Automobile’s Contribution to Identity in America Essay -- Automobile C

The Automobile’s Contribution to Identity in America: Nostalgia, Nationalism and Status Introduction Over one billion cars have been manufactured world-wide in the past century, with nearly 700 million on the road today (Urry, 2006). As important as flight, computers, and mass communication, the automobile has been a key contributor to the growth and globalization of our world (Sheller, 2000). While the automobile is rarely the topic of sociological discussion and cultural study, this article will discuss the iconicism of the automobile and how it contributes to an individual’s identity. For some this is the Volkswagen Beetle – a car that embodies nostalgia and the by-gone era of the 60’s (Wilson, 2005). For others, the identity is the nationalism and pride invoked by owning a car that typifies a true red-blooded American (Edensor, 2004). And for others identity is defined by the status or image a car provides (Belk, 1988). These three aspects of identity will be used to discuss and answer my research question: â€Å"How does the automobile contribute to identity in America?† As the owner of a vintage 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle, I have always been curious about the bond of nostalgia that is common amongst Volkswagen owners, prior owners and admirers. This infectious enthusiasm for the Volkswagen between owners combined with a general interest in the themes of how icons are born and the perceived societal status bestowed upon their owners have prompted me to write this article. 2 The Volkswagen Beetle is an iconic automobile that for many, imparts nostalgia (Wilson, 2005). The camaraderie and coming-of-age that is personified by the Volkswagen is a common, underlying characteristic amongst those who strongly identify with ... ...rica. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. * Levinson, H. (2004). Highways, People, and Places: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 130 (4), 406 – 412. Macworld. (2003). Volkswagen, Apple Team Up In 'Pods Unite' Promotion. http://www.macworld.com/news/2003/07/15/vw/, Accessed December 9, 2006. * Sheller, M. (2000). The City and the Car. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 24 (4), 737 – 757. * Sheller, M. (2004). Automotive Emotions: Feeling the Car. Theory, Culture & Society, 21 (4/5), 221–242. * Urry, J. (2006). Inhabiting the Car. The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review, 54 (1), 17 – 31. Vanden Bergh, B. (1992). Volkswagen as â€Å"Little Man.† Journal of American Culture, 15 (4), 95 – 119. * Wilson, J. (2005). Nostalgia: Sanctuary of Meaning. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press. * Denotes scholarly source. 10

Ethics and Ethical Behavior

Ethical behavior in the workplace helps a company ensure that every employee is able to perform there duties in and safe and comfortable environment. When a company set-up procedure to help with work ethics there are three important things to consider; understanding of diversity so that the employees understand the difference between ethics and cultural acts, the next to consider is an open door policy so that employees will be able to discuss ethical behavior with the company, and third is a place that the employee can go in confidence to report unethical behavior. Ethical procedure should be general and relates to all employees without causing ethical issues dealing with race, religion, or gender. The procedure should be in place to address unethical behavior as stated in laws and regulations. Human resources is the department that will be the handler in the company for ethical behavior and to make sure that all employees are treated equal. The price for a lawsuit in an ethical case is more than taking the time to make sure the procedure are in place and that all employees are trained in ethical behavior. Many companies take the time to train employees on ethical laws for the industries that they are working in when they first join the company. As we have seen in the news unethical behavior among employees in a company can cost the loss of investors trust. Each department in a company ethics might be different, finance tracking cost and how revenues are tracked, where equipment and tooling money is showing in the financial reports. For a purchasing department how dollars are collected from suppliers, or kickbacks that are usually not allowed in a company. The most common employee taking money, so with ethical issues like this a confidential hot line is usually established for an outside company to be called and by an employee to snitch on employees who are doing unethical things in the company. What ever procedure that a company might have you must make sure that there is a way for any ethical behavior to be reported and death with the most confidential and legal way.

