Real Existing Socialism and State Socialism in Romania

Real Existing Socialism and State Socialism in Romania â€Å"Real existing socialism in the GDR and State Socialism in Romania:  A Comparison Introduction Over the course of the last two decades, following the collapse of communism in Russia and other Eastern Bloc states, there has been a considerable amount of debate in academic and political circle relating to the re-definition of socialism, which as a political ideology then became separated from communism. In its purist form, socialism is perceived as the organisational concept within a society whereby the means of production, including factories and farms, is deemed to be held in ownership terms by the whole of a particular community or nation (Caldwell 2003, p.17). Thus, in theory every worker and citizen should benefit equally from his or her share of that ownership. However, as with every other political ideology, in practice such purism does not exist. However, as with other forms of political ideology, a perfect form of socialism does not exist within any national state. As has been witnessed in the Eastern Bloc countries in Europe, there is a significant difference in the way that socialism manifests itself in individual cultures and nations, and this depends upon the prevailing political structure and cultural environment. For example, whilst there are democratic and dictatorship led countries that exercise a socialist agenda, this does not equate to the method of state socialism practiced in other states, even those within the same region. The purpose of this study is to compare two distinct forms of socialism; at the same time seeking to distinguish between the ways that each is operated in their respective societies. To assist with this objective, it is intended to use two nations that have experienced differing political structures. These are GDR[1], which operates a system known as â€Å"real existing socialism† and Romania, which enjoys a state socialism political environment. Socialism There has been a substantial amount of literature produced that has concentrated upon the study of socialism. Much of this has concentrated upon the various divergent forms of the ideology that have emerged within and outside of a communist environment. Although there is still some debate about terminology for these divergent forms of socialism, the vast majority have adapted the two most prominent as being â€Å"real existing socialism† and â€Å"state socialism.† Real existing socialism The studies that have led to the defining of real socialism only really commenced following the breakdown of socialism in areas such as the former communist block (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.8). From this it has been found that the foundations of real socialism bore no resemblance to the â€Å"planned economy† message that was being projected by the state, and thus cannot be measured or compared with the political systems that exist within the democratic regimes of the western world. Despite it’s similarity to state socialism, the real existing version has none of the unique elements of capitalism. For example, individual property rights, commodity markets, freedom of capital and labour do not exist. Economics was dominated by politics and the two were therefore closely interwoven. This in itself can be seen as part of the cause for their being a lack of planning within these economies, which resulted in problems in three main areas. Firstly, monetary controls and restraints did not exist in the sense that we know in the West. Instead, paper money formed only a part of issues such as workers salaries, with basic goods at low prices or rationed, as can be witnessed by the fact that the price of bread in 1987 had not changed for over fifty years (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.9), and the higher priced goods were used as rewards for merit rather than available to the citizen as a right. Secondly, there was no attempt to aim for maximum or optimum output from the countries industrial plants as these formed just a part of the party’s objectives, along with welfare and house and a raft of other priorities. Unlike commercial corporations, those within this socialist environment paid little attention to profit and success. Similarly, the idea of plant closure was contrary to the countries socialist identity and beliefs. In itself, this proves the case that there was no economic basis for the nations industrial production and output. The final aspect is planning. As has been discovered since the fall of communism, the official documents issued by the regimes, which purported to be official plans, none of these where implemented or controlled within the industrial environment. This was partially due to the fact that these plants lacked the basic equipment needed to do so, and also because the state showed little interest in the results (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.9). State Socialism There are many who would argue that state socialism is actually a misnomer. The reason for this is that in this type of socialist community, although there is a limited recognition of private capitalism, the state itself is the centre of power. This power not only includes their ownership of the â€Å"means of production† mentioned earlier in this paper, but also extends to other significant areas as well. For example, their ownership and control extends to the media, transport and communications and, in addition, to the workers, police and military. Similarly, the state uses its power to control dissidents and â€Å"so-called† reactionaries. During the communist era in Eastern Europe, what stopped the nation that followed â€Å"state socialism† from being described more appropriately as bureaucratic regimes was the fact that the state itself was controlled by the communist party, which was essentially determined as a party for the people and thus their representatives. Case Study GDR and Romania The GDR and Romania have been chosen as a comparison case study for this paper as they operate within the two different areas of socialism being discussed, with GDR following the route of real existing socialism and Romania being a state socialism environment. GDR Prior to its reunification with West Germany, the German Democratic Republic was run by a communist regime and operated a system that has latterly become known as belonging to the â€Å"real existing socialism† The economy was controlled and planned centrally by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, who also strictly controlled prices within the economy, particularly those of a basic nature such as basic foodstuff and housing. In these cases the party heavily subsidised production to ensure that prices remained low and manageable for the ordinary citizen. As has been indicated to be the case with such political structures, virtually all of the production process were centrally owned and controlled. Even in the small private sector (around 2.8%), these were subjected to oppressive regulations and taxation, sometimes with the latter exceeding 90%. In essence, at least in the early years, and to a large degree up until a few years short of the fall of the Berlin wall, one of the central intentions of the states plan was the â€Å"total governance† of society (Caldwell 2003, p.2). However, this centralisation of control provided an ideal breeding ground for corruption, with many managers within the publicly owned business sector lining their own pockets and those of party officials, thus creating an even worse economic situation in terms of the production output of their factories. In an attempt to address some of these issues GDR ruling party moved to a more autonomous level of social control (Caldwell 2003, p.15). They adopted the slogan of â€Å"real existing socialism† as a way of showing that, although there was still a large degree of state control, the lives of the individual was said to be, to a large degree, independent and autonomous to the state, which stated that its regime allowed their citizens to live unfettered lives in private, although dissidents claimed that