The Grateful Garment Project Fundraiser for victims of sexual assault

The Grateful Garment Project is a non-profit organization whose entire mission is to assist in the process of returning dignity to victims of sexual violence. We accomplish this by providing additional resources and tools to Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) facilities, Community Based Organizations (CBO), hospitals and medical facilities, and law enforcement and social agencies. These resources could be as simple as a pairs of socks for a victim, or as technical as implements utilized in the SART exam process. Our scope is wide but our purpose is narrow: To reduce any further negative impact on victims of sexual assault.

The Grateful Garment Project started as a Senior Seminar Project at NDNU in March 2011.  Since then it has grown from one facility in one county to 15 counties statewide. If you can't make the event please post the flyer on your Facebook.  We are an official 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, so any contribution is a tax right off.

Final

The way the course as broke down made it easy to distinguish between the eras in history. The course identified 5 major eras of Homo sapiens: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Ancient, Classical, and modern. 

As we evolved as Homo Sapiens so did our need to more advanced tools and technology. Furthermore, we grew from small bands of gatherer/hunters in the Paleolithic era expanding out of Africa to agricultural communities in the Neolithic era. Moving into the Ancient era, having a need to compete for wealth, status and power, we expanded into social structures such as Civilizations and City-States and began to interact more between different continents and increase trade. Eventually Homo Sapiens became complex empires and Cosmopolitan urban centers in the Classical period. Competing for dominance between civilizations, political units began to rise and straddle more than one continent at a time. Once we reached the Modern era, Capitalism was invented, creating immense competition on a economic scale. The Industrial Revolution occurred, creating even bigger social gaps between the wealthy and the poor. Colonial Empires began to form and superiority over all others appeared to be in the hands of Western Europeans.

To take a step back, during global dispersion of humankind it was easy for them to migrate because they were nomadic or easily adoptable to the environment, they had no sense of direction of where they were, no baggage to tie them down to one specific location. With the end of the ice age ~12,000 years ago, there was a change in the animals they hunted, they may have gotten stuck in areas due to a rise in the ocean, they may have decided to settle in general areas that were nicer weather – wetter lands. First migrations into the Americas from Siberia were done by land across the Bering Strait (land bridge of ice) or by sea down the west coast of North America.

The development of Agricultural during the Neolithic Era was crucial to the expanse of man. Advances in agriculture lead to surplus, which could be traded, ate, or stored. It extended human life, and provided population growth. It was one of the first reasons that started policies, government, taxation, and hierarchy. It gave Homo Sapiens for the first time a sense of ownership.

500B.C-1400B.C. is seen as the Classical era because much of the world was encompassed by major thinkers existing during this time frame.  However, you could almost define all the great thinking’s from one person. (Seminal ideas –significant ideas, root idea, formative ideas). Some examples of major thinkers are: Socrates, Confucius, Jesus, and Buddha.

Empires set tone for Classical Era.  They often spread progress.  Continually, the Persian Empire set the benchmark for what other empires would be like. The Persian Empire bridged Ancient & Classical Era. Classic Greeks were Humanists.  They emphasized knowledge over faith.  Human beings had agency; people could make things happen,  and they were in charge of their own destiny.  The Persian Empire rose and fall quickly, but had a golden age of accomplishment.  They created a political structure and governed their people with good diplomatic skills.  They didn’t force people to convert to a specific religion or become like a Persian.  They mainly cared that everyone used the same currency. 

The Silk, Sea and Sand Road are great examples of beginning of international trade. Although they had a different purpose in each trade, they shared a common factor, they were expanding trade among the world.

Depending on who you ask the Modern era is said to have occurred roughly around 1400. In 1348, the Plague happened wiping out 25% of Europeans in the world. This caused significant changes in the world because it causes people to question faith, medicine, and their mortality. Then in 1492, Columbus "discovered" the Americas and ultimately connected the world on a larger economical level, with trade, expansion and exploitation. With the expansion of Europeans into the Americas brought with them disease, which essentially wiped out 80-90% of the Native Americans. If the ones not killed many were forced to leave their homes to make way for Manifest Destiny and expansion. Furthermore, the Atlantic Slave Trade enslaved roughly 3.5 million Africans to work the cost crops in the Americas.

