Final Presentation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZcUvW432E

Taking over the world... Globalization... AND the participation of women in the post modern Era

Chpt 24.

Who would have thought that early in the history of humans three roads were going to open such a big gate for the development of the economic world we now get to experience.  Throughout our LONG readings, we have been able to learn about the many challenges humans have had in order to enjoy what all of us do right now. 

It is super exciting, after reading the book I now pay more attention to my surroundings. This chapter made me notice how every day we get to wear clothes that have been made in different countries.  From the moment I wake up and brush my teeth with my “made in china” brush, until I go to bed and lay my head on an Egyptian cotton fabric pillow case, I am part of the whole globalization culture and because of my constant consumption I keep it going. 

The only negativity I can find about such globalization, besides the Barbie doll (I never liked her), is that humans keep oppressing the ones that are less fortunate.  Sometimes the clothes we wear are made by people who barely get paid and who spend long and tiring hours in a factory, sewing and putting fabrics together.  This situation goes back in history to the cash crops. They say that history repeats itself, are we doing the same with all those people who spend long hours at work and do not have any benefits?. 

In past eras, battles were being held because of power and the hunger for control.  I think that it has not changed much lately.  Nowadays power also plays a big role in societies, except that it is not through conquering or killing others in order to obtain pride and glory; nowadays having power means being more stable, financially, and show the people that money is capable of buying everything and making us feel important.

In previous eras we notice that the ones always wanting power and recognition were men, now it looks like gender does not matter and we all are closer to obtain the “enlightenment” and the search for perfection and equality.  Women are no longer just in agriculture or a decoration of a room, now women are able of going out there get an education and conquer the world just like men used to.  Except in some countries where women are still not allowed to even show their faces, or just be seen like sexual tool to make profit or even just to be the ones staying at home cleaning and taking care of the families.  To what point are women equal nowadays and in which regions?

From what I see now, humans are finally paying more attention to nature and to the damage we have put earth through all these years. The fact that men and women can equally participate when looking for better ways to improve the environment. 

War Mode for the 20th Century

Chps 21, 22, 23

I don’ know if you guys relate to my feelings, but after reading the last three chapters, I felt like it was more familiar than when I was reading about the very beginnings of humans and their societies development. A couple of weeks ago, nine to be exact, I had only lingering knowledge about some of the world history, to be honest If you asked me a question about a silk road or the Atlantic echoes of revolution, I would have frowned and just stare at the person asking me, but my mind completely blank.

I was also very surprised at how little I knew about the World Wars and how little attention I have put to the topic most of my life.  It was until I read the years they happened that I realized it has not been too long ago, relatively speaking. 

After focusing on finding tools, spreading over the world, revolutionizing agriculture, learning how to trade and discovering a new continent, humans have finally found themselves in a very unfriendly situation – A world war. What’s interesting to me about the war is that after humans were very united and they all worked for a common purpose, throughout the years, the more knowledge men acquired the more they started dividing and forming allies in the search for power and control.

The best example of such division, at least for me, has been the Holocaust. It is absolutely degrading to think about the value that men can give to a human being.  The Holocaust is a product of some of the atrocities committed to innocent people. For example, this type of behavior was seen during the cash crop, when if slaves were not able to produce as expected, they were mutilated.

On another note, one of the good outcomes from the WW’s is that the U.S. was able to develop as a great power economically, socially and military, and although the U.S. suffer a really bad economic fall which we know as the Great Depression, it is still a very stable country that provides a home for thousands of people from diverse cultures and many different countries.  However, I still think that it was pretty bad that the two atomic bombs were dropped and killed thousands of innocent residents in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Another point that I would like to talk about is Africa and their leader, Nelson Mandela.  After reading the chapter, I decided to do a little research and found a movie called “Invictus”, in which the life of Mandela as a president was well described.  I feel nothing but sadness now that I know he is sick and the world might loose a great leader like he is.  

The Search for Enlightenment

Freedom!!!! .. can we really achieve equality? 

After reading the chapters, all I can think of is how humans ended up giving freedom a price?.  The beginning of our existence, described by Strayer, talks about humans belonging to small groups, being nomads, not really knowing why, when, what was that they were doing at the time.  As years passed, tools were made, groups were established and territories started to be claimed.  

In the last chapters we read about Colonialism and how Europeans came to America looking Glory, God and Gold.  We read about how unfair was that they treated Natives as slaves, exploited the lands, and committed genocide against natives.  The reading ends with the imposition and the emerging of different religions as well as science.

Then, our view of the world in the new readings starts with the Atlantic Revolution and its Echoes, and the key word “enlightenment”, which refers to the “inspired efforts in many countries to abolish slavery, to extend the right to vote and to secure greater equality for women” (Strayer 500); hence the title of my blog for this post. Humans started being free and throughout time, instead of taking advantage of that freedom, they constricted themselves by stepping over each other and using the term Civilization to think they were better than the rest of the people. For example, the creation of slavery and the way slaves were seen just as a workforce and were given the worse accommodations, if we can call it that, and have such a short life expectancy, which was just for working purposes.    

To be honest the fact that humans saw other humans just for production made me really angry, especially after looking at the picture of the two children who have experience hand mutilation because they did not produce as much as it was expected. I also was very annoyed at the fact of how women were treated and not being able to speak up or participate in society. However, I was happy to have been born during an Era were the ideals of past Eras, specifically Enlightenment, are getting closer to becoming a reality.  We still have a lot of work to do to become EQUALS, but we a moving forward to accomplish it.

I really wonder if we’re really transitioning into the new Era. So many things are happening… for example, a big one, the election of a president of color in the United States, which definitely broke the mold for the European ideals in here. Are we really going to finally reach the point of freedom where we all are equal and will be treated as equals? I hope so… but it will still take a long time to see it really happen.