this pretence of â€Å"normalcy† was just an attempt to cover up the high levels of repressions that existed (Maier 1999, p.22). In reality the individual’s emancipation was against wishes of the state but by allowing it to occur it had the opposite effect to that which could have been expected, this being a tendency towards more the creation of more conflict and unrest. However, as Maier (1999, p.42) later shows, the lack of substance in the opposition by ordinary citizens was probably quelled by the measures taken by the state to repress their citizens. Whilst in some cases, such as the media, this was achieved by s strict process of censorship, as far as ordinary citizens a â€Å"stick or reward† policy was operated. For example, rationing and the reward system in terms of luxury goods, which were always accompanied by the threat that the benefits gained through these measures, tended to opposition voice down to a muted level (Maier 1999, p.49). Similarly, the dispersal of the states secret police force led to a situation where fear of neighbours replaced trust as many people responded to the implied threat by showing a willingness to report opposition in secret. This was not only done to curry favour but also to avoid becoming embroiled with the police on a personal level. Thus, as Maier (1999, p.42) states â€Å"real existing socialism thus rested on a double distortion. It transformed the public sphere into one of negotiated bargains, while it twisted the idea of a private sphere into a domain of complicity and secrecy.† Similarly, as has been evidenced within the performance of the state, despite its repressive measures, is more closely linked to the ideals that were previously expressed by Mark (2004). Perhaps the one benefit that East Germany has derived from the real existing socialism that has become inherent within the culture, particularly in terms of the previous movement towards members of the public having an element of a certain degree of autonomy to their lives, is that this has made it easier for the nation to become integrated within the larger German nation following its reunification with the Federal Republic of German (Crow 2001). Romania In certain respects the Romanian socialist structures is similar to that of the GDR. This is certainly true in the case of the party’s control of the media, which has yet to find an independent voice and the state ownership of a large number of commercial assets. However, following the fall of the communist regimes in the Eastern Block, this country has retained a communist political regime, which observers feel results from the fact that the general public are reluctant to involve themselves in politics in a direct manner (Carey 2004, p.10). When compared with the GDR it is found that the population of Romania is distinctly different to those of neighbouring countries. The culture is much more centralised in its thinking. Evidence of this can be found in the fact that most citizens within the Romanian society have a bias towards â€Å"paternalistic protection of authoritarian institutions† rather than being concerned with their own democratic freedom and values (Carey 2004, p.14). A similar situation exists within the business sector. At the present time the state controls and owns most of the production organisations and, in addition, all of the financials institutions are in public ownership. It would be difficult to sell the latter, because of the problem of non-recoverable loans and other debt crisis. Similarly, although many of the countries vast production plants are inefficient and losing money, the ethos of the ruling classes is such that closure of these organisations is an unacceptable option (Carey 2004, p.17). Furthermore, there is a reluctance to allow these to move into private ownership. Even if the state were prepared to look at this option, as Carey shows within his research (Carey 2004, p.18), the vast majority of business and other citizens in Romania are of the opinion that â€Å"the privatisation† process was dishonest. The overwhelming preference within the country and its culture is in favour of state control, particularly in resp ect of what are considered to be the most important issues, these being â€Å"prices and wages.† However, despite the views of the population, the state does have to address the issue of corporate control and, although some attempt has been made in this area, this has yet to lead to a stable environment. One of the problems they have in this respect is that the workers are union controlled and, with the current wish for central state control of wages, negotiating a productivity based working environment would, at present, be very difficult to achieve. It is anticipated that it will take some time for Romania to be able to convert either its political structure to a more democratic cultural base or its production and manufacturing industries to a situation of optimisation and a success based agenda (Carey 2004, p.229). Conclusion It is clear that socialism is still in the process of undergoing radical change, particularly following the collapse of communism in areas such as Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. However, as has been seen from the case study of the German Democratic Republic and Romanic, the cultural impact of this varies between nations. For example, prior to the 1989 revolutions the GDR was already experiencing a significant amount of unrest, which was being generated â€Å"from below,† in other words from a groundswell of public opinion and active opposition (Kornai 1992). This country is therefore moving rapidly towards a culture of democratic rights and away from their former position of being subject to real existing socialism. Conversely, in the state of Romania, the movement away from state socialism has yet to begin in earnest. For example, the current ruling party is still based upon a communist stance and, despite the fact that it retains control over areas such as production and the media, which in some cases can be seen to be repressive, there is little will amongst the populace to effect a change at this time (Federal Research Division 2004). However, one area that has certainly added to the differential between the two countries in terms of their movement towards a democratic culture and political environment is the location and structural differences. For example, East Germany (GDR) is situated adjacent to a Western democracy, albeit it with socialist tendencies, whereas Romania was previously surrounded by communist and socialist states. In addition, Romania has become an independent whilst the GDR has lost its independent identity within the enlarged German nation. To this extent for the GDR the dissolution of the communist based socialist environment has been a much smoother transition (Maier 1999). References Brie, Michael (1991). The General Crisis of Administrative Centralised Socialism: A Sketch Towards a Theory of Reproduction. Available: http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5id=15370fa8-8415-4f96-8ae7-a4580ee58991 Caldwell, Peter C (2003). Dictatorship, State Planning, and Social Theory in the German Democratic Republic. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK. Carey, Henry F (ed.) (2004). Romania since 1989: Politics, Economics and Society. Lexington Books. Langham, US. Crow, Graham (2001). Social Solidarities: Theories, Identities and Social Change. Open University Press. Buckingham, UK. Federal Research Division (2004). Romania: A Country Study. Kissinger Publishing. New York, US. Kornai, Jà  nos (1992). The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism. Clarendon Press. Oxford, UK Maier, Charles S (1999). Dissolution, the Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany. Princeton University Press. New Jersey, US. Nove, Alex (2001). Marxism and Really Existing Socialism. Routledge. London, UK. Von Hirschhausen, Christian (1995). Five years after the collapse: The socialism debate revisited, and the limits of economic thought. CERNA. Paris, France. Available: http://www.cerna.ensmp.fr/Documents/CVH-WP95.pdf 1 Footnotes [1] German Democratic Republic

