Thoughts & Reflections - The Human Story Chapter 15

Thoughts & Reflections Chapter 15 - The Richer Countries Grab The Poor. 

 

1. Why do some countries try to rule and control other countries?

     Countries have several justifications for invading other countries. Most of the time countries invade for resources such as ivory, rubber, oil, and mining operations. Sometimes it was also to sequre a more favorable tradign market, which was one of the reasons why Britan colonised India. Many countries who invaded justified their actions by stateing they are bringing the light of god to savages.

     Western Imperialsim is almost never fair to the countries being colonised. Tribes were forced into slavery, where if they did not harvest the required amount of resources were brutaly punished. Countries were exploited and even denied basic democratic rights, lik when belgium invaded the congo. They pourposefully treated the citizens like children, specifically not eductating them in democracy. They even denied the return of members of the congo who managed to see other countries. These countries were small, and had land either scammed from them, or taken by force because the tribes lacked the firepower and organisation neccescary to hold off foreign influence.
     Countries who were colonised were forced to give up their native religeon, and were forced into slavery by means of "taxes" collected by the country in charge. However, there are some positives, many tribes had brutal punishments for stealing, and had no court systems or laws, the westernisation of these countries brought in laws, and the rise of the court system. The British outlawed the Indian religeous practice of buring a widow alive during her husband's creamation ceremoney. However, these were mostly smaller countries in Africa and Asia, the larger countries like Japan, and China were trying to slow the westernization of their cultures down, however through lack of military power, and drive to keep their countries modern. Those countries did eventually modernize, and in a sense, westernize.

Thoughts & Reflections: The Human Story Chapter 14

Thoughts & Reflections: The Human Story Chapter 14 - We make more and live better.

 

Image: Water Powered Textile Mill

This chapter in the human story otulines the changes humanty underwent during the industrial revolution and what some of those consequenses might have been. Before the industrial revolution humanity had low living conditions. This was because Textiles, food, and tools produced so little even though the people who made them were skilled and the tools were solid. This was becasue the tools were simple and people worked alone or in small groups each person working on all of the tasks rather than specializing on one. In 1615 there were three distinct social classes, the top was about a hundred families that were able to help those in need, but they were not considered rich. The second group was made of 160 families that could feed themselves and didn't need to beg, and the third group was considered barely, or not self sufficient. The main problem that we needed to fix was how to produce more so people can have more. 

In order to fix this issue of low productivity, we would need production aids, worker specialization, and organization. The first country to have an industrial revolution is England. England was able to start an industrial revolution in the 1700s becasue they were isolatedd from the wars which allowed them to raise their population. This rise in population also saw the rise in demand for basic goods. The textile trade was the first one to take off. in the 1730s a new and improved loom was designed by a man named Kay. The introduction of a new and improved loom meant that the demand for thread also had to keep up. In 1764 a man named james hargreaves invented a spinner tthat could spin 16 threads at once. Eventually they were able to produce water powered mills that ran day and night. this again created a supply and demand problem again. A clergy man in 1815 also made a water powered weaver. At this time England was using charcoal to power it's iron furnaces, which meant that most of England's forests were disappearing. They eventually switched to coal, which England had a large surplus of. This coupled with another water powered bellow inveted by a man named Darby allowed furnaces to be super heated and more efficient. This made iron readily available and allowed britian to build more railroads and machines. Steam powered cylinder engines allowed for even more power. Busness men handled the orgnisation side of production, building cramped and overcrowded worker dorms, so the factories could be ran 24/7. The new organisation also allowed workers to specialize and focus on one job. 

One characteristic of the industrial revolution was the ability to mass produce uniform products. This allowed for better marketing and easier brand recognition. 

Many Lives were effected by the industrial revolution. The demand for railroads displaced native americans, but also made a small town named Phoenixville rich. Railroad bridges were made using per-fabricated steel beams making construction quicker and faster.  This meant an influx of people into the west. Railroads were constructed using almost slave labor, but the wages did help to increase the standard of living, many Native Americans were displaced. 

The industrial revolution meant that we would eventually be able to reach the moon our ancestors once thought was a god. However this progress comes at a cost. Currently we are dealing with diminishing natural resources and runaway climate change. We might never be able to fix the damage we caused during the industrial revolution.

Thoughts & Reflections: Edmund Burke and the French Revoloution

Reflections: Edmund Burke and the French Revoloution

Image: Mr. Burke Portrait

Edmund Burke's Backgournd

Burke was born in Ireland to a mixed Protestant-Catholic family. He first studied law, but eventually switched his focus to litrature and politics. He moved to Bristol where he published an essay titled Aesthetics 'The Sublime and Beautiful' in 1776. He caused a sensation when he wrote his book 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' in 1756. This book was a response to ideas produced by Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft. This response of ideas is why we now call Burke one of founders of Liberalism or Conservatism. 

