The Political Career Of Richard Nixon :: biography Bio History Politics Nixon Essays

A few weeks after the United States entered World War II a young man named Richard Nixon went to Washington, D.C. In January 1942 he took a job with the Office of Price Administration. Two months later he applied for a Navy commission, and in September 1942 he was commissioned a lieutenant, junior grade. During much of the war he served as an operations officer with the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the war Nixon returned to the United States, where he was assigned to work on Navy contracts while awaiting discharge. He was working in Baltimore, Maryland, when he received a telephone call that changed his life. A Republican citizen's committee in Whittier was considering Nixon as a candidate for Congress in the 12th Congressional District. In December 1945 Nixon accepted the candidacy with the promise that he would "wage a fighting, rocking, socking campaign." Jerry Voorhis, a Democrat who had represented the 12th District since 1936, was running for reelection. Earlier in his career Voorhis had been an active Socialist. He had become more conservative over the years and was now an outspoken anti-Communist. Despite Voorhis' anti-Communist stand the Los Angeles chapter of the left-wing Political Action Committee (PAC) endorsed him, apparently without his knowledge or approval. The theme of Nixon's campaign was "a vote for Nixon is a vote against the Communist-dominated PAC." The approach was successful. On November, 5 1946, Richard Nixon won his first political election. The Nixons' daughter Patricia (called Tricia) was born during the campaign, on February 21, 1946. Their second daughter, Julie, was born July 5, 1948. As a freshman congressman, Nixon was assigned to the Un-American Activities Committee. It was in this capacity that in August 1948 he heard the testimony of Whittaker Chambers, a self-confessed former Communist espionage agent. Chambers named Alger Hiss, a foreign policy advisor during the Roosevelt years, as an accomplice while in government service. Hiss, a former State Department aide, asked for and obtained a hearing before the committee. He made a favorable impression, and the case would then have been dropped had not Nixon urged investigation into Hiss's testimony on his relationship with Chambers. The committee let Nixon pursue the case behind closed doors. He brought Chambers and Hiss face to face. Chambers produced evidence proving that Hiss had passed State Department secrets to him. Among the exhibits were rolls of microfilm which Chambers had hidden in a pumpkin on his farm near Westminster, Md., as a precaution against theft. On December 15, 1948, a New York federal grand jury indict ed Hiss for perjury.

Reconsidering Harcourt in Wycherley’s The Country Wife Essay -- Wycher

Reconsidering Harcourt in Wycherley’s The Country Wife Wycherley’s The Country Wife opens on Horner, the lead, telling his physician about his plan to change his reputation from that of a rake (promiscuous man-about-town) to that of a eunuch in order to gain access to women without anyone knowing. He withholds this plan from everyone but the doctor, who becomes his accomplice by spreading the rumor of Horner’s impotence to the gossipiest women in London. Horner’s sex life constitutes two of the three main plots, in both of which he gains access to a married woman and cuckolds her husband. He comes close to being found out but narrowly escapes discovery when the women of the play and the doctor reaffirm his condition, thus persuading the cuckolded husbands that they have not been made cuckolds. The other plot involves Harcourt, Horner’s best friend, who falls in love with and immediately proposes to Alithea when Sparkish, the would-be wit whom she is arranged to marry, introduces them in an attempt to make Harc ourt jealous and thus win his approval. Harcourt then spends the rest of the play making failed attempts to win Alithea away from Sparkish. In the end, Horner’s plots intersect with Harcourt’s, and Horner slanders Alithea to keep his affairs secret. Sparkish had kept Alithea’s loyalty because ostensibly he was not jealous and seemed to trust her, but he believes what Horner says about Alithea without waiting to hear her defense and shows that he is not really who she thought he was, nor did he ever really care about her. Harcourt, on the other hand, defends her honor and trusts her, despite the slander, and once again offers marriage. Alithea, who had fallen for Harcourt but had to keep her feelings secret, is now free t... ...and his insistence on ignoring Alithea’s warnings. I assume that Harcourt relies on this stupidity and is thus confident and in control. [26] Vieth 343. [27] As Ogden points out, â€Å"His [Horner’s] most serious mistake is to suppose Margery Pinchwife will share his uncomplicated view of sex.† Ogden xxiv. [28] See note 8. [29] See note 10. [30] Pat Gill argues that â€Å"Harcourt steps in to redeem Alithea from obloquy, claiming that his name and his word (his sign) will supply any lack she may have. Like Horner’s confident play with language, Harcourt’s deployment of his name to squelch rumors is a power maneuver, an assertion of dominance over the female domain of gossip.† Pat Gill, Interpreting Ladies: Women, Wit, and Morality in the Restoration Comedy of Manners (Athens: U of Georgia P, 1994) 69. [31] Hume 14-5. [32] Canfield 254. [33] Hume 15-23.

