A Biography of US Senator Rand Paul

A Biography of US Senator Rand Paul Rand Paul is a Republican United States Senator from Kentucky with preservationist libertarian see focuses, and the child of previous Congressman and customary presidential competitor Ron Paul. An eye specialist in terms of professional career, Paul has been hitched to his better half, Kelly, since 1990 and together they have three children. While Paul has restricted political history, he was an incessant campaigner for his dad and furthermore the organizer of a professional citizen bunch in Kentucky, Kentucky Taxpayers United. Constituent History: Rand Paul has an extremely restricted political history and didn't make a pursue political position until 2010. Despite the fact that he began as a twofold digit longshot to Trey Grayson in the GOP essential, Paul exploited the rebellious feeling inside the Republican Party and was one of some since quite a while ago shot outcasts to expel GOP-upheld up-and-comers. With the support of the casual get-together, Paul proceeded to overcome Grayson 59-35%. Democrats accepted they had a better than average possibility in the general political race against Paul because of his absence of political experience. They party picked the genuinely mainstream state Attorney General, Jack Conway. In spite of the fact that Conway drove in early surveying, Paul proceeded to win by a genuinely agreeable 12 focuses. Paul was supported by most moderates and casual get-together gatherings, including Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin. Political Positions: Rand Paul is a preservationist libertarian who is ideologically-lined up with his dad, Ron Paul, in general. Paul is steadfastly for states rights generally speaking and he accepts that the government should just administer where it is intrinsically approved to do as such. He accepts hot-button issues, for example, gay marriage and maryjane authorization ought to be up for each state to choose, which additionally is by all accounts a rising assessment inside the traditionalist development. Paul has likewise been a significant figure in minority outreach and a significant defender of criminal equity change. Rand Paul is ace life, which is maybe where he goes amiss most from the bigger libertarian development. He contradicts government financing of nearly everything, including premature birth, training, social insurance and other extra-sacred issues that are intended to be taken care of by every individual state. The principle territory of worry for moderates in regards to Paul is on international strategy. While Paul is unmistakably on the less interventionist and less dissident size of international strategy, he isn't exactly the radical his dad was on the issue. He is emphatically restricted to NSA spying programs. 2016 Presidential Run: Getting back on track, Rand Paul declared a run for the 2016 GOP selection for President. While he began with tolerable numbers, his prominence accepting a plunge as he endured a bunch of poor discussion exhibitions. While his dad regularly involved the wild outsider job in presidential decisions, Rand Pauls progressively estimated approach really appears to have harmed him. The anarchistic group floated away from the Ron Paul/Rand Paul side and over to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, both who have out-moved Paul. His international strategy sees have likewise become a risk as the Republican Party has moved back to a progressively hawkish position following the off-hands approach of the Obama White House. This has prompted the intermittent to and fro among Paul and individual contender Marco Rubio, who has commonly came out to improve things. Monetarily, the Paul crusade has battled and it has stayed in the base bar of up-and-comers. His surveying has likewise slacked, and he has continually attempted to stay over the discussion limit. A few Republicans have called for Paul to abandon the race and rather center around his 2016 Senate run as they dread he is squandering important assets while harming his own fame.

Statement of problem, opportunity, objectives Essay Example for Free

Articulation of issue, opportunity, destinations Essay Alan Baird, the establishing figure of Stitch it, a fundamentally shopping center based specialist organization which officials modification administrations to the private and open division, was currently the company’s CEO. In 1990, Baird sold Stitch it to a business bunch after deals and salary had started to slow. In the wake of selling his organization and having remained on as CEO, he administered the development of the organization and generally speaking extension structure the underlying 3 stores under Baird’s direct authority, to today’s 84 stores all through Canada and the United States. Presently having the chance to repurchase his undertaking, his little girl, Jennifer Baird has communicated her advantage I turning into an official in the Stitch It Group. Examination of circumstance In spite of the fact that Jennifer Baird has moved on from The University of Western Ontario with a bachelor’s certificate in the authoritative and business contemplates program in 2000, she needs continuous experience to go into the Stitch It Group and lead as an official. She would make some troublesome memories endeavoring to acclimate to the quick paced condition notwithstanding having the help from her friends or the regard from her workers without having earned her â€Å"stripes.† To address the worry, Alain Baird proposed an arrangement of assault to open his girl to the genuinely necessary experience by finishing a 10-year plan. The arrangement required her to expect the job of a nearby store climbing to overseeing tasks to different stores and afterward pivoting through situations in business activities, bookkeeping division, promoting and HR before heading into an official position ID and assessment of options Elective #1: Jennifer Baird can proceed with her training and her objective to be a top official by taking courses and acquiring a degree in business the executives. Bit of leeway: She would bring this instruction into a speculative 10-year program her dad will create and open her to genuine circumstances with the everyday tasks of the gathering. Drawback: This choice may stop her dad from buying the gathering in the way that it would be up to an extra four years of tutoring before she can go with and help him the business tasks. Elective #2: Alan Baird takes his little girl, Jennifer Baird, under the care of him and shows her â€Å"the ropes† subsequent to finishing her instruction at The University of Western Ontario and doles out her to and broadened temporary job program after he acknowledges the proposal to repurchase his past business gathering. Favorable position: Alan Baird satisfies his fantasy to work a privately-run company; what's more he guarantees himself his little girl gets the essential presentation to the victories and disappointment of maintaining the business. Detriment: Within time, Alan Baird probably won't have the physical endurance to maintain the privately-run company and stay aware of his daughter’s preparing. Choice, strategy, execution Elective #2 is the best strategy accessible to Alan Baird. By taking his little girl under his administration, he can share direct understanding and information to survive and proceed in the groups’ achievement and he can have the privately-run company he constantly looked for after.

