I was a little surprised to find that there wasn't as much discussion around September 11th or ongoing battle of terrorism the world is facing. I think that this topic is relevant when discussing the future state of the world and especially when trying to figure out where the next era will take us. It seems that the world is in such a disarray, I have a somewhat pessimistic view of this new era. The hope for the world is to collaborate together and work towards a much greater respect for one another, but with many countries still fighting and with the catastrophic events of terrorism how will this work? The millennials are demanding change in many aspects from socialism, business, global relations, etc. I think they will help make the push the world needs to co-exist in a better manner. Maybe the next generation will find an answer to terrorism and to the creation of nuclear weapons. There is a lot of cleanup that needs to happen and every generation needs to make a change. Our world and global relations depend on it.
Shifting gears a bit to technology, I found myself in a conversation about the need for children to be bilingual. There was a comment made that made me have a wow moment, the person talking to me said that children will not only need to be bilingual in say Spanish, English, Mandarin, but children will need to be bilingual in English and coding. That's amazing to me that this may be where we are headed. Sure anyone can code, but how many can say they are fully bilingual in it? If the people in this world are smart enough to speak code and manipulate DNA, surely we can figure out how to repair relations and our environment.
The other thing that stood out was the American Icon examples, such as, Barbie and McDonalds. I think it is sad that America has such strong brands that children know them from such a young age. These brands seem to be more prominent than religion or even family and values. I enjoyed reading about the push back of Barbie and Ken with Sara and Dara. I am not sure how well it worked, but at least there are people that question values and still strive to instill them into society.
Who knows where the world is headed. I can only hope that I can have a positive impact on my local society and possibly even the world.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Ideas of War
My first thoughts on reading about WWI was here we go again with the domino effect of the Europeans! It seems that in that time they influenced and impacted the world on a scale grander than they could have imagined. This was the first time I had heard of the war referenced as an accident. I saw similarities that the media and society played in contributing to the anticipation of war. As I pictured the women, with their white flowers in their hair representing the weak and reminding men of the celebrated masculiinty the uniform signified, I remembered the flood of civilians ready to fight for freedom after 9/11. The media and social influence supported the willingness to participate, jsut as it did in the beginign of WWI. The same similarities showed again with the millions killed and the wounded vets returning home. There is a mass scale of wounded vets returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and I assume the transition and society views are not much different than they were then.
I am proud of the women across the globe that stood up and went to work while the men were at war. This set precedence for all women who are working today and set the stage for women's rights. I think when Strayer refers to "men's work" this was also setting precedence in those days. On one side I would want to support and re-build the characters of these men who fought during War and on the other side I would want the women to stand up and say it's not "mens work" that women can do it just as good too. Clever for them to come up with Mother's Day to nurture the calling of women to become mothers! Back to media again, helping humans think properly!
This was the first time in history where Americans tried to avoid conflict. This shocked me since we are always the big brother that wants to make the wrongs of the world right. Where should the stance be? I believe locally and on a global scale those that can help or make a difference should do so, so then why wouldn't my view be to support the efforts of war when it's to uplift or defend the basic rights of humans. The problem comes when there are politics involved and money and greed. I thought about the notion of the losers of the war having to pay since they caused all the problems and would have to pay the losers. This ties back into the entire cycle of greed though. As brutal as the world was, compared to terrorists today they seem more gracious given that there was talks of negotiation.
How would War be different if we never dropped the atomic bomb? There wouldn't be an inate ammount of fear on nuclear warfare. The world would be a better place if globally there were no chemical or nuclear bombs.
I am proud of the women across the globe that stood up and went to work while the men were at war. This set precedence for all women who are working today and set the stage for women's rights. I think when Strayer refers to "men's work" this was also setting precedence in those days. On one side I would want to support and re-build the characters of these men who fought during War and on the other side I would want the women to stand up and say it's not "mens work" that women can do it just as good too. Clever for them to come up with Mother's Day to nurture the calling of women to become mothers! Back to media again, helping humans think properly!
This was the first time in history where Americans tried to avoid conflict. This shocked me since we are always the big brother that wants to make the wrongs of the world right. Where should the stance be? I believe locally and on a global scale those that can help or make a difference should do so, so then why wouldn't my view be to support the efforts of war when it's to uplift or defend the basic rights of humans. The problem comes when there are politics involved and money and greed. I thought about the notion of the losers of the war having to pay since they caused all the problems and would have to pay the losers. This ties back into the entire cycle of greed though. As brutal as the world was, compared to terrorists today they seem more gracious given that there was talks of negotiation.
How would War be different if we never dropped the atomic bomb? There wouldn't be an inate ammount of fear on nuclear warfare. The world would be a better place if globally there were no chemical or nuclear bombs.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Reflection of Ch 18
I have seen the famous image of evolution, where the ape eventually evolves into human, but I have never seen it as the "Progressive Development of Man" shown on pg 883. What a terrible way to portray the races of human beings. It's quite discerning that there was such a notion that Europeans were the elite and evolved and native Americans, Africans and Asians were depicted on a lower scale such that of animals. I always wondered if we homo sapiens did evolve from apes then why aren't there still traces of evolving taking place. I realize that this was over many many years, but wouldn't it still be happening? The theory of evolution from animals makes more sense after reading this chapter as I realized that it was most likely based on this notion of one race holding superiority and viewing others as savages and not based solely on scientific fact.
