The Problem of Evil Essay -- essays research papers

I do not believe that evil—as we typically understand it—exists in the world. I believe that what we perceive as evil is simply our misdirected use of the good that God provides. The reason that we even have an experience of perceived evil is because for the soul to experience itself as any particular thing, the exact opposite of that thing must come into the space. In other words, in this relative existence, hot cannot be hot without cold, tall cannot be tall without short, and you cannot be you without that which is not you. So I believe that what we call evil is just the opposite end of the spectrum of good, not something separate. Following this line of thought, the next step our logical minds would take, it would seem that in order for God to experience Itself as the all-consuming good, there had to be something called the all-consuming evil. Wrong! There is only God. God is all there was, all there is, and all there ever will be. Yet God wished to know Itself in Its own experience. Logically speaking, that which is divine cannot know and experience Itself except in the presence of that which is not divine. The problem is that which is not divine does not exist. So, since we have the power to create anything, we have simply called it forth through our thought process. That is to say we have imagined it. All religions—and philosophies—must wrestle with the problem of evil. We can look all around the world and see what we would clearly label as evil. Many say, therefore, ...

Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency

Christian B. Mendoza Speech 30 THX-3 2018 – 00308 Prof. Mary Jannette Pinzon A Duterte Reader: Critical Essays on Rodrigo Duterte's Early Presidency by Nicole Curato (editor) Philippine political landscape is always subject to change, with the emergence of conflicting political ideologies embodied and practiced by former and current political leaders. One of the defining beacons in the Philippine history was the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution––a nonviolent mass demonstration that sought to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Since then, governance in the Philippines has been consistent with â€Å"the reformist, albeit elitist, narrative of the liberal democratic regime† (Teehankee, 2016), as opposed to the authoritarian regime of Marcos. A shift to another form of government, however, does not necessarily mean that the country's condition would be improved in all aspects. In fact, people in authority have failed to deliver on their promises of initiating much needed reforms to conceive remarkable socioeconomic and political transformations. Therefore, the public's petition to bring about drastic solutions to the ills of the country was fulfilled by the sweeping electoral triumph of a former prosecutor and long-time mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who now serves as the 16th and current president of the republic. Written by several scholars in academic disciplines, A Duterte Reader endeavors to understand the type of regime that the country now faces under the Duterte administration. It seeks to establish the factors that led to Duterte's landslide electoral victory in the 2016 presidential elections, and to examine the origin and level of support that the public has for his deadly â€Å"war on drugs,† which he vehemently declared to be the most pressing issue in the country. Moreover, the book sheds light on the legacy of American Imperialism in the country, and how it became a catalyst or one of the immediate causes to ignite a revolution among Filipino people, who have long been subject to systemic oppressions triggered by the machinations of the ruling class and the culture of elitism that it has instituted. The most striking parts of the book are the obvious manifestations of Duterte's presidential campaign slogan: â€Å"Change is coming.† Since his inauguration as the 16th President of the Philippines last June 30, 2016, these manifestations have surfaced in ways that prompted the public to engage in political discourse over all forms of social media. The driving force behind the citizens' political participation is that there is someone who finally recognizes their repressed anger towards social, economic and political injustices from which they have been suffering since the prevalence of elitism emanating from liberal democracy. To counter these injustices, Duterte has acutely focused on the obliteration of the illegal drug trade in the country through his controversial â€Å"war on drugs.† The rampant extrajudicial killings executed by corrupt police officers and vigilantes, who have no regard for the victims' human rights, are being justified by Duterte's portrayal of drug trade as something that poses a major threat to society and national security. Meanwhile, a certain chapter in the book was interesting to read in a sense that it is constantly encountered by people who use various social media platforms. Written by Cabaà ±es and Cornelio, The Rise of Trolls in the Philippines discusses the emergence of online political trolls, and its impact to promoting a democratic media in the country. This chapter also introduces Mocha Uson, a key figure in contemporary Philippine social media, who has branded herself as the voice of the ordinary people. The opportunity to enumerate the times when she has deliberately spread ‘fake news' in social media (Arias, 2017) was neglected by these two contributors. A Duterte Reader enables the readers to be mindful and critical of the affairs unfolding before their very eyes, especially in an era where the proliferation of disinformation, or commonly referred to as â€Å"fake news,† has hindered netizens from objectively engaging in political discourse online (Bueno, 2017). The book gives a panoramic view of the Philippine political history, starting from the historic EDSA Revolution to an impending shift to a federal system of government under the Duterte regime, which would certainly leave a long-lasting impact to the country's political landscape. In addition, the book allows the readers to scrutinize the reasons why some people constantly extend their support for Duterte, or why they should not turn a blind eye to how Duterte intends to solve these issues. Between the pages of the book is a message––similar to the one that went viral online last March 2018––for the readers to ponder on: â€Å"Kapag namulat ka sa katotohanan, kasalanan na ang pumikit,† roughly translating to: Once you've opened your eyes to the truth, it's a mistake to close them again. Based from the plethora of insights that the contributors have provided in this book, the readers should be able to discern this message. The book was written from a third-person point of view since the contributors wanted to discuss the factors affecting the politics of Duterte in an objective manner; thus, presenting both sides of the matter accordingly. The readers could somehow agree with what the contributors have stated regarding the several affairs of the country. They could observe the relevance of the information contained in the book when Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 23, 2018. He discussed the topics about different sectors such as businesses, conditions of the OFWs, his â€Å"War on Drugs,† foreign relations, agrarian sector, and tax reforms (Ranada, 2018). Some of the root causes of the points highlighted in his speech––persistent intervention of the American government in domestic political and economic affairs, and the incompetence of the previous administrations––have been thoroughly analyzed by the contributors. Moreover, it is important to recognize the contribution that the book offers to the public since everything they have included in the book is a product of Duterte's persuasive public speeches, which hinge on the three primary elements of Aristotle's Model of Communication: ethos, pathos and logos (Timonera, 2018). As each chapter is written through comprehensive research, coupled with an array of trustworthy references, the book could be included in the auxiliary reading materials for students of various academic fields, specifically students of politics; or could be used by authors and researchers as their reference material when writing about certain issues that the book failed to include. Nevertheless, the book is certainly for anyone who wants to fathom this confounding event in the history of Philippine politics. References:Arias, J. (2017). A list of Mocha Uson's fake news posts. Preen. Retrieved from http://preen.inquirer.net/58185/a-list-of-mocha-usons-fake-news-postsBueno, A. (2017). The anatomy of ‘fake news.' CNN Philippines. Retrieved from http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2017/10/12/fake-news-anatomy.htmlRanada, P. (2018). Quick point-by-point summary of Duterte's SONA 2018. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/208050-duterte-sona-2018-philippines-summaryTeehankee, J. C. (2016). Weak state, strong presidents: Situating the Duterte presidency in Philippine political time. Journal of Developing Societies, 32(3), 1-29. doi: 10.1177/0169796X16654594Timonera, P. G. (2018). The rhetoric of President Duterte's speeches and the Aristotelian conception of the rhetoric and public sphere.Paper presented at 25th World Congress of Political Science, Brisbane, Australia. Retrieved from https://wc2018.ipsa.org/sites/default/files/ipsa-events/wc2018/papers/paper- 101491-2018-07-01t111647-0400.pdf

