L.L Bean Inc Paper Essay Example for Free

L.L Bean Inc Paper Essay This paper has adjusted the 5 problems that shown in this case. First paragraph is to adjust how L.L Bean uses the previous year’s demand to determine how many units of product to order. Second paragraph is to adjust how many units of item L.L Bean should purchase under the relationship between the item costs and revenues. Third paragraph is to adjust what information should Scott Sklar have in order to help him to forecast for a particular style of men’s shirt that is a new catalog item. Fourth paragraph is to adjust the method that Mark Fasold used in the case to solve the number of items purchased. Lastly, the final paragraph is to adjust the improvement that L.L Bean should do in forecast process. L.L Bean uses different determinations and calculations to forecast and decide how many units of items to stock. The first thing is using the frozen forecast, which comes from the forecasting department. Buyers, product people, and inventory buyers meet to forecast item sales by book and rank various items in terms of expected dollar sales while they assign dollars in accordance with the ranking. They have to make a judgment when there is new item added. They judge the total of forecasted item sales and check it for reality based on the book forecast by comparing the previous data. The second thing is using a calculation of A/F, which is actual demand divided to forecast demand. It helps to calculate the range of inventory that the product would be in the coming year and the frequency distribution of these errors was compiled across items. For example, assume there was a 50% forecast errors, and the new item ratio was between 0.7 and 1.6 in last year, if the frozen forecast for an item were 1000 units, so the actual demand for that item would be between 700 and 1600 units. The last thing is the calculation of profit margin. For instance, an item cost $15, and sells for $30, and the g ain of selling would be $30-15=$15. If the liquidation is sold for $10, so the loss for failing to sell the marginal unit would be $15-5= $5. These can use to calculate the optimal order size and the fractile. The fractile helps to find the units of items to be stocked, estimates the costs, and the actual order size. Therefore, L.L Bean uses frozen forecast, A/F calculation and profit margin calculation to decide the number of units to stock. Demand of the products affects the decision of how many units of inventory the company should have. Based on the demand, the company is able to forecast and predict the number of stocks to order. In addition, the cost to make items, the price to sell the items and the liquidated cost for the items should also be considered. From those concerns, the company can probably estimate the profits and the losses for selling the inventory. Under the items’ costs and revenues, L.L Bean can figure out how many units of inventory they have to purchase in order to obtain a profitable situation. Demand forecast is an activity of estimating the quantity of a product that consumers will purcha se; thus, as a buyer, Scott Sklar should create an accurate demand forecast. However, according to the article, Scott mentioned that he would gather his inventory buyer, some product people, and himself to judge the new catalog item and decide if the new catalog item generates incremental demand. If not, they would see what items were going to steal the demand, and then those items would need to be adjusted accordingly. This shows that Scott was deciding the demand forecast by the team’s personal judgment but not based on the professional forecasting data. Hence, the demand forecast that Scott made may not accurately show the real demand. If the estimation is not accurate, there may be an under-stock and over-stock which can directly affect company’s profit. Accordingly, Scott needs to generate a lot of information: potential customers, and the sales of similar item’s data of L.L Bean’s competitors. Moreover, Scott should decide who will be the potential customers of the new catalog item. He can obtain this information by reviewing the past customers’ purchasing record and generate the purchasing habit. Scott can also obtain this information by sending our e-mail to search for more potential customers. Once he obtains the list of potential customers, he should send catalog to these potential customers and determine the demand of the new item. In additional, Scott can also use the sales data of similar item from its competitors to determine the treat of the similar style items. By using all these information Scott should able to create an accurate demand forecast for the particular style of men’s shirt that is a new catalog item. The number of items purchased usually exceeds the number forecast. Mark Fasold worried about the wide dispersion in forecast errors, both for â€Å"never-out† and â€Å"new† items. By doing some calculations on the cost under-stocking and cost of over-stocking, he found that the cost of under-stocking is greater tha n the cost of over-stocking. As a result, he decided to purchase more stocks than the number of forecasting, which can minimize the lost. However, with this decision, it created other problems to the company. Thus, it is important to let Mark understand the number of forecast is closely matched with the number of needs in the reality. To do so, L.L Bean should create an accurate system to address the demand forecast with very small forecasting error. Also, they should make up a backup plan when under-stocking is happening, promotion plane. Since it is mostly impossible to perfectly match the stock with the real demand, it is essential to sell all the over-stock to minimize the lost. L.L Bean should create an effective promotion plane to sell as much over-stock as they can. In conclusion, L.L Bean can improve and adjust its forecasting process in numerous ways. Retail industry is a fast-paced, changing industry where product’s demand and preferences rapidly change. The first problem appeared with L.L Bean’s forecasting process is that they only use the past dates to predict future forecasts. They should instead constantly update their forecasts system based on latest data that gained from market research or resources, in order to determine a more accurate approach. Also, the major catalogs L.L Bean introduces in each spring, summer, fall, and Christmas can be attached optional questionnaires. By doing this, they can have a better way to predict demand, and a better insight into consumer behavior in general. Nevertheless, appropriate adjustment can be made while they capture customers’ preferences and how customer rank L.L Bean â€Å"new† in comparison to â€Å"never out†. Lastly, in this case, L.L Bean can work close with suppliers so that they can be able to complete more â€Å"quick responses† and address the customers’ demand. They need to establish close relationships with the suppliers or reduce dependence on foreign vendors to generate a quicker supply.