Although a condensed breakdown of the subject matter I received in this course, you can see as time went on and we became more advanced, our greed and need for wealth, power and status grew as well.

The required papers on the Migration of Polynesians and other Pacific seafarers into the Americas helped me gain a better understand on how America was populated, and How the people migrated throughout the Pacific. Later the paper Putin article and paper helped illustrate a social injustice and genocide of a people that is still suffering today from the choices and mistakes of the Russian government many years before hand. Lastly, the opportunity to interview a person who had to endure suffering her in America because he was an African American gay man was truly enlightening and offered me a hands on education I would have never sought out if otherwise not required.

The moral to this all is everything that has happened in our history has helped shape the event to come. Expanding out of Africa lead to agriculture, agriculture lead to surplus and ownership, ownership lead to more advanced social structure and eventually a Hierarchy, which grew into empires and eventually capitalism was created and colonial exploitation occurred. As social structures started to grow further apart from each other, greater social injustices began to occur. It appears however, as time goes on and we enter into a post-Modern era, we are returning to a more excepting society with more justice and equal rights for most.

WW Part 7

Ch 21:
World War I was a new chapter in world history, and considered a European war with a global reach. By 1900, Europeans controlled most other peoples of the world. Modernization and Europe’s rise to global dominance had polished traditional rivalries between European states. Alliance began to form with Germany, Italy, and Austria; as well as, Russia, Britain, and France which ultimate led to World War I. Some of the factors that gave way to war were intense nationalist competition between countries and industrialized militarism. The war last until 1918 and for the most part was trench warfare. The war itself became a “total war,” mobilizing the entire population of countries, women going to work in factories, and the government’s authority expanding. World War I is also thought to have started widespread disillusionment, leading to the questions of Enlightenment values and questioning the superiority of the West. After the war ended November 1918 the Treaty of Versailles was signed shortly after in 1919. However, many of the conditions certainly caused World War II. Germany was required to pay heavy reparations, had to accept sole responsibility for the outbreak of the war, and lost its colonial empire and 15% of its European territory.


The war seemed to have slackened the hold on many conventional values in Europe. Women are winning the right to vote, enormous casualties promoted social mobility, new consumerism was on the rise. But also, the Great Depression symbolized the most significant postwar change by signifying that Europe’s economy was failing and creating worries about industrial capitalism. World trade dropped 62% within a few years, many lost their life savings, and unemployment reached about 30% in the US and Germany. After the war, Europe was in recovering and with America making more than could be sold it caused the stock market to crash. The Depression brought about some major changes. Some states turned to a more democratic socialism, and in the United States President Roosevelt’s administration launched a complex series of reforms called the New Deal.

During the period of 1919-1945 a new political ideology known as fascism became important in most of Europe. Fascism was against individualism, liberalism, feminism, democracy, and communism. Fascism appears to have started in Italy by Mussolini. He put together an army and used violence as a political tool. He was further backed by big businesses because they feared communism and wanted social order. German fascism however, was more important than that in Italy. Taking shape as the Nazi Party under Hitler they grew out of the collapse of the imperial state after World War I. They proposed that Germany had not really lost the war but had been betrayed by civilians. By the 1920s they were assassinating hundreds of supporters of their opposition and were gradually gaining support from the middle class and landowners. Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and as chancellor, Hitler suppressed all other political parties, arrested opponents, censured the press, and assumed police power. Emphasizing a racial revolution he used Jews as the ultimate scapegoat for the ills of society.


World War II was even more global than World War I.  Autonomous origins in Asia and Europe were displeased states in both continents and wanted to rearrange global relations.  Japanese imperial desires rose in the 1920s and 1930s. Japan had attained influence in Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. By 1936, Japan was more closely associated with Italy and Germany. There was an international opinion against Japan; which made the Japanese feel threatened. By 1940 Japan had launched a conquest of European colonies, which presented themselves as liberators of their fellow Asians, when in reality they wanted to rule these territories. After The U.S. put an oil embargo on Japan, they saw no other choice but to go to war with the U.S and so on December 7^th 1941 they attacked Pearl Harbor which ultimately joined the Asian and European theaters of war into a single global fight. Hitler’s attack on Poland in 1939 triggered World War II in Europe. They were superior in the air against Britain, rapidly defeated France and invaded parts of the USSR. By the end World War II left Europe impoverished, with its industrial infrastructure in ruins and millions of people homeless or displaced. Europe soon was divided into U.S. and Soviet spheres of influence.

