Abortion Essays (670 words) - Human Pregnancy, Midwifery

Abortion Essays (670 words) - Human Pregnancy, Midwifery Abortion Wim Van de Keere English comp I Prof. Fjordbotten A matter of life and death About 29 years ago, Norma McCorvey, who then adopted the pseudonym Jane Roe, became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit to challenge the strict anti-abortion laws in Texas. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which handed down its controversial ruling on January 22, 1973. The decision legalized abortion in all fifty states and sparked a sociopolitical debate that remains charged to this day. However, McCorvey never had an abortion and eventually gave away the child for adoption. In 1995, she converted to Christianity and became a fervent adversary of abortion. The woman who had fought for women to have the freedom to decide what to do with their bodies came to see pro-abortionists as killers. Lets first take a look at some of the circumstances in which people may decide to abort a child. I think its a misconception to think that people will only opt for abortion in cases of unplanned parenthood. Todays technology enables us to see at a very early stage of the pregnancy if the baby is in good health. If tests show that something is wrong and that the baby will never be able to survive or will only grow to be a certain age, parents often have a very difficult decision to make. In these cases, I think that parents definitely have the right to opt for abortion. I find it sad that, while those people go through a living hell, they are judged for their actions, often by people who obviously havent been in their situation and judge them as killers who took an innocent life. Its far more complex than that. Unwanted pregnancies remain the main reason to opt for abortion. Here again, the matter is very complex and there isnt a solution that is valid in every situation. If the pregnancy is the result of rape or sexual abuse, there should be no discussion. The victim has the right to choose for abortion. Mostly, unwanted pregnancies are the result of unsafe sex. In these cases, I feel that the mother has the right to decide what she is going to do with the baby, as young men often dont want to take the responsibility for their actions. If they do, then the couple should decide together. An important aspect of the decision is financial security. If you decide to have the child, you have to be certain that you will be able provide clothes and food for it. If not, I think that abortion is an acceptable solution. Hopefully, these young people will have learnt a valuable lesson from this predicament. The support of parents - or lack thereof - also plays an important role in the decision-making process. If they are supportive and want to help the young mother to the best of their abilities, the decision becomes a lot easier. I dont think, however, that abortion should be seen as some kind of safety valve. People confronted with unwanted pregnancies shouldnt think that they can have sex without contraceptives and if they get pregnant, theyll just have the fetus aborted. Thats a totally wrong and regrettable mentality that I see too often among young people nowadays. And if not to prevent pregnancy, they should at least use contraceptives to prevent attracting STDs. Undoubtedly, there will always be people who are in favor of abortion and others who are against it. Religious beliefs will keep playing an important role in the debate. However, I dont think that people who opt for abortion should be seen as killers. If you are not sure that you will be able to provide a secure future for the child or if the pregnancy is a result of sexual abuse, there are sufficient grounds for abortion. I feel that people who do opt for abortion shouldnt be judged for their actions. To form an opinion of people, one should have all the facts. Unfortunately, that is often not the case.

