to the one who hasn't spoken to me in five months, please know that it felt like years.
i have apologized in the past, please know that it wasn't even my fault back then.
maybe it's me being too cold, please understand that i was raised to replicate what is given to me.
you sleep peacefully, please know that my dreams are often filled with you simply acknowledging me.
it fills me up with hope, please know that everything comes crashing down the moment my eyes open.
our greetings no longer mean anything, please know that both of us are at fault.
we both have big egos, and the wiser one apologizes first, but please know that i'm not doing this again.
when you smile and joke and laugh with her, please know that it kills me inside.
when you are concerned about and proud of her, please know that i'm waiting too.
when i work so hard for your approval and nothing comes in return, please know that i am tired.
we threw seventeen years away like that, please know that i can't believe that anyone would do such a thing.
please know that i don't want to write two birthday cards in a row, full of apologies, begging for forgiveness.
i am your daughter. you said so yourself, the last time i begged for you to talk to me. then why don't you treat me like one? why don't you love me like you love your other daughter? why don't you give me what i crave for? why do you make me dread your return from work? why do you make me give excuses about not being able to go for dinner, because it's the both of us?
why. why, why.
please know that i'm sick of trying. i try to be the best i can be for you, but it's not enough.
please know that you don't even do that.
Wednesday 28 September 2016
Tuesday 13 September 2016
[Microeconomics] Price Discrimination
PD occurs when a producer sells a specific commodity to different buyers at two or more different prices for reasons not associated with differences in cost.
Conditions to fulfill
1. The firm must operate in an imperfect market, whereby it has some market power and some control over price. This allows the seller to be a price setter.
2. The seller must be able to separate the market and prevent resale, which is to prevent consumers who need to pay a higher price from enjoying a lower price.
3. The seller must be able to separate the market into different consumer goods according to the PED from separate groups of buyers.
Discriminate based on TIME, PLACE, INCOME (3rd Degree PD)
- Seller charges a different price at different times or days.
[Eg. Peak period tickets are pricier than those during non-peak hours.]
- Seller charges a different price at different locations of his consumers.
[Eg. Cheaper train tickets only available at major train stations.]
- Discriminate based on income of the consumers.
How to explain in an essay form?
1. State the degree of PD and discriminate based on ... (for 3rd degree PD)
2. State that consumers can be split into independent markets - name the markets.
Eg. Major stations and smaller stations
3. State the PED value for the different markets + Justification
Eg. Major station - PED>1 because there are many forms of transportation near major stations.
Smaller station - 0<PED<1 because minor stations tend to be located at suburban areas.
4. Explain how the higher price can lead to higher revenue.
5. Prove that the firm operates in an imperfect market.
6. Prove that you can prevent resale.
Conditions to fulfill
1. The firm must operate in an imperfect market, whereby it has some market power and some control over price. This allows the seller to be a price setter.
2. The seller must be able to separate the market and prevent resale, which is to prevent consumers who need to pay a higher price from enjoying a lower price.
3. The seller must be able to separate the market into different consumer goods according to the PED from separate groups of buyers.
Discriminate based on TIME, PLACE, INCOME (3rd Degree PD)
- Seller charges a different price at different times or days.
[Eg. Peak period tickets are pricier than those during non-peak hours.]
- Seller charges a different price at different locations of his consumers.
[Eg. Cheaper train tickets only available at major train stations.]
- Discriminate based on income of the consumers.
How to explain in an essay form?
1. State the degree of PD and discriminate based on ... (for 3rd degree PD)
2. State that consumers can be split into independent markets - name the markets.
Eg. Major stations and smaller stations
3. State the PED value for the different markets + Justification
Eg. Major station - PED>1 because there are many forms of transportation near major stations.
Smaller station - 0<PED<1 because minor stations tend to be located at suburban areas.
4. Explain how the higher price can lead to higher revenue.
5. Prove that the firm operates in an imperfect market.
6. Prove that you can prevent resale.
[Microeconomics] Objectives of a firm
Traditional Objective
- Profit Maximization (MC=MR)
Alternative Objectives
1. To maximize revenue (MR=0)
- Managers and commission-based employees may choose to maximize the firm's total revenue in the short run, as their income is dependent on the total revenue of the firm.
- The manager will then increase the production of [product] up to the output level where MR=0.
- On Figure 1 below, the firm produces a greater output level at Qrm when they revenue maximize and as such, they set a lower price Prm as compared to the profit maximizing quantity of Qpm and price Ppm.
[Figure 1: Supernormal profits market structure diagram. At the spot where MR touches the x-axis, label Qrm. Label Ppm, Cpm, Prm, Crm.]
2. To maximize growth
- The firm may also have the incentive to pursue growth maximization in order to uphold the image of the firm and status of the manager.
- This can be done through internal expansion or merger.
- Managers will have a greater chance of getting promoted in a large firm as new posts are made available, hence they have the incentive to maximize growth.
- In the short run, the firm may choose to pursue growth maximization and would be able to pursue profit maximization in the long run, given the decreased average cost of production.
Positive side-effect of GM: Reap iEOS. But this is NOT the purpose of GM.
3. Gain market dominance
- Driving other firms out of the industry by increasing their market share.
- They can adopt predatory pricing, where they set the price of their products below MC of production.
- Through this method, the firm will undercut the price of products from other firms.
- When price decreases, it will decrease the quantity demanded for products by other firms. This causes P and Q to fall. This goes on until P<AVC for the other firms, causing them to shut down and be driven out of the market.
- The [said large firm] can deal with losses with the short run. After its competitors are driven out the market, they can increase the price of their products.
- Their SR losses can be compensated with their long run profits.
- The exit of other firms will allow the firm to increase their market share and correspondingly, their market power.
4. Entry deterrence
- Emphasize on pricing and non-pricing decisions to deter the entry of new firms and avoid losing market share to new entrants.
- They can engage in extensive product development/branding so as to differentiate its products from that of potential entrants. This makes the demand of the good more price inelastic.
- This increases the market power of the firm, giving it the ability to restrict output to set price.
- It can increase the price of its product to increase revenue, allowing the firm to raise its profitability in the long run.
- Considering that product development and branding have high costs, the long run profits will help to offset these temporary losses.
5. Profit Satisficing
- Produce at a set level of output, even if it hasn't reached profit-maximizing level of output.
- The decision makers, who are the regional managers, can choose to achieve a given level of profits as set by the shareholders. This allows them to enjoy additional benefits of having shorter operating hours and lower levels of stress.
- This is because managers do not have the incentive to profit-maximize as they do not reap the benefits of the firm producing at the profit-maximizing level of output.
- Profit Maximization (MC=MR)
Alternative Objectives
1. To maximize revenue (MR=0)
- Managers and commission-based employees may choose to maximize the firm's total revenue in the short run, as their income is dependent on the total revenue of the firm.
- The manager will then increase the production of [product] up to the output level where MR=0.
- On Figure 1 below, the firm produces a greater output level at Qrm when they revenue maximize and as such, they set a lower price Prm as compared to the profit maximizing quantity of Qpm and price Ppm.
[Figure 1: Supernormal profits market structure diagram. At the spot where MR touches the x-axis, label Qrm. Label Ppm, Cpm, Prm, Crm.]