Essay --

‘Some years ago everyone lived perfectly fine without a smart phone or tablet, but now people suddenly ‘need’ to have one!’ Most people will have heard someone say this or something similar before. And it seems to be true at first sight, smart phones and tablet are now more a normal good than a luxury good. The implication is that marketing artificially creates needs. In this essay we will discuss the question if marketing really does. We will discuss this question from the point of view of a producer or product designer. It will appear there is another side to the story. But what exactly are needs? ‘Needs are the basic human requirements for air, good, water, clothing and shelter. Humans also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment.’ (Kotler & Keller, 2012) Since needs are basic human requirements, they are in the nature of mankind. Therefore they cannot be created by marketers. But why do people think marketing does create needs? Because they confuse needs with wants. Needs are not specific objects. The specific objects are wants, and they can satisfy the need. (Kotler & Keller, 2012) The needs already exist, marketing develops products that fulfill those needs. (Meredith, 2008) But people may not be aware of their needs, and therefore think that marketing has created a new need, but what marketing has actually done, is uncovering the need, by providing a product that satisfied the need. The need already existed, and marketers found a product that responds to it. Identifying needs and providing a product that sat isfies the needs is the main business of marketing, that is why marketing is used. Business is basically identifying and serving customer’s needs at a profit. (Meredith, When Leaders Don't Lead, ... ...d society do. So if you ever hear someone complain about needs that are created by marketers, those people just didn’t know they had that need. Bibliography (n.d.). Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). A framework form marketing management (5th ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Meredith, B. (2002, February). Awesomely Disquieting. NZ Business, 16(1), 47. Meredith, B. (2005, December). When Leaders Don't Lead. NZ Business, 19(11), 70. Meredith, B. (2008, September). (How) marketing has changed. NZ Business, 22(8), 102. Pereira Heat, M. T., & Chatzidakis, A. (2012). 'Blame it on marketing': consumer's views on unsustainable competition. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 36, 661. Vidal Diaz, d. R. (1998). A single consumer or different types of consumers: An analysis of social types according to their customer habits. Brithish Food Journal, 100(7), 326.

A letter to Dr. King

I hereby write this letter to emphasize on the step that you have taken that will make a great history to the American society and on the social issues that are highlighted in the letter.Being the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) you have the mandate and authority to talk on the injustice which is developing in many states like Birmingham. It is known that injustice is a threat to justice everywhere and this should provide a reason for your actions. More so, we should understand that whatever affects one affects all of us because we are tied in a single garment of destiny.There are many demonstrations going on at Birmingham that should be taken care off by first collecting the facts on whether injustices exist or the use of direct action, all this involves a non-violent action. This city is mostly segregated in United States with the Negros receiving unjust treatments in the courts. This is even worse as many homes for the Negros have experienced more bombings which even extend to their churches.These demonstrations are more so necessary at this moment because of the trend of economy. This is the time when there shall be a strong economic withdrawal program as a result of the direct action, the time when the merchants shall be in need for change.It is necessary to put direct and indirect action towards demonstrations in Birmingham because; this can create a situation that can bring about an open door for negotiation. More so still the Birmingham administration shall not be allowed to act because it must first be prodded before it starts to act. From the past, it has been seen that there has not been any gain without using a determined legal and nonviolent pressures. Therefore, there is need to get engaged in the direct-action campaign because we know that justice that is delayed too long is simply justice denied.The American community has waited for a long duration without having the constitutional and God-given rights which mean s there is a slow down in gaining political independence. Therefore, people have increased their anxiety to break laws which are unjust. This is because of the existence of two types of laws which are just and unjust laws. Unjust laws are those that degrade the human personality like the segregated statutes or just arresting a charge of parading without permit which is used for example to maintain segregation and deny citizens a peaceful assembly and protest.Another major social concern that you expressed in the letter is recognition of the importance of law in a country. That is it exists in order to establish justice and that if violated we are likely to become a dam that is dangerously structured for the purpose of blocking social progress. I certainly do not support this because the whites seem to have a low regard of the existence of law.This is the main limiting factor to establishment of justice in the legal systems. It has however been expected that the oppressor race shall be at least understand the needs of the oppressed race which is just but a dream a reason as to why the oppressed should be strong, persistent and determined for action.I still feel that the church has some inner strong power to take care of the oppressed race which has been an inverse in the present times. But lack of will has made it weak and has had an ineffectual voice that is unable to perform its duties.