Dante s Inferno And Shakespeare s King Essay - 1550 Words

Human beings too often avert their eyes from suffering. We choose to avoid the afflictions of ourselves and others in an attempt to deny the necessary evils within humanity. By not confronting the truths surrounding the worst in us, however, we become ignorant of a vital and possibly beneficial aspect of human nature. Both Dante’s Inferno and Shakespeare’s King Lear seek to bring attention to human suffering, illustrating our griefs and sorrows as consequences of our own agency. This pain that we inflict upon ourselves, however, can be handled in different ways that further define human suffering; each narrative profoundly explores both approaches, as Dante and Shakespeare portray suffering not only as a method of further inflicting pain to ourselves, but also as an opportunity to learn from misfortune. When we suffer as humans, we are given the opportunity to learn from those unfortunate experiences – in this way, suffering serves as a form of admonition. When we reject that opportunity, we become prisoners of our own stubbornness – in this way, suffering resembles lament. The lamentation of suffering can be seen in both the Inferno and King Lear as a way of facilitating grief on those who refuse to learn from their mistakes. In the Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim is forced to traverse through the circles of Hell in order to discover the darkest aspects of humanity. While the sinners in Hell create an atmosphere of abundant torment, few are shown to willingly intensify theirShow MoreRelatedComparing Dante s Inferno And Shakespeare s Play King Lear1606 Words   |  7 PagesDante’s Inferno and Shakespeare’s play King Lear have many similar motifs within them that allude to human suffering. One such motif is as long as you can find the words to describe how bad a situation is, things can get worse. We see this concept in Dante’s Inferno when Dante the Pilgrim is traveling deeper into the depths of hell and he exclaims, â€Å"If I had words grating and crude enough that really could describe this horrid hole†¦I could squeeze out the juice of my memories to the last drop. ButRead MoreMacbeth, Ruler by Divine Right1675 Words   |  7 PagesMacbeth In the play Macbeth, author William Shakespeare tells the dramatic story of how a man, who becomes obsessed with his own fate and power, falls from grace and is eventually killed by his own obsessions. Written in 1606, this play follows historical figures during the mid 11th century in the struggle for power and the crown of Scotland. When this was written, the Tudor dynasty had just ended its nearly 120 years of ruling England and Shakespeare wished for a peaceful transition of power unlikeRead MoreDomenico Di Michelino s Divine Comedy1918 Words   |  8 Pagesafterlife: Purgatory (Purgatorio), Hell (Inferno), and Paradise (Paradiso). This poem was a great work of medieval literature and was considered the greatest work of literature composed in Italian. The Divine Comedy was a Christian vision of mankind’s eternal fate. When The Divine Comedy was written, Dante made a cathedral painting that represents his poem called Dante and His Poem. In the painting, the Dante shows the 3 tiers related to the Christian afterlife. Dante was standing in a red robed colossusRead MoreAnalysis Of The Wasteland By T. S. Eliot2210 Words   |  9 PagesIntertextuality in the Wasteland One of the masterpieces of Anglo-American modernism, â€Å"The Wasteland† by T. S. Eliot, was published in a time when European society had just emerged from World War I, a war that had traumatized and destabilized the whole continent and its society making it reconsider much of its beliefs and previous assumptions. A sense of disillusionment and cynicism grew among people who did no more believe in the humanity and order of the world surrounding them. Eliot hasRead MoreThe Consequences Of Patriotism As Moral Justification1456 Words   |  6 Pagesactivist Malcolm X once claimed that â€Å"You re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it†. Patriotism plays a principal role in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses the actions of Brutus in order to demonstrate the immorality of taking patriotic duty to be an absolute duty. This is an important principle which allo ws us to interpret the actions of Brutus, and his influencers, throughout the play. ThisRead MoreCubism and Multiplicity of Narration in the Waste Land3022 Words   |  13 PagesIts as if in the modern age, there cannot be a single authoritative way of expressing how one feels. There is not enough confidence in the forms of language itself. Just as the traditional community has become the unreal city, a vision of a modern inferno. So The Waste Land is abundant with multiplicity of narration in different language and set of seemingly disordered images. The images in The Waste Land are supported by two distinct ways of narration. The lyric voice opening the poem uses metaphoric