‘Friendship Changes Its Meaning and Function Through the Life Course Essay Example for Free

‘Friendship Changes Its Meaning and Function Through the Life Course Essay In many western societies, friendship is portrayed in a very positive and desirable light, and most of all something people have the freedom to choose, unlike kinship. However as examined further in this essay, friendship means and functions as many different things to different people and can be influenced by an array of different social factors. There are various stages in the life-course that provide both opportunities and threats to the development and maintenance of friendships, yet it is evident that friendship does change and evolve in meaning and function through the life course. Some sociologists believe that social change has affected the significance of friendship, and thus changed its function throughout the life course. Due to social change, choice and reciprocity have become highly valued in relationships; which is expected in today’s post-industrial society. Many see the traditional ‘nuclear’ family as diminishing. This can be explained by the individualisation thesis (Giddens 1992, Ulrich Beck and Beck Gersheim 1995), who argue that set traditions and social rules are in decline, thus giving rise to voluntarism and democracy distinct from kinship; which can be recognised in the notion of the ‘pure relationship’ (Giddens 1992). Therefore friendship can be seen as the ideal relationship in society; differing much from the ‘fixed’ or ‘given’ relationships with kin and the community, which are seen to be declining in significance. This has allowed friends to take the roles traditionally formed by families. The idea of ‘families of choice’ (Weeks et al 2001:9) suggests that trends such as increasing cohabitation, divorce rates, greater social and geographical mobility, increasing levels of female education, increased participation of females in the labour market, and the growth of non-heterosexual household arrangements along with a strong sense of individualization have led to families of choice. This social suffusion of family and friends is especially evident amongst non-heterosexuals, due to their exclusion from the ‘family’ and ‘marriage’ in which they haven’t received support from families; they’ve chosen their own networks of relationships conceived as families. However it is important not to overstate the significance of friendship compared to relationships with family with much empirical evidence stating family relationships still remain significant. Firstly, it is important to recognise that there isn’t a single universal definition of friendship; which can cause many sociologists to encounter problems when researching the notion of friendship, and thus how its meaning and function may change and evolve through the life course. There are many different forms of friendships, ranging from diverse and complex friendships which are ever-changing and evolving. Whether it is those we file in our address books to those who have a profound presence in our lives. People attach the label ‘friend’ to those whom they’ve simply had a pleasant association with or as for as those who they’ve shared a lifelong relationship with. Some believe it is ‘the valuing of the other person for whatever is perceived as their unique and pleasing qualities’ (Wright 1978), which is said to be a defining characteristic. Research into what friendship means, reveals friendship as being voluntary rather than obligatory. Though as explored further this element of choice of who we categorise as our friends, can be highly influenced by other social factors and elements of homophily; which changes as we enter different stages of the life course. There is much diversity within friendship, with every relationship being completely unique. There are many recurrent types of friendships, such as associates, useful contacts, favour friends and a fun friend which are categorized as a simple friend, which ranges to a helpmate, comforter, confidant and a soul mate; which constitute towards a complex friendship. Research has found that the degree of intimacy of a friendship is affected by the amount of time friends have known each other. Furthermore, Pahl and Spencer categories the types of friendships people have in their personal communities into different types of friendship repertoire. They identify between the basic, intense, focal and broad repertoire, these typologies allow us recognise that some friendships strengthen in meaning whereas some even tend to get lost ad fade away as people enter different stages of the life course. Through stages in the life course such as leaving school, going to college, starting work, living with a partner/getting married, having children, getting divorced, moving home and retiring etc, can provide new opportunities for friendship whilst even threaten existing ones. Kinship ties and especially primary kinship ties generally continue in some form, whereas change in friendship is routine and normal. Indeed some friendships are long-term with some even life-long, although for the majority