Going hand in hand with this is overly used expression of "survival of the fittest" which again without realizing where this saying derived from, one may use it as a motivational statement or as an answer of common sense. It's disgusting that this term was used to bring a sense of justice to the Europeans as the natives were dying from disease and being over taken. There is so much wrong with this part of history and the ways of thinking that the conquerors had. The text speaks of the British not speaking English to Blacks due to fear. I think fear is what empowered them to act this way and shaped thoughts and actions of this era. From then till now this notion of "Superior Civilization" is sadly relevant today. Along with the fact that the oppressed today are still treated as lazy and feared. Ironic that then and now these are the people that tilled the lands per se. How can they be deemed lazy when they are not those that are leaning on assistance of machines or other to do the heavy lifting and dirty work.
What really shocked me was reading the word exterminated to describe the killings of native Americans. Most are aware of the history of this country, but to exterminate makes me think of roaches or termites, not humans. People of today are appalled by the actions of terrorists, but in my opinion equal actions by the Europeans were accepted. Appalling. Maybe we should say that to be civilized is to be conquered or conquering. In the past and present the stronger have preyed on the weak. Today, the oppressed are the not the natives but the immigrants coming to the country. They are used for cheap labor that makes are country thrive. Just as the cheap African labor of yesterday with limited social and political integration. Haven't we learned anything from the past? I almost had hope when I read that the Europeans felt it their duty to educate the natives, isn't this what human nature should be? Shouldn't we all have a duty to educate and serve those in need? There should not be any "superior civilization" we all should be the "superior civilization".
I had to look up what Sati, Widow Burning was and yes, it is what it sounds. This chapter touched on a lot of issues from the impoverished to what was done to women. So for some, in that day, to be a woman may have meant to get circumcised (mutilated) to marry a man then to willingly or unwillingly get burned to death if he dies. Wow! I am most grateful that I am a woman of today and am excited and eager to see the shift that I believe is coming for women and status in America.
All of this is, in my opinion, is a result of agriculture. Agriculture shaped civilization and seeded the Global Economy. How we manipulate the food we grow has led to overpopulation and global warming. Because of man's greed, taxes were imposed and women's work increased. Natives and now immigrants of today are oppressed in order for agriculture and the global economy to keep up. Where will it end? Which generation will make the leap to bringing the world together and sustaining the world we live in? Steps are starting to take shape, but civilization is not leaps and bounds ahead of yesterday in the destruction of our resources or people.
Going hand in hand with this is overly used expression of "survival of the fittest" which again without realizing where this saying derived from, one may use it as a motivational statement or as an answer of common sense. It's disgusting that this term was used to bring a sense of justice to the Europeans as the natives were dying from disease and being over taken. There is so much wrong with this part of history and the ways of thinking that the conquerors had. The text speaks of the British not speaking English to Blacks due to fear. I think fear is what empowered them to act this way and shaped thoughts and actions of this era. From then till now this notion of "Superior Civilization" is sadly relevant today. Along with the fact that the oppressed today are still treated as lazy and feared. Ironic that then and now these are the people that tilled the lands per se. How can they be deemed lazy when they are not those that are leaning on assistance of machines or other to do the heavy lifting and dirty work.
What really shocked me was reading the word exterminated to describe the killings of native Americans. Most are aware of the history of this country, but to exterminate makes me think of roaches or termites, not humans. People of today are appalled by the actions of terrorists, but in my opinion equal actions by the Europeans were accepted. Appalling. Maybe we should say that to be civilized is to be conquered or conquering. In the past and present the stronger have preyed on the weak. Today, the oppressed are the not the natives but the immigrants coming to the country. They are used for cheap labor that makes are country thrive. Just as the cheap African labor of yesterday with limited social and political integration. Haven't we learned anything from the past? I almost had hope when I read that the Europeans felt it their duty to educate the natives, isn't this what human nature should be? Shouldn't we all have a duty to educate and serve those in need? There should not be any "superior civilization" we all should be the "superior civilization".
I had to look up what Sati, Widow Burning was and yes, it is what it sounds. This chapter touched on a lot of issues from the impoverished to what was done to women. So for some, in that day, to be a woman may have meant to get circumcised (mutilated) to marry a man then to willingly or unwillingly get burned to death if he dies. Wow! I am most grateful that I am a woman of today and am excited and eager to see the shift that I believe is coming for women and status in America.
All of this is, in my opinion, is a result of agriculture. Agriculture shaped civilization and seeded the Global Economy. How we manipulate the food we grow has led to overpopulation and global warming. Because of man's greed, taxes were imposed and women's work increased. Natives and now immigrants of today are oppressed in order for agriculture and the global economy to keep up. Where will it end? Which generation will make the leap to bringing the world together and sustaining the world we live in? Steps are starting to take shape, but civilization is not leaps and bounds ahead of yesterday in the destruction of our resources or people.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)