Homer Simpson and Contemporary American Values of Fatherhood Essay Example for Free

Homer Simpson and Contemporary American Values of Fatherhood Essay The Simpsons is one of the many television shows in the United States of America which features a full length cartoon narrating the everyday lives of a family. The show makes us confront the absurdities of how some Americans live through the jovial portrayals and behaviors of the characters in the animated show. While each of the members of the Simpson’s family represent a several prevalent attitudes of Americans—some bordering on the obscene and some bordering on the good—the viewer’s perceptions not only about the American society in which he or she lives in but also about his or her self is challenged. The show seems to attempt to push its viewers to reexamine their lives, reflecting on each character in the Simpson’s family and the rest of the characters in the show. In general, the Simpson household is a dysfunctional family, never aging through the course of the show in years and often ends the show portraying the family members still loving one another despite the odds. For the most part, the Simpson’s family both reinforce and subvert contemporary American values in a number of ways. Each episode highlights the struggles of the family members of the Simpson household and the neighborhood, sometimes reaffirming several social stereotypes and sometimes challenging our comfort zones and our accepted beliefs. In any case, it is important to note that even the seemingly absurd gestures and encounters of every character in the animated show point to contemporary American values that may be either subverted or reinforced, depending on the interpretation of the viewer in most cases. Homer Simpson, the father of the household, embodies the typical American dad. He is a father who enjoys drinking his beer—specifically called â€Å"Duff†Ã¢â‚¬â€who is physically overweight and who is protective of his family. He works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant despite his careless characteristic, thereby suggesting that he has this potential to bring chaos to the rest of the community with his slightest mistakes while at work. Apparently, Homer’s characteristics reflect the typical American father who has the responsibility to raise his kids and secure the welfare of his family. His character subverts the contemporary American perception that divorce oftentimes results from a family that is dysfunctional. Despite his failures to provide for several needs of the Simpson household, he has never resorted to divorcing his wife, Marge. At the end of the day, Homer finds himself at home together with his wife in bed looking forward to the coming day ahead. Moreover, Homer has been shown to have a strong regard for the welfare of his family in difficult times, such as in â€Å"Lisa the Beauty Queen† (1992) where he sold his prized car in order to enter her daughter, Lisa, into a beauty pageant to make her feel better and in â€Å"A Millhouse Divided† (1996) where he arranged for a second wedding for his wife, Marge, to compensate for their unsatisfactory first wedding ceremony. On the other hand, some of Homer’s characteristics also reinforce some contemporary American values. One of these values is the thinking that typical American fathers spend their time drinking beer and submitting themselves to their weaknesses quite easily. Some of Homer’s weaknesses are his strong craving for doughnuts, his aggressive behavior in difficult times or in times when he is not able to complete his tasks and his low intelligence. In general, these things reinforce the stereotype of the American dad, reflecting the cultural struggle of the American father in the American landscape, losing his intellectual edge along the way. Looking at the ways in which Homer Simpson handles himself before his family, it can be said that his character implies the binary opposition between depth and superficial, centering and dispersal, and distance and participation. For one, the character portrayal of Homer suggests the depth of his personality, one that can be easily interpreted as the typical American father at first glance but one that can also be interpreted as an unusual American dad on closer inspection. Despite raising a dysfunctional family on a daily basis, Homer has not given up on his task as a father although there are times when he seems to be on the verge on giving up on things. While he is considered to be a borderline alcoholic, he does not end up entirely succumbing to his habit. On the contrary, he is able to maintain his fatherly figure and image and goes on to raise his family even when it meant attending to several jobs on many occasions. There is both the depth and the superficial qualities in Homer Simpson that represent American fathers in contemporary society. While at that, Homer’s character is also able to create distance and participation among the viewers. It is not surprising at all if the viewers of the show are able to relate to the experiences of the Simpson household because the experiences of Homer’s family might just as well be the same daily experiences that other households experience. By focusing on the typical experiences of American families, the animated show is able to draw the attention of the viewing public and, in a way, to allow them to â€Å"participate† in the show at least in terms of being able to relate to and find a part of themselves in the show. However, the animated show is also able to distance the viewer from the characters. In the sense that the nature of the show—meaning, its â€Å"animated† structure—makes the characters open to seemingly absurd situations, it is not always the case that the viewers are able to expect an exact representation of their daily experiences. That is, the cartoon characters can perform unrealistic behaviors that the real-life viewers can hardly imitate. The binary opposition between distance and participation in the show is also reflected in terms of how the show portrays the stereotypes prevalent in American society and, in the process, causes its viewers to identify themselves first with the show’s characters and eventually causing them to redefine themselves. The fact that The Simpsons explores the negative stereotypes in contemporary American society suggests that its viewers may or may not be able to fully relate to these stereotypes. Those who are able to relate to these stereotypes are more or less likely expected to distance themselves from these stereotypes or, more specifically, from Elizabeth Traube calls as â€Å"the fictional self that it (stereotype) constructs† (Traube, p. 129). Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson further suggest that popular culture has not only been the offspring of society’s â€Å"beliefs, practices and objects generated from political and commercial centers† but has also become â€Å"an entity on its own† (Mukerji and Schudson, p. 53). Thus, it is not surprising to say that there will be so-called â€Å"popular culture† so long as there are conduits for expressing the generally observed patterns of behavior among people. The Simpsons is just one of the many social elements that showcase such patterns. The assumption here is that some television shows such The Simpsons do not only serve the purpose of highlighting parts of the generally observed behaviors of people—behaviors that are parts of stereotypes—but also reinforce and subvert such observations at the same time. The very presence of these kinds of television shows help people realize what they have become. They aid the human civilization to notice the things that have become so familiar they no longer strike the vein of our senses and sensibilities. In â€Å"The Visible Evidence of Cultural Producers†, Maureen Mahon suggests that forms of popular culture serve as â€Å"arenas in which social actors struggle over social meanings and as visible evidence of social processes and social relations† (Mahon, p. 467). Apparently, Homer Simpson’s character in the animated series struggles over social meanings within the context of the show. The context of the show, however, is anchored on the realities happening in the society. That, in turn, suggests that, indeed, the character of Homer is a visible evidence of several social processes and social relations in real life, from his struggles to raise his family and his role as a father. Jerry Herron also suggests that Homer Simpson is not only a â€Å"reminder† of how much of contemporary America has declined but is also a symbol for challenging our attitude towards the social stereotypes. In particular, Homer Simpson is â€Å"an appeal to the sensibility of the public towards popular culture to redefine themselves from the negative to the positive† (Herron, p. 12). But what exactly are these positive and negative aspects and how are we able to identify them without confusing one over the other? The answers do not seem to be as clear and as simple as they seem. Based on Jerry Herron’s article â€Å"Homer Simpson’s Eyes and the Culture of Late Nostalgia†, it appears that Homer Simpson is both a criticism to society’s stereotypes and, at the same time, as an embodiment of those stereotypes. Homer plays the role of an intellectually challenged but loving father. He takes the role of the typical American dad who loves to drink his favorite beer and yet his is a character that challenges the contemporary attitude towards dysfunctional marriages and families. He directs the viewer’s attention to his character while making them reflect on their own lives and society at the same time. He shows some of life’s worse obscenities and yet allows the viewers to realize the stark contrasts between a life worth living and a life that is worthless. In essence, Homer Simpson subverts and reinforces contemporary American values. In â€Å"Stereotypes and Registers of Honorific Language†, Asif Agha argues that stereotypes â€Å"are consciously grasped† and are, hence, â€Å"reportable, discussable, open to dispute† and that â€Å"they serve as models for some individuals and counter-models for others† (Agha, p. 152). Following Agha’s interpretation of stereotypes, the social perception towards the stereotype American father is still open to dispute and can in turn serve as the â€Å"counter-model† for what the American should be. Using Homer Simpson as an example, our notion of the â€Å"right† American dad can be derived from some of the qualities of Homer Simpson. The conscious exposure of the viewing public towards The Simpsons can be an eye-opener for reassessing our standing perception of the stereotype American father. While the image portrayed by Homer is â€Å"an entity on its own†, it is nevertheless still created from the social realities that persist in contemporary America. It is only through a radical change in the contemporary American value system can the American society be lifted from its status quo. But that is not to say that the task of removing the binary opposition between depth and superficial, centering and dispersal and distance and participation begins at the stage where the American public is able to realize the stereotypes and recognize the â€Å"counter-models†. Rather, it begins right at the criticism of such stereotypes prevalent in popular culture. The creation of the character of Homer Simpson is perhaps the first stage in bringing the things that â€Å"dumb down† America into the public awareness. Of course, it is not enough to have shows such as The Simpsons, among others, to emphasize the cultural problems of America and to compel people to address these problems. However, it is only necessary to first bring elements of popular culture into the surface, elements that both reinforce and subvert contemporary American values in order to proceed with the tasks of criticizing what has become of this nation and its people and of resolving what needs to be resolved.

