Golden Rule of Capital Accumulation and Macroeconomic Policy Essay

Golden Rule of Capital Accumulation and Macroeconomic Policy - Essay Example But this steady state rate of growth can vary across economies (Solow, 1994, pp.45-46). In this context the Golden Rule of capital accumulation determines the optimal level of capital per capita that produces the optimal sustained level of per capita consumption in the economy (Mankiw, 2006, pp.110-115). This paper discusses this Golden Rule of capital accumulation and explains implications for macroeconomic policies in this context. Steady state level of capital and output per capita: The Solow Growth model determines the ‘steady state level of capital stock’ per capita and the steady state level of output per capita. But the Golden Rule of capital accumulation determines the maximum level of consumption per capita at the ‘steady state level of capital stock’ (Blanchard, 2006, p.230). This is called the sustainable level of consumption per capita. Here sustainable means that the present generation of the economy saves exactly that amount which is consistent with the replacement of the loss of capital stock that happened due to depreciation of that capital stock, no more and no less. In this sense this Golden Rule of capital stock provides the optimal level of consumption, savings and investment per capita at each period. Before deriving the Golden Rule capital stock let us first determine the steady state level of per capita capital and per capita output (Arnold, 2011, p.340). Assumptions and observations: Suppose that the aggregate production function is given by Y = F (K, L), where, â€Å"Y† =aggregate output level â€Å"F ( )† = aggregate function â€Å"K† =aggregate level of capital stock â€Å"L† = aggregate stock of labour (Solow, 1994, pp.45-54). Let, â€Å"n† be the constant and exogenous rate of growth of labour force. By dividing the aggregate production function by the stock of labour â€Å"L†, we get the per capita production function as, y = f (k, 1), where, â€Å"y† = per capita output â€Å"f ( )† =per capita function â€Å"k† = per capita capital stock â€Å"1† is the number. Or this per capita production function can be written as y = f (k). The production function in this economy is assumed to describe the assumption of diminishing marginal productivity, i.e. rate of change in output per capita declines with the increase level of capital stock per capita. That is why the per capita production function is upward sloping and concave. The production function may exhibit constant returns to scale, i.e. one unit increase in the per capita capital raises output per capita by one unit (Baumol, 1986, pp.1072-1101). â€Å"?† is assumed to be the constant rate at which capital stock depreciates in each period. Hence, the total depreciation of capital per capita is: (?+n)*k. Assuming â€Å"s† as the constant rate of saving per capita, the total level of savings in the economy will be: s*y = s*f (k) As savings rate equals i nvestment, Economy’s investment is given as s*f (k) (Jones, 2002, pp.97-104). â€Å"dk/dt† measures the rate of change of capital stock per capita and is computed as dk/dt = s*y - (?+n)*k, where â€Å"t† = time element (for simplicity writing the â€Å"t† notation is avoided in each function). Hence, the ‘steady state level of capital stock’ is achieved for that level of capital stock per capita where the change in capital stock is zero, i.e. , where dk/dt = 0. The steady state capital stock is denoted by k*

Effective hiring and firing, attracting the best candidates, reducing Essay

Effective hiring and firing, attracting the best candidates, reducing staff turnover and improving employee performance are fundamental management functions - Essay Example For getting on to this track of success and achievement, it is significant to understand that having the most sought after employees and workers in the market is necessary since they will give the most productivity in the toughest times possible. In an office place, there are certain instances when it is best to choose different people for the various jobs that are assigned in the working environment. This holds true for the rationale that a single person cannot and will not be able to do his work as well as the additional burden that is thrust upon him with zeal and enthusiasm. Hence the need of the hour is to understand that employees and workers need a manager to comprehend their shortcomings in the field of work and thus be assigned tasks and responsibilities in line with the same. It has been seen that at times, the top line personnel present in offices delegate jobs and assignments to their sub-ordinates without even thinking that the same might not be the correct manner and mode of action as to go about carrying out the tasks and responsibilities. They think that delegation would prosper a sense of getting more work within the sub-ordinates who themselves are pretty much occupied with their already assigned tasks and jobs. This is hence not the correct manner in which things should be done and hence a need has to be chalked out to ramify the very same problem. The best possible diversity that could be made in this regard is to appoint top line managers who understand the psyche of the people working under him or her or on the same level as his so that he or she can get a grasp as to what employees usually are best suited at and what they do not prefer under certain strenuous conditions in the office place environment. As a consequence, being able to do more work is definitely considered a plus and an added advantage for an employee but this should not, under any level, exceed his or

