce the greatest benefits and least harm (Velasquez 64).Mr. Burns, if anything, purposefully contradicts this mode of action, as he derives pleasure in the misery of those he va nquishes in the name of greater profit and power, even if these people are innocent.   Another ethical approach is the Rights Approach, which espouses that an action is moral as long as it falls within the moral rights of an individual, while the Fairness or Justice Approach which states that favoritism and discrimination are wrong.The Common Good Approach focuses on ensuring that social policies, social systems, institutions, and environments on which we depend are beneficial to all; the Virtue Approach assumes that there are certain ideals towards which humans should strive, which provide for the full development of humanity (66).   By approaching situations of ethical ambiguity with these theories, one has a better chance of choosing the correct mode of action.   For Burns, all of these ethical approaches are not applicable, for he fails to ever consider how his actions may affect anyone else negatively.Or, when he does think about it, he gets pleasure in being able to impo se his power to the point where he can bring misery to others through his actions, as in his celebration after blotting out the sun despite the protests of everyone in the entire town, including his closest supporter Smithers.In Donelson Forsyth’s article, â€Å"Judging the Morality of Business Practices: The Influence of Personal Moral Philosophies,† he examines the ways business leaders approach ethical relativism and how it does not need to necessarily defeat the moral enterprise.   However, to someone like Mr. Burns, ethics are nothing more than an afterthought, while the bottom line is the only thing that matters.While studies have suggested the impact of relativism and idealism on moral judgment and behavior depends on the nature of the social institution, individual differences in personal moral philosophy suggests that humans will most likely never reach the ideal of complete agreement, but can aim for a fuller understanding of one’s own and othersâ₠¬â„¢ reactions to various types of business practices (Forsyth 75).   In the case of Burns, he only agrees and appreciates with those that share his views on profiteering and power, even though he remains skeptical and suspicious of every threat; and he considers virtually everybody a threat to his wealth and power.This is why, despite having more money than anyone in town and never being able to spend it all, all the instances when Mr. Burns is asked to contribute even a little of his money to help someone else, he vehemently rejects the request.   This has been seen many times in the show, from Homer asking for help with a sick dog to a girl scout trying to sell Mr. Burns cookies only to have him â€Å"release the hounds† on her.Mr. Burns greed and complete lack of charity display his true nature as an ethical egoist.   In Peter Singer’s article, â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty,† the author proposes that if people in affluent countries like th e United States donated a small portion of their money that would normally be spent on luxury items, then the money can be used to help out poverty stricken peoples around the world.He uses examples of how this can be done, by citing the costs incurred by someone who buys a new television merely to upgrade from an older one.   He claims that if this money was donated to such charities as Unicef or Oxfam America that it would do a greater deal of good for the most possible people, thereby having the greatest utility value.   By choosing to buy the television and not donate the money, Singer feels that a person is making a questionable moral decision, even though few in the situation actually feel this way.Singer uses a more provocative hypothetical example of a man named Bob, who has an uninsurable classic car that he will sell to insure that he has money for his retirement.   In the situation, Bob is forced to make a decision as a train bears down on his car and a little boy; Bob has a choice whether to save the boy or the car, but not both, and Bob chooses the car and lets the boy die.   While this dramatic example seems to highlight the undesirable attributes of self-interest, Singer claims that the â€Å"difference between Bob and those who can afford to donate to overseas aid organizations but don't is that only Bob can save the child on the tracks, whereas there are hundreds of millions of people who can give $200 to overseas aid organization† (Singer).By Singer’s logic, those that are not donating to these organizations are committing an act similar to the one performed by Bob.   