Unitary matrix

Unitary matrix INTRODUCTION Unitary matrix In mathematics, a unitary matrix is an n by n complex matrix U satisfying the condition where , is the identity matrix in n dimensions and , is the conjugate transpose (also called the Hermitian adjoint) of U. Note this condition says that a matrix U is unitary if and only if it has an inverse which is equal to its conjugate transpose A unitary matrix in which all entries are real is an orthogonal matrix. Just as an orthogonal matrix G preserves the (real) inner product of two real vectors, so also a unitary matrix U satisfies for all complex vectors x and y, where stands now for the standard inner product on If is an n by n matrix then the following are all equivalent conditions: is unitary is unitary the columns of form an orthonormal basis of with respect to this inner product the rows of form an orthonormal basis of with respect to this inner product is an isometry with respect to the norm from this inner product U is a normal matrix with eigenvalues lying on the unit circle. A square matrix is a unitary matrix if where denotes the conjugate transpose and is the matrix inverse. For example, is a unitary matrix. Unitary matrices leave the length of a complex vector unchanged. For real matrices, unitary is the same as orthogonal. In fact, there are some similarities between orthogonal matrices and unitary matrices. The rows of a unitary matrix are a unitary basis. That is, each row has length one, and their Hermitian inner product is zero. Similarly, the columns are also a unitary basis. In fact, given any unitary basis, the matrix whose rows are that basis is a unitary matrix. It is automatically the case that the columns are another unitary basis. The definition of a unitary matrix guarantees that where is the identity matrix. In particular, a unitary matrix is always invertible, and . Note that transpose is a much simpler computation than inverse. A similarity transformation of a Hermitian matrix with a unitary matrix gives Unitary matrices are normal matrices. If is a unitary matrix, then the permanen The unitary matrices are precisely those matrices which preserve the Hermitian inner product Also, the norm of the determinant of is . Unlike the orthogonal matrices, the unitary matrices are connected. If then is a special unitary matrix. The product of two unitary matrices is another unitary matrix. The inverse of a unitary matrix is another unitary matrix, and identity matrices are unitary. Hence the set of unitary matrices form a group, called the unitary group. Properties Of unitary matrix All unitary matrices are normal, and the spectral theorem therefore applies to them. Thus every unitary matrix U has a decomposition of the form Where V is unitary, and ÃŽ £ is diagonal and unitary. That is, a unitary matrix is diagonalizable by a unitary matrix. For any unitary matrix U, the following hold: U is invertible. | det (U) | = 1. is unitary. U preserves length U has complex eigenvalues of modulus 1. It follows from the isometry property that all eigenvalues of a unitary matrix are complex numbers of absolute value 1 (i.e., they lie on the unit circle centered at 0 in the complex plane). For any n, the set of all n by n unitary matrices with matrix multiplication forms a group. Any matrix is the average of two unitary matrices. As a consequence, every matrix M is a linear combination of two unitary matrices (depending on M, of course). Unitary group In mathematics, the unitary group of degree n, denoted U(n), is the group of nÃâ€"n unitary matrices, with the group operation that of matrix multiplication. The unitary group is a subgroup of the general linear group GL (n, C). In the simple case n = 1, the group U(1) corresponds to the circle group, consisting of all complex numbers with absolute value 1 under multiplication. All the unitary groups contain copies of this group. The unitary group U(n) is a real Lie group of dimension n2. The Lie algebra of U(n) consists of complex nÃâ€"n skew-Hermitian matrices, with the Lie bracket given by the commutator. The general unitary group (also called the group of unitary similitude) consists of all matrices A such that A * A is a nonzero multiple of the identity matrix, and is just the product of the unitary group with the group of all positive multiples of the identity matrix.

Psychology of Altruism and Morality :: essays papers

Psychology of Altruism and Morality The two competing theoretical frameworks that attempt to explain the development of morality are cognitive-behavioral and cognitive-developmental. The cognitive-behavioral approach is taken by Liebert, and the cognitive-developmental approach is taken by Kohlberg. Both sides have strong arguments that support their own theories and try to tear apart the opposing theory. The cognitive-developmental approach has been studied extensively by Lawrence Kohlberg. Through his studies using moral dilemmas, Kohlberg developed his six stages of moral development. In these stages, Kohlberg concentrates on the reasons why people act the way they do; not the way they think about their actions or what action they take, but the reasoning behind their actions. The six stages that Kohlberg defines are grouped into three levels, with two levels at each stage. They are grouped as follows: Level 1 - Preconventional / Pre Moral *Stage 1: Punishment & Obedience - Actions that are punished are wrong. *Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation - focus is on the self. How will my actions reward me? Level 2 - Conventional *Stage 3: People at stage three begin to value the respect of the opinion and values of other. *Stage 4: Law and Order - Appreciation for rules, laws, and regulations of society. Level 3 - Post Conventional *Stage 5: Social Contrast Legalistic Orientation *Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle These stages are important to Kohlberg’s four most general beliefs. One of Kohlberg’s first assertions is that people advance through these stages in an invariant sequence. Advancement through these stages occurs in order from 1 - 6, with no stages skipped, and there is no regression. Kohlberg’s second assertion is that people cannot comprehend reasoning more than one stage ahead of their current stage. Kohlberg also believes that people are attracted to higher stage reasoning because it is more adequate, and finally, stage movement is motivated by cognitive disequilibrium. The cognitive-developmental approach is supported by research done by Kohlberg and other researchers who have attempted to replicate Kohlberg’s findings. One study conducted by John Snarey and Joseph Reimer attempted to prove the cultural universality of Kohlberg’s stages. The study, conducted in Turkey, was a longitudinal study using ninety-two kibbutz-born Israeli’s. The results were consistent with Kohlberg’s studies done in both the United States and Turkey, making the cultural universality argument stronger. Contradicting the cognitive-developmental approach is the cognitive-