Dynamic Earth Essay

Has the Earth been static since the beginning of time? Well, Earth hasn’t been moving vigorously but it is changing at a steady rate. New geological features, rock formations, and locations of plates all rise and demolish some in a lifetime and others over a span of millions of years. Earth is dynamic; it constantly progresses and doesn’t rest. Through the churns and molds, the twists and turns, Earth is active because of plate tectonics and the rock cycle. The ideas and theories that make up plate tectonics have shown Earth’s dynamism. The position of plates on global maps didn’t always look similar to the maps shown today. 250 million years ago, there existed a super continent, Pangea, which contained all land masses on Earth. Before plate tectonics, people thought the plates were always in the same position; no one could explain how such a large mass could move. It split up some 200 million years ago but scientists recently accepted this idea of moving plates; continental drift. Even more recent was the idea of sea-floor spreading, the explanation for continental drift. These ideas merged to create what is now known as plate tectonics. In fact, it is more than likely that Earth will resemble Pangea in the future. The ideas that were brought up could easily have been within a person’s lifetime. Volcanoes and earthquakes are also common because of plate tectonics. There are about 500,000 earthquakes and hundreds of minor volcanic eruptions each year caused by the frequent interaction between plates. Plate tectonics are a major piece of evidence for the changing planet. The transformations that occur through the rock cycle have also shown Earth’s dynamism. The rock cycle describes the dynamic transitions that the three main types of rock undergo without any definitive order. A metamorphic rock will not always stay a metamorphic rock; it can turn into a sedimentary rock through weathering and erosion then compaction and cementation or an igneous rock through melting and cooling of magma. For example, the Andes Mountains were formed by the transformations of metamorphic and sedimentary rock. It began to take its present form about 80 to 100 million years ago. Even though the process for change is prolonged, it takes place nonetheless. The rocks we see today may be different millions of years into the future. Basically, nothing is ever set in stone or rather, rock. In conclusion, Earth’s dynamism is shown through plate tectonics and the rock cycle. It is constantly changing despite the slow rate. The features that are visible today won’t be there forever. Volcanoes that were once active will cease to erupt and continents that were once separated by water will be glued together. Beautiful rock formations will be torn down by the violent planet that is Earth. Due to the changing Earth, our understanding changes with it. Scientists constantly come up with new information to prove an idea or counter a theory. The winds of change are coming, can you feel it?