2. To maximize growth
- The firm may also have the incentive to pursue growth maximization in order to uphold the image of the firm and status of the manager.
- This can be done through internal expansion or merger.
- Managers will have a greater chance of getting promoted in a large firm as new posts are made available, hence they have the incentive to maximize growth.
- In the short run, the firm may choose to pursue growth maximization and would be able to pursue profit maximization in the long run, given the decreased average cost of production.
Positive side-effect of GM: Reap iEOS. But this is NOT the purpose of GM.
3. Gain market dominance
- Driving other firms out of the industry by increasing their market share.
- They can adopt predatory pricing, where they set the price of their products below MC of production.
- Through this method, the firm will undercut the price of products from other firms.
- When price decreases, it will decrease the quantity demanded for products by other firms. This causes P and Q to fall. This goes on until P<AVC for the other firms, causing them to shut down and be driven out of the market.
- The [said large firm] can deal with losses with the short run. After its competitors are driven out the market, they can increase the price of their products.
- Their SR losses can be compensated with their long run profits.
- The exit of other firms will allow the firm to increase their market share and correspondingly, their market power.
4. Entry deterrence
- Emphasize on pricing and non-pricing decisions to deter the entry of new firms and avoid losing market share to new entrants.
- They can engage in extensive product development/branding so as to differentiate its products from that of potential entrants. This makes the demand of the good more price inelastic.
- This increases the market power of the firm, giving it the ability to restrict output to set price.
- It can increase the price of its product to increase revenue, allowing the firm to raise its profitability in the long run.
- Considering that product development and branding have high costs, the long run profits will help to offset these temporary losses.
5. Profit Satisficing
- Produce at a set level of output, even if it hasn't reached profit-maximizing level of output.
- The decision makers, who are the regional managers, can choose to achieve a given level of profits as set by the shareholders. This allows them to enjoy additional benefits of having shorter operating hours and lower levels of stress.
- This is because managers do not have the incentive to profit-maximize as they do not reap the benefits of the firm producing at the profit-maximizing level of output.
Tuesday 6 September 2016
[SEA History] MG was effective at maintaining political control. HFDYA?
hello there. if you have read through the older posts, you would have noticed i've posted some topic sentences for the political structure questions. do note that not all of them have been vetted - they are mostly picked out from notes and sources and advice from my history teacher. i'll be posting practice paragraphs that are mostly written by me, so no guarantees!
AF1
- Maximum governments were effective at maintaining political control through it's ability to monopolize control of state apparatus as a means to ensure the political opposition's inability to revive itself, evident by the maintenance of power within the hands of the ruling elite.
- In the post-colonial period, Southeast Asia was politically diverse and had many political parties jostling for power. Thus, through the leaders' utility of legislative power, it helped to weed out political opponents so as to remove threats to their power.
- In Singapore, Barisan Sosialis was a strong political opponent of the ruling party PAP in the early 1960s. This is evident in how they managed to 25% of the voters during the 1962 Merger Referendum to cast blank votes, showing their immense popularity as an opposition party.
- Under the Internal Security Act, which allowed for detention without trial of suspected dissidents, several BS members were arrested for boycotting the parliament in 1966. Also, Operation Coldstore in 1963 saw the arrests of suspected communists, including BS secretary-general Lim Chin Siong and half of BS's central executive committee. By detaining opposition leaders, who were responsible for advocating an alternative political vision, it eliminated the figures who helped garner mass support for BS. Via the monopoly of power, the incumbent government managed to remove the strong opposition, thus ensuring that leftist support was curbed and directed towards PAP instead. The use of legal power also instilled fear about the harsh treatment one would face if they rose as a strong political opposition of PAP.
- The use of MG structures acted as a deterrent for the rise of any political opposition, thus ensuring that there was no viable political threat to PAP's leadership. This is seen in PAP's dominance in Singapore's political scene for over four decades.
Limitations: PAP's political dominance can be attributed to the fact that BS was weak and not because the MG structures were effective. BS boycotted the 1966 elections, effectively allowing PAP to be the de facto dominant political voice in the government. Their poor strategies eventually resulted in BS's declining popularity, showing that PAP's political dominance can be attributed to the weaknesses of their political opposition, rather than the MG structures they undertook to undermine their opponents.
AF1
- Maximum governments were effective at maintaining political control through it's ability to monopolize control of state apparatus as a means to ensure the political opposition's inability to revive itself, evident by the maintenance of power within the hands of the ruling elite.
- In the post-colonial period, Southeast Asia was politically diverse and had many political parties jostling for power. Thus, through the leaders' utility of legislative power, it helped to weed out political opponents so as to remove threats to their power.
- In Singapore, Barisan Sosialis was a strong political opponent of the ruling party PAP in the early 1960s. This is evident in how they managed to 25% of the voters during the 1962 Merger Referendum to cast blank votes, showing their immense popularity as an opposition party.
- Under the Internal Security Act, which allowed for detention without trial of suspected dissidents, several BS members were arrested for boycotting the parliament in 1966. Also, Operation Coldstore in 1963 saw the arrests of suspected communists, including BS secretary-general Lim Chin Siong and half of BS's central executive committee. By detaining opposition leaders, who were responsible for advocating an alternative political vision, it eliminated the figures who helped garner mass support for BS. Via the monopoly of power, the incumbent government managed to remove the strong opposition, thus ensuring that leftist support was curbed and directed towards PAP instead. The use of legal power also instilled fear about the harsh treatment one would face if they rose as a strong political opposition of PAP.
- The use of MG structures acted as a deterrent for the rise of any political opposition, thus ensuring that there was no viable political threat to PAP's leadership. This is seen in PAP's dominance in Singapore's political scene for over four decades.
Limitations: PAP's political dominance can be attributed to the fact that BS was weak and not because the MG structures were effective. BS boycotted the 1966 elections, effectively allowing PAP to be the de facto dominant political voice in the government. Their poor strategies eventually resulted in BS's declining popularity, showing that PAP's political dominance can be attributed to the weaknesses of their political opposition, rather than the MG structures they undertook to undermine their opponents.
[SEA History] MG Stab/Instab (TS)
TS: Factor + MG Quality - What it did - Causal Significance - Outcome
+ The maximum government's ability to use and monopolize control of state apparatus as a means to ensure opposition inability to revive itself made it possible for the maximum government to sustain political control, as seen in the maintenance of power within the hands of the ruling elite.
+ Through the maximum government's extensive influence over multiple areas of society, it enabled the creation of effective institutions that help develop political goodwill, thus aiding in the cultivation of a supportive electorate, as seen in the maximum government's continued popularity in the political realm.
+ The maximum government's monopoly of power enabled the practicing of political patronage which courted the loyalty of non-government actors, thus removing political threats to the maximum government, resulting in the maintenance of political control by the maximum government.
+ Through the monopoly of power, the maximum government's utility of legislation to suppress opposition drastically reduced the opposition's ability to challenge the incumbent government by isolating its support bases, thus enabling political stability, evident by the absence of a viable political opponent to the incumbent government.
- Declining support for authoritarian regimes as a result of a changing international climate led to the loss of economic aid, causing the maximum government to be unable to cultivate mass support for the regime, thus resulting in the establishment of a civilian government instead.
