The Syria Crisis: Overview and US Reactions

The Syria Crisis: Overview and US Reactions The Crisis in Syria In Syria, anti-government shows started in Spring of 2011, some portion of the Arab Spring. The quiet dissents immediately heightened after the administrations fierce crackdown, and furnished restriction bunches started battling back. By July, armed force turncoats had inexactly sorted out the Free Syrian Armed force and numerous nonmilitary personnel Syrians waged war to join the restriction. Divisions amongst common and religious warriors, and between ethnic gatherings, keep on complicating the legislative issues of the contention. Syrias considerate war has made the most noticeably awful helpful emergency of our time. A large portion of the nations pre-war populace, more than 11 million individuals, have been slaughtered or compelled to escape their homes. Families are attempting to make do inside Syria, or make another home in neighboring nations. Others are taking a chance with their lives while in transit to Europe, planning to discover acknowledgment and opportunity. Furthermo re, brutal winters and hot summers make life as a displaced person considerably more troublesome. Now and again, the impacts of the contention can appear to be overpowering. Be that as it may, one truth is basic: a huge number of Syrians need our offers of assistance. As per the U.N., $4.5 billion was required to meet the dire needs of the most defenseless Syrians in 2016, yet just $2.9 billion was gotten. Situation The current situation in Syria is one of the most exceedingly awful substance bombings in Syria transformed a northern revolt held region into a harmful kill zone on, instigating global shock over the always expanding government exemption appeared in the nations six-year war. Many individuals, including kids passed on, some writhing, stifling, panting or foaming at the mouth, in the wake of taking in toxic substance that conceivably contained a nerve specialist or other restricted chemicals, as per witnesses, specialists and save laborers. They said the lethal substance spread after warplanes dropped bombs in the early morning hours. Some protect laborers developed sick and crumpled from nearness to the dead. The resistance run Wellbeing Division in Idlib Area, where the assault occurred, said 69 individuals has died, giving a rundown of their names. The dead were all the while being distinguished, and some philanthropic gatherings said upwards of 100 had passed away. The administrat ion of Mr. Assad, who revoked compound weapons about four years back after a vast concoction assault that American knowledge offices finished up was done by his powers, denied that his military had been dependable, as he has done each time synthetic weapons have been utilized as a part of Syria. In the after effect of the chemical attack, President Trump said that the Assembled States had done a rocket strike in Syria in light of the Syrian governments synthetic weapons assault this week, which killed more than 80 civilian people. The Pentagon reported that 59 Tomahawk journey rockets had been let go at Al Shayrat landing strip in Syria. The rockets were gone for Syrian warrior planes, solidified flying machine covers, radar gear, ammo shelters, locales for putting away fuel and air safeguard frameworks. Analysis The scale of the ambush undermined to additionally subvert a regularly damaged truce that had grabbed hold in parts of the nation since Mr. Assads powers retook the northern city of Aleppo in December with Russian help, encouraging the Syrian pioneer to think he could win the war. The assault additionally appeared to probably hose peace talks that have been directed by the Unified Countries in Geneva and by Russia and Turkey in Astana, Kazakhstan. Incredulous over the substance attack, compassionate gatherings requested activity from the Assembled Countrys Security Committee, where fanatic partitions over who is at fault for the Syrian war have deadened its individuals practically since the contention started in 2011. On Tuesday night, England, France and the Unified States were driving the Security Chamber to embrace a determination that denounces the assault and requests the Syrian government to give all flight logs, flight arranges and names of authorities accountable for air oper ations, including those for Tuesday, to universal investigators. The draft determination, consulted among negotiators from the three nations on Tuesday, was later coursed to every one of the 15 individuals from the Gathering. It could come up for a vote as ahead of schedule as Wednesday. It has been a restricted voyage rocket strike focusing on one Syrian airbase, bringing about an up til now obscure number of losses. Many Tomahawks were propelled against a solitary Syrian administration landing strip. The choice to assault was an immediate response to the Syrian administrations gas assault that asserted 85 lives, including around two dozen kids. Pictures of the Syrians who choked to death appeared to stun President Trump. With the dead as yet being checked, White House squeeze secretary Sean Spicer said that the US would look rather senseless not recognizing the political substances that exist in Syria, where Assads hang on power has been getting more grounded by the day, in expansive part because of Russian military support. Trumps own underlying remarks concentrated more on his forerunners past treatment of Syria than on Assads conceivable part in the nations future. Trump said Assads terrible activities were an outcome of the past organizations shortcoming and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would set up a red line against the utilization of synthetic weapons and after that did nothing. When you slaughter blameless kids, honest children, babies, little infants, with a substance gas that is so deadly, individuals were stunned to hear what gas it was, that crosses numerous, many lines, past a red line. Numerous, many lines. Trumps choice to bomb the Assad administration as a result of its utilization of concoction weapons is new. This isnt the Trump of the current past. However, Trump styles himself an extreme person, one willing to go where his antecedent would not. Up until now, this implies sending US journey rockets into Syria. This isnt the America-first position of Trumps battle; its the begin of something new and strange, one that could possibly raise to a more extensive US war against Assad. This is an earth shattering minute for the Assembled States and Syria. Also, we have no clue, starting at right now, where it will lead. Work Cited Michael R. Gordon, Helene Cooper, Michael D. Shear, â€Å"Dozens of U.S. Missiles Hit Air Base in Syria† New York Times , April 6, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to yrian-chemical-attack.htmlAnne Barnard, Michael R. Gordon, â€Å"Worst Chemical Attack in Years in Syria; U.S. Blames Assad,† New York Times, April 4, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/middleeast/syria-gas-attack.htmlKaram Shoumali, Ben Hubbard, â€Å" U.S. Strikes on Syria Brings Fleeting Hope to Those Caught in Brutal Conflict† New York Times, April 8, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/08/world/middleeast/us-strike-on-syria-brings-fleeting-hope-to-those-caught-in-brutal-conflict.htmlNeil MacFarquhar, â€Å" U.S. Attack on Syria Cements Kremlin’s Embrace of Assad† New York Times, April 8, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/08/world/europe/us-attack-on-syria-cements-kremlins-embrace-of-assad.htmlMichael R. Gordon, â€Å" With Strike Aimed at Halting More Gas Attacks, U.S. Tries to Send Syrians Message† New York Times, April 7, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/world/middleeast/american-military-pentagon.htmlMercy Corps,† What You Need To Know About The Syria Crisis†, March 9, 2017 https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/iraq-jordan-lebanon-syria-turkey/quick-facts-what-you-need-know-about-syria-crisisZack Beauchamp, Yochi Dreaxen, â€Å"The United States has officially attacked Syria† Vox, April 6, 2017 http://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/6/15214758/us-syria-assad-bomb-cruise-missileKareem Khadder, Schams Elwazer, Elizabeth Roberts, Eyad Kourdi, Tamara Qiblawi, â€Å"Suspected gas attack in Syria reportedly kills dozens† CNN, April 7, 2017 http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/middleeast/idlib-syria-attack/Helene Cooper, â€Å"After Chemical Attack, asking if U.S. Remarks Emboldened Assad† Times New Times, April 7, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/bashar-al-assad-syria-chemical-attack.htmlRichard Perez-Pena, Jess Bidgood, â€Å"Syrian Refugees Laud U.S. Strike and, in ‘New Emotion,’ Trump† Times New Roman, April 7, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/syria-refugees-trump.html

