Chapter 24- Accelerating Global Interaction Since 1945

Chapter 24 starts off with an interesting concept. It talked about how Barbie and Ken dolls showed the power of global commerce. On the other hand, in Iran it did not seem to represent the same thing. “I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile.” They thought that Barbie and Ken dolls were a bad influence on the growing children of Iran because it did not represent the right values that a child should portray. The dolls “revealing clothing, shapely appearance, and her close association with Ken, her longtime unmarried companion, were all foreign to Iran’s culture. In response to this, Sara Dara dolls were created in replace of Barbie and Ken. Sara Dara dolls represents a brother and sister who help each other solve their problems and in return look at their parents for guidance. It was the total opposite of Barbie and Ken, but the one thing that the two set of dolls had in common was the fact that they were both made/manufactured in China. This particular situation with the United States, Iran, and China showed the integration of world economics with cultures as well as the many problems and conflicts it includes as well.

Technology was a key factor in the acceleration of globalization. Transportation such as containerized shipping, huge oil tankers, and air express services lowered transportation costs by A LOT. Later when Internet became available, it provided communication for global interaction. The shape of the economic globalization was a single market, which is known as neoliberalism. This was a great approach for our economy because it lowered the reduction of tariffs, free global movement of capital, provided a workforce, had privatization of many state-run enterprises, curtailing of government efforts to regulate the economy, and both tax and spending cuts.

After World War II, a reglobalization of the world economy took place following the contractions of the 1930’s. This process took a quick circulation of goods, capital, and people. The thing I found most interesting is that the world trade went from $57 million in 1947 to $7 trillion in 2001. That’s a HUGE acceleration. Money was very mobile globally such as foreign direct investment, short term investment in foreign currencies/stocks, and international credit cards which allowed people to transfer money to other countries very easily. People that lived in poor countries traveled to seek better lives in richer countries such as South Asian and West Indians seeking work in Britain, and Algerians and West Africans in France. Many many people traveled to seek better things in life, and MANY were recruited into sex trafficking.  A huge issue that we still have in everyday lives, and it’s a huge issue that we discuss about in class all the time.

Chapter 23- Independence and Development in the Global South

Chapter twenty-three talks a lot about the independence and freedom from British Rule. I found the part about Mahatma Ghandi very interesting because he was such a huge inspiration in the Indian society. He was an ordinary person and was born in Gujarat, where he was married at thirteen and by the time he was eighteen, he took a quick opportunity to study abroad in England in law. Overall, Ghandi was a very peaceful and compassionate person, which helped India gain their independence in a  non-violent fashion. His philosophy was known as satygraha, which was an active and confrontational approach to political action which was all again non-violent. He had many different views as a leader, and sought the moral transformation of individuals. His view on the caste system did not matter, and accepted support from capitalists and socialists. Ghandi himself opposed a modern industrial future for India and instead seeked a society of harmonious self-sufficient villages. He was very old fashioned and believed in what India already had. India also had a problem between the Hindus and the Muslims because both were not from the same country and had different cultures/customs which both of the peoples did not agree upon. Muhammad Ali Jinnah which was the leader of the Muslim League argued that some parts of India have a separate status which was called Pakistan. Muslims lived in Pakistan and the Indians lived in  India. In 1947, Ghandi led India to independence after the Congress Party agreed to partition as the British declared to leave Indian after World War II. Unfortunately, in 1948, Ghandi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist, and it was very sad to see such a great leader die in such a way. He was a massive inspiration in India's history, and perhaps without him, India would have never gotten the same independence as it has now.

Chapter 21- The Collapse and Recovery of Europe

Well, I am pretty sure that we can all sit here and agree that this chapter is filled with many saddening events. It contains many of the events, of them starts off with World War I. One of the major things that struck me in this chapter was the Great Depression. Every time I think of the Great Depression it reminds me of the world going down the drain. It reminds me of the many people who suffered loss and terror when they had NOTHING left for them. The Great Depression took place in 1929 when the stock market crashed. Millions of people lost their life savings and the world trade dropped sixty two percent within even a few years. Many businesses were contracted, not to mention the unemployment rate sky rocketed. It was only 30 percent employment rate in both Germany and the United States. If we take a moment out to actually think about this, not only the United States, but the whole WORLD was in a depression. Our country affects the whole world, and the impact was huge on these people. It is very sad to think how much suffering they had to undergo during this time. Can we ask ourselves, why and how did such a huge depression hit the United States? Well, our economy was booming during the 1920’s which meant we were in good shape, but by the end of the decade, factories and farms were producing way more goods that could be sold. Europe by that time was impoverished by WWI and didn’t purchase American products, while producing more goods of their own. The speculative stock market had driven stock prices up artificially high and along with the crash, the economic network shattered into pieces. It is sad to see how many people suffered on the streets, with no house to live in, no food to eat, no money to support their families. It was a time of great hardship that can never be taken back but was a way to learn and become stronger as a country/unit. This topic always interested me the most because it reminds me of what we situation our country is slightly in at the moment. A major recession, but just like in 1929, I think we have the ability to work out of this issue and become that much more independent in leading a strong and stable economic country.

There were also events such as Nazi Germany, Japan Authoritarianism, the Second World War, the Road to War in Europe and the Recovery of Europe which held many more sufferings. They all had  key roles in the collapse and recovery in Europe.

