Why Do People Follow Cults Essay Example For Students

Why Do People Follow Cults Essay Cults Each year, hundreds of North Americans join one of the increasing, estimated 3000 unorthodox religions that exist across North America. The increasing number of cults, to date in North America, is due to the fact that cults are a social movement that attempts to help people cope with their perceived problems with social interaction. Cult recruiters target those who perceive themselves as different from the rest of society, and give these individuals the sense of belonging that they crave. Cult literature lures potential cult members by appealing to their desperate need to socially fit in. Cults provide a controlled family environment that appeals to potential cult members because it is a removal from the exterior society. Cult recruiters prey on those who see themselves as alienated from the rest of society, and give these people the sense of conformity that they desire. A common method of recruiters, to obtain new members, is through chat lines on the internet. We will write a custom essay on Why Do People Follow Cults specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now A recorded conversation between a member of the Divine Light Mission, Fire-Shade, and an 18-year old boy, Jay 18, was obtained off of the site, IRC Teen Chat. Jay18: I am a really great poet, but all of the kids in my class are pretty warped about it. I basically hide it from them because I dont need that hassle. Fire-Shade: My family has a great respect for the artist inside us all. I know you live in Michigan, and our family could always use new operatives all over the world. You have to understand what our family is about, it is about always fitting in and never hiding the truth to be liked or cool. Are you interested? Jay18: Well maybe Fire-Shade: Give me your phone number we really shouldnt talk about this here. Jay18: I would rather not give my phone number out. You give me yours, I wont be able to talk for long though. Fire-Shade: Trust is very important in our group. Do you trust me? You cant call us, unfortunately because we are not in a position to be accepting phone calls. Jay18: Well then you can just e-mail me. OK. Fire-Shade: disconnects1 The cult member makes the young boy feel as though he does care about his problems, and wants to make this boys life better. Fire-Shade conveys his family as an entity not as many different individuals. After feeling alone for many years the only persuasion some individuals need is the assurance that they will be part of a society and accepted unconditionally. Cult members know what type of individuals feel most alienated and alone, says Dr. Lorna Goldberg, a New Jersey psychoanalyst. No one plans to join a cult unless they see that cult as a possibility for a family, or a better society. Cults target people in transition college students away from home for the first time, people who have moved to new cities for jobs, those who have just been divorced or widowed. Usually individuals 16 to 25 or 35 to 40. The vast majority of members are merely looking for a sense of community and belonging, during a difficult time in their lives.2 Cults provide an ersatz social unit, which takes them in, nurtures them and reinforces the cults worldview. By the time that most cult members realize that this cult isnt what they had expected, it is too late, because they are already too afraid to leave. Recruiters are not the only way that potential members are enticed into cults, often their literature is powerful enough. Cult novels, pamphlets and websites draw in potential cult members by appealing to their desperate need to socially fit in. Often if a piece of cult literature is written correctly it convinces the most logical mind of the most absurd reasoning, like this pamphlet by the Heavens Gate cult. The generally accepted norms of todays societies world over are designed, established, and maintained by the individuals who were at one time students of the Kingdom of Heaven- angels in the making- who flunked out of the classroom. .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .postImageUrl , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:hover , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:visited , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:active { border:0!important; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:active , .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1 .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u15266913903feb060bb56795413bedf1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Juvenile delinquency Essay Legends and scriptures refer to them as fallen angels. The current civilizations records use the name Satan or Lucifer to describe a single fallen angel

