No one starts out wanting to be a bad manager. Nor do most people intentionally plan their day to wind up exhibiting bad management practices.

But a lot of people sure do end up being one. In fact, the odds say you have a greater chance of being a bad manager than a good one, despite all of the books, audiotapes, lectures and seminars produced on the subject.

So if you are bound to be a bad manager, you might as well be a good one. Here are 10 things you need to do:

1. Don't trust the people under you. In fact, go out of your way to question their work or behavior every chance you get. After all, you know they're only out for Numero Uno and it's not you.

2. Micromanage your people to death. Everybody knows you can do their jobs better than can do their jobs, so you might as well just do it for them. Who cares if they get upset. Your bosses want things done, right? If you don't micromanage them, it's a simple fact it won't get done they way it's supposed to be done.

3. Play favorites. After all, it's just human nature. Everybody plays favorites. Why should you be any different? Besides, isn't that how you get special things done for you? This isn't communism. Some people under you deserve better treatment and others don't. That's just the way it is, right?

4. Be arrogant and exhibit authoritarian behavior. Let's face it. You're in charge and that's no accident. Being nice is okay, but being tough is better. Somebody has to bark orders. That's the only thing people respond to, right?

5. Don't give others credit. You're the boss. If anybody should credit for the success of your department or division, it should be you. After all, you're the one who's going to get fired if things don't work out. Conversely, should the others bask in your glory?

6. Don't respect other people's time. So what if people have to wait for you before holding a meeting? Your time is a lot more valuable than theirs considering your position. And who care is they have pressing personal issues. If you have to work late hours without complaint, then so should they.

7. Be passive-aggressive. Bring people to their knees by going behind their back. That's the way the real world works, right? Forget being direct. Where does it get you but heartache. Better to strike silently in the shadows than to face confrontation.

8. Don't set goals or change them in mid-stream. That way, people will always be off-guard and won't get complacent on you. There's nothing worse than complacent people just going through the motions.

9. Create fear for speaking out. Nobody needs a troublemaker. If you set the right tone to begin with so that people will think twice about questioning your decisions or authority, then everything will run a whole lot smoother.

10. Hire your friends or spouse. Enough said.

If you can master these 10 suggestions, then you will be well on your way to being the bad manager everybody says you are capable of being. Good luck.

In these pages you will learn about a Russian man named Nikolai Dmyitriyevich Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) 1892 – 1938, who came up with a theory about the 50 to 80 year-long wave cycle that capitalistic economies go through: a spring (inflation), a summer (stagflation), a fall (deflation) and a winter (depression). According to the Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) long wave theory, just like nature the economy is born again and rises up from a higher plateau than where the economy had started.

That very valid and positive outlook of a theory did not sit well with the communist leader Joseph Stalin. Nikolai Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) was arrested in 1930 and sent to the Gulag (prison in Siberia). Then in 1938, Stalin had poor Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) shot by firing squad on trumped-up charges.

Nowdays few people believe that inflation will ease and go away.Most economists are in denial that we have been in a deflation economy leading into the GREATER DEPRESSION since the 2000 stock market top. Kondratieff theory points to previous long term tops that were all evidenced by a major war and economic tops in the markets

1. The War of 1812, "to save the American way of life," led to the "Era Of Good Feelings."
2. The Civil War, "to make all men free" led to the "Reconstruction."
3. World War I and II, "to make the world safe for democracy," with the Roaring 20's between them. (World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War have not had their depression yet. To me wars are all enormous wastes of men, money and material. The government with the help of the Federal Reserve just kept papering over the problem with bigger and bigger spending and stimulus (keynesian monetary scientists). Credit inflation never works out and always end in a bust.
4. The Vietnam War, "to stop the spread of communism" with it's "Great Society."

The longest depression was 10 years after the Civil War ended at the end of the Reconstruction.

The most severe depression, so far, was the 1930's. The long wave peak, like 2000, is an emotional top and a time pent-up feelings become a national or (as in this millennium case) a worldwide catharsis. Deflation after the top then looks like prosperity because things calm down and the economy is somewhat stable.

There is actually a downward deflationary self-reinforcing spiral, which will last until the end of the depression. With interest rates declining in the post top period, each new business joining the competition gets the advantage over his predecessors of lower cost of money and new technology. So, he can lower prices. Overhead is fixed. Profits are under pressure. Business has to lower wages by laying off and by having those left on the payroll be more productive. This is where we are now. Those left at the job are doing extra work.

Next comes the "multiplier effect" in economics in reverse. Those laid off can't afford to buy much – businesses not selling as much have to layoff more – and so on – in a snowballing vicious circle. This is the worlds future until things stabilize in year 2016 or so.

My college professor in Economics 101 was explaining the "multiplier effect." Each year, he said, 3 per cent more children are born and then when they graduate they get jobs in the work force. The total economy grows at that multiple each consecutive year afterward. I raised my hand and asked, "What if that goes in reverse." He told me not to worry. The government would not let that happen. That was in 1968. I have been wondering every since when he would be proven wrong. A big 13 year head and shoulders top has formed in the Dow Jones Industrial and S & P 500 averages. Unfortunately, the "multiplier effect" goes downhill a lot faster that it rose. The Crash is Dead Ahead! It will be called the Greater Depression.

Unfortunately, the new technologies and discoveries from the top of the cycle are not followed up by investment and use for the benefit of man. During the bad times, people and business become afraid and pull back naturally. Then, at the bottom, there is no money or will to take a chance on new ideas and processes. That is why market bottoms languish and take a long time to come back.

Remarkably, only 10% of the people in Obama's administration have any business experience. None have any economy savvy. Obama Sr. (deceased) and Obama Jr. (Marxist) are on course to make the "winter of our discontent" phase of the Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) Wave longer and worse.