this isn’t the case. Usually friends occupy similar social positions to one another; tending to be the same age, be of a similar class position, same gender and occupy similar positions in the life course. Friendships are active in certain periods of our life and then gradually become less significant and meaningful, due to a change in people’s circumstances as they enter in stages of the life course, therefore sustaining that relationship becomes difficult. There are a variety of domestic circumstances that can affect friendship. Typically there appears to be changes in people’s friendship patterns when they get married. This is because their existing relationships with other single people tends to become less central to their lives and be replaced by other couple friendships (Cohen 1992), this is how couples create a marital relationship in which ‘togetherness’ and mutual involvement is paramount. Along with this is sharing leisure and sociability therefore maintaining friendships with those who are single becomes difficult. Not only that but divorce can also dramatically alter friendship, for men the effect may be less who will continue to be involved in the same work and leisure activities whereas women with children, their friendships patterns will alter more significantly due a change in their social, economic and domestic circumstances (Milardo 1987). Similarly shifts can occur in friendship when children are born, the aspects of family life will affect the space available for friendship. Old activities that were once shared between two people often become problematic, especially in the early years of childhood Having children can be a very demanding job, therefore less time is left for developing new and servicing old friendships, and thus gradually old friends who are at different stages of their life course become less involved and are replaced by others who share a similar social position. In the same way, caring for an elderly relative can constrain the freedom for sociability. However, we can also see how gender is affected within childcare which affects the space for friendship. As many women have less extensive social participation, and their character of domestic and paid labour, therefore there is less opportunity to develop social ties. Whereas, men tend to have more time and financial resources to devote to sociability because of their role within the domestic and paid division of labour. Equally, as people enter old age and retirement this can also affect the opportunities for friendship. For some retirement may present them with more time to spend with friends, with the absence of work commitments. However others the reduced financial circumstances mean the engagement through social activities is limited, and the pool of social contacts is reduced through employment. Friendships can also alter due to a change in a person’s social location. For instance, if someone was to gain a promotion at work it could affect their friendship ties. Not only that but with the idea of work as someone is in a different position within a hierarchy, they may have authority over others and thus increased earning capacity and an alteration of their life-style, maintaining existing friends becomes difficult especially as friendship is seen to be based on equality. Despite friendship being based on liking and trust and not on status hierarchy or difference, in essence the friendships becomes less active, and new friends who lead similar life-styles and of similar status replace old friends. A persons work situation affects the opportunities they have in meeting others as well as the resources of time, money and energy they have for sociability (Allen 1989). The demands and organization of a person’s work can also pattern their friendships both inside and outside the workplace. For example, different shift patterns, different levels of physical and mention exertion and different times being away from home call affect and individual’s capability and willingness to participate in sociability. Nevertheless, it may be thought that due advances in technology, email and social networking increase the possibility of forming friendships with face to face conversation being absent. Yet, despite these new forms of communication, we are still more likely to have closer ties with people who live in closer geographical proximity to us. Friendship is dynamic; it may become deeper or fade as we enter different stages of the life course nonetheless as Pahl claims it does change meaning and functions throughout the life course. Patterns of people’s friendships throughout the life course are structured around, people’s social and economic circumstances which influence their opportunities for social involvement. Different aspects of structural location such as work situation and domestic situation alter during the life course and change the meaning and function of friendship’s. Friendship is also linked to broader social and economic factors, and individual’s immediate social environment influences who they come in contact with and thus who they build friendships with. Word Count: 1,575.