- The presence of strong political opponents undermined the activities and actions of the maximum government, resulting in the loss of legitimacy for the maximum government.
+ The maximum government's ability to use and monopolize control of state apparatus as a means to ensure opposition inability to revive itself made it possible for the maximum government to sustain political control, as seen in the maintenance of power within the hands of the ruling elite.
+ Through the maximum government's extensive influence over multiple areas of society, it enabled the creation of effective institutions that help develop political goodwill, thus aiding in the cultivation of a supportive electorate, as seen in the maximum government's continued popularity in the political realm.
+ The maximum government's monopoly of power enabled the practicing of political patronage which courted the loyalty of non-government actors, thus removing political threats to the maximum government, resulting in the maintenance of political control by the maximum government.
+ Through the monopoly of power, the maximum government's utility of legislation to suppress opposition drastically reduced the opposition's ability to challenge the incumbent government by isolating its support bases, thus enabling political stability, evident by the absence of a viable political opponent to the incumbent government.
- Declining support for authoritarian regimes as a result of a changing international climate led to the loss of economic aid, causing the maximum government to be unable to cultivate mass support for the regime, thus resulting in the establishment of a civilian government instead.
- The presence of strong political opponents undermined the activities and actions of the maximum government, resulting in the loss of legitimacy for the maximum government.
[SEA History] Adoption of MG (TS)
- The accommodation of minority rights under Parliamentary Democracy resulted in the outbreak of communal riots, inclining governments towards adopting authoritarian structures to maintain political stability. [Necessity]
- The inefficient policy making of the incumbent government saw the gradual loss of their their legitimacy, increasing the willingness of the military to impose maximum governance to restore government efficiency. [Necessity]
- The incompatibility of the democratic system with the local context opened up space for maximum governance to be adopted as an alternative political structure. [Necessity]
- The presence of a politically influential non-government player who was in favour of authoritarian rule opened up the opportunity for maximum governance to take root. [Chance]
- The political ambition of the incumbent leaders weakened their commitment towards democracy, thus inclining them towards a more authoritarian system to retain power. [Choice]
- The inefficient policy making of the incumbent government saw the gradual loss of their their legitimacy, increasing the willingness of the military to impose maximum governance to restore government efficiency. [Necessity]
- The incompatibility of the democratic system with the local context opened up space for maximum governance to be adopted as an alternative political structure. [Necessity]
- The presence of a politically influential non-government player who was in favour of authoritarian rule opened up the opportunity for maximum governance to take root. [Chance]
- The political ambition of the incumbent leaders weakened their commitment towards democracy, thus inclining them towards a more authoritarian system to retain power. [Choice]
Monday 5 September 2016
[GP] Singapore - Content
ECONOMY
- According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitveness Report 2013, SG is world's 2nd most economically competitive nation.
- SG has the highest concentration of millionaire households - at 17%.
- SG has the 2nd highest income inequality in the world.
- Our economy is growing at 2-3% per year and continues to attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign direct investment a year. Eg. Rolls Royce aircraft engine manufacturing facility and Procter & Gamble's regional R&D centre.
- SG deemed to be an economic miracle - a respected player with an outsized influence on the world stage both diplomatically and economically.
- It is a major oil refining and training hub with a growing liquefied natural gas trading and storing industry. World leaders in oil rig building through Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Marine.
- Airport and Seaport are the busiest in the world, attracts 3x the resident population of tourists each year. Best airport in the world, voted consecutively.
- SG enjoyed double digit growth annually in it's GDP from 1965 to 1985.
- Very high standard of living, one of the most expensive places in the world to live in, a car is very expensive.
GOVERNMENT
- Clean and capable govt, which has built the security, stability, infrastructure, strong rule of law and open economy that makes SG a great place to invest and do business.
- Non-corrupt government; our leaders are elected based on their ability and not because they are related to the ruling elite. This ensured that the interests of the people were put before that of self-interest, allowing Singapore to flourish as a nation-state.
- Allows for limited freedom of speech so as to ensure that harmony remains. Secular - allows for religious freedom but will also take action if the religion does anything to challenge national interests/the authority. Jehovah's Witness was banned as the people refused to undergo NS (they do not partake in military service). The Marxist Conspiracy saw 20-odd catholics being captured.
PEOPLE (Identity, Lang, Characteristics)
- Singaporeans are fluent in both English and Asian languages, such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and thus act as an invaluable bridge between the East and the West. This was due to the bilingualism policy that introduced English as a lingua franca and allowing people to retain their ethnic language as their second language.
- Singapore's national ideology is the Shared Values initiative, which is meant to inculcate Asian Values into Singaporeans, after the 1961 bilingualism policy was criticized as having 'Westernized' Singaporeans with the increased usage of the English Language. However, Singapore has also been criticized as a cultural orphan with no unique identity to itself.
- Singaporeans speak colloquial English, better known as 'Singlish'. It is a jargon unique to Singapore, made up of mostly English but mixed with Chinese, Malay, Tami and Chinese dialects. Many Singaporeans hold it close to them.
HISTORY
- Double-minority status: The Singaporean majority is a regional minority, making them more vulnerable to external pressures or tensions. The government will hence take greater precautionary measures such as capping the number of Malays in the SAF and seeks to establish good bilateral relations with Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Focus on: Pragmatism, Meritocracy, Honesty.
- Many of our ancestors came from China or India, in search of better job opportunities and salary. The values of pragmatism - working hard to reap the fruits of our labour - has been passed down generation after generation. Many Singaporeans aim to attain the 5Cs - Condo, Car, Credit Card, Country Club Membership, Career.
- Singaporeans actively pursue material aim, in terms of job promotions, salary increment.
INFRASTRUCTURE
- Excellent transport system as compared to other countries in the world. Provides access to almost any part of SG via MRT and buses.
SPORTS
- Many Singaporeans lament at the lack of local talent. In the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, the ladies table tennis team comprised of Chinese-born paddlers, who were previously rejected by the Chinese National Team. If we had utilized our local talents, we may never have achieved this monumental feat. While many Singaporeans were extremely proud and happy that the ladies team in 2008 won the silver medal, some were upset that they were not truly Singaporean.
- Joseph Schooling, who won the Republic's first olympic gold medal and broke an olympic record in the 100m butterfly event, had his momentuous victory put down by critics who deemed him as not a true-blue Singaporean. He studied and trained in America since he was in his early teens, and some felt that he did not grow up in Singapore and hence, was considered a foreigner in his origin country.
- Sports in Singapore can bind people too. During football matches, especially at the old national stadium or jalan besar stadium, many Singaporeans will turn up to cheer for the local team, especially when Singapore is playing Malaysia. It is an opportunity for them to don national colours and show the pride for their country. Regardless of race or religion, Singaporeans bond over their common love for 'The Beautiful Game' and the pride they have of their nation.
- SG focuses on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This was to boost the value added per worker in order to compensate for our geographical disadvantages, such as having no strategic hinterland and having no natural resources.
- The focus in our education is to get perfect grades to open up our options in University, so that we can get a prestigious degree to attain our dream job - which is defined to be a career which propels us to the top of the corporate ladder and allowing us to earn several hundred grand per year. Many students focus on getting into prestigious schools and competing with other elite students for the top spots, so as to not 'lose out'.
