Abstract
Friedrich Engels assumes an historical materialist mode of analysis to reveal the fundamental contradiction at the heart of capitalism and the social and economic conflicts that stem from this contradiction. This paper will demonstrate how Engels (following Marx) considered that this contradiction would inevitably foster antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Unbridled competition would, almost paradoxically, lead to monopoly (cf. Microsoft, Air Canada). The resulting crisis would reveal the incapacity of capitalists to manage modern productive forces, leading to proletarian revolution.

Abstract
The poetry of John Keats (1795-1821) is representative of the Romantic Movement in Europe during the early 1800s. In this essay, Keats' (1919) "Bright Star" and (1819) "Ode to a Nightingale" are compared as classic examples of Romanticism's interests in the human soul, representations of perfection in Nature, and especially of depicting the emotions, passions, and sensualities of human existence. Both poems contain examples of Keats' own desire to portray the questions of life in contradictions.

Tags:contradiction, identification, nature

Abstract
The following paper examines the way in which virtual communities are the result of directed media oriented socialization that is governed by the geo-political policies of nations around the world without the nations being aware of it.

From the Paper
"The phrase, 'virtual community', whenever written or read, gives the reader the picture of the postmodern era, to which we all belong. The term was as far as an alien in the dictionaries of most of our ancestors. But today most of us are familiar with the term and probably some are amongst us who are a part of this community. In the recent decades the whole concept of the World has changed and now we term it in phrases like 'global village' e.t.c. All this is related in a very netiquette way with the advancement of technology and, thus, media."

Tags:facility, internet, house, office, hotel, shopping, malls, brain, child, fantasies, lie, virtual, community, television, movies

Abstract
This essay is largely an argument that the new FCC standards on indecency in the media are increasingly contradictory and do not take into account the shift of social norms in modern America. A large part of this argument is furthered by showing how television reflects the changes in cultural perspectives and that these changes, though do need to be regulated at times, should be able to present themselves. These points are proven with examples such as Family Guy and similar shows. In the end, the writer presents a brief series of recommendations for the FCC.

Outline:
FCC indecency enforcement proceedings and the First Amendment
Pros and Cons of the Current Policy
Recommendations for a New Policy

From the Paper
"One of the greatest failures of the current policy is the manner in which obscenity violations are measured. The seemingly arbitrary ways that the FCC comes to identify violations which may be subjected to enormous fines illustrate the danger of moral prejudice. For instance, the undue influence of such moral watchdog groups as the Parents Television Council (PTC), who stimulate campaigns against specific targets may tend to impose FCC fines with an imbalance against those who run afoul of the particular group's values system. A recent example is the Fox Network's primetime animated series, The Family Guy, which is known for its edgy and sometimes obscene humor. The PTC's particular attention to an episode with explicit reference to homosexuality demonstrates the danger of the FCC's agenda. Indeed, 'first-quarter complaints to the FCC in all categories increased by 246% over fourth-quarter 2008 to 245,241, the FCC said Tuesday, but that was driven by a whopping increase in indecency complaints in March.' (Eggerton, 1)
"Further research reveals this to have been the result of a specific campaign designed to stimulate the submission of pre-filled complaint forms against the episode in question. Accordingly, research illustrates that "a PTC viewer action alert crusade against a March 8 episode of the animated comedy show the PTC just loves to hate, Fox TV's Family Guy." (Lasar, 1) This demonstrates the use of deeply suspect numerical assumptions in order to enforce FCC fines. The enormity of such fines is particularly incongruous when one considers the misimpression driving FCC policies. With the federal agency acting according to that which it perceives as the will of the people based on the frequency of complaints, it has truly attached a decision impacting countless viewers to the actions and values systems of specific action groups.
"This pattern of complaint increase surrounding events which have raised the hackles of moral watchdog groups is also revealed to be not just deeply biased but also empirically unreliable. So would this be demonstrated in the wake of the Jackson/Timberlake incident."

Tags:media, fcc, standards, television

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts two of Samuel Coleridge's poems, "Kubla Khan" and "Pains of Sleep" to illustrate what was going through Coleridge's head, during his addiction and then during his withdrawal (which he was completely unaware of at the time).

From the Paper
" It is believed that drugs open up the mind, allowing hallucinations and such to come about. For Samuel Coleridge, the use of opium for physical ailments (as was common at the time) helped him to write some extremely interesting and powerful poetry. Several of his poems obviously reflect the affect of his use and withdrawal of the opium, which was sometimes not so pleasant."