Investigating The Affect of Concentration on The Rate of Reaction :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

Investigating The Affect of Concentration on The Rate of Reaction Aim- To find out if changing the concentration of the hydrochloric acid affects the volume of gas released in 5 minutes. Background Information The rate of reaction depends on four things:- 1. Temperature 2. Concentration 3. Catalyst 4. Size of particles/surface area The Collision Theory The collision theory explains the rates of reaction, the rate of reaction depends on how often and how hard the reacting particles collide with each other. The basic theory is that particles have to collide with each other in order to react, but it is not that simple, as it also depends on how hard the particles collide. If the particles do not collide hard enough then they will not react, they will simply just hit each other and 'bounce' off. This means that even if I am not investigating the rate of reaction when the temperature is changed, it will still have a big part to play in my experiment. If the temperature is different in the classroom when I do each concentration of acid it may have a huge impact on my results. To help keep my results as accurate as possible I could take the temperature of the room before I do each experiment. If the temperature in the room is below 20 C the particles will still be moving, but very slowly. This would cause the react to be very slow. At temperatures above 20 C the particles will be moving at a regular speed. Low Concentration High Concentration Activation Energy Activation energy is the energy needed to start a reaction. Each molecule has a certain amount of energy, when molecules collide they have to collide with more energy than they already have in order to react this is called a successful collision. If the molecules collide but do not create enough energy this is an unsuccessful collision and the molecules do not react. I am going to focus on the concentration. If the concentration of the hydrochloric acid is increased, then so will the number of collisions. If the acid is more concentrated it means that there will be more particles in the same size space compared to a diluted acid, this means collisions will be more likely and more frequent as the particles are closed together. Apparatus I Will Need:-  · Conicle flask  · Glass syringe  · Bung  · Delivery tube  · Marble chips(5 grams)  · Hydrochloric acid(50 cm )  · Stop clock Other Apparatus that I May Need:-  · Stand (to hold up gas syringe)  · Thermometer (to take the temperature of the room before do each concentration.)  · Weighing scales (to weigh out marble chips). Method I am going to change the concentration of the hydrochloric acid to

An Argument for Euthanasia Essay -- Argumentative Essays, Persuasive Es

An Argument for Euthanasia Euthanasia is defined as, "The act or practice of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable disease." Euthanasia can be traced back as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It was sometimes allowed in these civilizations to help others die. Voluntary euthanasia was approved in these ancient societies. Today, the practice of euthanasia causes great controversy. Both pro-life groups and right-to-die groups present arguments for their different sides. Pro-life groups make arguments and present fears against euthanasia. I contend that the case for the right to die is the stronger argument. I will begin my by listing the arguments against euthanasia and my criticism of each argument. 1. Euthanasia is a violation of medical ethics. The American Medical Association has consistently condemned euthanasia as an unethical practice. Today, attitudes may be changing. Recent surveys indicate that a majority of doctors in some areas, (60% in Oregon, 56% in Michigan, and 54% in Great Britain.) favor euthanasia in extreme cases. 2. Euthanasia weakens the trust relationship between the doctor and the patient. We expect doctors to heal and save lives, not to kill. I feel that I should be able to trust my doctor to do what is best for me as an individual in any situation, including ending unbearable suffering, even if it is my choice to die in order to end my suffering. Doctors may lose the trust of their patients by not helping them to end their suffering. 3. Choosing the time and place of a person?s death is God?s decision. This argument suggests that we should never intervene in any life-threatening situation. If a person is having a heart attack, should we just... ...admit that they have given heavy doses of morphine to relieve the extreme pain of terminally ill patients, knowing that such high doses will cause a quicker death. Because their primary aim is to relieve pain, these acts are considered moral. It would not be morally right to give the same high doses of morphine if their primary aim was to cause death. This is in my opinion wrong. In either case, the ultimate end is death. I believe that it is immoral of society to force caring, compassionate people to lie and go to such morbid lengths to help their patients and loved ones end their suffering. These illegal acts would be entirely unnecessary if euthanasia were regulated and legalized. Value Premise: Everyone deserves to live a life free from suffering. Factual Premise: Euthanasia ends suffering. Conclusion: In order to end suffering euthanasia should be allowed.