The Arts and Crafts movement Essay Example

The Arts and Crafts movement Essay Example The Arts and Crafts movement Paper The Arts and Crafts movement Paper In this essay I will describe the Arts and Crafts movement and how it evolved. It began during a period of unrest within Britain in the post-industrial revolution times. The movement served to bring basic crafts, which we take to be artist skills today, to a level of the fine arts of painting. We accept that crafts such as textiles, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery making and woodwork are large areas of art on the same level as painting and sculpture. This did not occur however until the late nineteenth century when the Arts and Crafts movement began. The major influences on this movement were the writings of William Morris and John Ruskin. Not only did this movement do this wonderful thing for the art world it also introduced new themes such as the study of the ancient art of different civilisations such as Japanese, Islamic, and Celtic. The Arts and Crafts movement began around the 1870s and 80s mainly in England. It later filtered into Ireland, the United States and continental Europe. It is not a movement of artists but of architects, jewellery makers, ceramicists and as a whole craftsmen. It was an attempt to reunite the artist and the craftsman. At the time industrialisation was in full swing and many household objects were being made in factories by machines. Art had gotten to the stage where it was experiencing the decorative excesses of the nineteenth century and works became a mismatch of styles resulting in them being overly flamboyant and vulgar1. The Arts and Crafts movement cannot be isolated to one specific style as it can be exotic and precious or homely and plain, however, there must be evidence of hand craftsmanship2. The movement served to raise the status of furniture, textiles, metalwork and ceramics from household items to works of art. The period was one of great prosperity and even complacency3. Artists and writers were increasingly dissatisfied with the aims and methods of the art that pleased the public4. There was a search for return to simplicity, quiet beauty and honesty of construction5. Critics of the time were unhappy with the ugliness and inequalities of industrialisation6. Proportion, simplicity of form, fitness for purpose, honesty to materials, the revival of lost craft techniques and the enhancement of natural textures are all elements which, added to hand-craftsmanship, combined to create the Arts and Crafts style7. The period had begun to see things like chairs being mass-produced and all looking the same because a machine had manufactured them with precision and to a given setting. There was no evidence of individuality compared to a carpenters craftsmanship. The character achieved by hand making an object is lost with no evidence of mistakes or flaws in the object. The new movement latched onto the ideal of a society regenerated by the values and skills of craftsmanship8. The workshop was seen as a more harmonious humanitarian place than the factories. With the movement came a desire for novelty or the exotic. This saw craftsmen looking to new areas for inspiration. These areas included the cultures of the west, countries such as Japan. The writings of John Ruskin and William Morris greatly influenced the movement. Ruskin and Morris had hoped that the regeneration of art could be brought about by a return to medieval conditions9. William Morris (1834 96) was an English craftsman, painter, poet, and socialist. He was educated at oxford10. He was an apprentice to an architect and in his spare time he wrote, modelled clay, sculpted wood and stone, illuminated manuscripts, and embroidered11. In 1861 he set up a company called Morris and Co. and they produced wallpaper, textiles, stained glass, tapestries, and furniture12. He also studied under John Ruskin; an art historian who believed that true art was expression of mans pleasure in his work and upheld the medieval period as an ideal13. He also believed that the essence of a human is to produce and be creative in their work and to remove one serves to weaken the other. It was from Ruskin that Morris built up most of his views. Morris captured the basis of Ruskins views when he said that the art of any epoch must of necessity be the expression of its social life, and that the social life of the middle ages allowed the workman freedom of individual expression, which on the other hand our social life forbids him. 14 That is, the rise in industrialisation had prevented the expression of the worker to be part of the piece being created. This occurred because all human interaction with the object had been excluded from the process.

