Thursday, March 19, 2020

Free Essays on Equality

Equality: Why We Can’t Get There Racial and economic equality in the United States is impossible. Starting with slavery, moving to Jim Crow and culminating with hate crimes and racial profiling, there has been a continuous stream of factors preventing the realization of an equal American society. While it is true that great strides have been made to correct the social and political inaccuracies, the harsh reality is that all these attempts are futile. Practices such as affirmative action and equal opportunity programs, are effective at leveling the playing field, however, they will never be able to make it completely equal. White privilege and its social consequences represent one of the main reasons why equality is unattainable. Ideally, the destruction of white privilege and the belief systems that support it could result in the formation of an equal nation. However, human beings have no available means to destroy this demon, and hope exists only in the attempts at minimizing the damage to our country. Furth ermore, natural inclinations towards competition make inequality unavoidable. White privilege is a system that amasses to whites' greater wealth and resources. It also lends them access to a higher quality of justice, services, and capital than other racial groups. Simultaneously, white privilege has resulted in impoverishment and injustice for the vast majority of racial minorities. White privilege is more than a set of attitudes or individual opinions; it is a comprehensive framework of policies, practices, institutions, and cultural norms that influence every aspect of American society. Being white constitutes a powerful asset in the United States and globally. Using William Ryan’s theories on equality, white privilege represents a major discrepancy in his â€Å"Fair Play† perspective. If, as he sees it, individuals are all afforded the same rights with regard to â€Å"pursuing happiness,† then it is inevitabl... Free Essays on Equality Free Essays on Equality Is the promotion of equality by political means either desirable or possible? Throughout history the issue of equality among individuals has been a divisive and controversial topic. Many individuals have lost their lives in an attempt to secure equality for themselves and their family. Once considered a radical and extreme political view, today equality is generally accepted by the masses as necessary component to a free and fair society. In contemporary times the problems with equality arise in its application and the government’s role in the promotion of equality. Coupled with the three different forms of equality and it is easy to see why the issue of equality continues to be heavily debated by political leaders. In order to accurately understand contemporary discussions about the application of equality by political means we must first identify the three forms of equality. Formal equality, equality of opportunity, and equality of outcome are the three forms of equality that dominate modern debate. Formal equality centers around the belief that men are equal simply because they are men. Equality of opportunity is the equal starting point for individuals. Equality of opportunity is more concerned with the initial conditions of individuals than their final standing in society. Lastly, equality of outcome attempts to determine outcomes so that everybody’s status is equal. Many have argued that equality is such a vital element of society that it is necessary for the government to become involved the promotion of equality. With formal equality it is a difficult task for formal equality to be promoted my political means. Formal equality is based on inalienable rights that are given to every human being. I question how effective politics can be in promoting a form of equality that is so limited by its own definition. I suppose one may argue that the constitution of a state could be one way to promote formal equalit... Free Essays on Equality Equality: Why We Can’t Get There Racial and economic equality in the United States is impossible. Starting with slavery, moving to Jim Crow and culminating with hate crimes and racial profiling, there has been a continuous stream of factors preventing the realization of an equal American society. While it is true that great strides have been made to correct the social and political inaccuracies, the harsh reality is that all these attempts are futile. Practices such as affirmative action and equal opportunity programs, are effective at leveling the playing field, however, they will never be able to make it completely equal. White privilege and its social consequences represent one of the main reasons why equality is unattainable. Ideally, the destruction of white privilege and the belief systems that support it could result in the formation of an equal nation. However, human beings have no available means to destroy this demon, and hope exists only in the attempts at minimizing the damage to our country. Furth ermore, natural inclinations towards competition make inequality unavoidable. White privilege is a system that amasses to whites' greater wealth and resources. It also lends them access to a higher quality of justice, services, and capital than other racial groups. Simultaneously, white privilege has resulted in impoverishment and injustice for the vast majority of racial minorities. White privilege is more than a set of attitudes or individual opinions; it is a comprehensive framework of policies, practices, institutions, and cultural norms that influence every aspect of American society. Being white constitutes a powerful asset in the United States and globally. Using William Ryan’s theories on equality, white privilege represents a major discrepancy in his â€Å"Fair Play† perspective. If, as he sees it, individuals are all afforded the same rights with regard to â€Å"pursuing happiness,† then it is inevitabl... Free Essays on Equality Throughout time, we, as humans, have come up with a myriad of ways to discriminate against one another. As we go along we find something we don’t like about a certain group of individuals, we segregate them and shun them publicly, then after a while someone disagrees with what is happening, and eventually we slowly change our laws to accept and protect this group. Race, skin color, religious beliefs, economical status, national origin, people with disabilities, all different ways we have originally thought were things to spurn and reject, and then decide to make our equals. Most recently, homosexuality has become yet another way for us to discriminate. Can we see a trend forming? The current matter at hand is whether gays should be allowed to be married and have the same rights and privileges as a heterosexual married couple. â€Å"Under a 1996 law, the federal government does not recognize gay marriages,† (MSNBC). Though this is federal law, changes can be made by individual states. The state of Vermont has made a law that recognizes same-sex civil unions. â€Å"The key difference between civil unions and marriage is that benefits from civil unions would stop at the Massachusetts border while rights from marriage would extend across the country - giving gay couples equality under federal laws for taxes, health and retirement benefits, among other areas,† (MSNBC). On Tuesday, the highest court in the state of Massachusetts ruled that same-sex couples are allowed to wed, but would not issue them a marriage license. â€Å"The Supreme Judicial Court’s 4-3 ruling ordered the Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days,† (M SNBC). It seems when you are being discriminated against, everywhere you turn, and one thing just lead to another and you really can’t get anywhere. It turns out that only in some states it is illegal to reject a couple for housing if they cannot provide a marriage license. This is not a law that was cr...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Supercharge your resume in 30 minutes or less