Understanding If The Iraq Wars Justified Politics Essay

Understanding If The Iraq Wars Justified Politics Essay The American war campaign against the military troops of Iraq began on 20th March 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by international troops led by United States of America and the United Kingdom. Then, the governments of the United States and United Kingdom and other European countries claimed that the possession of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq posed a threat to the international security. This assertion informed the invasion of Saddam Husseins Iraq by the United States and its allies. This invasion has proven to be an unjustified act after it was confirmed that the regime of Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. In fact it was alleged that Saddam Hussein only bragged of possessing weapons of mass destruction so he could prevent the neighbouring Iran from ever considering invading his country. Why would the United States invade Saddam Husseins Iraq instead of going after the Taliban and the Al Qaeda terrorists groups? After the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks, the Al Qaeda extremists admitted to being responsible for the bombings and Osama Bin Laden himself admitted to giving the directive for the bombing. It was only logical that the United States of America would pursue the extremists groups directly and swiftly. However, President Bushs advisers were wrong in going after Saddam Hussein instead of Osama Bin Laden. By then, Osama was still at large and offering more threats and so it would have been easier to find him and bring him to book for atrocious mass killing, than going against Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein in fact had no direct ties to the Al Qaeda or Taliban. The war in Iraq was pushed by the general objective of making the world a better place. The objective of the war was to convey a warning to other axis of evil nations to stop their uranium enrichment programs. The United States feared that if the Islamic Republic of Iraq enriched itself with uranium, this would spark a nuclear arms race. President George W Bush coined the term axis of evil, in January 2002 State of the Union Address in an apparent reference to nations that were sympathetic to the Al Qaeda terrorist group and other international terrorist organizations. After that address, the United States embarked on a war campaign that as at 22 August this year has cost the administration 743 billion dollars  [1]  . The cost of the war has been especially difficult to manage given the existent global economic climate. The effect of the Iraq war on the economy needs no advertising. The United States spends at least 200 million dollars on the Iraq war daily. In 2002, when President George W. Bushs economic adviser Larry Lindsey inferred that the war would cost approximately 200 billion dollars in the long run, people thought he had overestimated the costs. It is now clear that his estimation was a gross underestimation. The Iraq war has costs the United States taxpayer a whooping 730 billion dollars as at August 2010. President Bushs economical advisers anticipated a quick and reasonably inexpensive war, but instead the war dragged on and resulted in the deployment of more than 125,000 American soldiers. These American soldiers need food, shelter and at time entertainment and the only place they can derive these human wants is from Iraq. These soldiers have therefore been supplied by products made in Iraq and this has only helped build the Iraq economy while the United States economy continues to la nguish in budget deficits. Sustaining the large troop base in Iraq has meant the United States spent more and thereby accruing more debts. The major casualties of the Iraq war have been the innocent civilians caught in the cross fire between American forces and its allies against the insurgent. Data available indicating the death toll from the invasion is varied, but critically indicting of the war. Different groups have given different information regarding the actual or even projected figure of Iraqi casualties. The Associated Press gave its figure of civilian casualties at approximately 110, 500 deaths as at April of last year. Another organization called the Iraq Body Count, which collects a database of Iraqi civilian casualties, released a report in April this year indicating that around 105, 000 innocent residents lost their lives from the American offensive  [2]  . War, if absolutely necessary, is meant to deliver humans from suffering and not create suffering instead. The staggering number of civilian casualties makes the war in Iraq more harmful than helpful. This war has ravaged family units, displaced per sons from their homes and left millions living in perpetual fear of imminent death. In the aftermath of the war, America attempted to assist Iraq in managing their country and fighting insurgents, but this caused more harm than good to the general stability of the United States. There are growing doubts in the mainstream America about the administrations capability of winning the war. It is clearly known that the United States of America miserably failed in the Vietnam War three decades ago, and that severely affected the confidence the Americans had on their government ability to successfully complete an overseas mission. The Iraq war is having similar effects on the American psyche. Vietnam made Americans to doubt the governments stand on issues of foreign policy. This confidence by the citizens is further is crushed by realization that their government could wage war on a country based on false intelligence reports  [3]  . When the environmental or ecological effects of the war are assessed, more harm can be seen. The weapons used excreted chemical substances that polluted air, soil and water. These substances contained toxic materials such as hydrochloric acid, asbestos, dioxins and other harmful metals. This polluted the soil as the uranium released by combat troops killed some plant species. During the shock and awe, in the initial launch of attacks, there was thermal radiation excreted by heavy artillery. This thermal radiation caused death by ionising the body of Iraq civilians and American soldiers. In the course of the protracted war, many innocent civilians and soldiers suffered mechanical injuries that left them without limbs. A lot of complications arose due to the mechanical and ionising radiation such as infertility, blood disorders like blood cancer, and cataracts formation. It caused adverse effects on body organs and tissues formation i.e. radiation poisoning. It also caused genetic effe cts and birth defects that might subsequently be passed from current Iraq generation to the next generations. Pressure from heavy artillery employed in the war meant Iraqi civilians chances of survival depended on buildings they were staying in as the buildings can survive 0.8 bar of the heavy blasts, while a human can only withstand 2.0 bar of blast. The increased pressure caused by the blast caused burns of different types to the innocent casualties of the war. Examples are thermal burns from infrared radiation, beta burns from beta radiation and gamma burns from gamma radiation. Radiation also caused hair loss, other effects on the skin like ulceration, itching, flaking, inflammation and blistering. The war in Iraq is associated with other grave ills in the society. There has been significant movement of refugee populations from Iraq to its neighbouring countries of Syria and Jordan. The war has intensified terrorism across the borders of Syria-Iraq and Jordan-Iraq instead of curtailing it. The overthrowing of Saddam Hussein from the Iraqi presidency has intensified separatism in the country and propelled sectarian violence pitting the Sunni and Shiite Muslims to another level. Prior to invasion of Iraq, Saddam had managed to keep the two factions in harmonious coexistence. With the withdrawal of the allied forces from Iraq, it will be interesting to see whether the sectarian violence, transnational criminal activities in the Middle East and the cross-border terrorism will subside or intensify. A safe bet would be on deterioration of stability and security standards. The seven year war in Iraq has damaged the overall credibility of the United States as a world leader. Images of roadside civilian bombings, video footages of American soldiers torturing suspected terrorists and shipment of the suspected terrorist to Guantanamo bay has compounded the already bad image of the United States abroad. It can be recalled that the United States made a unilateral Iraqi invasion decision, in total disregard of the United Security Council opposition to the war and this has installed the perception of arrogance from the Americans in dealing with diplomatic issues  [4]  . These and other reasons make the United States Iraq war completely unjustified.

Online Courses vs In-Classroom Courses Essays -- Online Education vs.

