The Japanese Managerial System Essay Example for Free

The Japanese Managerial System Essay Takeo Hoshi and Anil Kashyap have in the last chapter of their book; Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan explained the future of the Japanese Investment and Fund Raising market. This future prediction can be assessed taking into consideration the trend of the Japanese market from 1930’s where banks and traditional money lenders were predominant and trusted, to changes that took place and led to the gradual overtaking of the security market over the banking sector as means for fund raising and investment. The early Japanese era saw Banks and traditional means as major avenues for investment and funding. The Security market was unpopular and had no regulations or Corporate governance. The investors were mere profit sharing bystanders with no rights in the companies hence the banking sector started to gain importance. The 50’s and 60’s saw the banks as well established entities with regulations; hence the Government did not want to amend an already ongoing system. By 1968, Japan became the world’s second most strong economy and the banking sector was booming. With the change of the U.S. structure, Japan too took a decision and established a securities market to provide investment and fund raising opportunities. The bigger Japanese companies jumped to this opportunity as this was a good way to finance their increasing needs for expansion. Over time, the Japanese security market grew stronger and overtook the banking sector as means of investment and fund raising. And with the turn of the 21st century, it is predicted that the future of the Japanese market will be one that is a securities dominated market. TWO SURPRISING FEATURES OF THE JAPANESE TREND Pre 1937, the principle mode of investment for households were securities. The security market had very less governance or regulations, yet they were popular. The surprising feature is the popularity of this sector even without governance or regulations. Logically speaking investment in any market that has less regulations or governance is unsafe. The next surprising feature was the Banking Sector pre 1937 also. Banks are considered the safest option to invest money and obtain funds from around the world, yet the Japanese households preferred to keep their investments in postal saving schemes showing that the traditional methods were still dominant. LINK WITH DISCUSSIONS This Chapter speaks about the position of Japan’s household and corporate sector and highlighting changes that took place with respect to investments and funding over a period of 70 years, speaking about Pre Wartime Scenario where securities played a more important role and Post Wartime Scenario where banks established their supremacy †¦ finally giving way to the securities market to once again establish their dominance. The changes that gradually took place from traditional methods of savings and investment to more modernized governed modes. The strengthening of the Banking sector contributing to Japan being established as the world’s second most strongest economy in 1968, to the decline of the role of banks and the emergence of the securities market as the preferred mode for investment and funding, establishing the future of the Japanese economy to be prosperous and optimistic, yet uncertain. References Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan by Takeo Hoshi and Anil Kashyap (2001). The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. ISBN: 0-262-08301-9

The Critique of Critical Thinking Essay Example for Free

The Critique of Critical Thinking Essay To think is already an achievement in itself, but to think critically is a lot better than settling with what one already know. To critically think enables the individual to explore new perspectives and world-views, contrary to a dogmatic stance on beliefs and thoughts. To think critically entails a deep and broader look into a subject or system of thought, that to expose an ideology is to not look on its only positive aspects but also to explore more on its adverse   and corresponding developments in that field. A dogmatic world-view will limit the intellect into a specific area of advocacy or belief and it rejects any idea that is outside or alien to the existing thought. This often results in a backward progression of intellectual capability since there is no room for exploration of different ideas. In addition, a restrained or limited intellectual capacity to understand more things does not ultimately guarantee a real grasp of truth. But through critical thinking, there are many accounts and views that may help in achieving a clear understanding of the truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In line with critical thinking is the ability to take into account other sentiments, world-views and opinions of different people and cultures, combining them into a synthesized argument. The main point of critical thinking is to necessarily limit the borders of thinking into a single belief but also reconsiders other individuals own sentiments and formulating a new idea. This also brings for an opportunity of discourse and not debate since in debate an idea must be defended rhetorically in order to prove its credibility. In discourse however, it consists of a discussion between different individuals with no use of any rhetoric method. The discussions are not limited to a side that would win but the main aim is to create or improve an idea or concept.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In summary, to think critically enables the individual to consider other opinions other than the self.