Green Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Green Power - Essay Example Furthermore Green Power is associated with a cleaner environment devoid of pollution. The Green energy sources include wind, solar, biomass and water. Renewable energy plants can provide a constant flow of power which can be the greatest realization for humanity. Presently this is not the case. There is a clarion call across the world for the adoption of Green energy in a bid to conserve Mother Nature. Indeed, the call for these safer and non-pollutant forms of energy cannot really be emphasized. Several researches have demonstrated the great harm done across the world through the usage of oil and other forms of energy not classified under this category. In few countries across the world, Green Power contributes substantially toward the total national grid. However, in most countries, the consumption of green energy is still very limited to the extent of 2 to 5% for most developed countries. Such a trend worries considering that the world’s oil resources are running out at amazing rates. It certainly calls for alternative measures to be put in place in order to address the situation before issues go haywire. The greatest challenge facing the consumption of Green Power across the world is the already established infrastructure that serves the consumers. The incorporation of green energy into such infrastructures is normally a difficult affair. The centralized nature of most electricity grids in the world means that purchasing the Green energy from the producers becomes difficult. In the Netherlands, electricity companies are compelled to buy a given amount of the Green energy to supplement the national output and to serve clients who specifically opt for the green energy sources. The Green Power affair has become an important program across the world and people are called upon to join the bandwagon. Policy makers are giving many reasons on why such renewable sources of energy should greatly be adopted across the world. The amount of carbon

Ford Motor Group - Henry Ford Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ford Motor Group - Henry Ford - Lab Report Example Major points discussed in the report will be summarised at the end of the paper. 2.0 Findings Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and it specialised in manufacturing automobiles. The company rose to prominence when it invented the Ford T model which attracted a lot of customers after being launched in the market. This inspired the founder to use his entrepreneurial skills to devise strategies that could improve the production process of the vehicle so as to be in a better position to gain a competitive advantage over other players in this particular case. The report will analyse the strategies used by the founder in order to establish the extent to which they contributed to the success of the company. 2.1 Entrepreneurship Basically, the concept of entrepreneurship can be defined as the process of searching the business environment to identify business opportunities for improvement or start-up enterprises to mobilise resources as well as to implement actions to maximi se these opportunities (Bowler, 1996). To a larger extent, it can be said that entrepreneurship is learnt behaviour where it can be seen that profitable business opportunities are realised after carefully scanning the environment. It is important to determine the strong and weak points before starting up a business. Henry invented the Ford car and he did not end there. He went on further to devise strategies that were to improve the production of the vehicles. The success of Ford Motor Company can be attributed to the founder’s outstanding leadership skills as well as the capability to devise strategies that could improve productivity. Henry Ford displayed great entrepreneurship skills when he invented the Model T vehicle. For instance, in 1913, he turned his attention to improving the manufacturing process in order to help meet the growing demand for the Model T car (Ford Motor Corporation, 2013). He implemented the technique that allowed workers to stay in one place and per form the same task repeatedly and it soon became the standard of production in the automobile industry. According to its official website, the strategy of moving the assembly line proved tremendously efficient and it helped the company to surpass the production levels of its competitors by far while making its vehicles more affordable. 2.2 Marketing Marketing is defined as the process used by marketers to satisfy the needs of the people in a profitable manner (Lamb et al, 2008). Essentially, marketing is concerned with satisfying the needs of the customers with the aid of using various tools in meeting the marketing mixes. It is therefore the responsibility of an entrepreneur to adapt a marketing strategy that effectively utilises the marketing mix in order to appeal to the interests of a certain group of potential buyers in the market targeted. This can be done through the effective utilization of the marketing mix so as to be in a position to attract as many customers as possible. Ford Motor Company uses various marketing strategies in order to satisfy the needs of different customers. For instance, the product is designed to suit different needs of the customers. According to its official website, the company offers a wide range of hybrid cars and these are designed to appeal to the interests of as many people as possible. The company makes an effort to keep pace with the changing demands and tastes of the consumers with