Arrested Development :: essays research papers

Default individualization is a path which someone can follow by accepting personally bounding identities which are socially accepted. Basically each person accepting the same identity of that of the person right next to them. By not being their own individual, these identities may possibly delay growth into adulthood. Things in life happen by default for these people, whatever happens just happens, and it is not planned out or thought of to any extent. This individualization does not stimulate growth as a person, because one can just look onto others (whose are actions, choices, and behaviors are socially accepted) to choose their life choices. Or someone can choose a path of developmental individualization. They can easily have their own personal identity apart and different from any others. People can actively have a well thought out plan to change your life for the better and to maintain this plan for life improvement in the adult world As times have changed, so has our culture. Our country tends to veer children towards one particular individualization over another. It seems developmental individualization is more common. People have expectations by society which they must fulfill, and are expected to do so at particular times in their lives, as said by Tamara Haraven who argues the importance of â€Å"†¦ the timing of transitions, with those to adulthood becoming more uniform and orderly.† People are expected in life to go to school, work, get married, start a family, all these things are expected to be done at a certain time in their life. People may not want to do all this in this order and whatever point in their life, but they do because they are expected to do so. This is all supposed to happen developmentally. People are molded by society, actively making decisions and trying to be ahead of life’s obstacles. This is occurring in not only America but as well as in Europe, as Wallace observe s how instead of becoming their own individual people, people â€Å"choose identities from among and increasingly complex array of options†. Sven Morch makes similar observations, on youths who must ‘master’ their adolescence ‘ways’ in order to become successful adults, showing the importance of structure to their culture. Life must be followed in a particular sequence according to ‘contemporary capitalism’ in order to succeed in life. With a million and one people trying to get the same task done, people do things because they have to, not because they want to.

Mother Daughter Relationships - Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tans Joy Luck Club :: Joy Luck Club Essays

Understanding the Mothers and Daughters of The Joy Luck Club  Ã‚   Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club explores a variety of mother-daughter relationships between the characters, and at some level, relationships between friends, lovers, and even enemies.   The mother-daughter relationships are most likely the different aspects of Amy Tan's relationship with her mother, and perhaps, some parts are entirely figments of her imagination.   Therefore, Amy Tan believes that ramification of cultures and tradition between a family can be burdensome and cause the family tree to fall apart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the beginning of the novel, we hear Suyuan Woo tell the story of "The Joy Luck Club," a group started by some Chinese women during World War II.   June explains while remembering the memories of her mother, " 'We feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories...we could hope to be lucky.   That hope was our only joy,' " (12).   The mothers grew up during perilous times in China.   They were raised to never forget an important outlook of their life, which was, "to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat [their] own bitterness" (241).   For many years, the mother did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their fractious offspring would listen.   By then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mother left behind in China.   It seems that their family's legacy cannot seize their imaginations after years, decades, and ce nturies of blissfulness and sorrow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through the eyes of the daughters, we can also see the continuation of the mother's stories, how they learned to cope in America.   With this, Amy Tan touches on an obscure, little discussed issue, which is the divergence of Chinese culture through American children born of Chinese immigrant parents.   The Chinese-American daughters try their best to become "Americanized," at the same time, casting off their heritage while their mothers watch in dismay.   For example, after the piano talent show fiasco, a quarrel breaks out between June and Suyuan.   June does not have the blind obedience "to desire nothing...to eat [her] own bitterness."   She says to herself, " 'I didn't have to do what my mother said anymore.   I wasn't her slave.   This wasn't China' " (152).   Unbeknownst to June, Suyuan only hopes and wants the best for her daughter.   She explains, " 'Only one kind of daughter can live in this house.

Regulation and Accreditation Essay -- Health Care, Nursing

Regulatory and accreditation agencies have participated in the nursing community for several years. Regulation in healthcare started as a registry process to protect patients and healthcare givers. Currently, regulation serves the purpose of protecting patients. It also helps in defining healthcare practices and nursing education. In order to understand the function of regulatory and accrediting agencies and practices one must understand their definitions (McWay, 2003). A regulatory agency has the responsibility of creating and enforcing rules or regulations of the law. Accreditation is a voluntary and self-regulatory process that non-governmental associations recognize programs put in place to meet or extend standards of quality healthcare. Accreditation also helps in the improvements of institutions or programs related to the use of resources, application of processes and achievement of results (Lundy & Janes, 2009). There are several regulatory and accreditation standards that exist in the case study. First, preventable measures have been used as a regulatory standard. For instance, professionals have increased malpractice lawsuits after falls. Patients and their families institute these lawsuits to suggest that better care would have prevented the fall and injuries. Malpractice suits serve as a preventive measure. They are used to prevent many patient falls from occurring. The jury awards for the perceived unnecessary complications. The methodological explanation of malpractice suits is that fall prevention is a nursing assessment issue (Miller, 2006). Secondly, healthcare organizations have developed preventive measures used for the prevention of patient falls. For example, healthcare agencies now collect data and use th... ... safety interventions. Therefore, no agency can successfully adopt potential improvements without cost-effectiveness. This calls for applying cost-effective changes before applying regulatory and accreditation standards. In conclusion, this case study shows that regulatory and accreditation standards exist. There are strategies that help in meeting these standards. However, the strategies do not function adequately to ensure that the standards are met because of several gaps that exist in practice. Therefore, regulatory and accreditation agencies should work closely with hospitals and other healthcare agencies, to close those gaps and develop a cost effective and appropriate way of meeting regulatory and accreditation standards. This will help healthcare agencies to provide adequate safety and care, for patients (Folland, Goodman, & Stano, 2007).

