Cultural Analysis On Death And The Afterlife :: essays research papers

If there is one constant in this world, it would surely be death. Dying is an unavoidable part of life. Indeed, everything that lives will at sometime die. The fear of death is held by everyone. Perhaps it is the correlation of death with pain or the unknown state of the human consciousness after death, maybe a combination of both, that creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal, however, the ways in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse. The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. For it is the society that has great impact on the individual’s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The primary and traditional way men and women have made dying a less depressing and disturbing idea is though religion. Various religions offer the comforting conception of death as a begining for another life or perhaps a continuation for the former. Christians, for example, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is generally what we people who are residents of the Unitied States hold to be true. For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is still influenced by Christian faiths. Similar to Christianity, the Hinduism also eases the fear of death by presenting a life after death. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning exactly what kind of afterlife is lived. Believers of the Hindu faith expect to be reincarnated after their demise, either as an animal or human being depending on the manner in which their lives were carried out. These ideals have influenced our culture though our use of language and thought. The implications are apparent in the common references to one’s past lives. For instance, if someone has a natural talent for music one may refer to the person as being once a talented musician in a past life. A religion which describes death as a continuation of existance is held by the Crow tribe of middle America. They viewed death as a journey with the final destination as a place where all their anscestors have gone before them. This notion of an afterlife eased the tribes assimilation into Christian culture when colonists came in contact with the Native Americans during the colonial expansion period.

Hitler Became Chancellor in 1933 Because He Was Leader of the Most Popular Party in Germany Essay

Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 because he was leader of the most popular party in Germany. How far you agree with this opinion? Hitler’s appointment in 1933 cannot be put down to just one factor. There were many influential occurrences leading up to his appointment but overall the Great Depression seems to be the biggest factor as it started a ‘chain reaction’ that overall led to Hitler being Chancellor of Germany. Therefore, despite being the leader of the most popular party in Germany playing a part in Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor it was not solely responsible and was also not the most important factor. An argument that could be used to show that Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 because he was leader of the most popular party in Germany is the idea that the Nazis used effective tactics which not only allowed them to gain extreme popularity but also their leader, Adolf Hitler. Essentially, the Nazis clever strategies allowed Hitler to gain recognition. For example, the Nazis were incredibly good at changing their policies to suit their audiences at rallies. The Great Depression was also used to their favour; promoting Hitler as the saviour in their propaganda to incredible effect. Goebbels’ propaganda campaign was very effective and it won support for the Nazis and Hitler. Also, Hitler moved away from violence and realised that the only way he could receive true power was through the Reichstag. The Nazis were able to win over the working and middle classes by using their anti-Jewish propaganda for the working classes and for the middle classes and farmers they focussed on their policies on powerless and honourless Germany, making it great again. No other party focussed more on propaganda than the Nazis; they were masters of propaganda. Their propaganda skills had the ability to change the public’s opinions and views. It encompassed every aspect of Weimar Germany to entice millions of people into following them, their policies ranged from unemployment to the stab in the back myth of Versailles. This increased the appeal of the Nazis and as a result they increased their vote in the Reichstag in the next election of July 1932, increasing their number of seats to 230 and becoming the largest party in the Reichstag. The Nazis used the problems with the economy and the Weimar republic to boost their support; this is evident in the fact that as unemployment got worse, Nazi support increased. Therefore clearly, being the leader of the most popular party did have extreme benefits for Hitler in terms of helping him become Chancellor due to gaining popularity through the party. Having said that, the idea that Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 because he was leader of the most popular party in Germany to an extent can be argued to be untrue; as briefly discussed the weaknesses of the Weimar government also played a clear role. More specifically, events happening outside of Germany such as Wall Street Crash; The Great Depression. Germany suffered the consequences due to the collapse of share prices on the New York Stock Exchange more than any other country. US loans and investment ceased and demands quickly followed for the repayment of previous short-term loans. Also, the crisis caused a further decline in the price of food and raw materials as the industrialised nations reduced their imports. As demands for exports collapsed world trade slumped and German industry could no longer pay its way. The argument could therefore be made that without this event the Nazis may not have become the most popular party. After all, the party’s popularity came from anger and bitterness of Weimar. Therefore, people turned towards the extremist political parties. Yet many workers turned to communism but this frightened wealthy businessmen, so they financed Hitler’s campaigns. Many middle-class people, alarmed by the obvious failure of democracy, decided that the country needed a strong government. The depression of 1929 created poverty and unemployment, making people angry with the Weimar government. Overall, this argument clearly signifies that Hitler’s appointment to become Chancellor was not just down to him being leader of the most popular party in Germany; events outside Germany lead to Weimar failing miserably which also played a clear role. Nazis electoral success in 1932 did to an extent have an impact and therefore, can be used to argue that Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 because he was leader of the most popular party in Germany. After all, the elections to the Reichstag in July saw the Nazi percentage of the vote increase to 37. 3 per cent, making it the largest party in the Reichstag. This was a sensational breakthrough. As the largest political group in the Reichstag, they had a mandate from the German people to be involved in the government. Clearly, this indicates that whilst the Nazi party looked increasingly powerful, their leader Hitler did so too; making him more well known throughout the country. This argument is also strengthened by the thought that it is after all, down to being the leader of the Nazis because the moderate parties would not work together despite the fact that together they would be stronger than the Nazis and therefore, weaknesses of other parties contribute to Hitler and the Nazis looking stronger. This strength made Hitler more established as a political figure giving him a clear advantage. However, in comparison to the previous argument another reason for Hitler’s Chancellorship was Von Papen; indicating that Hitler did not become Chancellor just due to being the leader of the most popular party in Germany. After all, the Nazis gained electoral success in 1932 but Hindenburg still refused to make Hitler Chancellor; indicating despite being the leader this did not put Hitler in an advantageous position. Yet, Von Papen had been Chancellor before Hitler and had become close friends with President Hindenburg. This played much to Hitler’s advantage as Papen offered to convince Hindenburg that Hitler was the right choice for the new Chancellor provided Papen could be Vice Chancellor. Von Papen managed to convince Hindenburg, along with various other politicians that Hitler was the best choice. Without Von Papen, Hitler may not have managed to initially become Chancellor or at least not until later than January 1933. This combined with the idea that previous governments were weak and lacked support made a clear sign for that Germany needed change. Hitler was something new and had clearly opposed the idea of a democracy from the start. As the German public started to go against the Republic their support turned to the opposing and completely differing view of Hitler. He was different to the past chancellors such as Von Papen who represented failed governments. He portrayed himself through propaganda and in speeches as a strong and powerful leader who could lead Germany out of this depression and unrest and that’s what the German public needed at the time. After all, Hindenburg had no other alternative but to place Hitler as Chancellor due to the failures of previous governments and Hitler’s growing support from people close to Hindenburg. Also, other conservative elites believed that Hitler was a man that could easily be tamed and kept under control. This gave him an advantage over the Communists, as Hindenburg believed he wouldn’t be able to control the communists if he supported them. This is therefore important in the eventual appointment of Hitler as Chancellor as without the support of the conservative elites, it is debatable as to whether or not Hitler would actually have gained power. Even, when in the July 1932 the NSDAP won 230 seats, becoming the largest party in Germany, Hindenburg did not appoint Hitler Chancellor. Hence, it is hard to imagine why anything would have changed without considerable pressure being mounted on Hindenburg from business. In particular, without the support of von Papen and his supposed ability to â€Å"control Hitler†, Hindenburg would certainly not have been persuaded. Clearly then, these conservative elites had at least some impact in bringing about Hitler’s time as Chancellor. Also, the misjudgement of von Papen and Hindenburg in believing that they could control Hitler is crucial in explaining the overall Nazi seizure of power.