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 Ch 22:

Communism had its roots in 19^th century socialism, inspired by Karl Marx. However, most European socialists came to believe that they could achieve their goals through the democratic process. Communism, according to Marx, is the final stage of historical development, with full development of social equality and collective living. And by the 1970s almost a third of the world’s population was government by communist regimes. However, none of these countries had the industrial capitalism that Marx found necessary for a socialist revolution. Communist revolutions were created by highly organized parties conducted by a Marxist ideology. Joseph Stalin built a socialist society in the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s; Mao Zedong did the same in China in the 1950s and 1960s. There first steps were to modernize and in industrialize. They attacked class and gender inequalities and both created a political system dominated by high-ranking party members to embody socialism. They denied any other party from forming and controlled almost the entire economy. China’s adaptation of communism was a much easier process than that experienced by the USSR mainly because the USSR had already paved the way and Chinese communists won support from the rural masses. Both the USSR and China worked towards more equal rights for women in the work place, marriage laws, leadership positions, etc.

Europe was the cold war’s first arena and created Soviet concern for security and control in Eastern Europe. At the same time U.S. and British desire for open societies connected the capitalist world economy. This created rival military alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact. U.S. influence was most voluntary, whereas, Soviet influence was forced. The Iron Curtain was created and divided the two influences.  Communism began to spread more into China, Korea and Vietnam. North Korea invaded South Korea and the U.S. intervened ultimately ending in a standoff and splitting the country into two. In the 1960s the U.S. also intervened in Vietnam, but eventually the communist successfully united the country by 1975. The Soviet military attempted intervention in Afghanistan but found little success and eventually withdraw from international pressure. In Cuba, Fedel Castro came into power by 1959. Castro allied with the USSR and by 1962 there was the Cuban missile crisis. The massive arms race occurred by 1989 between the USSR and the U.S. and both countries were also in a race to court third world countries. For example, the U.S. intervened in Iran, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, the Congo, and elsewhere because of fear of communist penetration. The United States became leader of the West against communism and led to the creation of an “imperial” presidency in the United States. Power was given to defense and intelligence agencies, creating a “national security state”. U.S. military effort was sustained by a thriving economy and an increasingly middle-class society mainly because the U.S. industry hadn’t been harmed by WWII, unlike every other major industrial society

The communist era ended rapidly and peacefully between the late 1970s and 1991. When Mao Zedong died in 1976 the CCP gradually abandoned Maoist socialism. Popular movements started to overthrow communist governments and the USSR suffered political breakdown by 1991. In China, Deng Xiaoping came into power. He began to release political prisoners, dismantled the collectivized farming system, and relaxed censorship. Furthermore, China began to open itself up to the world economy and resulting in massive economic growth. China was becoming a combination of nationalist state, with consumerism and a new respect for ancient traditions. The Soviet Union attempted to launch an economic reform program in 1987 to restructure themselves but were met with heavy resistance. Therefore, Gorbachev responded with greater freedoms; more freedom of religious expression, ending of government censorship of culture, and a free election in 1989. However, Gorbachev’s reforms led to the collapse of the USSR. These new freedoms led to more vocal demands demanding greater autonomy of independence. Communism had lost its dominance completely in the USSR and Eastern Europe. China had mostly abandoned communist economic policies. Vietnam and Laos remained officially communist but pursued Chinese-style reforms. In fact, North Korea is the most unreconstructed communist state.

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 Ch 23:

 
After spending 27 years in prison for sabotage, conspiracy, and treason, Nelson Mandela became the first black president in South Africa. Towards the end of the twentieth century decolonization became very important, and newly independent states became to experiment culturally, politically, and economically.  In the 1940s Pakistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and India won independence. Ultimately between the 1950s and 1970s roughly 50 colonies won freedom. Furthermore, The Austrian and Ottoman empires had collapsed in the rouse of World War I, as well as, the German and Japanese empires ending with World War II. In 1910 the U.S. intervention helped encourage the Mexican Revolution and disintegration of the USSR occurred in 1911, creaking 15 new states. Many explanations for decolonization had appeared. For example, Europeans increasingly democratic values were in conflict with colonial dictatorship, the rhetoric of Christianity did not fit the reality of exploitation, poverty, and racism, and the idea of national self-determination was at odds with repression of the same in colonies.