Political Science link with English Essay

Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to provide the reader a clear understanding on the political views on estrangement. This will further be discussed by comparing and also contrasting the different views of Aristotle and Hobbe. And how might each of these philosophers have analyzed the problems on Pitcairn Island. Political Science link with English It is very common to all of us that when we decide on something, we sometimes immediately knew what we would prefer or choice and then we decide from it. This is common in the sense that every one of us has our own personal judgment, even sometimes we have the same decision with others, but the reason why we have decided it is different from that person. But, there are still other people that just tend to follow decisions and would not anymore would want to expand his mind in thinking why he needs to decide ion such things, but in fact we all been given that luxury of making up our mind on the decisions we want to have. This is also part of the key areas that will be focus on in this paper the political vision of estrangement. This will be further be discussed and explained in this paper through the different views of two famous philosophers: Aristotle and Hobbe. These two well respected philosophers will provide their own views which will eventually the basis of what was used at in the present. Lastly, these two philosophers will also be presented in this paper on how they have analyzed the problem in the Pitcairn Island. Estrangement just like a choice or decision refers to disunity due to following of different ideology. In true human reflection, this usually happens in politics, where there is always disunity that is happening. One for the administration and the other is for the opposition, or it can also be divided into majority group and the minority group. Estrangement is very evident and was said to be beneficial in an organization because this is the only way that it strikes the balance. Balance that would help like for example the government through disagreements made by the different sector of government. Or public upheaval that was initiated due to certain idea and belief that no balance of attention is given to staffs or employees in a company instead what happened was favoritism and lack of respect to others. Estrangement actually may not be present to humans, only if we have leaders who will stand for peace and equal rights across all groups, but this remains to be an ideal vision only and still people tends to work his own liberated way of thinking and pursue on what he or she desires. Take for instance people that are successful, even though they succeeded in life they lack relationship and that starts for finding somebody to compensate the sadness. Then this results to separation from the main ideology of the family. For the English philosopher, Hobbe, estrangement has a lot to do with human life, in the sense that every man is against other man, there are no central government that overrules this ideology and man should not find luxury instead grief in keeping company. Life is such a state which was considered a famous political theory that man should know his state and act on it. For Hobbe, there are two main levels of estrangement: the first level and that refers to the surface is psychological, which means that humans are estranged because they have egos to feed in and this is because they always think that they have to preserved their lives more and always the most important one. The second one is prestige and wealth and this may not be possible to achieve without practicing power. This is the most common standard of human life that every one of us will do anything just to succeed in what we do. But this also creates a person to be more selfish and self-centered. (Adler, Ronald and Russell, Proctor II, 2006, pp. 23-27). For Aristotle, it was an opposing view of Hobbe, and he said that human beings are essentially united. As the founder of political science, he made this belief more popular these days than that of Hobee. That there are more progress and developments that can happen if people work together as one. He even considered during the emergence of the city-state in the Greece, he finds views that for humans not considering in the involvement of exchanging ideas and beliefs are only those who can classifies themselves either Gods or beast. He even strongly stated that regardless of your status in the society, like slave, laborers or artisans, you can still allow to unite with different groups since you also bear the same ideology and principle. This principle or belief was then been carried on for years and it was very beneficial in war as people can easily know the greater importance of unity instead of working individually. (Adler, Ronald and Russell, Proctor II, 2006, pp. 28-29). But the main focal point is that does human beings are estranged in essence. Based on the two philosophers, it is hard to mention what is more effective; instead it is more on the faith of the individual that counts the most. That is contrasting the two different ideology has its own personal purpose, humans should strike the balance. In other words both have its own main advantage provided it will be used appropriately. In the Pitcairn Island novel, it was obviously a cast of different personality at the beginning, most specially for Christian, who always finds it interesting working alone but still effectively contributing to the team. Unlike McCoy, Smith, John and Martin, preferred more to work as a team and having to work in a more focus but more collaborative way is essential. In this novel, following Aristotle’s ideology would be easier, it was shown here that even after a little uprising happens that divides the followers, still there are loyal followers that remains and still succeeded in reaching its goal in arriving to Pitcairn Island. Unlike for Hobbe’s ideology it can still be helpful but instead of addressing the team as one, what he will do is to work each and every member and that will take much of his time and the time for his team to coordinate at one another, even though a higher efficiency for each individual will be achieved but the team work will suffer and in that time that is more important as there was already an uprising that happens. This is truly a call for leadership and unity for the team in the ship. The only used for Hobbe’s principle is for its leader of the ship, which he needs to look more on how he can find and implement rules more effectively and from there is that to establish the principle of Aristotle’s unity in achieving the over-all vision of the team. (Nordhoff, Charles and Hall, James Norman. (Nordhoff, Charles and Hall, James Norman, 1962, pp. 3-71). Work Cited Page Adler, Ronald and Russell, Proctor II. Looking Out, Looking In., US: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006. Nordhoff, Charles and Hall, James Norman. Pitcairn Island., Boston, USA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1962. Work Cited Bassman, E. (1992). Abuse in the Workplace: Management Remedies and Bottom Line Impact. Westport, CT: Stourum Press, 1992.