Cross Culture Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cross Culture Management - Case Study Example There is much emphasis on the flexible approaches especially to changing circumstances and the integration of the overall importance of the people in the attainment of any set objective. As such, the culture focusses on flexible systems of control and information sharing (Chen 2004, p. 200). The Indonesian working culture is also a being culture because of the values attached to career development and the styles of management. For instance, there is much concern for the vision or idea that a firm hopes to attain and that the attainment is not a result of planning, but because of shared vision among the concerned parties. The culture believes the best managers are those that share ideologies with the people and one that tunes the people to adapt to the changing working environment. The culture is a public one because of the focus it gives to group-oriented and authoritative forms of planning that center on relationships between the people in its context. The work culture in the Indonesian context is collectivism because of the focus it gives to the community approaches to work (Chen 2004, p. 178). There is much emphasis on the achievement of the goals and management of the collective attitudes to the all the people in the company framework. Therefore, collectivism is an approach that believes in the power of collective responsibilities in management. The culture is also a low-context culture because the planning is one that bases on more explicit and less detailed on instructions. The descriptions of the jobs are precise and simple to understand within the company context. The managers get their work done through establishing strong relationships with their juniors and consider that they cannot achieve much except by combined effort from the workers. The same culture is a future culture because a majority of the plans that the managers make focus on long-term ambitions

Coca Cola Strategy Essay Example for Free

Coca Cola Strategy Essay Slide1: International strategy (tià ªu Ä‘á »  cá » §a slide nhà © c) The enterprise has core competencies = the competitors in the host country does not have or difficult to develop, catch up or imitate Being not under pressure to localize products and to reduce production costs Companys head office played a central role Slide 2: International strategy of Coca Cola (1900 to 1950) 1899-1909: added to 379 bottling plants across the United States for consumption of about 70 million liters / year. 1906: developing the first bottling plant in Havana, Cuba = marked the first step of Coca cola international market 1936: World War broke out = the bottling plant follow the army and when the war ended, coca has owned subsidiaries in 64 countries. 1950: Coca cola started advertising on TV = effects promote in worldwise Slide 3: Global Strategy A business strategy as global market or single market Company produce and deliver the products which are standardized and identical. Businesses build production facilities globally in locations with low cost as the basis for operational efficiency = save cost The operation of the system will be connected and coordinated through a central management official Make the business does not pay attention to the important differences between different markets = opportunity for competitors to jump in and meet the needs Slide 4: Global Strategy of Coca cola (1950 to early 2000) Coca-cola implementing global business strategy by: producting homogeneity, uniforming marketing strategy worldwide. In the 1970s and 1980s: + very diversified distribution system in both horizontal and vertical, + the bottling plants of Coca-Cola were on around the world + linked the retail stores to serve consumers better. In the 1990s: find new market with the advantages of the new front to the market = Africa and Asia Slide 5: Transnatoinal strategy Make a separate strategy for each country in which businesses consume their  products. Implemented localized products and methods of marketing products to suit the tastes and preferences of each national market Slide 6: Transnatoinal strategy of Coca cola (from 2000s to now) Set up independent subsidiaries, joint ventures in different markets = carry out the research and development stage products, manufacturing and marketing products in the local market. In the early 2000s: success on a global scale with nature is a business providing consumer goods Local adaptation Think local, act local: strategy towards adaptation but not contrary to the traditional strategy of company-global strategy Distributed organizational structure according to geographic area, including five areas: -North America Latin America. Europe, Asia, Europe and the Middle East borders. Asia Africa. Slide 7: Localization strategy of Coca cola: Localization strategy: the practice of adjusting a products functional properties and characteristics to accommodate the language, cultural, political and legal differences of a foreign market or country. For Coca Cola this will be done through a number of actions, first is changing their method of advertising. Ex: In India the use of celebrities would be used more than in Africa whereby football is the bigger love of the people Coca-Cola decided to change their iconic product name to something a little more consumer-friendly for Chinese market, adopted to use Chinese characters to present a truly localized version of their logo. Cuá »â€˜i cà ¹ng là   cà ¡i clip t gá » ­i hà ´m trc nhà © Há º £i.