British rule in India promoted a growing sense of Indian identity. British communications and administrative networks, schools, and the use of English bound India together. The Indian National Congress was established in 1885 and consisted of English-educated, high caste Hindus. They made demands for a greater role in India, but were mocked and reject by British rule. By the end of the World War I the Indian National Congress had gained a wide following and by 1917, Britain had assured a future self-government. Mohandas Gandhi had studied law in England and took a job in South Africa in 1893 where he eventually joined a racial segregation movement. Gandhi developed the philosophy of “truth force,” which was basically to be active but nonviolent in confrontation. He returned to India and became the leader of the Indian National Congress. Britain reacted with concessions and repression. By 1947 independence was won and it created two countries: Pakistan and India.

As new nations began emerging from colonial rule they were confronted by the problem of how to parlay independence into economic development and industrial growth, unification, and political participation. Further, already independent but non-industrialized countries faced the same pursuit for a better life. Throughout 1950–2000 developing nations contained 75 percent of world population accounting for almost all of the quadrupling of world population in the twentieth century. Many states that were under colonial rule had not provided much infrastructure for modern development and most developing countries didn’t have leverage in negotiation with wealthy nations and corporations.

WW Part 6

In 1789, the French Revolution was the foundation of a revolutionary process that occurred all around the Atlantic worlds between the years of 1775 and 1875. During those times, the Atlantic revolutions had a great impact well beyond its confines. Many French soldiers had provided assistance to the American colonists and the American Revolution had in a sense awakened them when they returned home full of republican enthusiasm. Many people started to believe in greater rights for women and even steps towards abolishing slavery. For example, The Haitian Revolution, housed 8,000 plantations, and produced 40 percent of the world’s sugar. Encompassing roughly 500,000 slaves, which constituted a majority of its population. Due to the French Revolution, it “lit several fuses and set in motion a spiral of violence that engulfed the colony for more than a decade.” However, the Haitian Revolution was very destructive and lead to a bitter internal division of race, color, and class. It led to long-lasting poverty as well as to its authoritarian and unbalanced politics. However, at the time was a great sign of hope and fear for other governments controlling colonies. The book points to the fact that many of these revolutions lead to a sense of nationalism. Further, giving ground to socialism and communism. As history shows, there is both pro and con to Revolutions. Revolutions, opened the world to human possibility, it attempts to sweep away oppression, exploitation, and privilege, yet came at the cost of much bloodshed.

Because of the views of the famous Indian nationalist and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi, it eventually led the country of India to independence from British colonial rule by 1947. Gandhi criticized industrialization as economic abuse. Not many people at the time agreed with him because every society had basically embraced at the very minimum the idea of industrialization and saw many significant elements of Europe’s modern transformation. For example, the industrial Revolution was more fundamental than any breakthrough since the Agricultural Revolution; it utterly transformed European society, and drew upon the Scientific Revolution. The Industrial Revolution appears to have occurred in Great Britain first, however, many other countries and societies have had great advances in technology before the date of the Revolution, but eventually slowed or became stagnate. Great Britain however received credit as the “first” because they were the most commercialized of the European countries. Their small farmers had been pushed out, and market production had fueled agricultural innovations. Furthermore, British commerce was worldwide in which it was protected by Britain’s large Royal Navy. British politics also encouraged commercialization and economic innovation by establishing religious tolerance to welcome people with technical skills, but did impose tariffs and forbid workers unions. The Industrial Revolution soon spread to continental Western Europe and Russia, and by the 1900, it had also reached Japan and the United States. Industrialization seemed to have similar outcomes wherever it was established; middle class women had withdrawn from paid labor, peasant classes declined, and women started to receive lower wages than men. Further, the spread of industrialization was affected by the cultures of the land where it was established. The United States Industrialization had began with New England textiles, and exploded after the Civil War. By 1914, the United States was the world’s leading industrial power, in which it was closely linked to European industrialization by providing at least one-third in capital investment. This explosion in the United States created serious social divisions such as growing gaps between the rich and poor, and constant labor of the working class. This led to growing labor protest, which was led by the working class and became violent at times. In the 1900s, Russia was considered an absolute monarchy, and dominated by a titled nobility. However, due to Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War, the state set out to improve Russia’s economic and industrial retrogression. During their Industrial Revolution they focused on foreign investment, railroads and heavy industry, as well as, concentrating their industries in few major cities. However, Russia working class only consisted of about 5% of the population. Further, in 1917, a Revolution broke out, which brought the most radical of the socialist groups to power. Apparently, only Russia’s industrialization lead to a violent social revolution in the world.