Post war Greece Essay

Benito Mussolini had expansionists policies in his Fascist regime in Italy. By the mid of 1940, Mussolini had started admiring Adolf Hitler’s conquests and wanted to prove his counterpart, Hitler who was an Axis partner, that he too could lead Italy to success in war. Italy took control over Albania in 1939. Italians invaded Greece after the Greek dictator whose name was I. Metaxas refused to honor Italian ultimatum demanding the occupation of Greek territory. The Greek counter attacked and forced the Italians out and even took control of Albania formerly under Italy. In April 1941, Germany started attacking Greece and the Italian army also resumed their attack to Greece. As a result, the Greece army started retreating back from Albania to avoid a possible cut off by the rapidly advancing Germany troops. On April 20th, the Greek army based at Epirus surrendered to their enemies,the Germans and on the 23rd the same month, the same was repeated now to include the Italians and thus bringing the war between Greece and Italy to an end. The Greek victory over the Italian offensive on October 1940 was the first victory of the second world war and this boosted the morale in the occupied Europe Italian soldiers came across the Greek border in the 28th day of October 1940 but Greek defenders who were more determined drove these invaders back in to Albania (McNail, 167). As the death of Metaxas came in January 1941, he had already undergone a transformation from unpopular dictator who was not admirable by the people in to a national leader liked by the people, by his defiance of Mussolini and to the people his death was a great loss. Hitler was forced to reluctantly divert the troops from Germany to go and rescue Mussolini from being defeated and as a result ended up attacking Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. In response, the Greek sought for assistance from the British, and assistance was given readily although Greeks kept insisting stubbornly to defend Macedonia and Thrace from attacks by the Germany invaders while the Greece’s only hope was to strategically withdraw to a defensive line on a river south of Thessaloniki. Towards the end of May, the German troops had taken control over much of the land in Greece. Both the king and the government escaped to Crete and stayed here until the battle of Crete finally came to an end. From here, they transferred to Egypt where they established a government in exile while an establishment of a Nazi held puppet regime took place in Athens, Greece. Members of this regime were either conservatives or belonging to the nationalists but with fascist leanings. The three people who collaborated with the enemy were T. Georgis, K. Logothetopoulos and R. Ioannis. T. Georgis was the general who signed the armistice earlier with Wehrmacht, while Logothetopoulos had become naughty for having aimed to recruit juvenile volunteers to help in restrengthening the Germany army. On the other hand, R. Ioannis had a very notable achievement in that he saw to the creation of the security battalions for the collaborationists to protect those who supported the enemies. Greece greatly suffered very terrible privations during the second world war when the Germans took control of most of the Greece’s agricultural production and also prevented the fishing fleets of Greece from operating. Following the Axis force occupation on the Greek land, a great famine struck in the year 1941 and 1942 because of the blockade by the British naval and also due to the fact that Germany soldiers had seized the crops. Due to hunger and other associated effects of famine, several thousands of Greeks died. AS a result, several resistance movements came up in the hilly and mountain regions and soon the Germans and those who supported them remained in control of only the major highways and the connected towns. The largest of the up coming group was the National Popular Liberation Army (the ELAS) which was under the control of the communists and a civil war soon broke out between the National popular liberation army and the non- communists uprising groups such as the national republican Greek league (the EDES) in the areas which had been liberated from the German troops. The royalist government set up in exile in Cairo was only intermittently keeping in touch with the resistant movement and this government in Cairo failed to appreciate how the monarchy set up in Greece had lost its popularity. The resistance of the Greeks people against invasion by the Italians had a great influence to the course the second world war took. Adolf Hitler would say that if Italy had not attacked Greece and needed Germany assistance, the world war would have taken a quite different course. What would be anticipated was the cold war in Russia by weeks, Moscow and Reningrad conquered and Stalingrad would not have existed. The need to occupy Greece, suppress partisans and defend Greece from Allied actions led Germany and Italy to drop much of their differences during the second world war. The Greek resistance ultimately necessitated collaboration between Germany and Italy. Due to political considerations, British forces were send to Greece from Middle East, and this was considered to be a major strategic mistake because that was a critical stage to divert military forces from Middle East. The British forces could not stop Germany invasion in Greece. Political disorder and the 1946-49 war in Greece In October 1944, German forces withdrew from Greece and the Greece government in exile came back to Athens. Then the ELAS guerrilla soldiers took control over most of the land in Greece with its leaders having an ultimate aim to control the whole country despite Stallin’s agreement that Greece would remain within the region of influence by the British after the war. Demonstrators from the Communist Athens ended in violence in early December 1944, and then followed a door to door battle with the British forces and the monarchist armies. Before a month had ended, the communists had been defeated and an unstable government of coalition was established. Continued tensions within this government led to a civil war in the year 1946. Greece was backed by Britain and later by the United States in