The Internet has revolutionized the way in which children, teenagers, and young adults are educated. The Internet greatly impacts not only the field of education but every aspect of society. Tamar Lewin comments, â€Å"those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day connected to the Internet† (Lewin, A1). To that end, the Internet is prevalent in many homes throughout the world and continues to impact the way in which people are educated both in the classroom and even at home where a student performs homework. The impact of the Internet becomes evident, when one begins to examine similarities and differences between the slew of contemporary online courses compared to the conventional in-class experience. While it is true that one will find that both the online course and conventional in-class experience provide teachers that instruct their students on the subject matter, one will still find a vast array of differences between the two methods of education. Argu ably one of the most glaring differences between the modern online distance educational learning method and the traditional classroom setting, is the lack of personal attention that the teacher can convey to the student. For instance, online instructors relay information solely through online exercises such as planned web posts and scheduled modules that one must perform over the Internet. In contrast, in the classroom experience a student is afforded the opportunity to interact one-on-one with the teacher. Furthermore, the traditional method of instruction typically empowers each person with the ability to sit in a classroom and yet excel at their own pace. Truth be told, a number of Internet classes offer an option to stay online and interact with the teacher af... ...mar. â€Å"If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online.† The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2010: A1. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . Bartha, Christina, MSW, et al. â€Å"Depressive Illness.† Depressive Illness (1999): 14. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. Grano, Vivian. â€Å"An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Personal Attention by Reading Teachers Upon Students Attendance an Academic Achievement.† (1976) Abstract. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED126482 Parsad, B., and Lewis, L. (2008). Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions. 3. Print. 2006-07 (NCES 2009-044). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Education. Washington, D.C.

Hitler Took Advantage of Peoples Low Self Esteem :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Hitler Took Advantage of People's Low Self Esteem After World War I Germany fell to an all time low, economically and politically. The German people were unemployed, the government was broke and there was a feeling of helplessness all around. Hitler took advantage of the German people's low self esteem and saw it as a way he could use this feeling of hopelessness to better himself. Inflation played a huge role in Germany's problems. Germany had incurred an enormous debt from World War I. The government was under a great deal of pressure to repay the debt and thought they could solve their dilemma by printing more money. Too much of the international economy rested on the unproductive passing of paper from the United States to Germany as loans, from Germany to the Allies as reparations, and from the Allies to the United States as payment of war debts; and the United States raised tariffs in 1922 and again in 1930 to levels that made it nearly impossible for Europeans to earn dollars by selling to Americans. People from all classes were hungry, homeless and unemployed. Germany's welfare system could not handle all of the people needing help. The few soup kitchens available had long lines with no hope of feeding everyone in need. People were sleeping on sidewalks, in alleys or anywhere were they could find warmth. A German writer who experienced these conditions himself describes a day in 1932 after he was allowed a nights stay at the Berlin municipal lodging house...Now the men are standing in a long row, dressed in their plain nightshirts that reach to the ground, and the noise of their shuffling feet is like the noise of big wild animals walking up and down the stone floor of their cages before feeding time. The men lean far over the kettle so that the warm steam from the food envelops them and they hold out their bowls as if begging and whisper to the attendant, "Give me a real helping. Give me a little more." Hitler saw a way to take advantage of the countries depression and the people's feeling of hopelessness. He knew that the people of Germany were looking for any change to escape from their current way of life.

Marmon Group :: essays research papers

Accountants at the Marmon Group, Inc. act as internal consultants for the company in many different capacities. Jim Smith, Marmon’s prior director of cost management says that â€Å"the role of the management accountant is changing dramatically in most of our companies.† Managerial accountants are not seen any longer as simply clerks working on monthly reports but as valuable assets to senior management. Management accountants at Marmon work closely with managers by helping to analyze cost and operating information. They help in decision making by helping managers relate the operations of the company to the bottom line and company costs. According to Horngren, Sundem & Stratton (2005) management accountants are becoming â€Å"an advisor for managers about what information would be useful, what information is available, and how to get the needed information† (pg. 17). These accountants have become a key part of formulating the financial and business strategies of the company and are an essential part of working toward the overall profitability of the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Effective managerial accountants need a wide range of knowledge from both the accounting and the financial aspects of the business as well as overall general business administrative knowledge. A background in the use of general accounting practices as well as information for planning and control, performance evaluations, decision-making, and the statement of cash flows, along with financial statement analysis are key areas managerial accountants should have confidence in. To be an effective internal consultant it is vital that a strong understanding of the general functions of the company and how they interrelate to the ultimate profitability of the organization is a large portion of the consultant’s background.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Accountants gather information to be used in different kinds of ways both internally within the organization and externally for the general public and outside agencies. Information is produced for stockholders who may review a prospectus or an annual financial report when determining whether or not to invest in the company. Organizations such as banks and suppliers are given information in determining credit eligibility and purchase arrangements for the company.

