Week Five - Chapters 11, 12, & 13

I was surprised by the level of significance the Mongols played during the sixteenth century.   Surprised in the sense that they were a formidable military power that I had not heard about in previous history classes.  As if the conquering and massacre of other cultures was not enough the Mongols were also responsible for bringing the plague to Europe and Asia.

Upon the Mongols invasion of China, simply talking over was not sufficient.  When trying to decide what to do with their latest acquisition one of the ideas was to decimate the entire population and turn the land into one big pasture for their livestock.  Instead, the Mongols made  use of the Chinese technology in place and also inserted themselves into Chinese history by creating their own dynastic titles.  

In Persia, the Mongols continued their blood thirsty quest for power and property.  Villages were plundered over and over and  Persian agriculture was destroyed.  Some of the Mongols subsequently interjected themselves in the Persian way of life by settling down, getting married and farming.

Onward to Russia, where in keeping with their traditions the Mongols plundered Russia and its people far worse than they had with the Chinese and Persians.  The Mongols had no desire to actually occupy Russia so in their absence the  Mongols “exploited” the Russians financially.  They were able to maintain this arrangement simply with the mere threat of returning if they demands were not met.

The Mongols produced nothing and they weren’t active traders even through they were nomads.  They individual culture was cultivated from brutal force and theft.

Week Four - Chapters 8, 9, & 10

The establishment of trade routes in the region surrounding the Indian Ocean allowed not only goods to be exchanged but also ideas.   The Silk Road, the Sea Roads, Sand Road were the three main avenues of trade 2000 years ago.

The Silk Road connected the eastern edge of China all the way to the westernmost edge of Arabia.  While obviously silk was traded along the route, the Silk Road allowed Buddhism and Christianity were also able to utilize the trade route to continue to express their ideas.

Silk became synonymous with wealth and power in central Asia silk and was used as currency.  The technology used to produce silk was initially only found in China however Persians, Indians, and others subsequently gained their own silk manufacturing methods.  Other items that were traded along the Silk Road include spices, previous stones, and gun powder.

The Sea Road paralleled the Silk Road and allowed the use of boats to transports large quantities of items.  One of the major unintended consequences of the good that were brought by ship included the bubonic plague.  With boats going from port to port, the Black Death as the plague came to be known, wiped out one third of the population of Europe in just four years.

The Sand Roads traveled predominately in the northwester portion of the Sahara.  Gold was the main commodity that was transported via camel and exchanged.  Slavery also begin to emerge at this time and those who weren't put to work in Africa were sold in Europe.

Week Nine - Chapters 24

In a sociology class I took recently, I had the opportunity to read two articles “McDonalization of Society” by George Ritzer and “Over the Counter” by Robin Leidner.    Both articles placed a spotlight on the enormous role the McDonald’s corporation has and continues to play in the development of cultures globally.  As McDonald's expands its empire into developing countries it brings with it American values and ethics.  This phenomenon is clearly evident using the map on page 732.With the exception of Antarctica, there is currently a McDonald’s restaurant on every major continent of the globe.

What McDonald’s brings with its restaurants is American standardization.  Every restaurant serves the same base menu the in the same manner throughout the globe.  This ensures that a customer from Shanghai, China can walk in the door of the McDonald's in Menlo Park knowing that his favorite hamburger is going to taste and look the exact same as the one he orders back home.

Additionally, with the food standardization comes a work standardization that is akin to the work distribution that began during the industrial revolution.  Take one job and divide it into ten mindless, simple tasks.  The process of making a hamburger now involves three separate machines with timers and the distribution of a specifically measured amount of condiments and produce.

Finally, the daily work of the line employees of McDonald’s is strictly measured and regulated.  They are unable to deal with concerns raised by customers and they are taught never to deviate from the approved process.  Even their interactions with customers has been regulated to a standardized script offering to “super size” or an apple pie with each order.

According to Fast Food Nation, McDonald’s 150% turnover rate requires them to hire and train 1 million workers annually in the US.  McDonald’s has approximately 761,000 employees worldwide.  That means this year 1.7 million people globally have been indoctrinated with the belief that the work they do at McDonald’s is the way work is done in the real world.  No thought, no skill, simply follow the script without deviation and you will be rewarded.