Lord of the Flies :: Character Analysis, Jack and Ralph

One’s personality changes over time when it is necessary to adapt to one’s environment or when one suffers or even thrives from another’s actions. In the Lord of the Flies, both Jack and Ralph underwent changes in their personalities, which also affected their relationship. It was obvious in the beginning that Jack would not get along easily with Ralph and Piggy because he ridiculed Piggy for his weight and awkwardness. However, Jack felt threatened because Ralph was voted chief. By saying â€Å"I ought to be chief†¦ because I’m chapter chorister and head boy,† Jack’s overconfidence was shown (Golding 22). On the other hand, there was Ralph, who was taller and more attractive than Jack was, and after being elected leader, he gave part of his power to Jack, displaying his generosity. This was when â€Å"Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking,† showing the beginning of their friendship (Golding 23). Ralph, starting off as a strong, demanding leader, was most adult-like out of everyone else; he was very concerned about the younger children, shown when he says â€Å"‘We need shelters as a sort of—’ ‘Home’† (Golding 52). Also in the beginning, while they were exploring the island, their â€Å"eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they savored the right of domination. They were lifted up; were friends† (Golding 29). Their friendship was already growing at this point. A little later, Jack had made a pathetic attempt to stick a pig, but he let the pig go free. He made an excuse that he â€Å"was choosing a place†¦ just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him;† however, â€Å"they knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood† (Golding 31). Then he â€Å"snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk... [a nd] looked around fiercely, daring them to contradict,† expressing not only his violent nature, but also his inability to kill (Golding 31). This also foreshadowed his savage hunting. In chapter two, Ralph calls a second meeting, when he makes up the rule that whoever is holding the conch gets to speak. This demonstrated that he was trying to establish order in some way; however, he was also shown to be a bit irresponsible, when he said that they â€Å"want to have fun† (Golding 37). When they were all making a fire by bringing up wood, â€Å"Ralph found himself alone on a limb with Jack and they grinned at each other, sharing this burden† (Golding 39).

Book report sample Essay

INTRODUCTION On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the best training methods because it is planned, organized and conducted. OJT is generally the primary method used to broaden skills and increase productivity. OJT is dependent upon the trainer having sufficient knowledge and experience to impart to the trainees. OJT is important and the quality of OJT can be considerably improved through effective design. OJT has its advantages, first, trainees will have an opportunity to practice their selected fields. Second, they can practice their punctuality. Next, they can improve their skills and have an additional knowledge in the real world and lastly the trainees can have their immediate feedback. Trainings can be an eye opening because it will really help us to think for a better future. Morale, productivity and professionalism will be trained on the organization during our OJT. Those characteristics must be developed on our OJT to be a high world citizen that is creating and building our future careers . ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The trainees would like to acknowledge the people who helped them to make this On-the-Job Training to be possible. They are very thankful to the Lord for giving them strength, good health and courage to finish this training. They want to express their sincerest gratitude to their family for supporting them financially, emotionally and spiritually. For their friends  and classmates who cheer them up to fulfill this training. Also to their co-OJT’s who helped them to finish their duties. They would also like to thank the staffs of Wide Vision Tours for giving them a chance to be a part of the company and for giving them additional knowledge on their field. We are gratefully thankful to our professors for always being there for us to make us an effective World Citizen. To our Dean, Ms. Rhodora Lintot, we thank you for being kind and you let us experience what we are likely to face in real life. To our professor, Ms. Edwina Paz Perez RND, for supporting us in every step we take, for giving us importance and for awakening us in real world. Company Profile History of the Company Wide Vision Tours is a DOT accredited tour agency and one of the leading travel agency of group package tours in the Philippines for over thirteen years. Our tour packages cater to the following: College tours and exposure trip, educational tours for preschool to high school, adventure packages which include eco-adventure and surf camp, company outings and team building seminars. We also do airline bookings and ticketing. Mission Statement Wide Vision Tours aims to provide the top quality services while keeping the cost in control. We aim to provide high quality services and totally safe trips at best possible price. As our company motto says, â€Å"Enjoy ka na, Safe ka pa†. We have huge plans to progress within Philippines as one of the leading travel service provider and destination management company. Organizational Chart Owner/CEO