Nation Building essays

Nation Building essays Between 1400 and 1800 most of the states of Western Europe were heavily influenced by an economic policy known as mercantilism. No general definition of mercantilism is entirely satisfactory, but for the purposes of this paper it is thought of as a collection of policies designed to keep the state prosperous by economic regulation. Secondly, it was a series of economic controls intended to strengthen the military and colonies of a country, against other antagonistic empires. These two principles of mercantilism are interconnected, and they give an accurate view of the common attitude that shaped this time period. This concept has been coined as nation building. Before this time period commerce was literally viewed as a sin. There was no moral/ethical allowance for merchants to make any profit from trade. This was reflected by the Churchs control over economic dealings. But the decline of the medieval feudal economy gave rise to nation-states, bringing forth a revolution in commercial activity. This revolution sparked new thinking in wealth accumulation. Instead of viewing money as a mortal sin, it was now seen as the main source of a nations wealth. No longer was the market viewed as an entity in its own right, independent of the state, but viewed as a political institution designed to serve the national interest. (Duchesne pp. 7) With the rise of the nation-state, there was awareness that the central government could become more powerful if they could accumulate more wealth through trade. The driving force behind virtually all trade was the merchant. Merchants slowly adopted a doctrine called the balance of trade theory, which says that the source of wealth comes from selling more than one bought, especially in regards to other nations. Therefore, international trade was passionately pursued, to enhance the accumulation of wealth. As the economist Thomas Mun suggested, th...

How to Find Writing Assignments As a New Freelance Writer

How to Find Writing Assignments As a New Freelance Writer Any person who decides on a freelance writing career has to start at the beginning. I mean starting out with no clips of their work, no endorsements, and an uncertainty of where they are going to find an offer to write. I’m sure you have read many stories about new writers dealing with questionable companies and websites that offer ridiculously low sums of money. How then should you go about getting those great first assignments? I started out like everyone else with no previous articles and was basically unknown when I was offered my first writing job. And I didn’t look for the job . . . the company came to me. I started out writing a blog and making sure that several social media sites saw my work. I linked my articles to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many other social websites. The goal was to place each article where it made the most sense. If I wrote a parenting topic, Mommy Bloggers got a link. If I wrote about blogging itself, there were a few blogging groups on LinkedIn that would see my article.   In fact, it was because of those articles on Linkedin that I landed my first job. A company saw what I was writing on a LinkedIn group, saw how people in the group were interacting with what I wrote, and decided I would be a good fit for them. They asked me to write a 300-500-word article on a financial topic. My very first assignment, and it landed $65 in my pocket. I had no clips. I hadn’t even been a guest writer on another website. Of course that might just be considered a lucky break.   What should you do if you aren’t being approached Once you have been writing and sending out articles for a while, your next step is to ask for the job. All of that social networking hopefully has created a strong following of readers. Take the time to write to these readers and ask if you can be of assistance to them. Look through your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn  contacts and take a look at the company they work for and what their job title is.   If they seem to be a decision maker, who might hire the freelance writer and more importantly, need a freelance writer, I email them. I let them know what I feel I could do for their company. Suggest writing blog articles or a press release for the company. Make sure your offer makes sense to the person you write to. If you have knowledge about finance and you are writing to a financial company, tell them what your background is and why you would be a great choice for writing their articles. Personally network with people in your community. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, the PTA or even a writing group through Meetup. You never know who has a need for your skills or who might have great advice where to seek a job. Finally, if you feel more comfortable starting your career Writing Sites: Mediabistro.com Indeed.com Journalism Jobs.com Freelance Writing Gigs.com Skyword.com Elance.com Writer Access.com Problogger.com BloggingPro.com FlexJobs.com iWriter.com Jobrapido.com oDesk.com I hope the information provided helps you out in your own career.