Excellence Redefined
The 1980’s has been called the “me” generation, the decade of materialism, and was responsible for the greatest number of mergers and takeovers in the history of the US market. People were transformed by the power of money, and tried to take advantage of the opportunities in the stock market. The stock market has never guaranteed a profit, but there were those willing to take the risk. People have lost millions from speculating on what was supposed to be a “sure thing” in the stock market. People would bet their children’s college fund, and their retirement money on a stock tip, only to find bankruptcy the next day. But the growing desire for power and money caused people to achieve success by any means necessary, regardless of the legality. Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken bet their money, but they always seemed to win, even when others would lose. It turns out that they had many “sure things,” only with one problem: they were all illegal. Boesky and Milken characterize the rest of the financial world at the time, and Wall Street is the movie that exemplifies the such attitudes of the 1980’s from Oliver Stones accurate point of view.
Boesky and Milken had a great system. They would befriend executives in “blue chip” companies or merger and acquisition lawyers , hoping they would be given information regarding takeovers and mergers of companies before the common public. When Boesky and Milken received such information, they would strategically buy a massive amount shares in a particular company, and simply wait for the corporate announcement to drive the price of their stock up. In an effort to alleviate the Securities and Exchange Commission, Boesky and Milken spread their purchases over a period of time, and each was funded by different offshore and domestic banks to misrepresent the number of buyers. When a company would makes its corporate announcement about the merger, the public would then begin buying the shares, causing the price to skyrocket. Boesky and Milken had purchased the stock so long ago and at such a low price that their profit expectations were quickly met, so they wanted to sell everything they had at the same time everyone wanted to buy. Because they owned such a massive amount of stock, there was no liquidity in the market in the market as Boesky and Milken were willing to sell for much less than the market value, and their profits soon became the loss of the public.
Anti-Semitism is the hatred and discrimination of those with a Jewish heritage. It is generally connected to the Holocaust, but the book by Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism was spread by fear mongering, the conflict between classes, and also the role of the government.
Frederick Lewis Allen’s book tells in great detail how the average American would have lived in the 1930’s. He covers everything from fashion to politics and everything in between. He opens with a portrait of American life on September 3, 1929, the day before the first major stock market crash. His telling of the events immediately preceding and following this crash, and the ensuing panic describe a scene which was unimaginable before.
In conclusion, Jordon Belfort has had a major influence on today’s world. Belfort changed the way that people today see Wall Street and the world of stockbrokers. He lived at the top of the food chain but fell back to being “pond scum” (“The Wolf”). He even proved to all that a successful life isn't always the most perfect. Belfort served his time and is even a motivational speaker now. Now, Belfort is an example of how drastically one’s life can change within minutes, days, months, or
Michael Moore’s film of Capitalism: A Love Story is an examination on how much of a financial impact that corporation has on the lives of Americans. Capitalism seems to emulate a love affair gone wrong, with lies, abuse and betrayal towards the American people. Moore moves the film from Middle America, to the halls of power in Washington, to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan in order to answer the question of what price do Americans pay for the affection of capitalism. There is irony in the title of this film because there is certainly nothing to love about capitalism when families have to pay the price with losing their jobs, their homes and their savings as a result of the risky investments that the rich and powerful have at their disposal. With more than 14,000 jobs being lost, residents being evicted from their homes and banks stealing away families’ savings, one must wonder if there is an upside to capitalism at all. True democracy is the biggest threat to corporate America because of the one person one vote system. In order for this to take place, the growing number of people would have to come together and expose capitalism for what it truly is, a corrupt and greedy system for the wealthy.
In Karen Hos’ Liquidated, she aims to study the relationships between corporate America and the world’s greatest financial center. . . Wall Street. The. She puts all her three years of research in her ethnography and thus on the very first page of chapter one, we can already understand Hos’ determination to understand what Wall Street is all about. The first main theme explained is the relations on Wall Street that are based on a culture of domination of staff members, their irresponsibility dealing with corporate America, and constant changes that occur during this process.
Through previously analysing examples of early Christian anti-Judaism, this chapter provides an insight into the connection between early Christian anti-Judaic attitudes and the Nazi understanding of the Jews. As Ruether contends that Christian anti-Semitism originates from the ‘left hand of Christology’, it will become apparent through analysing Nazi ideology and propaganda how early Christian anti-Judaism is repeated in the Nazi depiction of the Jews. Conversely, it is counter argued by Langmuir that Nazi anti-Semitism differed from early Christian anti-Judaism and therefore was not a continuation of anti-Judaism. He contends that despite the medieval church referring to the Jews as blind to the truth and the symbol of disbelief, medieval authorities did not condone the slaughter of the Jews. Therefore, it can be argued that there is not a direct connection between anti-Judaism and the racial anti-Semitism adopted by the Nazis. In response to Langmuir’s argument, the racial hatred for the Jews expressed by the Nazis, as with any hatred, has to have an origin and a trigger point which generates the feelings of contempt. For example, Christian contempt for Jews originates from the idea that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. Taking this into account, Langmuir’s argument is problematic and this chapter will reveal the repetition of early Christian anti-Judaism in Nazi propaganda. Although the Nazis interpreted the Jews from a racial discriminative standpoint, which was distinct to the early Church Fathers portrayal of the Jews, they used Christian anti-Judaic accusations and stereotypes of Jews to contribute to their portrayal of the Jewish race. This leads to the conclusion that the Nazis were influenced by the...