Relevance of mindfulness to developing interpersonal skills

Relevance of mindfulness to developing interpersonal skills Mindfulness as a psychological concept can be conceptualised as a present centred, non elaborative and non judgemental awareness in which all of the individuals sensations, feelings and thoughts that are present in their field of attention is taken account of and accepted (Bishop et al, 2004). Hargie (2006) states that behaviour that an individual pursues consciously can be said to be mindful, while automatic behaviour must be defined as mindless. Bishop et al go on to state that Mindfulness in contemporary psychology has been adopted as an approach for increasing awareness and responding skilfully to mental processes that contribute to emotional distress and maladaptive behaviour. (p.230). they suggest that operationalising the concept requires that the definition have two components, and that previous definitions do not adequately capture the nature of the concept. The first requires the individual to regulate their attentional mechanisms so that they focus on immediate and present experience, which will allow them to recognise internal events that occur in the present. This necessarily involves the individuals conscious awareness of their own feelings and thoughts as well as their surroundings. A result of this can be metacognitive abilities that allow them to control their powers of concentration. The second component of their definition of mindfulness requires the individual to adopt a certain kind of orientation towards their experience as they occur immediately, which will be characterised by openness, curiosity and acceptance. This orientation component requires the individual to accept their mindstream, to maintain a curious and open attitude, and to think in terms of different categories. Wiemann, Greene and Burleson (2003) note that within the context of interpersonal encounters, mindfulness implies increased attention to each individuals characteristics in new encounters. They suggest that this is particularly important in intercultural settings bec ause in these, it is more important to try to be prepared for unexpected behaviour from others. This essay will consider the relationship between mindfulness and interpersonal behaviour, including relationships as well as whether mindfulness can help people to improve their interpersonal skills. With regard to the relationship between mindfulness and interpersonal behaviour, Brown, Ryan and Creswell (2007) point out that research into the influence of mindfulness has only begun relatively recently, and has also focused largely on how it can enhance romantic relationships. For example, Welwood (1996) proposed that mindfulness encourages connection, closeness and attunement in these kinds of relationships. Goleman (2006) found that it can increase the individuals ability to pay attention to the content of their partners communication and also to be aware of their non-verbal behaviour and affective tone. Brown et al conclude that this scholarship suggests that mindfulness may promote interaction styles that support healthy relationship functioning and enhance overall relationship quality. (p. 225). Barnes et al (2007) used the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (Carlson Brown, 2005; Brown Ryan, 2003), a self-report measure of mindfulness, to look at the relationship between mi ndfulness and relationship satisfaction. They found that increased mindfulness on the scale predicted increased satisfaction in relationships as well as more capacity to respond to relationship stress in a constructive manner. The study was carried out in a sample of dating couples who were not distressed. One possible criticism is that the study relied on self report and there was a danger of participants responding to face validity in some of the questions. These concerns were addressed to a certain extent in a second study, using a paradigm of conflict discussion. The authors found that scores on the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale predicted lower scores of emotional stress to conflict. This effect in turn was explained by the fact that they experienced less emotional stress in advance of the discussion, indicating that mindfulness actually helps protect the couple from stress, and does not just have a simple buffering effect. Objective raters also found that mindfulness wa s associated with better quality of communication, which is consistent with Tickle Degnan and Rosenthals (1990) finding that sustained attention in social exchanges is essential for rapport to be established. More generally, Baer et al (2006) fount that there was a positive association between mindfulness and aspects of emotional intelligence, which are related to improved social skills (see also Brown Ryan, 2003). This can lead to better perspective taking, response patterns that are cooperative and increased satisfaction in marital partners (Schutte et al, 2001). Brown and Kasser (2005; see also Brown Ryan, 2003; 2004) found that mindfulness as measured by the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale had a positive association with, or even predicted, a sense of interpersonal closeness and relatedness. This suggests that mindfulness plays a role in supporting social connections, which can be considered a fundamental psychological need (Deci Ryan, 1991). However, this proposition m ust be tested and confirmed by further research. Furthermore, incipient intervention studies also support the notion that mindfulness has a beneficial role in relationships. Carson et al (2004) adapted the extant Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme (Kabat Zinn, 1982) to a couples based intervention, which was named Mindfulness Based Relationship Enhancement. They found that, compared to control couples, those