CH17 Atlantic revolutions!

Revolutions have always been a significant point in parts of history, it shows how people emotions can finally demand change.  For years and years many people just go with how they were brought up or with how things are going, and the same cycle just keeps going on and on as usual.  But it's when the power of people coming together to finally create a change that miracles happen and revolutions take place to create a new society with new changes installed.  I am so amazed on how so many people finally find the courage to go against establishments and finally stand up for themselves.  For example the Chinese people were able to stan up to their government, but the unexpected happened, and the government actually fought back with serve force causing many of the Chinese that revolted to be killed.  For the courage that the many Chinese people had to continue to fight and pursue their vision and to keep on fighting for what they believe was just so courageous.  Eventually the Chinese people were able to get what they were fighting for and victory was accomplished, but not at the cost of many of the lives of the fellow people that were right by their side helping them accomplish their goals.
The French people honored their bravery and courage by having a memorial for the Chinese people lost in the revolution.  To honor the brave people who had passed, the French people by using empty bicycles to symbolize thousands of the colleagues who had been lost or killed in the Chinese's struggle for democracy.
In 1789-1815 was when the french revolution took place, which was a very big dispute among the common people and royalty, the common people felt that the members of the royal household were abusing their power and taking advantage of the common people, who would work very hard just to get by.  Many common people were angered by the raise in cost of many goods, bread for example was a very big problem that caused a great ruckus.  There was also a very huge unemployment rate for the common people which was constantly on the rise, which was finally one of the very last straws for them.    The French people were tired of the taxes, church, and nobility; so they started to finally sum up the courage to revolt.  Just like that a revolution was at hand and the country of France was in line for a change!  The people of France had a lot of heart and determination to change the way that France was being ran, so I do applaud them for their valiant efforts that they showed, which resulted in success.  They were able to run the French King Louis XVI out and he was eventually executed, causing the Revolution to become a success!  Revolutions are very powerful and speaks the true voice of the people!

DGP ch15!

In a world were religion is such big part of people's lives and cultures, it is obvious that people would make big deals about this subject.  In this chapter of DGP it was very eye opening on how much diversity and different aspect people put into their religious point of views.  They described religion as having four important social beliefs being one gives people a sense of identity, two offers it's believes an interpretive framework for understanding the world's past, present, and future, three contains rules and standards that are supposed to guide the thoughts and actions of believers, and lastly four provides the methods for passing it's beliefs, rules, and institutions from one generation to the next.

I am personally not from a direct religious background so I really am not entitled to one religion, but I can say that I do like many of the beliefs that many religions present, but I am sad to say that I also have many negative views on religions as wells.  First I will start with the good aspect of religion which I actually really enjoy is that it gives people something to believe in.  Religion is a sense of hope for anything, it always gives people something to believe in and to use in a positive aspect, I mean let's face it, everyone needs something to believe in.  For example when all hope is lost people can always turn to their religion for a sense of hope and light so really do love the support system that it supplies people with.  Another positive aspect of religion that I really like is that it brings people together, it gives people a common ground to stand on and something to pull communities closer together.  Religion just has so many positive points that can bring so many different people together and closer as human beings.  I feel that religion has so many positive things that can bring people together, the overall ideas of religion are actually very positive and enlightening.

But I am sad to say that I also have some point of views on religion that are not so positive.  I do not really like the fact on how controlling religions can be, I mean ya they give people ideas on good beliefs, but I feel like they try to control people way too much.  Religions should be helping people live their lives, not controlling them, they do guide people in the right direction sometimes, but they can be a bit forceful.  Honestly just from my prospective is that religions just try to be in power of people way too much, but that's just me.

Overall religions will have its pros and cons like anything in life and this chapter has presented me with various different backgrounds and ways that you can look at them, but I am still entitled to my opinion.

Ch 23.