Critically evaluate Hope and Fraser's (1997) arguments and the reasons Essay

Critically evaluate Hope and Fraser's (1997) arguments and the reasons for their arguments - Essay Example After ascertaining this, the limits of the budget follows. A budget, to be useful to a manager at any level, must reflect the organization pattern. When plans are complete and coordinated very well to fit into the departmental operations, the department budget becomes useful as an instrument of control. Budgeting, Hope and Fraser (1997:22) argue, should be dispensed with because it: "strengthens the vertical chain of command and control rather than empowering managers. It constrains rather than increases flexibility and responsiveness. It reinforces departmental barriers rather than encouraging knowledge-sharing across the organization. It makes people feel undervalued as 'costs to be minimized' rather than assets to be developed. And it is bureaucratic, internally focused and time-consuming." That is quite a diatribe. Yet, it seems from anecdotal and other evidence that budgeting remains 'alive and well' in most organizations. First, there is a risk of overdoing the budget by way of spelling out minor expenses in detail that deprive managers of the needed freedom in managing their units. For instance, a department head in a poorly budgeted company was hampered in a very important sales promotion because expenditures for office equipment exceeded budgetary estimates. Such being the same, the new expenditures had to ... Such being the same, the new expenditures had to be limited, even though his total expenses in his unit where within the budget and he had funds to pay personnel for writing sales promotional letters. In another case, a department's expenses were budgeted in such less important details that the actual budgeting cost of many items exceeded far the controlled expenses. Another risk may lie in allowing budgetary goals to become more important than the organizational goals. As mentioned by Fraser, budgeting strengthens the vertical chain of command and control rather than empowering managers. Managers, in their desire to keep within limits, might forget that they owe loyalty to the organization's ideals and objectives. In one organization with a budgetary control program, the sales department could not get needed information from the medical department on the ground that the latter's budget would not stand such expenses. This conflict exists perhaps because there is no proper coordination; and normally, these are symptoms of inadequate management. Plans constitute a supporting and interlocking network and every plan should be clearly in a budget. It is interesting to note that it is often common for managers to say that an idea is good but it is rejected because it is not within the budget. Sometimes, budgets often control the wrong things. They measure inputs but ignore outputs such as the quality of the product or customer satisfaction. These items may be difficult to measure; yet they may be the key to success or failure of the enterprise. Some managers may no invest in research and development or invest in activities that will result eventually in greater market share because these investments normally do not show immediate results. It is wiser

McDonald’s Environmental Issues

McDonald’s Environmental Issues Introduction There is evidence of corporate sustainability, which is a balance of economic, social, and environment as a necessity for business (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002). Additionally, companies caring about their environmental issue will not only benefit the environment but also the company itself. Consumers show preferences for green products and are willing to pay a premium price thus improve revenues (Peattie, 2001). While dealing with environmental impacts, corporates may find ways to reduce their costs and waste. Reputation could be earned at the same time (Bansal and Roth, 2000). As one of the worlds largest fast food chains, McDonald’s is criticized by environmentalists with many problems. It is vital for McDonald’s to identify its key issues and provide solutions. In this essay, McDonald’s impact on global warming and packaging waste as well as it responses will be discussed. Then, recommendations are drawn. McDonald’s environmental issues The main issue of McDonald’s negative impact on the environment is global warming resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from cows as well as damaging the rainforest for raising beef cattle and grains. For one thing, methane emitted from cattle is a major contributor of global warming. McDonald’s, as one of the world’s largest buyer of beef, is using 350000 cattle a year. With so many cows farting all day, they could produce a considerable amount of greenhouse gas. In the UK for example, 4% of the carbon emissions are the gas emitted by livestock (Day, 2010). For another, McDonald’s is causing the deforestation in the rain forest. McDonald’s often buys meats for its burgers from privatized