A short story – Behind the Canvas

Behind the canvas the shadow loomed large and dangerous. The head was enormous and it seemed to be floating in the air. The feet, as long as canoes, would rise and fall as the other elongated shadow moved up towards the top of the tent. As John entered the tent, the head burst. It was a balloon, a silly childish prank. The shadow, a petite ten year old. Falling on top of his mates in laughter, John started to come round from his ever-lasting laughing fit. â€Å"That was the worst monster I've ever seen,† laughed James. † It wasn't as bad as your go yesterday!† chuckled David. â€Å"OK, but you have to say that that was awful David,† James stated. † Time for some real stories I think.† â€Å"Not ghost stories, James they're boring,† whined John. â€Å"Not a ghost story, John, a real story†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The time was 2-45pm and there was only fifteen minutes until kick-off and the road was deserted. A piece of tumbleweed blew across the pavement. A bulky shadow squeezed under the thin barriers and a tall, chunky middle-aged man was walking across the road towards the ground. By his side his son, a skinny seven year old. They rushed through the busy traffic and into the long never-ending passageway, which reflected the sight of a Leviathan winding through the prehistoric woodlands, towards the stadium. The boy was furiously tugging his father's hand in an attempt to arrive on time. Stopping 100m from the ground the boy's dad slowly bent down to tie his shoelaces up. By this point the young boy could see the amount of people. Thousands gathering for the match. He began to sweat. His father rose; he quickly grasped his hand and tightened up against the giant figure. And pulled. As they pushed through the big crowds plaguing the entrance, a sight similar to an ocean of tall, blue and white waves crashing into each other, a loud, unfamiliar crackling sound rang in his ear. He sharply turned his head and could see a speaker blurting out messages that just seemed scrambled to the excited boy. They took their seats for the start of the match. With his father to the left of him, the boy looked across to his right where he saw a big-boned bald supporter, with distinctive dark glasses, tucking into a Cornish pasty. The man lowered his head. As the match progressed the crowd grew more and more agitated. A large, black crow hovered over the grandstand. The boy's father was fidgeting constantly. After a few minutes the father got up from his seat. † I'll be a few minutes son, just got to use the toilet.† The small boy looked like a pebble on the beach in contrast to the crowd's attendance, which was like the mountainous Rockies. Minutes past and his father had still not returned. He looked over to his right. The man with dark glasses had disappeared. A grey cloud passed over the stadium. The boy started to panic. His heartbeat rocketing, his body trembling and his eyes watering. The referee blew his whistle loudly to signal half time and the crowds started to disappear into the toilets and hot dog stalls, into the bars and club shop. In an instant the crowd had plummeted in number. He couldn't see anybody he recognized and he felt so alone. The minutes ticked by, never before had he been left so alone. As the crowd reappeared from the exits, every fan that wasn't the boy's Dad was like a knife in his heart, as painful as a pig to the slaughter. After nearly giving up hope of his father returning, the strange dark-glassed man emerged from the exit, a wide grin on his face. As he placed himself next to the boy he glanced over. † Alright kiddo, are you enjoying yourself?† The small boy, as frightened as a cat running away from a dog, hesitantly replied with a nod. As the match progressed so did the boy's anxiety. It had been 30 minutes since his Dad left and the boy was really starting to shake. He lowered his head onto his lap and as he lifted it back up he could see a tall, broad, sinister looking Caribbean man with an afro plodding up the steps in a fluorescent orange jacket. The boy sat up properly and the man squeezed his way through the seated crowd and placed himself next to the boy. Before the boy could speak he was being carted off towards the emergency exit and thrown into the back of a shiny silver Renault Cleo. The boy didn't know what was happening and as they passed through the gates of the football stadium he could see the chunky bald man he'd been sitting next too staring at him with his dark shaded glasses. Suddenly I shiver wriggled down the boy's spine. The car, being driven more recklessly by the minute, every junction they passed through a loud ringing sound would come out of the car. The car, going faster than the boy was used to when his dad was driving started swinging round roundabouts, accelerating through motorways and skidding past corners at great speed. The car finally came to a halt outside a big four-storey building; the boy was swiftly whisked out of the car and marched into a plain white room where he was left. This room was plain, with five simple chairs around an oak table. A few womens magazines were all that lay upon this