As I began reading chapter 23 "Independence and development in the global south" I really started to become interested more and more in the chapter because it would talk about hoe these small countries had to stand up for themselves to gain independence from bigger countries.  Which I have a lot of respect for them because it is so hard for anyone or thing to stand up to something that is bigger and more powerful than you.  For example South Africa in early history has always been controlled or at least taken advantage of most of their entire life.  Europe the big bad wolf in the history of Africa was constantly taking advantage of Africa and it's people, it took Africa's first modern nationalist hero, Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana to instill some hope and sense of independence in the people of Africa.  Kwame Nkrumah had a famous quote which many people still remember today "Seek ye first the political kingdom and all these other things will be added unto you".  Many of the African people wondered if this would actually bring about the other goods that they needed from making themselves their own political kingdom, but I feel that his quote was not meant to be taken literally.  I feel that he wanted the people to be independent and finally free from outside influence, he wanted them to just be Africa, and run how the people felt they should run. What I am trying to say is Kwame Nkrumah was just trying to get the people's mind set to were they felt that they didn't need anyone else to tell them what to do, the people of Africa were smart enough to do what they felt was good for their country.
This chapter was really inspirational because it showed that finally all of the little countries that have been taken advantage of and bossed around are finally standing up for themselves.  Which I feel is one of the most important things that I have read in this book, because it goes to show how all of these countries fought and gained their independence.  From India, Africa, and parts of Asia gaining their independence from Europe all the way to America fending off the British to stay as their own individual head power, with no other outer influences.  I really liked this chapter and all of the inspiration that it has instilled in many readers and in past history.  

the beginning of my RA2

Nicholas Chang

            The affects that hardships and wars bring to countries and people are never forgotten, they linger for sometime.  In many cases they are remembered forever in history, it may not be written down on actual documentations but the tragedies that they brought will always be pasted down from generation to generation.  The Atlantic revolution was a big thing, and its stories still echoes on in the minds and thoughts of people still today.  Looking at the now recent North African and the Arabian Peninsula rebellions, this will definitely be herd throughout history, maybe not as big a major event as a world war, but surly as people taking a stand.  Those types of things are never forgotten because not maybe people stand up fot what they believe in.

World at war

I found this chapter to be a bit scary because let's face it our world has gone through and has seen some major tragedies.  So far in history we have had two major World Wars which had a drastic effect on the people of the world and the world itself.
This chapter just went to show people that people with power can both cause great destruction and positive attributes.  For example Adolf Hitler was able to convince and control an entire country to do whatever he wanted them to do.  He was able to take over their government and become their ultimate leader, leading them into doing many horrible deeds.  His goal was to create a world were there was only the race that he thought was the "superior" race, which was the Arian race.  Adolf Hitler would target anyone who was not of this race and put them into camps of kill them.  Everyone has herd or learned about Adolf Hitler trying to eliminate the Jewish population because he had so much hatred for them, he would target them as his main target and try to get rid of every single one of them.  He would make all of Jewish people wear the Star of David to distinguish them from everyone else, this was very degrading to the Jewish community.  Yes there was two different points to view Hitler as, the ones that followed him and the ones that were against him.  I personally am very against Adolf Hitler and his beliefs because I feel that there is no such thing as a superior race, and that who is he to decide who should live and who should die?  Just to try and eliminate an entire race, let alone anything thing in my eyes is very unacceptable.  But yes there were the ones who would agree with Hitler and follow him, some people even look to Hitler as an influence because he had so much power and was able to take control of an entire country.  Hitler was a very powerful man but the way that he thought about things were just so negative, and to some people thought that the way that he did things was just so influential.  I mean sure he was a great leader and very intelligent, but the way that he used those attributes was just towards such a negative way.
World War II was just such an important part of history to everyone, and even more to me because it was such a monumental point in history.  I personally was affected greatly because I am of Japanese nationality, Live in Hawaii near Pearl Harbor, and I am american.  This has affected me so much because I have been to the USS Arizona memorial and learned about this War so much in past classes, not just about the war itself, but also about the other affects of it.  Many people were affected not just by the war and the death tolls, but also the after affects were tremendous, from the radiation from the nuclear bombs to the racism that Japanese Americans faced.  I mean Americans even turned on their own kind, just because they were of Japanese decent, and America was supposed to be home of the free, where people of all different types of nationalities could be.
This chapter had a very deep feeling to it because there was so many people lost in the process of these two major destructions of history.  I hope that there is never anything ever like this ever again because as humans we need to learn from these situations and not do the same stupid mistakes.

Chapter 20!