Burke's Thoughts on the Revolution in France

Burke thought that the outcome of the French Revolution was good. He belived that Liberty is something that humans diserve. He was however, astonished about the way it happened. In order for the French to overthrough their king they used ferocious crimes and used exesive force. He thought it fit to point out that the passion of liberty caused a person to use the opposite of it to achive their goal. He thought, in order to have a peacuful rebellion you need trained armies, and a solid political structure to put in place of the one you were removing. He states the rebelled against a "mild and lawful monarchy." and that they were wrong to dispise their forefathers. Becasue they did not utilize their old resources, and punished citizens, they were more violent and created worse situations, instead of creating a civil revolution. This damaged the social and ecoconomic state after the revolution and the ends did not justify the means. Burke also states that the men who were the masterminds behind the revolution would fail if they were put in charge. Any men who would scheme, backstab, and kill their political opposition are not the type of people you want running your government, their wilingness to stop at nothing to achive their goals is a detriment to the health of any society.

John Locke Twitter Salon - Pre Questions Fake News & Science Denial

 The issue of Fake News and Science Denial is a huge issue in today's world. Scientists are now calling our current era "Post-Truth." This means that the rise of fake news coupled with the power of the twenty four hour news cycle makes that really fake news article "true" for the first 20-40 MILLION people who shared it and caused it to go viral. You may think Donald Trump is one of the dumbest human beings every to walk this planet, however hes actually way smarter then any of us actually realize. I have added several YouTube videos from credible sources discussing the impact of fake news and science denial because this is a huge hard to tackle issue that faces us as a nation.

Post-Truth era and Fake News:
 https://youtu.be/dvk2PQNcg8w

The Hidden Strategy of Donald Trump: (SPOILERS - HE USES FAKE NEWS!)
How Donald Trump Answers A Question
How (And Why) Donald Trump Tweets
Donald Trump: Magician-In-Chief
How To Correct Donald Trump In Real Time

How and Why Fake News Is Able to Spread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIn33sDwKqQ

•To what extent did the Enlightenment represent a rejection of authority and the establishment?
One of the Enlightenment's main idea was that the people who held the majority should start setting laws, otherwise no one would see fair representation of ideas. Another central idea was the notion that cutch and state should be separate. 

 •How did the Enlightenment lead to new assumptions regarding governance, law, and economics?
It changed, because it tried to implement democracy so there would not be such a wealth gap.


 • What was and can be the impact of Enlightenment thinking on political change?
  The impact of the Enlightenment was the creation of human rights. These ideal rights are what we should try to follow in order to make our world a better place.
• Why is the Enlightenment considered to be a turning point in Global History?
The Enlightenment allowed the transfer of higher education faster, allowing us to spend time focusing on making civilization as a whole better.


  • What Enlightenment thinker could you consult in addressing the problem of Fake News and or Science Denial.? Why that person?

I think John Locke would be a good person to talk bout this issue because many of his social theory say that we have human rights, which are: life, liberty, and property. We have the right to liberty of ideas and expression, which should mean that we use reason and solid fact allowing us to openly debate wrong opinions.

• Is it possible for individuals to use reason and rational thinking to influence world events and solve global problems?
It is in theory possible, however we have to keep in mind the complex political situation. Also there is always the pull of greed that will still fuel the large-scale world problems.
  • How might "rational thinking" solve the problem of science deniers and fake news? 
Rational thinking will help people not spread fake news. If we

The Last Samurai Reflection

Image Source:
1: Screenshot of Last Samurai
2: Screenshot of Last Samurai

Reflection on: The Last Samurai

According to the movie Captain Algren used to be a soldier who fought Native Americans. The fight in Japan is a natural transition because they need help in fighting a "savage" army, the samurai. They think that all they need is guns and they should be ok because the samurai are looked down upon, however, the samurai are still highly effective against the untrained soldiers. Algren views himself as a killer and a drunk who is pretty useless, he also suffers from depression and alcoholism, acting in some ways suicidal. Through working with the samurai he regains a sense of honor, and pride for a soldier. Japan's main form of modernizing is to change their army to use guns and infantry tactics to try to stay relevant with their military power. This is a crucial move because the samurai are shown to be able to beat infantry with guns if they are not trained, however in the last scene of the movie when they all are trained and have 200 rpm Gatling guns they destroy the samurai, who were once very powerful. This modernization allows for a country to be more powerful on a global setting, but it also lets them keep hold of japan and secure Japan.