Does globalisation really benefit everybody, as many of its leading Essay

Does globalisation really benefit everybody, as many of its leading advocates claim Illustrate your answer with reference to TWO empirical cases - Essay Example This is term has existed since the mid 18th century, finding its way to the 21st century. That said one can see that globalization has benefit effects and disadvantages. The are not appealing to everyone as well as not benefiting all the people as the aspect is supposed to do. Therefore, globalization does not necessarily help everyone as many of its leading advocates claim. This is a fact that is evident as the paper has illustrated below. That said the key players in this sector of globalization should see to it that this aspect benefits all of the people no matter the class that they belong to. Only then will this aspect be embraced with everyone and all the changes that are brought by globalization will be accepted by all of the people, be it the rich, poor, young, old, sick, healthy just but to mention a few. Globalization being described as a process that involves international integration that arises from the interchange of a number of things, product, ideas, world views among other features that involve culture, this makes it something that involves many if not all of the world’s population. Therefore, this aspect of globalization should be considered and looked into with the seriousness that it deserves. People would want to see their lives change for the better, and if globalization is a way through which that is going to be possible, then everyone opts to see the benefits and not only a few individuals belonging to a particular class of people. This paper discusses the cons and pros of globalization, putting into consideration to this question; does globalization ‘benefit everybody, ’ as many of its leading advocates claim? This question will be answered and discussed in relation to the present global financial crisis as one of the empirical cases. During the past few years, steady proclamations have been made by the advocates of the economic

Plato Republic the Noble Lie Essay Example for Free

Plato Republic the Noble Lie Essay As with all other topics discussed in The Republic of Plato, the section in which he discusses the myths of the metals or the noble lie is layered with questioning and potential symbolism, possible contradiction, and a significant measure of allusion. In Chapter X of The Republic, Plato presents The Selection of Rulers: The Guardians Manner of Living. In it, he discusses the necessities of education as they apply to the appropriate selection of and reparation for the communitys leaders. As in other areas of The Republic, Plato carefully outlines the delineations which form the basis for the types of rulers to be installed in the state. Rulers (legislative and udicial), Auxiliaries (executive), and Craftsmen (productive and fficacious) are the titles of the categories and are based, not on birth or wealth, but on natural capacities and aspirations. Plato was convinced that children born into any class should still be moved up or down based on their merits regardless of their connections or heritage. He believes the citizens of the State will support and benefit from such a system and presents the idea in the form of an allegorical myth. His allegory was based in part on the prevalent belief that some people were literally autochthonous, born from the soil, and partly from the stories of the philosopher Hesiod who chronicled the genealogy of the gods and goddesses as well as their accomplishments and exploits. Hesiods account of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze races which had succeeded one another before the current to The Republics age of Iron forms the basis for the myths of the metals. Since the ancient Greeks were convinced that all myths were primarily the work of even more ancient poets who had been inspired by the Muses, some ther divine force, or consciously invented, the lesson in the story of the metals was to be paid attention to in order to learn the important truth (or truths) that form the core of the information to be transferred to the young and untrained mind of the future leaders in training. They must have the right sort of intelligence and ability; and also they must look upon the commonwealth as their special concern ? the sort of concern that is felt for something so closely bound up with oneself that its interests and fortunes, for good or ill, are