farms. These privatized farms, however, are being blamed for not environmentally because the farmland they used to rear the cattle used to be a lush rainforest (Ecologist, 2010). In addition, trees in the rainforest are cut down for agricultural to grow grain for the livestock and poultry (Chew, 2001). According to Greenpeace, McDonald’s feed the chickens with the soybeans grown in the Amazon rainforest because those soybeans are cheaper (Astor, 2006). Therefore, McDonald’s is not only responsible for greenhouse gas emissions but destroying forests, which could help to address global warming. Global warming is an important issue for business as it could have negative impact on economies. McDonald’s should care about this because global warming would influence food supply and transportation, which are two main sectors for fast food industry. Regarding food, global warming may affect production of seafood and agricultural. The rising water temperature has damage the coral reef ecosystems, which are homes to many marine species. Loss of shelters is threatening the survival of coral reef fish. Crop production may also decline. For instance, in parts of Africa, growing season for crops is shortening due to the warmer and dryer weather (Grossman, 2013). Farmers may have to abandon their land that are too warm or too dry and invest in new areas. This causes problems of decreasing revenue as well as food productivity. Furthermore, transportations may face an increase in fuel cost because of climate-related policies. Since carbon dioxide emitted from burning oil contributes largely to global warming, governments are imposing taxes to fossil fuel and result in the price to rise (Grossman, 2013). Prices of biofuels are increasing as well due to the decline of crop production. For the society, global warming not only brings about economic impacts but social problems. People would have a greater chance of suffering from drought, floods, and other climate-related disasters (Stern, N., 2008). Thus, may lead to an increasing number of environmental refugees. The mass migrant is likely to trigger conflict with indigenous resident and even conflicts between countries (Hartmann, 2010). Packaging waste is another environmental problem McDonald’s should tackle with. Considering how much waste is created when getting a meal from McDonald’s: a wrapper for burger, a box for fries, a cup for drinks with a lid and a straw, napkins, and a bag for individual use. McDonald’s use tons of unnecessary packing everyday, which end up littering on the street and buried in landfills. Convenience and portability are the main reason for the packaging waste for fast food industry. As people now in busy modern lifestyle prefer easy and quick food, the amount of waste that fast food industry created therefore increased (Aarnio and Hamalainen, 2008). According to a survey in England, 29% of the litter on streets is the wrappers and cups from McDonald’s (Gray, 2009). McDonald’s should take action to reduce its packaging waste since waste generation could cause serious environmental pollution and put human health at rick. Within Europe, 50 million tons of packaging wastes are produce every year. To burn these huge amounts of waste may release some harmful chemicals into the air, which is harmful to people’s health. Landfilling, likewise, could lead to land pollution and kill underground animals that live there. Wastes may also flow to the ocean and become marine debris, harming marine life (Golub, 1996). Additionally, waste generation represents human’s â€Å"inefficient use of natural resources† (Scortar, 2013). 3. McDonald’s responses McDonald’s is alert of these issues and has announced several environmental initiatives to prove that it is trying to solve its environmental impacts. Concerning global warming, McDonald’s make efforts to reducing its impact on deforestation and carbon emission. Firstly McDonald’s promise not to buy soya grown in Amazon rainforest (Greenpeace, 2006). Deforestation for soya farming and cattle ranching in Amazon is one major driver for global warming. Studies have shown the relationship between soya production and deforestation rate in Amazon (Nepstad, Stickler and Almeida, 2006). McDonald’s approach to stop using soya from Amazon could reduce rainforest destruction and help mitigate global warming. To reduce carbon footprint, McDonald’s improves carbon efficiency by using energy-efficient equipment and low-energy lights in its restaurants (McDonald’s, 2013). According to Stern (2008), the mitigation in energy use is important as it has equal effect as agriculture and deforestation in contributing greenhouse gas emission. Moreover, McDonald’s had team up with E-CO2 project, a consultancy and energy auditing company, to measure cattle’s methane emission of its farms. E-CO2 project not only provide carbon assessment tool but also help farms to reduce emissions by using new technology on the farm (Day, 2010). Livestock account for 14.5% of human-caused global greenhouse gas emission. Hence it is critical to cut emission from livestock production. McDonald’s solution to this issue, which is changing farming techniques can be considered appropriate. According to UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the adoption of better techniques can cut as much as 30% of global