- Many students simply cram information in examinations to regurgitate what they have memorized in the exams, in order to get top marks. Much focus is placed on the students' ability to retain knowledge and write speedily, as opposed to truly understanding the concepts involved and appreciating the thinking process. Despite this, Singapore has constantly been praised to have one of the best education systems in the world, seeing how Raffles Institution churned out more students who attended Ivy League Schools than any other high schools in the world. In fact, Wall Street Journal dubbed RI as the 'Ivy League Machine'. RI is also the top high school for Oxford in terms of student admission.
- SG topped the PISA problem-solving test in 2012 - it was taken by students from around the world.
- Singapore incorporated a shared history of the different races in the NE curriculum by portraying the forefathers of SG to be of different ethnic groups (eg. LKY, Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, Lim Yew Hock?, Yusof Bin Ishak, Rajaratnam).
TOURISM
-
- According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitveness Report 2013, SG is world's 2nd most economically competitive nation.
- SG has the highest concentration of millionaire households - at 17%.
- SG has the 2nd highest income inequality in the world.
- Our economy is growing at 2-3% per year and continues to attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign direct investment a year. Eg. Rolls Royce aircraft engine manufacturing facility and Procter & Gamble's regional R&D centre.
- SG deemed to be an economic miracle - a respected player with an outsized influence on the world stage both diplomatically and economically.
- It is a major oil refining and training hub with a growing liquefied natural gas trading and storing industry. World leaders in oil rig building through Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Marine.
- Airport and Seaport are the busiest in the world, attracts 3x the resident population of tourists each year. Best airport in the world, voted consecutively.
- SG enjoyed double digit growth annually in it's GDP from 1965 to 1985.
- Very high standard of living, one of the most expensive places in the world to live in, a car is very expensive.
GOVERNMENT
- Clean and capable govt, which has built the security, stability, infrastructure, strong rule of law and open economy that makes SG a great place to invest and do business.
- Non-corrupt government; our leaders are elected based on their ability and not because they are related to the ruling elite. This ensured that the interests of the people were put before that of self-interest, allowing Singapore to flourish as a nation-state.
- Allows for limited freedom of speech so as to ensure that harmony remains. Secular - allows for religious freedom but will also take action if the religion does anything to challenge national interests/the authority. Jehovah's Witness was banned as the people refused to undergo NS (they do not partake in military service). The Marxist Conspiracy saw 20-odd catholics being captured.
PEOPLE (Identity, Lang, Characteristics)
- Singaporeans are fluent in both English and Asian languages, such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and thus act as an invaluable bridge between the East and the West. This was due to the bilingualism policy that introduced English as a lingua franca and allowing people to retain their ethnic language as their second language.
- Singapore's national ideology is the Shared Values initiative, which is meant to inculcate Asian Values into Singaporeans, after the 1961 bilingualism policy was criticized as having 'Westernized' Singaporeans with the increased usage of the English Language. However, Singapore has also been criticized as a cultural orphan with no unique identity to itself.
- Singaporeans speak colloquial English, better known as 'Singlish'. It is a jargon unique to Singapore, made up of mostly English but mixed with Chinese, Malay, Tami and Chinese dialects. Many Singaporeans hold it close to them.
HISTORY
- Double-minority status: The Singaporean majority is a regional minority, making them more vulnerable to external pressures or tensions. The government will hence take greater precautionary measures such as capping the number of Malays in the SAF and seeks to establish good bilateral relations with Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Focus on: Pragmatism, Meritocracy, Honesty.
- Many of our ancestors came from China or India, in search of better job opportunities and salary. The values of pragmatism - working hard to reap the fruits of our labour - has been passed down generation after generation. Many Singaporeans aim to attain the 5Cs - Condo, Car, Credit Card, Country Club Membership, Career.
- Singaporeans actively pursue material aim, in terms of job promotions, salary increment.
INFRASTRUCTURE
- Excellent transport system as compared to other countries in the world. Provides access to almost any part of SG via MRT and buses.
SPORTS
- Many Singaporeans lament at the lack of local talent. In the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, the ladies table tennis team comprised of Chinese-born paddlers, who were previously rejected by the Chinese National Team. If we had utilized our local talents, we may never have achieved this monumental feat. While many Singaporeans were extremely proud and happy that the ladies team in 2008 won the silver medal, some were upset that they were not truly Singaporean.
- Joseph Schooling, who won the Republic's first olympic gold medal and broke an olympic record in the 100m butterfly event, had his momentuous victory put down by critics who deemed him as not a true-blue Singaporean. He studied and trained in America since he was in his early teens, and some felt that he did not grow up in Singapore and hence, was considered a foreigner in his origin country.
- Sports in Singapore can bind people too. During football matches, especially at the old national stadium or jalan besar stadium, many Singaporeans will turn up to cheer for the local team, especially when Singapore is playing Malaysia. It is an opportunity for them to don national colours and show the pride for their country. Regardless of race or religion, Singaporeans bond over their common love for 'The Beautiful Game' and the pride they have of their nation.
EDUCATION
- SG focuses on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This was to boost the value added per worker in order to compensate for our geographical disadvantages, such as having no strategic hinterland and having no natural resources.
- The focus in our education is to get perfect grades to open up our options in University, so that we can get a prestigious degree to attain our dream job - which is defined to be a career which propels us to the top of the corporate ladder and allowing us to earn several hundred grand per year. Many students focus on getting into prestigious schools and competing with other elite students for the top spots, so as to not 'lose out'.
- Many students simply cram information in examinations to regurgitate what they have memorized in the exams, in order to get top marks. Much focus is placed on the students' ability to retain knowledge and write speedily, as opposed to truly understanding the concepts involved and appreciating the thinking process. Despite this, Singapore has constantly been praised to have one of the best education systems in the world, seeing how Raffles Institution churned out more students who attended Ivy League Schools than any other high schools in the world. In fact, Wall Street Journal dubbed RI as the 'Ivy League Machine'. RI is also the top high school for Oxford in terms of student admission.
- SG topped the PISA problem-solving test in 2012 - it was taken by students from around the world.
- Singapore incorporated a shared history of the different races in the NE curriculum by portraying the forefathers of SG to be of different ethnic groups (eg. LKY, Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, Lim Yew Hock?, Yusof Bin Ishak, Rajaratnam).
TOURISM
-
Sunday 4 September 2016
[SEA History] PD Stab/Instab (TS)
PD Means - What it did - Outcome (Indicator)
+ PD governments successfully prevented the eruption of large sale or violent labour unrest via the skilful cultivation of union-government relationships and dialogues, thus preserving the overall social order.
+ The accommodation for a variety of views helped in the management of diverse interests, thereby preventing racial tensions from disrupting social stability.
- The allowance of political competition opened up space for diverse political actors to exist, with divergent political interests resulting in constant changes in the composition of leadership.
- PD governments lacked the will to forcibly suppress political opposition, thereby paving the way for increased military intervention in politics, ultimately culminating into military takeovers of the government.
- The accommodation of minority interests under PD fuelled anger from the majority and culminated into ethnic riots, which resulted in structural changes of the political system to restore political stability.
+ PD governments successfully prevented the eruption of large sale or violent labour unrest via the skilful cultivation of union-government relationships and dialogues, thus preserving the overall social order.
