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.