furnished table and it seemed an eternity for the boy whilst, he was waiting. The boy didn't know what was happening; with nothing to do he stared at the low walls. He heard the door rattle and turned sharply, the door hadn't been touch. The boy, panicking, ran to the door to answer it but it wouldn't budge. He yanked it. He kicked it. He barged into it but it still wouldn't open. He was going, crazy what place was this? He could see men and women in wheelchairs and crutches ambling round the place. Men with head bandages and women with there arms in slings. Every few minutes a big trolley would pass the room. The boy would knock as hard as he could but still there would be no answer. Nobody could see him and no one answered his cries. As the fourth trolley rushed past it stopped just outside the door. A tall, chunky middle-aged man stepped off it. The boy instantly recognized the figure. It was his father. The door was unlocked immediately and the two were re-united. The boy was still unsure what had happened but he didn't care in the slightest. â€Å"That wasn't scary at all James, tell us another one,† laughed John. â€Å"It was scary John, look how scared Peter is,† â€Å"Peter, what's the matter that wasn't as scary as one of mine.† As the boys looked across to Peter who was shaking like a leaf, the door flap flew open as a cold chilling wind descending down their spines, and in the door laid a pair of dark shaded glasses.

Was the Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima Justified

Were the Americans justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? The dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 by the Americans is a very controversial issue with no definite answer. Both sides of the issue have very justifiable arguments. Reasons for dropping the bomb include the fact that Truman’s options were limited at this point in the war, that the bomb did have the desired outcome of Japans surrender and that the majority of reasons America had for dropping the bomb are justifiable. On the other hand, the atomic bomb was complete new technology and there is no way that Japan could have possibly been ready for it and for that reason the dropping of the atomic bomb is very much morally and ethically wrong. It is also important to consider that two bombs were dropped, both with different motivations and it is quite possible that while one is justifiable, the other is not. There were many reasons why America would have chosen to drop the bomb and the majority can be justified. Before the atomic bomb was dropped, America was nearing the end of the war. They had made the Potsdam declaration requesting Japans surrender and at this point had the Japanese at a very weak position. At a similar time, the Americans had completed the development of the Atomic bomb or Project Manhattan that, after Germany surrendered, had no other competition. A lot money had been put into the development of the bomb and at this point, Truman’s options were limited. Invasion was out of the question due to the Japanese’s strong military and patriotic values: The continuation of conventional bombings and a naval blockade were also considered but deemed unsuitable. The negation of surrender had been tried with the ‘Potsdam Declaration’ and had failed. It is important to point out that by ignoring the declaration; the Japanese in effect gave their acceptance of the Americans threats of ‘prompt and utter destruction. ’[1] America and Britain were both aware that the development of the bomb meant they no longer relied on the allied troops from Russia, and with the fear of communism, this was a motivation for the dropping of the bomb: ‘It is quite clear that the US do not at the present time desire Russian participation in the war against Japan’ [2]. There was also the question of time. The atomic bomb was by far the quickest way that America could see for the ending of the war, and they were eager to end the war as before long, Russia would become involved making a heavier casualty rate inevitable. America were also a very powerful country now they had the development of the Atomic Bomb, it would have been a waste to not be able to show their true power and the true destruction they could use through the bomb. There is also the point that the Americans were looking for revenge against the Japanese, as they had injured and killed many American soldiers, and even more to come, had the Americans not taken quick action. Looking back at the dropping of the bomb, it is possible to say that it was a method of prevention in many different circumstances. Firstly, the dropping of the bomb meant that the war would be over: ‘The atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended World War II. There can be no doubt of that. ’ [3] It is possible that leaving the war longer could have resulted in a much worse fatality rate for both Japan and America. Also, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima effectively decided the use of atomic technology for weapons for the future. Before the dropping of the bomb, people had no idea of the severity and power of atomic weaponry and therefore, the argument can be made that