Aphra Behn Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Rover

Aphra Behn, who is the first female to achieve status of a professional playwright attempted to alter and influence the literary cannon through her writing, which was a precarious occupation but allowed literature to evolve in a wider range. Behn was also one of the wittiest and entertaining as evidenced through her most renowned play, The Rover, which is a restoration, yet dark comedy set in 17th century Italy while under the colonial reign of Spain. The large cast of characters becomes embroiled in scenes and consist a mix of themes of infidelity, seduction, misrepresentation, and elaborate swordplay, which create tension and confusion in addition to many comedic episodes. The play expresses its author's objections to the vulnerability of women in Restoration society. Perhaps ironically, it also appeals to the prurient interests of the audience by putting women in morally compromising situations. Based loosely on contemporary Thomas Killigrew's 1564 unperformed play, Thomaso, or Th e Wanderer (1664), Behn's play is less lewd and more profound. The Rover has been widely acclaimed by critics to be a feminist play, in particular a proto-feminist play which defined by The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms as ‘a philosophical tradition that anticipated modern feminist concepts and the discussion of women’s issues when the term feminist was nonexistent prior to the twentieth century. The writing is concerned with the unique experience of being a woman or alternatively writing designed to challenge existing preconceptions of gender.’ (Baldick, 2009: 128) In The Rover, Behn places characters in morally corrupted situations and circumstances to force audiences to reconsider preconceptions, inspiring the new movement in feminist thi... ...uality keeps her from happiness. Through Angellica, Hellena, and Florinda, Behn reveals that the libertine female has no place in late Stuart society. The playwright’s observation comes as a wistful warning at a time when women seemed to push the limits of tradition. Actresses appearing on stage might feel they had found a career of bodily expression, but from Behn’s experience as a woman with male colleagues, the freedom is a faà §ade. ‘Women on stage faced fetishization and loss of status. Behn’s commentary on women’s position in the late Stuart period serves to point out the double standard of libertinism in court life and the public sphere.’ (Staves, 2004: 73) By exposing and mocking the Puritanical and Cavalier restraints imposed on women, she encourages viewers to reevaluate women’s limited roles in the new age by giving her female characters a louder voice.