Luxury Market in China Essay

China is positioned to become the world’s largest luxury market in five years and a study by Datamonitor reported China’s luxury goods market was worth $9. 4billion by the end of 2009, which accounted for 27. 5% of the world’s luxury goods market. [1] They also predict that by 2015, China’s market will be valued at $14. 6billion. The main driver of this growth in the luxury gods market is the extreme wealth creation that China has experiences in the past ten years as its GDP has grown 10% annually on average, which is three times more than the global GDP. Investment Week quotes a recent World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini stating that there are 477,000 Chinese millionaires and China is also leading the world with the number of billionaires (Investment week. [2]) The combination of the staggering growth of the Chinese economy creating such great private wealth and the political and social evolution China has gone through over the last 30 years has created a tidal wave of opportunity for luxury retailers. Politically, China has gone through many changes over the last thirty years that has primed the economy and citizens for a surge in individualism and the pride in the ability to afford and purchase luxury goods. In 1976 Mao Zedong passed away and in 1979 the One Child Policy was introduced and applied by China’s new leader, Deng Xiaoping. China’s population was growing at an alarming rate and in order to curb this growth rate, Chinese were limited to having one child per household. Fast-forward thirty years and these only children, who have been raised by 6 parents, has created a â€Å"little emperor† mentality where their every desire it met, and is recently being satiated by Western goods. They now have buying power and they are spending it on high priced goods. The choices and options available today are a stark contrast to the limitations their parents experienced thirty years prior in a vastly different political time. Socially, China has always been a country deeply embedded in traditions such as gift giving, saving face and the respect for the hierarchal society. These traditions all stem from â€Å"guanxi,† the all-important notion of relationships, which is what drives business and social status. The culture of relationships is paramount for being successful in China so the combination of mass wealth and the traditions all surrounding Guanxi has attributed to the exponential growth of the luxury market in China. Although the Chinese have been known to be a culture of saving, the tides have shifted and the 20-30 something’s have created a society of excessive spending due to extravagant purchases to support their new tastes as well as these traditions. The new breed of buyers are young and are embracing their freedom to purchase in their capitalistic society, which is a far cry from their parents socialist upbringing. Therefore both social and political changes have created this perfect storm of excess, which is fueling the luxury good market in China and for many years to come. Mao Zedong, the leader of China from 1949 until his death in 1976 is still regarded as a controversial figure but his rule and communist policies molded the beliefs of many parents and grandparents living in China today. Under Mao’s rule there was no individualism and consumption was controlled. Mao is regarded as a great leader in China as he is thought to have laid the groundwork for China becoming the great power that it is today as a result of his leadership of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. While he did create the building blocks for present day China, he has been compared to communist leaders like Hitler and Stalin. He urged citizens to reject capitalism and even at one point â€Å"proposed the Socialist Education Movement (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the temptations of feudalism and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside. †[3] The citizens living in these times are now parents and while their lifestyles are very conservative, they are raising children in a very different political environment. Their children didn’t have a communist ruler and therefore have different views on modesty and consumption. While there is still a strict focus on studying and discipline, the focus on success and showing that you are successful has been morphed into an obsession with Western brands showing pride in ones accomplishments. Even as young children the Western culture is quite alluring, with children asking to be rewarded for good grades by going to McDonalds as we were told by one of the speakers. Today in China, people are who they wear. Even as Nicole from LVMH mentioned, the Chinese are obsessed with showing that they are wearing designer brands that you will see some wearing clothes and sunglasses with the tags still on them to show who the designer is. These â€Å"nouveau riche† are the products of parents who didn’t have any choices and now they are embarrassing their freedom to chose. Forbes reported â€Å"the average Chinese luxury consumer will spend roughly 11% of her income on luxury handbags along. †[4] They also go on to say that these consumers are â€Å"highly educated and highly motivated to identify products that will complement his or her individuality and rising power. †4 Parents of these kids weren’t allowed to have individuality, but now their children are not only wanting it but also seeking it with huge spending power. Spending 11% of your