Week Eight - Chapters 21, 22, & 23

Chapter 21 was probably the most interesting chapter in the text because it began to detail a period of time that I am familiar with.  The first World War between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente began with a single incident on June 28, 1914 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.  Germany was forced to give up its “colonial empire” and a large chunk of its land in Europe in addition to large monetary penalties.

The United States emerged from the war as the newest global super power both militarily and financially.  The enormous costs of the war effort lessened the ability of once flourishing countries to purchase imported goods.  This had an obvious impact on the originating country and the county purchasing the exporting the goods.  Countries whose whole economy was based on the export of one commodity became devastated by the lack of demand.  This effect rippled globally which contributed to the Great Depression.  Despite Roosevelt’s New Deal nothing worked better to end the Great Depression than the spending required towards the buildup for World War Two.

The results of the Great War on Germany and Italy left its citizens disillusioned and spiteful against the U.S. and the other nations of Europe.  Hitler and Mussolini were able to unite these sheep under the guise of regaining their once prominent status in Europe.  Hitler and the Nazis began a crusade to reclaim lands that once belonged to Germany prior to World War One in addition to other countries surrounding Europe.  In an effort to appease Hitler some geographic areas were simply handed over and the United States turned a blind eye to what was going on.

Japan was on similar path in Asia and subsequently allied with Germany.  Due to Japan’s actions, the United States initiated an oil embargo after talks to end the American interference in Japan’s aggressiveness in the region failed.  Believing that Japanese interests would not be heeded by the Americans, the Japanese launched an attack on Pearl Harbor.  This unprovoked act of aggression led to the United States officially entering World War Two.  The effects of the war destroyed numerous European countries and an estimated 60 million people died.  After launching two nuclear bombs on Japan and assisting with the decimation of the Nazi empire, the United States subsequently emerged as a global superpower.

While South Africa had been an independent nation since1920, their country’s government was completely controlled by a minority of white inhabitants.  Despite this control, the remaining 80% percent of the populations were a workforce that managed to build a stable infrastructure.  As time progressed the working class began to desire more freedoms and to experience the fruits of their own labor.

In the 1912 the African Nation Congress (ANC) was established in an effort to become equals in the eyes of the government.  After 40 years of peaceful demonstrations had done nothing to help further their cause, they turned to civil disobedience.  The result was the outlawing of the ANC as an organization and the jailing of several leaders including Nelson Mandela.  The attempt at exterminating the quest for equality coupled with the effort to prevent an all-out civil war created a catalyst for transition to a true African government in the 1990’s.

Week Seven - Chapters 17, 18, 19 & 20

Chapter 17  begins by discussing the impacts that each of the major social / cultural revolutions (North American, French, & Haitian) had both singularly and on each other.  For instance, I was unaware of that Thomas Jefferson was the US ambassador to France at the beginning of the French Revolution or that Simon Bolivar had a tie to Haiti.

The North American Revolution occurred not so much because the people wanted immediate independence from Britain so much as they wanted a way to ease the control and taxation from a country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.  The revolution allowed the people of North American to continue to create a society based upon equality that was not prevalent in Europe.

After hearing about the positive effects the North American Revolution created, the French began to realize they could revolt against the taxes imposed upon them to offset the government’s fiscal problems.  Additionally, social conflicts pitted the rich against the working class and the working class against the peasants.  The French Revolution created a new beginning which they illustrated by recreating the calendar starting with the year 1.  The population of France began to view themselves more as citizens of a country as opposed to residents of their particular region.  Napoleon was able to tame the tides of the revolution and use its forces to provide benefits to the people.  It was also his goal to militarily expand the elements of the revolution beyond France’s borders.  Napoleon’s empire came to a halt by 1815 due to the efforts of Britain and Russia.

The Haitian revolt by slaves created a society where “the last had become the first.”  Slavery was abolished and equality within its borders was established.

The industrial revolution began in Europe, particularly in Britain.  This was most likely because of the culture of the people of Europe at the time in conjunction with the wide availability of iron ore and coalfields.  The United States also later took advantage of its natural resource of coal mining and precious metal to begin their own industrial revolution.