WW Part 5

In early modern European colonies being significant. The Mugal Empire pulled together Hindus and Muslims, Qing dynasty in China doubled in size, and the Ottom Empire re-established older political unity in the Islamic heartland.  Also, early modern empires entered a new stage of globalization; European Empires in the Americas, Spaniards in the Aztec and Inca empires, etc. Europeans controlled most the the Americas, which was dude to their geography which positioned them well for the Americas. However, rivalries within the Americas provided allies for European invaders, leading to the demographic collapse of Native American societies. Pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere had a population of around 60-80 million, but the Europeans brought European and African diseases and killed off about 90 percent among Native American populations; as well as, population drops in Mexico.

Europeans did not just conquer and govern established societies, instead they created whole new societies. All were built on the theory that governments should encourage exports and accumulate gold and silver to serve their countries, as colonies should provide closed markets for the mother country’s manufactured goods.  However, colonies differed depending on the cultures and economy that was already established. Later on, plantations started to boom in North American and the use of African slavery became a main source of labor. and so North America gradually started becoming more dominant in the world.
                      
Around 1500, a small Russian state centered on Moscow began to emerge. Over three centuries Russia began to grew into a massive empire. Moscow started to conquer neighboring cities, and early expansion into the grasslands to the south and east was for security against nomads. Russia's conquest was made possible by modern weapons and organization. With imperial expansion, Russians became a smaller proportion of the overall population, rich agricultural lands, furs, and minerals helped make Russia a great power by the eighteenth century.

By 1526 Mughals had united much of India, however, the Mughal Empire's most important divide was religious. According to the book, 20 percent of the population was Muslim, but most of the rest were Hundu. The Emperor Akbar accommodated the Hindu majority buy assimilating many Hindus into the political-military elite, imposing a policy of toleration, and abolishing payment of jizya. However, Emperor Aurangzeb’s policies provoked Hindu reaction and created opposition movements fatally weakened the Mughal Empire after 1707        

Interview

1. What do I want to know about the History of the event, era, situation or injustice? With regards to my interviewee I would like to hear racism, prejudice and segregation from his point of view.

2. What can I find out before meeting for the interview? I know what city and when his was born so I could do research on the current events of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s to get a better understanding of the questions I could ask that he would best qualify to answer.

3. What resources will you consult before meeting with the person? I will use the internet for the bulk of my resources to conduct research.

4. What can you find out by only experiencing the person's face to face presence? How the events and situations of injustice impacted his life and the choices he made.

5. Where, when and with whom will your interview be conducted? It will be conducted tomorrow June 26th with a 84 year old gay black man at a coffee shop in the south bay.

6. I will record this interview with my Phone. 

7. What special challenges do I foresee? I am not sure how open he is about the questions I am going to ask him. I am not sure there are any significant challenges, I will just have to wait and see.

Some Questions I am going to ask:

What significant events occurred that directly impacted himself or his family during his childhood.
When know he was homosexual and when did he come out to friends and family.
What forms of prejudice, racism and/or segregation did he face.
Background of his family.

WW Part 4

The rate of growth and longevity of Islam fascinates me.  It is one of fastest growing religions and as the book points out, encompasses 22 percent of the world’s population.  