terms of military support and economic aid. Between 1947 and 1948, the communist forces had conquered much of the Greece mainland and were able to move freely within the land. With the extensive material support from America and the reorganization, the Greek navy steadily took control over much of the mainland. Yugoslavia had to close her borders from the insurgent military in 1949 after it broke relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1949, a final offensive was launched by Marshal P. Alexander that forced the insurgents who were left back to flee across the border to the north in to the territories of the Greece neighbors or else they surrender. The civil war left about one hundred people killed and also resulted to major damages to the economy. More than twenty five thousand Greeks and many Macedonian Slavs were evacuated to the eastern bloc countries either by force or voluntarily while over seven hundred thousand people became internally displaced people in Greece and many more emigrated to, among other countries, Australia. This settlement after the war greatly expanded the Greece territory which had already started earlier in 1832. In 1947, a treaty in Paris was signed and it required Italy to surrender the Dodecanese islands to the Greece. These islands had the majority of inhabitants speaking Greece and were part of the last areas to be incorporated to the Greek state, except Cyprus which remained under possession of Britain until its independence later in 1960. Greeks ethnicity became more homogeneous after the war when more than twenty five thousand Albanians were expelled from Epirus. The remaining minorities of no significance were the Muslims in West Thrace and few Slavic speaking in the north. Greeks continued to claim more of the southern Albania where significant Greek population lived. Economic miracle for Greece: 1955-79) The Greek economic miracle implies the factual and impressive rate of social and economic development that occurred in Greece from the early of 1950s to the middle of the 1970s. The average rate of economic growth recorded between the year 1950 to 1973 was about seven percent which was the worlds second best after that of Japan in those times. The 1950s growth rate was the highest sometimes going above ten percent, almost nearing those of a modern tiger economy. This continued up to 1960s. The Greek people did not view it as a miracle because since the period after the war until the middle of the 1970s, it was a time of deep political divisions that resulted to military dictatorship between 1957 to 1964 and the Greeks did not see any positive economic change for this period of twenty years. Further more, growth initially only widened the economic gap between the few rich and the majority poor and this could only intensify political divisions. Between 1941 and 1944, the Axis occupation and the fighting with resistance groups had unexpected effects on the infrastructure and also on the Greece’s economy. Given also that after the end of the first world war, Greece went in to civil war, its economy had drastically fallen by 1950. The Greece per capita income as a measure of its purchasing power fell, just like that of France, from 62 percent to about 40 percent in the year 1949 (Cranidlis, 97). Greece experienced a rapid recovery of its poor economic condition. This was as a result of a number of factors among them the stimulation from the Marshall plan, a fast devaluation of the Drachma, more foreign investments, significant industrial development especially the development of the chemical industry, development of the public services sector and development of tourism industry and a widespread construction activities coming as a result of enormous infrastructural project building and rebuilding in the Greek towns and cities. The construction activities are connected with the fast economic growth on the society and the development of its towns. This led to renewal of the urban through replacing the pleasant urban, consisting mainly of low rising houses and peoples homes, with a continuous set of concrete and block storey and skyscrapers in most key cities and towns. After 1950, economic growth consistently was better than that of many European countries in terms of annual growth. The only time there was economic stagnation was in the 1980s but it was counterbalanced when the Greek black economy evolved at the same time. The good economic performance made Greece advance its economy to enjoy a per capita income almost the same as that of other European Union partners like France and German (Krofas, 123). After end of the civil war, Greece sought to join hands with the western democracies by becoming a member of NATO in the year 1952. From this time to the late 1963, Greece was under conservative parties. In1964, the party called the Center Union led by George Papandreau was elected and remained in rule until July of 1965 before he was dismissed by king Constantine II, thereby resulting to a constitutional crisis. The fall of this government led to a series of coalition governments between the conservatives and rebel liberals. On April 1967, a group of colonels from the right wing seized power in a coup. They suppressed civil liberties , established special military courts and dissolved political parties. Thousands of political party opponents and those suspected to be communists were imprisoned or taken to exile to very remote Greek islands. United States was alleged to have supported junta and this caused the rise of anti- Americanism in the Greece during and immediately after the junta rule. However, the united states had already earned the animosity of communists in Greece long before. In 1974, a referendum resulted in abolishment of a monarchy and a new constitution was made and passed by the parliament on the 19th of June 1975. President T. Constantine was elected by parliament to head the republic. In the 1977 elections to the parliament, the New democracy party won for a second time with a majority seats. In 1980, Karamanlis who was the prime minister was elected to succeed T. Constantine as the president with George Rallis being elected as the prime minister to succeed Tsatsos. Greece joined the European Community, now called the