The impacts of the Industrial Revolution were felt globally.  The advent and improvements made by the West provided them with military superiority over the East.  Pressure from the West including rampant racism of the Asian people made their growth more difficult.  The Chinese in particular had mounting internal issues that had to be dealt with first. 

Opium use became widespread in about 1832.  China attempted to prevent further strife by seizing millions of pounds of Opium from western traders without providing them compensation.  The British would not let this stand and embarked upon a crusade to make the Chinese pay dearly for their decision.  In the end, Britain ended up signing a treaty with China, paying millions of dollars, giving up control of Hong Kong to the British. 

Week Six - Chapters 14, 15, & 16

With the majority of my education on the history of the Americas coming from elementary school (which included colorful crayon drawings of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria), I was somewhat fascinated by the role that disease played in the destruction of the Native Americans.  I was always under the impression that Europeans came in and simply militarily conquered the original inhabitants of the “New World.”  The text indicated that in some areas up to 90% the Native American peoples died from disease brought by the Europeans and Africans.  This of course had an impact on the available slave workforce which impacted their ability to grow food which in turn affected their source of an adequate amount of food.  Pretty elementary but not really anything that I can say I thought about before.

Moving onto the building up of the Russian empire and Geoffrey Hoskins statement, “The British had an empire, Russia was an empire.”  The Russians were able to utilize their own existing means in which to expand their empire whereas the countries of Europe were forced to use only what they were able to bring over by boat.  This allowed their Russians to build a strategy to slowly expand their borders akin to a virus.  This provided them certain benefits when it came to trade and commerce.  When it came to obtaining goods from the America’s the Russians simply traded their furs for American gold and silver.  There was no need to fund overseas trips using funds that could be better spent expanding and defending the empire at home.  

On has to wonder what would have happened if there had been an African Empire; a nation in which the people and civilization had progressed enough to defend themselves and their borders from other nations looking for slave labor.  Where would the workforce that other nations used to build their newly conquered lands?  As mentioned in the text, the African population was not necessarily chosen so much as they ended up being the largest mass of people left from which to draw from.  Not to mention the inclination that stereotyping of blacks as an inferior race began as early as the 14^th century and has continued to this day worldwide.  Finally, I find it interesting that Africa as a continent is still considered to be a third world country.  Could one surmise that this began when their peoples were pillaged and since that time their culture has never really been able to regain its footing in the world again?

Week Three - Chapters 4, 5, 6, & 7

While doing the assigned reading for this week, I was immediately struck by the amount of social inequalities that still continue to exist in our modern world today.  Both at home and abroad, the media constantly reminds us of stereotypes that reaffirm our class using our perceived education, the color of our skin, and our occupations.  With the exception of the few and far between “Cinderella stories” many cultures, like ours, continue to allow perceived labels to dictate our thoughts and actions.  While some cultures are considered more advanced then others when it comes to social hierarchies, the recent events in China really illustrate a point that is not being broadcasted enough.

A mere forty-eight hours ago the Wall Street Journal reported that, “A newborn’s cries… in a residential building in eastern China led to a tenant to a startling discovery; a baby boy trapped in a sewage pipe beneath a squat toilet.”  What is it that continues to feed the Confucian ideology of a preference over men to women?  Even today, China has a strict one child policy that reinforces the belief that it is better to have a son over a daughter.  Had the trapped infant been a female would such efforts to rescue and save her life have taken place?  China’s “family planning policy” has been in practice for over thirty years and shows no signs of discontinuing.

We still do not know if there were other social factors involved that caused this young woman to abandon her own child.  Was her mother an unmarried peasant, “untouchable” in China or a modern day “Brahmin” who did not feel compelled to lower her social status to that of a commoner?

Then we can factor in religion.  Given that Taoism is one of the major religions of modern China and that Taoism got its roots from the Dao religion, where would the attempted murder of your own child fall within the ways of nature?  As stated in the text, Daoism called for a limited government.  While not trying to abjectly fight the government could we not assume that there might have been some moral imperatives that would have allowed the mother of this child to rethink her own values and what statement her actions would make?

Nonetheless, our world still focuses on the things that we apparently value the most… money, prestige, and social standing.  Ask any teenager today what the name of Mother Teresa’s child was.