Mr. Burns would not only laugh at such a concept, but would relish the fact that anyone asking for help would be suffering.   If in the same situation, he would most certainly save the car, and most likely praise Bob for saving his car, before figuring out a way to get the car from Bob for himself.Mr. Burns utilizes his power to inflict his will upon ot hers, and only respects those who do the same.   As, all humans are born with free will, the decision to be charitable or uncharitable rests within that freedom.   The German Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant contributed much to the Western discussion of ethics and free will, and his conception of freedom and virtue are reasoned by â€Å"the critical distinction of the two modes of representation (the sensible and the intellectual) and the consequent limitation of the conceptions of the pure understanding and of the principles which flow from them† (Kant).Kant attempts to distinguish between the empirical and rational conceptions of free will and how it influences virtue, questioning whether freedom is the independent choices of free will or merely the practical reaction to circumstance and causality.   To this end, Kantianism is highly dependent upon reason to figure out the proper decision concerning virtue, and his ethics rely on obligation to reason more than emotions or goals.   Thus, the Kantian approach to donation and charity would be the duty of those that have the means to donate.   Burns would patently disagree.   Most certainly, Mr. Burns is an ethical egoist.Ethical egoism is a philosophical practice that encourages individuals to pursue their own self-interests.   While it is idealistic to think of helping unknown masses with one’s own hard earned money, it is also naà ¯ve to think that people should feel obligated to do so.   A person who works hard to make money to buy fine things is entitled to those things.   Just because a person is successful and can afford luxury items does not mean that they are obligated to help strangers because it serves some sort of utilitarian purpose.   If anything, much of this altruism merely perpetuates a cycle in which those who are poor become accustomed to the aid of those who are not.   If they pursued their own self-interests, they would be better able to rise above their own struggles and create a successful world for themselves.Ethical egoism is not entirely without the concept of helping others, however it focuses not on people that an individual will never meet, but the people in his or her life and those that the person loves and touches personally.   If one’s family is in trouble and one possesses the ability to give assistance, this is in the individual’s best interest, as it will lead to happiness.   However, for an extreme example like Mr. Burns, there is no one that he wishes to help, save for the occasional cute pet or his old stuffed teddy bear.   Mr. Burns is a classic example of an ethical egoist, and no one should expect him to do anything for anyone other than himself.   And, in the twenty years that The Simpsons have been on television, he has done nothing but loyally follow his ethical egoist values.Works Cited:Forsyth, Donelson R.. â€Å"Judging the Morality of Business Practices: The Influence of Pers onalMoral Philosophies.† Business Ethics: People, Profits, and the Planet. Ed. Kevin Gibson. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2005. 67-76.Gibson, Kevin. â€Å"The Theoretical Backdrop of Business Ethics.† Business Ethics: People, Profits,and the Planet. Ed. Kevin Gibson. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2005. 61-63.Kant, Immanuel. The Critique Of Pure Reason. Ed. J. M. D. Meiklejohn. 1781. eserver.org. 4Apr 2008. ;http://philosophy.eserver.org/kant/critique-of-pure-reason.txt;.Velasquez, Manuel, ; Claire Andre, Tomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer. â€Å"ThinkingEthically: A Framework for Moral Decision Making.† Business Ethics: People, Profits, and the Planet. Ed. Kevin Gibson. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2005. 64-67.Singer, Peter. â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty.† The New York Times Magazine. 5 Sep1999; pp. 60-63. Utilitarian Philosophers. 4 Apr 2008. ;http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/19990905.htm;â€Å"Who Shot Mr. Burns?â₠¬  The Simpsons. Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. 20th Century Fox. 21May 1995.

