Vlad the Impaler - 1447 Words

A man that had a lot of power, was brilliant, was the prince of a country at one time, and a mastermind of torture. All of these words are describing Vlad Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler. [The middle ages have produced numerous legends and heroes that remain very much a part of our contemporary culture; one need only to refer to the Tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table or of the outlaw Robin Hood,†¦Amidst the struggle to halt the Ottoman onslaught in Southeastern Europe the historical figure of Vlad Dracula arose to become a legend in his own time] (Treptow, 2000, p.7). Vlad the Impaler or Dracula was a very smart man in a sick way. He once tried to use a â€Å"technique†¦[not used]†¦to impale the anus but rather†¦show more content†¦When Vlad was twelve years old he had experienced something that would sculpted his life completely, and made him become this evil mastermind with no feelings of remorse. When an officer [approached the bed and made a gesture to the guards. Instantly strong hands put Radu [Vlad’s brother] on his belly, pulling upward to raise his hips as one man applied oil of attar to the anus that had previously been enlarged by the insertion of ivory pegs. The boys eyes were glistening with tears now as his buttocks were opened to allow his ravisher full access to him. Murad stripped. When he mounted Radu and penetrated him, the boy screamed, though more from fright than pain†¦. Prince Vlad ignored this outrageous sodomizing of his brother. Even when the sultan had finished and he himself was taken by all three officers in turn, he did the utmost not to let them see his anguish, not to cry out or release tears which shame and humiliation brought welling into his eyes. But there was no dignity left him now that it had happened, no maintaining his princely demeanor, no saving of his honor. There was only the acute sense of fullness to bursting, of being used unmercifully, of degradation and submission and defeat. It seemed to go on and on eternally, until sobs were wrung from him and childish curses flung at the damascened wall. And while they did this to him, commenting obscenely on his surrender and his helplessness, angryShow MoreRelated Vlad The Impaler, The True Dracula Essay2679 Words   |  11 Pages Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Vlad III, Dracula, Drakulya, or Tepes, was born in late 1431, in the citadel of Sighisoara, Transylvania, the son of Vlad II or Dracul, a military governor, appointed by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Vlad Dracul was also a knight in the Order of the Dra gon, a secret fraternity created in 1387 by the Emperor, sworn to uphold Christianity and defend the empire against the Islamic Turks. Transylvania, along with Moldavia, and Wallachia, are now joined together as Romania. TheRead MoreVlad the Impaler: The definition of Evil1545 Words   |  7 PagesCassandra Mr. McNeil CHW 3M1-03 May 29, 2013 Vlad the Impaler: The definition of Evil One mans good could be another mans evil. Some men follow through with acts that are so morally and ethically depraved that no sane person could justify them. Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Vlad III, Dracula or Tepes was a man who reigned Wallachia for a bloody six years and relished in the heinous acts that he committed. Born in 1431, like his father, Vlad III, had become a member of the Order of the DragonRead MoreThe Terrible Acts Of Vlad1525 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Turks, Vlad and a small band of men were ambushed and Vlad was killed. Little else is known about Vlad’s death except that the Turks decapitated him. His head was sent to the Sultan who displayed it on a stake to prove that the Impaler was finally dead. Vlad is remembered best for his vicious actions but there are some differences in the way people view him. There are several stories, which some sources take more serious than others, that list some of the horrendous acts that Vlad committed.Read MoreThe Tale Of Dracula, Or The Son Of The Dragon1777 Words   |  8 PagesCount Dracula is viewed as only fiction, there is accuracy behind the legends. Vlad III’s legacy sparked the lore of Count Dracula because of the scarring childhood he endured, the torturous agony he caused upon others, and a gruesome war. Vlad III was born in November 14, 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvania to Vlad Dracul and Princess Cneajna of Moldavia. He had an older brother, Mircea, and a younger brother, Radu. In 1431, Vlad Dracul was inducted into the Order of the Dragon, a group that prided themselvesRead MoreLiterary Review of Bram Stokers Dracula Essay1230 Words   |  5 Pagesthe fears of societal sexual independence in the Victorian era. Another speculation for the inspiration of the Count Dracula in Stokers novel is of the Prince of Wallachia, Vlad III. He ruled over what is now known as Romania during the years of 1431-1476., and was more commonly known as Vlad the Impaller.