Tour Consultant Tour Facilitator Ticketing Officer Tour Counselor Location Wide Vision Tours is located at Unit 2- 2nd floor L. Bldg. Barangay Mayamot, Sumulong highway Antipolo City. Features and Services Wide Vision Tours offers a fun and excitement tour packages that fits to every person who wants enjoyment. Wide Vision Tours packages cater to the following: College tours and exposure trip Educational tours for preschool to high school Adventure packages which include eco-adventure and surf camp Company outings and team building seminars They also do airline bookings and ticketing Summary Conclusion Recommendation Personal Experience As a Tourism student, I am thankful that I already finished my first On-the-Job-Training. Being in a Travel Agency is not that easy for me, we are the one who makes itineraries whenever we have a customer who is asking for a tour package. There are times that the clients are demanding, but we have to explain them what we have to. We are also the one who will ask for the rates of some places in Manila so that we can make a package for the high school students. We get brochures from the Department of Tourism (DOT) that we knew that they were located near Luneta Park but then when we got there, people said that DOT was transferred at Makita. It was a productive day, but was a tiring day. We also depart our clients to the Airport, they are 32 persons that booked at Wide Vision Tours but they are divided into  two because there are no availability on the same time of travel to Malaysia. There are times that we need to attend a awarding, the first was at Star City, Wide Vision Tours is t he 7th placer, the company brings a lot of students at Star City this is because of Sir Jun’s hard work. The second awarding was held at Kidzworld, Dasmarià ±as, City. Wide Vision Tours is the 13th placer in the Lucky Me! Happy House Plant. We are proud that we have given a chance to attend those awarding, and we are thankful that no matter what, Wide Vision Tours is always the one who makes our tours. To be in a Travel Agency is happy, we can learn a lot, we can do things that we didn’t think that we can. Like waking up at 1:00 A.M because we are one of the tour guides. Yes, we have experienced to be a real tour guide. We went in Bataan to have their Visita Iglesia. It was a long trip, I’ve experienced to sit in the stairs of the bus because there are no sits available, it was all occupied by our passengers. It is nice for me that I have experienced that thing. We have learned a lot from this company, and it is like we have faced the real world. They let us experience what the real work is. They touch us how to be responsible, they train us well and give us enough knowle dge that we can apply on our future careers.

Media Cultural Imperialism

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2987 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Evaluate the claims made by authors arguing that media ownership and concentration lead to cultural imperialism with specific reference to a media text(s) of your choice. Do you agree? 1/9 Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Media Cultural Imperialism | Media Dissertations" essay for you Create order Media concentration and its impact on the effective citizen cultural participation has always been an important matter in both our past and modern society. Many authors argue that media ownership and concentration leads to cultural imperialism. To evaluate these claims we first need to define, with reference to several media texts, what the common terms of cultural imperialism, and media ownership and concentration generally refer to. Using multiple sources, more than refering to one specific media text, will help us to build a omniscient and objective knowledge about the subject. Throughout the years, these terms taking into account todays increasing wide range of media and ways of communicating have evolved significantly in both their value and connotation, leading towards a critical point for our contemporary society and the ones to come. After explaining the meaning of cultural imperialism, we will then take a look at what media ownership and concentration stands for in our modern world and how it leads to cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism Many authors sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers tend to explain, in the most accurate way, these two symbolic terms without any strong conviction in the end. For John Tomlinson this expression does not have a particularly long history. In the 1960s cultural Imperialism became a part of the general intellectual currency a generic concept: It (cultural imperialism) brings together two words which are themselves extremely complex and problematic, in an attempt to provide a covering concept for a very broad range of issues (Tomlinson, 2002: 3).To make it easier we shall divide these two terms and attentively study the definition of culture and the definition of imperialism independently, ultimately arriving at a better understanding of the importance in defining this expression. In Oxford Dictionary the word cultural is defined as: an improvement or refinement of mind, manners, etc., by education and training; condition of being thus trained and refined; particular form or type of intellectual development or civilization (Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 2007: 261). Despite that the word culture is still one of the three most complicated words in the English language, by