After reading chapter 20 it really showed me how nasty that humans can be to other humans.  From the 1750s to the 1900s the Europeans were on the surge for power so they sent out to conquer other places and expand their empire.  One spot in particular that they tried to take over was Africa because Africa was so rich in many recourses and even the people were used as slaves and apart of the work force.  This is just so hard to even see the picture of the damages that the regimes would do because when they were trying to take over, they didn't just try to take over the older population, but also the young children.  You can see from the picture in the book little innocent children with were harmed greatly from the conquest of the Europeans trying to take over.  Children's hands were taken off, and I cannot even begin to imagine the pain that they felt from just the physical and mental aspects of the horrific events that took place in their own homeland.
I personally don't have much respect for the European's surge for power because it was mainly the bigger and more technologically advanced societies overtaking the smaller societies.  Which is basically the story of life, but I just can't seem to go with that and just seeing that, that is just how things went.  I don't get how people could just go to little innocent village and harm the innocent people including the women and children.  For example the British soldiers in East Africa would go to village and take everything and by that I mean everything.  "every soul was either shot or bayoneted.... We burned all the huts and razed the banana plantations to the ground." pg 549  That is just so inhumane and disgusting that I can barley read that with out feeling some sort of anger towards those soldiers.  I don't understand how people can do that to other people and not feel and sympathy, I mean yeah you are trying to express your power by taking over other places, but have some care in your heart at least for the young women and children.

something to think about

After reading the article on "Collapse" it really made me start to think about how we as humans are protecting the earth and it's recourses.  I mean come on lets face it, at the rate that we are using our planets recourses, they are not going to be around forever.  The article really made me start to think about the things that our societies consume, from food and oil, all the way to just our surrounding environments.  I mean let's really start to take a look at our planets natural recourses, they are being depleted at a very rapid paste and if we keep this up then we are going to be left with nothing.  For example the fish that we eat and use for our protein, it's really starting to scare me because me being from Hawaii, I grew up with fish, and it is a really big part of my diet.  If the world's fish population were to vanish, then I don't know how I would be able to stand it.  Even the aquacultures that we are trying to control are also starting to work against us because we are still trying to control the balance of nature.  We are taking these creatures out of their natural habitats and making them live and eat how and what we want them to do.  It's not a very good way to try and stop the decline of these populations, just for our selfish greed, we need to realize that many things that we do are starting to affect the flow of our planet.  Not only are we killing the population of the animals that we consume, but we are also killing their habitat and natural habitats.  As people, we have to realize this and start to do something about it, we are being way to greedy and this has to stop.  At the rate that we are terrorizing everything, it is just so shocking that we can continue to do this as we have even been starting to see the results of our actions.  I really don't hope that one day earth just comes back to get us, and all of the things that we have so much greed for and don't care about vanishes.

Strong women

I find it very inspiring that women were able to become stronger and more recognized from the early times up until now.  Before women were always looked down upon and nobody every respected them, which was very wrong and if people did that now days, they would surely get punished.  I could not even begin to imagine that women used to be set into organized conferences that trained the women to run day-care centers and medical clinics.  It is almost like that all that people thought they were good for and nothing else.  People even went as far as to disrespect peoples cultures, for example the Muslim women would be forced to remove their veils which as we all know is very disrespectful.  Women were also forced into marriages back in the days, and maybe even still today.  But the women all soon started to realize that they were just as equal and that they were also human beings so they eventually started to stand up for themselves.  Lets just look at how far women have came, now we have women bosses and even a woman almost won the election of presidency, which would be unheard of before.  Women have came a far way from the early times and it is just very inspiration to me.

Its a Revolution.

Revolutions are very significant changes that drastically alter the way that things are going about in that specific time.  I think the one most significant to me was the American Revolution because it separated us from the British, making us independent and ultimately becoming the United States of America.  Let's just say that the Revolution never went through, would we have just been an extension of Europe? How would our culture and lives be? Would we have the same rights?  The American Revolution was based on instinct and not through just careful planning.  It was almost so sudden and unexpected that some may have not seen it coming, but to those people living in the colonies that time, were already kind of adapting to the ways and cultures already.  Yes the American Revolution was a very significant role in what we now are today because a lot of main foundation of our society is now built on that revolution.  It didn't just go from common men having rights, but from women, people of color, and children, From that revolution so many new issue started to become addressed and emerged.  The revolutionary ways that were used in the past showed many people that fighting for change can be a very good thing, hence the fat that now people can petition and vote for everything now if they aren't so happy with it.(basically a mini revolution in a sense)

