The Good Life Plato s Apology And Emerson s Self Reliance

The Good Life In Plato’s Apology and Emerson’s Self Reliance, the belief of the definition of a good life expresses in both pieces. In Apology, Plato tells a scene about a philosopher Socrates who is held for trial because his accusers accuse him of being an evil-doer, claim that he corrupts the youth, and a curious person who makes the worse appear better. Socrates of course disagrees with the accusers and claims that his accuser’s aren’t wise and are investing their time by spreading rumors of what is wrong with him rather than fixing themselves by feeding their souls with knowledge. Similarly in Emerson’s Self Reliance, Emerson expresses his ideas on how a wise individual should devote their life into trusting themselves with their knowledge and not go with what the majority believe in. Although Socrates states that the unwise are the ones who assume they are wise can contradict with Emerson’s idea in believing in yourself because too muc h faith can lead to ignorance by not taking in more knowledge that’s around you, I claim that Socrates agrees with Emerson’s notion of self- reliance which leads to the good life because both talk about pursuing the good life means to pursue knowledge. Ignorance tends to play a big role when it comes to claiming knowledge. Often times people think that the amount of knowledge they have is enough and that it is unnecessary to expand it. In regard to people who think they know something when they don’t, Socrates says, â€Å"For they do notShow MoreRelatedPlato s Apology And Ralph Waldo Emerson s On Self Reliance1559 Words   |  7 PagesThrough Plato’s Apology and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s â€Å"Self-Reliance† both contend that living an unexamined life is living a life of ignorance and futility. On the other hand, living an examined life is living an enlightened life full of intelligence. I agree with Plato and Emerson’s similar ideas t hat without knowledge, life as it is, is not worth living. They both argue that having personal beliefs creates an intelligent society. Having knowledge allows for one to set goals and objectives to achieveRead MoreCleanth Brookss Essay Irony as a Principle of Structure9125 Words   |  37 PagesMarx’s system. On the contrary, our underlying premise here is the belief that in Marx’s theory and method the true method by which to understand society and history has finally been discovered. This method is historical through and through. It is self-evident, therefore, that it must be constantly applied to itself, and this is one of the focal points of these essays. At the same time this entails taking up a substantive position with regard to the urgent problems of the present; for according to

Sammuri Argumentative Essay Free Essays

Samurais Argumentative essay Samurais were a vital part of Japanese culture and should have been allowed to continue. Although there were dangerous aspects of this tradition, it was also a large part of Japanese culture. As time passed, their existence had gradually lessened, resulting in their loss. We will write a custom essay sample on Sammuri Argumentative Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although the Samurai ways are no longer practiced, they have left a legacy that keeps on affecting the lives of people in Japan today. The traditions of the samurai still have an influence on the lives of the Japanese people. Whether it is through the martial arts, the peaceful arts, or their beliefs, the samurai continue to influence life to this day. The Samurai’s ethics are major in Japanese society as well as business; the idea of Bushido exists in society today as the Japanese business ethics illustrate honor and duty to Japan. To be a Samurai was a huge honor and it took an abundance of training and extensive hours of practice. Samurais had to be completely dedicated to their lifestyle; they repeated their schedule day after day: wake up in the Samurai village, meditation, hours of training, dinner, and sleep. Their routine was very rigorous however; it was compensated when they went into battle. Samurais were an elite group of warriors who were very skilled in battle and killing. Many may say that the Samurais were very violent and provocative group, however, the Samurais were always on the defensive. Though the entire movie, the Samurais never picked the fight, it was always the Americans- or in any case, it was never the Samurais who were picking the fights. The Samurais’ code of honor, Bushido, was much like a knights’ code of honor, chivalry; the only difference was â€Å"seppuku†. Seppuku was the traditional suicide after a battle was lost. The leader of the losing team was to commit suicide by carving a figure 8 into his abdomen because he shouldn’t live with the shame of losing a battle. If the man could not complete the figure 8, the leader of the opposing side would cut off the loser’s head. This was all part of honor; however, many people saw it as barbaric and couldn’t understand this ritual. The Samurai were trained warriors and their job was to kill predators so any way they are viewed; they were still violent peoples so in a way it was a good thing that the tradition was discontinued. The weapons the Samurais used were swords, bow and arrows, and a spear; no fire arms. In the movie, The Last Samurai, it was said that the â€Å"sword is part of the soul†. The Japanese took this very seriously; training took up most of a warriors’ day. The samurai rose to power out of the constant fight for land in feudal Japan. They became experts at fighting from horseback and on the ground. They trained in armed and unarmed combat. They wore many layers of armor and used only the sword passed down from previous generations. As mentioned previously, the Samurai were trained warriors and their job was to kill predators so in a way it was a good thing that the tradition was discontinued. However, much like the Samurai, soldiers fighting the war today are much more aggressive than the Samurai and they are armed with much more lethal weapons than a sword. Others may view this as hypocritical that the centuries long tradition was put to an end yet we continue to fight and kill to get what we need; we aren’t even fighting to protect our people like the Samurais were, we are fighting for something that we want. How to cite Sammuri Argumentative Essay, Essays