Introduction to Romanticism Essay -- essays research papers

For many years, this period and these writers were known as the American Renaissance, a coin termed by F.O. Matthiessen in his book of that name in 1941. This book set the parameters of how to read and connect these writers until relatively recently, when its limitations, especially in terms of defining the "canon" of literary giants and what made them (all male) "giants" have been recognized and challenged. However, the term is still useful to some degree. It is a misnomer, if one thinks of the period as a time of rebirth of some earlier literary greatness, as the European Renaissance, because there was nothing to be "reborn." The great writers of this period, roughly 1840-1865 although more particularly 1850-1855, marked the first maturing of American letters. It was a Renaissance in the sense of a flowering, excitement over human possibilities, and a high regard for individual ego. It was definitely and even defiantly American, as these writers strugg led to understand what "American" could possibly mean, especially in terms of a literature which was distinctively American and not British. Their inability to resolve this struggle--and it was even more a personal one than a nationalistic one, for it questioned their identity and place in society--did much to fire them creatively. However, we will call this American romanticism, though it shares many characteristics with British romanticism. It flourished in the glow of Wordsworth's poetic encounter with nature and himself in The Prelude, Coleridge's literary theories about the reconciliation of opposites, the romantic posturings and irony of Byron, the lush imagery of Keats, and the transcendental lyricism of Shelley, even the Gothicism of Mary Shelley and the Bronte sisters. Growing from the rhetoric of salvation, guilt, and providential visions of Puritanism, the wilderness reaches of this continent, and the fiery rhetoric of freedom and equality, though, the American brand of romanticism developed its own character, especially as these writers tried self-consciously to be new and original. The glory years were 1850-1855. What was it in American culture and British influences that led to the incredible flowering of masterpieces in this era: Emerson's Representative Men, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, The House of Seven Gables, Melville's Moby-Dick and Pierre,... ...arative contact, but they are useful and important ones. Perhaps we will risk some confusion here and certainly we will have to neglect some biographical context as we "mix and match" writers. But we will be able to focus on those ideas which united (and even divided) them that makes us able to call them all "romantics." After we have read a work, we will "revive" it in discussions of later topics, taking the different perspective, for there must a certain arbitrariness in "assigning" a work to only one theme. Great and complex works must not be limited like that! So rather than progressing through time and historical/biographical contexts, we will keep circling recursively (as Emerson says we must), seeing how the different works and writers explore the major aspects of romantic thought and art. Our base is necessarily Emerson, the literary giant of his time in America, for better or worse. Though his writing is often difficult to read, it was, in fact, the match that lit all of the creative fires of his time. He put his pen on all of the sensitive spots in the American creative psyche; Whitman was not the only one to "boil."