the dropping of the atomic bomb prevented a lot more serious cases that could have happened say the power of atomic bombs was not explored at this time. The dropping of the atomic bomb caused great loss of life, and there are many arguments suggesting the dropping of the bomb was both morally and ethically wrong. There is no way that the Japanese could have been prepared for the dropping of the atomic bomb as the world had never witnessed something like the bomb before. The Americans had the opportunity of demonstrating the power of the bomb on a deserted area and showing the Japanese what they were facing. This was proposed by a number of American scientists, but rejected by the Military Leaders: ‘we did not think exploding one of these things as a firecracker over a desert was likely to be impressive. ’[4] There was the option of dropping the bomb on purely a military target, yet the Americans chose a target that not only affected Japans military, but took the lives of many civilians. The Americans were always slightly racist towards the Japanese or ‘colored people’ and this could easily have been secret motivation for the dropping of such a severe form of bomb. There is also the consideration of the two different bombs. The American military leaders would have been completely aware of the severity of damage of atomic bombs after Little Boy was dropped yet they still went on to drop Fat Man. It is possible that while the first bomb could be excusable, the dropping of a second, in full knowledge of the damage that it would cause, is not only unnecessary but definitely morally incorrect. It is also important to consider the Truman’s alternatives once again. From the American’s point of view, Truman’s options were very limited, but peace could have been found through the Japanese and the Soviet Union, a pathway which the President was aware of but didn’t really explore. It can also be pointed out that the Potsdam declaration was a very harsh document, especially on a country with such strong patriotic values. Had the declaration not requested ‘unconditional surrender’[5] and had in fact let Japan keep some of their imperial rule, they could have been more likely to accept the declaration. Japan was already very vulnerable when America chose to drop the bomb. In reality, it was only a matter of time before Japan would have needed to surrender anyway. America knew that Japan would need to surrender soon as they were unable to import or export goods: ‘it was quite logical to hope and expect that with the proper kind of warning the Japanese would have made peace’. [6] It really was only a matter of time before Japan would have had to surrender and America knew that. It is possible that the Americans were not just interested in the ending of the war, but had other reasons such as racial discrimination, revenge and greed for power to drop the two atomic bombs. In my opinion, the Americans have enough reasons to justify the dropping of the bomb. They gave the Japanese sufficient warning of their plan through the Potsdam declaration and it was the Japanese’s mistake to ignore this. They also completed the desired outcome with Japan’s surrender. For these reasons America can justify their reasons for dropping the bomb. However, being able to justify something does not mean it is necessarily the best thing to do, and I think that it was morally incorrect to make the Japanese uffer to the extent that they did considering that the war was almost over. The fact that America chose to drop two bombs changes my opinion significantly as well. The first bomb can be looked with the idea that America was not aware of the damage they could cause, however a second bomb was cruel and inexcusable. The Americans were after more than just the end of the war, they wanted the Japanese to feel their power and to have revenge: ‘In being first to use it we had developed ethical standards common to barbarians in the dark ages. [7] The bomb however has benefitted the world in the way that it has prevented anything like the atomic bomb disaster from occurring again, and the use of this technology earlier on could easily have prevented a later, more severe disaster. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima can be justified and looked at as a mistake that possibly had many benefits. The dropping of the bomb on Nagasaki was an example of the American’s greed for power and race driven revenge. In conclusion, I think that America had very strong reasons for dropping the bomb, some of which are valid and some of which are not. This said they should not have dropped it as they knew the effect that this bomb was going to have on Japan, especially when Japan was so unprepared, and there would have been much more appropriate ways of ending the war. ———————– [1] Lewis, Robert AGORA, Vol. 25, No 1, 1990, HTAV, Source 9, page 29 [2] Lewis, Robert AGORA Vol. 25, No 2, 1990, HTAV, Source 22, page 19 [3] Lewis, Robert AGORA, Vol. 25, No 1, 1990, HTAV, page 19 [4] Lewis, Robert AGORA Vol. 25, No 2, 1990, HTAV, Source 16, page 14 [5] Lewis, Robert AGORA, Vol. 25, No 1, 1990, HTAV, Source 9, page 29 [6] Ibid page 34, source 14 [7] Ibid page 19