Anti- Semitism exist not only because of the Jewish people but because of the other people and religions that seen the Jewish people as threat to society. Hitler and the Nazi party would not have been successful in the final solution and other persecution of the Jews if the German people did not already have a history of Anti-Semitism and embraced it’s prejudice.
The rise of conventional antisemitism occurred in places like Germany, France, and Austria between 1817 and 1914. In Germany, it was because the Jews profited from the industrial revolution unlike most of the native population. In France, the Jews were blamed for the French downfall in World War II, and in Austria they merely blamed Jews for any problems they had. Because of this, these countries began to have new national ideas. They believed nations were culturally exclusive, meaning it should be one ethnic group, and one culture, and no other group should contaminate it. They believed Jews would deteriorate the race and weaken the ethnicity. Antisemitism then became a secular idea rather than a religious one. Gentiles hated Jews simply because they were Jewish, not because of their religion. Once the idea began, it spread rapidly. In Germany, they had antisemi...
“Anti-Semitism is the prejudice against Jews” (Encyclopedia 588). The term anti-Semitism was created in 1873 by William Marr a German political alligator. He thought Jews were plotting to take over the country so they should be excluded from citizenship. Anti- Semitism was most likely caused from the theory of Social-Darwinism which stated that some races are better than others (Whitcock 30-35). All throughout history Jews lived in weak minority groups and have always been discriminated. “Jews stood out as alien people” (Grant 11). Nearly everybody in Europe was Christian (World Encyclopedia)
The anti-Semitism that was already apparent was that of the nineteenth century. The Germans naturally hated Jews. They blamed them for the declining of the German economy and whatever was going wrong in Germany, the Jews were held responsible. From this basis set, the Germans branched out a new form of anti-Semitism. It was the use of propaganda to rid Germany and the rest of the world of Jews and what they represented. They would take any measure to execute this task.
Quint Studer’s Hardwiring Excellence: Purpose, Worthwhile Work, and Making a Difference is a Business Week National Bestseller and is highly regarded by healthcare professionals across the country. The following document describes Studer’s key points, including the Five Pillars and Nine Principles that motivate and direct transformation in an organization. It also provides a critique of Studer’s text and analyzes appropriate applications for summer residency positions.
Jordan Belfort is the notorious 1990’s stockbroker who saw himself earning fifty million dollars a year operating a penny stock boiler room from his Stratton Oakmont, Inc. brokerage firm. Corrupted by drugs, money, and sexuality he went from being an innocent twenty – two year old on the fringe of a new life to manipulating the system in his infamous “pump and dump” scheme. As a stock swindler, he would motivate his young brokers through insane presentations to rile them up as they defrauded investors with duplicitous stock sales. Toward the end of this debauchery tale he was convicted for securities fraud and money laundering for which he was sentenced to twenty – two months in prison as well as recompensing two – hundred million in restitution to any swindled stock buyers of his brokerage firm (A&E Networks Television). Though his lavish spending and berserk party lifestyle was consumed by excessive greed, he displayed both positive and negative aspects of business communications.
Michael Lewis’s The Big Short tells the tale of the 2008 financial crisis from the perspective of a few idiosyncratic characters that saw it coming. Unlike big financial institutions that underestimated the risk of increasingly extending subprime mortgage loans to uncreditworthy customers, Lewis’ characters gauged such risk accurately and anticipated the eventual burst of the housing bubble. Not only did they foresee the inevitable, but they also made a fortune by betting on its happening. Had they conformed to the public sentiment of extreme optimism and confidence in the stability of the real estate market, they would not have reaped immense monetary rewards. Between the lines of The Big Short, there lurks, albeit not too covertly, a message about the benefits of nonconformity. While conformity is often times socially encouraged and applauded, it is important to wonder at times whether going against the flow would be of greater benefit to us or our community. In Michael Lewis’s narrative, defiance of the status quo as a result of skepticism toward financial markets has yielded big payoff, whereas conformity to the widespread denial of the housing market’s unpredictability has incurred massive losses.
The stock market is an enigma to the average individual, as they cannot fathom or predict what the stock market will do. Due to this lack of knowledge, investors typically rely on a knowledgeable individual who inspires the confidence that they can turn their investments into a profit. This trust allowed Jordan Belfort to convince individuals to buy inferior stocks with the belief that they were going to make a fortune, all while he became wealthy instead. Jordan Belfort, the self-titled “Wolf of Wall Street”, at the helm of Stratton Oakmont was investigated and subsequently indicted with twenty-two counts of securities fraud, stock manipulation, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He went to prison at the age of 36 for defrauding an estimated 100 million dollars from investors through his company (Belfort, 2009). Analyzing his history of offences, how individual and environmental factors influenced his decision-making, and why he desisted from crime following his prison sentence can be explained through rational choice theory.
Before the Nazi’s reign and Hitler’s power in Germany, anti-Semitism and prejudice towards Jewish people was still a problem in society, but Nazi’s use of propaganda changed anti-Semitism from dislike of Jews because they were different to the dehumanization and genocide of the Jewish people. Propaganda was the main force that Hitler used for this transformation of prejudice against Jews because it could target German people from many different age ranges, and almost everyone could hear read or see it. Throughout history propaganda was a hugely important persuasive and informative tool not only used to promote anti-Semitism, but also many other events and causes.