+ The accommodation for a variety of views helped in the management of diverse interests, thereby preventing racial tensions from disrupting social stability.
- The allowance of political competition opened up space for diverse political actors to exist, with divergent political interests resulting in constant changes in the composition of leadership.
- PD governments lacked the will to forcibly suppress political opposition, thereby paving the way for increased military intervention in politics, ultimately culminating into military takeovers of the government.
- The accommodation of minority interests under PD fuelled anger from the majority and culminated into ethnic riots, which resulted in structural changes of the political system to restore political stability.
[SEA History] Adoption of PD (TS)
Colonial Legacy: Plural Society, Western Edu, Early intro of demo structures
JO: Turn towards mass politics, harsh rule
Colonial Interests: Fear of communism, Decol Plans
Decol: Nationalist strategies of local leaders, CP's decol plans
Factor - What it did - Causal Significance - Outcome
- The creation of a plural society during colonial rule saw the rise of diverse communities, fuelling desire for the adoption of democracy which accommodated a diversity of interests.
- Western Education equipped local leaders with the knowledge of the workings of democracy, enhancing their ability to adopt it as a political system upon independence.
- The turn towards mass politics during the Japanese Occupation saw the emergence of diverse political players, thus making the government more inclined towards adopting democracy as a political system to accommodate the varying interests.
- The harsh rule of the Japanese Occupation turned locals away from authoritarian rule, making them inclined towards democracy as an alternative political structure to be adopted upon independence.
- The colonial power's fear of communism saw the introduction of democratic structures in their decolonization plans, laying the foundation of democracy to be adopted as the default political system at the point of independence.
- Nationalist strategies for decolonization saw local leaders aligning themselves with democracy to convince the colonial powers of their legitimacy to rule, in order to gain colonial acknowledgement of their independence movement, and thus democracy was the de facto political system at the point of independence.
- Given the international bipolar divide after WW2, local leaders adopted democracy as a strategy to gain colonial and international acknowledgement of their independence movement.
btw, none of these have been checked by a teacher. i just needed to write them down somewhere before i lose my notes again. it may be wrong for all you know, but im gonna use them for now.
[Microeconomics] Price Floor
How it works
- Minimum legislated market price set and allowed by the government.
- It is set above the market equilibrium at Pmin.
- It is meant to protect income of suppliers.
Presence of surplus
- Rise in price leads to a decreases in QD an increase in QS, ceteris paribus. There will be a surplus of QDQS units of [good].
- Demand elasticity explanation.
- Supply elasticity explanation.
Eg. DD elastic, SS inelastic.
- As such, the increase in P is likely to cause a more than proportionate decrease in QD. There will be a severe surplus. The government should asses between the price and degree of surplus. the higher the price floor, the more severe the surplus.
DWL
- Before the implementation of a price floor, the consumer surplus is Area DE0P0 and producer surplus is Area DE0O. Consumers enjoy larger Q but higher P. Consumer surplus decreases to Area XXX and producer surplus increases to Area YYY, incurring a DWL of Area ZZZ.
Evasion of PF
- Firms will surplus may have incentive to evade PF and sell goods below legislated price. This is especially true for firms which sell products with price elastic demands. When they decrease the price of their good, there will a more than prop decrease in QD, allowing the firm to earn a higher revenue.
Buy up surplus
- To ensure that revenue of law-abiding producers do not fall, the government can buy up the surplus. However, this is financially costly, with the expenditure denoted by Area ABCD.
- If goods are perishable, they cannot be stored. If they are non-perishable, they will incur high storage costs.
- Selling the surplus in the international market will depress world price even further due to increase in world supply as most surpluses are offloaded into the world market.
Quota
- Artificially lower SS restricts producers to quota.
- By lowering Q transacted, it causes market price to increase, rendering price control unnecessary. However, the loss of consumption due to the disruption of market forces will lower economic welfare.
Cushion inefficiency
- The price floor enable profits to be protected as they are set higher than the free market equilibrium price.
- There may be less need for producers to find more efficient production methods and cut cost. This cushions inefficiency.
Alternative Goods
- High price may discourage firms from producing alternative goods which they could produce more efficiently or are in higher demand, but have a lower market price.
[Microeconomics] Price Ceiling
How it works
- A price ceiling is the maximum legal market price set and allowed by the government.
- It is set at Pmax, below the free market equilibrium price P0.
- The market price is not allowed to rise above the maximum legislated price, thus ensuring greater affordability for consumers who previously may not be bale to fford it.
What to consider?
Presence of Shortage
- The fall in price will lead to an increase in QD and decrease in QS, ceteris paribus. This results in a shortage of QSQD units of [good/service].
- The demand for good is relatively price [elastic/inelastic] as [give 1-2 reasons.]
Eg. Medicine; Inelastic; High degree of necessity to patients and it is unlikely that there are close substitutes to medicine as remedies of illnesses.
- The supply is likely to be relatively price [elastic/inelastic] as [give 1-2 reasons.]
Eg. Elastic; Proportion of marginal cost of providing medicine is very small and modern technology is likely to manufacture medicine easily in a short period of time.
- As such, the fall in price will cause a more than proportionate decrease in QS, ceteris paribus.
- This results in a severe shortage of medicine with the implementation of a price ceiling. The government has to assess between the price and degree of shortage. The lower the price ceiling, the larger the shortage.
Black Market
- Given that medicine has a high degree of necessity to those that need them, they are likely to be willing to pay more than the legislated price to obtain the good. This causes a black market to emerge.
- Assuming that black market dealers are able to buy up all the available quantity (QS units) at Price Pmax, and have access to customers who are willing to purchase the medicine at a higher price and are unable to purchase medicine at the legal price, the black market dealers will be able to sell the medicine at price Pb.
- With the emergence of black markets, the government's objective of achieving a fairer distribution of medicine to ensure affordability will not be achieved.
DWL
- Before the implementation of the price ceiling, there is a consumer surplus of Area AP0E0 and producer surplus of Area FE0P0. With the implementation of a price ceiling, consumers enjoy a lower market price but have access to a smaller quantity of medicine. Their consumer surplus increases to Area PmaxBP, while producer surplus decreases to PmaxDF. Society thus incurs a DWL of Area DBE0.
Closure
- According to the law of supply, the fall in price will lead to a fall in QS, ceteris paribus. Given that revenue is a product of price and quantity, the price ceiling will cause a fall in revenue.
- If the fall in revenue results in subnormal profits in the LR and the price ceiling is below LRAC, there will be closure of medicine providers.
No equity
- The price ceiling may not necessarily lead to an equitable outcome. Those who need the medicine most may not be the ones who are first in line to gain access to the medicine.
- For example, firms may prioritize their regular customers in terms of who can obtain their goods first.
Cost of implementation
- The government is likely to conduct rationing through the use of coupons to achieve a more equitable outcome of the price ceiling. This however, is administrative expensive as mean testing will have to be conducted to assess which consumers are likely to be able to purchase the medicine.
- Given that India is a large country and has lack of accessibility in some area, admin costs will be very high.
Opportunity Cost
- While price is lowered, allocation of good is still on a first come first serve basis. This is likely to lead to queues developing or firms adopting waiting lists.
- Consumers incur additional OPP cost of spending more time searching for and waiting for the good or service.