held to be identical with ones own (The Republic of Plato X:III-412) Socrates tells Glaucon who naturally agrees. Socrates goes on to emphasize that the men that are chosen from among the Guardians must be those who are filled with enthusiasm and the determination to do the best they possibly can for the greater good of the people of the commonwealth and for the organization of the commonwealth itself. He asserts that they must never be willing to act against that collective interest. Socrates expands on his metaphor of the metals and explains that the future rulers must be fashioned as precious metals are fashioned by careful artistry and craft. But first he asks Glaucon: . . .can we devise something in the way of those convenient fictions we spoke of earlier, a single bold flight of invention, which we may induce the community in general, and if possible the Rulers themselves, to accept? (The Republic of Plato X:III-414). Such a tongue-in-cheek question, the reference to a single bold flight of invention is what has come to be known as commonly rendered by noble lie, a self-contradictory expression which is no more applicable to Platos comparatively harmless storytelling than to a 20th century political campaign publication. Such use of the noble lie suggests that he would agree to the use or be unconcerned about correcting the lies, for the most part dishonorable (certainly not noble), that are now most commonly thought to be unabashed propaganda. Returning to the metaphor of crafting precious metals, Socrates tells that while all men throughout the land are brothers, the god who was responsible for the creation of individuals chose to mix a certain measure of gold in the substance of those most fit to rule, making them the most precious. He then explains that silver was the substance added to the Auxiliaries, and iron and brass to the people who were to be a part of the commonwealth as farmers or craftsmen. Socrates, in his typical fashion, covers all possible eventualities by noting that although your children will generally be like their parents, sometimes a golden parent may have a silver child or a silver parent a golden one, and so on with al the other combinations (The Republic of Plato X:III-415). Therefore, Socrates asserts, there is nothing as important as the measure and mixture of the metals in the souls of children. He concludes that if a child is born with an strong mixture of iron or brass, it is the responsibility of the parents to assure that he finds aposition and a life that best suits his nature and they are to do so without pity or derision. Naturally, if a child is produced with gold or silver as a part of his nature, it is equally incumbent upon the arents to nurture his leadership qualities and promote him according to his worthiness and value. Socrates, however, worries aloud whether or not the general population can or will understand such a premise and Glaucon notes that it is unlikely that the idea will be understood in the first generation but that generations following and, ltimately, all of mankind, will come to understand and honor the concept of the metals. Socrates is comforted by such a reassuring thought. He is thoroughly convinced that the commonwealth will not, cannot survive if the state is passed into the dominion of a man of iron or brass. In fact, Socrates takes the allegory of the metals one step further to explain to Glaucon that the future Guardians must even be kept from concerns or desires for silver and metal since, Gold and silver, we shall tell them, they will not need, having the divine counterparts of those metals in their souls as a god-given possession (The Republic of Plato X:III-417). He goes on to say that the Guardians are not to come in contact with gold and silver and lays out a plan by which they will neither need or desire the trappings of glory and wealth since they are always clothed in gold and silver and riches as part of their inner being. He is convinced that if an individual who is a cobbler or a farmer goes to the bad and pretends to be what he is not (The Republic of Plato X:III-420) the entire well-being of the state is not in jeopardy. But such is most certainly not the case if the person is a Guardian or Auxiliary. There is no point, Socrates says, in producing a happiness like that of a party of peasants feasting at a fair. Such a person who would aspire to such a community has something in mind other than a civic community (The Republic of Plato X:III-421). Of course, Glaucon agrees.