(Wikipedia, Vlad). The nickname was appointed in regards to his common methods of torturing his enemies by impaling them with an oiled, dull wooden stake and displaying their impalled bodies inRead MoreVampires : More Than A Modern Fantasy1538 Words   |  7 PagesWorld History Period 2 Vampires: More Than a Modern Fantasy When you think of vampires, do you think of Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Vampire Diaries? Or, do you think of ancient vampiric legends such as Lamastu, empusai, and even Vlad the Impaler? What if both modern vampire culture and the origins of vampirism were connected, not only by topic, but by relevance? Vampiric myths allow us to understand the history and those involved, as well as to relate to the present and view how currentRead MoreThe Story of Vlad the Impalers Life575 Words   |  2 Pagesthat, and I was told to. My essay is over the very first vampire Vlad Dracula or more commonly today Vlad the Impaler. Yes this is going to take a while so hold tight. Vlad was born in Transylvania a very long time ago. He was a prince of Wallachia for many, many years. He was well known for what he did to the enemy during the battles he fought in. Vlad was a highly feared person. He was the over taker of many lands, and villages. Vlad Dracula was a dastardly man who in this se riously long essay IRead MoreMosters Misunderstood: How Fear Creates the Moster Archetype in Myhology2105 Words   |  9 Pagesfamous vampire than Vlad Drakulya. Vlad was crowned king of Wallachia in 1546 and soon gained infamy among the Turks and Romanians as Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Dracula). He received this nickname because of the retribution he took upon the Turks for being held hostage. Vlad, of course, had many enemies, earned by his conquests and cruelty. In Germany, he is portrayed as an evil prince who holds alliances to the Ottoman emperor Mehmed II (ibid). All of this eventually leads to Vlad Drakulya becomingRead MoreBram Strokers Dracula: The Man Behind the Count Essay794 Words   |  4 Pagesdeed. His final story Dracula’s Guest, a removed chapter of Dracula, was published posthumously two years following his death. To begin our analysis of the Count, we must first learn about the Count’s origins. Vlad III Tepes, or more colloquially known as Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, was born in 1431. His nickname comes from his father, who was known by the name Dracul, meaning â€Å"Dragon†. Dracula literally means â€Å"Son of Dracul†, or â€Å"Son of the Dragon†. His father held throne in Wallachia, aRead MoreVlad Dracula Research Paper1672 Words   |  7 PagesVlad Dracula was born in the winter of 1431 in Sighisoura,Transylvania. Vlad’s father who is Vlad II came from a family of princes from the state of Wallacia. In the same year Vlad III was born, his father traveled to Nuremberg, Germany and became a member of the Order of the Dragon. The Order of the Dragon was select group of European royalty appointed by the head of the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Sigismund ,who held power over most of Western Europe. These men were dedicated to crusading against

Venezuelas Economic Performance

Question: Discuss about the Venezuelas Economic Performance. Answer: Introduction The economic performance of Venezuela economy is currently very poor. This performance is measured in terms of many economic indicators such as the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) level, the inflation rate, unemployment rate and the rate of GDP growth. This study will be concerned on the changes on this indicators on the Venezuela economy. The performance of the economy may be influenced by natural factors or by the policies implemented by the government. The paper shall consider the various factors underlying the low economic growth. It will determine whether the government has an influence on such factors and whether it can gain control over the same and achieve the economic recovery. The trend of the current economic situation will be used in prediction of the future and the possible solutions to the problem will be noted. The change in factors that can result in the recovery will also be identified. The analysis of this paper will therefore be very useful in defining the best act ion the policy makers should take. Brief Article Discussion There are many issues that are explained in the article Venezuela inflation hits 800 %. This article is all about the rising inflation rate. The change in inflation rate in Australia is very high and this change is referred to as hyperinflation by many economics. The recorded change in Venezuelas inflation rate in 2016 was 800 % (Financial Tribune, 2017). McCauley (2017) noted that the change in inflation rate for December 2016 was more than 50 %. This has resulted in Venezuelans experiencing a period of economic hard times. High inflation rate has lowered the ability of the economy to service its foreign obligations (debts). The inflation