Severity
- The government should consider whether a price ceiling is necessary. If the rising price of medicine is due to a sudden shock in supply which can be rectified in the SR, then there is no need to implement price ceiling. If the SS of medicine can be increased significantly in the LR, there will be a surplus of medicine at the current equilibrium price, putting downward pressure on price. This allays the rising prices.
- The government should consider the proportion of people who affected by the rising price of medicine. If it's a small group of people, they should provide direct subsidy to those who need it, so as to not negatively affect those who do not need price ceiling.
- The government can consider the average income and distribution of income in India. If a majority of Indians have low incomes, medicine may be considered to be unaffordable, hence price ceiling is necessary.
- A price ceiling is the maximum legal market price set and allowed by the government.
- It is set at Pmax, below the free market equilibrium price P0.
- The market price is not allowed to rise above the maximum legislated price, thus ensuring greater affordability for consumers who previously may not be bale to fford it.
What to consider?
Presence of Shortage
- The fall in price will lead to an increase in QD and decrease in QS, ceteris paribus. This results in a shortage of QSQD units of [good/service].
- The demand for good is relatively price [elastic/inelastic] as [give 1-2 reasons.]
Eg. Medicine; Inelastic; High degree of necessity to patients and it is unlikely that there are close substitutes to medicine as remedies of illnesses.
- The supply is likely to be relatively price [elastic/inelastic] as [give 1-2 reasons.]
Eg. Elastic; Proportion of marginal cost of providing medicine is very small and modern technology is likely to manufacture medicine easily in a short period of time.
- As such, the fall in price will cause a more than proportionate decrease in QS, ceteris paribus.
- This results in a severe shortage of medicine with the implementation of a price ceiling. The government has to assess between the price and degree of shortage. The lower the price ceiling, the larger the shortage.
Black Market
- Given that medicine has a high degree of necessity to those that need them, they are likely to be willing to pay more than the legislated price to obtain the good. This causes a black market to emerge.
- Assuming that black market dealers are able to buy up all the available quantity (QS units) at Price Pmax, and have access to customers who are willing to purchase the medicine at a higher price and are unable to purchase medicine at the legal price, the black market dealers will be able to sell the medicine at price Pb.
- With the emergence of black markets, the government's objective of achieving a fairer distribution of medicine to ensure affordability will not be achieved.
DWL
- Before the implementation of the price ceiling, there is a consumer surplus of Area AP0E0 and producer surplus of Area FE0P0. With the implementation of a price ceiling, consumers enjoy a lower market price but have access to a smaller quantity of medicine. Their consumer surplus increases to Area PmaxBP, while producer surplus decreases to PmaxDF. Society thus incurs a DWL of Area DBE0.
Closure
- According to the law of supply, the fall in price will lead to a fall in QS, ceteris paribus. Given that revenue is a product of price and quantity, the price ceiling will cause a fall in revenue.
- If the fall in revenue results in subnormal profits in the LR and the price ceiling is below LRAC, there will be closure of medicine providers.
No equity
- The price ceiling may not necessarily lead to an equitable outcome. Those who need the medicine most may not be the ones who are first in line to gain access to the medicine.
- For example, firms may prioritize their regular customers in terms of who can obtain their goods first.
Cost of implementation
- The government is likely to conduct rationing through the use of coupons to achieve a more equitable outcome of the price ceiling. This however, is administrative expensive as mean testing will have to be conducted to assess which consumers are likely to be able to purchase the medicine.
- Given that India is a large country and has lack of accessibility in some area, admin costs will be very high.
Opportunity Cost
- While price is lowered, allocation of good is still on a first come first serve basis. This is likely to lead to queues developing or firms adopting waiting lists.
- Consumers incur additional OPP cost of spending more time searching for and waiting for the good or service.
Severity
- The government should consider whether a price ceiling is necessary. If the rising price of medicine is due to a sudden shock in supply which can be rectified in the SR, then there is no need to implement price ceiling. If the SS of medicine can be increased significantly in the LR, there will be a surplus of medicine at the current equilibrium price, putting downward pressure on price. This allays the rising prices.
- The government should consider the proportion of people who affected by the rising price of medicine. If it's a small group of people, they should provide direct subsidy to those who need it, so as to not negatively affect those who do not need price ceiling.
- The government can consider the average income and distribution of income in India. If a majority of Indians have low incomes, medicine may be considered to be unaffordable, hence price ceiling is necessary.
Friday 2 September 2016
[Literature Paper 1] Law and Justice - All My Sons
Guilt: Feeling responsibility
Culpability: Responsibility for a fault; blame
Justice is manipulated and Law is malleable.
Moral Dilemma: If Joe hadn't been that 'helpful', he wouldn't have taken the risk and gave in to personal & family pride.
- Keller now faces the consequences placing the Personal above the Social. To get back social order, justice has to be served.
Crimes committed in the play
Keller - Approved the shipping of cracked cylinder heads, pinned the blame of Steve, caused Larry's death
Mother - Complicit in Keller's crime by lying on behalf of him
Chris - Did not act on his 'suspicion'
Ann and George - Too quick to condemn Steve; Ann hid the truth about Larry
Steve - Followed Keller's instructions to send out cracked cylinder heads, despite knowing that they may endanger lives
Neighbours - Inaction despite their belief that Keller did commit the crime
Instances of Law and Justice
- Joe & Bert (The jail, policemen, detective)
- Neighbours' view on the shop incident
- George as a lawyer and his faith in Chris
- Mother's attempt to patch things up
- Keller explaining the incident to the various characters
Joe and Bert
- Bert: Represents innocence; the only character in the play which demands for truth (ref: he asks to see the jail)
- Joe: Hoodwinked many kids into believing that he is the detective/policeman, aka the 'good guy'. Chris was manipulated to some extent as well. They believed in the reality of his game.
- The Justice System is inherently flawed as one cannot be held responsible without proof (consider: no way to proof the phone call between steve and joe). This allows Joe to assume/parade his innocence.
The Neighbours
Who is he to ruin a man's life? Everybody knows Joe pulled a fast one to get out of jail.
- Revelation about neighbours opinions on the incident and how they pretend that nothing's wrong
Then why don't you go out and talk to people? Go on, talk to them. There's not a person on the block who doesn't know the truth.
- Their moral world view is not about the truth of the incident, but the fact that the Law has not proven Joe wrong.
- The nieghbours realise that Law is ineffectual but they allow it to determine their moral & legal standard. Because Joe escapes, they do not condemn him, which reinforces his belief that he's innocent. (consider: is this their crime?)
People come here all the time for cards
- Poker: A game which requires putting up fronts.
They give him credit for being smart
- The neighbours do not believe that Joe is innocent but they give him credit for his success (i.e. getting away with what he did). Their relationships with the Kellers are facades in which they keep up.
To Frank, Law has no grey areas. You either immediately execute the guy or release him, there's no in between.
George & Chris
Outside there doesn't seem to be much of a law
I decided to look like a lawyer, anyway
- Deals with issues of right and wrong
- Returned to have justice served
I can't prove a phone call
- Not proven = not true. All Kellers subscribe to this belief.
- In this scenario, the Law is ineffective and Justice is forfeited. The Deevers are victims of a gross miscarriage.
The court did not know him, Annie!