The initial concept of Islam is stimulating depending on it’s interrupted.  For example, the Arabian Peninsula, where Islam was founded, consisted mainly of nomadic tribes that were constantly warring with each other.  Life seemed chaotic, but they did halt fighting to worship gods, ancestors, and spirits in the years before Islam.  In my opinion what I always found the most interesting about Islam is what the prophet Muhammad was told in his first revelation.  He was told to “read,” and that lead the religion into something powerful because the nomadic people did not read or write, and as Islam began to take hold of this region of the world, it really opened up a lot of potential which eventually lead to the Ottoman Empire, among other things.  However, after Muhammad’s death it did led to divisions in the religion due to the arguments breaking out on which Caliph (Successors of Muhammad), would continue on the legacy.  Creating ultimately two separate components of Islam: Sunni and Shia.   

Although, Islam today is considered extreme towards women, up until the last 250+ years, Islam seemed to be more liberal in a loosely based sense.  Even as the world continued to war, break down, and build up, Islam grew and remained strong because it really grabs the attention of people, in an essence Islam is a good book of morals and guidelines if you want to approach it from a non-religious stand point.

 

I remember learning about Chinggis Khan growing up, but I had no clue he had brands of beer, rock bands, and even a chocolate bar named after him.  It made me laugh a little about the candy bar. It just goes to show the power of persuasion can have on a group of people. However, even though the Mongol’s once controlled lands from the Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe, they left no cultural imprint on the world. They numbered about 700,000 people and were fearsome, but unlike the Arab world and Islam, they offered no new civilization or religion. The Mongols never tried to spread their own faith among subject peoples.  Matter of fact, the most impressive thing the Mongols accomplished was probably the discipline and loyalty of their army to its leaders.  This paved the way and ensured steady momentum for the Empire to expand as rapidly as it did.  Not to mention, the strategic decision making by the Empire’s leaders in dispersing its conquered subjects into different regiments. Maybe Chinggis Khan’s policy was a major factor as well, “whoever submits shall be spared, but those who resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children and dependents…so that the others who hear and see should fear and not at the same.”

The way Strayer breaks down how the world was shaped after the voyages in 1492 is inspiring, but when he concludes with, “But none of these developments were even remotely foreseeable in 1492,” it seemed obnoxious.   It seemed that Strayer was making a point in chapter thirteen that many cultures choose to avoid becoming assimilated into the growing civilizations and empires in the fifteen.  Groups of people that were still gather-hunter societies were happy with their way of life.   As for the Aztecs I found it crazy the tribute they collected from its people.  Their level of sacrificing human life in the name of the Gods was fascinating but I had heard stories of it since elementary school. Lastly, the Inca Empire shared a similar “rages to riches” story, growing from a modest group of people, in which they encompassed more than the Aztecs.  They required its conquered people to not so pay in tribute, but rather to pay in labor. 

WW Part 3

I sometimes enjoy Strayer’s writing technique.  For example, I liked how Strayer compared the early twenty-first century plans to expand roads further for trade and economic growth just as the Silk Road network across Eurasia did.  This shows an obvious correlation and emphasizes that global trade has been important for centuries and is nothing new.  The inventions of roads across Eurasia created the possibility of different groups and people to trade their valuables and delicacies on a much grander scale than ever done before.  These trades, which usually consisted of jewels, silks, cloth, and other valuables that were not offered in their specific area, allowed the mainly the rich to access these items a lot more easily.  However, it also enabled the wealthy and powerful to gain more wealth helping large cities to keep up with the stresses of its people.  However, this did bring about widespread disease as new foreign people and animals were introduced to new regions.

I have believed for many years now that China is the dominating country in this world.  Many American’s still believe that America is the strongest superpower in the world, yet neglect to see or are ignorant to that fact that China even controls a big portion of our economy.  With that being said, China has been a superpower since the third-wave of civilizations.  As Strayer points out in the book, all of China’s neighboring states, virtually had no choice by to work with or do trade because of the gravitational pull China’s booming economy had on that region of the globe.  However, it was telling to see that China also absorbed outside influence in its endeavors as well.  Meaning Buddhism mainly, but also Christianity and Islam, taking root in China as the economy started to attract many new visitors.  The interesting thing about China is the fact that they have been able to sustain themselves over the centuries, even with the rise and fall of many dynasties.  This probably occurred due to a stronger cultural and societal unity than other countries that have risen and collapsed, but also due to China maintaining a relatively strong economy even at its weak points.