figure reports stopped being published since it was expected to be more alarming; it has not been printed for more than a year now (Gupta and Pons, 2017). Various issue has be related to causing the high inflation rate. One issue discussed in this article is the governments policy of minimum wages. The governments aim when setting the minimum wage is to make the workers better off. This is one of the factors claimed to contribute to the hiking inflation rate. The government has greatly increase the level of its minimum wages. The article noted that the Venezuelas president Nicolas Maduro noted that government raised the minimum wage five times in 2016; this was by 454 %. Gupta and Pons (2017) noted that this increase was meant to offset the inflation rate. This has greatly affected the production costs and thus contributed to the shrinking of the economys production level. Poor policy by the government could in this case be concluded to contribute to causing the inflation rate to hike. The second issue is the low oil prices; the prices of oil hit the lowest level in 2016 and has caused a great loss to the Venezuela economy which mostly rely on the oil revenue to raise almost all it hard currency (Financial Tribune, 2017). Oil producing companies are selling their oil at a price that is lower than the costs of producing it. This has impacted their profit margins increasing the possibility of closure. Lastly is the speculative price-gouging. Suppliers have raised the price of outputs to very high levels taking advantage of the reduction in output as the economy contracts. Price gouging is a strategy that results in exploitation of consumers. This overcharging is mostly present on basic products. For instance, the article has noted that there is a shortage of food in Venezuela; price-gouging on food is therefore experienced. Underlying Theoretical Economic Hyperinflation is an economic condition when the inflation rate rises above 50 % in a month (Barbosa, 2017). This means that Venezuelas currency has greatly lost its value over time (Moosa, 2014). At very high inflation rate, the welfare of the citizens is reduced as the cost of living goes up. The high inflation rate is resulting in the contraction of the economy. Why? At very high inflation rate, the price of inputs are also very high. Thus, the producers are discouraged from producing more since the profit margins are low even if the price of output increase. McCauley (2017) quoted that the Venezuelas inflation rate is projected to clock at 2000 % owing to the alarming shortage of goods, food and medicines. Graph: Changes in Venezuelas inflation rate. Source: Holodny (2017) According to Holodny, the inflation rate skyrocketing was as a result of the economic, social and political crisis facing Venezuela. The graph show that Venezuela inflation rate has been lower in the past but rose abruptly to very high level in 2016. He noted that the average change for the years shown on the graph is 32.47 %. This is very high compared to the US all-time highest level of 23.70 % in 1920. The price of oil has greatly undermined the economic performance of Venezuela (Lopez, 2017). Oil accounts for 96 % of Venezuelas export and nearly half its fiscal revenue (Desjardins, 2016). Thus is was the most impacted by the slump. The price of oil is determined by the demand and supply forces. Currently, the supply of oil has increased to very high level and thus has exceeded its demand. The competition for a market share by the oil oligopoly producers has been the factor behind the low price (Becerra, 2017). Thirteen oil producing economies (the OPEC) control the world oil price. These economies production level is very high such that they have power over the worlds oil price. Their collusion has greatly resulted in a fall in the oil price. Under oligopoly market, the competition by price is one sided; the game theory is such that, if a single economy raises its oil price and all other producing economies fail to raise theirs, the single economys market share will be reduced. On the other hand, if it lowers it price and the other fail to cut theirs, its market share will increase. But if it cuts, and the other cuts, its revenue will be reduced. The prisoners dilemma here is that a single economy is not sure whether the other economies would apply a similar or opposite strategy to maximize their payoff. This has reduced the possibility of the oil price being increased. The recovery is on the hands of the OPEC; if they agree to cut production, the oil price goes up. Production in Venezuela is falling as shown below; Graph: Oil prices driving down Venezuelas production level Source: OGrady (2016) Minimum wage is a wage level fixed by the government prohibiting the employers from employing at a wage that is below that level. Since this wage is a price floor, it is fixed above the current equilibrium wage. This adds to the production costs and discourages the employers from using additional labor. The employers are also at