The last Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) wave should have ended about 1935. It got extended because of hair-brained stupid ideas of the socialist president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His socialist programs not only actually delayed the recovery from the 1930's depression, but led to the big parasitic monster government we have today. So, take year 1940 add 70 years and that puts us right in the winter / depression part of the long wave that is due to end around circa 2016-2020. You can expect stocks, real estate, most corporate bonds, commodities, collectables, art and antiques to lose some 90+% of peak value in the coming Greater Depression. In depressions cash is king because prices just keep dropping.

I call it the Greater Depression because there has been three times as much waste and three times as much government messing with the economy since the depression of the 1930's. In addition, there is a three times factor in relation to the Elliott Wave Principle. Robert Prechter says this is a Grand Supercyle Degree wave (ever larger waves build on each other in the Elliott Wave Principle theory). Hence, three times longer and deeper that the 1930's depression.

The Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) long super cycles will keep getting bigger and last longer according to Robert Prechter's understanding of the Elliott Wave Theory.

PS Robert Prechter's book, CONQUER THE CRASH 2002, mentions the Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) long wave cycle. He is a firm believer in the Kondratiev (aka Kondratieff) theory. Nicolai Kondratiev (aka Nicolai Kondratieff) was a hero and a martyr.

Next, go to website to see how to survive and get rich.

Copyright 2010 – http://www.deflationeconomy.com Reprint rights allowed with attribution back.

I have been interested for a long time regarding what makes people change their beliefs, mindset, and attitudes towards things. I firmly believe that most eating disorders are caused by people’s wrong beliefs and attitudes towards themselves and others. Genetic predisposition also plays the role too.

Once I was reading an article about brainwashing. Brainwashing is any effort aimed towards instilling in the mind of one person different beliefs and attitudes that eventually make a person behave in a certain way and believe in certain things. Brainwashing was used a lot by communists to spread the mentality of communism. It was also used on war prisoners in the Korean war – when American soldiers after being captured and kept in Chinese camps sometimes ended up taking the side of the communists and considered themselves to be their supporters.

Brainwashing occurs when people join cults or weird religious groups. These change people’s identity completely, just like anorexia changes people’s identity completely.

So, you see, brainwashing is something that can change your total identity. The media does it all the time too. And not just only the media things like the culture you live in can also brainwash you.

When I was reading this – I thought: How much is brainwashing relevant to developing anorexia! Anorexics really become the victims of brainwashing: their whole value systems and thought-patterns are changed in a matter of months after contracting anorexia.

American Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lipton did a special research project on what’s involved in brainwashing. He came up with a list of steps on brainwashing techniques:

1. Assault on identity

2. Guilt and shame

3. Self-betrayal

4. Breaking point

5. Leniency

6. Compulsion to confess

7. Channelling of guilt

8. Releasing of guilt

9. Progress and harmony

10. Final confession and rebirth

I believe anorexia goes through similar stages? I think it really does when you think about it. The only difference is that when people get brainwashed it is done deliberately by someone else. In the case of anorexia, people normally perceive events in their life and what happens to them and take it the wrong way then they become prisoners of their own thoughts and feelings.

I have analyzed the brainwashing steps above in relation to eating disorders and here is what I have come up with:

1. Assault on identity: when anorexia begins after an emotional event or a number of events, the anorexic starts to think that they are not who they should be and who they want to be. The person is under constant self-identity attacks for days, weeks or months, to the point that she/he becomes exhausted, confused and disoriented. In this state, their beliefs seem less solid. They look around for a substitute for their identity.

2. Guilt and Shame: Constant thoughts: “You are bad the way you are.” They feel that their body is disgusting, they feel ashamed of their own body. When the development of anorexia coincides with the time of puberty – thoughts of being ashamed of their own body is associated with feelings of disgust about sex and intimacy and this can have dramatic consequences. Associations of guilt and shame about intimacy can end up being a lifelong sentence for many sufferers unless major neuroplastic changes are instigated later in life.

Eating can be also associated with guilt and this is a major reason why anorexia turns into bulimia at later stage of the disease for some sufferers. People begin to feel a general sense of shame, that everything they do is wrong.

Many researchers have shown that feelings of guilt are tightly associated with the development of eating disorders (especially bulimia and binge eating).

3. Self-betrayal: This is when the anorexia starts to tell her/him: “Agree with me that you are bad”. And once the person is confused and drowning in guilt, these thoughts force them to withdraw from her/his family, friends and peers who are eating normally and enjoying their life. This betrayal of her/ his own trust in themselves and people close to them increases the shame and loss of identity that the person is already experiencing.

4. Breaking point: The sufferer is constantly asking her/himself: “Who am I, where am I and what am I supposed to do?” At this point the person has her/his identity in crisis, experiencing deep shame and guilt. Also, the person may undergo a “nervous breakdown.” This may involve uncontrollable sobbing, deep depression and general disorientation and withdrawal.Not everyone has the same severity of symptoms but lots of people do have this exact reaction.

5. Leniency: The Anorexia then tells the sufferer:” Follow me – I can help you.” Anorexics often believe that their anorexia is the only way of life they can follow. Performing anorexic behaviour – like starving, purging which brings them temporary relief of their feelings, although short lived. But then it demands more and more attention until the person becomes 100% consumed by their distorted anorexic thoughts and feelings.

6. Compulsion to confession: “I can help myself.”

For the first time in the brainwashing process, the anorexic is faced with the contrast between the guilt and pain of identity and feelings of sudden relief and leniency. The person may feel a desire to talk to other people with the same problems and visit ‘thinspiration” sites. (Sites that are set up by other sufferers to try and justify their inability to deal with their anorexia in the real world). They may start sharing their experiences about anorexia, give each other advice on a best diet, on tricks to induce vomiting, make competitions about who has lost the most weight etc. The sufferer starts to confess that anorexia is their life style.