Book Riots Deals of the Day for February 16th, 2019

Book Riots Deals of the Day for February 16th, 2019 Sponsored by our giveaway of $100 to Amazon in support of Swords and Spaceships, our sci-fi/fantasy newsletter! These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Todays  Featured Deals Nebula Awards Showcase 2018 by Jane Yolen for $1.99.  Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy for $2.99.  Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination by Ursula K. Le Guin for $2.99.  Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. In Case You Missed Yesterdays Most Popular Deals Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire for $2.99.  Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Minyon Moore for $2.99.  Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. 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Problems With Chainsaws Made in China

Inexpensive chainsaws made in China have drawn great interest in the past few years, including brands such as Blue Max, Zomax, and Showbull. It is easy to find these and other cheaply made chainsaws on various internet sites, but its typically not worth the risk of a bad-performing saw just to save a few dollars. Dont Buy Over the Internet Consumers have reported problems with chainsaws they purchased on the internet. As one buyer noted: I recently purchased a saw on the internet. I have to report that the saw is very poorly made (with) obviously poor quality control. The saw I purchased was not properly packed nor did it come with a manufacturers manual or thorough safety instructions. This consumers experience illustrates the danger of buying any chainsaw on the internet. A few tips for avoiding problems: Never buy a chainsaw without being able to see, touch and inspect it personally.If you buy a chainsaw over the internet, ensure that you receive at least a 30-day warranty.Buy chainsaws from trusted and well-reviewed companies, such as  Husqvarna, Stihl, and Echo, which are all well-made with sturdy parts. These companies have service departments in nearly every community in North America.Buy your chainsaw from a dealer. Most chainsaw dealers will not service saws sold at department stores—or those sold over the internet. So the money you save buying an inexpensive chainsaw will be lost if the saw breaks, unless you are a mechanic and can fix the chainsaw yourself. Youll be hard-pressed to find a shop that will repair these saws. Educate Yourself The problem is not so much in buying a Chinese-made chainsaw; the issue is purchasing any machine sight unseen. If you buy a Chinese chainsaw on the internet, you have no way to verify its quality, generally, are left without a warranty and have little recourse to repair the machine if it breaks. Though some of the Chinese chainsaws may carry respected brand names, they are often produced by any number of subcontracting firms.   Instead, take the time to educate yourself about the parts of a chainsaw, maintenance requirements, what youll be using the chainsaw for and even your level of expertise. If youre a beginner, for example, youll want to look for specific requirements for your first chainsaw. Chainsaw Journal suggests you examine such issues as kickback, bar length, and safety features. You cant carefully review any of these things if you buy your chainsaw over the internet from a company with which you are unfamiliar. Take It for a Test Drive Chainsaw manufacturers are using newer and lighter materials to build more powerful but durable machines. One of the most important questions to ask yourself when buying the saw is: How does it feel? If the chainsaw is too bulky, it will be harder to use. Some of the best chainsaws are small and light. Here are a few tips: Look for a  non-kickback attachment  to ensure your safety.Examine the chainsaw parts.Try out both gas- and electric-powered saws.   The main thing is to examine the saw yourself before buying. Thats something you cant do over the internet. Put on some work gloves, visit a few dealers and spend an hour or two trying out chainsaws. Thats the best way to ensure you buy a quality chainsaw that will last years.

Risk Premiums and Efficient Market Hypothesis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3031 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? 1. Introduction An attempt to elaborate the relationship between the bad model problem and the Efficient Market Hypothesis or the Equity Risk Premium needs to necessarily commence with a short overview of the hypothesis. The Efficient Market Hypothesis, (EMH) was first developed by Eugene Fama of the University of Chicago, in the 1960s, to explain the behaviour of prices in equity markets. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Risk Premiums and Efficient Market Hypothesis" essay for you Create order It has now been generalised to determine price behaviour patterns in other asset markets and has become one of the central research paradigms in financial economics. The EMH postulates that security markets are very efficient in absorbing and reflecting information about traded stocks and, as such, new information about stocks affect share prices as soon as they occur. The absence of delay in stock price adjustment makes the use of technical or fundamental analyses in predicting price movements for the use of investors redundant. It does not thus matter whether investors hold a randomly selected portfolio or choose shares after studying fundamentals or technicals; as share price behaviour will remain random and unpredictable. The EMH is well known for its association with the concept of â€Å"random walk†, a term used to evocatively describe a series of price changes, where the price movements that take place have no connection with any definable trend and represent random departures from previous prices. Random walk works on the logic that future changes in price will depend upon future information and thus should have no connection with existing prices. As news, by its very nature is totally unpredictable, the behaviour of prices must therefore necessarily be beyond prediction. Also, as existing prices reflect all available information there should not be any difference in the returns achieved by an amateur investor picking up shares at random from the montage of shares available in the market, and those achieved by experts crunching numbers on their laptops. Using an oft repeated example it also indicates â€Å"that a blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a newspaper’s financial pages could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by the expert†[1] The efficient market hypothesis has three manifestations, the weak, semi strong and strong forms. The weak form postulates that prices of shares reflect all information in past and existing prices and business volumes, thus making movements random and the probability of making gainful trades just about even. The semi strong form takes a stride further to stipulate that prices have by now factored in supplementary information such as company and business data, as well as broad financial data including interest and currency fluctuations, and inflation. These two hypotheses, in effect, state that as existing share prices account for the variables used in technical and fundamental analyses, future movement is innately volatile and investment decisions of fund managers nothing more than shots in the dark. Finally the strong form hypothesis states that all information, public and private is reflected in stock prices. Subjected to extensive investigation and research, the EMH has continuously stood up to empirical testing and is still regarded by many to be the definitive theory on market behaviour. Revolutionary theories, however strong t hey may, be have life cycles of cerebral domination and the EMH has had to face severe challenges in the last five years. Investment consultants and stock brokers, people whose businesses and professions depend upon continued investor interest and activity, as well as a new breed of economists have been exceptionally harsh on the hypothesis stating that stock returns, to some extent and in certain circumstances are definitely predictable. A new breed of economists’ emphasized psychological and behavioral elements of stock-price determination, and came to believe that future stock prices are somewhat predictable based on past stock price patterns as well as certain â€Å"fundamental† valuation metrics.