Educational Philosophy Essay -- Education Teaching Educating Essays

Educational Philosophy Writing my educational philosophy has required me to do an extensive amount of personal research that has taken me on some wonderful, inward journeys over the past few months. Voyages through my cognitive and behavioral personas from the beginning of my educational endeavor back in 1992 up until the present day. I have been digging diligently through my archives pulling out old papers I composed regarding my initial views toward education. I have reflected on my days in the writing center at George Mason University as a composition tutor. Plus, I evaluate myself in the classroom now as I teach at the local community college as well as in the local junior high and high schools for my student observation requirements at Concord College. Through all this, I’ve come to understand that my view of education, my philosophy towards education, and my professional development plans are all derived from three goals I have formed which identify my belief in why school exists . Just as John Goodlad (1984) identified four reasons for schooling in A Place Called Home, I’ve formed my own list after a considerable amount of self-reflections and observations. First, I feel as though school must continuously strive to increase academic achievement in all students. In order to do this, the classroom must be focused on academic learning time. The students must be allocated time to become highly engaged in the lesson. This means active learning needs to be increased and other actions, such as administrative measures and straight lecturing, need to be decreased. My second goal is that school must foster positive social relationships among the students. The key to this is in creating an e... ...panish as well as in Health Studies. Also, I maintain active membership to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in order to keep me informed on new and old theoretical and practical instructional methods regarding grammar, composition, and literature. Continuous educational growth and learning is a major component to my personal wealth and satisfaction as an English teacher. I believe cooperative learning is one key to how I might skim the surface of my educational focus on heightened academic learning time, positive social relationships, and heightened emotional needs of all students. Works Cited: Goodlad, John. (1984). A place called home. New York: McGraw-Hill. Slavin, Robert., & Cooper, Robert. (1999). Improving intergroup relations: Lessons learned from cooperative learning programs. Journal of Social Issues, 55 (4), 647-661.

Incident 2 Organizational Behavior Essay

Mental Ability We know people with higher levels of mental ability are able to process information more quickly, solve problems more accurately, and learn faster, so you might expect them also to be less susceptible to common deci- sion errors. However, mental ability appears to help people avoid only some of these. 74 Smart people are just as likely to fall prey to anchoring, overconfidence, and escalation of commitment, probably because just being smart doesn’t alert you to the possibility you’re too confident or emotionally defensive. That doesn’t mean intelligence never matters. Once warned about decision-making errors, more intelligent people learn more quickly to avoid them. They are also better able to avoid logical errors like false syllogisms or incorrect interpretation of data. Cultural Differences The rational model makes no acknowledgment of cultural differences, nor does the bulk of OB research literature on decision making. But Indonesians, for instance, don’t necessarily make decisions the same way Australians do. Therefore, we need to recognize that the cultural background of a decision maker can significantly influence the selection of problems, the depth of analysis, the importance placed on logic and rationality, and whether organizational decisions should be made autocratically by an individual man- ager or collectively in groups. 75 Cultures differ in their time orientation, the importance of rationality, their belief in the ability of people to solve problems, and their preference for col- lective decision making. Differences in time orientation help us understand why managers in Egypt make decisions at a much slower and more deliberate pace than their U.S. counterparts. While rationality is valued in North America, that’s not true elsewhere in the world.

John Boehner

I. Personal Background A. Family 1. Birth place 2. Born November 17, 1949 to Mary Anne and Earl Henry Boehner 3. Married to Debbie Boehner; B. Education 1. Boehner attended Cincinnati's Moeller High School and was a Linebacker on the school's football team 2. Graduating from Moeller in 1968 3. Boehner enlisted in the United States Navy but was administratively separated after eight weeks because of a bad back. 4. He earned his B. A. In Business Administration from Xavier University in 1977 . Shortly after his graduation in 1977, Boehner accepted a position with Nucite Sales, a small sales business in the packaging and plastics industry. II. Political Influences & Development A. Political Influences 1. Newt Gingrich a. Republican lawmaker & Engineer 2. Dick Gephardt B. Political Development 1. From 1995 to 1999, Boehner served as House Republican Conference Chairman which is the party caucus for Republicans in the United States House of Representatives 2.During his time as Conference Chairman, Boehner championed the Freedom To Fact Act that, among other provisions, revises and simplifies direct payment programs for crops and eliminates milk price supports through direct government purchases. 3. In 1998, Boehner was ousted as the chairman of the House Republican Conference, after his party lost five congressional seats. III. Contributions & Writings A. Media Attention 1. During his freshman year, Boehner was a member of the Gand Of Seven which was involved in bringing media attention to the House banking scandal. B.Boehner & Senator Ted Kennedy authored the passage of â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001† 1. Was signed by President Goerge W. Bush. In 2002. 2. Boehner said that it was his â€Å"proudest achievement† in two decades of public service. 3. Boehner was friends with Kennedy, also a Roman Catholic, and every year they chaired fundraisers for cash-strapped Catholic schools. IV. Political Achievements A. In an upset, Boehner was elected by his colleagues to serve as House Majority Leader on February 2, 2006. 1. The election followed Tom DeLay's resignation from the post after being indicted on criminal charges.B. Boehner campaigned as a reform candidate who wanted to reform the so-called â€Å"earmark† process and rein in government spending 1. He defeated Majority Whip Roy Blunt from Missouri Representative John Shadegg of Arizona. C. After the Republicans lost control of the House in the 2006 elections, the House Republican Conference chose Boehner as Minority Leader. 1. As such, he was the Republican nominee for Speaker in 2006 and 2008. V. Personal Conclusion 1. Speaker Boehner 1. Speaker of the House. 2. Congressmen John Boehner 1. John Boehner, part of Congress.