Supercharge your resume in 30 minutes or less Okay, so you already know you should spend lots of quality time honing your resume, lovingly crafting the masterpiece that will get you your next job. Resumes benefit from time and editing. But reality doesn’t always give us the time we’d like, and sometimes you need to produce a great resume on short notice. Maybe it’s been a while since you updated and an awesome new job opening has popped up, or maybe someone in your network has mentioned that hey, there’s this new job that would be perfect for you- can you submit you resume today? Whatever the time crunch is, it means you have to produce something solid without much notice. So what do you do when you want to spruce up your resume but you don’t have much time at all? Don’t panic†¦it’s doable! Let’s walk through some of the best things you can do to supercharge your resume in no time flat.Choose a format- and stick to it.If you had more time, you could play with different formats and see what works best for your skills and experience. No time for that today, so choose your path quickly.If you have a lot of work experience in your field: Go with the traditional reverse-chronological format, where you put your work experience section prominently up front and work backwards through your jobs.Here’s an example of how your resume can look if you want your experience to be the most prominent feature:Jenny Smith21 Jump StreetEvanston, IL 12121JSmith45@emaildomain.comExperienced Store ManagerQUALIFICATIONS SUMMARYStore manager with more than 10 years experience.Creative, innovative team leader with proven results.Exceeded sales goals by more than 15%, three years in a row.WORK EXPERIENCEBig Box Store ‘R Us, 2013 – presentStore ManagerManage a busy Chicago branch of a national department store chain.Lead a team of 60+ employees.Improved in-store sales by 10% in 2017, 9% in 2016, and 8.5% in 2015.In this example, Jenny goes straight for t he emphasis on her work history, and her results.If you are inexperienced, or just starting out in the field: Go with a skills-based format, where you lead right into a skills summary that relates directly to the job you’re applying for.Here’s an example of how your resume can look if you want your experience to be the most prominent feature:Kai Burns1 Main StreetLos Angeles, CA 12312KaiBurns@emaildomain.comDisciplined, enthusiastic recent grad seeking a marketing role at X Corp.SKILLS SUMMARYSocial media expertise (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)Demonstrated leadership on team projectsStrong written and verbal communication skillsIn this example, Kai leads with her skills, because she’s a recent grad and doesn’t yet have a ton of work experience or concrete professional results she can call out.Don’t reinvent the wheel.You’ve only got 30 minutes, so unless you’re really attached to the idea of creating a resume from scratch at breaknec k speed, work with something that already exists. That may be your current resume, but if it’s really outdated or not great then there are lots of pre-existing templates where you can drop in your information and go from there. Using a resume library template can be a major time-saver, especially when you’ve only got a few minutes.Focus on the short, sweet elements.You don’t have a lot of time to pore over your experience bullets, but you can spend your time making sure that some of the shorter, punchier parts of the resume are in good shape. For example, make sure you have an effective, attention-grabbing headline. Your headline helps you set the narrative yourself. And this is where having less time can work in your favor: you want to focus on the most important, relevant parts of yourself as an applicant for this particular job, without overthinking it too much.Similarly, a good summary can help you really focus on your most important strengths as a candidate and what you want to say in your resume.Use bold action words.You want your supercharged resume to be potent, not wordy, so it’s all about the word choice. Instead of using long bullet points to develop a point, use a targeted action verb to get the point across faster. It’s not only more effective, but also cuts down on your writing and editing time. Some examples of strong action verbs that look good on your resume:ChairedCoordinatedExecutedHeadedImplementedMaximizedOperatedOrchestratedOrganizedOutperformedOverhauledOversawPlannedProducedRedesignedStreamlinedSaying more by taking up less space is something you can do pretty quickly that has a big impact on the quality of your resume. You’re using your limited time to make sure that parts of your resume pop instead of using the same old verbs that pass unnoticed as a reader skims your resume.For more on how to punch up your verbs:5 Action Verbs That Will Energize Your ResumeHow to Create a Resume Packed with A ction WordsPowerful Action Verbs That Will Make Your Resume Look Like a Million BucksDon’t skimp on editing.The final proofread can be the first thing to go when you’re in a rush. It’s done, it needs to be out the door†¦it’s probably fine, right? Not so fast. If you’re only taking half an hour with your resume, make sure you slot five minutes at the end to do a careful read of the final doc before you hit send. Ideally, you’d have someone else look at it to make sure everything reads well and there are no glaring errors, but if you truly don’t have enough time to do that, use your own critical eye. You may only have half an hour to work on your resume, but you don’t want your resume to look like it.Make it look nice.Again, since you don’t have time for the deep resume dive, focus on as many of the aesthetics as you can. Is your layout clean and easy to read? Are there blocks of uninterrupted text that could be broke n into reader-friendly chunks? Is your resume free of odd formatting that might not work on a computer or device screen? A quick pass to make sure your resume looks appealing should be one of the last things you do before you send.Whether you’ve got 30 minutes or 300, you want to put out the best resume possible. After all, it can be your first step to a new job, and you want to make sure you’re presenting yourself in the best possible way. If you’re crunched for time, it’s important to accept that you don’t have time to finesse every detail- but you do have time to pick the most important points and shine them up so the reader never knows you had such a tight timeline.