Tags:coleridge, drugs, khan, kubla, pain, sleep

Abstract
The paper explains how Bell's work, "The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism" is a direct reflection of the changing society in which Bell lived. The paper discusses how Bell can be viewed as a cultural critic who highlighted the contradictions inherent in capitalism. The paper looks at Bell's arguments and predictions that did not prove to be true.

From the Paper
"When reading Bells' book, it is important to keep in mind that it was written in the early 1970s, shortly following the social upheaval of the 1960s. Bell was trying to make sense of these new social changes and what they meant for the newly emerging society. Bell stressed the importance of culture, rather than religion as the basis for society. He states, "today culture has clearly become supreme (Bell, p. 431). Bell stressed the economic principle of rationality as defined in terms of efficiency in the allocation of resources. However, he also claimed that culture is dominated by irrationality. These two principles contradict each other."

Tags:society, Martha, Stewart, socialism, inflation

Abstract
The paper states that Daniel Bell's " The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism" was originally published to critique the dominant American assumption that capitalism promoted individualism. The paper comments that Bell instead believed that capitalism had come to promote standardization and had created corporate bureaucracies as powerful as church or state bureaucracies of the past. The paper continues by relating that Bell also believed that the counter cultural reaction to capitalism was also misguided, as capitalism had begun with the Protestant work ethic, and its spirit of individualistic austerity, puritanism, and freedom from Church institutional authority. The paper concludes that this sense of Protestant freedom and independence had slowly been eradicated, and this value was taken over by the Modernists, and then ineffectually by 'counterculture' as the anti-capitalist youth movement was still called when Bell wrote his work.

From the Paper
"The cultural contradiction of capitalism is that capitalism began as a kind of radical, austere Protestantism, with a heavy emphasis on rejecting the collective Catholic dogma of the past. Protestantism developed a new attitude towards wealth. It stressed pursuing excellence and perfect standards with relentless individualism and drive. But this rigidity made the originally radical notion of capitalism eventually become conservative in terms its morality. This evolved to create the uniform, imposed standards of large corporations and state bureaucracies, including, ironically, the Soviet bureaucracy. In response to what came to be seen as bourgeois values, the cultural beliefs of Modernism began to react against capitalist values and celebrate the function of culture as a kind of misrule, not capitalist order. Capitalistic Protestantism came to deny its original individualistic ethos, and this value of individualism was taken over by artists and anti-capitalism."

Tags:individualism, affordable, healthcare, bureaucracy

Abstract
The paper examines the article "Contradiction and Overdetermination" by Louis Althusser where Althusser imparts a complex and insightful evaluation of Marxist thought and ideology. The paper discusses how Althusser sought to reveal that there was a complex set of principles behind Marxist theoretical applications. The paper explains his belief that this complexity causes more empirical factors to be needed for analysis, rather than merely conflicting ideas that existed within single events.

From the Paper
"The article "Contradiction and Overdetermination" by Louis Althusser represents a redefining of Marxist ideology within the construct of theories on political and governmental influences on the economy. In many ways, Althusser often disagrees with Marxist theory being used to understand a single event within society as being a casual factor in determining the rise or fall of any particular economic infrastructure. The word "contradiction" was often used to reveal contradicting facets of any particular society that was slowly to erode because of various problems within a purely economic status quo amongst Marxist theoreticians. Althusser sought to reveal that there was a complex set of principles behind Marxist theoretical applications, which had to be considered."

Tags:economic, infrastructure, causal, factors, theoretical, observations, contradictions

Abstract
This paper addresses the contradiction of slavery and egalitarian politics in colonial America, particularly the arguments surrounding the Virginian economy. These arguments are put forth in Edmund Morgan's classic text on the subject: American Slavery, American Freedom. The essay answers the question: what are Morgan's views on the contradiction stated above? It concludes that historical remove from the events lends us much more perspective on the issue than the slave-owning Founding Fathers.

Tags:AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES / SLAVERY, COLONIALISM, virginia shift slavery

Abstract
The paper examines Louis Althusser's "Contradiction and Overdetermination" and highlights how the issue of defining Marxist terminology is the major part of Althusser's detailed theory of analysis for overdetermination. The paper discusses how although economic values and normative economic measurements may disclose the various problems with inputs and outputs, there is a far more complex set of factors that include class system that play a part in comprehending Marxist thought. The paper shows how the outdated term of contradictions often does not sufficiently answer the broad scope of Marx's thought, as he foresaw deeper elements of capitalistic systems that cannot be generalized or processed through a limited set of variables.

Tags:althusser, marx, economics