warming gases (FAO, 2013). In 2014, the fast-food chain took another step to reduce carbon emission, announcing it would start purchase verified sustainable beef. Nevertheless, McDonald’s is criticized for not giving definition for sustainable and not providing what percentage will its meat come from those sources (Picchi, 2014). A more specific standard should be set up on selecting its meat suppliers. To deal with packaging waste issue, McDonald’s redesigned it’s packaging with sustainable materials and to be recyclable. In 2011, McDonald’s claimed that 82% of its packaging are made from renewable materials (Farmer, 2011). In the US restaurants, McDonald’s stop using polystyrene famed coffee cup and replace it with paper-based cups (Environment News Service, 2013). This approach could have positive effect on the marine environment. Foamed polystyrene is frequently used for fast food packaging. This foamed plastic, however, is non-sustainable and is not widely recycled. After littered, they may easily travel through gutters and end up in the ocean. It is the most common components of marine debris. When the polystyrene breaks down into small indigestible pellets, marine animals or birds may mistake them as food and eat them, which would lead to their death (Owens, Zhang, and Mihelcic, 2011). Although paper cups still have its own problems such as energy waste and the chemicals uses during the production, it is a recyclable recourse and will not exist in the environment for such long time as polystyrene does. Besides redesigning packaging, recycling programs are introduced. For example, 11 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK are recycling waste to turn them into electricity instead of sending them to landfills (Eccleston, 2008). Working with the Environmental Defense Fund help McDonald’s find ways to reuse and recycle packaging (Farmer, 2011). However, to reduce waste may be the may be a better solution than simply recycling. Despite that recycling reduces landfill use and conserves natural recourses, the process of recycling could generate other negative effects on the environment. Wastes needed to be sorted, collected and processed and this consumes a lot of energy. During the recycling, harmful chemicals may also release into the air (Berkin, Carrigan and Szmigin, 2007). Recycling may help ease the pollution of waste but mass consumption of unnecessary packaging is the key problem to packaging waste issue. McDonald’s should focus more on reducing the amount of waste i t produce. 4. Recommendations To make sure that it purchases meat from a sustainable resource, McDonald’s could create a code of conduct on how it selecting suppliers. The rules could be not buying beef that are raised on deforested land or acquire its suppliers to agree that they would improve and apply new methods of raising cattle and poultry which could be beneficial in reducing carbon emissions. Take IKEA for example, it set up an IKEA Way of Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY) which lists many requirements for its suppliers’ environmental behavior such as purchasing wood from forests that are managed in a sustainable way. Choosing suppliers following the IWAY enables IKEA to successfully obtain a sustainable supply chain (IKEA, 2011). By making a code of conduct, McDonald’s could have a clear standard on the requirements its suppliers should meet. Being stricter on choosing suppliers that contribute less to greenhouse gases and deforestation would help McDonald’s lowering its impact on global warming. McDonald’s should also invest in research and support its supplier to adopt other practices that are useful in cutting emission from livestock and pasture since the suppliers have limited financial resource in developing new techniques. Apart from using new technology, carbon sequestration in rangeland, change in cattle’s diet and agroforestry could have long-term benefits in reducing agriculture and livestock’s contribution to global warming. First of all, carbon sequestration in rangeland has great potential in mitigation of the impact of livestock production. This method can be done by planting deep-rooted pasture such as Brachiaria. It is estimated that Brachiaria can capture and store 29.5 t/ha more carbon than other pasture (Thornton and Herrero, 2009). Preventing overgrazing and adding nutrients from manure or fertilizer can also have positive effect on carbon storage (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). Diet improvement may further help to mitigate cows ’ methane emission. Reducing methane could be beneficial to the environment because methane is 23 times as powerful as CO2 at causing global warming (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). For instance, Beauchemin and McGinn (2005) suggest that a corn-based diet would decrease cattle’s greenhouse gas emission. In addition, adaptation of agroforestry could provide positive to the environment. The increasing of trees enables greater carbon sequestration. Agroforestry can also produce more digestible and nutritive crop and forage for cattle, which decrease methane production digestion (Thornton and Herrero, 2009). If McDonald’s could assist its suppliers in implementing new methods such as carbon sequestration, changing cow’s diet and turning into agroforestry