who undertook the intervention showed significantly increased partner acceptance, autonomy, and relationship satisfaction, and significantly reduces relationship and personal distress. These results held both post-test and at a follow up carried out three months later. All couples in the study were non distressed. This indicates that increased mindfulness can lead to positive outcome in terms of interpersonal behaviour. Burgoon, Berger and Waldron (2000)argue that in order to properly consider how mindfulness can help to address social issues, it is necessary to specify the features that characterise the communication context, the individuals communicating, or the messages being communicated that have the potential to increase mindfulness. Langer (1978) and subsequent authors (e.g. Hewes Graham, 1989; Schul Burnstein, 1998) have identified a number of situations that prompt individuals to exhibit more thoughtful behaviour. These include new situations, new formats for communication, and situations that are uninvolving. Waldron (1997) went on to study conversations and found that some of the proposed mindfulness prompts were indeed manifested therein. Conversations that included this kind of behaviour had associated patterns of behaviour that included more questioning, longer turns taken in the conversation, calls for evidence to be given and more interruption, which all indicate that efforts are b eing made to take control of the situation. However, it should be noted that this approach may not necessarily be considered the best for systematically examining the use of mindfulness prompts due to the fairly small number of conversations that were recorded. Dekeyser et al (2008) also looked at the relationship between mindfulness and interpersonal performance and feelings. Firstly, they looked at the factor structure and reliability of a mindfulness measure, the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (Baer et al, 2004), which is also based on self report. They used a sample of Psychology students and parents, all of whom spoke Dutch. They were able to replicate Baer et als finding in terms of the four factors that underlie mindfulness, which are characterised as Describe, Observe, Accept without Judgement and Act with Awareness. These were invariant through the samples tested, and all of these aspects of mindfulness displayed positive associations with self expression during a variety of social situations. Additionally, an increased tendency towards mindful observation was correlated with higher levels of empathy. The other factors of acting with awareness, acceptance without judgement and mindful description were correlated with more accurate description and identification of emotions and feelings, lowered social anxiety, increased body satisfaction and lowered contagion of distress. Thus, this study indicates that several factors, many of which are highly personal in nature, are associated with aspects of mindfulness. This further strengthens the notion that high levels of mindfulness are associated with a number of positive psychological outcomes, although the nature of this relationship is not clear. It must be remembered that correlation in no way infers causation and it is possible that mindfulness exerts more of a moderating or mediating effect. Furthermore, mindfulness may have some clinical applications, such as the relatively recent use of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, which is a treatment programme that was originally devised in order to help to manage chronic pain (Kabat Zinn, Lipworth et al, 1987; Kabat Zinn, Lipworth Burney, 1985). The treatment programme is presently used in order to help to reduce the psychological morbidity that comes along with chronic illnesses, as well as in the treatment of behavioural and emotional disorders (Kabat Zinn, 1998). Bishop (2002) has pointed out that the use of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction has increased in terms of popularity despite the fact that there has been no rigorous scientific evaluation of the treatment programme. However, clinical trials have begun to be carried out. Reibel, Greenson et al (2001) found significant reductions of psychological morbidity in patients with a medical illness using the programme (see also Carlson, Ursuliak et al, 2001; Speca, Carlso n et al, 2000). Williams, Kolar et al (2001) also found that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction helped to increase individuals psychological well being and mitigate stress in samples that were not clinical (see also Shapiro, Schwartz Bonner, 1998; Astin, 1997). In conclusion, the nature of mindfulness is complex and appears to have two separate but interconnected components; attention and orientation. Mindfulness is related to interpersonal behaviour because it can promote styles of interaction that lead to improved social behaviour and can also have a positive influence on relationships with others. Indeed, the research indicates that mindfulness can have a protective capacity against social stress, although how it does this is not yet clear. Furthermore, early research indicates that interventions that encourage mindfulness can not only reduce stress following illness, but can also have positive impacts on interpersonal relationships. Although the field is relatively young, research is showing more and more positive aspects of mindfulness for interpersonal skills and behaviour. One possible future direction for research would be the development of a more objective way of measuring mindfulness. At present, most studies rely on self-report, which is influenced by the participants concept of themselves. Exploratory studies looking for other indices of mindfulness, perhaps using galvanic skin response, event related potentials or functional magnetic resonance imaging may be of use.