7. Channelling of guilt: This is why you’re in pain. After weeks or months of suffering, confusion, breakdown and moments of leniency, the person’s guilt has lost all meaning – numbness replaces it all. This creates something of a blank slate that lets the anorexia in deeper and deeper into the soul. The anorexia attaches itself to the person’s guilt and belief system opposite what healthy people have. For example, food is associated with guilt and shame.

It is the stage when anorexics start to display bad tantrums when parents try to feed them or persuade them to eat and stop their abnormal behaviour. They start to believe that anorexia is not an illness but it is a life style and associate their own self with the anorexia: they become one with the disease.

8. Releasing of guilt: It’s not me; it’s my beliefs. With her/his full confessions, the person has completed his/her psychological rejection of their former identity. The sufferer has gradually giving up all their previously enjoyable activities, left their job or college quite their university. All this is just for the sake of practicing the life style anorexia provides. People start joining pro-anorexia groups, forums, looking for justification etc.

9. Progress and harmony:” If you want, you can choose good.” – say their “thinspiration” friends.

These “Thinspiration” friends introduce a new belief system as the path to “good.” At this stage the anorexia stops to hurt, offering the sufferer physical comfort and mental calm in conjunction with their new belief system. People get a “team spirit “attitude with their friends who practice the same dangerous way of living.

10. Final confession and rebirth: Their mind equals their Anorexia that tells them:” I choose good.”

Good is the anorexia. The person has no doubt in the righteousness of her/his choice to be anorexic. At this stage separating them self from the anorexia seems impossible. People continue practicing this dangerous way of living. Thousands of them die as a result of this sooner than later. Some can live longer but still eventually die from severe complications or commit suicide because of their starving and the fact they can’t cope with life and can’t evaluate things logically.

This is how the anorexic mind gets programmed (brainwashed) to be the way they are suffering from severe anorexia. Most eating disorder sufferers go through similar stages but often these stages happen differently for each sufferer and it is difficult to differentiate between them.

The purpose of this article is to show you what the brainwashing process is all about and that what happens in cults and in prisoner of war camps is similar to what happens in people with anorexia.

Also I want to point out that the phenomenon of anorexia is mainly in the relatively young.

People in the past didn’t have anorexia to the same extend we have today. In the past single cases of anorexia was described only in people who starved themselves for religious purposes, cult purposes and the like. There were no anorexic cases reported of people striving to be thin for beauty sake or for prestige purposes.

This all points to anorexia being a modern disease: I believe caused by some beauty product advertisers and the media that promote beauty standards that are impossible to achieve by normal human beings. You can say that it is designed to make people buy more and more beauty and slimming products, making someone extremely rich, built on the suffering of many.

The solution to this problem is to teach young people and emphasise natural and internal beauty. To make young people strive for learning, studying and expanding their minds, not to strive for this unattainable look which some of the media and others portray as beautiful. For many young people to reach for this unattainable level only brings suffering, hardship and death.

Our charming decorative outdoor gnomes have found a place in the heart of most Western cultures. We can find the first stories of gnomes showing up in European folklore. These mystical creatures were understood to be creatures of goodwill. Under the cover of darkness they would reward the efforts and enterprise of farmers, merchant traders and wives through lending assistance in the garden fields, stores and in home gardens.

Ceramic gnomes were first crafted in the countryside of Germany. Their creator was Phillip Griebel and gnomes first came into being in the mid-nineteenth century. The gnomes were purchased for superstitious and metaphysical reasons as they were believed to fend off thieves from grain and vegetable supplies.

Gnomes were brought into England by Sir Charles Isham and this happened in 1847. Isham was wanting to spice up his garden with a burst of color and he found that the gnome was the ideal way to go about it. One of Isham's surviving gnomes is valued at over two million pounds sterling.

Griebel was originally only making statuary in the form of deer and fairies. When he began manufacturing the gnomes, demand skyrocketed. Demand exceeded supply and the gnomes were a hit amongst the German customer base.

Manufacturing the humble gnomes continued until the start of World War I. The ability to maintain production was affected by the German war efforts but production resumed in the mid 1940s. Communist police had suspicions that the garden gnomes were being used as conduits for smugglers but the gnomes went on to become the leading export of Eastern Germany.

The fall of Communism lead to the market becoming flooded by cheap imported Czech and Polish imitation garden gnomes. The legacy of Griebel's original garden gnome design continues on today with the family's original manufacturing plant still standing in Central Germany.

Garden gnomes today can be found frozen in many positions such as riding a motorcycle, wearing roller skates or even holding solar lights. They have been completely revamped to suit the variety of peoples' modern day interests and hobbies.

Garden gnomes remain to be one of the most popular garden ornaments on the market today. Garden gnomes are now being manufactured from a number of different materials – resin, concrete, cement, and ceramic. These endearing little garden gnomes are traditionally made to be less than 14 "tall although they do come in a variety of different heights.

Gnomes have been used as decorative garden ornaments since 1847 and their popularity continues today.

Poverty is treated as WMD (weapon of mass destruction) of modern world. Eradication of it bears very importance. The economic systems like capitalism and communism have presented number of instruments for the alleviation of the poverty from the world. But, these extreme ideologies failed to satisfy the need of the people. Private ownership of property, laissez-faire policy of capitalism and class war, dialectical materialism, state ownership of property of communism didn't touch the real cause of poverty. This situation necessitates seeking the possibilities of Islamic economics in alleviating poverty. The aim of poverty alleviation can be attained, in an Islamic Economic system through reducing the inequality. It never means attaining equality but equity and justice in the income and wealth distribution. Islam eliminates the absolute inequality which arises from unequal distribution of income, but relative inequality emerges from equitable distribution of income and wealth.