As mentioned before various religions started to spread into China, but also, Christianity was taking giant leaps all over Europe due to the Roman Empire.  As Strayer mentions in the book, “from Spain and England in the west to Russia in the east – had embraced in some form the teachings of the Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter called Jesus.  Which still makes me laugh at the fact that Strayer’ purposefully chooses to make Jesus “ungodly,” although attempting to be objective unbiased to world history, probably still gets backlash.  To continue, when the collapse of the Roman Empire occurred it left much of that world vulnerable to different religions through conquests.  The rapid Arab/Islamic expansion was causing grief to the Byzantine state, but with that being said the state still remained a major force in the eastern Mediterranean.  To jump forward a bit, as intellectual life started to flourish in Europe after year 1000, universities were being created and reason was being introduced into teachings, which created tensions with religious teachings.  Reason was introduced to Islamic states as well, but natural philosophy and Islam did not mix as well as it had with western culture.

WW Part 2

I had never really looked at the civilization process in waves.  Strayer does a good job of demonstrating the three waves, and yet giving existence to the still roaming gathering/hunting communities in just a few words.  Further, as the book points out, “Many fluctuations, repetitive cycles, and minor changes characterize this long era of agricultural civilizations, but no fundamental or revolutionary transformations of social or economic life took place.”  I find that statement interesting because civilizations were constantly warring, new rulers emerged often, and there were small advances in agriculture, but the idea of any real transformation was a fallacy.  As I continue to read Chapter four, I am enjoying what Strayer has done.  He has shown the waves from a wide view, but as he zooms in he shows that much has occurred in these waves, just not to a significant level when you look at the big picture.  Many advances in technologies were spread, the rise of cultural and religious traditions were circulating, and societies were starting to really intermingle. 

I always thought the United States compared a little to the Roman Empire.  The multicultural society, constantly draining and stretching ourselves economically and globally, to act as the superpower and maintain “peace” throughout the world, but really to just seize and hold control as “the undisputed master of the world,” as Strayer explains.  It was interesting to read about the Persian King, being treated a God, allowing the Jews to return home to build their temple.  That right there tells me, even when a man believed himself to be the most powerful in the world, he understood the importance of needing support.  Also, it was fascinating to have two empires like the Persians and the Greeks to rule around the same time.  Both very different in ruling styles, yet co-existing, but not without clashes.  I was dumbfounded to learn that at the beginning of the Romans, they “were reduced to kidnapping neighboring women in order to reproduce.”  It seems absurd to think the Romans, who had grown so powerful and vast, had to steal women to grow as a population.  It is kind of interesting to view the ideologies that were created throughout time.  Manly the Chinese dynasties that came and went, but could still hold up even in times of disorder and chaos, due to an ideology like Confucianism.

I would have liked to know a little more about Legalism.  It seemed to have to have only lasted a short while, but this being the first I have ever heard of it I found myself interested.  I do not know too much about Daoism, but if I read it right, Laozi penned a short poetic volume, the Daodejing, and then vanished?  Seems a little weird to me, was he a real person, or did someone just use his claims to obtain marching orders?  I understand that chapter 5 is just going into more detail on the religious importance in Asia, but it seemed that Strayer had already touched a bit on most of the text in the previous chapter, so I felt it was a little repetitive.  To shift a little, I like that Strayer makes a point of demonstrating some if not many of the ideologies of these times are still revered, studied, and in some ways still practiced today.  I laughed when I read about Jesus, “began a brief three-year career of teaching and miracle-working before he got in trouble with local authorities and was executed.”  A person viewed by many as the son of God, being explained as simply getting in trouble and then executed seems too human and I bet many people despise Strayer for his choice in explaining history.  However in Strayer’s reflections on Religion and Historians, I think he explains it well, “religion has always been a sensitive subject…Which is not accessible to historians or other scholars, who depend on evidence available in this world.  This situation has generated various tensions or misunderstandings between historians and religious practitioners.”

Although much has been created in the name of God(s), The Caste System is the most interesting to me.  Simply enough it appears to have been created to separate the rich from the poor, the free men from the slaves, the rulers and warriors from the peasants.  It even took it a step further by creating the untouchables, which really treated people as less then dogs, matter of fact, the Sudra were probably treated more like a dog and the untouchables were beneath the Sudra on the list.  The vast inequalities are astonishing to me, and the fact that it lasted so long and even exists today adds further amazement. 