Gay Bashing

In 2008, 190 homosexuals were killed in Brazil, one every two days, known as a 55 percent increase on the previous year. The annual report on murders of homosexuals, according to the Grupo Gay da Bahia from Brazil, says that 64 percent of the victims were gay men, 32 percent were transvestites, and four percent were lesbians. This is absolutely astonishing. Even though homosexuals have chosen an alternative lifestyle, they still deserve to live a normal life without being victimized of physical harm for their choices.Homosexuality is not â€Å"normal† in biological terms. If it were normal, then everybody would be homosexual and that is self-evident. Homosexuals are actively striving to convince us that homosexuality is â€Å"normal,† but they confuse frequency and familiarity with normality. Today's world is more familiar with homosexuals, their reputation, their struggles, their status in the population, but that doesn't change the underlying biology: homosexuality is not â€Å"normal. We are all people. People who love, cry, eat and breathe just like everybody else does. If homosexuality is not â€Å"normal,† then what is it? Homosexuals, and heterosexual as well, argue that it is not a choice, but inherent to who they are. With certain qualifications for people of confused identify, it is acceptable to believe that homosexuality is rooted in biology, and that the individual doesn't choose it. The American researcher Dean Hamer published research that seemed to prove that homosexual orientation could be genetically transmitted to men on the x chromosome, which they get from their mothers† (Am I Gay? ). If it is rooted in biology, and is not normal, then therefore, homosexuality must be a genetic quirk, a genetic mutation that causes a person to have a sexual identity that is innately in contradiction with that person's physical self and with the natural instinct to pass one's genes to the next generation through procreation with a person of the opposite sex.If science proves homosexuality is innate, is there any basis to deny gays equal treatment — including the right to marry? But if scientists unravel the roots of sexual orientation, will it some day be possible to â€Å"fix† people who don't fit the norms or abort fetuses likely to be born gay? † (Doughton). In our culture, the victim of gay bashing is considered the sinner. That's why so often the crimes against homosexuals go unpunished until someone is found beaten, burned and tied to a fence post. There is a pat psychological answer–gays are threatening to us because of homosexual tendencies built into the human psyche, which frighten us and which we must put away from us†¦at any time, in any culture it seems to be convenient to have a group of people who can be demonized and excluded†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Stop Bashing Gay People). The verbal taunts and persecution of people because of their sexual orientation are so commonpla ce they set the stage for murderers who think it's no crime to hate gays and to act on that hate. â€Å"It is that instinctual fear of rape that drives much of homophobia.Straight men often instinctually see gay men as a threat, and they instictively fear that threat. It's a fear of a loss of control, of dominance, of status† (Bidstrup). As anybody can tell, the opportunity to be threatened, humiliated and to live in fear of being beaten to death is the only â€Å"right† our culture grants on homosexuals. If you listened to the opponents of laws designating gay bashing as a hate crime, you'd think there really was some fundamental difference between being a black man, who is beaten and dragged behind a truck, and being a gay man, who is beaten, his skull crushed, and left tied to a fence to die. Gay bashing also sends the message that whether a person is actually lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer, if they are perceived by others as being so, a negative (a nd potentially violent) reaction may occur† (Matzner). The only real difference is the nickname the killers use to describe the victim. The one used for the black man is considered an obscenity so appallingly offensive, it can't be written, printed, or projected verbally. The one used for the gay man is a common expression. It's familiar in schools, comedy routines, the media, and on street corners all across America.There is the perception that homosexuals are a socially acceptable target. Therefore, when young people are asked, they will justify and defend targeting gay people as inferior. â€Å"Gaybashing is the most socially acceptable, and probably the most common, type of hate crime, especially among male teenagers and young adults† (Matzner). There's a belief nowadays that it's not so cool to assault racial minorities. It's not so cool to assault women, Blacks or Jews. But assaulting gays is actually something humorous to a