First part of this article has given a small introduction to both conventional economics and Islamic economics. Then it provides a picture of poverty of current world and Islamic perspective of poverty. Then Islamic economics instruments to alleviate poverty such as zakat, sadaqa, qard hasan, ganima, khums, fay, jizya, mudaraba, musharaka, prohibition of interest, abolition of extravaganza, prohibition of speculation and hoarding have been mentioned in briefly. Influence of Islamic economic instruments on marginal propensity to consume, multiplier, price investment and production have been dealt with.

The books and articles I referred for this article are Dr. Dr.Sabahuddin Azmi's Islamic Economics, SM Hasanuzzaman's Economic function of an Islamic state (The early experience), Towards understanding the economic system of Islam written by Dr.P Ibrahim and Introduction to the economic system by Moulavi.

Introduction

Nobody can undermine the importance of economics which is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. This very importance of economics resulted in emergence of different economic systems in the world and all of those economic systems claim that they will fetch economic welfare. Those dominating and prominent economic system's failure to accomplish economic justice, prosperity, the eradiation of the inequality and poverty make necessary an alternative economic system which can successfully make a starvation free and poverty free world.

Definition of Economics

Social scientists have developed various definitions of economics. Lionel Robinson's scarcity definition of economics is most accepted amongst them. According to Robinson "economics is a science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses" This definition is based on two points which are scarcity of resources and the never ending needs. But in reality former is a myth. The survey conducted by UNO shows that are enough resources for 20000 million people on earth we have only 6000 million people on earth residing now. Latter point 'never ending needs' is also incorrect as the desire and greed of the man is unlimited but the need is countable and controllable.

Definition of Islamic Economics

As a system of life Islam has not left any area of ​​human life without guidance. Whether it is spiritual, individual, social, economical or political Islam gives clear cut guidelines. By considering the economic guidelines of Islamic sources, Islamic economists have developed plethora of definitions. Derivation of each definition of Islamic economics is based on guidance given in the basic sources of Islamic shariah which are Quran and hadith.

According to Yusuf Ibrahim, professor of Islamic economics, Qatar University "Islamic economics is a science studying the guidance of the human behavior towards the use of resources to satisfy the needs". This definition is based upon the following facts.

1. The resources are enough for satisfying the needs.

2. But the resources should be protected from the waste, and improper use.

3. The human behavior towards the resources should be controlled by divine injunctions.

4. Only legal needs, needs that build life on the earth, should be satisfied.

5. Illegal needs (desires), which destroy life on earth, should not be satisfied; they are never ending and never satisfied.

Islamic economic system, a normative economic system, has been built upon certain fundamental Islamic philosophies. According to Quranic teachings real and absolute ownership of the wealth belongs to the creator of the same, Almighty God. Quran says "To Allah belongs to everything in the sky and on the earth" (2: 284) .Role of the man is considered as trustee who is to manage the trust, ie wealth according to the directives of the real owner; God. Quran clearly states "And spend of that where of hath made you trustees" (57: 7). So man has been granted

conditioned and limited ownership.

Another Islamic philosophy is universal brotherhood and equality of men as their creator is one and parents are same. Hence distinction based on color, caste, creed, races do not suffer at any cost. This concept induces the people for cooperation and participation in their all efforts instead of cheating, exploiting and making fraud each other. Another aspect of Islamic philosophy is the faith in the Day of Judgment after death. In the life after death man is accountable for his deeds on earth. The implication of this faith is that economic choices one makes in world are to be judged according to the norms Allah has laid down.

These are the revolutionary points which differentiate Islamic economics from the liberal, capitalistic, imperialistic, mainstream, usurious economic system and communist, class war, state dictatorship economic system. Islam constructs a just world on the spirit of everlasting divine concepts.
Poverty

Evil of any economy is poverty. The presence of begging hands in an economy pulls that economy into decades back. Poverty midst plenty is the challenge faced in the modern world. Impact of the poverty cannot confine into starvation only, but poor people, apart from starvation, suffering limited income which leads to inaccessibility of good education it disables them for challenging careers which requires number of years long education. Absence of nutritious food results in more child morality among deprived sections. Since limited access for information and knowledge those are prevented from market and opportunities.

Every country and international organizations like World Trade Organization, World Bank and Asian Development Bank hard work to construct the countries and world on the foots of self sufficiency respectively. Mission of the World Bank is described as global poverty reduction and improvement of living standards. General Council of UN has declared October 17 as International day for the eradication of poverty. It shows how seriously they took poverty as a problem

But, it is wondering that out of 6.1 billion world population more than 1 billion are finding their livelihood in less than $ 1 per day and almost 3 billion on less than $ 2 per day. You might be provoked that 74% of total income of world is shared by the 20% of the elite class of the world. It is heartening you that there are countries whose national income is less $ 800 and morality of below five years age children is about 26% .It is worrying that 110 million primary school age children are out of school and 60 percent of them are girls.
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Poverty and Islamic Economics

Below Poverty Line (BPL) fixes in Islamic economics system on the basis of ownership of nisab, which limit makes one eligible for the payment of zakat Whosoever wealth on or over the nisab is responsible for the payment of zakat. Those wealth is below nisab are zakat recipients and they are treated as poor. Hence, in Islamic economics, the size of deprived come under BPL will be large. Starvation and inaccessibility of food, shelter, cloths and education could not suffer in an Islamic economy which aims human falah, ie human welfare. It does not support any economic instrument that leads to the deprivation of the man. Since poverty emerges in an economy as a result of various causes so wiping out of these causes is primarily important.