[2] These conclusions have also led to the claim that investors should be able to make use of the probability and earn risk adjusted higher rates of return. Current research, moreover, states that the EMH does not account for some disturbing aspects of asset market b ehaviour and share prices some times appear to be subject to misalignments that persist for long periods of time. The issue of bad models and its relationship with the EMH, as well as the Equity Risk Premium are part of the research and questioning directed at the Efficient Markets Hypothesis and relate to situations wherein actual stock behaviour does not correspond with the postulates of the hypothesis. 2. Bad Model Problem The Efficient Markets Hypothesis is under constant investigation and challenge by economists who assert that a number of cases exist and continue to occur, which empirically indicate that markets sometimes do not behave efficiently. Various occurrences like the US stock markets crash of 1987, the internet and dotcom valuations of the 1990s, short-term momentum movements, the so-called January effect, wherein stock prices rise without reason in the first month of every year, and other behavioural irrationalities have indicated inefficient market behaviour. Some patterns of market predictability, detailed by Burton Malkiel [3] are as follows. Short term momentum including under reaction to new information Long term return reversals Seasonal and day of the week patterns Predictable patterns based on valuation parameters Predicting future returns from initial dividend yields Predicting market returns from initial Price Earnings multiples Other predictable time series patterns Cross-Sectional Predictable Patterns Based on Firm Characteristics and Valuation Parameters The size effect Value stocks The Equity Risk Premium puzzle The debate over the validity of the EMH also includes findings of evidence of individual stocks over reacting to information, successful strategies of earning abnormal returns through selling past winners and buying past losers, the ability of various ratios including stock prices to signal future stock performance, and the persistent under reaction of individual stocks to earnings announcements. [4] Researchers like Malkiel and Maxym have provided cogent and logical explanations to account for these apparent anomalies in behaviour. In fact, Malkiel takes up each of these issues individually and provides reasons for the anomalies, using empirical evidence to suggest that the EMH is, by and large, extremely robust and each of the predictability patterns suggested above do not withstand empirical verification. In spite of these consistently rational explanations these anomalies are regarded as strong evidence of the existence of a certain amount of predictability in market price m ovement. The role of bad models in explaining the deviations of market patters from the Efficient Market Hypothesis has been recognised by most experts, including Fama, who state that the arguments against unpredictable markets should be considered and assessed critically. The tests of market efficiency, as a rule, depend upon the use of standard asset pricing models that include the Present Value Model, the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Arbitrage Theory. However, the applicability and suitability of these asset pricing models, to the situation at hand is, most often, a subject of debate. For example, if one were to postulate upon the basis of empirical evidence that prices are consistent with fundamentals, (an example of a clear deviation from the EMH) it would be necessary to use a model that uses a valid link from economic fundamentals to asset prices. While there are a number of models in all asset markets that can be used to establish this relationship, doubts persist over their suitability for this purpose in an empirically satisfactory manner; as they may not account for factors like â€Å"supply of shares, heterogeneity of beliefs, costs of private information production, and seasonality† [5] It is important to take account of this possible inadequacy while investigating evidence of deviations from the EMH because empirical assessment of market efficiency, especially those that relate to the examination of asset price returns over extensive periods are tests, not just of market efficiency but also obviously of the adopted asset pricing model. It is thus entirely probable that in cases where the postulates of the EMH appear to be rejected by empirical data, the failure may very possibly be due to inadequacies in the pricing model and not in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. This, as per Fama, constitutes the â€Å"bad model† problem, a reason that could prevent researchers from drawing legitimate inferences about the tenets of t he EMH. Economists supporting the EMH often argue that deviations in behaviour of efficient markets from the postulates of the hypothesis are actually due to the bad model problem and not due to inadequacies in the hypothesis. The bad model interpretation would thus suggest that predictability regarding excess returns could represent recompense for risk, which was poorly measured in the first instance, by the chosen asset pricing model. This reasoning however loses validity if deviations of actual behaviour from EMH postulates remain for long periods of time. In such situations it thus becomes imperative to specify alternative models that incorporate empirically assessable efficiencies. â€Å"Consequently, most long-term return anomalies tend to disappear when subjected to different models and statistical testing methods, (Fama, 1997)† [6] 3. The â€Å"Bad Model Problem† and the puzzle of Equity Risk Premium Accepted finance theories postulate that while inves tments in stocks and shares available in the equity market are far more volatile in their price movements than investments made in governmental or treasury bonds, they also provide greater return on the money invested. Analysis of historical data in most countries with mature stock markets also confirms that investments in shares, while being more volatile than official bonds, do provide higher returns. As such while rational investors should find the prospects of higher yields available from investments in stocks attractive, they would also tend to be wary of the associated risk and chances of economic loss. It would thus be natural for investors to expect higher returns, or rather premiums, from share market investments than in governmental bonds. The Equity Risk Premium (ERP) arises from these sentiments and represents the incremental rate of return expected by an investor in return for investing in shares or stocks that are associated with a higher risk than in risk free investm ents like, for example, government bonds. â€Å"Welch (1999) notes that this equity risk premium ‘is perhaps the single most important number in financial economics’, with implications for asset allocation decisions and providing a key input into calculations of the appropriate discount rate for evaluating investments.†[7] The ERP can apply to a broad based selection of stocks as well as to single stocks. If, for purposes of clarification, we take the rate of return on governmental bonds to be 6 %, the risk free rate would be the same and any investor would obviously not like to invest in any security offering a rate of less than the risk free rate. Any investment in a risky security would thus necessarily have to provide a return higher than the risk free rate. Risks are normally associated with all stocks and an expectation of 9 % from a diversified selection of stocks would indicate an ERP of 3 % on part of the investor. The final measure of risk associated with stocks is the risk associated with a particular stock, generally called the â€Å"beta†. The â€Å"beta† of a company depends upon a combination of its operational risk and financial risk and increases with increases in their perception, a larger beta being associated with an increased ERP. The extra recompense investors expect to get from investment in higher risk investments has become a bit of a puzzle. Common sense, backed by logical financial theory would suggest that this extra premium should be just enough or slightly more than the cost of the extra risk, calculated in most cases with the use of the Capital Assets Pricing Model The actual position, however, is vastly different. A number of studies have found and reconfirmed that the actual equity risk premium has been significantly larger than that required to cover the cost of the extra risk. â€Å"The Ibbotson data from 1926 through 2001, (states that) common stocks have produced rates of return of a pproximately 10 ½ percent while high grade bonds have returned only about 5 ½ percent†[8] The existence of a large historical risk premium, which is at odds and quite incompatible with the actual risk involved, implies the existence of irrationality in stock market behaviour and a sign of the fact that the Efficient Markets Hypothesis does not apply to stock markets. Various reasons put forward to account for this puzzle includes a school of thought that feels that the measurement of past premiums was erratic or due to improper selection of shares. In the short run, stocks are riskier than bonds, and it used to be assumed that the equity premium was simply the market price of risk. In 1985, however, economists Rajnish Mehra and Edward Prescott showed that no plausible model of investor preferences could reconcile the observed investor premium with the efficient markets hypothesis that is the belief that financial markets smoothly diversify all relevant risk. They conclu ded that an efficient market would produce an equity premium of at most half a percentage point.