Close reading for George Elliott Clarke’s Negation Essay

The poem’s heading ‘Negation’ is rounded about the fact that the author is taking new path in the poetry description by trying to etch out a new identity for oneself but this is continuously difficult for time and again there is a distinction between white and blackness; commonly referred to as racial gratification. The definition of the word negation also speaks volume about the difficulty being experienced by the author as the inability to accept something that already exists. Ideally, form is one of the most fundamental aspects that are easily notable about poems. It is evident that the poem is presented as a lyric with fourteen lines but goes against the norm of rhyme schemes and adopts the iambic pentameter blank sonnet style where each line of the poem is divided into ten syllablesCITATION Mab00 p 52 l 1033 (Mabillard 52). The syllables in each line are divided into iambic feet which are attuned to the idea that a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable for instance; Na and Sty to form nasty as expressed in the poem. The initial twelve lines of Negation bring to line the issue of racial identity and prejudice as the dominating factor that George Elliott seeks to attend to. He reflects on Shakespeare’s character Caliban in The Tempest who he describes in rather harsh words as being, â€Å"(Slick black bastard – cannibal-sucking back Licorice-lusty, fifty-proof whisky),† this is just representational of the authors di sgustCITATION Lan01 p 13 l 1033 (Lancashire 13). However, in the final two lines of ‘Negation’ i.e. the couplet, the author comes out in support of black revolution by resolving his previous stand; a classical representation of couplets where an author resonates on his sentiments in the first three quatrains of the poem. With specific interest is Frantz Fanon’s work the Black skin, White masks illustrates George Elliott’s sentiments in negation as being a global problem with whites continuously despising blacks in their speech and literacy writings; reference can be made to line nine of the negation poem that points out blacks as, â€Å"Nasty, Nofaskoshan negro, I mean..† and goes on to the next two linesCITATION Cla08 p 33 l 1033 (Clarke 33). The writing Nofaskoshan is in black dialect which generalizes the people of Neva Scotia a province in Canada with inhabitants of African descent. In Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon also mirrors the same but in defense of the black race. He refutes with the lin es, â€Å"Dirty nigger!’ Or simply, ‘Look, a Negro!’ // I came into the world imbued with the will to find a meaning in things, my spirit filled with the desire to attain to the source of the world, and then I found that I was an object in the midst of other objects. // sealed into that crushing object hoodCITATION Fan52 p 109 l 1033 (Fanon 109).† Looking at Fanon’s sentiments, we see the depiction of blacks as subjects of the whites, most interesting is the inability of blacks to identify themselves as subjects and merely objects of service to the white, they are constantly in push to break away from the old york. Notice in the last two line stanza (couplet), the author is still in struggle with where his real stand is, this two-line stanza of a blank sonnet is usually meant to resolve the recurring theme in the previous stanzas but in this case author make a reference to the second person ‘you’ depicting the debate that even though he agrees to the fact that change in black perception is evident he still has not fully accepted this fact. References Clarke, George Elliott. Blues and Bliss . New York : Waterloo: , 2008. Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks . Atlanta : Grove Press , 1952. Lancashire, Ian. Blue . Vancouver : Polestar Books , 2001. Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespearean Sonnet Basics . New York : Barnes & Noble , 2000. Source document

Homophobia in Schools

Homophobia is a problem in many public and private school systems, denying homosexual students a safe learning environment. Everyday a student is discriminated against because of his sexual orientation. Gay, lesbian and bisexual students are being verbally, physically, and academically abused. Homophobia is taking hard working students and creating a negative and damaging learning environment for them. It’s time for a change. Words like â€Å"faggot, queer, homo, fairy and dyke† have become common â€Å"insults† in today’s school systems.These words are unacceptable, yet time and time again I observe teachers doing nothing when they hear said words being used. If however I were to use a racial slur such as â€Å"nigger† I would be immediately reprimanded and possibly disciplined. Discriminating against someone because of who they love is inexcusable. Schools NEED to do something to combat this growing problem, Girard may have an anti-bullying progra m instituted but what does it really do to combat it? Nothing. They preach equality, but do they enforce it?No. Instead of instituting programs to teach equality, punishments must be given out. Instead of being passive, schools should be aggressive in defending the victims of all forms of bullying. Students who identify themselves as â€Å"gay† are up to five times more likely to miss school due to feeling unsafe, 28% of them are forced to drop out. And yet school administrations do nothing about it. In fact 85% of teachers actually oppose integrating lesbian, gay and bisexual themes in their curricula.Frighteningly A 2007 survey found that four out of five young lesbian and gay people have no access to any information about LGBT issues at school. There are many different ways in which LGBT people experience homophobia, including malicious gossip, name-calling, intimidating looks, internet bullying, vandalism and theft of property, discrimination at work, isolation and reject ion, sexual assault, or even being sentenced to death. All forms of homophobia are destructive, not just for people living openly as LGBT, but for society as a whole.Living in a homophobic environment forces many LGBT people to conceal their sexuality, for fear of the negative reactions and consequences of coming out. For people who have been brought up to believe that homosexuality is wrong, the realization that they might be gay can cause feelings of shame and self-loathing, leading to low self-esteem. Suppressing homosexuality involves denying an important part of a person's identity, and can have a serious impact upon their life and relationships. Furthermore, the dilemma of whether to ‘come out’ or not can cause a great deal of personal distress.