European Union on 1st January 1981. It also elected the country’s first socialist government. In 1989, there were two rounds of parliamentary elections which both produced coalition governments that were weak and had limited mandates. Party leaders held back their support for those governments and elections were once again held in April. The new democracy party led by Constantine Mitsotakis won. In 1992, Samaras formed his own party after being fired from the position of a cabinet minister for Foreign affairs. He called the party the Political Spring. As a result of this division, the New democracy government collapsed and when new elections were held in September 1993, Papandreou returned to power. Papandreou resigned on January 17th of 1996 due to a protracted illness. He was then replaced as the country’s prime minster by the former minister of trade and industry by the name, Costas Simitis who consecutively won the elections in 1996 and also in 2000 before retiring in 2004. His successor was George Papandreou as PASOK leader. In March 2004, elections were held and New Democracy under the leadership of Costas Karamanlis who was a nephew to the former president saw the victory over the PASOK. Instead of waiting for normal elections that should have been held in March the year 2008, the government called for elections in September 2007 and the New Democracy once again won the majority vote in the parliament. Due to this repeated defeat, the PASOK underwent a party election in search of a new leader that saw Mr. Georgis Papandreau re-election as the party leader of the Socialist Party in Greece. Review of Economic Literature It is important to review the economic thoughts from both the Greek and the American writers and compare them in the perspective of the economic reconstruction of Greece. A good approach would be first reviewing the economic thought in the 1930s and 1940s and then that of the American technical experts who were either in Greece based American embassy or in the AMAG. (Lincoln, 64). Reviewing the plans by Batsis, Valvaresos and Zolotas is also of importance to acquire a clear thought about the economic miracle and general development for the Greece from very poor to one of the world’s best economies. A scrutiny of what the exact agenda of the AMAG and other aids to develop the Greece economy was, is of importance in shining light in to this issue. Establishing whether there was any difference between the American economic experts working with the AMAG and Americans working in the American embassy to Greece in Athens in terms of priorities and the paths to reconstruction is felt to be essential. This way, most questions of much concern to economic historians will be answered well and also valuable material towards making reconstructions in the history of economics will be unearthed, especially for the post second world war period in Greece The depression of economy in the whole world led the default in Greece in the year 1932and afterwards to the introduction of a quite successful system. The gross domestic product was 510 million dollars in the year 1931, then dropped to 330 million dollars in the year 1932, remained at the same stable low level in 1934 at 340 million dollars and drastically rose in the subsequent years of 1934 at 490 million dollars, 1935 at 510 million dollars and 1936 at 550 million dollars. Despite the economic success, the poor remained miserable due to the falling prices and the problem of the merchant class which was used to free trade and had problem with coping in the new trade conditions of exchange controls. Most Greek economists concentrated on writing and analyzing the economic success of their country and did very little on questioning the actual role of the American Mission Aid for Greece that it played in uplifting the economic situation of Greece. The economists made numerous economic publications such as books, journals, treatises, periodicals among others. The interventionists were most influential and they had studies in Germany in 1920s to 1930s. These economists espoused a development theory stage to which the Greek government ought to take to speed up the rate of economic development. It was based on the fact that the economy of Greece could not rely on private initiative alone. Most of them remained hostile to abstract thinking and viewed the dirigiste policies world over as evidence of the validity of their thesis. The liberals viewed the historical present hitherto as a parenthesis and had a believe that the whole world including Greece economy ought to have an international economic corporation. The liberals also supported that it was necessary for the state to intervene and as a result they came up with a frame upon which the Greece government should act upon in a liberal economy. The Marxists viewed the crash of 1929 as evidence for capitalism break down. Particularly in Greece, the imperialism of the great powers and the kings rule were to be overthrown by mass action for socialism to be established.

Part Five Chapter IX

IX The journey took Krystal back to her childhood. She had made this trip daily to St Thomas's, all on her own, on the bus. She knew when the abbey would come into sight, and she pointed it out to Robbie. ‘See the big ruin' castle?' Robbie was hungry, but slightly distracted by the excitement of being on a bus. Krystal held his hand tightly. She had promised him food when they got off at the other end, but she did not know where she would get it. Perhaps she could borrow money from Fats for a bag of crisps, not to mention the return bus fare. ‘I wen' ter school ‘ere,' she told Robbie, while he wiped his fingers on the dirty windows, making abstract patterns. ‘An' you'll go to school ‘ere too.' When they rehoused her, because of her pregnancy, they were almost certain to give her another Fields house; nobody wanted to buy them, they were so run down. But Krystal saw this as a good thing, because in spite of their dilapidation it would put Robbie and the baby in the catchment area for St Thomas's. Anyway, Fats' parents would almost certainly give her enough money for a washing machine once she had their grandchild. They might even get a television. The bus rolled down a slope towards Pagford, and Krystal