Blogg entry #3

Talk about a bold, but truthful statement, “China will be the next superpower.” As I read about China, which I had previously no idea about its history, really made me think what that statement might indicate. I wondered whether Strayer meant superpower, as in, industry, technology, education, political power and as I continued reading, what he meant was all of the above and then some. As mentioned before, I didn’t know much about the history of China and certainly had no idea of their ability to influence, so strongly, those around them until I finished reading this chapter,

            Sadly, China had the power to construct boundaries around their land, destroy habitats for expansion, displace freed animals such as the elephants, and exhaust resources due to wanting to conquer other areas around them. I say sadly because constructing boundaries to keep, as Strayer puts it, “barbarians” out of their territory created animosity amongst other people who once were able to wonder freely and now were facing a different way of moving around the world. Not only were things changing, but also China began the shift of putting an end to freedom and labeling places as, “this is my area, this is yours. So, stay out!” Also, with this new power, China began to expand and in doing so began to burn off forest land to construct homes and support their ever growing agriculture. Along with this migration came the displacement of animals that once roamed freely and now were being moved due to China’s disunity. These new ideas of being all Chinese also prompt the wanting of conquering surrounding areas. In doing so, they exhausted all their resources and in turn created other problems. As time advances, we can clearly identify where problems began and how history continues to repeat itself. Now, not only do we continue to claim areas as “mine or yours” but we continue to exhaust our resources, kill our planet by using those resources and battling other countries to better their own people when frankly, we should be more worried about bettering our own country and life.

            What mostly caught my attention was how China influenced the view of women in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. In China, because of Confucius thinking and practices, women during the Tang Dynasty lived more freely and viewed by men as equals but once the Tang Dynasty ended and the Song Dynasty emerged women had strict rules and job titles that were just designed for them. Women’s lives began to change and with this change came submission and passivity images of woman. China soon influenced Vietnam in terms of culture and the way they lived their lives. Vietnam adopted Chinese religious practices and in doing so brought on rebellion. Showing how powerful women still were, two sisters famously addressed soldiers that they will avenge their country, restore what once was in better times and avenge the death of their husbands. Showing this much strength was bittersweet since the rebellion was crushed but these two sisters will always go down in history for showing how brave they were and stepping forward in what they believed in. Japan on the other hand, because it was more separate from China, their women continued to live freely and owned property. Japan was selective in Chinese goods and culture and Japan continued to live and expand their culture and uniqueness. As Strayer nicely concludes, “what comes from beyond is always transformed by what is encountered within”. If we, as a country kept this in mind, we would be so occupied in copying one another and creating so much of a power structure between one another.   

Blogg post #2

   In my opinion, I believe it is safe to say that for thousands of years, people have always migrated to different parts of the world, some settling into places that were not their original birthplace. While reading our class textbook, I found very interesting that during the Roman empire, different people were granted citizenship in the empire and found it even more interesting that while they became citizens, Strayer points out that once a citizen, this conveyed more as a legal status and did not erase other identities. Coming from a background with parents who were born in Mexico and moving to the States when my parents were teenagers, once my parents became citizens of the United States my father had to choose whether to be fully an American citizen and resign being a Mexican citizen which in tern, made him feel like he was loosing his identity altogether. My father, of course, chose to be a citizen of the U.S. and felt a sense of guilt. A few years later, my mother gained citizenship and was able to apply for dual citizenship. I just find it interesting how, over time, things can change and how for each individual it could be different. Both my parents still hold a lot of pride of being citizens and still being able to hold on to their culture and passing on their passion of culture on to their children. I myself, was born in the states, but hold dear to my heart my Mexican-American culture. Unfortunately, when we visit my parent's birthplace, not everyone considers me Mexican and instead remind me that I'm an American citizen and because of that I will never really know what Mexican culture is all about. I am happy with what I do know and thank my parents for planting that seed.
   As I continued reading, I found myself lost in the readings about the different religions practiced around the world. Some of the religions I had knowledge about such as Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, and others I had never heard about or forgot about them. What I enjoyed the most was relearning about where each religion originated from and how different people continue to practice them. For example, how Buddhism originated from India, but now is widely practiced in China. This kind of information is what sparks my interest because I feel more engaged in what I'm reading and mapping the different places in my head to get a bigger picture. Out of all the religions we read about in chapter 5, Buddhism was the religion that sparked the most interest. This was because Strayer mentions that the Buddha, Suddhartha Guatama, allowed nuns in the practice of Buddhism but still had to follow strict rules. I found this to be contradicting because the Buddha rejected the practice of the Indian cast system yet the Nuns were still required to follow some rules the male Monks didn't. Even with those rules, many women did become Nuns due to the advantage of being a little more independent and finding inner peace. As a non-practice Catholic, I always find myself praying in times of difficulty and in times of happiness. At times, I feel I apply some Buddhism thinking and apply it to how I'm feeling at those given moments. For example, trying to stay positive and know that things will get get better during hard times, I also believe in Karma even though Karma doesn't have anything to do with being Catholic, but being exposed to different religions and practices, can change the way a person lives their life and how they view the world.  

Chapter 1: The First People

   Reading the first few pages of our class textbook, Ways of the World, I found it very interesting how societies have changed over thousands of years and not necessarily for the best. During the Paleolithic Era, people during this time lived in small societies and truly lived freely. They didn't have leaders nor chiefs and instead lived with the idea of everyone being equal. Equality was huge for these societies, so huge that they made sure that everyone lived humbly by "insulting the meat" (pg 27) in other words, as a society when a man would bring home a kill they would speak of the kill as worthless. By expressing themselves in this way, this would keep people from seeing themselves better or superior over someone else. When I read this, it really made me think how different our lives would be if we, as a society, adapted and lived by this idea. Would every individual see themselves in a more positive way? Would people be more successful? Would there be less depressed people? Would we, as a society, be more happy? I really believe this era was really on to something and perhaps too advanced for their time or perhaps we are the ones digressing as a society. Today, we show our worth or our superiority by the car we have, the home we own or  simply by the brand of our clothing.
   As I continued reading, I also found it interesting that the Jo/'hoansi people lived or aimed at living by an economic system that aimed at leveling wealth and not by accumulating it. to them, it was more important and respectful counting their success by the number of friends they had and the obligations they kept to themselves. Goods, to them, meant nothing and now a days that is what most people worry about. Having the latest technology or the newest car is what people worry about now.
   Not everyone during this time lived the same way though. Another group, the Chumash of Southern California introduced new advances that brought changes to how humans lived their life. The Chumash introduced vessels that changed the way of traveling and the way goods were exchanged. This group of people lived near land and water which gave them the advantage to create new technologies that could help them to advance as a society and community. Due to these new advances, the Chumash communities established inequality by bringing in wealth from creating vessels. these are the first signs of the beginning of social economic statuses. Who knew that by creating one new technology would bring so many new changes to how one lives their life.
   Taking into consideration all of the above, this is why I find history so interesting. Looking to the past, one can see the changes all societies have gone through and will continue to go through as technology continues to advance in such a rapid way. What kind of technology will we have in 10 to 20 years and what changes will that bring to us, to communities, to our society? All I hope is that it is a change that future generations will benefit from and bring positive change to how we live.

Yay, I'm done!