I am going to discuss is Kindertransport and my own piece The adoption :: Drama

I am going to discuss is 'Kindertransport' and my own piece 'The adoption' Danielle Grennan May2003 Performance Evaluation =============================================== The work I am going to discuss is 'Kindertransport' and my own piece 'The adoption'. I saw 'Kindertransport' in October 2002 at the Redbridge Drama Centre; my own piece was devised and performed in May 2003 also at the Redbridge Drama Centre. Both pieces have very similar themes about mother and daughter relationships and the difficulty of giving children away. Although both pieces are set in different periods of time. The theme of mother and daughter relationship is not very comprehensible so it is quite hard to act. My contribution to 'The adoption' was the part of the daughter, Clare Andrews, I had to be very aware of what a child of 11 would of felt like finding out she was adopted and had been lied to by the main person in her life. It was quite a difficult part to play and I personally feel I did not do it justice partly because of the time we had to prepare the piece and I did not learn the part as much as I would of liked to. I looked for articles on the Internet about mothers who have lost their daughters as part of my presentation. I also played a clip from 'Buffy the vampire slayer' showing this issue. I found many articles about this subject and they helped me to understand the emotions and anxieties of mothers who have lost their daughters. I think it did support our piece because by giving it more realistic feelings and emotions felt by mothers. Our piece was set in the modern day and 'Kindertransport' was set in the 1930s and modern day. Both pieces were about having to give your daughters away for various reasons. In 'Kindertransport', due to the historical background, the mother had to give her child away for its own safety because it was the time of the Holocaust. In our piece the mother had to give her daughter away because of her age and her parents. But in both pieces both mothers come back for their daughters and they chose to stay with their adoptive mothers. The characters in our piece were just general middle class people in modern times dealing with this hard but common issue. The characters in 'Kindertansport' were very different, the real mother and daughter are Jewish German citizens trying to escape the Jewish persecutions and the adoptive mother and the daughter's daughter are just modern day middle class people similar to the characters in our piece. This was shown by accents for the different nationalities.

Free College Admissions Essays: Slacking :: College Admissions Essays

College Admissions: Slacking It's unbelievable how each year, since the beginning of high school, my perfectly laid plans for myself have unavoidably deteriorated. When I entered my freshman year, I had aspirations of being a doctor (something I had wanted to be since I was a child). Now, here I am entering my senior year in high school without any idea of what I want to do. Now seems to be the time to start taking life seriously and making responsible, educated choices. Looking back on it now, I realize that I cannot become the doctor I wanted to be. I have come to realize that, that dream was not only my own, but a dream of my family. My parents often talked of me becoming a doctor and although their enthusiasm continued throughout my childhood and early adolescence, mine slowly diminished; until finally I realized I did not want to become a doctor. I remember how hard it seemed to tell my parents of my decision, I felt as if I was letting them down, but I eventually came to realize that they wanted me to do what made me happy. I am not definite why I changed my mind in regard to being a doctor, I had the grades, the drive, and the willingness to make certain sacrifices, but somewhere I was missing something and I felt that I would not be satisfied in a medical career. So I started thinking about what I wanted to do; I went from teaching to law enforcement, computer programming to astronautics and numerous other professions. Now I come to a crossroad in my life where I must choose what to do with my future, choose what will make me happy. I have always wanted the typical 'American Dream' to have a husband I am in love with, a stable job, loving children, and a house in the suburbs. But now I realize that there are so many other steps I need to take in order to achieve these so-called goals. This includes graduating from high school and college, finding that special someone, and finding that perfect job. I have begun to realize that I have yet to begin my life; everything up until now has been practice, as if I have been in a cage and it is only now that I am beginning to break free and do things for myself.