Active Shape Modelling compared to Hip Morphometry in the prediction Thesis

Active Shape Modelling compared to Hip Morphometry in the prediction of Hip fracture - Thesis Example It involves pain, stiffness and and swelling and most commonly effects knee, hips and hand (Lawrence et al., 2008). Despite being one of the oldest known diesases, the etiology of the disease is still obscure. Earlier believed to be a disease of the articular cartilage of the synovial joint of the effected tissue, it has now been proposed that generalized OA is a systemic musculoskeletal disorder with a metabolic component (Aspden, 2008), changes in other tissues being secondary; subchondral bone responding to abnormal biomechanics and other tissues to secondary inflammation and enforced inactivity. Hip is one of the weight bearing joints and is at heavy risk of wear and tear. In aged people it is at a high risk of fracture due to decline in the structural strength of bone tissues of the proximal femoral ends resulting from osteoclastic and osteocytic resorption (Chai et al., 1998). Study of association of OA and fracture has suggested increased risk of fracture in individuals with hip OA is mostly likely due to mechanical and locomotor factors (Arden et al., 1996). Aging again is the most consistent risk factor for OA in both men and women effecting the composition and structure of cartilage (Arokoski et al., 2007), the other major risk factors for the OA of the hip are physical loading related to heavy manual work and permanent damage as result of any musculoskeletal injury (Juhakoski et al., 2009), while obesity seems to have a moderate positive association with hip OA (Liu et al., 2007). In cases of hip joint damage due to either of these factors total hip replacement (THR) is an option wherein the diseased cartilage and bone of the joint is replaced by artificial material. However there are risks factors in THR such as deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, infection, hip dislocation, hip implant loosening, nerve injury etc. To study the various aspects of OA, osteoporosis, fractures etc, a retrospective case-control study was

DIABETES - APA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DIABETES - APA - Essay Example It is most common in those people having high weight issues and family history of diabetes problem. However, South Asian Women are highly prone to diabetes because of insulin resistance, high calorie diet and lack of physical activity. South Asians are emigrants and second generation from India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It needs to be understood that Type-2 Diabetes is quite common among Asian Women that creates Insulin resistance along with disallowing blood sugar to enter into cells and thus affecting the energy level. Ramachandran and Vijay, (1999) believed that high weight and calorie rich diet along with genetics play an important role in increasing the chances of diabetes. There is no denying that Asian Women are on a healthier side because of high consumption of oily and rich food stuffs. Their living standard and life style also makes things difficult for them in the short as well as in the long run. Sriskantharajah and Kai (2006) stated that people of South Asian origin have higher degree of mortality and morbidity because of diabetes and heart complications. This is mainly because of the low degree of physical activity and wellness among this group compared to European and other ethnic groups. The prime reason behind high degree of diabetes complications among South Asian Women is mainly because of issues like obesity, consumption of foods leading to obesity and low insulin and cholesterol resistance. Moreover, South Asian Women are not very much into physical activities that further affect the diabetes issues along with aggravating the issue. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder resulting in chronic hyperglycemia and Hyper lipidemia that ultimately induces multiple system pathologies; increasing the risk for atherosclerosis, coronary heart diseases, myocardial infarction, renal disease and periodontitis. The purpose of the study is to determine