income on a luxury bag shows the emotional and mental bond to these luxury items. In the US simply to qualify for a loan for a mortgage, your total debt can’t be more than 45% of your income. To think that a quarter of that goes towards handbags alone not even included likely purchases like luxury cars, wines etc makes me think if this type of spending is going to be sustainable for the Chinese market. In China, there were many nice cars, but I didn’t think that perhaps these people are driving cars they can’t afford. I am used to the United States where living on credit is a way of life, but this takes it to a whole new level. The millionaires are able to afford this, but if a middle class person is spending such a high percentage of her income on something like handbags, its going to create an economy where nobody can afford to buy a house and retirement is never attainable. One of the Bentley students that sat with us at lunch mentioned that she wanted to buy a house but that she couldn’t without her parent’s financial support due to the 50%-70% down payment required. She and most young people are lucky that their parents have saved and will be able to help them, but for those in the younger generation who aren’t saving won’t be able to help their kids and there might be a whole future generation who can never afford to own property. These younger generations parents grew up in a communist and socialist society, where there isn’t the ability to care about status, but status and luxury has now become the currency in China. The millionaires in China are younger with an average age of 39. [5] These young millionaires enjoy showing their status with nice things from great bottles of wine, cars to handbags. They are achieving success and are looking to reward themselves with nice things, which also shows status among their peers. A report on the watch market, mentioned that men â€Å"need a watch of a certain quality to be part of the social circle. †[6] The need to show status and create a sense of belonging in a social group has become so apparent that retailers are taking notice and even creating products specifically for the Chinese buyer. Mercedes Benz is even making a car with a longer wheelbase for the Chinese businessmen who are chauffeured around and need to have more room in the back which is a big difference from the rest of the world where carmakers are creating smaller cars that consume less energy and are more economical. [7] The retailers and manufacturers of world are taking note that the new Chinese buyer is very different from their parents given all of the political changes of the past few decades. While the political changes are one factor in the shift of buying trends, policy has also been a great factor and one specifically is the One Child Policy, which was introduced in 1979. This policy has created what many call, the â€Å"Little Emperor† society as a result of one child being raised by 6 parents (on immediate and two sets of grandparents. ) These children have grown up being catered to and supported by six people and now their wants and needs are changing, as they get older. Where as their parents likely gave them the best they could afford, these 20 and 30 something’s are becoming obsessed with Western brands, which cost a premium. Even with a 30% import tax, individuals who grew up getting what they wanted are buying these Western luxury brands, at times spending their entire months salary on a handbag. Although their parents had a culture of saving, this new generation tastes for highly taxed Western goods to show status has greatly changed this cultural norm. For this generation to keep up with their friend, they have forgone the notion of saving in replacement of a life full of luxury goods with no savings. I spoke to Mico about this on the bus and she mentioned that her friends spend all of their money on luxury goods and there’s now a saying in Chinese that means that you spend all of your money that you make that month. She mentioned that buying fakes is a faux pas and that they only buy the real things, which is what leads to them spending all of their money. She noted that this was very different from the upbringing of her parents who were brought up saving almost 40% of their money. In the popular market that we went to in Shanghai, there were almost no Chinese in there and when we asked Mico if she went to the market to get knockoffs, she said that knockoffs’ were â€Å"so three years ago. † It quickly became apparent why That is there where Chinese people in the markets; they are in the real stores buying the real thing. In the streets it was quite apparent that everyone had designer bags and clothing on, but this was mainly in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou. In Xi’an there was still a feeling of communism, everything was still grey and there weren’t many people sporting their designer clothes. The opportunity right now is in the 1s tier cities and many retailers are trying to expand to the 2nd and 3rd tier cities. The opportunity in China purely based on the enormous populations in these cities. The first focus for the retailers were the tier 1 cities and now the 2nd and 3rd tier cities will be paramount for companies to sustain this continued growth. While political changes have made way for the change in buying and spending trends of young Chinese buyers, tradition has maintained an important part of the culture across all generations of Chinese and the luxury market surge has been fueled by