Sources on Communism

In Stalin's "Five Year Plan" he really responds to how weak the U.S.S.R is.  He talks about how his plan is going to make the U.S.S.R to an industrial powerhouse to be able to self sustain themselves and be able to be full independent of the caprices of world capitalism. Stalin also includes a long list of self developed industries he had proposed during his five year plan such as tractors, automobiles, machine tools, electric power, ect... Also at the end of the first article he says this: "We have achieved such important successes as to evoke admiration among the working class all over the world, we have achieved a victory that is truly of world-wide historic significance." I think this quote was really interesting to me because there is so many other advances and achievements that could be reached like decrease in crime rate, country hunger problems solved and the resolve of peace between neighboring countries. I think the idea of collectivization didn't really benefit as much as it could have if the farms produced more as a bigger unit. Bringing together small scale farms to form big one don't necessarily work out because those farm owners only know how to run on a small scale basis and would get lost and start to decline when adapting and trying to run a large scale farm. In my opinion even if the five year plan was executed i don't think the U.S.S.R would have prospered anymore than it did without it, it maybe even would have been worst for the country.

Living Justice

I think that the concept of subsidiarity is very useful to society because it can help everyone understand each other which results in great outcomes. Pope Pius's encylical "Quadragesimo Anno" is very important because it talks about the proper division of labor among human institutions. It includes the idea of subsidiarity through the example of a village coming up with certain ideas to achieve a goal. Also this encyclical gives us an insight about human affairs, which includes the example of the American government giving federal assistance to places across the country. I think that the examples given of subsidiarity is a great way to show how this concept is taken place in society. I think that its unfortunate that Pope Pius was brought up in an age that was witnessing a disturbing rise of Totalitarianism, including influences of Fascism and Communism. I agree that an overly intrusive government reduces incentives for beneficial self help. I also think that it's important to remember that national governments should not be portrayed as our enemies, but rather tools by which citizens join their efforts together when necessary to complete goals that could not be completed on local levels. I disagree with members of the Catholic Church, any religious group that have debatable attitudes toward the central government. I also believe that the best way to judge proposals for public collective actions is on a case by case basis. I think that public policy depends too much on a polity's ability to grow beyond mere, sloganeering, blanket generalizations and idealogical posturing to come up with criticism regarding the truth and advances of the common good. What really caught my attention was at the end of the section read, "At the heart of the principle of subsidiarity, then, is the crucial distinction between state and society. Catholic social teaching has long been mindful that the strength and vitality of a people goes far beyond its government structures and officials". This quote from the article makes me realize how important separation of Church and State is and how powerful the "people" can really be.

Empire in Collision

What really intrigued me about this chapter was the vast increase of population in China 1685 to 1853. Because of the robust economy and american food crops the population rate went from 100 million people to some 430 million. That is insane! And the really crazy thing is there was no industrial revolution accompanied with this huge increase in people.  It was growing so rapidly they could not keep up with the quickly increasing population, and that led to many problems. The state was unable to perform many of the functions like tax collection, flood control, social warfare, and public security. Overtime the central state lost power and local gentry. The combo of all these problems arose which caused the decline of the dynasty and resulted in more bandit gangs roaming the countryside and which even more terrible, a peasant rebellion.

To skip ahead, another section in this chapter was very interesting to me, "The Tokugawa". The Tokugawa were military rulers or also called shoguns. The most important task of a Tokugawa Shogunate was to prevent the return of a civil war. Based on their military and political skills, the shoguns gave Japan more than two centuries of internal peace.  (1600-1850) As a result of these periods of peace contributed to a remarkable burst of economic growth, commercialism, and urban development.

Chapter 18

I particularly liked the section about the devilfish in Egyptian waters. It really interested me because how can one country get there hands on so many others. It's a very difficult thing to do. If I was the ruler of a country I would try to do the same thing! Also on pages 886-887 the maps were really interesting to me because the variety of influences throughout Africa. I never knew there was so much French and British influence in Africa. What also was really interesting to me and as not as important but all the different products from all the different places. "At this time there was an extensive need for raw materials, wheat from the American Midwest and souther Russia, meat from Argentina, bananas from Central America, rubber from Brazil, cocoa and palm oil from West Africa, tea from Ceylon, gold and diamonds from South Africa." from page 880.

Abolition of slavery/Kartini

Every time I read about the british in North America I think of The Patriot. I remember that last scene were the british were defeated. All throughout the movie there was always the slavery issue. In the reading the abolition of slavery played a big part from 1780-1890. Slavery started to become a violation of natural rights to enlightenment thinkers and after the american and french revolutions the slavery issue began to diminish. It was very interesting to read that in 1807, Britain prohibited the sale of slaves within the nation and in 1834 emancipated those who remained enslaved. It was also very interesting reading about the Javanese woman by the the name of Kartini. It was so impressive all the things she picked up on and learned. I thinks its very noble that her dream was to contribute to the learning of emancipation of the Netherlands, and open up an all girls school in Java. She also was the first Javanese woman to pick her own husband and marry him, not have her parents pick. This reading was very interesting and I believe that the abolition of slavery made a huge impact on the world as we know it today.

christianity

It really confuses me how a religion spread so fast and so far. I am christian I had always wondered why I am. I believe in god but don't go to church religiously. I chose to do my blog on this section because religion is important to me. Looking at the map on page 727 its crazy how each empire was different and had a different religion. We look at the world now and there are all types of religions everywhere. Everything from then till now has changed so much. Its crazy how conversion and adaption came into play in spanish America, the Aztec and Inca empires and all the bad things that followed. How disease, population collapse, loss of land to europeans, forced labor, and resettlement. It is very difficult to imagine the globalization of christianity without the support of an empire.

Sugar and Slavery

         There is a lot that took place in this chapter. What makes me angry is that in the 1600s it was a more profit-based market. Meaning people produce what they don't get to consume. I think they have a right to consume anything they want to, no matter if they made it or not. I also found the story of how  sugar became popular and introduced very interesting. According to the reading sugar was first encountered by greek conquerers in North-western India around the fourth century B.C.E. I feel like if sugar was never discovered we would not have a lot of the things we have today such as cookies, deserts, baked goods, and all sorts of food. Also the story of Olaudah Equiano was very sad. How all he talked about was seeing land, and then when he finally got there all he could think about were the chains that kept his freedom locked away from him. He prayed to god to just kill him because he could not take much more of the treatment. Along with the horrible conditions on the ship, he was robbed of all his money. When the ship finally reached West India, the scorching weather was almost unbearable for Olaudah to handle. After all the hardship and adversity, his captain sold him to his very own brother-in-law and was treated very well from that point on. I was happy to read at the end of the chapter that the connection between sugar and slavery was broken in the nineteenth century. Also british slave trade came to an end in 1808 along with the slavery itself nationally in 1834.

Yayy-im done

Yayy-im done