Chapter 8-11 MAM

I have so much respect for Somaly Mam because she has been going through a lot so far, she is still young and continuing to fight and stay strong.  From leaving her country and being used as basically a sex doll to make money is just an awful way to live.  I can not even begin to imagine the fear and sadness that she must be suffering from, but Somaly Mam just amazes me because even through all of these tragedies she is still managing to stay strong.  She still has respect and pride for herself to be a proud human being and still she continues to prevail.  Now that Somaly Mam is basically on her own she is still trying to make the best living, she works for her own money by cleaning the  hotels and going around with Pierre.  I feel that it is just amazing how people can have the drive to keep on going and going when life has put them so far down to start.  It would be an honor to someday meet Somaly Mam or someone who knew her very well because I want to know more than just the story that I am being presented with.  I know that the experience of actually being with her and having a full on conversation would be so much more in depth.  She has just determination and pride to keep on going on in life that her will to strive and succeed is just unbelievable .

Religion a major role!?

Religion was actually a major role in the foundation of a lot of societies.  I personally would have never thought that religion would be the foundation to many ancient societies, because how were the people even able to come across the ideas of all these religions?  I know that human societies went through the phase of Jesus Christ and all but I would have never thought that his teachings and ideas would have gotten spread out so far.  To also believe that people would base the foundation of their societies on just beliefs is kind of interesting because you are not even using facts.  For example western Europe was raised on christian beliefs and started majority of their societies on that source of knowledge.  Even the Roman empire was founded on Catholic beliefs, and they people can tell mainly by the art and architecture presented to us by them through buildings left behind today.  The people of Roman are still very well indeed into their beliefs of the Catholic ways.  The beliefs that people put into these religions are very powerful because they put so much faith and care into these beliefs that, to go against them would be more than just going against one person, its the entire area that all share the same beliefs.

International trading

After I finished chapter 15 i was really amazed by how much trading went on during the early years between the Asian, European, and North Americas.  People would be trading slaves from Africa all the way to fur from North America and Siberia.  Fur was in a really high demand in Europe which caused the Americas to up the fur collection.  As a result the native beavers to the land start to get killed off more and more because the Americas needed to obtain massive amounts of fur to trade with the Europeans.  Many of the Native Americans started to be used for their skills in trapping the beavers to obtain their fur, the Natives were basically just being used to get the product at the end, which I think is horrible.  Not only for the Native Americans, but for the beavers as well.  While reading I also stumbled on the idea of early pirates.  Pirates would attack helpless ships in the Indian ocean for their treasures and spices to use and take for themselves.  The pirates would make deals with the Asians to create these so called side deals that were pretty much like the olden days black market if you can imagine.

Empires taking over

I found it interesting on how many empires started to emerge around 1450-1750, it was kind of like how the different parts of the world started to all of a sudden get power hungry.  From China all the way to Europe, for example Spain France, and the British.  But the view on how the empires' motives were very different because the Chinese empire was looking more to unify the country and put the ideas of Buddhism in the people.  The Chinese people looked to advance and depend on more of expanding their population and agriculture, they were even willing to take in outsiders to expand their country.  Unlike the european empires that were looking forward to more power hungry ideas.  While not only expanding on the size of their countries but they wanted to gain access to the entire world.  Driven by wealth the Europeans empires were always looking to gain the edge on everyone else, they wanted to get at and surpass the level at which the Chinese Empire was at.  Spain for example started to use the idea of GOd to employ on the people in order to control and take over them.  Acting like they were doing good, when they actually weren't.

sex victims

I was baffled by the stories and information that the packet presented me with, because for people to believe that sex trafficking is okay for these young adults has to have something wrong with them.  I can not even believe that people could be so ignorant to think that having sex with a virgin could cure you of a.i.d.s. I mean how is that supposed to cure you of a disease that is caused by that same very action that which you just did.  It is so hard for me to fathom how these young adults must be feeling, I mean not only being forced to have sex unwilling with people, but to also be willing to have sex with people for money.  That is sometimes the only way that people can make enough money for them to support their families because they come from such a poor part of the world, where money is hard to come by.  It is pretty hard for me to believe that 17 year old women would be willing to have sex for money, I mean I know that, that probably pays way more than their jobs, but it is just hard to believe.  What if that was my daughter and I lived in that sort of environment? I do not think that I would know what to do with myself, let alone my daughter, that is why I am so grateful to have been placed in a blessed family, with a steady living compared to other people around the world.  You really do take things for granted sometimes.