these traditions. Guanxi, the focus on relationships as part of the Chinese culture has many components, one of which is the value of gift giving as a sign of respect. Gift giving is a huge part of Chinese culture, most prominent around the Chinese New Year, but a very large part of life socially and professionally year round. According to the authors of the book â€Å"The Cult of the Luxury Brand,† â€Å"quanxi†¦is the single biggest factor spurring the growth of luxe in China. †[8] When you give a gift to someone in China, it means you are thanking him or her for helping you but also solidifies your â€Å"guanxi† with them and continues the future relationship. Luxury items are now raising the bar in gift giving as recipients truly appreciate the luxury gifts and merchants have reported â€Å"frantic levels of spending† 8 all at once by shoppers who are looking to purchase gifts for their business partners and friends. The culture of saving face plays into this as well since the more luxurious the gift, the better. If you are looking to show great gratitude and â€Å"save face† then you will purchase a luxury item as a gift. In business face is extremely important so even Western brands are also learning this culture of gift giving, as they know the importance of partners in their business so they are making sure to take care of them by giving great gifts. In addition to the culture of gift giving that has fueled the luxury market growth, the culture of hierarchal respect has also attributed to this. Many Chinese of the younger generation believe that luxury products â€Å"mark where you have traveled up to but they also give you permission to continue succeeding. †[9] In a culture where you are competing with so many people and success is so important, it’s easy to see how luxury products represent achieving a certain social status and also denotes the fact that you will stay in that status. As Nicole from LVMH was speaking to us she noted that there are usually 40-50 students in each classroom. Students from an early age learn to be one in a large crowd, but as they get older and look to prove to the world what they have accomplished, and they use designer goods to reflect their status. The irony of this is that one would think that after growing up being one in a crowd, one would think that they would want to show status and individuality, but the items they purchase to show their status is exactly what their peers have chosen, which is likely a Louis Vuitton handbag. For instance, although it was quite conducive to the weather, when we were in China, every single person had Ugg boots on. In the US while Ugg is a popular brand, there are many more brands being worn, as there are many more tastes expressed by individuals. It was very interesting to see that there was a proliferation of a small number of brands, namely Louis Vuitton, as I came to quickly realize that the Chinese want to wear brands that are recognizable. While they are moving towards a more individualistic society, their tendency to be one of a group is still quite prominent. They do value the luxury brands to show status, but their need to be part of a group, albeit a high status group, is still quite unmistakable in the sea of Gucci and Louis Vuitton purses that were worn like a badge of honor by the women of China. The trip to China was quite eye-opening form the perspective of a Westerner who is used to a more modest lifestyle with an abundance of variety. The flashy cars and purses were immediately apparent from Beijing through Shanghai, but as I sit here thinking about the political and social changes that China has gone through in the past few decades, I only with I was smart enough to somehow capitalize on this. China is a fascinating country to visit given its great history and culture that is evident today, but it’s also great to have visited a country that is still going through many changes and evolving at such a rapid rate. While the rest of the world is clearly evolving, China is doing so at an exponentially quicker rate than most and that was quite clear with the sea of cranes in every city putting up buildings everywhere. I do believe that culture will always be a part of the Chinese people and lifestyle, but it will be interesting to see when this locomotive of luxury obsession begins to ebb or if China will meet its own credit crunch in the coming years given the drastic change in spending habits that the younger generations have adopted. [1] â€Å"Chinese appetite for premium products growing despite slowing economic activity. † Datamonitor July 20010, English ed. : 16. Print. [2] Andrea Gerst and Scilla Huang Sun, â€Å"China’s passion for luxury goods increases,† Investment Week, September 6, 2010. [3] â€Å"Cultural China,†http://history. cultural-china. com/en/46H9449H13452. html [4] Evelyn Rusli, â€Å"What Chinese Shoppers Want,† Forbes, March 8, 2010. [5] Andrea Gerst and Scilla Huang Sun, â€Å"China’s passion for luxury goods increases,† Investment Week, September 6, 2010. [6] Florent Bondoux, â€Å"Luxury watches find booming market in China,† Media, September 10, 2009, 17. [7] â€Å"Lengthened Mercedes-Benz E-Class to hit Chinese shores† http://www. benzinsider. com/2010/04/lengthened-mercedes-benz-e-class-to-hit-chinese-shores/ [8] â€Å"China Luxury,† http://app1. hkicpa. org. hk/APLUS/0710/p24_29. pdf [9] â€Å"Is China’s Luxury Goods Market a ‘Pot of Gold’ for Marketers? † Knowledge at Wharton, assessed July 27, 2007, http://english. cri. cn/2946/2007/07/27/199@254317. htm.