With regards to all the reading, the belief that human existence started in the African Continent had eluded me temporarily, and then in reading chapter seven it was interesting to see that the population of Africa in the Classical Era was so low in comparison to Eurasia.  Further, I do find it interesting how many different types of languages or dialects are in one region of Africa.  I always assumed the development of a sophisticated mathematical system that included the concept of zero having been created in the Middle East area.  I was surprised to learn it was done so in the Maya civilization.  As I write my reflections of the chapters I am reading, I constantly wonder why Strayer covered something more than another, assuming he found a topic necessary to be covered in many pages and less important to be touched on but not expanded upon.  Then, in his reflections on deciding what’s important, he explains his choice and reasoning.  Basically, I find Strayer to do an excellent job in being objective and attempting to cover all aspects.  Yet, I still find Strayer to be repetitive and annoying at times.

Chapters 1-3 Reflection

First I would like to say, when I think of history, although I have learned about homo sapiens and the other types of humanoids throughout history I do not quite look that far back.  Therefore, this course I imagine will be very fascinating because I get to learn and discuss the events of World History, not thousands of years ago but millions.

I know that world has been connected and considered a "super-continent" called Pangaea, in fact scientist believe this has happened more than once.  However, why Africa?  Is it crazy to believe that maybe small controlled groups were more spread out than just one area? If the planet does in fact keep recreating its continent, I would speculate that its possible but no proof to make my case.

The phase of human history intrigues me.  It is interesting how in the span of things, the Paleolithic era represents 95% of the time human beings have inhabited the earth.  We went from the "old stone age" to flying airplanes, putting things in space, and the list goes on.  The last 100 years is quiet astonishing when you compare it to the last 100,000 or 500,000 years.  Chapter one surely agrees, but instead pointing out the food-producing revolution, calling it the "most significant and enduring transformation of the human condition, providing the foundation for virtually everything that followed."  I suppose it was significant because as the book points out, as well as, the discussion in class; once we started producing food and domesticating animals we had surplus and therefore need workers, storage, and someone to over see it all.  It really sprung from there creating structures and civilizations, eventually leadership and government roles arose.

Not to go off on a rant, but I like the scholarly reference, "the original affluent society."  Wanting or needing so little, just enough to support your people is a modest and virtual unheard statement today.  For the most part, everyone is pretty greedy when you think about it.

When I think about the Realm of the Spirit, I ponder if humans lives were controlled by their God(s).  Did they believe in a sense of free will in regards to spirituality?  Did they have the power to decide whether they wanted to pray to the God(s) of their people or tribes?  Obviously, as long as word has been written, religion has been a popular topic of choice, but with little information about spirituality as far back as Paleolithic culture, it is fun to speculate.

I had never really put much thought to the expansion of humans throughout the planet.  It makes sense when you think about agriculture, creating surplus, thus increasing populations.  It is also interesting to see how much agriculture separated humans.  Before the boom in agriculture, everyone was relatively equal, and after wealth and power dominated much of the world.  What I do not quiet understand is how societies went from being virtually equal, to having "chiefs" who relied on the generosity or gift giving of their people, to complete power houses who demanded obedience.

The erosion of equality is what most interested me about world history.  With specializations, gains in agriculture, rises of "birth right" Kings, and other reason everyday humans equality seemed to grow further apart.  Its a sad reality the inequalities the majority of people faced.  I suppose even today we share a majority of inequalities with the rich and powerful, it is just masked and in hundreds of years when they look back on our era, they might imply our struggle for equality.  Just then as people wanted or believed they needed Kings, Priests, or some type of leader; we too believe that governments and leaders are essential to our way of life.  It would be nice to revert to a simpler way of life, without so much need and want for more power, wealth, materials.

Overall it was interesting reading about the "First Peoples," their migrations out of Africa and eventually spreading throughout the planet, the birth of agriculture and from that really creating, for the first time, huge gains in human existence.  Which eventually lead to negative aspects of humans and the inequalities that some if not most still face today.

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Ready to start posting for World History