A Tragic Situation Essay -- essays research papers

Tragedy is a description of an event that evokes a sympathetic feeling of emotion by the audience. The events involve people emotionally who were not involved in the situation physically. In the story of Antigone, Sophecles forces the audience to take pity on the poor girl’s situation. This story impacts the audience in such a way that the audience becomes emotionally enthralled in the plot of the story. All of Steiner’s, â€Å"Principle constants of conflict in the condition of man,† (360) were present in the tragic tale of Antigone. The conflicts confirm a tragic sense about the story. In a tragedy drama is experienced and the characters typically suffer extremely. Consequently, this can happen because of a tragic mistake. The first of the ageless conflicts of man is, â€Å"the confrontation of men and women† (360). This principle is applied in the conflict between Antigone and Creon. Antigone broke a law that her uncle, Creon, had created. As a result of this she was to be killed. Sympathy is felt for Antigone because she was punished for take a stand for what she believed to be the right thing. Unfortunately the risk she took was going against her uncle Creon, who so happened to have power over her. It was a tragic situation that Antigone was to be killed for such a ridiculous crime. Although Antigone should not have been punished for that law she had broken, she was willing to accept her death sentence. She said to Creon, â€Å"These laws- I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods. Die I must, I’ve known it all my life- how could I keep from knowing? - Even without your death-sentence ringing in my ears. And if I am to die before my time I consider that a gain. Who on earth alive in the midst of so much grief as I, could fail to find this death a rich reward?† (374) Antigone was willing to risk her own life for the sake of her dead brother’s pride. Creon wants Antigone to know that he has control over her. She defied him and now he has no choice but to punish her. Otherwise it would mean a bruise on his reputation as a ruler. It would prove that he was of weak character, especially since a girl went against him. Creon said, â€Å"This girl was an old hand at insolence when she overrode the edicts we made public. But once she’d done it- the insolence, twice over- to glory in it, laughing, mocking us to... ...’s blood, feed their lust, their fury?- Feed their fury!- Law is law!- Let all go well.†(307) Clytemnestra killed her husband upon his return from the battle of Troy. She was so heartbroken that he had killed her daughter. The tragedy in this story is almost the same as that of Antigone. Death follows another death. Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father. He was killed for killing her and so was his mistress. Since Clytemnestra killed the two people she was sentenced to death. The tragedy is death. In the beginning of the story of Antigone the audience is forced to feel sorrow for Antigone. Towards the end they began to feel sympathy for Creon as well. His display of moral weakness was the cause of three unnecessary deaths. The story of Antigone and Clytemnestra were different because the Antigone was the innocent party in the story. Clytemnestra may appear innocent to the audience but to the people in the story she was a murderess. Tragedy plays a large role in these two plays. An emotion of sorrow is felt by the audience. The characters of the plays go through terrible situations. Tragedy makes the stories more appealing to the audience because they become emotionally involved. A Tragic Situation Essay -- essays research papers Tragedy is a description of an event that evokes a sympathetic feeling of emotion by the audience. The events involve people emotionally who were not involved in the situation physically. In the story of Antigone, Sophecles forces the audience to take pity on the poor girl’s situation. This story impacts the audience in such a way that the audience becomes emotionally enthralled in the plot of the story. All of Steiner’s, â€Å"Principle constants of conflict in the condition of man,† (360) were present in the tragic tale of Antigone. The conflicts confirm a tragic sense about the story. In a tragedy drama is experienced and the characters typically suffer extremely. Consequently, this can happen because of a tragic mistake. The first of the ageless conflicts of man is, â€Å"the confrontation of men and women† (360). This principle is applied in the conflict between Antigone and Creon. Antigone broke a law that her uncle, Creon, had created. As a result of this she was to be killed. Sympathy is felt for Antigone because she was punished for take a stand for what she believed to be the right thing. Unfortunately the risk she took was going against her uncle Creon, who so happened to have power over her. It was a tragic situation that Antigone was to be killed for such a ridiculous crime. Although Antigone should not have been punished for that law she had broken, she was willing to accept her death sentence. She said to Creon, â€Å"These laws- I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods. Die I must, I’ve known it all my life- how could I keep from knowing? - Even without your death-sentence ringing in my ears. And if I am to die before my time I consider that a gain. Who on earth alive in the midst of so much grief as I, could fail to find this death a rich reward?† (374) Antigone was willing to risk her own life for the sake of her dead brother’s pride. Creon wants Antigone to know that he has control over her. She defied him and now he has no choice but to punish her. Otherwise it would mean a bruise on his reputation as a ruler. It would prove that he was of weak character, especially since a girl went against him. Creon said, â€Å"This girl was an old hand at insolence when she overrode the edicts we made public. But once she’d done it- the insolence, twice over- to glory in it, laughing, mocking us to... ...’s blood, feed their lust, their fury?- Feed their fury!- Law is law!- Let all go well.†(307) Clytemnestra killed her husband upon his return from the battle of Troy. She was so heartbroken that he had killed her daughter. The tragedy in this story is almost the same as that of Antigone. Death follows another death. Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father. He was killed for killing her and so was his mistress. Since Clytemnestra killed the two people she was sentenced to death. The tragedy is death. In the beginning of the story of Antigone the audience is forced to feel sorrow for Antigone. Towards the end they began to feel sympathy for Creon as well. His display of moral weakness was the cause of three unnecessary deaths. The story of Antigone and Clytemnestra were different because the Antigone was the innocent party in the story. Clytemnestra may appear innocent to the audience but to the people in the story she was a murderess. Tragedy plays a large role in these two plays. An emotion of sorrow is felt by the audience. The characters of the plays go through terrible situations. Tragedy makes the stories more appealing to the audience because they become emotionally involved.

