Innovation and Dynamism: Interaction between Systems and Technical Progress

Literature on post-socialist transformation usually deals with the political, economic and social sides of it, although there have also been important changes in the field of technical advance in the last 20 years. One of capitalism’s main virtues is the strong incentive it gives to dynamism, enterprise and the innovation process. Every revolutionary new product (for civilian use) has been brought about by the capitalist system. The socialist system was capable, at most, of developing new military products. The article analyzes how far the radical difference can be explained by the innate tendencies and basic attributes of the two systems. Our daily lives have been transformed by these new products (for instance, the sphere of information and communications by the computer, the mobile phone and the internet). While many people see all these as favorable changes, fewer discern the causal relation between the capitalist system and rapid technical progress. Yet the usual syllabus of microeconomics does not enlighten students on this important virtue of capitalism, which is not adequately emphasized in the statements of leading politicians either.systems, capitalist system, socialist system, innovation, technical progress, Schumpeterian entrepreneurship

The National Image of the World in an Objective Process of Globalization

The article examines process of globalization as continuation of process the creation of Christendom. The author thinks that translations of Bible from Greek or ancient Jewish on other languages are the example of first step in unification Christendom. And consequently its first step of globalization. Russian translation of Bible is showing distinction from other translations, but experimentally was establishing that Russian people in speech practise understand and use forms of words in accordance with their significance, which used in other translations of Bible, changes the original significance. The author believes that the change of the primary word allows speaking about readiness of Russian consciousness for accepting the ideas of globalization.sacral style, translations of Bible, continuation of process, globalization, Christendom

When Age Matters: Patterns of Participative and Communicative Practices in the Czech Republic

After a long history, research on the relation between participative and communicative practices was revived in the late 1990s because of the proliferation of new media. New studies have taken into account both online and offline participation and the ability of new media to provide citizens with easier access to information and a broader repertoire of actions. In this article, which is based on a representative survey of the adult Czech population and a survey of Czech adolescents, we address participative and communicative practices as intertwined sets that are typically preferred by certain groups of citizens. As media-related and political practices usually vary due to generational and historical experience, the aim is to discover whether people with similar generational backgrounds and with similar repertoires of action manifest similar sets of commu- nication practices, i.e. similar media ensembles. Hence, we build this study on the assumption that the politi- cal- and media-related agencies are structured by historical experience as well as by biographical experience linked with life-cycle phases. Using cluster analysis, we focus on the various participative and communicative practices employed by three distinct adult generational groups and by contemporary adolescents, all of whom experienced the process of socialization in their own specific historical contexts

Central and East European countries: innovation leapfrog versus “path dependence”?

Strengthening the EU economic and political environment would positively affect the global development. Albeit, building the internal life in the enlarging European society per se represents quite a challenging task. Increasing diversity engenders a huge variety of never seen before problems, which must be responded in appropriate manner. Within this multifold complexity, and despite the variety of issues related to elaboration of a new economic agenda for the member state countries this is specifically innovation path of economic development which would be emphasized as the main underlying route for approaching the prosperous future. This article highlights some problems and prospects of CEEC’ (Central and East European countries) innovation driven development.EU enlargment; comparative advantage, innovation capabilities; innovation driven path of economic development

Effects of Porn: A Critical Analysis

The impacts of pornography are varied and complex. Performers are often thought to be victims of abuse and exploitation, while viewers are regularly accused of becoming desensitised to sexual violence. Further, porn is held by some to perpetuate damaging racial and gender stereotypes. I contend that these accusations, though not entirely baseless, are undermined for two reasons: they rest on questionable empirical evidence and ignore many of the positive consequences porn may have. In this article, I organise my analysis from the screen outward, critically examining the effects porn has on performers, viewers, and wider society, and finding that in each domain it may have both positive and negative outcomes. Following this, I evaluate porn as a form of Bakhtinian carnival and discuss how online porn may offer a mode of resisting hegemonic cultural norms. On the whole, therefore, I argue that the harms attributed to porn have often been overgeneralised and exaggerated, and that porn has a range of effects unable to be captured by a mere pro/anti dichotomy

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