Cloud Computing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cloud Computing - Research Paper Example 1-2). Cloud computing is widely acknowledged to have the capacity to revolutionize completely the way organizations and enterprises manage their information technology at the same time utilizing it more beneficially. However, the prevailing paradigm requires an infrastructural change in order to fit in for the enterprise needs. Through the adoption of cloud IT services, business enterprises are able to realize efficiency, agility, elasticity as well as cost reduction. Nevertheless, many studies have revealed hesitation by these organizations to adopt the systems for the reason of insecurity. Moreover, establishing sound relations between the clients as well as the service producer would go a long way in confirming the security threat as is interpreted by the research studies. According to Technical White Paper of July 2011, the design and operation of the cloud-based IT environment, sound systems as interpreted though security is a matter of joint efforts by both parties; the cloud c omputing service provider as well as the clients seeking the services (IBM Global Technology Service, 2011, p.3). The customers are subjected to major threats in hacking system; lose of stored data and the overall cooperation of the IT teams from the cloud computing service providers as well s the internal IT departments of the clients to the business. Many enterprises and organizations have come to appreciate the services of cloud computing especially with the increased use of fast internet services through ‘hand held’ wireless gadgets which makes it possible to access these services conveniently and more easily than was in the past (Ernst and Young, 2011, p.4). Studies have cited the increased use of cloud computing services to be beneficial not only from the consumer point of view but also to the service providers. However, there have been notable hindrances to complete adoption of the services especially within the business sector majorly for the reason of poor infr astructures through which no certainty is offered to consumers for the security of their data and information. However, the concerns that emanate from the pools is that the collection would be the best targets to hackers through whom sensitive information of organizations would leak out. Moreover, in the event of data leakage the cloud computing service providers have no specific provision on controlling the effects that would arise. These fears about security and secrecy of organizational information present the greatest challenge to both service providers and the customers. There is therefore the need for the industry to focus on investing in proper infrastructures through which cloud-computing services would be effectively offered. Clients to the cloud computing service providers are hesitant to adopt the dynamic system of data storage because they feel that the system does not fully guarantee the security to their data. On the other hand the crash of Dot com era, the web develop ment gave rise to a newer version of web-based applications, which would introduce rather interactive web pages than was the case with the previous versions of the web sites. The new web services introduced adopted the name of Web 2.0 and had a distinction from the previous web applications in that it allowed higher levels of interactions

The Difference Between Licensing and Credentialing Assignment

The Difference Between Licensing and Credentialing - Assignment Example In addition, one must pay a fee of $100 for certification. In addition nurses are required to renew their national nursing certification after every two years upon which one must pay $75 as renewal fee. Additionally, nurses are required to have successfully completed thirty hours contact for ongoing education (Pennsylvania Department of State, 2013). On the contrary, the requirements for credentialing as an advance practice nurse may include; a license of a registered nurse as well as relevant education as specialist nurse. In addition, one must have met all the Pennsylvania regulatory requirements for an advanced clinical nurse (Zaccagnini & White, 2011). The multi-state licensure has the impact to both mobility of nurses and nursing practice among different states. In addition, multi-state licensure helps to improve delivery of health care. For example, it helps in carrying out telenursing (Sharpe, 2001). In addition, the legal process required to be licensed as well as be credentialed as advanced practice nurse may include: a person must have been licensed as a nurse. Secondly, one might be issued with a document that is separate from license by the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing. This document defines the scope of practice for an advanced nurse. Thirdly, a confirmation is obtained to from the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing to verify whether one has been authorized to practice as advanced nurse. In addition, one must collaborate with the entire nursing requirement as may define by the law (DeNisco, & Barker, 2013). Pennsylvania Department of State (2013).Nursing License Map: Nursing Licensure made Simple. Retrieved ; on 29th June