Report On The Organisation Dominos Pizza Business Essay

Report On The Organisation Dominos Pizza Business Essay I have selected the organisation domino s pizza for the report ard since am working as an manager assistant in the forest hill franchise store. I had the opportunity to join this store in 2008. I made the discussion with franchise manager vennyliu and also had the opportunity to have a small discussion with dorninos new Zealand head operations Daniel Murray when he visited the forest hill store. Since I am working in this store for quite a while and knew how the process is going on in this institution so it was easy for me to pick this organisation for the assignment. IT was in 1960 two brothers torn monaghan and James purchased ased a small pizza store Dominick s a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in us. They bought the store for 575 us dollars. James sold his share to his brother and in 1965 torn renamed the store domino s pizza. It was on May 12 1983 dominos opened its first international store in Winnipeg, Manitoba ,Canada, By the year 1997 dominos opened the 1500th international location. It was in the year 1998 owner torn sold the 93 percent of the cormpany to Bain capital for one billion us dollars . After one year company named David A Brandon as the ceo and chairman of the company. it was in the year 2004 dominos began trading in new york stock exchange. It was in the year 2006 one dominos store in tallaght, Dublin, ireland, became the first in dominos history to hit a tUrnovOr of 3 million dollars. Domino s pizza is located in more than sixty countries now. Business demographics Dominos management and staff has to communicate locally, nationafly and internationally. Taking the example of dominos pizza franchise north shore where I am currently working as an assistant manager. We staff have to communicate with the co-workers and managers and franchise manager. The roster and the meeting notices are usually sent to our email, and if there are any changes or if we are unavailable we can email back to franchise manager. The payroll slip is also sent to our email. If there is any emergency like staff will not he able to work that days shift communication is usually made through phone and dominos has a toll free no 0800304050.The person who calls will not be charged and it can be used by landline and mobile. The communication between different stores is essential. It is mainly for the purpose of borrowing and return of the stock, Sometimes customer enquires about different stores telephone no. It is basically done through phone. Communication with the customer is direct verbally when they come to the store for purchase or any other queries .we use to take telephonie orders and online order as well. Our store does the online business very well nationally. Online ordering is one of the speciality of dominos pizza. Where customers can easily get the menu in the computer and they can select according to their taste and range. They can choose the option of delivering to their place or takeaway. There has been a survey conducted by the us dominos that people will be spending a certain amount of money for eating out, This would be like more than 5% will be delivered to their to their home and it will be online ordering and this would ncrease to 12% in the near future 4 tc 5 years. The communication of the suppliers are also through phone and faxing sometimes we order the food delivery through phone and in special cases like holidays the order will be sent as fax. International communication is also essential the us domino team and Australaian dominos team visits our store once a year. This information will be passed to franchise by the new Zealand head office. The report of the store visit and the upgrading required and changes needed will be sent to franchise though e mail. Courier and post. The courier and post are used for the supply of circulars and brochures. 2) Organsational goals Increase the profitability of busmess: Organisational goal of dominos is to increase the profitability of th business. Communication is an important factor in increasing the profitability. The sales should be increased and customer complaints should be reduced Advertisement campaign should be done. If there is any promotion by dominos it should be conveyed to customers and if any doubts arises from customer it should be sorted out. There are some promotions which it will be in the system but staff may not know about it. It should be discussed wth the franchise manager and should be conveyed to the customer if there is any customer complaints it should be discused in the store and it shouId be noted that the similar complaint never arises in future. If he customer sends the complaint to the dom nos head oflice the franchise has to send a report to head office showing all thedetails of corrective action taken by the store. Employee motivation:communication plays an important role in employee motivation. Financial rewardc areone of the key motivation factors. When the store crosses particular sales the employees get an incentive.AppreciatiOn in work are also good motivation and it should be communicated to the employee verbally by store manage when particular employee does a good job or finishes a particular hard task. The job security are also conveyed to the employee if an employee is performing well the message will be conveyed to him by the area manager that he is not going to lose his job. 3) Organisational culture and ethics since the employees in dominos are a multicultural. People from different parts of tie world work in the forest hill domino store.There are Chinese, Koreans, Europeans and Indians working in the store. the team should be following an ethhcs in the store for example the people working from China they will be returning to china during thL Chinese new year and during this period other nationaIites will be covering their shift. dominos has an in store ethics for eeverything one of it is behaviour to customer:, even if the customers get angry staff should be polite to them and apologise for any of the mistakes and not argue with customer. even though the communication is in English between the staff members but usuaily Chinese people talk to each other in Chinese and 80% of staff are ChinosO and there will be at least one Asian working in each. shift, 4) Management of knowledge resources: in the organistion franchice manager and the store manager possess the knowledge for the business.it includes the day today running, payroll,food ordering, recruiting new staff, training new staff ,and the new products and new prmotions will be sent to the company by email from head office and that emails will he fowarded to the staff.Banking and other financial matters are done by the store manager. Dominos has online site for training and thats called doti and every sstaff of dominos has to go online and get the online training If there requirers any sort of details the head office person comes directly for help and they clear the doubt. There was a problem in food ordering and the new Zealand head came straight to the shop and cleared the doubts. 