Budget Planning free essay sample

The sales forecast predicts that CB will recover over the next 3 years. CB estimates over $100,000 more in cash and cash equivalents for year 9. This is, of course due to the increase in unit sales that is worked into the budget. It might be a better idea to underestimate rather than overestimate when it comes to cash on hand. Retaining a quality labor force has never been a problem for CB. I feel it raises some concern when the budget does not allow for any wiggle room with the labor hours. This would be an area in the budget that would make sense to allot some extra time/money. CB would be wise to be sure each unit is manufactured properly, with absolutely no mistakes after coming off a sales year which yielded less than ideal results. If riders do actually decide to continue buying CarbonLite bikes, CB must be extremely confident in the units they are selling. Even allowing for an extra hour per unit would help to cushion this part of the flexible budget. In the selling, general and administrative budget for year 9 there are a few areas of concern. The advertising budget is 2% of the projected Gross Margin. CB should increase their advertising budget. Coming up with a new phrase or slogan will help CB stand out in the consumer’s mind. Especially after the economic decline in year 8, CB will want to make sure that their customers know they are still here and better than ever. The budget lists Utilities at $150,000. This is the same as year 8. Still a concern from year 8 is the line item- Other General and Admin Expenses. This area has $170,000 budgeted for it. This is an area where CB can cut some spending to lead to more profitable end of year results. If it cannot be cut, then the details should be spelled out in the budget. As it stands now, one cannot ascertain what that money is being used for, which raises some red flags. Also listed is the line item-Utilities and Services. Why would there be an additional line added for this in the flexible budget. This is not something listed for the previous year. With $150,000 for Utilities and $170,000 for Other, what additional utilities and services are they budgeting $54,000 for and why? Year 8 did not result in an increase in sales for CB. In fact, year 8 resulted in a 27% decrease in overall gross profit, due to selling fewer units than anticipated at the start of the year. After reviewing the flexible budget for year 9, it is apparent there are areas of concern which should be addressed and corrected, if possible. Along with the areas noted above, under Current Liabilities there are two different line items: â€Å"Accrued Salaries and Related Expense and Other Accrued Expenses. † With a total of nearly $40,000, an explanation is needed as to what this money is being budgeted for. CB is also estimating that they will have over $30,000 less money owed for Accounts and Noted payable in year 9. I’m not confident that if year 8 ended at a certain point, with a dollar amount being owed, how year 9 wouldn’t be budgeted for that same amount from the beginning. Although a minor detail, it appears that some sections of the budget are off by $1 when double checked. Even though it is only $1, it perhaps shows reveals something about those creating the budget or those who are in charge of the numbers. The flexible budget for year 9 has CB selling 3,510 units. This is an increase from year 8 of 110 units. Coming off a 15% sales decline, it might have been wise to aim a little lower in the budgeting. The actual number of units sold in year 9 was 3,423. This is 87 fewer units that anticipated. (Please note that the number of units sold for year 9 under Task 2 states 3,400, but the Contribution Margin Income Statement states 3,423. I will be using 3,423. ) Net sales for year 9 were over $130,000 less, or around 2. 4%. This is an unfavorable variance due to the fact that it really just means that CB made less money than they were hoping for. The areas of direct materials, direct labor, manufacturing overhead and variable selling expenses all had favorable variances. Although the variances are favorable, it is because fewer units were sold than the budget listed. Transportation Out is set at $30/unit. This is a contract that is agreed upon with CB and the common carrier. The budgeted amount for Transportation Out was $105,300 for 3,510 units. The actual amount spent was $108,297. If each unit costs $30 to transport, then this number shows that 3,609 units were transported. Year 9 only resulted in the sale of 3,423 units. This many units should have cost CB $102,690, resulting in a variance of $2,610 or 2. 4%. Advertising expenses are supposed to be 2% of the projected gross income. CB spent around $3,000 more than they budgeted for in year 9. This is still only about 2. 