[9] Such results indicate the possibility that markets are essentially not efficient if the use of the Capital Assets Pricing Model (CAPM) is presumably correct. The CAPM was conceptualised originally by William Sharpe fifty years back and has since evolved into one of the chief models for managers to control risks for taking investment decisions. It is an equilibrium model that describes the pricing of assets as well as derivatives. It is the single most used model for valuing securities and uses the Discounted Cash Flow system with risk adjusted discount rates. The CAPM stipulates that market entry throws open investors to two types of risks, systematic risks that arise from being present in the market, and unsystematic risks, which arise from investing in particular companies. As unsystematic risks can be controlled through a process of diversification, the main risk in portfolio decisions comes from systematic risks. The validity of the CAPM and its appropriateness for all cases of valuation is however an issue of debate and repeated doubts have been raised over some of its assumptions, namely that investors are rational single period planners who seek mean-variance optimal portfolios and that security markets are ideal and large, that there are no transaction costs, that all risky stocks are traded and money is available at risk free rates. While the existence of abnormally high equity risk premiums does lead to questions about the efficiency of markets, supporters of the EMH argue that the existence of high ERPs do not automatically mean that markets are inefficient. It could simply be due to a bad model problem and the inadequacy of the CAPM to account for all the aspects of risk. Fama and French (1993) suggest that the price-to-book value ratio may reflect another risk factor that is priced into the market and not captured by CAPM. Companies in s ome degree of financial distress, for example, are likely to sell at low prices relative to book values. Fama and French (1993) argue that a three-factor asset-pricing model (including price-to-book-value and size as measures of risk) is the appropriate benchmark against which anomalies should be measured. [10] The relationship between equity Risk Premiums and the Efficient Market Hypothesis is a matter of debate and a number of economists and market experts think of this phenomenon as a strong indicator of the inefficiency of markets and the fact that the EMH is open to questioning. Supporters of the hypothesis on the other hand refute this opinion strongly and state that this, as in the case of most other EMH anomalies, could be no more than another example where the use of CAPM is inappropriate and indicative of a bad model problem. The use of alternate and more sophisticated models could well incorporate the cost of unaccounted risk factors and, by reducing the Equity Risk Pr emium significantly, bring it in line with the postulates of the hypothesis. In the meantime, while the debate continues to rage, it is becoming evident that the EMH is no longer the definitive word in predicting stock behaviour that it once was. Alternate theories that point to anomalies in EMH and hypothesise that markets can be predictable, to some extent, are gaining ground. Bibliography Active Fund Management and Investment Strategies, 2006, Investment Management, Retrieved December 7, 2007 from www.londonexternal.ac.uk//lse/lse_pdf/further_units/invest_man/23_invest_man_chap3.pdf Bodie, Z, Kane, A and Marcus, 2005, Investments, McGraw Hill, USA Burton, J, 1998, Revisiting the Capital Asset Pricing Model, Dow Jones Asset Manager, Retrieved December 7, 2006 from www.stanford.edu/~wfsharpe/art/djam/djam.htm Investment funds from Barclays Global Investors, 2006, Retrieved January 7, 2006 from https://www.bgifunds.com Lofthouse, S, 1994, Equity Investment Manageme nt: How to Select Stocks and Markets, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Levy, H, 1996, Introduction to Investments, South-Western College Publishing, USA Malkiel, B.G, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, 2003, Retrieved January 7, 2006 from www.princeton.edu/~ceps/workingpapers/91malkiel.pdf Malkiel, B.G, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985, p. 16. Maxym, D, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and the Ukrainian Stock Market, 2000, Retrieved January 7, 2007 from www.eerc.kiev.ua/research/matheses/2000/Dedov_Maxym/body.pdf Quiggin, J, Puzzling analysis from free market camp, Australian Financial Review, 1999, Retrieved January 7, 2007 from www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin/news/Dow9905.html Wicas, N, 2005, Add active ingredients to spice up passive portfolios, Professional Wealth Management, Retrieved November 12, 2006 from www.pwmnet.com/news/categoryfront.php/id/75/ASSET_ALLOCATION.html Bottom of Form 1 Footnotes [1] Burton G. Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985, p. 16. [2] Burton G. Malkiel, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, 2003, Retrieved January 7, 2006 from www.princeton.edu/~ceps/workingpapers/91malkiel.pdf [3] Burton G. Malkiel, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, 2003 [4] Dedov Maxym, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and the Ukrainian Stock Market, 2000, Retrieved January 7, 2007 from www.eerc.kiev.ua/research/matheses/2000/Dedov_Maxym/body.pdf [5] Dedov Maxym, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and the Ukrainian Stock Market, 2000 [6] Dedov Maxym, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and the Ukrainian Stock Market, 2000 [7] Quiggin, J, Puzzling analysis from free market camp, Australian Financial Review, 1999, Retrieved January 7, 2007 from www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin/news/Dow9905.html [8] Burton G. Malkiel, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, 2003 [9] Quiggin, J, Puzzling anal ysis from free market camp, Australian Financial Review, 1999 [10] Burton G. Malkiel, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, 2003

Does online profiling mirrors or creates identities Free Essays

string(40) " of our identity just like race or sex\." Introduction WHAT IS ONLINE PROFILING. Online consumer profiling is a complex phenomena that can be researched from a variety of perspectives. First of all, it is obviously an advertising technique that revolutionized the effectiveness of targeted advertising. We will write a custom essay sample on Does online profiling mirrors or creates identities or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, online consumer profiling is not just a smart way to reach consumers. Consumer profiling has been present in advertising for a long time now, with theorists arguing about its possible effects on society and consumers. Greg Elmer(2004), in his work ‘Profiling machines: Mapping the Personal Information Economy’ provides an overview of some of the standpoints with regards to profiling. From the perspective of Foucault’s famous concept of panopticon, profiling is presented as means of exercising surveillance in the societies of control(Elmer, 2004). Foucault suggests that in such societies the differences between reward and punishment are blurred(Emler, 2004), this can be illustrated by some of the online consumer profiling techniques. For example, checking the weather forecast online, usually requires from us typing in our zip code. This initial reward( i.e the perspective of getting free and accurate information on weather in our area) ends up being a punishment. Ultimately, we provide advertisers with important geographic data that can then be used for consumer profiling. Similarly to Foucault, Dandekre (cited in Elmer, 2004) sees profiling as a part of society of control. In fact, according to Dandekre, profiling is a sign of modern surveillance which signifies the shift from the supervision to bureaucratic surveillance, which is a lot more invasive and depends highly on technology. Elmer(2004) states that profiling is an ongoing distribution and collection of information about desires, habits and location of groups or individuals. Moreover, Elmer(2004) suggests