Limited income, unequal distribution of income and wealth, misdistribution of resources, regional disparities, unemployment, social injustice, and decreased investments … etc are some of the obstacles in the way of attainment of self-sufficiency and welfare. Islam considers the fulfillment of basic needs of every member of society is economic, moral as well as religious obligation of the ruler. List of the basic goods extends from traditional food, clothing and shelter to seasonal clothing, personal attendant to disabled person, and expenditure on marriage of poor and expenditure on entire family of poor, which are intensified by scholars from time to time and likely to extend the list time to time for the welfare of the citizen. Islamic economic system introduces a bunch of divinely guided instruments which bring to an end of poverty and build
poverty less world.

Islamic Economic Instruments to eliminate poverty

It is advised to Muslim citizens in an Islamic county, as the part of believe, to practice certain things in their life, some of them are compulsory nature and the rest are voluntary nature. The practice of these will have vast economic implications apart from the reward of God. Non Muslim citizens also have to make certain compulsory payments, which have economic impacts, as the part of their citizenship in the Islamic country. Compulsory duties and agreements of citizens are governed by the Islamic country and violation of any part would not suffer Islamic state. In addition to these functions there are other things the Islamic state has to carry out similar to any nation does for the welfare of citizens. Both positive and negative measures have recommended by Islam for wiping out the reason of poverty.

Positive Measures

There are numerous Islamic orders and injunction to perform certain things which have immense influence on economies justice, prosperity and growth. Important divine injunctions amongst them and their influence upon the economy are briefed below.

Zakat

Zakat is the yearly obligation of wealthy Muslims to poor and it is the share of have-nots in the property and wealth of the rich. Quran commends "establish worship and pay the poor his due (zakat) and obey the messenger". Technically we can call it as spiritual tax. It is imposed on those forms of wealth which have the capacity to grow in value or otherwise produce further, is having the custody of whole year and have exceed a certain minimum value called 'nisab'. Quran has stated the eight specific heads for the distribution of zakat.
Due to the divine spirit for the performance of zakat, chances for evasion are less. The imposition of zakat on idle wealth urges the owners for the productive and profitable employment of idle wealth which increases the wealth of economy and again the share of zakat.

Donations

Sadaqa is the one of the voluntary economic instrument. No limit and eligibility criteria for performing contributions to needy. It can be divert, apart from the eight heads mentioned for the distribution of zakat, to any needy. and it will strengthen what economic implications emerged by zakat.

Qard hasan

It is an arrangement of interest free loans for unproductive purposes or for the needy to meet the expenses like hospital expenses, home expenses and education expenses etc which are do not make any earnings. So it is not able to charge any material benefit, like profit share, from qurd hasan. These are provided as the part of kindness to human beings. In an Islamic economy individuals and institutions like Islamic banks will offer this type of loans expecting the reward of Allah. Availability of qard hasan reduces the financial burdens like interest, of deprived.

Profit and loss sharing

Islam formulates profit and loss sharing as the tool of trade contracts instesd of interest. The motivation behind it is the cooperation amongst the people. In profit sharing there are different types of financing such as mudaraba (profit and loss sharing) and musharaka (participation) … etc
Mudaraba is the agreement between both capital owner and entrepreneur to share the profit arises from the business and in case of loss capital owner's capital reduces and entrepreneur's time and effort loose. Musharaka is the agreement to share profit and loss where all contributors participate in management of business. Both mudaraba and musharaka help the people, who have inadequacy of capital, to engage in business, production and contribute their share into the welfare nation and earn for their own.

Ganima (war booty), Khums (one fifth) and Fay

Ganima is the property Muslims seize from the enemy. Four fifth of the ganima is divided among the fighting army and one fifth (khums) of the entire ganima move to state fund, which is earmarked for the special beneficiaries mentioned in Quran. Fay is the property receives from the enemy without actual fighting. This source of state revenue is generalized for the common good of the entire population and public welfare.

Kharaj (Land- Tax)

Land-Tax, a source of revenue of state, is the levy imposed on land produce. This is actually the rent for the use of value of agricultural land. The rate of kharaj and method of collection can be declared by state from time to time as there is no direction of Quran and tradition of prophet in this regard.

Jizya (Poll tax)

Jizya (poll-tax) imposed on the non-Muslim citizens of Islamic country for securing their wealth, property and lives from damage. It helps them to contribute their skill, talent, health, wealth and property for the prosperity of the country

Waqf (Endowment)

Waqf (endowment) is regular source of revenue which is earmarked and dedicated fund of Muslim for supporting charitable and welfare activities
State ownership on uncultivated land:
Any economic instrument that hinders productivity is harmful to economies prosperous. According to Islamic shariah, if a land is remained uncultivated three consecutive years lead to moving of ownership of that land from current owner to other who is ready for cultivate the land and produce. Prophet (pbuh) said "The original rights of ownership in land are God's and the prophets and then yours afterwards. But he who revives any dead land acquires the right of ownership to it". There is an another institution, iqta, boost the circulation and tax revenue of the state by transferring the uncultivated / dead land to someone in return for ushr or khraj.

Combined ownership of natural resources:

Individual ownership of natural resources like fire, water, pasture and salt are restricted by the Islamic shariah. People have combined ownership in these natural resources which should be accessible to anyone. This rule allow anyone to use the benefit derives from the natural goods and ensure that nobody is away from the natural goods which are easy to get to without any hard work .. List of natural goods, in addition to mentioned goods, can be extended into more goods in time to time. Prophet (pbuh) said "people are joint owners in water, pasture and fire".
There are other sources of revenues like property of deceased with no legal heir, lost and found with no claimants and additional taxations.