times forced to cut down the number of employees it takes. The impact of this is increasing the rate of unemployment and contributing to the reduction of the economys potentiality for production. Graph: Minimum wages legislation Source: Pettinger (2014) Equilibrium wage is W1 and quantity Q1. Minimum wage NMW increases the supply for labour to Q3 from Q1 since people are attracted by the higher wages. However, demand falls to Q2 from Q1. It is creating a shortage of demand. Speculative price-gouging is a pricing adopted by suppliers when there is a shortage of supply. There is a shortage of food supply and prices has surged. The government should regulate the price of basic needs to ensure they are available as their increased prices would get the low income group into extreme poverty. Related Policy Issues The Venezuelas government policy makers are not effective on the basis that, even when the economy is contracting, they are still raising the minimum wages. On a situation of contraction on an economy, the government is expected to relieve cost of product on the producers so that they would increase their incentives to produce more. The government is also soaring the level of money supply. The government should seek the best policies to implement on different economic situation. The actions of the government are worsening the situation instead of making it better. The economy should have anti-price gouging laws since basic goods are critical for an economy. Critique High minimum wages contribute to high costs of production and thus lowers the production level. Also, the minimum wage is not a policy to implement when the economy is being faced by the problem of rising inflation. Cost increase results in cost-push inflation adding to the existing level of inflation. This policy would also make more money available to the households; with a high income level, the households will raise their demand causing a demand-pull inflation which adds to inflation. Since the economy is contracting and the households demand has increased, there will be an excess demand and definitely price will go up. The solution to high inflation according to this article is to increase their income so that they can be able to afford the goods at a higher price. This is contrary to how economics prefer the inflation rate to be dealt with. Instead they should lower the money is the economy so as to depress demand, thereby pushing down the prices. References Barbosa, F. (2017). Exploring the Mechanics of Chronic Inflation and Hyperinflation. 1st ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Becerra, C. (2017). Venezuela 2016 inflation skyrockets 800%, GDP shrinks 19%. [Online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/20/venezuela-2016-inflation-hits-800-percent-gdp-shrinks-19-percent-document.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Desjardins, J. (2016). Chart: Which Countries Are Damaged Most by Low Oil Prices? [Online] Visual Capitalist. Available at: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chart-countries-damaged-most-low-oil-prices/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Financial Tribune. (2017). Venezuela Inflation Hits 800%. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. https://financialtribune.com/articles/world-economy/57999/venezuela-inflation-hits-800. Gupta, G. and Pons, C. (2017). Venezuela says inflation 274 percent last year, economists say far higher. [Online] Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy-idUSKBN17M27K [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Holodny, E. (2017). Finance: This chart shows the insanity of Venezuelas hyperinflation. [Online] Plive.co.ke. Available at: https://www.plive.co.ke/bi/finance/finance-this-chart-shows-the-insanity-of-venezuelas-hyperinflation-id6564550.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Lopez, V. (2017). Venezuela's economic crisis worsens as oil prices fall. [Online] Aljazeera.com. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/venezuela-economic-crisis-worsens-oil-prices-fall-160108105010345.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. McCauley, D. (2017). Venezuela in crisis as inflation spirals out of control. [Online] NewsComAu. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/venezuela-in-crisis-as-inflation-spirals-out-of-control/news-story/27638560847eaa8531985e40eaa36901 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Moosa, A. (2014). Quantitative easing as a highway to hyperinflation. Singapore, World Scientific Pub. OGrady, B. (2016). The Tragedy Of Venezuela - How Did We Get Here? [Online] ValueWalk. Available at: https://www.valuewalk.com/2016/06/venezuela-economy-collapse-2/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Pettinger, T. (2017). Effect of minimum wage on AD/AS. [Online] Economicshelp.org. Available at: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/11503/labour-markets/effect-of-minimum-wage-on-adas/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017].