that consumers actively assist in creating profiling databases, as all collected data are being cross referenced. Lyon(The Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Society, 1994) seems to share this view, as he sees consumers as self communicating entities, triggering their own inclusion into system of surveillance, that works through a series of seductions and solicitations. In terms of profiling effects on society, there are two main standpoints. Gandy(1993) in The Panopticon: a Political Economy of Personal Information views profiling as a system of sorting both individuals and whole communities into abstract categories that is unavoidably discriminatory. He continues to say that this system forces individuals wants and desires into ‘larger, rationalized and easily diagnosable profiles’(Elmer,2004,23). On the other hand, R.A Clarke(‘Information Technology and Dataveillance, 1988) sees profiling as a system of predicting ‘deviant behavior’ and fails to recognize possible risk of prejudice or discrimination. Early works on profiling seem to focus more on the effects it has on communities, as profiling was seen more as a part of the shift towards technology. However, with the fast development of internet and more advanced profiling techniques there seem to be more interest in the position of the individual in the process of online consumer profiling. WHAT IS IDENTITY According to John Deighton(2005), who analyzed the consumer identity motives in the information age, identity can be defined as a cluster of characteristics that we display in a social setting (2005,236). In the digital setting, the characteristics that construct identity are being grouped, coded and manipulated. In the cybernetic sense identity is used as a point of reference for who one is or aspires to be(236). Author stresses the crucial part identity plays in analyzing consumption, as it could be a source of information on one’s habits, dislikes or desires. When discussing identity, Deighton(2005) also touches up on the notion of ‘being identified’(237). Being ‘identified’ means to be observed or recognized and in the off-line setting, this notion relies heavily on the facial/physical recognition. However, in the digital world, it is our online activity that enables us to be identified. The lack of ‘face’ in the digital setting, creates space for us to take on many identities. Deighton(2005) (247) sees identity as an opposite of anonymity and suggest that in an online world, we lose our anonymity by simply ‘signing in’. With that in mind, the techniques used to identify an individual online provoke many theoretical questions about the authenticity of online identity. boyd(2001) maintains that users need to gain awareness of the data they leave online, in order to construct truthful identities. However, because as online users, we have no control or knowledge on what data is being archived there is no way to verify its accuracy. Boyd does not necessarily condemn all corporate efforts to ‘reconstruct’ the individual through digital data. Her focus seem to remain on consumers’ right to access the collected data and use to build self-awareness(46). She introduces the concept of a digital mirror(53), linked to Lancan’s mirror stage of development, during which a child acknowledges themselves as a unique individual for the first time(53). Boyd(2001) maintains that the lack of material body online, pushes users into using digital representations, that serve as an online agent co nstructing our identity. Through online personal profiles, we gain an illusion of control over our online identity. However, boyd(2001) stresses that even though we hold control over a limited amount of information, the way we perceive ourselves online is different from the way others see us(53). In that respect, boyd(2001) puts a particular emphasis on the data aggregation online, which means that information on our current online activity is combined with the information from the past(53). It is argued that providing users with information on their personal data that can be accessed by third parties, would allow to provide feedback and adjust one’s online behavior and as a result gain greater control over their online identity.(54) One of the most important issues in online consumer profiling is the notion of individual versus consumer identity. Gandy(1993) maintains that profiling categorizes one’s desires and wants into broader and simplified profiles. Therefore, how accurately does it mirror one’s personalityIs consumer identity different from our non-consumer identityAre they one and the same thingOr is consumer identity simply a part of our identity just like race or sex. You read "Does online profiling mirrors or creates identities" in category "Essay examples"This and similar questions are being posed by theorists researching online consumer profiling. Similarly to Daighton(2005), Zwick and Dholakia(2004) in ‘Whose identity is it anywayConsumer Identity in the age of Database marketing’ stress that today consumer is no longer anonymous due to the ‘digitazation ‘of the market space. This means that once information became digital it can be stored in the database for years and shared as a binary bit. Authors seem to lean towards the post-structuralist perspective of data based marketing technologies as a discourse, which constructs a consumer as a cultural object and then uses as a target for marketing purposes. Due to the fast development of profiling techniques, an online consumer can be tracked and analyzed during every minute of their online activity. This information can provide an invaluable insight into consumer’s nature. Zwick and Dholakia(2004) suggest that market database becomes consumer’s identity and therefore has to be looked at as a form of language, as it attempts to make sense of the world and create a system of representation. Drawing from Foucault’s, Zwick and Dholakia(2004), state that every system of representation, in no matter what form, articulate newly ordered spaces of knowledge, in which an object of representation becomes(†¦) known.(p.3) Acknowledging market databases as a form of language, enables us to look at consumers as cultural objects. Ziwck and Dholakia(2004) suggest that because of market databases’ linguistic power, our own ability to construct identity is threatened. Consumers become objects constituted through the performative powers of market database discourse. Limited ability of consumers to construct their own identity is one of the effects of online consumer profiling and database marketing, discussed by Zwick and Dholakia(2004). This is because consumers are lacking control over the language that constitutes their identities. In that respect, consumers’ participation is denied in the digital market space. To put simply, it could be suggested that online profiling constructs and forces identities upon consumers. ZwickDholakia(2004)stress that most databases do not refer back to the consumers after tracking and analyzing their online activity. This can suggest that these databases are being created to suit marketer’s needs rather than to truthfully reflect consumers’ identities. More importantly, the accuracy of such databases can easily be undermined. One consumer is most likely to be recorded in several databases that can differ in focus, structure and size. In this case, databases construct multitude of representation of the same consumer, who is being assigned several different persona to take on in the digital marketplace. This results in, consumer being ‘a blended, digital simulation whose ‘nature’ depends on the composition of the databses’(Zwick and Dholakia,38 2004) Zwick and Dholakia(2004) see online profiling mainly as means to construct a customer rather than to reflect a customers’ identity. Authors acknowledge consumers’ minor participation, in the process of creating database, which is limited to acts of online consumption. However, consumers do not have the control over how much and what kind of information is being collected, despite numerous online privacy options. Zwick and Dholakia(2004), unlike most theorists, do not seem to be preoccupied with the issue of online privacy with regards to online profiling. Authors suggest that, in most cases, the creation of online consumer identities takes place without the participation of a ‘real’ consumer. KEY ISSUES: The diffusion of internet-freedom or constrain? The issue of increased internet control has been raised also by David Bell(in CREEBER 2008), who talks about the diffusion of the internet. On one hand internet can be seen as empowering and reaching towards greater openness and freedom of speech and access to information. On the other hand, internet’s great ability to control and dominate its users is becoming more apparent. Furthermore, Bell(2008) notices how internet is being used by corporate capitalism to influence users and propagate its agendas. With that respect, Bell appears to share Henry Jenkins’ view of digital divide and monopolization of internet by corporations.