Physchological Effects of Alcholism

The Psychological Effects of Alcoholism There are many people who live a life that is painful and which they want to escape from. Due to this people will often turn to alcohol and abuse the privilege. When people think of the effects of alcohol, they think about the physical effects it has on the body. What is discussed less frequently, but in some cases equally damaging, is the effect alcohol takes on the mind. Alcoholism will take you on a one way road to failure, which leads to losing a career, family, and most importantly one’s self. Initially, alcohol will increase a person’s confidence. At social gatherings, a person will initiate more conversations, tell funny jokes and feel a sense of acceptance. Unfortunately this is all in their mind; what’s funny to them might really be rude and obnoxious to a sober person. An intoxicated person won’t see how their acting because the alcohol triggers the short release of dopamine. Consequently, the brain will rely on the alcohol to release dopamine for feelings of pleasure and happiness. After continued use of alcohol a person will more often make poor judgment. During their impaired state under the influence, they are likely to lie to people they care about, steal or engage in other destructive mental behavior. While intoxicated, your mind will trick you into believing that your actions are not that bad, leading to a carefree attitude. As a result, a person will have to pay the consequences in jail, the hospital or in a grave. Another downside of an alcoholic is the increased aggression. Violent, aggressive behavior is common among male and sometimes females. The loss of inhibitions, along with the destruction of brain cells caused by drinking can create abusive behavior in alcoholics. As a result, spousal abuse and street fighting are often triggered. There are more shelters opening up for women who are victims of spousal abuse. Often times the abuser will only strike their loved one when intoxicated. Most importantly, alcoholism affects your family and loved ones; the alcoholic is not the only one that gets emotionally scared. An alcoholic doesn’t realize the hurtful words they say, stay in the minds of their children and family. A child’s mind absorbs every detail and growing up in a verbally abusive environment can stunt their development. They have a good chance of growing up with learning and anger management issues.

Public Display of the Ten Commandments Essay

People often find memorization exhausting and more like tiresome. All those numerous words and lines to remember tend to tire and bore most of them. Moreover, most of the time, they tend to memorize just for the heck of it and not for the benefit of understanding and knowledge. The Ten Commandments are some of the most popular lines that Christians should memorize and know by heart. These lines have long served as Christians’ guiding passages and words towards the path to righteousness and morality. However, considering the generation today—when more and more people detest the idea of memorizing and reading very thick pages—will the Ten Commandments still possess their utmost effect? Will they be able to serve their purpose of guiding the people towards goodness when not all Christians nowadays are able to memorize them? In what ways can the Christian Church assure that people are still living up to the message presented by the Ten Commandments? These are just some of the uncertainties on the effectiveness of the Holy Bible in reminding people about the Ten Commandments. Is Reading Enough? Today, as the developments in the information technologies continue to rise, the usual activities like conversing, sending messages, and even reading can be done through the use of a computer and an internet connection. Considering this reality, doubts on whether people nowadays are still grasping the idea of the Ten Commandments by reading the Bible may arise. However, this can be possible if there are numerous electronic copies of the Holy Bible available for people to access anywhere, and such copies have plenty of attractive visual designs, as humans are inherently visual beings (Pahlavan 270). Human’s visual system is supported by other sensory organs which empower and strengthen its sensitivity to stimuli. Putting these facts in simpler terms, a person is said to have a natural tendency to prefer things which are more attractive to the sense of sight above other senses. Hence, it may be understandable why people tend to read more colorful and visually attractive materials compared to the intimidating and profound words of the Holy Bible. Knowing this, it can be inferred that putting a Bible beside a person who has the access to the internet and all its wonders would assure that that person would read it and understand what it says. Furthermore, people can no longer expect most children to prioritize the memorization of the Ten Commandments when they have all those tough and demanding homework and projects to do. Thus, is the Christian Church still assured that people read The Bible and the Ten Commandments everyday? If not, then how can the Ten Commandments be further promoted? Appealing to Human’s Visual Preference At present, the huge banners, billboards, posters, and different visual advertisements are typical scenery along roads, malls, and literally almost everywhere. Various creative, artistic, and innovative ways are now used just to disseminate information better. Nowadays, these methods are typically through very visual advertisements. The message of the Holy Bible, specifically the Ten Commandments, is considered as the most important and relevant teaching of the Christian faith. Compared to the public service announcements of the government, malls’ sales promotion, introduction of a new brand of soda, and all the other popular topics of ads today, it seems that the promotion of the Ten Commandments and all the other relevant messages of the Holy Bible has become a little unmerited. It is ironic that these messages are what appears to be the most significant and relevant messages for the people, yet why are there more ads for sodas, clothing lines, celebrities, and TV shows as compared to these important reminders? Also, if the Ten Commandments appear to be the greatest instructions and guidelines the people must comply with, why are there simpler and shorter road signs and traffic rules displayed compared to these profound yet very important words to follow and live by? This seems to be the greatest irony in today’s advertisements and visual display practices. The significance of the Ten Commandments has been an eternal and undying idea among Christians. People exactly know that the Ten Commandments are the written key for salvation and freedom for sin, yet these commandments are still left unadvertised and unannounced compared to how the big ad agencies promote different products which do not actually level to the significance of the Ten Commandments in people’s everyday lives. Looking at this truth, it may seem disturbing and appalling how people value information that modern advertisements promote while they leave the message of the Ten Commandments unnoticed or disregarded. It also seems depressing, considering how the attitude of people towards these commandments has changed over the generations. This change in attitude and interest might have been caused by the technological advancements that the intelligent and creative minds of people themselves have created. Thus, it may appear necessary for the advocates of the Holy Bible and the Ten Commandments to go and ride with the growing technology in order to assure that people are not forgetting the Ten Commandments. With this effort, it can also be assured that people will always be reminded about these commandments and what they really mean. The display of the Ten Commandments can be most typically seen in churches. People seldom see these messages displayed in billboards or in freedom walls and posters. However, knowing the importance of these commandments in the lives of people, will it be improper to publicly display this message, or is it more appropriate to leave these messages in the pages of the Bible, hence