Human Landscapes from My Country by Nazim Hikmet Essay

Introduction In the Epic novel, Human Landscapes from My Country, Nazim Hikmet used the comparison between technology and nature very often. The imagery of technology that is portrayed in this novel seems to clash with nature. Through the use of many different images such as the train and plane, Hikmet seems to portray technology as the antagonist of nature. These imageries suggest how technology would destroy and would annihilate nature with its surroundings as technology progresses. However, after a closer reading into the novel, Hikmet actually suggest that technology as a positive aspect that will ultimately improve human lives. Perhaps sacrifices and mistakes are necessary as these are natural occurrences that are expected to happen as technology progresses. Although the cost of technology may seem to be dreadful, it is a necessary step for the better future of human lives. Literature Contemporary history on a panoramic scale is taken up in Human Landscapes, which was written during the author’s prison years but was only published several years after his death. Beginning with the project for an epic study of Turkish history during the twentieth century, at intervals the poet’s narrative also turns to major events in adjoining regions, notably naval action of World War II in the Mediterranean and the work of Soviet forces against Nazi invaders. His commentary on the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922) stands in stark contrast to the heroic national themes repeatedly invoked by other writers of that period. In Hikmet’s view, it would seem that the people as a whole contributed to final victory but only through an inchoate mass rising that did not also lead to a social revolution. Indeed, many passages suggest that class differences remained acute but were altered by Turkey’s changed status in the world economy. There are a number of brief sketches of individual lives, both from the wealthy and from the lower orders, often to state unpleasant truths about the people’s living situation. Some characters, it is recorded, died of disease at early ages; farmers retained their land but lost all means of production. Many of the personages are war veterans from one conflict or another. There is much attention to dates, but not in the sense of commemorating events with patriotic connotations; important occurrences in individual lives are accorded the same emphasis as major developments in the nation’s history. There is also a fair amount of random, seemingly senseless violence: Family quarrels lead to murder; after a man kills his wife, children use the head as a ball in a macabre game. A wrenching, gripping scene records the lynching of a Turk who had collaborated with the British occupation forces. There are some sardonic religious references which call to mind folk superstitions; in some later passages, Turks of a pro-German inclination speculate about whether Adolph Hitler could be a Muslim. Leading Turkish statesmen and thinkers figure as portraits on the walls of business offices; the memories associated with them are quirky bits of characterization that are far from flattering. The work as a whole darts about and circumambulates historical epochs as they affected different, indeed opposing, social classes. After nearly fifteen years of national independence, homeless and desperately hungry men are to be found outside a newspaper office; if wealthy businessmen cannot turn a profit in some branches of the export trade, because of government restrictions, they move readily to other sectors where their fortunes can be augmented. Some of them end up dealing with both the Allied and the Axis powers during World War II. The incidence of suicide on either side of the class divide is fairly high; among the poor, childbirth is difficult, painful, and sometimes ends in tragedy. Although this exercise in historical realism, based on the author’s own observations of Turkish life, does not seem to hold out any immediate hopes for a better