the nineteenth century the British anthropologist E.B. Tylor (1874: 185) provided probably the most popular definition of culture: 2/9 Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Imperialism is, itself, defined as the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly: the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence. Historically, imperialism is defined through the economic system (and its reference to colonial rules) and the political system, in which appears the Marxist analysis of stages, the modern capitalism and the fight between the American and Soviet Union (Williams, 1958). Commonly associated with the policy of direct extension of sovereignty and dominion over non-contiguous and often distant overseas territories, it also denotes indirect political or economic control of powerful states over weaker peoples. Regarded also as a doctrine based on the use of deliberate force, imperialism has been subject to moral censure by its critics, and thus the term is frequently used in international propaganda as a pejorative for expansionist and aggressive foreign policy (Wesseling, 2004: 7226-7232). If we now jointly consider these two definitions, we then nearly approach the following definition by Martin Barker and Julian Petley (2001: 22): It seems to mean that the process of imperialist control is aided and abetted by importing supportive forms of culture. Let us now examine a clear and direct example of cultural imperialism by Robert Cecil (1971: 6). In his folio about cultural imperialism, he essentially focuses on the impact of the colonisations across the world. For him this is the beginning of pure and simple cultural imperialism. If we have a look for instance at some meetings of The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as Unesco, when the French-speaking Africans and English-speaking Africans stand up to make a speech to the assembly, you can obviously distinguish characteristics of French and British culture. Respectively, French-speaking Africans speak in rather an silver-tongued, logical way; while the English-speaking Africans tend to be more blunt, empirical and, occasionally, even humorous. Which methods are used to convert a nation under cultural domination? The leading method is language. 3/9 As an example, if you compel somebody, throughout an educational system or as a means of economic concern, to speak your language, to some extent you are imposing your pattern of thought on them. A French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, in an interview (Paris, 1996) communicated the following: Only knowledge of language enables the influence of the culture expressed by that language to be fully effective and to reach the soul of another people. We can also find this cultural panel in advertising campaigns, such as McDonalds, Pepsi, Durex or Ford. Fords advertising, like the others cited above, adapts itself to cultural differences between the many countries in which the brand is available. The American ads are generally bringing back the classic American way of life, using old gangster movie patch-work as background references. Asian ads for Ford feature a fantastic, cartoon-ish style. While the UK ads are usually matching with the English humour style: short, direct, colorful and relevant. If we then sum up all those different approaches of the expression we can see that cultural imperialism is, finally,spreading and exalting habits and values; a practice in which diferent economic powers play a big part. It is with this link to economic power that the media ownership and concentration now interferes. Media ownership and concentration To explain the meaning of media ownership and concentration, we need to think about the natural tendency of capitalistic economic systems linking to oligopoly or monopoly. Media concentration is defined as an increase in the presence of one (monopoly) or a few media companies (oligopoly) in any market as result of acquisitions and mergers or the disappearance of competitors (Meier Trappel, 2004: Chap. 4). Indeed, Indeed, the world is basically ruled and owned by mainstream media conglomerates. In the late 90s, there were nine corporations (mainly from the U.S.) that dominated the media world called the Big Ones. 4/9 According to an article from The Nation, the Big Ones never totally changed. The top ten media companies around early 2002 were AOL, Time Warner, Disney, General Electric (quote in the article as a media company), Sony, News Corporation, Liberty Media, Vivendi, AT T, Viacom, Vivendi and Bertelsmann (Robert W. McChesney, The Nation Magazine :1999) However, as Mark Crispin Miller points out (2007) companies may come and go. I chose to use the reference of mainstream media conglomerates ruling the world because these corporations, even if they seem to refer to media corporations, they share members of the board of directors (also known as the process of interlocking directorates) within a large panel of big companies, including each important economic devise such as Oil Companies, Pharmaceutical and Health car companies, Banks and technology companies. All of these companies are followed by many other Second tiers companies that each earn billions dollars of business. For example, ABC/Disney, among other corporations, owns FedEx, Boeing, City National Bank, Starwood Hotels Resorts; CBS/Viacom owns Dell, American Express, Akamai Technologies, Lafarge Corp, Amazon.com, etc. We are living to serve advertisers purposes. Cest notre raison dtre