5) Group dynamics: Employees make the group and that makes a team.. Usually people working in each shift of dominos can be considered a team. There will be emotional stress from employees especially when they are working on Friday and Saturday evening shifts and this will be sorted out by putting or replacing an additional experienced person. When the conflict arises in the team each individual in the team will be asked questions personally and as a group and final solution is found out by getting the answers from employees. Employees are also put in different sections like make line to counter and counter to delvery position. So each person can look at different angles of work and how each one does their duty in each sections, The basic terminology of forming,storming,norming and performing is there in our store as well to make the team well knit and to be connected to each othcr. 6) Meeting management Communication process are essential in running the meeting successfully. In our store we have a meeting room.Invitation to meeting to all staff members are done through calling them on phone and telling them the time of meeting. The meetng can be of anything like a customer complaint which is serious something like found a foreign product in the pizza and customer was admitted to hospital. The food from the customer was taken and send to the quality assurance department and a nominal amount was paid by the supplier of dominos. So what need to be done and how to handle the situation will be discussed and minutes will be taken and the action taken in the meeting will also he taken down. sometimes when the inspection team from Australia visited our store and we got a good marks in that inspection the management decided to have a meeting and a party at sky City hotels. This was published in the notice board and it was sent to a11 staff members email dnd also it was communicated verbally as well. The time place , when , where should be informed to whom(people attending the meeting). 7) Stakeholders: Customers: customers are communicated verbally when they come to store. and also througn phone since there is telephone ordering in the store Managementcomrnuniaiion with the management is basically verbally when the managers are in the store and use of telephone and email are used to pass vital information. Suppose there is an inspection from head office then the area manager will telephone the matter to the staff. The pay slips and roster are usually send to the email. Staff: The communication with staff is usually verbal and texting are also used to send the informatioin wnich are not vital. Bank: Dominos forest bill store deals with WestPaC bank and the dealings are usually through phone,emall the banking statements and discuss verbally sometimes with the bank if any errors has occurred sometimes the customer wltl be charged twice when they order online that has to be sorted out with the bank first and then return the money to the customer. 8) NetwOrks: store is equipped with computer and online facIlity is available for ordering. Distribution of flyers to the public which will increase the business of the dominos and display tne dominos price boards near the store and there is a car which is specifically for the advertisement. it is written the name dominos and price of the pizza are mentioned in the car. Distribution of promotional material who visits the store basically they are given discount vouchers when they use it they get the discount. Conclusions It was in 1965 the dominos started in us it was in the year 2008 new franchise store of dominos was opened in forest hill north shore. I had the opportunity to join this forest hill store as customer service representative, and was promoted to assistant manager within six months. The communication between the staff members and franchise manager and store manager are through emails, telephone, texts and verbal communicaton. The organisational goals are increasuing the profitability of the of the business and communication is impoertant. Sales should be increased and customer complaints customer complaints should be reduced. In employee motivation communication plays a vital part appreciation by the store manager and job security to the employees also offered to the employee. North shore dominos are having a multicultural and 80% staff are Chinese basic medium of language is english. Asians, speak in Chinese to their co-workers and dominos have a solid ethics especlally if the customers are angry the staff should apologise. In the organisation the franchise manager and the store managers possess the knowledge for the business. It includes the day today runnmg, payroll. food ordering,recruiting new staf, training new staff,and the new products and new promotions will be sent to the company by email from head office and that email will be forwarded to the staff. Banking and other financial matters are done by the the store manager. Dominos has an on line site for training and that is called doti and every staff of dominos has to go online and get online training. There will be emotional stress from employees especially when they are working on Friday and Saturday evening shifts and this will be sorted out by putting or replacing an additional experienced person. Communication process are essential in running the meeting successfully. In our store we have a meeting room.Invitation to meeting to all staff members are done through calling them on phone and telling them the time of meeting. The meetng can be of anything like a customer complaint which is serious something like found a foreign product in the pizza and customer was admitted to hospital. The food from the customer was taken and send to the quality assurance department and a nominal amount was paid by the supplier of dominos. So what need to be done and how to handle the situation will be discussed and minutes will be taken and the action taken in the meeting will also he taken down. The communication to the customers, staff, management, and bank are uasually done through verbal,through telephone,emails and texts. Recommendation It will be better to start a dominos club in forest hill and those who join the club for a nominal fee will he getting the discountsd on each purchase they make from any new Zealand store,The club members will be given 50% discount on public holidays and no surcharge will be applied for club members. These club members whO actively purchase from dominos store will be participating in a lucky draw twice a year. They will be given the new menu, changes in the menu and new products available in dominos through email. Each lucky person will be given the opportunity to distribute the flyers of dominos forest hill once a week in the dominos advertisement car, the name will be choosen from lucky draw. This enables the people to ineract socially and communicate and grow the business.