Chapter 20- Colonial Encounters

When European colonial empires formed, it was often a traumatic experience for many of the people. Many of the small societies included loss of life, homes, cattle, crops, and land could were absolutely devastating for these people. Even one senior Vietnamese official wrote a poem expressing his anguish to the world. It was a sad poem showing his grief and his helplessness to their society’s situation. As saddening as it was, they really had no choice but to do what they were told.

On the other hand, throughout the violence in the European conquest, many individuals cooperated with colonial authorities for their own benefits and advantages. Men found jobs in the European military to further their lives. Indian princes, Muslim emirs, and African chiefs, were all able to keep their status and at the same time gained more wealth by exercising authority. Many of these people actually benefitted from the European conquest, which was in a way helpful to them and their lives. European education was explosive for colonial government and private missionary organizations, and created more wealth and more jobs in the Western education class.

Many were cooperative, but at the same time, many didn’t agree with the European rule. The Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858 was the most famous of the rebellions of this time. The colony’s military forces of a new cartridge smeared with animal fat from cows and pigs. Both of these animals are sacred in Hinduism and the religion of Islam. These people took it as a threat that they were trying to be converted to Christianity. I can understand this situation because I myself am a Hindu, and I would feel VERY offensive in the same situation. It is almost heartbreaking that people can do such a low thing as to attack other people’s religion in a time of colonization. I don’t think it morally correct in any way at all and it was a great wake up call for the British because ALL of India was aflame. They were a lot more cautious of trying to change Indian society.

"Collapse"

Well this week’s blog was about the book “Collapse” by Jared Diamond. I thought the whole thing was pretty interesting and the twelve ways of the fate of human societies. It showed how societies choose to surrender or fail. I totally agreed with all of his topics because I think each of them have a very large impact on our environment, but at the same time I felt some were more important than others. One in particular that really stood out to me was the destroying of natural habitats. I think that in order to run a healthy world we need our natural habitats for our animals as well as ourselves. They are vital to the environment, especially trees in which give us our oxygen. Without having these habitats our animals unfortunately die and our world would become just plain cement and city life. It does not work well with the balance of both environments, which means that the destroying of our natural habitats is probably the worst thing that can happen. On the other hand, another problem I think that stands out is the population impact. Our world is highly populated, some places more than others. We are a growing world and day by day more women are giving birth to more babies. Over population can have a HUGE impact on society. I mean can you imagine what that can do? Lack of food, water, shelter and much more. We wouldn’t have the resources to accommodate all the population plus that adds on to the fact that we are over producing. We are over producing our natural resources, therefore having a significant impact on the world. I mean all these problems lead to another problem, and it is unfortunate that we face these dilemmas. I think that it is up to us humans to know what the right thing to do is and to make wise decisions. We all need to stop taking our earth for granted and start realizing that it won’t be here forever.

Chapter 19- Internal Troubles, External Threats (E.C.)

In the 19th century Europe's age of global expansion took place. Europe basically was the center of the economic world and the country attracted many people. Countries such as India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands were considered European states. This diminished the independence of China, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia. Europe's global expansion was HUGE and held a lot of weight on the rest of world. The Industrial Revolution gave Europe a big advantage to its expansion because that is where it took place. Many many countries were dependent on Europe for goods and services. This led to economic needs to become larger than usual. Goods and services were needed throughout the whole country such as bananas from Central America and cocoa and palm oil from West Africa. Often times Europe was not selling its own products. It manufactured goods that their own people were unable to buy due to it not being affordable. On the other hand, European investors found it a lot more beneficial to invest their money in other countries abroad then at home. In 1914 countries such as Europe, North America, and Australia were equally invested in 3.7 billion pounds of sterling along with Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Imperialism also took place in Europe. It was particularly popular in the late nineteenth century because of the growth of mass nationalism. Europe's competitive political system became even more competitive due to the unification of Italy and Germany which therefore made it difficult for colonies and economic concessions in Asia and Africa. Many invents took place in the nineteenth century along with the global expansion of Europe.

Chapter 17- Atlantic Revolutions and their Echoes

Feminist Beginnings. Of all the subjects talked about in chapter 17, this really caught my eye. For many years women have not been treated with the same equality that men have been treated with. Everything for a woman has been ten times harder than a man to achieve in society. We are lucky now that in this day in age things have definitely taken a huge transformation and women are just as important as men. This all may have not happened if it wasn’t for the feminist movement. Europe and North America is where it all began. Within the middle class, more and more women found educational opportunities to learn new things, in order to obtain more knowledge to be successful. Some women found free time from household chores. Many many women took part is different activities and became involved in society such as temperance movements, charities, abolitionism, missionary work, socialist/pacifist organizations, and even active trade unionist. On the other countries such as France were not too fond of this movement and “based their claims less on abstract notions of equality and more on the distinctive role of women as mothers.” They were not supportive of women in society to be successful and make a difference. This did not stop anything and by the 1900’s upper and middle class woman were attending universities and women in the United States we able to manage and control their own property and wages. This was a huge break through but many feminists were viewed as “selfish” because they were “willing to sacrifice the family or even the nation while pursuing their individual goals.” There were many conflicts about feminists and their explosion in the world to be treated as an equal with men. In my opinion, I am a female, and I believe that females are just as capable as men to do anything. I think that sex doesn’t change anything and shouldn’t be regarded in any matter because equality is the key to success. Everyone deserves a chance to be what they want to be and do what they desire, with that, being judged on whether or not you’re a male or a female is unfair. I am very thankful for the feminist beginnings and how it has paved a concrete path for other females to live their dreams.