future, the poet’s descriptions of nature and simple joys serve to leaven an otherwise grim and unsentimental saga (Des Pres, 7-25). Written in free verse and employing such cinematographic techniques as flashbacks, pans, zooms, dissolves, and jump cuts, Human Landscapes from My Country combines the economy of poetry with the rapid-fire imagery of motion pictures. Hikmet traces the fortunes of men and women in love and war — from prostitutes, politicians, and captains of industry to housewives, political prisoners, and peasants — and gives voice to social strata unheard from in a heroic context until the twentieth century. To Hikmet, every life is a human-interest story worth telling, and his is a cast of hundreds. This panoramic view of Turkish society during World War II, when the fate of the world hung in the balance, highlights the compelling variety of human experience, never letting us forget that, for better or worse, the fate of the world is in our hands. Hikmet’s unabashed communist politics, for which he languished in prison or exile most of his adult life, are reflected in vignettes of idealized â€Å"Ivans† of soldierly valor and of real-life heroes, â€Å"Tanya† the teenaged Russian revolutionary and the Nazi-martyred journalist Gabriel Peri. Still, the poet’s most profound sympathies lie with the poor man striving to sustain himself and his family in pursuit of a fleeting happiness. Living out prolonged confinement for political activities, dreaming of his wife and child as blindness threatens and days become years, unbowed Halil recalls the poet’s own situation, a cynosure of what an entire culture was forced to endure. Ultimately Hikmet’s art suggests spaciousness, a grandeur in the details of poor people seeking just to breathe while events portend an invidious recurrence of suffering for love, ambition, misfortune–for living. Finally available complete in English, Hikmet’s hauntingly eloquent masterpiece never flags. Human civilization and technology has grown in a fast pace but are we happy? Hikmet said that he feels life is more comfortable. Nobody said that life has become happier. We found that technology which has been developed to make life easier has in fact made life complicated and busier. He said that unlike the past, now he can travel from place to place in few minutes/hours but life has become busier. Communication has improved, technology has taken place in our lives but effective communication between people has decreased. We were all alarmed to face this fact that better technology doesn’t mean happiness. So is technology, instead of liberating us, holding us back? Some later segments of this work are essentially similar to portions of The Moscow Symphony and Other Poems, an imaginative lyrical reconstruction of German-Soviet fighting which in the first instance was probably based upon news stories that Hikmet received in prison. After allowance for the different languages, it may be argued that some passages would do credit to a Soviet wartime poet: the anxiety of the war’s first year, the vast human drama of armies locked in combat, and the camaraderie of soldiers brought together in common struggle are evoked in brisk, telling lines. This novel in verse, written during one long prison sentence in the 1940s, reflects the emotional and physical torments the poet experienced. More gritty than lyrical, it is powerfully plainspoken: â€Å"But Selim was no Communist/ He didn’t even know what communism was/ †¦ But the cops thought different/ They laid Selim on the floor. And when Selim got up/ he couldn’t step on his feet/ They laid Selim on the floor/ And when Selim got up/ he couldn’t see. † Hikmet’s writing is poetry under siege, and the blunt heroism of his characters makes them more Marxist ideals than believable human beings. The poetic element may not survive well in translation, but the content and context make this a lastingly fascinating work. Works Cited Des Pres, Terrence. â€Å"Poetry and Politics: The Example of Nazim Hikmet. † Parnassus: Poetry in Review 6, no. 2 (1978): 7-25.