The Importance Of Employee Bonuses And Company Growth Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 914 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Introduction Bonuses are used as an inducement to encourage employees to work harder. If a company performs well this year, it will have the ability to grant bonuses to its employees to boost the morale and the competitive drive of the employees. Many companies also give high bonuses to attract and retain talented employees. This effect is termed an incentive effect in previous studies. If the incentive effect dominates, then a positive correlation between bonuses granted and the subsequent company performance should . In other words, more bonuses granted, better subsequent performance. The employee bonus system was regarded in the past as one of the important reasons why high-tech companies in Taiwan could develop rapidly. Because it was viewed as distribution of earnings in accounting and taxed on the par value which is often lower than the market value, the employee bonus system has been widely adopted over the past twenty years and this practice, indeed, has attracted many talented peopl e . However, about eight years ago , foreign investors [of these Taiwan-based companies?] suspected accounting fraud involving the employee stock bonuses, since the bonuses are rewards in reality and therefore should be expensed as salary. Additionally, in order to align with the treatments in other countries, so that the financial statements can be compared among countries, the bonuses would have to be expensed in 2008 and stock bonuses would be taxed on the market value. However, because of the special treatment in accounting and taxation in Taiwan, companies could grant excess bonuses without being reflected on the income statement before the bonuses are required to be expensed. The members of the board, who determine the amount of bonuses given, may also be executives in the company, so they could participate in the bonuses program. When bonuses were perceived as distribution of earnings and did not have to be expensed in the income statement, some companies would grant exces s bonuses because the members who determine the bonuses also could get more money and the income number would not be reduced. When making investment decisions, the investors might be misled by the overstated income. Some companies granted bonuses to employees even when the companies did not earn money. In addition, because the stock bonuses were taxed on the par value which is often lower than the market value, the employees who were overpaid just had to pay a little tax to acquire the stocks and to become stockholders. Because the interest of the original stockholders is diluted, the effect is called a dilution effect in the studies. If companies exploit the regulation, we will expect to see a negative correlation between bonuses granted and the subsequent company performance. That is to say, if the bonuses given not because the board members want to motivate employees but because the board members want to take advantage of the regulation, then excess bonuses will be given and the subsequent performance will become worse. The previous literatures in Taiwan which explore the employee bonus system investigate factors influencing the amount of employee bonuses and the relationship between bonus and company performances. The main conclusion is that size, growth opportunity and industry will influence the amount of bonuses given and that an incentive effect exists but if the bonuses were expensed, a dilution effect would dominate. In practice, the bonus policy will be proposed by the board and then voted by the stockholders. So the corporate governance mechanism, like the composition of the board, will influence the bonus policy. Previous studies supported this conclusion. The corporate governance mechanism will influence the execution of the policy and the efficiency of operation so it will affect company performance. Therefore, the motivation of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the determination of the bonuses and to explore whether this relationship will influence bonuses to result in an incentive effect or a dilution effect. To investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the bonuses, this study uses regression to distinguish two groups, the excess bonuses group and the adequate bonuses group, and then compares whether there are differences in the corporate governance variables in these two groups. Then I separately investigate the relationship between the bonuses and the performance in these two groups. I want to explore whether companies with bad corporate governance tend to distribute excess bonuses to employees and result in the dilution effect bigger than the incentive effect so the performance become worse next year. However, companies with good corporate governance may not distribute bonuses excessively so the incentive effect is bigger than the dilution effect and the compensation system can reach its goal to improve the company performance. In other words, I claim that whether the bonuses will result in an incentive effect or a dilution effect is related to the corporate governance mechanism. The empirical results support most of the hypotheses. The contribution of this study is that unlike the previous literatures which explore the relationship between the bonuses and the performance using the whole companies and reach the conclusion that bonuses have a positive effect on the performance but they would negatively influence the performance if the bonuses were expensed, this study distinguishes companies with excessive bonuses from companies with adequate bonuses and investigates separately the relationship between bonuses and performance in these two groups. I suppose that bonus itself may be an effective mechanism to encourage employees and its relationship with performance may be influenced by the corporate governance mechanism which will affect the bonuses policy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Importance Of Employee Bonuses And Company Growth Finance Essay" essay for you Create order