leaving the choice to people whether they will choose to read it or not. Considering the abovementioned claims about human beings as visual creatures, and about the growth of very powerful advertising techniques, it may indeed be necessary for the Ten Commandments to appeal to the human sense of sight in order to keep up with the powerful advertisements people see nowadays. There could be several ways on how this special message can be promoted in order not to violate other beliefs and culture. What matters most is to send the message and assure that Christians will always remember its significance wherever they go. A variety of learning theories attest that remembering does not usually happen in the blink of an eye. In reality, it actually takes most people a certain period of time to remember something and fully understand its meaning. Memorizing and remembering the Ten Commandment are not an easy task as well. It is not also everyday that a teacher asks their students to memorize the Ten Commandments. Thus, people are not really sure as to whether the Ten Commandments are still remembered and observed nowadays. With this, it only goes to show that proper endorsement, exposure, and promotion are what these commandments really need. If public displays make a brand of soda very popular worldwide, how much more help it could do if a list of simple messages would be displayed to remind the people about moral stability and righteousness of the world? If powerful advertisements can make a politician and a celebrity known globally, how much more can it remind people about God who should be the most influential and the most popular idol above anyone else? This is not a major impossibility; people are just being hesitant to make it happen. The Bottom Line The Ten Commandments, in reality, may not be the most popular set of phrases and commands there are for people to remember. Yet, these commandments must be the most popular and the most significant set of messages that people should remember to live by everyday. While most people nowadays tend to overlook and disregard the Ten Commandments, people can never deny or refute the fact that the commandments are the simplest and the most fundamental set of laws that Christians must follow each day of their lives in order to preserve their moral stability and their positive and open connection to the Lord. The Ten Commandments are even considered as the fence which, when broken, may let a sheep out in an open field without any direction and sense of security (Frederick 1). It does not actually take a Bible genius to understand and fully grasp the message of the Ten Commandments; what someone needs is a person who is ready and willing to embrace what the Ten Commandments say in order to understand it fully. Perhaps, having these commandments displayed publicly may not violate God’s will, for it might even give Him great help in disseminating the good news. If people are able to remember the many traffic rules there are on the roads. It may not be that hard to remember these simple commandments. If people are able to internalize popular phrases and quotes from politicians, it may not be that impossible as well for them to grasp what God is trying to teach people through the Ten Commandments. People are not always reminded everyday about the importance of the Ten Commandments and how these commandments should be lived out as well. Thus, displaying these special messages for public view may appear not just as a reminder but as an eternal and unchanging message as well of how the Lord wants His people to be always righteous and be on the right track. Works Cited Frederick, Allen. â€Å"Do the Ten Commandments Matter? †. Helium. com. 13 March 2009 . Pahlavan, Kourosh. â€Å"Designing an Anthropomorphic Head-Eye System. † Visual Attention and Cognition. Eds. C. Freska, H. S. Stiehl, and W. H. Zangemeister. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier Science, 1996. 269-292.

Utalitarian Principle in Charles Dickens Hard Times

INTRODUCTION Utilitarianism is the assumption that human beings act in a way that highlights their own self interest. It is based on factuality and leaves little room for imagination. Utilitarianism dominated as the form of government in England's Victorian age of eighteenth century. Utilitarianism, as rightly claimed by Dickens, robbed the people of their individuality and joy; deprived the children of their special period of their lives, ‘Childhood' and deprived women of their inherent right of equality.The theme of utilitarianism, along with industrialization and education is explored by Charles Dickens, in his novel  Hard Times.. Hard Times written in those times intended to explore its negativisms. Utilitarianism as a government was propounded as a value of system which evaluated its productivity by its overall utility. It substantiated the idea of â€Å"highest level of happiness for the highest numbers of people†. Since the overall happiness of the nation depend ed open the overall productivity, industrialism became the walk of everyday life.Moreover, since Utilitarianism assumes that what is good for majority is good for everyone, individual preferences are ignored. The majority answers are always right. Minorities are subjugated and oppressed, instead of being asked for their opinions. Their feelings are ignored and society becomes increasingly practical, and driven by economics. The theory fails to acknowledge any individual rights that could not be violated for the sake of the greater good. Hard Times  was in fact an attack on the Manchester School of economics, which supported  laissez-faire  and promoted a distorted view of Bentham’s ethics.The novel has been criticised for not offering specific remedies for the Condition-of-England problems it addresses. It is debatable whether solutions to social problems are to be sought in fiction, but nevertheless, Dickens’s novel anticipated the future debates concerning anti -pollution legislation, intelligent town-planning, health and safety measures in factories and a humane education system. The school teachers are compared to a gun loaded to its muzzle by facts ready to be exploded to the children. The children in schools don't have names and are called by numbers.There is no room for imaginative answers. When the teacher asks to answer what ‘horse' is, a student named Bitzer gives a factual answer, â€Å"quadruped† having this-many teeth etc, but by no means the ‘qualities' of the horse is exemplified and considered. The influence of utilitarianism is shown particularly by two characters in the novel, Gradgrind and Bounderby. Both are money-oriented, have materialistic outlook and give importance to ‘facts'. eople in insane productivity. Dickens provides three vivid examples of this utilitarian logic in Hard Times The first; Mr.Thomas Gradgrind, one of the main characters in the book, was the principal of a school in Coketo wn. He was a firm believer in utilitarianism and instilled this philosophy into the students at the school from a very young age, as well as his own children. Mr. Josiah Bounderby was also a practitioner of utilitarianism, but was more interested in the profit that stemmed from it. At the other end of the perspective, a group of circus members, who are the total opposite of utilitarians, are added by Dickens to provide a sharp contrast from the ideas of Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind.Thomas Gradgrind Sr. , a father of five children, has lived his life by the book and  never strayed from his philosophy that life is nothing more than facts and statistics. . Thomas Gradgrind in particular always gives importance to facts and raises his children to be hard, machine-like and epitomes of facts and they lack any emotions. Even while justifying Louisa's marriage to ‘old' Bounderby, he does so by some mathematical calculations and logic.. He has successfully incorporated this belief into the school system of Coketown, and has tried his best to do so with his own children.They did not consider, however, the children’s need for fiction, poetry, and other fine arts that are used to expand children’s minds, all of which are essential today in order to produce well-rounded human