caught a glimpse of the glittering river, briefly visible before the road sank too low. She had been disappointed, when she joined the rowing team, that they did not train on the Orr, but on the dirty old canal in Yarvil. †Ere we are,' Krystal told Robbie, as the bus turned slowly into the flower-decked square. Fats had forgotten that waiting in front of the Black Canon meant standing opposite Mollison and Lowe's and the Copper Kettle. There was more than an hour to go until midday, when the cafe opened on Sundays, but Fats did not know how early Andrew had to arrive for work. He had no desire to see his oldest friend this morning, so he skulked down the side of the pub out of sight, and only emerged when the bus arrived. It pulled away, revealing Krystal and a small dirty-looking boy. Nonplussed, Fats loped towards them. †E's my brother,' said Krystal aggressively, in response to something she had seen in Fats' face. Fats made another mental adjustment to what gritty and authentic life meant. He had been fleetingly taken with the idea of knocking Krystal up (and showing Cubby what real men were able to achieve casually, without effort) but this little boy clinging to his sister's hand and leg disconcerted him. Fats wished that he had not agreed to meet her. She was making him ridiculous. He would rather have gone back to that stinking, squalid house of hers, now that he saw her in the Square. †Ave yeh got any money?' Krystal demanded. ‘What?' said Fats. His wits were slow with tiredness. He could not remember now why he had wanted to sit up all night; his tongue was throbbing with all the cigarettes he had smoked. ‘Money,' repeated Krystal. ‘E's ‘ungry an' I've lost a fiver. Pay yeh back.' Fats stuck a hand in his jeans pocket and touched a crumpled bank note. Somehow he did not want to look too flush in front of Krystal, so he ferreted deeper for change, and finally came up with a small amount of silver and coppers. They went to the tiny newsagent's two streets from the Square, and Fats hung around outside while Krystal bought Robbie crisps and a packet of Rolos. None of them said a word, not even Robbie, who seemed fearful of Fats. At last, when Krystal had handed her brother the crisps, she said to Fats, ‘Where'll we go?' Surely, he thought, she could not mean that they were going to shag. Not with the boy there. He had had some idea of taking her to the Cubby Hole: it was private, and it would be a final desecration of his and Andrew's friendship; he owed nothing to anyone, any more. But he baulked at the idea of fucking in front of a three-year-old. †E'll be all right,' said Krystal. †E's got chocolates now. No, later,' she said to Robbie, who was whining for the Rolos still in her hand. ‘When you've ‘ad the crisps.' They walked off down the road in the direction of the old stone bridge. †E'll be all right,' Krystal repeated. †E does as ‘e's told. Dontcha?' she said loudly to Robbie. ‘Wan' chocolates,' he said. ‘Yeah, in a minute.' She could tell that Fats needed cajoling today. She had known, on the bus, that bringing Robbie, however necessary, would be difficult. ‘Whatcha bin up ter?' she asked. ‘Party last night,' said Fats. ‘Yeah? Who wuz there?' He yawned widely, and she had to wait for an answer. ‘Arf Price. Sukhvinder Jawanda. Gaia Bawden.' ‘Does she live in Pagford?' asked Krystal sharply. ‘Yeah, in Hope Street,' said Fats. He knew, because Andrew had let it slip, where she lived. Andrew had never said that he liked her, but Fats had watched him watching Gaia almost constantly in the few classes they shared. He had noticed Andrew's extreme self-consciousness around her, and whenever she was mentioned. Krystal, though, was thinking about Gaia's mother: the only social worker she had ever liked, the only one who had got through to her mother. She lived in Hope Street, the same as Nana Cath. She was probably there right now. What if †¦ But Kay had left them. Mattie was their social worker again. Anyway, you weren't supposed to bother them at home. Shane Tully had once followed his social worker to her house, and he'd got a restraining order for his pains. But then, Shane had earlier tried to heave a brick through the woman's car window †¦ And, Krystal reasoned, squinting as the road turned, and the river dazzled her eyes with thousands of blinding white spots of light, Kay was still the keeper of folders, the score-keeper and the judge. She had seemed all right, but none of her solutions would keep Krystal and Robbie together †¦ ‘We could go down there,' she suggested to Fats, pointing at the overgrown stretch of bank, a little way along from the bridge. ‘An' Robbie could wait up there, on the bench.' She would be able to keep an eye on him from there, she thought, and she would make sure he didn't see anything. Not that it was anything he had not seen before, in the days that Terri brought strangers home †¦ But, exhausted as he was, Fats was revolted. He could not do it in the grass, under the eye of a small boy. ‘Nah,' he said, trying to sound offhand. †E won' bother,' said Krystal. †E's got ‘is Rolos. ‘E won' even know,' she said, although she thought that was a lie. Robbie knew too much. There had been trouble at nursery when he'd mimicked doing it doggy-style on another child. Krystal's mother, Fats remembered, was a prostitute. He hated the idea of what she was suggesting, but was that not inauthenticity? ‘Whassamatter?' Krystal asked him aggressively. ‘Nothing,' he said. Dane Tully would do it. Pikey Pritchard would do it. Cubby, not in a million years. Krystal walked Robbie to the bench. Fats bent to peer over the back of it, down to the overgrown patch of weeds and bushes, and thought that the kid might not see anything, but that he would be as quick as he could, in any case. †Ere y'are,' Krystal told Robbie, pulling out the long tube of Rolos while he reached for them excitedly. ‘Yeh can ‘ave all of 'em if yeh jus' sit ‘ere fer a minute, all righ'? Yeh jus' sit ‘ere, Robbie, an' I'll be in them bushes. D'yeh understand, Robbie?' ‘Yeah,' he said happily, his cheeks already full of chocolate and toffee. Krystal slipped and slid down the bank towards the patch of undergrowth, hoping that Fats was not going to make any difficulties about doing it without a condom.