Negative Measures

There are some prohibitions of God which has influence on the economies prosperity and welfare of every men of country.
Prohibition of interest
Interest, whatever form, has been contemned by Allah and His messenger. Quran says "Allah has permitted trade and hath prohibited riba" (interest). Islam doesn't support interest but profit and loss sharing. Every financial transactions of Islamic economy should be free of Interest. But absence of interest in an Islamic economy doesn't create any hindrance to prosperity but flourish the prosperity.

Prohibition of speculative instruments

Instruments which don't have any advantage to real economy such as futures and option are not permitted in Islamic economy. Stock market instruments like day trading, marginal trading are prohibited, either. Absence of these instruments in the economy reduces speculation which is harm to the entire economy.
Implications

The implementation of shariah guidelines we discussed above in an economy lead to number of positive fruits which make the state free from every form of poverty.
Increased redistribution of income and wealth will result in, when the people perform the religious obligations like zakat, donation, waqf, inheritances, fithr zakat and kaffarath etc … It leads to flow of wealth and money from rich to poor. Thus the concentration and accumulation of wealth in a few hands come down. Poor and needy spend approximately eighty percent of their earnings to fulfill their basic needs. Economically Marginal Propensity to Consume (MPC) of the poor is larger than middle and high class. A large portion of whatever comes into handy of poor will flow to economy for consumption of basic goods; it lead to more demand for primary goods and then it result in the increased production of basic goods. It is difficult to restrict luxurious consumption and production completely by law and force. But the increased rate of redistribution of wealth and income increase the demand for basic goods and decrease the demand for luxurious goods. Automatically it reduces the utilization of resources for the production of luxuries. Consequently, natural resources use for the production of basic goods and for the benefit of public welfare
This increased redistribution of wealth to poor enables them to get the accessibility of good education and nutritious food. Increased knowledge and skills help the poor to get good jobs and earn. This raises the entire poor family and dependence to heights. In turn, increase of income more than a certain limit make them capable for performing zakat and other voluntary donations for the sake of the benefit of have-nots. Rise in the redistribution help to reduce the gap between haves and have-nots and bring economic justice to all citizens.

Increased MPC of poor as the redistribution of income results in more multiplier effect in economy that fuels more income to the overall income of economy that help the poor section of people to raise their per capita income and living standards.

According to Professor Keynes, investment depends on two variables which are current rare of interest and the marginal efficiency of capital or expected profit rate. Investment would take place only if the expected rate of profit exceeds of interest. Due to the absence of interest, in an Islamic economy, only the size of expected rate of profit of profit will be the determinant of investment.

Speculative motive of money and liquidity theory of money will have no place in an interest free economy which reduces investment. But the presence of only expected rate of profit will result in investments, even in low rate of expected rate of profit to increase their principle amount and to avoid the deterioration of principal through zakat. The increased investment raises the production, employment, wages and overall national income of economy. It flows wealth to poor and raises their economic status.

Fisher's quantity theory which states that quantity of money affects the price and value of money. It means that increase in the supply of money will proportionately increase the price in economy but the output will not increase. But in the case of Islamic economy money should not be supplied without making increase in the output. The central bank and commercial banks of Islamic state increase the money supply through making investment contracts on the basis of profit and loss sharing. So every flow of money into economy results in output growth without making proportionate hike in price. It is helpful to the poor to get need things at reasonable price

Conclusion

Way of eliminating poverty in Islamic economy is simple. Faith in the oneness of God (tawheed) motivates to the performance of zakat and profit and loss sharing and avoiding interest and extravaganza. Increased redistribution and productivity are the outcome of these instruments which helps finally to attain alleviation of poverty.
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Many people tend to think that life in Romania must be difficult at present. All the trials that the country went through during the decades of communist rule must have taken their toll, they would conclude. Also, trying to match steps with the rest of the developed world would surely result in a vicious struggle for survival. Actually, such thinking could not be further from reality. Because the reality is that life in Romania has become easier in the last few years.

For the Romanians on the street, life is closely intertwined with work. They can be busy as bees pretty early in the morning. In general, the working day begins at seven in the morning and ends by three in the afternoon.

However, Romanians cannot think of neglecting their family life. The family still eats together at mealtimes. This is particularly true in the case of traditional family businesses, where all the members of the family work together.

The Romanian economy is going through a period of unprecedented growth. The shortages of the communist era or the uncertainties of the period of post communism reforms are both a thing of the past. The economy is also diversifying into a wide industrial base. The vibrant sectors of industry at present include footwear and textiles, wood products, mining and metallurgy, machinery and machine parts, chemicals, construction materials, oil refining, and food products to name a few. The country is nowadays making a foray into medicine, heavy machinery and home appliance industries. It is also making rapid advances in the sunrise sectors like Information Technology and automobiles.

The reason for providing you with all this statistics is to help you comprehend the extent to which Romania, as a nation, has become industrialized. In fact, migration of the rural workforce into industry has caused Romanian agriculture to suffer.

The inevitable changes that industrialization brings about are yet to be seen in Romania. People here are very friendly and gregarious. They like spending time with friends over a beer or coffee, or simply chatting with women.

Romanians as a people are known to be quite hospitable. They are happy with the progress the country has made since democracy was restored, and feel content with the resulting upswing in living standards. They have their own pace of doing things, and their work habits could appear a little slow to other people, for example the French.

The nice thing about life in Romania is that people there do not love to remain immersed in work. Nor are they strict disciplinarians, like the Germans are. They can be ambitious, but do not like sticking to the rules always.

Romanians like to spend their leisure time during weekends and public holidays with their family and friends. However, such free time is getting scarce with every passing day, as people feel busy, tired or lonely from trying to cope with the exacting schedules of an industrialized society. After all, life in the 21st century is extremely demanding, and the story is the same in Romania, Europe, and the rest of the world.