beings through the educational process. One has to wonder how different the story would be if Gradgrind did not run the school. How can you give a utilitarian man such as Gradgrind such power over a town? I do like how Dickens structures the book to make one ask obvious questions such as these.Dickens does not tell us much about the success of the other students of the school besides Bitzer, who is fairly successful on paper, but does not have the capacity as a person to deal with life’s everyday struggles. Gradgrinds two oldest children, Tom and Louisa, are examples of how this utilitarian method failed miserably. These children were never given the opportunity to thin k for themselves, experience fun things in life, or even use their imaginations. True, they are smart people in the factual sense but do not have the street smarts to survive.Tom is a young man who, so fed up with his father’s strictness and repetition, revolts against him and leaves home to work in Mr. Bounderby’s bank. Tom, now out from under his fathers wing, he begins to drink and gamble heavily. Eventually, to get out of a deep gambling debt, he robs a bank and is forced to flee the area. When Bitzer realizes that Tom has robbed the bank and catches him, Mr. Gradgrind begs him to let Tom go, reminding him of all of the hard work that was put on him while at the school.Ironically Bitzer, using the tools of factuality that he had learned in Gradgrinds school, replies that the school was paid for, but it is now over and he owes nothing more. I think this is extremely funny how, at a time of need, Gradgrind’s educational theory has backfired in his face. I thin k Dickens put this irony in as a comical device but also to show how ineffective the utilitarian method of teaching is. Louisa, unlike Tom, does get along with her father. She even agrees to marry Mr. Bounderby, even though she does not love him, in order to please her father.She stays in the marriage with Bounderby, and goes about life normally and factually, until she is faced with a dilemma and panics. Mr. James Harthouse, a young, good looking guy, is attracted to Louisa and deceivingly draws her attraction to him. She does not know what to do since she has never had feelings of her own before. Her father never gave her the opportunity to think for herself, or even love someone. This is why Louisa goes frantic and ends up crying in her fathers lap. She has always been told what to do and what is ‘right’, and now even her father is stumped.For the first time in the whole novel, Mr. Gradgrind strays from the utilitarian philosophy and shows compassion for his daughter and her feelings. One must think that he is beginning to doubt his philosophy after seeing it backfire in his face more than once. Josiah Bounderby is another prime example of utilitarianism. He is one of the wealthiest people in Coketown; owning a bank and a factory, but is not really a likable person. His utilitarian philosophy is similar to Gradgrinds in the sense that factuality is the single most important virtue that one could posses.Mr. Bounderby maintained throughout the story his utilitarian views, which basically stated that nothing else is important besides profit. Being the owner of both a factory and a bank, Bounderby employs many workers, yet seems to offer them no respect at all. He refers to the factory workers as â€Å"Hands,† because that is all they are to him. Bounderby often states that workers are all looking for â€Å"venison, turtle soup, and a golden spoon,† while all they really want is decent working conditions and fair wage for their work.H e is not concerned about his employees as human beings, but how much their hands can produce during the workday, resulting with money in his pocket. When one of his workers, Stephen Blackpool came to Bounderby’s house asking for advice about his bad marriage, he was treated as inferior just because of his social status. Dickens portrayed the scene as one in which Blackpool was on a level five steps below Bounderby and his associates because he was a lowly worker who was obviously much less educated than them.It almost seemed like they would not even take him seriously because he was such. Blackpool was told that he could not divorce his wife because it would be against the laws of England. Later in the book, Bounderby divorces his wife. This shows that wealth played a large role in determining the social classes that people were in and the privileges they had. This was definitely unfair but the social classes were structured in a way which allowed those who had money to look down upon those who were less fortunate.Generally, those who were not well-educated did not have any money, while the well-educated ones such as Bounderby and Gradgrind were wealthy. The people who knew the factual information, (utilitarians) were successful, while those who did not were reduced to working in the factories of the utilitarians. Dickens paints a vivid picture of this inequality between social classes and shows he does not care much for it. It is fairly easy to see that Dickens holds a contempt for Bounderby and the utilitarian philosophy he carries.The book details the philosophy, then shows how miserably it failed. How much different would their lives be if the town was not run by utilitarians. Dickens cleverly added in circus people as a contrast to the utilitarian approach to life. The circus people could be called the total opposite of utilitarianism. If one element of the book stands out in my mind, it would be this one. The circus people are simple, open-minded human beings whose goal in life is to make people laugh.Dickens portrays them as a step up from the â€Å"Hands† but still close to the bottom in the social structure. These people are hated by Gradgrind, Bounderby and other utilitarians because they represent everything that is shunned in utilitarianism such as love, imagination, and humor. Sissy Jupe, the daughter of a circus man, was taken in by the Gradgrinds to live in their home. She is representative of the circus people with her innocence and free-will, qualities which are lacking in the lives of the people around her.Just by her presence, her goodness rubs off on the people around her, although it is too late for most of them. Even after numerous attempts to force utilitarianism into her by Mr. Gradgrind and his school, she is still the fun-loving girl that she always was because she grew up living with â€Å"normal† people who thought for themselves and loved each other. She influenced these qualities on the youngest Gradgrind daughter Jane, who led a much more enjoyable and fulfilling life than her older sister Louisa because of those influences.Jane is not spoken of much until the end of the book but I like the way Dickens showed the effects of the utilitarian lifestyle as opposed to the non-utilitarian lifestyle. The utilitarians ultimately ended with a great downfall because their narrow-minds could not endure the pressures that life can impose on oneself. The people that did not fall victim to the utilitarian trap were able to live their lives happily and freely, able to love, laugh, and use their imagination; which is the way life ought to be lived.Dickens obviously had a definitive opinion of the way life should be lived and did an excellent job of depicting it. His method was somewhat indirect in the sense that he worked backwards to get his point across, but turned out to be very effective as the story progressed. Most of the story revolved around utilitarianism and the study o f cold hard facts, but when the character flaws began to surface as a result of this philosophy, Dickens is quick to emphasize them. One actually sees the main character of the book and firm supporter of utilitarianism, Mr.Thomas Gradgrind, experience the faults of his practice and begin to stray from it. Now, after watching his life fall apart, maybe he wishes he were in the circus. .  . The working and living conditions were often atrocious. Working days were long, and wages low, as employers often exploited their workers and increased their profits by lowering the cost of production by paying meagre wages and neglecting pollution control. Safety measures were often ignored and workers were put out of jobs by the introduction of machines that created a surplus of labour.The rate of accidents was very high. A handicapped worker was doomed to extreme poverty, as there were no social security or insurance payments. The New Poor Law of 1834 was based on the â€Å"principle of less eligibility,† which stipulated that the condition of the â€Å"able-bodied pauper† on relief (it did not apply to the sick, aged, or children) be less â€Å"eligible†that is, less desirable, less favorable than the condition of the independent laborer. This reasoning was absolutely correct from the scientific and the Utilitarian point of view, but it rejected any emotional considerations.There was no consciousness of class beyond a recognition that the ‘masters' constituted a different order of society into which they would never penetrate. Their aspirations were modest: to be respected by their fellows ;to see their families growing up and making their way in the world, and to die without debt and without sin. Trade unions did appear to introduce and protect workers rights, but in the initial stages of industrialisation, the workers were not protected. Purely theoretically, it can be proven that Utilitarianism poses a threat to humanity.For example, if one person must suffer to make other people happy, then in the Utilitarian terms it is acceptable to make that person suffer. One of the Hands in Bounderby’s factory, Stephen lives a life of drudgery and poverty. In spite of the hardships of his daily toil, Stephen strives to maintain his honesty, integrity, faith, and compassion. Stephen is an important character not only because his poverty and virtue contrast with Bounderby’s wealth and self-interest, but also because he finds himself in the midst of a labor dispute that illustrates the strained relations between rich and poor.Stephen is the only Hand who refuses to join a workers’ union: he believes that striking is not the best way to improve relations between factory owners and employees, and he also wants to earn an honest living. As a result, he is cast out of the workers’ group. However, he also refuses to spy on his fellow workers for Bounderby, who consequently sends him away. Both groups, rich an d poor, respond in the same self-interested, backstabbing way.As Rachael explains, Stephen ends up with the â€Å"masters against him on one hand, the men against him on the other, he only wantin’ to work hard in peace, and do what he felt right. † Through Stephen, Dickens suggests that industrialization threatens to compromise both the employee’s and employer’s moral integrity, thereby creating a social muddle to which there is no easy solution. Through his efforts to resist the moral corruption on all sides, Stephen becomes a martyr, or Christ figure, ultimately dying for Tom’s crime.When he falls into a mine shaft on his way back to Coketown to clear his name of the charge of robbing Bounderby’s bank, Stephen comforts himself by gazing at a particularly bright star that seems to shine on him in his â€Å"pain and trouble. † This star not only represents the ideals of virtue for which Stephen strives, but also the happiness and tran quility that is lacking in his troubled life. Moreover, his ability to find comfort in the star illustrates the importance of imagination, which enables him to escape the cold, hard facts of his miserable existence.In  Hard Times  human relationships are contaminated by economics. The principles of the ‘dismal science’ led to the formation of a selfish and atomistic society. The social commentary of  Hard Times  is quite clear. Dickens is concerned with the conditions of the urban labourers and the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism. He exposes the exploitation of the working class by unfeeling industrialists and the damaging consequences of propagating factual knowledge (statistics) at the expense of feeling and imagination.However, although Dickens is critical about Utilitarianism, he cannot find a better way of safeguarding social justice than through ethical means. â€Å"In place of Utilitarianism, Dickens can offer only good-heartedness, individual chari ty, and Sleary’s horse-riding; like other writers on the Condition of England Question, he was better equipped to examine the symptoms of the disease than to suggest a possible cure† (Wheeler, 81). Hard Times  proves that fancy is essential for human happiness, and in this aspect it is one of the best morally uplifting novels.Dickens avoided propagating employer paternalism in the manner of Disraeli, Charlotte Bronte and Gaskell, and strongly opposed commodification of labour in Victorian England. As John R. Harrison has pointed out: The target of Dickens’s criticism, however, was not Bentham’s Utilitarianism, nor Malthusian theories of population, nor Smith’s free-market economics, but the crude utilitarianism derived from such ideas by Benthamite Philosophical Radicals, which tended to dominate social, political, and economic thinking and policy at the time the novel was written.The Gradgrind/Bounderby philosophy is that the Coketown â€Å" Han ds† are commodities, â€Å" something† to be worked so much and paid so much, to be â€Å"infallibly settled† by â€Å"laws of supply and demand,† something that increased in number by a certain â€Å" rate of percentage† with accompanying percentages of crime and pauperism; in fact, â€Å"something wholesale, of which vast fortunes were made. † REFERENCES * All references to Bentham's  Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation  will be to the section of it republished in Burr and Goldinger's  Philosophy and Contemporary Issues.New York: Macmillan,1992. p. 225-232. * Dimwiddy, John. Bentham. Oxford  and  New York:  Oxford  UP, 1989. * Mitchell,Sally,ed. Victorian  Britain: An Encyclopedia. New York  and  London:  GarlandPublishing,1988. * Cazamian, Louis. The Social Novel in  England  1830-1850. London  and  Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. * Woodward, Sir Llewellyn. The Age of Reform 1815- 1870. The  Oxford  history of  England. Oxford:  Oxford  UP, 1962. Utalitarian Principle in Charles Dickens Hard Times INTRODUCTION Utilitarianism is the assumption that human beings act in a way that highlights their own self interest. It is based on factuality and leaves little room for imagination. Utilitarianism dominated as the form of government in England's Victorian age of eighteenth century. Utilitarianism, as rightly claimed by Dickens, robbed the people of their individuality and joy; deprived the children of their special period of their lives, ‘Childhood' and deprived women of their inherent right of equality.The theme of utilitarianism, along with industrialization and education is explored by Charles Dickens, in his novel  Hard Times.. Hard Times written in those times intended to explore its negativisms. Utilitarianism as a government was propounded as a value of system which evaluated its productivity by its overall utility. It substantiated the idea of â€Å"highest level of happiness for the highest numbers of people†. Since the overall happiness of the nation depend ed open the overall productivity, industrialism became the walk of everyday life.Moreover, since Utilitarianism assumes that what is good for majority is good for everyone, individual preferences are ignored. The majority answers are always right. Minorities are subjugated and oppressed, instead of being asked for their opinions. Their feelings are ignored and society becomes increasingly practical, and driven by economics. The theory fails to acknowledge any individual rights that could not be violated for the sake of the greater good. Hard Times  was in fact an attack on the Manchester School of economics, which supported  laissez-faire  and promoted a distorted view of Bentham’s ethics.The novel has been criticised for not offering specific remedies for the Condition-of-England problems it addresses. It is debatable whether solutions to social problems are to be sought in fiction, but nevertheless, Dickens’s novel anticipated the future debates concerning anti -pollution legislation, intelligent town-planning, health and safety measures in factories and a humane education system. The school