claims the CBS C.E.O.. This capitalist economical process ruled by the constant need of power is very frequently seen as a problem for contemporary media and society. Media ownership of concentration and cultural imperialism So, how is this media ownership and concentration leading to cultural imperialism? The situation of an healthy and fair democracy is when choice is given to all. In other words, is when media impacts on the market by offering a wide range of ideas, information and types of culture. It is well-known that radion, newspapers, television and, mor recently, internet form a part of everyday life that democracy finds and uses as a way of expression in general media circles. What if, however, this circle is altered by economic ownership, competition and profit? There may be some media etablishment preaching the diversity, but it would only be on a external look. The worry is that so many agencies are often held by one giant only: Defenders of narrowing control of the media point, accurately enough, to the large numbers of media outlets available to the population: almost 1,700 daily papers, more than 8,000 weeklies, 10,000 radio and television stations, 5/9 11,000 magazines, 2,500 book publishers and more Unfortunately, the large numbers deepen the problem of excessively concentrated control. If the number of outlets is growing and the number of owners declining, then each owner controls even more formidable communications power (https://www.globalissues.org, 2007; Bagdikian, 2000: 222). In terms of quality of the information reported, the media concentration makes it totally subjective (through the eyes of a few men pulling strings). While concurrential competition can be a good aspect for news reporting and media in general to push for a better quality, the concentrated control of media companies (oligolpoly) and its very special competition has reduced media under cheap popular information through crude sensationalism rather than quality, detailed reporting etc. This type of competition clearly affects the journalisms ability to spread quality news and alters the gap of theorical and professional journalism. But those decisions are firstly made because society and people change. Readers and viewers care 5more about scandals, celebrities affairs and local news (check the emergence and success of tabloids and magazines like Hello, OK, Star, and the Sun, which are also basically owned by the same man: Rupert Murdoch). Therefore, according to Fair.org website: Newspaper editors and television news executives have reduced the space and time devoted to foreign news coverage by 80% to 60% during the past 15 to 20 years (https://www.fair.org, 2009). In terms of political aspect, there is hardly any obvious or revealed strategy adopted by governments. Of course they need to stick the law and human rights on the top of the list, but if we have a closer look over media ownership and their relation to the politics, we can find mutual gainful links (such as censorship, subtle truth distortion etc.). Although for now, let us take the example of Berlusconi. In this case, Berlusconi, with the help of the media and their stinginess, efficiently controlled the governments and populations mind. With his own media (and with the journalists he co-opted with money) he controlled the parliament, the public opinion 1and the state bureaucracy in order to change the realistic substance of his judiciary charges, which could lock him and his subordinates to jail. By controlling the media, controlling peoples minds, spreading opinions and influencing decisions has never been so simple! Concerning diversity and homogeneity of media content, it is known that media organizations try to cover all audiences and public. 6/9 They cant afford to provide worldwide information and decline it to more than thousands culture. Thus they use omnibus media. Transporting everything for everybody. It, then, reduces the diversity of opinions and commentary for common purposes. To widely sum up: one idea for all, which then involves a sort of imperialism since no other choice is given. Furthermore, the fact that international and national news is passed on by only a few preponderant global news agencies, and that the national and local news is delivered by only one agency makes the journalistic sources of news coverage very limited in scope. However, there is no empirical or scientific evidence that editorial quality has declined under monopoly conditions according to Werner A. Meier and Joseph Trappel (2004: chapter 4). Most of the media companies listed above are American, thus talking about cultural imperialism consequently implies to especially focus on the American media supremacy. You can travel to the most reclusive village and you will be able to satisfy your craving for a Big Mac, entertain yourself by watching a Hollywood blockbuster in your comfy Nike shoes. This proliferation of American products across the globe is more than mere accident. As a by product of globalization, it is part of a larger trend in the conscious dissemination of American attitudes and values that is often referred to as cultural imperialism Galeota, 2007: 1). Also, if we take cinema production as an alternative example: a few years ago, the youth of the world had a choice between Chinas history review by way of Walt Disneys Mulan, and the Old Testament recreated by Stephen Spielbergs The Prince of Egypt still coming from American media productions. Foreign history and legends painted with the