(Creeber, 2008) However, the issue that Bell(2008) seems concerned with the most is the invasive nature of internet. Nowadays, he argues, we tend to evacuate real life into digital spaces. Social networking sites and e-commerce are equivalents of aspects of life that used to belong to ‘real’ life. Not only, do we live a significant part of life online, we also bring cyberspace into real life. With the emergence of new technologies like Ipads and mobiles with internet connection we can experience cyberspace, with all its flaws and advantages, almost all the time(Bell, 2008). This extreme growth in internet usage and accessibility opens a whole new world to consumer profiling. danah boyd examines the connections between identity and participation in social networking websites. She illustrates the great extent to which social networking sites ‘invaded’ the offline world. In ‘None of this is Real Identity and Participation in Friendster’(2008) author mentions the ubiquity of Friendster in the surrounding offline world. With people signed in on the website on their laptops in a local cafe, rockstars encouraging fans to join the online community during a concert and social networking websites being a topic of conversation in offline social situation(boyd, 2008), online advertising platforms become a part of popular culture. McAllister and Matthew(2003) talk about the increasingly blurring differences between commercial and popular culture. With the intrusion of commercial values on popular culture, advertisers gain the ability to brand spaces from outside of commercial culture and therefore manipulate consumers to engage with consumer culture at all times. However, the synergy of popular and commercial culture is not the only factor facilitating the development of online advertising. The lack of understanding and clear distinction between private and public in the online environment (Stern, 2004), often leads to users sharing more information that they would in an offline environment, resulting in internet being an extremely important source of consumer information(Faber et al, 2004). Faber et al point out that one of the fastest developing trends in online advertising is research analyzing content areas not traditionally associated with advertising, for example internet sponsorship(2004,3). Marketers ability to track user’s online activity, offers the opportunity to generate ‘personalized’ advertising. Faber et al refers to information flexibility(2004,11) to describe the phenomenon of tailoring advertisements to suit needs and desires of particular customers. Faber et al maintains that personalization of banner ads, increases the likelihood of user engaging in the ad(2004,5). Personalized ad can be key-word activated or generated using consumer database(2004,5). Gadzheva(2007) maintains that due to the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) much more personal data is being processed online, making it extremely difficult to supervise(2007,63). Any traces of data ‘left’ by a user during their online activity can be correlated to produce consumer profiles, usually without user’s knowledge(2007,64). Although consumers are often portrayed as victims of internet technology, Glen Creeber(2008) in his work, provides and alternative perspective on approaches towards internet and its effect on individuals. Postmodern standpoint sees consumption as a basis of today’s existence with consumer culture determining cultural sphere of our life(Creeber, 2008). This approach looks at technology as a way of improving audience’s active participation and is a lot more positive than some of the standpoints that often demonize new media. Creeber(2008), drawing on Levinson’s work, suggests that postmodern audience is seen as participants rather than just voyeurs. Similarly, post structuralist perspective assumes that audience is able to resist ideological meanings present in the new media advertising(Creeber, 2008). It also acknowledges audiences’ role in creating the meanings, as post structuralism focuses more on how new media messages are being decoded by the audience, rather than how producers encode them. This approach has been highly criticized by more skeptical theorists. Postman(1985 Amusing ourselves to death ) points out that the alleged choice and active participation offered by the internet is only illusionary. In reality, because internet has been monopolized by corporations, it reduces options available to audience to the same commodified, consumerist produc(Creeber,21, 2008). Critics of post structuralism and post modernism perceive audience as not being able to acknowledge the illusionary nature of the propaganda messages conveyed by the internet. KEY ISSUES ONLINE vers. OFFLINE IDENTITY With different approaches to internet audience, internet profiling, needs to be looked at from the perspective of consumer identities. In simplified terms, internet profiling aims to study consumers’ identities using a variety of data available online. Data used for the analysis is consumers personal information but also their needs and desires, often expressed through their consumer choices. Therefore, from marketers point of view, to reach ‘a true’ insight into one’s identity, consumer has to be analyzed from the perspective of the identity signaling . This approach, however, provokes a debate over how truthful such analysis could be. Berger and Heath(2007) suggest that consumers buy products not only for their function but also for what they symbolize, we buy products but also the ideologies behind them. Partially, our consumer choices are based on what products we feel express or match our personality, life style. However, we also make consumer choices that aim at constructing our desired identity(Berger and Heath, 2007) Of course, it is not only advertisers who scrutinise our consumer choices, it is also others who make assumption about our preferences or social status based on our purchases(Berger and Heath, 2007).Drawing on McCracken’s concept of meaning movement, Berger and Heath (2007) suggests that individuals’ tastes communicate identity, as others make assumptions based on the groups or â€Å"types† of individuals that are commonly associated with particular taste . It is argued, however, that using a similar model of ‘associations’, advertisers are in charge of creating norms of behaviour for consumers(Beckett, 2008, Reflective consumer). Advertisers anticipate consumer’s needs and desires by cross referencing online activity of other, similar consumers. Therefore apart from responding to current consumer’s needs, advertisers also aim at developing those needs. Rettberg Walker (2009) examines the ways in which social media create representations of its users. Author focuses on the data filtering mechanisms, employed by social media in order to offer us simplified templates or narratives of our life. Rettberg-Walker sees those representations as positive phenomena, enabling consumers to analyse their own life, made out of data retrieved from the internet. Author stresses also that in the 21st century we become used to online technologies and acknowledge our participation in the online environment. Internet offers us a chance to express our identities rather than uncritically accept the mass media representations of the world (436). Rettberg-Walker also acknowledges the limitations of users participation in the web. Author maintains that freedom of expression online is nowadays greatly controlled by commercial interest and mass customisation based on templates and segments. The literal example of this phenomena, would be social networking si tes that provide users with templates to fill in with personal data(460). Rettberg- Walker’s interest focuses on how we construct personal narratives in response to larger cultural templates, often exploited by mass media. Even though Rettberg-Walker, states that most internet users will follow the existing templates and copy the already generated content, it’s the individual contributions to larger cultural templates that matter (460). One could suggest that ‘template generated’ identity lacks authenticity or creativity, however Rettberg-Walker argues that above all it provides a sense of belonging, as observing our life displayed online in a similar manner to celebrities, for example, we gain the feeling of inclusion into a larger cultural template(464). The longing for the inclusion into larger cultural patterns may be rooted in the modern issue of social and psychological identity. Gabriel Lang(2006) in