The Rise Of Japanese Militarism Essays - Empire Of Japan, Militarism

The Rise of Japanese Militarism Japan's political journey from its quasi-democratic government in the 1920's to its radical nationalism of the mid 1930's, the collapse of democratic institutions, and the eventual military state was not an overnight transformation. There was no coup d'etat, no march on Rome, no storming of the Bastille. Instead, it was a political journey that allowed a semi-democratic nation to transform itself into a military dictatorship. The forces that aided in this transformation were the failed promises of the Meiji Restoration that were represented in the stagnation of the Japanese economy, the perceived capitulation of the Japanese parliamentary leaders to the western powers, a compliant public, and an independent military. The ground work for Japanese militarism was a compliant Japanese public. This pliant public was created through a variety of factors. Beginning in the 1890's the public education system indoctrinated students in the ideas of nationalism, loyalty to the emperor and traditionalist ideas of self-sacrifice and obedience. Thus ideas that were originally propagated to mobilize support for the Meiji government were easily diverted to form broad support for foreign militarism. Japanese society also still held many of the remnants of feudal culture such as strong confusion beliefs that stressed support for social order and lack of emphasis on individualist values. These values taught obedience not to a democratic but to the emperor; so the fact that the militaristic government of the 1930's ruled under the emperor meant that the Japanese were loyal to this government just as they had been to the government of the 1920's. So when Japan's militaristic government implemented programs characteristic of totalitarian governments such as strong media control, a thought police, and community organizations the public did little to protest. Shintoism provided a religious justification for nationalism and support for the militaristic government. Shintoism before the 1930's was primarily a nativistic religion which stressed nature and harmony. But during the 1930's it became a ideological weapon teaching Japanese that they were a superior country that had a right to expand and that its government was divinely lead by a descendent of the sun god. The independence and decentralization of the military allowed it to act largely on its own will as characterized in the Manchurian incident in 1931 and the Marco Polo bridge explosion in Shanghai. Because these incidents went unpunished and the Japanese public rallied around them the military was able to push for greater militarism and an increasingly active role in government till the entire government was run by the military. The London Treaty and Japan's rejection by large European powers at the Versailles conference angered many in the military who felt that Japan was being denied its place at the table with the great powers. This lead to a disenfranchisement with the parliamentary government who the military felt had capitulated to the western powers in treaties and by stopping its colonial expansion during the nineteen twenties. Once Japan commenced on the path of militarism it found that because of its technological edge it could defeat other Asian powers this increased Japan's sense of superiority and feed the fires of nationalism. These fires grew as following the 1931 Manchurian incident Japan invaded Manchuria then most China. In South East Asia Japan quickly expanded breaking up British, Portuguese, and Dutch colonialism. Japanese militarism occurred not by an organized plan but rather through passive acceptance by the Japanese public. A compliant Japanese public coupled with a independent army were two factors that pushed Japan toward militarism in the 1930's.