Critical Discourse Analysis On Imagine English Language Essay

Critical Discourse Analysis On Imagine English Language Essay A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). However, when we are talking about a song, we can not ignore the singer who is going to sing the song and make it popular. Then, when it comes to the singer, we may remember a name called, John Lennon. Almost all people around the world know who John Lennon is and also his band, The Beatles. He already became a pop legend in music history. He had written some hits that are sung again and again until now. Several of his songs were about peace and war. Imagine, which was released in 1971  [2]  , is also one of his popular hits with that topic. With a social theme and a strong message, this song has touched many people. Therefore, it means the words that were chosen for this song are effective and perfectly delivered the message, so it can touch the listeners emotion. The purpose of this essay is to do a critical discourse analysis on Imagine by John Lennon using several theories. The first theory that is used in this essay is critical linguistics by Roger Fowler, Robert Hodge, Gunther Kress, and Tony Trew. Critical linguistics sees language as a social practice and through which a group can empower and spread its ideology (Eriyanto, 2005)  [3]  . This theory analyzes language through two elements, which are vocabularies and grammar. This theory believes that a discourse can convey its ideology based on the choices of vocabularies and also the use of the grammar. Choices of vocabularies can cause few effects in a discourse such as make a classification, limited view, battle of discourse, and marginalization. On the other hands, there are several models in the grammar. Therefore, a discourse would never be neutral because the writer chooses every single word to form the meaning that he/she wants to tell. A discourse always conveys a certain ide a or ideology to the audience. Next, the second theory is the theory that was introduced by Sara Mills. She used to see a discourse from the feminist perspective, how a woman is being portrait in a discourse. Although, she was known more for her womans representation in a discourse, her theory approach can be applied in other fields. If critical linguistics tends to analyze a discourse from the language aspects and how it influenced the audience, Sara Mills sees the position of the actors who perform in a discourse. At first, she compares the position between the subject and the object. Then, she also sees the position of the writer and the reader. Although with its simplicity and clarity  [4]  , Imagine is rich of meaning because anybody can have different interpretation of it. The message of this song is that lets create a world which is peace and no war. This message is repeated again and again in the last part of this stanza. In the first stanza, it is said imagine all the people, living for today, in the second stanza imagine all the people, living life in peace, while in the third stanza, it is said imagine all the people, sharing all the world. The message even becomes stronger with the chorus part, where it is stated the world will be as one. Those clauses form a message to the audience which is to make a better world. Furthermore, the repetition of the message, although in different words, but still have the same meaning, makes the audience get this message easier and then remember it better. The word Imagine itself, besides being used for the title, it also repeated several times in the song.Imagine as a verb means form a picture of in the mind; think of something as probable (Hornby, Cowie, A.C, 1974). Therefore, imagine happens before the reality. Imagine itself has several synonyms. Then, why the writer chooses imagine in the end. Meaning Imagine : to have a picture or idea of something in your mind. 1. Imagine To think about something and form a picture or idea in your mind about it. 2. Visualize / Visualise To form a very clear picture of something or someone in your mind, especially in order to help you prepare to do something or help you to remember something clearly. 3. Picture To have a clear picture of something or someone in your mind, especially because you are trying to imagine what it is like to do something or what someone looks like. Imagine : to imagine something you want to do or want to happen 1. Fantasize / Fantasise To think about something that you would like to do or that you would like to happen, especially when it is very unlikely that you will do it or that it will happen. 2. Daydream To spend a short time imagining something pleasant, so that you forget where you are and what you are doing, especially when you are bored. 3. Dream To imagine something pleasant that you would like to or to happen, especially if it is possible that it might happen. Table 1 : Words related to imagine according to Longman Language Activator, 2006 Every synonyms of the word imagine have the same meaning which is to think about something and form picture in someones mind. Then, why imagine is chosen? Because each words carries certain meaning, sense and also describes different condition, although they all have similar meaning. Visualize and picture describe about thinking something that is already clear. However, we can not feel any clarity sense from the imagine word. As a result, the word imagine is appropriate with the context because the condition, which was peace, that the writer wanted was not clear yet and even until we hear it now, this situation remains not clear. Although it sounds simple and easy to say, peace is something complicated and it depends on who is saying it. Peace is an abstract condition, we cannot really define this condition with words and every body would have different perseption about this. Furthermore, fantasize and daydream are also not appropriate for the song context. Both fantasize and daydream are thinking about something which is out of reach and not likely to happen, or in other words, the possibility to that event to happen

Personal Ethics vs Professional Ethics :: professional vs personal ethics

What is the difference between personal ethics and professional ethics? Ethics is a word that can be used loosely, so it’s important to understand the meaning of this question by first discussing what is meant by personal ethics or professional ethics. I assume the question is using the term personal ethics to mean one’s conscience and the term professional ethics to mean adherence to a professional code. Sometimes those two roles can conflict. For instance, we have cases of doctors who have refused to prescribe the morning after pill, because they believe it will terminate a human life. In this case the doctor has decided that his personal ethics will guide him or her. Alternatively, a police officer may enforce a law that they personally believe is unjust. In this case the police officer has decided to put aside personal concerns and allow professional obligations to guide his or her behavior. Likewise a judge may follow the law and impose the death penalty even though he or she may be personally opposed to it. Typically people have resolved this by drawing a line between their role as a professional and their role as an individual. They often decide to follow a professional code of ethics when they are acting as a professional even though they may personally disagree. However, if your professional obligations put you in such a state of conflict that you feel you can’t uphold your personal ethics, then you have the option of resigning. This dilemma is not limited to professional vs personal. All of us are confronted with the reality of rules or laws that we personally believe are unjust or immoral. We have to determine how to resolve this tension. Being a pragmatic ethicist, I do not believe that we should always take a principled and extreme stance for every issue. For instance, I am against the death penalty, but I don’t feel like moving out of New York State just because this state allows the death penalty.