Even then Romanians try to balance their professional and family lives. They make an effort to improve their work while not getting too stressed. Happiness to them is a way of life, not the result of some achievement. They seek enjoyment from litle things in life, and are thankful to God just for being alive. The joy of life permeates the Romanian psyche like nothing else, and it is this virtue, which makes life in Romania so pleasant.

The US mortgage crisis has seriously challenged the idea of laissez faire (free market) economies. What was once regarded as the soundest and progressive economic model is now suffering a crisis of confidence. No one seems to have the answers.

The free market economic model in a nutshell dictates that a government must not interfere or be involved in any economic activity. On the other extreme end you have communist economies where government owns, controls and directs all economic activity. What is important to note is that no country is fully capitalist or communist. Most countries are mixed economies defined as capitalist or communist depending on how far they lean either way.

In the early 1990’s the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) came up with a series of programs known as Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP’s) designed to help third world economies spur economic growth and get out of poverty.

The main thrust of these programs was:

o Third world economies were to liberalize their economies, that is, sell state assets and corporations to the private sector. In other words, governments were asked to reduce their involvement in economic activity and become free market economies.

o Reduce public spending mainly by reducing the workforce on government payroll. Third world governments were forced to downsize their work force significantly. They were also required to reduce spending in healthcare and education by removing subsidies in these sectors. In a nutshell they were to require their populations to pay for these services.

To ensure that third world governments committed to these programs; aid, grants and loans were to tied to how successful a government was in implementing these programs. The US and Europe followed suit and tied their financial support to commitment to SAP’s.

The argument then was that the free market economic model was the only route to economic prosperity. We now know better given that since 1978 China’s GDP has grown an average 9.9 percent a year. China’s per capita income has grown at an average annual rate of more than 8% over the last three decades, drastically reducing poverty. It is now almost unanimous amongst economists that the SAP’s nearly destroyed third world economies. In fact, most countries have since abandoned them completely.

What is going on in the US and now Europe is an example of what runaway, unbridled, unregulated capitalism can do. The US $ 700 billion bailout plan recently passed by congress is a slap in the face of what used to be sound economic policy. The events in the US and Europe should serve as wake up call to all; that the best economic model is not necessarily the laissez faire ‘hands off’ model but rather that countries should strike a balance between the capitalist and communist models. China appears to be doing rather well. Being too far on one end clearly has its hazards.

“The state of anomie is impossible wherever organs solidly linked to one another are in sufficient contact, and in sufficiently lengthy contact. Indeed, being adjacent to one another, they are easily alerted in every situation to the need for one another and consequently they experience a keen, continuous feeling of their mutual dependence.”

(Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society, 304)

Emile Durkheim theorized the concept of anomie in his studies, The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide. Durkheim defined the term anomie as a condition where social and/or moral norms are confused, unclear, or simply not present. Durkheim felt that this lack of norms led to deviant behavior. Durkheim argued that sudden changes in society make formerly satisfactory norms obsolete. Under the strain of rapid change, social rules fail to keep pace with attitudes and expectations. Inappropriate rules result in contempt for all rules. Intense frustration and equally intense anxiety develop as men seek fulfillment. Dissatisfaction spreads through society and produces a general state of anomie: lack of clarity, ruthlessness, and personal disorientation.

Robert K. Merton extended Durkheim’s ideas by showing that individuals intensify their anomie when they abandon their norms to satisfy their unleashed desires. Merton theorizes that anomie (normative breakdown) and some forms of deviant behavior derive largely from a disjunction between “culturally prescribed aspirations” of a society and “socially structured avenues for realizing those aspirations.” For example, a once law-abiding businessman who resorts to arson to eliminate a more efficient competitor has begun to sever his connections with other members of society, thus increasing his anxiety and isolation.

Karl Marx, writing in the 1840s, described social alienation while developing the philosophy of communism. He believed that the evils of wage labor separated men from other men and eventually from themselves. Cash exchange causes this dehumanization, he argued, because it reduces men to the level of interchangeable objects. As Marx describes, “The possessing class and the proletarian class represent one and the same human self-alienation. But the former feels satisfied and affirmed in this self-alienation, experiences the alienation as a sign of its own power, and possesses in it the appearance of a human existence. The latter, however, feels destroyed in this alienation, seeing in it its own impotence and the reality of an inhuman existence. Ultimately, this transformation leads to viewing man and nature as nothing more than things to manipulate. The result of this outlook is the psychological pain of total isolation from others and the natural self.

As we can see, the interpretation of Durkheim’s anomie is similar to both Merton’s interpretation of anomie and Marx’s interpretation of alienation. We find similarities in aspects of isolation and disorientation between Durkheim and Marx. Although dissimilarly Marx’s alienation deals with money and its role in a proletariat’s lifestyle and how it keeps the ruling class up, and everyone else down. Durkheim’s anomie more deals with the attitudes and expectations of the society, people resisting healthy and normal lifestyles, rather than being forced into that situation like in alienation.

Laos is one of the poorest countries in all of Southeast Asia with a great percentage of its people in poverty. It’s wedged in between two vastly larger and vastly more successful countries, leaving it in the dust in terms of economical growth and prosperity of its people. Laos has been fighting and gaining political independence, breaking free from its French Protectorate roots in 1949. Its civil war also brought it political freedom from communism in 1975. Laos is probably most familiar to Americans due to its role in the Vietnam War.

Laos is and always has been heavily dependent on its neighbors. Cities continue to grow due to trade but one of the biggest issues plaguing the country is its lack of infrastructure, a major weakness. There are hardly any railways to allow for the transportation of goods and, even though the major roadways have gotten paved in the past few years, most of the country is still only accessible through unpaved roadways. Communication also poses a problem as most of the area, outside of the major urban development, is inaccessible even to electricity, a weakness both to visitors and its citizens.