The court record was good enough for you all these years, why isn't it good now?
- George used to believe and trust in the judicial system, to the point that he rejected his father based on what the court deemed to the truth.
I believed everything, because I thought you did
- Chris is the embodiment of truth to many characters, including George. He believed in Chris's affirmation of the truth, over his own father's.
- Shows that George does not understand law as he has to look to another person to determine right and wrong.
I'm yellow.
- Chris questions the value of any kind of justice if the world is tainted by war profiteering.
Mother
- Mother believes that Joe is no longer culpable after he owns up. This flawed thinking is premised on the fact that Mother's primary crime is deceit.
- Here, she ignores the fact that crime faces REAL consequences under the law and that Steve was held culpable all these years.
- She has no right to determine that Joe would have paid his dues after owning up (consider: does she have the right to tell chris to live?)
Consider...
Final Considerations...
Culpability: Responsibility for a fault; blame
Justice is manipulated and Law is malleable.
Moral Dilemma: If Joe hadn't been that 'helpful', he wouldn't have taken the risk and gave in to personal & family pride.
- Keller now faces the consequences placing the Personal above the Social. To get back social order, justice has to be served.
Crimes committed in the play
Keller - Approved the shipping of cracked cylinder heads, pinned the blame of Steve, caused Larry's death
Mother - Complicit in Keller's crime by lying on behalf of him
Chris - Did not act on his 'suspicion'
Ann and George - Too quick to condemn Steve; Ann hid the truth about Larry
Steve - Followed Keller's instructions to send out cracked cylinder heads, despite knowing that they may endanger lives
Neighbours - Inaction despite their belief that Keller did commit the crime
Instances of Law and Justice
- Joe & Bert (The jail, policemen, detective)
- Neighbours' view on the shop incident
- George as a lawyer and his faith in Chris
- Mother's attempt to patch things up
- Keller explaining the incident to the various characters
Joe and Bert
- Bert: Represents innocence; the only character in the play which demands for truth (ref: he asks to see the jail)
- Joe: Hoodwinked many kids into believing that he is the detective/policeman, aka the 'good guy'. Chris was manipulated to some extent as well. They believed in the reality of his game.
- The Justice System is inherently flawed as one cannot be held responsible without proof (consider: no way to proof the phone call between steve and joe). This allows Joe to assume/parade his innocence.
The Neighbours
Who is he to ruin a man's life? Everybody knows Joe pulled a fast one to get out of jail.
- Revelation about neighbours opinions on the incident and how they pretend that nothing's wrong
Then why don't you go out and talk to people? Go on, talk to them. There's not a person on the block who doesn't know the truth.
- Their moral world view is not about the truth of the incident, but the fact that the Law has not proven Joe wrong.
- The nieghbours realise that Law is ineffectual but they allow it to determine their moral & legal standard. Because Joe escapes, they do not condemn him, which reinforces his belief that he's innocent. (consider: is this their crime?)
People come here all the time for cards
- Poker: A game which requires putting up fronts.
They give him credit for being smart
- The neighbours do not believe that Joe is innocent but they give him credit for his success (i.e. getting away with what he did). Their relationships with the Kellers are facades in which they keep up.
To Frank, Law has no grey areas. You either immediately execute the guy or release him, there's no in between.
George & Chris
Outside there doesn't seem to be much of a law
I decided to look like a lawyer, anyway
- Deals with issues of right and wrong
- Returned to have justice served
I can't prove a phone call
- Not proven = not true. All Kellers subscribe to this belief.
- In this scenario, the Law is ineffective and Justice is forfeited. The Deevers are victims of a gross miscarriage.
The court did not know him, Annie!
The court record was good enough for you all these years, why isn't it good now?
- George used to believe and trust in the judicial system, to the point that he rejected his father based on what the court deemed to the truth.
I believed everything, because I thought you did
- Chris is the embodiment of truth to many characters, including George. He believed in Chris's affirmation of the truth, over his own father's.
- Shows that George does not understand law as he has to look to another person to determine right and wrong.
I'm yellow.
- Chris questions the value of any kind of justice if the world is tainted by war profiteering.
Mother
- Mother believes that Joe is no longer culpable after he owns up. This flawed thinking is premised on the fact that Mother's primary crime is deceit.
- Here, she ignores the fact that crime faces REAL consequences under the law and that Steve was held culpable all these years.
- She has no right to determine that Joe would have paid his dues after owning up (consider: does she have the right to tell chris to live?)
Consider...
- Is there a need to accept culpability and blame, even if the law DOESN'T recognize it?
- Court Papers: No punishment (consider: does this mean NO guilt/blame?)
- How do the different characters view Law and Justice?
Keller
- To Keller, Steve is culpable because his family accepted the rule of law and allowed him to be perceived as guilty. However, because Steve and Joe did not intend for the crime, Steve should not be considered a criminal.
Final Considerations...
- What is forgiveness? What is necessary for forgiveness?
- Has justice been served? Can justice serve in a world so unjust?
- Have the characters paid their dues?
[Literature Paper 1] The Slip of Tongue - All My Sons
Kate's Revelation
- Due to indulgent pride of Joe's health after George's compliment on her youth
- The character who is the most worried about George's arrival makes the fatal mistake.
George's Response
- Immediate and Challenging
Frank's Arrival
- Confirms Joe's role in the shop incident (which means Larry is 'dead')
Irony: Larry is alive --> Effect: creates a profound anti-climax and leaves them on tenderhooks.
- Frank is no longer necessary as it's meant to uphold Joe's innocence. With Joe's guilt exposed, Kate believes that Larry being alive is redundant.
Packing Ann's Bag
- To Mother, the marriage means that Joe is a murderer because it acknowledges that Larry is dead.
- Now, we understand Mother's subtle dislike for Ann
Response of the Keller Family
If your brother's alive, darling, because if he's dead, your father killed him... God does not let a son be killed by his father. (btw this scene really struck a chord in me)
- Mother's ideal: A Perfect Family. --> Her reality and denial is shaped by her notion of family.
- Her belief in this ideal leads her to deny the reality of the crime, guilt and deceit.
(slight digression: consider how mother makes an indirect connection between joe's crime and larry's discipline - she insists that larry's blood is on joe's hands. later on, we find out that joe had DIRECTLY caused larry's death because larry felt culpable for joe's crime. we'll touch more on this in 'law and justice')
Denial (1): Joe questions Kate's sanity several times.
Denial (2): Joe bases the seriousness of his crime on the fact that Larry was not involved in the shop incident, as he didn't fly a P-40. As Larry was not killed as a result of Joe's actions, his actions are forgivable. (consider: if larry was directly killed because of joe, what will happen?)
Denial (3) How could I kill anyone? - Joe was doing it for his livelihood and family. He implies that his actions were necessary and justifies it by the situation he was put in.
Denial (4) He did not have the opportunity to make amends due to the media catching hold of what happened. (consider: why doesn't joe read the news section of the newspapers?)
Chris's battered response: Moral responsibility, beyond the personal/family, they were his brothers/Joe's sons
Consider: Father and Son conflict is between Social and Personal. Where do their allegiance lie?
(with burning fury)
- Violent and animalistic response (untypical of Chris?)