teachers are compared to a gun loaded to its muzzle by facts ready to be exploded to the children. The children in schools don't have names and are called by numbers.There is no room for imaginative answers. When the teacher asks to answer what ‘horse' is, a student named Bitzer gives a factual answer, â€Å"quadruped† having this-many teeth etc, but by no means the ‘qualities' of the horse is exemplified and considered. The influence of utilitarianism is shown particularly by two characters in the novel, Gradgrind and Bounderby. Both are money-oriented, have materialistic outlook and give importance to ‘facts'. eople in insane productivity. Dickens provides three vivid examples of this utilitarian logic in Hard Times The first; Mr.Thomas Gradgrind, one of the main characters in the book, was the principal of a school in Coketo wn. He was a firm believer in utilitarianism and instilled this philosophy into the students at the school from a very young age, as well as his own children. Mr. Josiah Bounderby was also a practitioner of utilitarianism, but was more interested in the profit that stemmed from it. At the other end of the perspective, a group of circus members, who are the total opposite of utilitarians, are added by Dickens to provide a sharp contrast from the ideas of Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind.Thomas Gradgrind Sr. , a father of five children, has lived his life by the book and  never strayed from his philosophy that life is nothing more than facts and statistics. . Thomas Gradgrind in particular always gives importance to facts and raises his children to be hard, machine-like and epitomes of facts and they lack any emotions. Even while justifying Louisa's marriage to ‘old' Bounderby, he does so by some mathematical calculations and logic.. He has successfully incorporated this belief into the school system of Coketown, and has tried his best to do so with his own children.They did not consider, however, the children’s need for fiction, poetry, and other fine arts that are used to expand children’s minds, all of which are essential today in order to produce well-rounded human beings through the educational process. One has to wonder how different the story would be if Gradgrind did not run the school. How can you give a utilitarian man such as Gradgrind such power over a town? I do like how Dickens structures the book to make one ask obvious questions such as these.Dickens does not tell us much about the success of the other students of the school besides Bitzer, who is fairly successful on paper, but does not have the capacity as a person to deal with life’s everyday struggles. Gradgrinds two oldest children, Tom and Louisa, are examples of how this utilitarian method failed miserably. These children were never given the opportunity to thin k for themselves, experience fun things in life, or even use their imaginations. True, they are smart people in the factual sense but do not have the street smarts to survive.Tom is a young man who, so fed up with his father’s strictness and repetition, revolts against him and leaves home to work in Mr. Bounderby’s bank. Tom, now out from under his fathers wing, he begins to drink and gamble heavily. Eventually, to get out of a deep gambling debt, he robs a bank and is forced to flee the area. When Bitzer realizes that Tom has robbed the bank and catches him, Mr. Gradgrind begs him to let Tom go, reminding him of all of the hard work that was put on him while at the school.Ironically Bitzer, using the tools of factuality that he had learned in Gradgrinds school, replies that the school was paid for, but it is now over and he owes nothing more. I think this is extremely funny how, at a time of need, Gradgrind’s educational theory has backfired in his face. I thin k Dickens put this irony in as a comical device but also to show how ineffective the utilitarian method of teaching is. Louisa, unlike Tom, does get along with her father. She even agrees to marry Mr. Bounderby, even though she does not love him, in order to please her father.She stays in the marriage with Bounderby, and goes about life normally and factually, until she is faced with a dilemma and panics. Mr. James Harthouse, a young, good looking guy, is attracted to Louisa and deceivingly draws her attraction to him. She does not know what to do since she has never had feelings of her own before. Her father never gave her the opportunity to think for herself, or even love someone. This is why Louisa goes frantic and ends up crying in her fathers lap. She has always been told what to do and what is ‘right’, and now even her father is stumped.For the first time in the whole novel, Mr. Gradgrind strays from the utilitarian philosophy and shows compassion for his daughter and her feelings. One must think that he is beginning to doubt his philosophy after seeing it backfire in his face more than once. Josiah Bounderby is another prime example of utilitarianism. He is one of the wealthiest people in Coketown; owning a bank and a factory, but is not really a likable person. His utilitarian philosophy is similar to Gradgrinds in the sense that factuality is the single most important virtue that one could posses.Mr. Bounderby maintained throughout the story his utilitarian views, which basically stated that nothing else is important besides profit. Being the owner of both a factory and a bank, Bounderby employs many workers, yet seems to offer them no respect at all. He refers to the factory workers as â€Å"Hands,† because that is all they are to him. Bounderby often states that workers are all looking for â€Å"venison, turtle soup, and a golden spoon,† while all they really want is decent working conditions and fair wage for their work.H e is not concerned about his employees as human beings, but how much their hands can produce during the workday, resulting with money in his pocket. When one of his workers, Stephen Blackpool came to Bounderby’s house asking for advice about his bad marriage, he was treated as inferior just because of his social status. Dickens portrayed the scene as one in which Blackpool was on a level five steps below Bounderby and his associates because he was a lowly worker who was obviously much less educated than them.It almost seemed like they would not even take him seriously because he was such. Blackpool was told that he could not divorce his wife because it would be against the laws of England. Later in the book, Bounderby divorces his wife. This shows that wealth played a large role in determining the social classes that people were in and the privileges they had. This was definitely unfair but the social classes were structured in a way which allowed those who had money to look down upon those who were less fortunate.Generally, those who were not well-educated did not have any money, while the well-educated ones such as Bounderby and Gradgrind were wealthy. The people who knew the factual information, (utilitarians) were successful, while those who did not were reduced to working in the factories of the utilitarians. Dickens paints a vivid picture of this inequality between social classes and shows he does not care much for it. It is fairly easy to see that Dickens holds a contempt for Bounderby and the utilitarian philosophy he carries.The book details the philosophy, then shows how miserably it failed. How much different would their lives be if the town was not run by utilitarians. Dickens cleverly added in circus people as a contrast to the utilitarian approach to life. The circus people could be called the total opposite of utilitarianism. If one element of the book stands out in my mind, it would be this one. The circus people are simple, open-minded human beings whose goal in life is to make people laugh.Dickens portrays them as a step up from the â€Å"Hands† but still close to the bottom in the social structure. These people are hated by Gradgrind, Bounderby and other utilitarians because they represent everything that is shunned in utilitarianism such as love, imagination, and humor. Sissy Jupe, the daughter of a circus man, was taken in by the Gradgrinds to live in their home. She is representative of the circus people with her innocence and free-will, qualities