One of the major sources of pride to Laos is the Lao Brewery. There are 3 types of beer produced, all varying shades of the name Beerlao. Beerlao has actually grown in popularity across the globe and at the moment has 12 countries of export. This list is increasing and the effects are also helping to increase the country’s economy as a whole. Most of the GDP is still in the form of subsistence agriculture, equating for more than half and also provides 80% of the employment in the country. The government has been utilizing reforms and developing things such as International Rice Research Institute, one of the great strengths.

The Laos economy also receives aid from such sources as ICF, ADB, and other such international institutions. There have also been an increasing number of foreign investments to help grow Laos’ society and industry. Tourism is actually the fastest growing industry but on the flip side of what Laos has to offer, its smartest people are being taken away. In 2000 alone, they suffered a skilled emigration rate of 37.4% which has been a weakness to the industries. While Laos is considered a poor country with many citizens in poverty, it is high in valuable substances and commodities like rice, a key strength of the country. The country and foreign investors are working to help to grow Laos into a thriving nation. It you want to experience something truly amazing then Laos would be for you.

For over 30 years America has been trying to "reform" our Public Educational system. Yet, was it ever broken to begin with? It has in fact functioned well wherever possible despite some missing pieces and occasional mission drift. We can back track this terrific sham to 5 main premises never adequately questioned or disputed. Was it, and is it, fair or in our interests to compare this nation to nations such as China, India, Russia or other European countries academically? And, did we ever fully digest the drastic differences in national values, lifestyles, and overall accomplishments between the US and those nations? We did not.

Since the 1980's to present and in reaction to the Reagan Administration's, A Nation at Risk commission on "our failing public education system," education reformers have fully invested in 5 mythical premises:

1. We are to compare our national educational statistics to that of our international economic competitors

2. We are to align our educational standards to meet the needs of a future global workforce

3. We are to rely heavily on standardized test scores to measure student performance for international comparison

4. We are to blame teacher quality, or lack thereof, for this proposed failure of our national education performance output

5. We are to tinker heavily in the privatization of education throughout the nation

First, as mentioned in previous articles, how could we ever compare nations with different governmental structures, differing values, differing statistical integrity standards, and differing societal / class distinctions, etc.? For example, China is a communist country which imposes national educational standards upon its students, ignoring the uniqueness and intricacies of locales. They do this because they embrace communism and "the state" decides what, which, and where their industries are to be established. Their workforce is selected, tracked, and groomed from the elementary stage into adulthood. The absence of individual choice is trumped by a fierce utilitarian function embedded into their political system. This is not an American value and we have learned of the historical dangers of practicing such ideologies.

We are compared to India with its middleclass growing exponentially along with growth in software engineering, manufacturing, and medical industries. Their results at face value, is impressive. However, we overlook their impasse with issues of gender discrimination, class / caste distinctions, and racial barriers. While the US is no stranger to these issues, and certainly not innocent of them, we have put mechanisms in place to confront them, (though steadily losing their potency). Women are more likely to be educated and valued in the US presently. America still professes to value the combination of individuality and equality. Another historical lesson we have already embraced and implemented through our ideal of providing Public Education.

The globalized workforce affecting our educational priority is a sketchy assertion at best. Why? Because it relies wholly on political agendas and policy decisions made during each US election cycle. Industry travels wherever corporate taxes are lowest and to where labor is cheapest. Since economic policy changes can be made within a single election cycle, does this mean we are to change our educational priority along with time each time? Are we to focus on mathematics more simply because China and / or India are producing more engineers? Is quantity the issue or quality? And, are those nations producing more because of their quality, or because of their larger populations and more exploitable workforce? There was a time when America took pride in its citizenry and their quality of life, (or we at least professed this). Education rooted firmly materialism cannot thrive. The globalized workforce is a concept embracing the value of production, but ignoring our historical embrace of domestic innovation and citizens' quality of life.

Standardized test scores may only make sense when attempting to justify funding from an outside source (a legislator) that is not present in the classroom, having no knowledge of a particular locale's economic engine, and is a stranger to a community's resources, challenges and cultural makeup. It is a one-size fits all suit, where a tailor made one is obviously best. Just as there may be multiple learning styles, there are multiple assessment tools to demonstrate learning and understanding. In America, we value individuality, individual growth, the uniqueness of community, and the benefits to diversity. Did we sensationalize test standardization to address educational quality, or to justify punishment and prepare for hostile takeover of school districts? This issue is linked to teacher quality. A teacher may only be as good as the resources made available, the support they receive, the development made ready, and the quality of life this professional may enjoy as a result of their commitment.

Lastly, privatization has been the cure all presented to the public at large. However, it subtly eludes the murky question of accountability. There is no guarantee to every citizen in the private domain. The private institution tackles admission as it pleases, administers discipline as it wishes, pays employees however it wants, and the bottom line is its ultimate concern. The private institution runs itself as a monarchy making decisions from the top down, appointing its nobles rather than collectively considering merit, and selling us convenience and speed while ignoring the necessary time to debate, analyze, compromise, and collectively agree. Democratic practices are lost.

These are the values ​​in which we should be proud of and should celebrate: 1) we do not track our students, we facilitate them, 2) we do not compete our students against each other, but rather against their own circumstances, 3) we strive to value ALL of our citizens and their quality of life, 4) we embrace diversity, because we are proudly a diverse nation, and 5) we value our natural environment, our multilingual, multi-racial, multi religious and non-religious differences and recognize that citizenship in our nation requires advanced citizenship. We educate to create societal citizen engineers. America suffers from an education equality problem in distribution, NOT an educational quality problem.