Richard Powers’ work Gain is a tour de force of whatever it is. I say this, rather than describing it as merely a novel, although that is precisely what it is, because Powers has herein created something more than your typical story. In this work, two seemingly unrelated paths are set on ambagious paths which will ultimately culminate in their intertwining. On one path we are presented with the apotheosis of a specific corporation’s development, and on the other is the idiosyncratic life of an individual living in a place where this corporation has its hand on virtually everything. Herein Powers has presented what is probably the most riveting illustration of a fictional corporation’s rise. In fact, it is so engrossed in detail that parts of it rival real corporate histories, such as The Great A&P and Nature’s Metropolis. The central question here is derived from more than everyday consumers being buffaloed by Machiavellian corporations. Rather, Powers ascertains the question of how have we come to be where we are? In doing so, Powers destroys the illusion that geography is solely composed of maps. His illustration of how a corporation can grow, and in seeming reaction to that growth an individual woman can wither, permeates the very texture of our lives. You see, it is this mode of production, for which we all possess profound disdain, that is the source of our everyday living and experiences. Long before you or I were born, business had already replaced nature as the
There are many “Industrial Tycoons” nowadays, but few compare to some of the great Entrepreneurs many years before. During the year 1870 the oil company, Standard Oil, was created to help heat people’s home’s, keep trains running, and provide light. John D. Rockefeller, the creator of this Oil company, was one of the greatest Industry Tycoons of all time, another great industry tycoon is Ellen Degeneres. Ellen has done a great amount in a short period of time. Both of these people have done great things, and kept people interested.
With an increase in business, the firm recruited widely. The firm, which had employed 2,000 people in 1982, tripled to 6,000 people by 1987.” Due to excessive focus on generating revenues, one insider put it as, “competing fiefdoms replaced interconnected businesses.” and “Making money was mostly what mattered.”
Roger And Me is a documentary that carries a considerable economic significance by presenting a modern version of capitalism, and by depicting an interesting example of Gunnar Myrdal’s theory of the circular and cumulative causation. Flint, the hometown of the filmmaker Michael Moore, has been built around the factories of one of the largest auto corporations in the world – General Motors. For decades on end the company has been prosperous, making high profits and keeping its workers loyal and content with their jobs and payment. Everyone in Moore’s family has worked for General Motors; the Flint residents have become not only economically but also spiritually and culturally connected with and influenced by the company – a
Through written form and literary techniques, the book feed elaborates on many ideas that Anderson puts forth to the responder, one idea that is evident in the book is the idea of morality using it to show that corporations are in fact evil. Morality is the ability of humanity to distinguish between right and wrong, and once we have lost this capability we symbolically lose the core of our humanity. Anderson influenced by his social context where money is power writes “We Americans are interested only in the consumption of our products. We have no interest in how they are produced, or what happens to them once we discard them, once we throw them away.” The repetition of the word “we” and the high modality used in the
Phils family is forgotten and is over looked by the work that is going on in his life. In “The Company Man”, Ellen Goodman usues multiple rhetorical devices and shows her resentment side torwards the working class of society and how they work themeselves to death. Goodman’s resentment
This book written by Paul Kennedy is called “Engineers of Victory” and it discusses how the Second World War was fought and won by the Allied Powers. He discusses five main point that are often talked about actually winning the war by themselves. These topics are how we were able to overcome the “wolf pack” of U-boats to get convoys to Britain, gaining command of the air over the Luftwaffe, the ability to halt the Nazi Blitzkrieg, overcoming the harsh problems with amphibious landings, or finally over coming distance for America when they fought against Japan. Kennedy in this book argues that none of these alone were enough to win the war by themselves but instead working together were able to win the war.
Due to the inherent complexities of the evolution of the large industrial enterprise, the concept of managerial capitalism stems from the notion that these firms built hierarchies to expand both production and distribution capabilities. In Alfred D. Chandler’s “The Emergence of Managerial Capitalism”, the idea that this form of capitalism came to life was routinely uniform, exhibited through the analysis of four powerhouse nations: The United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan . Although there lies a difference in the journey each nation underwent, their journeys ultimately became intertwined with one another. However, the issue of this interlace displays Chandler’s conformity to a specific course of events, rejecting any principles
As an advertising agent Harry Joy hires every client that brings profit. However, when he decides to be Good, he realizes that he should fire some of his clients that produce cancer-causing products. Also, in the third chapter, Carey introduces Honey Barbara, who is completely opposite of the other characters of ‘‘Bliss’’. She has grown up in the rural area, and unlike other characters, she gives more importance to being healthy than being rich. With the money issue coming up in the book, readers have a chance to examine thoroughly Peter Carey’s opinions over money and capitalism.
In Richard Powers’ novel, Gain, he intertwines two fictional stories to analyze the growth of large corporation in America and the deterioration of the individual as a potential result. He tells the story of the rise of a family soap making business, J. Clare and Sons, into a large-scale corporation over a span of 150 years. As a second story line, he incorporates the end of the life of Laura Bodey, a divorced real estate agent with ovarian cancer living in Lacewood, a town centered around the corporation’s headquarters. He makes a unique statement about the increasingly detrimental nature of business as it grows in scale. He never condemns Clare International nor does he overly-victimize any
When trying to make connections between democracy and capitalism, and how they play a role in our everyday society, looking closely at the emergence of a powerful company can be very informative. Throughout the documentary Henry Ford American Experience, we are introduced to the humble beginnings of the one well-known company in today’s society, the Ford Motor Company. With the in-depth account of the creator himself, Henry Ford and the focus on the labor practices used in his company, one can understand how the establishment came to be.
Power means to be on top, that there is no competition against you. I personally believe power gets you respect. People follow a powerful person. A powerful person is someone who does anything that they please in any particular way without any restraints. Another the way of having power to be financially successful. Having financial power in my world is another way of being powerful because money has a huge value in today's society and can affect people’s decisions. Having power is important to me not only for the respect factor but because by being powerful I would have less financial worries.
The concept of power is present within various realms of all organizations. Power, however, is not something that should necessarily be looked at negatively. There are justifiable types of power that may be important to criminal justice organizations. The main role of power in criminal justice administration should be to gain compliance from subordinates of all types, and turn that power over time into acceptable forms of authority (Stojkovic et al., 2008). It is for this reason that power is an important attribute in criminal justice agencies.
Summarized by permission of the publisher, Center Street, New York, New York. All rights reserved. ©2009 by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 978-1-59995-168-3
Often, there are cases where an individual or a group of individuals reaches a level of success within their field. Some may be elected to a government position, and some may start companies that thrive financially. However, the companies and individuals that fail are the ones that are unable to maintain the initial success and reputation that they had. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy weaves this idea throughout the events and symbols that make up this story about the rise and fall of a man named Michael Henchard. The novel utilizes the actions of Henchard and others alongside dynamics and traditions within the town to convey the theme that success and reputation are not guaranteed to last,rgtc once they are earned. Hardy uses the repercussions of Henchard’s manipulation of others, the stone bridge at the edge of town, and the power structure in Casterbridge to argue that success and reputation are not ensured for life when they are earned, and that they must be constantly maintained and improved.
When Jack Welch was named CEO of General Electric, Welch saw a company in trouble even though the business world saw GE as an intrinsically healthy corporation, secure in its position as a world industrial leader. Welch knew that the company was too large to fail yet GE was too unwieldy to adapt for further growth. The changes he instituted restructured and revolutionized GE and made Welch the most respected CEO in business today. After reading the book there were three parts that really stood out for me.