which are lacking in the lives of the people around her.Just by her presence, her goodness rubs off on the people around her, although it is too late for most of them. Even after numerous attempts to force utilitarianism into her by Mr. Gradgrind and his school, she is still the fun-loving girl that she always was because she grew up living with â€Å"normal† people who thought for themselves and loved each other. She influenced these qualities on the youngest Gradgrind daughter Jane, who led a much more enjoyable and fulfilling life than her older sister Louisa because of those influences.Jane is not spoken of much until the end of the book but I like the way Dickens showed the effects of the utilitarian lifestyle as opposed to the non-utilitarian lifestyle. The utilitarians ultimately ended with a great downfall because their narrow-minds could not endure the pressures that life can impose on oneself. The people that did not fall victim to the utilitarian trap were able to live their lives happily and freely, able to love, laugh, and use their imagination; which is the way life ought to be lived.Dickens obviously had a definitive opinion of the way life should be lived and did an excellent job of depicting it. His method was somewhat indirect in the sense that he worked backwards to get his point across, but turned out to be very effective as the story progressed. Most of the story revolved around utilitarianism and the study o f cold hard facts, but when the character flaws began to surface as a result of this philosophy, Dickens is quick to emphasize them. One actually sees the main character of the book and firm supporter of utilitarianism, Mr.Thomas Gradgrind, experience the faults of his practice and begin to stray from it. Now, after watching his life fall apart, maybe he wishes he were in the circus. .  . The working and living conditions were often atrocious. Working days were long, and wages low, as employers often exploited their workers and increased their profits by lowering the cost of production by paying meagre wages and neglecting pollution control. Safety measures were often ignored and workers were put out of jobs by the introduction of machines that created a surplus of labour.The rate of accidents was very high. A handicapped worker was doomed to extreme poverty, as there were no social security or insurance payments. The New Poor Law of 1834 was based on the â€Å"principle of less eligibility,† which stipulated that the condition of the â€Å"able-bodied pauper† on relief (it did not apply to the sick, aged, or children) be less â€Å"eligible†that is, less desirable, less favorable than the condition of the independent laborer. This reasoning was absolutely correct from the scientific and the Utilitarian point of view, but it rejected any emotional considerations.There was no consciousness of class beyond a recognition that the ‘masters' constituted a different order of society into which they would never penetrate. Their aspirations were modest: to be respected by their fellows ;to see their families growing up and making their way in the world, and to die without debt and without sin. Trade unions did appear to introduce and protect workers rights, but in the initial stages of industrialisation, the workers were not protected. Purely theoretically, it can be proven that Utilitarianism poses a threat to humanity.For example, if one person must suffer to make other people happy, then in the Utilitarian terms it is acceptable to make that person suffer. One of the Hands in Bounderby’s factory, Stephen lives a life of drudgery and poverty. In spite of the hardships of his daily toil, Stephen strives to maintain his honesty, integrity, faith, and compassion. Stephen is an important character not only because his poverty and virtue contrast with Bounderby’s wealth and self-interest, but also because he finds himself in the midst of a labor dispute that illustrates the strained relations between rich and poor.Stephen is the only Hand who refuses to join a workers’ union: he believes that striking is not the best way to improve relations between factory owners and employees, and he also wants to earn an honest living. As a result, he is cast out of the workers’ group. However, he also refuses to spy on his fellow workers for Bounderby, who consequently sends him away. Both groups, rich an d poor, respond in the same self-interested, backstabbing way.As Rachael explains, Stephen ends up with the â€Å"masters against him on one hand, the men against him on the other, he only wantin’ to work hard in peace, and do what he felt right. † Through Stephen, Dickens suggests that industrialization threatens to compromise both the employee’s and employer’s moral integrity, thereby creating a social muddle to which there is no easy solution. Through his efforts to resist the moral corruption on all sides, Stephen becomes a martyr, or Christ figure, ultimately dying for Tom’s crime.When he falls into a mine shaft on his way back to Coketown to clear his name of the charge of robbing Bounderby’s bank, Stephen comforts himself by gazing at a particularly bright star that seems to shine on him in his â€Å"pain and trouble. † This star not only represents the ideals of virtue for which Stephen strives, but also the happiness and tran quility that is lacking in his troubled life. Moreover, his ability to find comfort in the star illustrates the importance of imagination, which enables him to escape the cold, hard facts of his miserable existence.In  Hard Times  human relationships are contaminated by economics. The principles of the ‘dismal science’ led to the formation of a selfish and atomistic society. The social commentary of  Hard Times  is quite clear. Dickens is concerned with the conditions of the urban labourers and the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism. He exposes the exploitation of the working class by unfeeling industrialists and the damaging consequences of propagating factual knowledge (statistics) at the expense of feeling and imagination.However, although Dickens is critical about Utilitarianism, he cannot find a better way of safeguarding social justice than through ethical means. â€Å"In place of Utilitarianism, Dickens can offer only good-heartedness, individual chari ty, and Sleary’s horse-riding; like other writers on the Condition of England Question, he was better equipped to examine the symptoms of the disease than to suggest a possible cure† (Wheeler, 81). Hard Times  proves that fancy is essential for human happiness, and in this aspect it is one of the best morally uplifting novels.Dickens avoided propagating employer paternalism in the manner of Disraeli, Charlotte Bronte and Gaskell, and strongly opposed commodification of labour in Victorian England. As John R. Harrison has pointed out: The target of Dickens’s criticism, however, was not Bentham’s Utilitarianism, nor Malthusian theories of population, nor Smith’s free-market economics, but the crude utilitarianism derived from such ideas by Benthamite Philosophical Radicals, which tended to dominate social, political, and economic thinking and policy at the time the novel was written.The Gradgrind/Bounderby philosophy is that the Coketown â€Å" Han ds† are commodities, â€Å" something† to be worked so much and paid so much, to be â€Å"infallibly settled† by â€Å"laws of supply and demand,† something that increased in number by a certain â€Å" rate of percentage† with accompanying percentages of crime and pauperism; in fact, â€Å"something wholesale, of which vast fortunes were made. † REFERENCES * All references to Bentham's  Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation  will be to the section of it republished in Burr and Goldinger's  Philosophy and Contemporary Issues.New York: Macmillan,1992. p. 225-232. * Dimwiddy, John. Bentham. Oxford  and  New York:  Oxford  UP, 1989. * Mitchell,Sally,ed. Victorian  Britain: An Encyclopedia. New York  and  London:  GarlandPublishing,1988. * Cazamian, Louis. The Social Novel in  England  1830-1850. London  and  Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. * Woodward, Sir Llewellyn. The Age of Reform 1815- 1870. The  Oxford  history of  England. Oxford:  Oxford  UP, 1962.