Waste Land Essay: Eluding Understanding :: T.S. Eliot Waste Land Essays

The Waste Land: Eluding Understanding The Waste Land is, to begin with, a poem that includes an interpretation as part of the poem, and it is therefore a poem that makes a problem of its meaning precisely by virtue of its apparent (and apparently inadequate) effort to explain itself. We cannot understand the poem without knowing what it meant to its author, but we must also assume that what the poem meant to its author will not be its meaning. The notes to The Waste Land are, by the logic of Eliot's philosophical critique of interpretation, simply another riddle--and not a separate one to be solved. They are, we might say, the poem's way of treating itself as a reflex, a "something not intended as a sign," a gesture whose full significance it is impossible, by virtue of the nature of gestures, for the gesturer to explain." And the structure of the poem--a text followed by an explanation--is a reproduction of a pattern that, as the notes themselves emphasize, is repeated in miniature many times inside the poem itself, where cultural expressions are transformed, by the mechanics of allusion, into cultural gestures. For each time a literary phrase or a cultural motif is transposed into a new context--and the borrowed motifs in The Waste Land are shown to have themselves been borrowed by a succession of cultures--it is reinterpreted, its previous meaning becoming incorporated by distortion into a new meaning suitable to a new use. So that the work of Frazer and Weston is relevant both because it presents the history of religion as a series of appropriations and reinscriptions of cultural motifs, and because it is itself an unreliable reinterpretation of the phenomena it attempts to describe. The poem (as A. Walton Litz argued some time ago) is, in other words, not about spiritual dryness so much as it is a bout the ways in which spiritual dryness has been perceived. And the relation of the notes to the poem proper seems further emblematic of the relation of the work as a whole to the cultural tradition it is a commentary on. The Waste Land is presented as a contemporary reading of the Western tradition, which (unlike the "ideal order" of "Tradition and the Individual Talent") is treated as a sequence of gestures whose original meaning is unknown, but which every new text that is added to it makes a bad guess at.