Peter Singer and John Rawls on Utilitarianism

Peter Singer and John Rawls on Utilitarianism Utilitarianism, in whatever form and context, is the belief that the rightness or goodness of an action, rule or principle should be holistically judged based on its assumed ramifications.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Peter Singer and John Rawls on Utilitarianism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For utilitarians, an action, rule, or principle that is good must produce pleasure, happiness, contentment or welfare to the concerned individuals, implying that they view what is right as that which optimizes one or more of these variables. Utilitarianism is both a teleological and consequentialist ethical theory as it does not only presupposes that each action, principle or rule must be judged on whether its end result maximizes good, but also assumes that the ramification of an action, principle or rule is the only criterion to judge whether it is right or wrong (Waller, 2010). The present paper purposes to present the viewpoints of two contemporary philosophers, namely Peter Singer and John Rawls, as regards utilitarianism. Among contemporary philosophers, Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer stands out as a major advocate of preference utilitarianism. Singer is ardently committed to the perspectives that ethics must reflect how life is lived, and that â€Å"†¦the consequences to be promoted are those which satisfy the wishes or preferences of the maximum numbers of beings who have preferences† (The Tablet, 2012, para. 2). The philosopher, who refutes the claim that humans should be more valued than animals, argues that it is only morally and ethically right to aggravate the preferences (desires) of others if by so doing we provide capacity for others to satisfy their preferences.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, actions, rules, and principles must neve r be judged on their simple pain-and-pleasure consequences; rather, they must be judged on account of how they influence or affect the interests and preferences of all those concerned (The Tablet, 2012). Philosopher John Rawls (1921-2001) was known for his persistent and often harsh criticism of utilitarianism, particularly when it comes to social and political justice. One of the most popular views of Rawls was that â€Å"†¦each person has the same indefeasible claim to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties, which scheme is compatible with the same scheme of liberties for all† (Yonehara, n.d., p. 13). His second viewpoint revolved around the fact that social and economic inequalities in the world are progressed to gratify two situations: â€Å"(1) they are to be attached to offices and positions open to all conditions of fair equality of opportunity; (b) they are to be to the greatest benefit of the least-advantaged members of society (the difference princip le)† (Yonehara, n.d., p. 13). Consequently, it is obvious that Rawls viewpoints go against some of the basic tenets of utilitarianism – presumably to maximize good to the greatest number of people and to suggest that people are responsible for all the outcomes of their choices (Waller, 2010). Based on the above, John Rawls, in my view, provides the most convincing argument that deals with fair equality of opportunity for all and equal basic liberties for all, rather than promoting the consequences which satisfy the wishes or preferences of the majority as proposed by Peter Singer. If Singer’s viewpoints are to be withheld, the claim that condemning minority groups to slavery will produce the greatest utility of happiness to the majority will hold true in line with utilitarianism.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Peter Singer and John Rawls on Utilitarianism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However , we all know that slavery is wrong in spite of its outcomes because it tramples on basic liberties of those involved. Consequently, we shouldn’t engage in slavery even if utilitarianism theory assumes that such engagement may produce pleasure, happiness, and contentment to the majority or the greatest number of people. Reference List The Tablet. (2012). Preference utilitarianism. Web. Waller, B.N. (2010). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Yonehara, M. (n.d.). Utilitarianism and Rawls. Retrieved from scienceweb.tohoku.ac.jp/special/gcoeis2010/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/T31-Yonehara.pdf

International Operational And Logistical Strategies Essay

International Operational And Logistical Strategies - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that total quality management encompasses combined management effort to improve and advance the quality of the company’s products at all levels. It has to do with meeting the customers’ quality expectation. Total quality management aids at improving effectiveness, flexibility, and effectiveness of an organization to meet the needs and expectation of all involved stakeholders. It facilitates planning and organizing to understand the contribution of all involved stakeholders. The frequently wasted energy and effort is eliminated through concrete and effective planning and organization. In total quality management, the leaders’ works on productive strategies of ensuring quality service management and total elimination of the detected problems and shortcomings. The ideology of total quality management accesses the management capability of managing people and business processes to meet customers’ quality expectation. Businesses provide the best outcome in satisfying the customers need through a well working combination of the total quality management and effective organization leadership. The guiding principle behind total quality management is suppliers-customer interface. The interface should be functional in internal level and in external level. Total commitment to quality is very essential in achieving the desired customer quality. To achieve the expectation of the total quality management ideology, frequent transmission of the quality messages together with the need and desire to change the culture of an organization for quality advancement are very fetal and necessary. The three main elements in total quality management are people, process, and systems available in the organization (Jarrett 2006, p. 57) In total quality management, the term quality refers to meeting fully the needs and expectations of the organizations’ customers. The component of quality in total quality management includes; reliability, maintenance, availability appearance, performance, delivery, cost effectiveness, and delivery. The understanding of the organization on all this needs necessitate total quality management (Joseph 2008, p. 50). After comprehensive understanding of the customer’s needs, the organization must strategize on the best means of achieving them for the sake of the customers (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2010, p. 19). The initial stage in achieving the quality expectation of the customer is conducting market research. Research helps in understanding the actual and real needs of the customers. The collected finding should be communicated to all relevant organization departments. For an organization to effectively meet the expectation of its customers, the involved stakeholders, department, activities must be integrated. The organization changes should also be based on customers’ satisfaction. Proper integration of all interfaces is very necessary in achievin g total quality organization (Zimmerman, 2006, p. 23). To meet the reality of total quality management, the process of transformation must start from the top. Senior managers must have the will and desire to achieve quality in the organization service delivery. They must demonstrate their total commitment and will of offering quality services to their customers. The operational managers must follow the suit of their seniors (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008, p. 87). Communication on the need and commitment to quality service delivery is also very relevant and demanding. The principles, ideologies, and benefits of total quality management must be communicated and understood by all playing partners. Frequent interaction and consultation in the organization is the real way of developing the required quality attitude and perception among the organization workers. The other core requirement in the total quality man