Unmanageable Consumer examines the issues of modern identity and its relation to consumption. Author suggest that a modern day individual constructs their identity through consumption and it is the consumer ethic, rather than work, that lays at the basis of our existence(84). One could argue that Lang’s point of view constitutes the basis for online profiling. Thus, if in modernity identities are being constructed through consumption, then marketers are right in ‘profiling’ users based on their online consumption patterns. Allison Hear expands the concept of identity construction through consumption and analyses the idea of ‘self-branding’, being a form of project of the self that leads to increasingly blurred distinctions between product and consumer. Hear explains that self-branding constitutes of conscious construction of self-images through the usage of mass media cultural representations and templates of mainstream cultural industries, which leads to generating value and material profit(198). Hear draws attention to significant differences between exercising branded self in an online and ‘real world’ environment. Author stresses that today social network sites are the centre of both social interactions as well as consumption(210). Social network sites enable users to manage their own online profiles and connect with other users, who engage in similar activities. Each user creates an online representation of their identity or particular aspects of it. Allison maintains tha t it is the ‘questionnaire like’ formats of social network profiles that encourage users to reveal their preferences, mainly in relation to mass media culture, consequently exposing their specific consumer tastes (210). The important notion of self branding on social network sites revolves around the multiplicity of roles that a user takes on online. By carefully designing our online representations, we become authors or as Allison puts it ‘actors’ of our own digital narratives. However, we also act as ‘promotional objects’, displaying chosen traits of our personality to convey a particular message and its symbolic appeal, in order to create value of our representations(211). Allison argues that this approach encourages users to perceive themselves as ‘commodities’, not only because of the ‘branded’ nature of the profiles they create but also the ongoing contest of popularity on the social network websites. Users add n umerous ‘friends’ to their profiles, in order to display their popularity in the social circle(211). Users profiles, according to Allison, are both created and consumed as a commodity. However, another important aspect of online self-branding, is the advertisement aspect of all popular social network sites, which appear to be a perfect platform for reaching a specific segment of consumers. It is to do with their ability to attract specific type of demographics and deliver advertisements in a ‘non-intrusive’ way. Users often engage with the advertisements out of their own will, by ,for example, joining a group dedicated to a specific brand or product. Advertisers set up profiles of particular products, which users can add to their ‘friends list’ and then receive regular updates alongside with information on their ‘real’ friends. This increasingly tight bond between product and consumer, is concluded by Allison as a collapse of distinctions between notions of the self, processes of production and consumption(212). With the products invading the digital representations of users identities, marketers reach a new way of promoting the brand. It is the users that are made to ‘work’ and spread the popularity of a product. Allison suggests that the process of self branding is a form of labour, which serves people to transform nature into objects of their imagination(213). Without a doubt creating a digital representation of one’s self involves a substantial amount of labour, revolving around choosing the right aspects of our identity to be represented. In that sense, it is no different from self-presentation in a real world environment. However, the problem with digital representation of one’s self seem to be based around the exploitation of the self-branding labour. One could argue, that the digital profiles of users, no longer serve to represent their identity but to promote a particular product. CONSUMPTION AND DATA PROFILING Antony Becket(2008) provides an overview of Peppers and Rogers work that examines the shift from traditional marketing to collaborative marketing. Authors provide a critique of mass marketing as well as describe the mechanisms of customer relationship management, which lays at the basis of collaborative marketing. Online targeting, through suggestion and recommendations, is a perfect example of marketer’s attempt to implement a more interactive ‘one to one’ marketing. Peppers and Rogers(Beckett, 2008) see technology as a vital part of developing customer-producer relationship as well as forming customer identity. Beckett(2008) focuses also on debates on power relations between producers and consumers, with special emphasis on the role of consumer. Beckett(2008) suggests that modern social theory of identity construction, as the ’reflexive’ self is highly related to contemporary patterns of consumption. In today’s world we engage in an ongoing process of identity formation through active, reflexive decisions, including our consumer choices. Reflexive consumption is seen by some as liberating as it offers consumers the opportunity to construct desired identities. On the other hand, Beckett maintains that reflexivity could be looked at from the perspective of governmentality, as locating individuals in relation to power and authority(Becket,2008,302). Becket continues to say, that from this perspective reflexivity could be seen as a mechanism of control and domination, through shaping consumers’ needs and desires to suit particular agenda. Becket(2008) also discusses Peppers’ and Rogers’ extended critique of mass marketing and their claim about RM and CRM being a remedy to problems with mass marketing. Peppers and Rogers identified three main critiques of mass marketing : the loss of consumer’s individuality, inability to recognize loyal and non-loyal customers and lack of dialogue between producers and customers. Authors suggest that marketing should shift away from the concepts of mass marketing and aim at establishing collaborative marketing, which engages customers in ongoing, collaborative activities with the producers(2008,304). Collaborative marketing aims at ‘identifying’ the individual consumers and classifying them based on their value to the producer. Therefore, in order to achieve that, producer has to engage the consumer into the technologies that allow to ‘get to know’ them.(2008,306). Becket(2008) suggests that with the emergence of complex softwares and databases, customer relationship management has reached another level of customer classification. It is because of the emergence of innovative tracking technologies that producers are being given the power to govern and influence individuals’ needs and customer value. Becket(2008,306) gives example of loyalty cards or electronic databases to illustrate how consumers are being involved in a network of ‘surveillance’ technologies. Becket(2008, seems to clearly mark his opinion on whether markets create people’s needs and identities. Author states that producer can nowadays anticipate and alter possible future purchases. One way of doing it is by comparison with other shoppers. This would suggest that consumers are being categorised and altered to fit the ‘norm’. The process of ‘normalisation’ can be executed through for example, recommendation ads or personalised e-mails. In the eyes of producers, customers become an active participant when they respond to those recommendations(Becket, 2008,308). Manipulation, according to Becket (2008), happens on two levels. First level is based on creating norms of behaviour through recommendations ads. Secondly, producers aim at engaging consumers with the market, in order to turn them into savvy, active participants. In reality, it is just another way to programme customers to be susceptible to marketing techniques. However, is there perhaps another way of looking at the mechanisms of collaborative marketing’After all, as Becket(2008) reminds us, the goals of customer relationship marketing promise an improved lifestyle for the customer. ‘Active’ consumers have the chance to engage with marketers to satisfy their needs and better the quality of their life through consumption. Becket(2008), drawing on Peppers and Rogers work, presents an alternative version of society, where consumers are not necessarily simply either manipulated or authoritative. The reflexive consumption, puts consumers in a position of collaborator. Peppers and Rogers(Becket, 2008, 311) present a vision where consumption is liberating, as a consumer can reach a better life style through ‘active’ consumption. All in all, Becket’s(2008) work comes down to a dilemma between collaborative marketing offering a greater freedom, wider variety of choice and life style improvement achieved through consumption and collaborative marketing being a constrain mechanism, that promotes ‘unnatural’ need for consumption. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS The problem of online profiling provokes a debate over the increasing intervention of technology into our privacy. There has been a considerable amount of literature devoted to the problem of blurred distinctions between private and public in the online environment. However, the problem of the influence of recommendation ads on the identity construction has not gathered enough direct attention. Although, the debate on the diffusion of the internet is strongly linked to the issue of online targeting. Since, if internet can be seen both as liberating and constraining, so does online targeting. On one hand, online targeting offers liberation through direct marketing, enhanced, individualized consumption. On the other hand, it traps us in categories of norms of behaviour, tricks us to believe that the recommendation ad has been generated especially for us and therefore are suitable for us. However, acknowledging the increasing influence of targeted advertising on creating norms of behaviour which ultimately aims at shaping our online behaviour, brings up social anxieties with regards to online surveillance. Sceptics may question the extent to which targeted advertising can shape one’s identity. Nonetheless, it cannot be ignored that targeted advertising exercise the power to reinforce social divisions(Lyon,1994,156). Through targeting consumers based on the information available online, which places them into particular segments, online advertising mimics the existing social divides. It is the advertisers who predicts our tastes and decide on our value. These sorting mechanism result in groups of consumers being excluded from particular advertising simply because of their consumer profile. Lyon(1994,156) maintains that when analysing the nature of modern consumption surveillance, we have to take into consideration both how data-subject are constituted as consumers and how their consumption pattern is being interpreted through the means of commercial surveillance. Without a doubt, online targeted advertising is an issue surrounded with controversy and ethical dilemmas. With the fast development of new media technologies and general synergy of popular and consumer culture, the role it plays in defining modern society becomes more apparent. References: Berger, J. A Heath, C. (2007). Where Consumers Diverge from Others: Identity Signalling and Product Domains. Journal of Consumer Research. 34 (August), pp.121-130. Creeber,G Martin, R (2008). Digital cultures: Understanding the media. Milton Keyns: Open University Press. 11-46 . Elmer, G (2004) Profiling Machines: Mapping the Personal Information Technology. United States of America: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gandy, O.H (1993) The panoptic sort : a political economy of personal information. Oxford: Westview Press. Clarke R. (1988) Information Technology and Dataveillance. Retrieved from http://www.rogerclarke.com/DV/CACM88.html on 14th of February 2011. McAllister, P (2003) Is Commercial Culture Popular CultureA Question for Popular Communication Scholars. Popular Communication, 2003, Vol. 1 Issue 1, p41- 49p. Lyon, D (1994) The Electronic Eye: The Rise of surveillance Society. United states of America: Univeristy of Minessota Press. Rottberg Walker, J (2009)Freshly Generated for you and Barack Obama: How Social Media Represent Your Life. European Journal of Communication 24,pp.451-466. Zwick, D Dholakia, N. (2004). Whose Identity Is It AnywayConsumer Representation in the Age of Database Marketing. Journal of Macromarketing. 24 (31), pp.31-41. How to cite Does online profiling mirrors or creates identities, Essay examples

The Aztecs A Case Study Essay Example For Students

The Aztecs: A Case Study Essay The Aztecs are an ancient culture that had many customs and rituals that by modern standards are considered barbaric. Their culture was made up of different social classes, and was primitive yet very advanced. They were located in the mainland of Mexico, and their empire was quite vast over that area. Their culture began around 1100, and ended around 1520. The exact numbers of the Aztecs is not known due to the age of their culture, but judging by the size of their empire it was quite large. The only figure I could find was that in 1519 there were more than 1,000,000 people living in the civilizations boundaries. The reason that I was drawn to this culture was some of the practices that they had. We will write a custom essay on The Aztecs: A Case Study specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The most interesting being the human sacrifices to the gods, and the large ball game that they played that sometimes went on for days without a stop. The Aztecs lived primarily in a fertile volcanic valley of Mexico where they built their capital city named Tenochtitlan. The land in which they lived was a plateau seeing that most of the surrounding was mountainous. The soil in the settled areas was very rich and good for growing crops, due to the volcanic eruptions that occurred. The valley of Mexico was the heartland of Aztec civilization. It is a large internally drained basin surrounded by volcanic mountains that are as high as 9,000 ft in elevation. Thousands of years of soil erosion had produced deep, rich soils in the valley and a system of shallow, swampy, salt lakes in its center. This gave the Aztecs a diverse variety of foods that could be available. The salty lakes made available fish, turtles, insect larvae, blue-green algae, and salt. The food that was eaten by the Aztecs varied by social classes. The peasants lived mainly on corn and beans, except for a duck or a crow that they may have trapped in their garden. Their only domesticated animals were rabbits, dogs, and turkeys which were fattened and eaten on special occasions. Corn was the main food of The Aztecs and many foods were made fresh daily from it. Every morning the woman of the family would grind up fresh corn, and make bread for the day. The higher classed people, however, enjoyed eating turtles and crabs imported from the coast. It was odd to the Spaniards to find that one of the delicacies of the Aztecs was dog. Aztec homes also differed by social class, peasants built their huts around the edge of the city. While handymen lived nearer to the center in mud-brick houses. In each of these homes there was normally a mudbrick tub, and they all consisted of a single room. Nobles that were higher in society lived in palaces built of whitewashed stone, and with over a hundred rooms, and were built around the main plaza. Inside of all houses the rooms were almost bare, light came in from wooden torches and round the room were stored the familys possessions and objects of daily use. Even palaces had no doors but instead had cloth hung over openings, this allowed for cool air to circulate throughout the house. For the Aztecs clothing was way of showing social status, so there were very strict laws about who could wear what. An ordinary citizen wore a loincloth and cloak, which had to be made of plain undyed maguey-fiber cloth. And if they were caught wearing sandals in the palace they were put to death. Nobles wore cotton cloaks with borders of precious stones. Craftsmen were able to dye the cotton green, and other colors; they also wove geometric designs into their cloak to symbolize their status in the culture. The Aztecs loved to wear jewelry, but there were also strict laws about this. .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .postImageUrl , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:hover , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:visited , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:active { border:0!important; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:active , .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1eadf8c39bd7f91df38a7276dd830fdb:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: What is Amulet Essay Most people pierced their ears to hold plugs of shell or polished stones. Nobles were allowed to wear gold and carved precious stones in their lower lips to show their high rank. Farmers were among the lowest in the dress, they slept in their loincloth, and in the morning he got his blanket and tied it around his shoulder and he