What Is the International Date Line and How Does it Work

The world is divided into 24 time zones, planned so that noon is basically when the sun is crossing the meridian, or line of longitude, of any given location. But there has to be a place where there is a difference in days, somewhere a day truly starts on the planet. Thus, the 180-degree line of longitude, exactly one-half way around the planet from Greenwich, England (at 0 degrees longitude), is approximately where the international date line is located. Cross the line from the east to the west, and you gain a day. Cross from west to the east, and you lose a day. An Extra Day? Without the international date line, people who travel west around the planet would discover that when they returned home, it would seem as though an extra day had passed. This is what happened to Ferdinand Magellans crew when they returned home after their circumnavigation of the Earth in 1522. Heres how the international date line works: Lets say you fly from the United States to Japan, and suppose you leave the United States on Tuesday morning. Because  youre traveling west, the time advances slowly thanks to time zones and the speed at which your airplane flies. But as soon as you cross the international date line, its suddenly Wednesday. On the reverse trip home, you fly from Japan to the United States. You leave Japan on Monday morning, but as you cross the Pacific Ocean, the day gets later quickly as you cross time zones moving eastward. However, as soon as you cross the international date line, the day changes to Sunday. But lets say you traveled around the entire world like Magellans crew did. Then you would have to reset your watch every time you entered a new time zone. If you had traveled westward, as they did, when you got all the way around the planet back to your house, youd find your watch had moved forward 24 hours. If you had one of those analog watches with a built-in date, it would have moved up one day when you arrived home. The problem is, all your friends who never left could point to their own analog watches — or just to the calendar — and let you know you are wrong: Its the 24th, not the 25th. The international date line prevents such confusion by having you roll the date back on that analog watch — or, more likely, just in your mind — as you cross its imaginary boundary. The whole process works the opposite for someone circling the planet eastward. 3 Dates at Once Technically, it is three separate dates at once for two hours per day between 10 and 11:59 UTC or Greenwich Mean Time. For example, at 10:30 UTC on January 2, it is: 11:30 p.m. January 1 in  American Samoa  (UTC−11)6:30  a.m. January 2 in  New York  (UTC-4)12:30  a.m. January 3 in  Kiritimati  (UTC14) The Date Line Takes a Jog The international date line is not a perfectly straight line. Since its beginning, it has zigzagged to avoid splitting apart countries into two days. It bends through the Bering Strait to avoid placing far northeastern Russia in a different day than the rest of the country. Unfortunately, tiny Kiribati, a group  of 33  widely spread islands (20 inhabited) in the central Pacific Ocean,  was split by the date lines placement. In 1995, the country decided to move the international date line. Because the line is simply established by international agreement and there are no treaties or formal regulations associated with the line, most of the rest of the worlds nations followed Kiribati and moved the line on their maps. When you review a changed map,  youll see a big panhandle zigzag, which keeps Kiribati all within the same day. Now eastern Kiribati and Hawaii, which are located in the same area of longitude, are a whole day apart.