The Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance was called the beginning of the modern age. The word Renaissance itself is derived from the Latin word rinascere, which means to be reborn. Many dramatic changes occurred during this time in the fields of philosophy, art, politics, and literature. New emphasis was placed on enjoying life and the world around you. Talented individuals sought self-gratification through art, literature, and architecture, and their achievments would influence future generations for centuries to come. This great new movement was originated and centered in Italy, and without Italian contribution, would never have launched European society into the dawning of a new era. At the beginning of the Renaissance, Italy was divided into some 250 self- governing city-states, ranging from small towns of 2,000 individuals, to some of the largest cities in Europe of that time, such as Florence, Milan, and Venice, each with 100,000 citizens each. These city-states were loosely organized under the Pope, ruling out of Rome, although he had no real political control over the divided Italy. During the mid- 1300s and early 1400s, many large Italian cities came under the control of one family, such as the Visconti and later the Sforza families in Milan. The form of government established by the ruling families of the various Italian cities came to be known as signoria, with the chief official being called the signore. Soon , elaborate court systems, controlled by the ruling families, began to spring up in each city-state. At these courts, leading artists, intellectuals, and politicians gathered under the sponsorship of the signore and families. Other city states had a form of republicanism, such as Florence and Venice did. In these cities, a group of upper class families controlled the government, and often looked down upon the common residents of the town, considering them to be inferior. A Venetian observer wrote about Florence during this time:...

Why Microsoft is not a monopoly essays

Why Microsoft is not a monopoly essays Is Microsoft actually a monopoly? No, they are not. They dont force you to buy their products, they are not the only company out there, and even though they are the most used, people do have many other choices. Who makes you buy a product? No company makes you buy their products. If any company made you buy a product of theirs it would be bad business, and no one would buy from them. Nobody is holding a gun to your head saying , Buy my product or I will blow your head off. If anyone did do that they would be put in jail. If you buy from another company, your computer will not explode; in fact the only company that does make you buy their products is Compaq, and even then the computer wont explode it just will not work. A lot of people think that they have to upgrade to a different product or their computer will not work. That is misleading. If an upgrade is mandatory it will be free. Any upgrade you have to buy is just a preference that is not needed. There are many other companies that do force people to buy their products. Other companies that do force you to buy their products arent widely used in a home situation. The reason they arent used at home very much is because nobody likes to be pressured into something. Many companies make products that are compatible with Microsoft or another companys products. The reason people dont think there are any other companies is because they hear about a product and are too lazy to look for an alternative. Microsoft does want to make a lot of money for themselves. Who doesnt? Operating systems used to be very hard to learn. When Microsoft came out with the Windows operating system it was very easy to use. The reason I am pointing this out is because people dont want to make their lives harder than it needs to be. Microsoft makes the easiest operating system to ...

Economics of Organisations TAKE HOME EXAM (Third Writer) Essay

Economics of Organisations TAKE HOME EXAM (Third Writer) - Essay Example The profits rolled in, and Ford's workers shared in the wealth: an ironic beginning for an auto company that would go on to be a notorious enemy of labor in the 1930s and 1940s." At that time, $5 per day was an extremely high wage to pay manual workers in factories such as the Ford facilities. It was hard enough to even have a job in the first place at the time Ford made this major move, so it was indeed a shock. The economy was really in a shaky situation, as it is today. Having a job at all at that time was considered to be very good luck. People who did have jobs worked very hard-much harder than many manual laborers do today. They did not expect handouts from the government, as many of the unemployed in today's world find themselves doing, whether they are in a situation where they can help it or not. Workers back then were tough, and they certainly weren't freeloaders. Back in ancient Rome, welfare ruined the city and actually led to its failure. The government handed out money to a few greedy companies, those companies went under, and the rest of the city went under with them. This is definitely not a scenario one wants to see happen again. It is also possible that, at that time, Ford had a monopoly on the automobile industry and his altruistic nature guided him to share his excess profits with his employees. The root of the $5-a-day Workday was the success of the moving as... According to the work at History.com (2009 p. 1), "After the success of the moving assembly line, Henry Ford had another transformative idea: in January 1914, he startled the world by announcing that Ford Motor Company would pay $5 a day to its workers. The pay increase would also be accompanied by a shorter workday (from nine to eight hours). While this rate didn't automatically apply to every worker, it more than doubled the average autoworker's wage. While Henry's primary objective was to reduce worker attrition-labor turnover from monotonous assembly line work was high-newspapers from all over the world reported the story as an extraordinary gesture of goodwill." The new wage made thousands of manual laborers flock to Ford's manufacturing facilities. People came all the way from all over the United States to Ford's Detroit plant, and they even came from Europe. Employee turnover, of course, practically vanished. According to History (2009, p. 1), "Henry Ford had reasoned that since it was now possible to build inexpensive cars in volume, more of them could be sold if employees could afford to buy them. The $5 day helped better the lot of all American workers and contributed to the emergence of the American middle class. In the process, Henry Ford had changed manufacturing forever." The following shows an announcement of Ford's plans to raise their wages to $5-a-day: Figure 1: Announcement Source: Ford.com References Henry Ford's $5-a-Day Revolution 2009. Ford. Available at http://www.ford.com/about-ford/heritage/milestones/5dollaraday/677-5-dollar-a-day Ford Sets Record Wages 2009. History. Available at