George Orwells Animal Farm Essay -- George Orwell Animal Farm Essays

George Orwell's Animal Farm Mollie- Represents the rich and noble of Russia at the time (esp. the Czar and his family). Those who fled Revolutionist Russia, because they had had a better life beforehand, and were un-willing to accept change. The messages that Orwell is trying to express through Mollie are directly opposite to the actions which are displayed through Benjamin. Although they were both unwilling to accept change, their actions were very different. The message that Orwell is conveying through Mollie is that you shouldn't just quit because things get tough. Quotes- 'Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare.' page2 'Will there still be sugar after the rebellion?' page10 'Mollie refused to learn any but the six letters that made up her own name.' page20 'In the end, however, she was found hiding in her stall with her head buried among the hay in her manger. She had taken flight as soon as the gun went off' page27 First page and a 1/4 of chapter five, page 28 Benjamin- No direct character link to the Russian revolution, but very closely linked to the members of the older generation who were suspicious of the revolution, and set in their ways. They had found that life was hard, whatever happened, and so did nothing to try and change it. Benjamin is the original stubborn mule, he is not fooled by Napoleons propaganda, or the promises that life will be better for him. He knows that life is tough, and nothing will ever change that. However, Orwell is trying to communicate that you shouldn't always say nothing, that when you really feel for a cause (e.g., Benjamin with the death of Boxer) you should always speak out. Quotes- 'Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and th... ...the public, the government can control the country a lot easier. There are still examples of such extreme propaganda which have gone on in the recent past. For example, the Gulf war in the early 1990's escalated so quickly, mainly due to conflicting propaganda. The government of Iraq were telling it's public that the Europeans were on Kuwait's side, and that they were only doing it so that they could have Kuwait's oil. The Europeans didn't realise why having the land that Kuwait owned was so important to the people of Iraq. Another message conveyed by Orwell through Squealer is that everyone should have freedom of speech. By progressing the novel so that the animals eventually become slaves of the pigs, and don't have a say in their lives, Orwell is expressing his view that if only the strong get their voice heard, the weak will eventually loose out.

Wind Power: The Cheap, Effective and Reliable Energy Source :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Wind Power: The Cheap, Effective and Reliable Energy Source In 1996, the Moores were faced with a disturbing problem. A nearby mine owned by Arch Coal had removed the top of a mountain near the town of Blair to access the coal seam beneath. Most residents chose to move out to avoid the "blast rock," or chunks of rock that came raining down after the massive blasts, and the thick chocking dust that filled the town. The Moores, however, stayed. According to Victoria Moore, the conditions were atrocious. The thick dust upset their son's asthma, and the sound of explosions constantly shook the town. "If you were inside, it interrupted your life. If you were outside, it interrupted your life," said Victoria. "...I couldn't sit on my porch without getting dust on me, I couldn't even walk in my grass. I couldn't get in my car. I couldn't even let my kids go out and play." Finally even the Moores were forced to move out (Buying Blair). This Logan County coal mine is one of hundreds across the United States. The majority of the coal from these mines g oes to run coal-fired power plants that provide electricity to homes across America. The sad part of this story really is that it did not need to happen. Now, with massive advancements in wind energy, coal has become largely outdated and ineffective. Instead of removing the top of the mountain near Blair, a wind farm could have been built. Electricity produced from new wind farms is more economical in dollar terms than electricity produced by new coal-fired power plants. And, if the detrimental environmental side effects and costs of burning coal are factored in, wind power looks even better. Wind power has been around since early civilization. It possibly preceded the use of animals to grind grain, and was invented either in China or Persia. Historians speculate that the windmill technology was then moved to Europe during the crusades. The Dutch were the first major industrial users of windmills. They used them to pump sea water out of the hand made dikes to increase land area. Until the invention of electricity, windmills were mostly used for pumping and grinding grain (Berry). In the US, as electricity became widely used, many people still living too far away from the power lines attempted to use their water pumping windmills to run generators. This failed because the pumping wind mills were used for high torque, low speed applications, which was the opposite of what the electric generators required.