For me! Where do you live, where have your come from? For me! - I was dying every day and you were killing my boys and you did it for me? What the hell do you think I was thinking of, the goddamn business? What is that, the world - the business? What the hell do you mean, you did it for me? Don't you have a country? Don't you live in the world? What the hell are you? You're not even an animal, no animal kills his own, what are you?
- Shows Chris's belief that humanity must be good.
- Keller is barbaric and inhumane, which shocks Chris, especially because he loves and respects his father.
- Chris is shocked at Joe's selfishness, lack of patriotism, lack of humanity.
- He is most provoked by Joe's profession that he did it for Chris. Chris is horrified at being tarred with the taint of Joe's crimes and he refuses to be Joe's unwitting accomplice.
- Chris cannot comprehend the reality of Joe's world.
What must I do to you? I ought to tear the tongue out of your mouth, what must I do?
- It's not just the act of murder that shocks Chris. It's also Joe's deceit and lying.
- I's not just Joe's morality or train of thought, but the entire reality of the wartime business seems to upset Chris (who understood firsthand what was going on).
(With his fist he pounds down upon his father's shoulder. He stumbles away, covering his face as he weeps.)
- This is the second occurrence of physical violence in the play. Chris hitting Joe is indicative of his rejection of his father, but by hitting him on the shoulder (and not on the face) may suggest that Chris cannot totally abandon Joe, because they are after all 'Father and Son'. (consider: does chris prioritize family?)
What must I do, Jesus God, what must I do?
- Repetition of 'what must I do' shows that the idealist tends to feel the burden of the world on themselves.
- Being the messianic figure in the play, Chris's idealism forces him to reckon with whether he can truly hold onto his ideals in the face of reality.
Thursday 1 September 2016
you learn a new thing every day
i guess it's always great to live by this line. i daresay i do it every day. even if it's just a passing comment about a little-known fact or trivia about someone.
today, i went out with a loved one. lots of things that i wanted to say but it's not the right time. i hate bugging people down with problems.
in lit, they talk about social responsibility. the thing is, to what extent are you responsible for the things that occur in the outside world? they teach us that we all have a part in causing all these shit. but how much exactly?
i need to know how much in order to live. honestly, there's so much i've dreamed of - far from this place but far from the people i love so goddamn much. i don't show it much, not at all, even. ever since a while ago, i have disconnected from the outside world. but i never did stop loving them.
i miss the days when i told everyone that hearts had infinite capacity. i believed in love and goodness so much that i preached it. i was positive. i miss that.
it's been a hard year of judging faces, endless competition, late nights and bottling all up. not healthy, but i'll make do like i always do. for the future, for the people.
i hope that's what social work advocates.
fight hard kiddo. you're gonna be just fine.
[Literature Paper 1] George Deever's Arrival - All My Sons
Questions to consider
- Why did George come back?
- How do the other characters attempt to pacify him?
- Who is George representing?
- What are his views?
He starts for the driveway, but is brought up short by George, who enters there. George is Chris's age, but a paler man, now on the edge of his self-restraint. He speaks quietly, as though afraid to find himself screaming. An instant's hesitation and Chris steps up to him, hand extended.
Reasons for returning:
1) Making amends for not contacting Steve
- We did a terrible thing (to Ann)
- Emergence of guilty conscience (Consider: does this emerge for other characters?)
- Atonement; righting wrongs
2) Seek justice for Steve
- Donning Steve's hat as a physical representation of his missing father; donning his values.
- Look like a lawyer
- Deals with issue of right and wrong; returns to have justice served
(consider: what does he understand about justice?)
3) Saving Ann
- But she's one item he's not going to grab
- You're coming with me (x2)
- Prevent one more loved one from being tainted by the Kellers
4) Intentions are directed towards removing Steve's guilt than blaming Joe for what has happened
- Did not tell the neighbours about how he felt
- Did not incarcerate Kellers
5) His intentions are larger than revenge
- Returned to cut ties with Kellers (ties=Ann)
- Prevent history from reoccuring (you shouldn't try to do it twice)
The trees got thick, didn't they?
- Suggests that Joe is hiding something and that George is (vaguely) aware of it.
Chris: George, you don't want to be the voice of God, do you?
- God: Higher moral authority, has the final say
- Mocking George about being a higher moral authority
- By letting George be "God", it gives him the power to judge, which Chris disallows, as Joe's good name would be ruined.
- Chris cannot let George have the 'final say' as doesn't want Ann to be convinced to leave with her brother.
Things to which George is susceptible to
1) Gives in to Mother's charm/sentiment/nostalgia
- Georgie - a form of endearment
- None of us changed, Georgie. We all love you. - Irony: They still do not repent.
- Kate's appeal to old friendships
- Grape juice - Food that accompanies festivity (to lighten up spirit and mood of characters)
2) Acknowledges Steve's weaknesses (frightened mouse, little man)
- Both George and Ann are candid and fully acceptable of Steve's shortcomings
3) Joe's warm welcome
- Offers Steve a job when he leaves jail
The sense of familiarity and relaxation eased George's agitation.
- Why did George come back?
- How do the other characters attempt to pacify him?
- Who is George representing?
- What are his views?
He starts for the driveway, but is brought up short by George, who enters there. George is Chris's age, but a paler man, now on the edge of his self-restraint. He speaks quietly, as though afraid to find himself screaming. An instant's hesitation and Chris steps up to him, hand extended.
Reasons for returning:
1) Making amends for not contacting Steve
- We did a terrible thing (to Ann)
- Emergence of guilty conscience (Consider: does this emerge for other characters?)
- Atonement; righting wrongs
2) Seek justice for Steve
- Donning Steve's hat as a physical representation of his missing father; donning his values.
- Look like a lawyer
- Deals with issue of right and wrong; returns to have justice served
(consider: what does he understand about justice?)
3) Saving Ann
- But she's one item he's not going to grab
- You're coming with me (x2)
- Prevent one more loved one from being tainted by the Kellers
4) Intentions are directed towards removing Steve's guilt than blaming Joe for what has happened
- Did not tell the neighbours about how he felt
- Did not incarcerate Kellers
5) His intentions are larger than revenge
- Returned to cut ties with Kellers (ties=Ann)
- Prevent history from reoccuring (you shouldn't try to do it twice)
The trees got thick, didn't they?
- Suggests that Joe is hiding something and that George is (vaguely) aware of it.
Chris: George, you don't want to be the voice of God, do you?
- God: Higher moral authority, has the final say
- Mocking George about being a higher moral authority
- By letting George be "God", it gives him the power to judge, which Chris disallows, as Joe's good name would be ruined.
- Chris cannot let George have the 'final say' as doesn't want Ann to be convinced to leave with her brother.
Things to which George is susceptible to
1) Gives in to Mother's charm/sentiment/nostalgia
- Georgie - a form of endearment
- None of us changed, Georgie. We all love you. - Irony: They still do not repent.
- Kate's appeal to old friendships
- Grape juice - Food that accompanies festivity (to lighten up spirit and mood of characters)
2) Acknowledges Steve's weaknesses (frightened mouse, little man)
- Both George and Ann are candid and fully acceptable of Steve's shortcomings
3) Joe's warm welcome
- Offers Steve a job when he leaves jail
The sense of familiarity and relaxation eased George's agitation.
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