2%, but it was not accounted for in the flexible budget therefore resulting in an unfavorable variance. Website Creation and Maintenance has a fixed budget of $6,000. This item resulted in neither a favorable or unfavorable variance in year 9. Distribution Network Contracted Support is supposed to remain fixed at $50,830. However, year 9 shows that $370 less was spent in this area. This is a small favorable variance in CB’s favor, but still needs to be addressed. 1,000 more went to Administrative Salaries, leading to an unfavorable variance. Perhaps someone received a bonus or other Human Resource issue? Executive Compensation has a favorable variance of $2,000. Employment taxes were slightly lower in year 9, by $77. Utilities and services were managed well, resulting in savings of close to $2,000. Research and Development shows a favorable variance of $3,020. This number is set at 6% of the Gross Margin. The previously discussed area of mystery, Other General and Admin Expenses, had an unfavorable variance in year 9 of $2,000. This area is still of concern at the end of year 9. Also discussed, Other Utilities and Services resulted in a $500 favorable variance. The Operating Income for year 9 shows an unfavorable variance of 48%; $38,478 less than anticipated in the flexible budget for CB in year 9. It is recommended that CB estimate a lower number of units sold in future flexible budgets. This will be especially true after suffering a 15% decrease in sales in the current year. It never hurts to be optimistic, as long as CB also remains realistic with their numbers. I recommend detailing the line items Other General and Administrative Expenses and Other Utilities and Services. This will help CB determine what this money is actually being spent on. Hopefully there will be a way to reduce costs once the area is broken down into finer details. Although not too big of a concern, the variances in salaries for Administrative and Executive should be uncovered. It never hurts to know why employee compensation is different than budgeted for. CB should reach out to their contracted support company to find out why they were undercharged by $370. When working with a budget it is important to know where the money is going, especially when there is a variance on what is supposed to be a fixed amount. It could be something as simple as a loyalty credit from the contracted support company. More money was spent on advertising than was budgeted for. Although advertising is a great way to reach current and potential customers, the overspending needs to be addressed. Advertising should be 2% of the gross margin. If CB made less money in year 9 due to low sales, it doesn’t make sense that over 2% went to advertising. If CB is thinking about upping their advertising efforts, this will need to be accounted for in the flexible budget. Lastly, Transportation Out resulted in an unfavorable variance of nearly $3,000. This is of great concern because there is a contract that states each unit will be $30 to transport. From this variance it appears that CB was overcharged for transportation on 186 extra units. With a little investigating, CB might just discover it was a clerical mistake and perhaps they will be due a refund. The bottom line is, shipping fewer units than anticipated should not cost CB more money. The CEO of CB practices management by exception. This means that she only feels it is necessary to follow up on significant variances in cost. Because a budget is not perfect, each and every line item will not match exactly as predicted. But when there is a large difference, or an unusual difference, she will investigate why. There are several variances in year 9 that require no follow up. The variable cost area (direct materials, direct labor, manufacturing overhead, variable selling expenses) are all tied to how many units were actually sold compared to how many the budget allowed for. Advertising expenses were supposed to be set at 2% of the Gross Margin, but ended up being a little higher than 2%. The company brought in less profit, so the amount of money spent on advertising should have been less. Transportation out is set at $30 per unit. The Contribution Margin Income Statement shows that CB paid for 186 extra units. This is not an item the CEO would want to apply Management by Exception. When a certain price is established with a vendor or partner, it should be honored. Anything other than the agreed upon price should be looked into. A minor difference in the results for Administrative Salaries and Executive Compensation does not raise too much concern. But many of the variances are small. This variance, however, should have some explanation. The CEO will want to make sure that the employees are not being compensated unfairly or that money is being paid to someone for no good reason. The CEO most likely knows what each line item consists of. However, as stated previously, the $170,000 budgeted for Other General and Administrative Expenses and the $54,000 budgeted for Other Utilities and Services deserves an explanation. The Operating Income has a variance of 48% for year 9, compared to the flexible budget. It is worth it to the CEO to further look into why exactly there is such a large variance.