Carroll’s pyramid of Corporate social responsibility Essay

For the past 27 years, Carroll’s corporate social responsibility pyramid (CSR) has been widely used by top management and journals to better define and explore CSR. The different components in the pyramid help managers see the different types of obligations that society expects of businesses. It is easily understandable and simple. However, the new challenges faced by corporations in the 21st century have warranted a re-examination of Carroll’s pyramid. Carroll’s CSR PyramidCarroll’s four part CSR pyramid depicts the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities that society expects of organizations. Carroll has integrated concepts of stakeholders and corporate citizenship into his pyramid. The base of the pyramid is economic responsibility and it gives top priority to economic performance. A business has to be profitable; maximising profits, minimizing costs, plan for the future and provide shareholders with sufficient and attractive returns. The stakeholders affected most in this group are its employees and shareholders. The legal responsibility is second in the hierarchy. Businesses are expected to pursue profits within the framework of the law. Society expects businesses to adhere to all regulations and laws, honour its contracts, warranties and guarantees. Third is ethical responsibility and it involves avoiding questionable practices. It includes all activities which have not been anticipated or legislated by society. Organizations must accept emerging values and norms of society. Businesses are to operate above mere compliance of the law. Ethical responsibilities are more difficult to deal with as they tend to be new, ill-defined or continually under public debate. At the top of the pyramid is philanthropic responsibility. It involves giving back to the community and being a good corporate citizen through donations and active participation in charities or other community welfare programs. Such responsibility is desired but may not be necessarily performed and  hence is separate from other responsibilities. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006:22-42)Descriptive accuracyThere have been four surveys conducted on Carroll’s pyramid from 1985 to 2000. Statistical analysis has shown that the relative importance assigned to each responsibility in the pyramid reflects the empirical importance of the four categories. It also confirms that the four responsibilities are empirically interrelated but mutually exclusive. In the survey conducted by Burton, Farh and Hegarthy in 2000 on 165 Hong Kong and 157 U.S. students, they gave equal or greater value to ethical responsibility than legal responsibility. Similarly, in a 1999 survey conducted by Edmondson and Carroll on 503 black-owned businesses in U.S, ethical responsibility was ranked higher than legal responsibility. Burton, Farh & Hegarty (2000)Mean valuesEconomic orientationsLegal orientationsEthical orientationsPhilanthropic orientations-Hong Kong3.112.322.321.84-USA2.812.422.511.99Edmondson & Carroll (1999)3.162.122.192.04(Adapted from http://www.csrquest.net/default.aspx?articleID=12770&heading)These events are noteworthy. It questions whether corporate ethical responsibility has increased and if these ethical responsibilities outweigh its legal obligations. The changing social contractThe notion of CSR implies the existence of a â€Å"social contract† between a society and the corporation. (Crowther, 2004)†The social contract between business and society is to a large extent formulated from shared understandings that exist in each area in the pyramid.† (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006: 19)If society’s preferences change, there would be a redefining and thus renegotiation of the social contract. Corporations in the 21st century are experiencing significant challenges in this relationship. The increased power of business, technological advancement, and society’s heightened awareness towards moral ethical behaviour has caused a rise in the ethical responsibility in business. Increased power of CorporationsCorporations are primary agents for advancement in technology innovation, industrialism and capitalism.  (Hopkins, 2006) Multi-national companies (MNC) such as Wal-Mart have revenues which exceed the gross domestic product of nations. MNCs dominate the global marketplace. Businesses need to expand internationally to remain competitive. Globalization has come to encompass everything from â€Å"factories shifting around† to â€Å"international bodies that set the rules for the global economy.† It has resulted in the outsourcing of jobs to less-developed nations. In the United States, jobs in manufacturing are being outsourced to China and India. In a USA Today poll in 2004, 68 percent of Americans felt outsourcing of jobs was bad for the economy. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006:293)Companies from banks to pharmaceuticals operate and compete in a global environment. When MNCs start work in another country, they must fulfil their social responsibilities in order to be perceived as legitimate. MNCs are caught in dilemmas. For example, if it were to repatriate a large part of its profits, it would be seen as depriving the host country of wealth. If it were to invest profits locally, it may be perceived to be tightening its control on the host cou ntry’s economy. Pay is another sensitive issue. MNCs seem to be exploiting labour with its low wages. However, if it were to pay more to its employees, local businesses would be hurt in the long run. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006: 297-300)MNCs may also be assailed for not adhering to standards from their home country. Two classic ethical issues are human rights abuses in â€Å"sweatshops† and questionable marketing and plant safety practices. Plant safety issues have been on-going since the Union Carbide Bhopal crisis in 1984. More recently, Mattel found lead in its toys made in China. In both cases, companies broke no laws in its host countries. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006: 306-311) Coating toys with lead paint is legal in China! However, it has to ensure the quality and safety of its products and employees. Society has also grown more distrustful of corporations after a spike in corporate scandals in 2001. Accounting and securities fraud have led to the demise of Enron, Arthur Andersen and WorldCom. The Sarbanes-Oxley act was created to restore public confidence in accounting and reporting practices. Society today requires not only business financial transparency but also  social and environmental transparency. This is to address a broader spectrum of stakeholders. Many multinational companies including Coca-cola, Shell and Starbucks have the adopted the triple-bottom line approach to corporate reporting. ISO 26000, launching in 2009, aims to develop an international standard in accessing social responsibility. Google was criticized by Privacy International for potentially storing data on individuals using its search engines. It went a step further in ethical behaviour by calling for new international laws to be set up to protect personal information online and is now working with UNESCO and OECD to draw up guidelines. This has shown businesses are seriously considering its ethical responsibilities to society although it is not required to do so by law. (Palmer 2007 )With the increased power that corporations are yielding, there are companies like The Body Shop who use this power and profits to raise awareness to their social causes. Other businesses have been giving large amounts to philanthropy. Japanese MNC firms such as Sony, Canon and Toyota practise kyosei. US firms gave $400 million in the few weeks after the 2004 tsunami disaster. (Hopkins, 2006) Thus corporations are setting a benchmark in society and causing a revolution of rising expectations. Future organisations must attempt to exceed these expectations. Another dimension to the increased power and scope business wields come from the privatization of government companies. It is estimated that $700 billion dollars worth of assets have been privatised worldwide (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006:344). Governments usually provide a service for society. There is conflict of interest between maximising shareholder returns and maintaining a low cost service to the public. In Singapore, SMRT, although still partly owned by the government through Temasek Holdings, was not allowed to raise its prices in 2007 because it was already making profit margins similar to that of Singapore Airlines. Technological advancementBiotechnology and information technology are new areas in corporate growth. In biotechnology, an area called bioethics has emerged. Although biotechnology holds great promise for enhancing life and health, it could have unprecedented ethical consequences. Genetic engineering could increase supply of food as it can make plants more resistant to pests or to grow in harsher conditions. However, the issue of using or eating genetically modified food has opposition. In Europe, there is a ban on bioengineered crops. In 2004, McDonalds did not want Monsanto to introduce its bug-resistant wheat as it did not want to be caught up in the biotech debate when people eat their fries. Another area of concern is in embryonic stem cell research. It holds the greatest hope for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’ and Parkinson disease but American law denies the use of new embryos to carry out research. Scientists clone stem cells to loop around this restriction. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006: 260-284 )Information Technology has undergone immense growth even after the dot-com bubble burst. Emails and the Internet have enabled communication without the need of a fixed place and time. It can be a fermenting ground for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO). Individuals who were once powerless can now rally, surround and infiltrate even the most powerful organizations through the internet. For example, the Royal Dutch Shell Company changed its disposal strategy of offshore platforms after protests from Internet stakeholder swarms. (Hopkins 2006) Similarly in 2001, Nike’s global sweatshop allegations were started by an email sent out by Jonah Peretti to a few friends. Society’s increased awareness of ethical behaviourThe rising education and affluence of society have increased awareness in the ethical responsibility of firms. Most MBA and business undergraduate students now undergo some form of ethics training. Business ethics training courses are being carried out by large companies such as Lockheed Martin and Sun Microsystems. People are more aware of discrimination issues and their rights. In 2003 the Ethnic Resource Centre National Business survey showed that two-thirds of organisations provided a way to report misconduct anonymously. (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2006:243-251)The rise in social investing has also shown society’s preference for moral corporate behaviour. Socially screened portfolios in the U.S. have climbed to $2.15 trillion in 2003 and are expected to hit $3 trillion by 2011. Europe SRI market has grown $0.6 trillion from 2005 to 2007. Modification to Carroll’s CSR pyramidOne of the main weaknesses in Carroll’s pyramid is the inability to convey the tensions between the component responsibilities. To better show these organization realities it might be better to use two triangles instead. The economic responsibility surrounds and supports all the other responsibilities in the model and is the â€Å"foundation† of this model. This is because profitability is still the basis in any corporation. Corporations focus on profitability even when undertaking CSR programs. In KPMG’s International Survey of Corporate Social Responsibility (2005), 74% of respondents found economic considerations as drivers of corporate responsibility. The relative priorities of CSR should be adjusted with the rise in ethical responsibilities in corporations. The increased compliance with new standard accounting practices and laws have increased the task of legal responsibility. However, law often cannot address all new issues business face in a fast-paced global environment. Although there is an increased expectation for a corporation to give back to the community and business philanthropic responsibilities are greater than before, these are still not as large as its legal obligations. Hence, it remains the smallest out of the four components of CSR. ConclusionThe gap between society’s expectations of business ethics and that of actual business ethics has given rise to ethical problems. Globalisation has led to the broadening of the term ‘Society’. As the rate of technological change speeds up, ethical responsibilities will play a greater role in the CSR pyramid. References Bacchus, Rayman L. and Crowther D, (2004). Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility. London: Ashgate. Carroll’s CSR pyramid:http://www.csrquest.net/default.aspx?articleID=12770&headingSeptember 17, 2007. Carroll, Archie B. and Ann K. Buchholtz, 2006, Business and Society: Ethic and Stakeholder Management, 6th Edition, USA: South-Western, Thomson Corporation. Carroll, Archie B. (1991, July). The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders balancing economic, legal and social responsibilities. Business Horizons. Hopkins, M. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility and International Development. London: Earthscan. KPMG. (2005). KPMG Global Survey of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting 2005: KPMG International. Revisting Carroll’s CSR Pyramid:http://www.waynevisser.com/csr_pyramid.htmSeptember 17, 2007. Palmer, M. (14, September 2007). Google to call for web privacy shake-up. The Financial Times. P21.