lot of young people. It's probably the last socially acceptable group to assault.Part of it is related to the fact that discrimination against gays is still legalized and encoded. That sends a message to young people that, if gays don't have equal rights in employment, housing, child custody, the military, or marriage, then there's something wrong with them, and nobody's going to mind if we have some fun at their expense. According to statistics released by the FBI, hate crimes that are specifically committed in relation to the victims sexual orientation have risen over the past three years. There were 1,017 reported in 2005, 1,195 in 2006 and 1,265 in 2007.The FBI reported a 6 % increase in hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgender people in 2008. A gay-bashing incident took place in Vancouver in March of this year. â€Å"He’s a faggot. He deserved it. I’m not a fag. The faggot touched me. He deserved it,† the accused said to a witness. Richard Dowrey, a 62-year old man was punched in the fac e at a pub and has left him clinging to life in the intensive care unit at a local hospital. The force of the punch threw him backgrounds, falling to the ground and hitting the back of his head. â€Å"Most commonly, respondents said that they were defending themselves against sexual predation† (Franklin).The man will live with permanent brain damage for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, this incident was humorous to someone. What if you were the man who had to live as a vegetable for the rest of your life? Nobody should think that there is not a possibility of this happening the other way around. It may not be as likely, but there is always that possibility of a homosexual physically harming a heterosexual just for being heterosexual. Gay bashing occurs even among children of very young ages, and in this instance, it was too late. 11 year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was found dead after he hanged himself earlier this week by tying an electrical cord around his neck that was fastened to a support beam in his home. The child had enduring day after day of taunting with anti-gay slurs at the school he attended† (Hipps). People don’t realize that they go too far with the unbearable taunting. Not only may it lead to physical harm, but it really affects people emotionally and to the point that they may inflict harm upon themselves because they have lost their self-esteem. Being homosexual may not be the norm, but they are human beings just like the rest of the world.They have feelings as well. Another example of a gay bashing tragedy: the heart-wrenching story of Brandon Teena, a young transsexual murdered in a hate crime, which took place in the 90’s. Brandon was born biologically a female, but lived as a male. Because of this, he was subsequently brutally beaten, raped and murdered. His life story and death was later portrayed in the Academy Award winning film, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry. † This story was brought to life agai n for people to manifest the horrific actions that did and still do take place in our prejudice society.It is needed to have these stories known and fleshed out. It is unfortunate that our society lives in a country where hate crime legislation is not necessary, but it is. If a crime is committed because of a prevailing prejudice, that prejudice will only subside when we as a society are having an active conversation to bring the issues out into the open. The more they get shoved into the dark, the darker and more horrible they become. Acts and laws need to be passed in order to bring these issues to light in a way that the media cannot ignore.It would be the best way to both bring these crimes to justice and bring about cultural change in our society about a minority group. â€Å"The cost to society is enormous, not just to the gay person, but to his family, his acquaintances, his employers, and to society as a whole† (Bidstrup).Works Cited â€Å"Am I gay? Are you born gay? Can you stop being gay? † Bidstrup, Scott. â€Å"Homophobia: The Fear Behind The Hatred. †The Nature of Homophobia. 3 September 2000. Doughton, Sandi. â€Å"Born gay? How biology may driveorientation. † Seattle Times. 19 June 2005. Franklin, Karen. Why Do People Say Gay bash? † Assault onGay America. 1995-2008. Frayssinet, Fabiana. â€Å"RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Gay-Bashing Murders Up55 Percent. † IPS News on the Web. 22 April 2008. Hainsworth, Jeremy. â€Å"Community demands court treatgaybashing as a hate crime. † Where Queers Conspire. 26March 2009. Hipps, James. â€Å"11 Year Old Hangs Himself Over Gay Slurs. †Gay Agenda. 2008. 11 April 2009. Matzner, Andrew. â€Å"Gaybashing. † Social Sciences. 2004. 19August 2005. Schneider, Walter H. â€Å"Gay Violence Statistics. † Fathers ForLife. 1998-2008. 1 April 1998. â€Å"Stop Bashing Gay People. †