American background colors! At the same time, foreign productions crossing the U.S. borders are also submitted to an Americanization on the scenario and screen production. Tenk no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the sky) is the 1986s animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The Japenese version includes traditional and minimalist soundtracks by Joe Hisaishi. The european exported version includes the same sountrack and original dialogues with subtitles; while the American edition changes the music, dialogues and deletes scenes. After this incident, Ghibli Studios (Hayao Miyazaki production) refuses to export their films within the U.S. borders. But if America triumphs on screen in the vanguard, it must also triumph through the universal message of Hollywood a message of individual voluntarism, easily transferable (and easily ingestible) to all peoples of the planet. 7/9 Conclusion Here we tend to explain the origins and, through many sources of modern cultural imperialism, the composition of media ownership and concentration. After reading many articles, views, and claims about these different subjects, it was clear and obvious to realize their common interaction. The increasing globalization of media activities across the industry of media during the past ten years has made media ownership and concentration a fundamental socio-political, cultural and economical phenomenon. This media concentration clearly leads to a cultural imperialism interacting all over the world. Moreover, media concentration reduces the sources and information given to the reader/spectator. But on the other hand, we also have to consider another aspect of the problem: the basic psychological behaviour of our society. Historically a leader has always been at the forefront of society. Whether religious, monarchical, political or cultural the presence of leadership brought security and direction to the people (Montesquieu, 1748). Whether right or wrong, the views of the leader were adopted by the people often leading to cultural unrest and misguidance. The safety needs of the people, as Maslow claimed manifests itself in the choice and preference for leadership. In many ways the role of the leader has been adopted by the media giants who express their views to a widespread audience of followers. From the famous Thomas Hobbes (1660) claim Man is a wolf for other men (or commonly translated as Dog eat Dog), we became a society of loup et moutons (wolf and sheep). The population is now known for following ideas and opinions like sheep, and ingurgitates the information without questioning it (check the French INPI Campaign, 2001). Like a Sheppard herding sheep, the media giants (the Sheppard) can control and manipulate views of the people (the sheep) without the true facts being presented. So, whose fault is it if we talk about cultural imperialism? The media giants spreading the exact ideas and opinions without the foresight for a true and objective opinion or the people who blindly believe the opinions forced upon them? 2633 words 8/9 Works Cited Barker, Martin, and Julian Petley. Ill effects: the media/violence debate. Vol. 2. Routledge, 2001. Print. Bourdieu, Pierre. Sur la Tlvision. Dailymotion. 28 Nov. 2006. Web. 28 July 2009. Bourdieu, Cambridge 2005, The journalistic field, ed. Polity Car Ford Company. Advertisement. Pubstv.com. 2008. Web. 28 July 2009. www. pubstv.com/video/publicites-1-1090/Ford-7.html. Fair.org. Interlocking Dictatorates. Fair. 2009. Web. 28 July 2009. www.fair.org. Galeota, Julia. Cultural Imperialism: An American Tradition. The Humanist. 2004. Web. 2009. https://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/essay3mayjune04.pdf. Meier, Werner A., and Joseph Trappel. Media Concentration and the Public Interest. Media Policy, convergence, concentration and commerce. Euromedia research group ed. Denis Mc Quail and Karen Siune, 2004. Print. Miller, Mark Crispin. Mark Crispin Miller, January 7, 2002, What?s Wrong With This Picture?, The Nation. The Nation 7 Jan. 2002. Global Issues. Web. 28 July 2009. www.globalissues.org. Tenk? no shiro. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Ghibli studio, 2001. DVD. Tomlinson, John. Cultural Imperialism: a critical introduction. 2002. Print. Tylor, Edward B. Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art and customs. H. Holt and Company, 1874. Print. Wesseling, H. L. History of Imperialism. The International Encyclopedia of the Social Behavioral Sciences Neil J. Smelser Paul B. Baltes (2004). Print. Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society. London: Chatto and Windus, 1958. Print. Robert Cecil C.M.G., M.A., 1971, Cultural Imperialism, ed. The Institute for Cultural Research Robert McChesney, 1999, Rich Media Poor Democracy, University of Illinois Press Ben H. Bagdikian, 2000, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, ed. Beacon Press Montesquieu, 1748, De lesprit des lois Thomas Hobbes, 1660, Le lviathan Doyle Gilliam, London 2002, Media ownership: the economics and politics of convergence in the UK and European media, ed. Sage Ronald V. Bettig Jeanne Lynn Hall, 2003, Big Media, Big Money: cultural texts and political economics, published by Rowman Littlefield Publishers, INC. The Real Thing. The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta Ga. WXYZ-TV, Yourtown, AZ. 5 Dec. 2008 Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas Kellner, 2006, Media and cultural studies: keyworks, Published by Wiley-Blackwell 9/9