Commentary – Staring At The Sun by The Offspring

Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way Everyone's around, but no one does a damn thing It brings me down, but I won't let them If I seem bleak Well you'd be correct And if I don't speak It's cause I can't disconnect But I won't be burned by the reflection Of the fire in your eyes As you're staring at the sun When I ran I didn't feel like I ran away When I escaped I didn't feel like I got away There's more to living than only surviving Maybe I'm not there, but I'm still trying Though you hear me I don't think that you relate. My will is something That you can't confiscate So forgive me, but I won't be frustrated By destruction in your eyes As you're staring at the sun Commentary (Staring At The Sun) The Offspring are commonly known to be a punk-rock band but they have taken up so many different styles in their albums that many would agree that they sing something unique which cannot be fitted fully in a specific genre of music. But the core of almost every album has been fast songs with really meaningful lyrics (and not just something that rhymes which can be often heard in punk-rock). Their album, Americana not only sold over 10,000,000 copies worldwide but also presented the band in a new light and served as a development of Californian punk-rock. In Americana, the band sings about different events that happen in the life of ordinary American families and teenagers. Staring At The Sun is one of my favorite songs not only because of the music but also because of powerful lyrics which combines well with the rhythm. Generally, the song is about trying to figure out your identity and how you fit in the world. It is especially evident for teenagers that are growing up and trying to fit in everything they do. The song also tells us of people who want to fit in so desperately that they compromise their interests and transform their character in order to fit in. The lyrics remind me of a narrative poem. The first line sets the mood of the song and suggests that the persona is in deep thoughts about life. Simile â€Å"life is like a ride on a freeway† reflects the subject of persona's thoughts. Freeway† suggests freedom in choosing your way of living or your place in the society. â€Å"Ride† links to the idea of searching for something in this society. The second line completes the idea raised in the first line that life is searching for your place, trying to fit in the world. â€Å"Dodging bullets† suggests rage which could mean difficulties that can be encountered when trying to â€Å"find yourself† and that irrespective of anger or grudge that you may have you should continue to seek for your place in society. The next two lines link to the idea that it is important for anybody to be who he/she is and do not care what anyone else thinks. This is suggested by the third line that although â€Å"everyone's around†, there is really no help from them in selecting the path of your life (â€Å"no one does a damn thing†). The next line extends the idea slightly suggesting that being yourself while all the rest turn against you is very hard but you should not quit the path you have selected. The end of the third line and the beginning of the fourth are loaded with â€Å"heavy† words. This becomes even more evident as the singer stresses these words when singing the song. Repetition of â€Å"d† and â€Å"g† in the words â€Å"damn†, â€Å"thing†, â€Å"brings†, â€Å"down† emphasizes the fact that there is no help from the people surrounding you and that they essentially try to stop you from selecting your path (â€Å"bring†, â€Å"down†). But this is then contradicted by â€Å"I won't let them†. The second stanza emphasizes persona's unwillingness to conform to everyone else. This is suggested by the first four lines. The last three lines of the stanza are very significant. In these lines persona is trying to say that if someone is going to destroy himself, he is not going to drag the persona down with him. This is suggested by â€Å"I won't be burned by the reflection of the fire in your eyes†. The words â€Å"burned† and â€Å"fire† are significant here as they emphasize burning, dying out, destruction of character and identity of somebody who is trying to fit in something unnatural for himself. â€Å"Staring at the sun† is a metaphor or analogy for people that are being self-destructive or compromising themselves. The persona says that he is not a part of this and appeals to people to stick to their own paths that they have selected and not compromise themselves. The â€Å"burning† of these lines suggests persona's fury about this situation. The third stanza is about persona in the actual search for his path of life. The first two lines of the stanza suggest that you may be uncertain or doubt the path you have selected when all the people around you are trying to stop you. Echoing of running away (â€Å"ran† and â€Å"ran away†) and escaping (â€Å"escaped† and â€Å"got away†) in the same lines emphasizes your tireless search for the true path, that you may not know what to do or where to go but you should keep seeking for it. This idea is also confirmed by the last two lines of the stanza that you should live in the way you want and not to conform to somebody else's style of living (â€Å"there's more to living than only surviving†) just because you have to, if it is unnatural for you. The last line of the stanza confirms the idea that although you realize you have not found your path yet you should continue seeking for it. It is also significant that the idea of searching, emphasized by the first two lines (â€Å"ran†, â€Å"ran away†, â€Å"escaped† and â€Å"got away†) also links it to the idea that your mind could be confused by other people's opinions. The last stanza again emphasizes the fact that the persona is not going to be dragged down by self-destructive people who compromise themselves. In the first two lines persona is suggesting that although these self-destructive people may understand him they cannot take any action towards changing it as their identity and character are already tied in with the thought that they have to compromise themselves. The third and fourth lines of the stanza signify the fact that persona will not be a part of that by admitting that â€Å"my will† will be guiding him in search for his path and that it cannot be manipulated or â€Å"confiscated† unlike the minds of people who compromise themselves. This is also confirmed by stressing â€Å"my will† which emphasizes strength and endurance. The last three lines of the stanza repeat the end of the second one and thus emphasize the persona's thoughts that it is important for anybody to be who they really want to and not to try conforming to or to fitting in somebody else's style.