system, it is likely to reduce carbon emissions more efficiently. In order to reduce packaging waste, using reusable containers and giving incentive to customer to provide their own cups may be two options for McDonald’s. McDonald’s can replace some of its packaging such as salad containers and coffee cups with reusable ones because recycling packaging including glass and paper are proved to be less environmental than reusable packaging (Van Dam, 1996). KFC has started using eco-friendly container in its US restaurants since 2010 and plans to replace paper boxes with reusable plastic plates (Environmental Leader, 2010). McDonald’s could also offer discounts to encourage customers to provide their own beverage bottle or coffee cups. For instance, consumers buying coffee in Starbucks will have a ten-cent discount if they bring their own cup. Moreover, Aydinliyim and Pangburn (2012) indicate that such campaign could help companies to increase profit. With the introduction of reusable containers and promotion, McDonald’s is possible to earn more while reducing waste at the same time. 5. Conclusion McDonald’s has been criticized for having bad influences on the environment. To provide meat for its food, McDonald’s indirectly causing deforestation in rainforest and greenhouse gas emission. In addition, McDonald’s use too much unnecessary packaging and many of them are non-recyclable and non-renewable. Thus, it can be concluded that the main environmental issues for McDonald’s are global warming and packaging waste generation. McDonald’s itself is aware of these issues and has made several strategies to solve the problem. By stop purchasing soybean in Amazon, improving carbon efficiency and using new farming techniques, McDonald’s could successfully reduce its impact on global warming. However, McDonald’s still cannot guarantee that its meat all come from sustainable recourse. With regard to packaging waste, McDonald’s redesign packaging with sustainable materials and start recycling programs while neglecting the importance of reducing waste generation. To better tackle with these issues, it is recommended that McDonald’s draw up a code of conduct for its supplier selection to work with farms and ranches that is not harming the forest. Furthermore, McDonald’s should monitor and support supplier to reduce impacts on carbon and methane emission. Practices including carbon sequestration, changing cattle’s diet and agroforestry may be useful. It is also important for McDonald’s to use reusable container and promote customers to bring their own containers by offering them discount to reduce packaging consumption. By doing so, McDonald’s could lower its negative effects on global warming and packaging waste.

Joseph Stalin :: essays research papers

Joseph Stalin’s official reign of terror ended with his death in 1953, but the effects of his autocratic rule continued for many years to follow. His lasting hold on the people of the former Soviet Union still lingers in a few brainwashed minds. In the article "Stalin’s Afterlife" and the movie "Russia’s War - Blood Upon the Snow", Stalin is portrayed as the monster really was and should be remembered as. It said in "Stalin’s Afterlife" that "Stalin’s policies created a holocaust greater than Hitler’s.", which unbelievably is true. The horror of the crimes Joseph Stalin committed against his own people is appalling. For example, Stalin’s plan for collectivization resulted in the death of twenty million people. The great five-year plan to turn the peasant farmers into one, huge farming community brought on famine, starvation and eventually death to twenty million peasant farmers. Another atrocity that Stalin was responsible for was the forced labor camps known as Gulags. "...the murderous forced labor camps of the Gulag archipelago - victimized tens of millions of innocent men, women, and children for more than 20 years." Millions of people were sent to the Gulag camps from 1939 through 1953, for the crime of doing absolutely nothing. There were "...eight million souls (a conservative estimate) who languished in Soviet concentration camps every year between 1939 and 1953." under the horrible conditions at the Gulags. Every year Stalin, in his paranoia sent millions of people off to their deaths. "Russia’s War - Blood Upon the Snow" brought into view a more detailed, personal account of Stalin’s atrocities. People recalling memories they had of what it was like to live under Stalin’s paranoid rule. During his five-year plans to become a more industrialized nation, Stalin had thousands of people forced into building the White Sea Canal. They were made to continue working until they dropped from exhaustion. When it was completed in 1933 the workers who were still left were drowned in the canal. Another paranoid act Stalin ordered to be carried out was the murder of over a thousand members of the seventeenth congress. When Stalin held a vote to elect who the general secretary would be, three hundred votes were against him. He feared that he would be overthrown by Sergei Kirov, who only received three votes against him. Joseph Stalin, over a short period had Kirov murdered as well as one thousand out of nineteen hundred sixty-six committee membe rs and ninety-eight out of one hundred and thirty-nine central committee members.