Is there price discrimination in the US Airline Industry essay

Is there price discrimination in the US Airline Industry essay Is there price discrimination in the US Airline Industry? essay Is there price discrimination in the US Airline Industry? essayPrice discrimination is a common practice used in the process of selling products and services; this is a strategy of pricing based on assigning different prices to customers basing on customer characteristics or group attributes. Price discrimination strategies relate to the customers willingness to pay. The purpose of this paper is to explore the existence of price discrimination in the U.S. airline industry, to consider the general market conditions that make price discrimination possible, to consider methods of price discrimination used by carriers in the U.S.,, to explore the causes of price dispersion and to assess the relationship between market structure and price discrimination.According to McAfee (2008), price discrimination takes place when three conditions are satisfied: consumer demand for a particular service or good is different, when the firm has market power in the sense that it can charge the price highe r than marginal costs are and when it is possible to avoid or prevent consumer arbitrage. Indeed, if consumer demand is uniform, consumer willingness to purchase goods will be equal so the reason for price discrimination will disappear. Furthermore, if the firm has no market power, it will be unable to charge higher prices and there will be no reasons for price discrimination as well. If customers are able to identify price differences and initiate arbitrage, those customers purchasing goods at lower prices will be able to resell to other customers and therefore there will likely be a single market price for the firm and a single (higher) market price for the end customers (McAfee, 2008).In reality, there exist various factors preventing arbitrage contracts, personalized services, high costs of transportation, legal regulations prohibiting resale, specific customer segment, limited availability of customers and lack of information (McAfee, 2008). In the case of airline industry, th ere are notable differences in customer demand (for example, business people are willing to pay more for urgent flights while retired individuals tend to choose cheaper flights), carriers have market power to charge above marginal costs and customers do not have possibilities for arbitrage because it is difficult to resell flight services (although there exist companies and agents reselling airline tickets). In general, the U.S. airline industry has the characteristics suitable for price discrimination and it is reasonable to expect that price discrimination is present in the airline industry.Steen and Sorgard (2002) explore the methods of price discrimination used in the U.S. airline industry. According to their research, it is possible to identify three key types of price discrimination used by carriers: versioning, frequent flyer programs and discounts to large consumers (Steen Sorgard, 2002). Versioning is the strategy of offering different air tickets with various options. For example, ticket versions with opportunities of rescheduling or canceling the flight are more expensive, while ticket versions with limits and restrictions are cheaper.Another form of price discrimination in the U.S. airline industry is achieved through discounts to large consumers. Large companies have contracts with carriers and the employees of these companies can get a discount on their tickets. One more option is the use of frequent flyers programs (loyalty programs) by airline companies (Steen Sorgard, 2002): members of such programs can accumulate bonus points for each flight and receive discounts or free flights using their bonuses. In addition, airline carriers might use price discrimination related to the time of purchase tickets purchased beforehand might be quite economic, while the tickets purchased several days before the flight are more expensive. In this case, customer willingness to pay is estimated by the effort that the customer puts into the purchase of tickets .Price variation might occur due to different reasons, the main of which are the sellers willingness to receive additional profit (price discrimination) and variance in costs. According to Borenstein and Rose (1994), there exists certain self-selective discrimination in airline industry because of product heterogeneity and the dependence of costs on flight parameters (day of week, time, number of stops, etc.). Two major sources of genuine cost variations are systematic peak-load pricing emerging from the uncertainties of demand for airline tickets and stochastic load pricing based on the existing demand (Borenstein Rose, 1994).Signs of price discrimination are the differences in responsiveness to competition for different types of fares offered by the same carrier; if price dispersion increases with concentration, it is a sign of monopoly-type price discrimination and if price dispersion decreases with concentration, it is a sign of competitive-type price discrimination (Borenstein Rose, 1994). Other factors stimulating price discrimination are variance of customer attributes, market density and market positions of carriers (size, market share, density of flights, etc.). Attributes of products affecting elasticity of demand also influence price discrimination.The findings of Borenstein and Rose (1994) linking the type of price discrimination to market structure are further confirmed by the findings of Stavins (2001). The analysis of price discrimination options and restrictions used for price discrimination such as discounts for advanced purchase and Saturday night stay-over requirements shows that lower airfares are associated with greater restrictions, but directions with higher market concentration for particular carriers are associated with lower discounts (Stavins, 2001). Therefore, there is notable price discrimination in the U.S. airline industry with three key price discrimination types versioning, discounts for large customers and loyalty programs, and the use of price discrimination is more intensive when market competitiveness increases.