Post 5: Everything i have learned

What have I learned since August 2009?
Lots! I learned a lot about the Afghanistan women and their culture. I learned how hard it has been for the women over there to get good jobs. The country over there is much different than the United States in that the women do not get treated equally and fairly as they are here. The women there are strong and have been through hard times. Even when they have lost everything, they came back and started over – they did not give up. I learned that here in the early times in America, there wasn’t much disease until the European people came over and gave us their germs. The germs that we were not use to killed a lot of people in our continent. Small Pox was a big killer that killed 95% of the people. If people have the disease and don’t die from it they get immune from it. This can be passed down to their children and their children will have a natural immunity from whatever disease they had. I learned lot about First and Third World countries. The First World countries have the luck of where they are on earth – they have better luck farming and having more natural resources. Third World countries are in the worst parts of the earth and depend on the First World countries to help them survive. Agriculture and technology is what helps countries developed and you have to live in the right places on the planet to be able to grow things and use the technology that is around. Jared Diamond was interested in that he studied the planet and why some parts of it can exist well and other parts can’t. He talked about domesticating plants (transplanting from one place to another). Not all plants can be transplanted – very few can. Animals were also domesticated to help cultures develop. Water is an important natural resource for farms and animals. Europe had the first steel. They used it for tools and guns. Their guns allowed them to take over other people’s lands because their guns were better weapons than the bows and arrows of other people. It seems that the more powerful your weapons are, the more developed you become and control more land. Africa was interesting to learn about too. They are a Third World country and have all kinds of problems. They have diseases and poverty issues. The Europeans took over their continent in the early days. They took their people and children and put them to work. Their natural resources were also taken from them to where they could no longer grow their own food. The land was left naked and unable to grow food for their people – that is why they have so many famines. Malaria is a terrible disease that they have terrible problems with and it kills a lot of their people every day. I learned about the history of diseases, especially Cholera. This disease started in Europe and N. American around 1831. This disease came about because of dirty ways, filth, and decay and was spread by drinking the water that had it in it. A lot of people died early on from several diseases before our technology and medicine were invented. Before we realized we could prevent a lot of these diseases, more people died. I learned of the different classes in societies, upper, middle and lower. Some are treated better than others. Women didn’t have much rights in the early days as they fight for their rights. Public Education has been growing since the reform with more public education and higher education. Darwin was a big influence and caused a lot of trouble between the scientists and theologians. Religion was the center of a lot of cultures. Romanticism went against reason by using romance writers, music, art, drama, and impressionists. Industrialization and urbanization were very important in growing a city, country and nation. The Industrial Revolution led to the United States becoming one of the most powerful countries in the world, beating Britain. With the Industrial Revolution, many cities began popping up where people worked.

What can we do now that we could not do then? Kill off diseases with medicines and other technology. Be transported by faster ways like a car or train and airplane. We would not be able to talk to people far away. We can see in the dark with electricity and batteries. We can make a lot of fabric by machine to make more clothes. Factories can make things in a lot more quantity so people can have them quicker. We can grow foods better and faster. We can domesticate plants better and use machines instead of animals for farming, transportation and other ways animals were used back then. We are able to study diseases more closely to stop them from going to other countries to kill off their people. We can make antibiotics quicker to help kill bacteria. We can worship God anyway we want without being afraid.

What do I understand now that I didn’t think about or understand then?
I never thought about how easy we have it here in the United States. We have it so easy here and a lot of people take it for granted. We are close to most natural resources and technology that it has allowed us to be the best First World country on the earth. I never understood that water was so important. It is important for farming, health, and technology. Countries not close to water have a very hard time surviving. I never understood why we always seem to be the ones to help other countries and why they can’t take care of themselves. Now I understand that.

What did I learn about myself and this learning process?
I learned that good note taking is very important because when it comes to tests like this, I can look back in my notes and remember what I have learned. I really learn better with projects and the project grades and homework assignment grades help me when I don’t do so well with tests. I do not do well with tests. I did learn though that if following directions and reading things completely, I am better off and it helps me understand more.

What didn’t work for me and what frustrated me?
Group projects are hard to do, especially if you have someone in your group not willing to work or do the project. I am shy so working with people I do not know is hard. Being shy is my biggest obstacle. Not being able to comprehend what I read the first time is an obstacle too – I’d really like to be able to comprehend things better and memorize better. I enjoyed projects that let me learn and get a good grade and not be just getting grades based on testing. I don’t test good. Something that could help me on tests is being told all of the questions on the test a few days before the test.

Post 4: Unit 4, Nationlism: From Concert to Competition

Recap: Nationalism is people belonging together as a nation because they share a history, culture, language, religion, or other events. The book says that nationalism is “a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to their country.” Before nationalism started, people had strong feelings of pride in a ruler or a family. Nationalism made them prideful of their country or nation. Nationalism started in Europe in the 1700s. England, France, and Spain had some sort of nationalism. Haiti got free from France in 1804 and Nationalism started in Germany early in the 1800s. When people have things in common, they want to develop their own culture and relationships. When it grows into a big group, like a country, they want to be their own nation. The impact to Europe was good and bad. Revolutions/wars broke out. Some nations wanted more land than what they had, so they started to try and take over other lands. The people fought back. If you resisted you were executed. Nationalism helps make your country unified and stronger and you can make your own laws. The Nationalism in Europe created a lot of new nations in Europe like Germany and Italy. With this pride came new rules and progress and growth with the economy, science, government and industry. The new nations had challenges too. Some people did not have any traditions or feel unified with their new nation. Nationalism made the old empires go down and the old monarchies began to go away. Russian became their own nation too. A lot of these countries used plays, music, ballet and other ways of showing the pride they had in their nation. We had a puppet play in class to help us understand better of nationalism.

Review:Reflect: I think that nationalism as an ideology is OK as long as you keep your ideas and opinions within your nation. Taking your nation’s ideas and trying to force them on other people is wrong and should not be allowed. We do not need any more wars. Nations should keep their ways to themselves and allow other countries to live the way they want to – not the way other want them to live. But every nation should have pride in themselves that when they see another national having problems like famine and poverty, they should help out and be proud of what they did.

Review of play: There is a father emperor who is dying and he has his son agree that he would not change anything after he is dead. The emperor doesn't want his country to develop - he wants them to stay the same. His people are starting to hear about nationalism, which is having your own country and being proud of it, having the same language and ways of life. The king hears about it and sends a spy to find out where his people are hearing about this. The people are tired of the king and living like he wants and they now want their own country and be free from the king. The people think they deserve their own country. The spy goes back and tells the emperor what he has heard and where it came from. When the king heard about it he wants to stop them because he would lose his power if that happened.

Nationalism can be used and help other societies because there are some societies that may not be happy with what they are doing right now. Like Afghanistan or Iraq. I am sure they are not happy with how their country is being run and used. Maybe once they are free of the bad people like the Taliban they can be proud of their country and start being who they want to be. The United States I think is trying to help other people become their own nation and I wish others would help out a little more where it isn’t all left up to us. If more of the countries had the kind of pride in themselves that we have, maybe the bad countries could be helped out more and we can give them the kind of ideas of being free and they would want to be more like us. We should all learn from each other.

Post 3: Unit 3, Urbanization & Industrialization

In chapter 9 I learned that Britain use to be an industrial giant. Mostly because they forced strict export rules on other countries. That didn't last. Once other countries like Germany, France and the U.S. began finding abundant supplies of resources. Britain did not have as much, this gave the other countries the upper hand in the industrial revolution. Germany led Europe and the U.S. led the world. The countries that did not develop as fast were countries that lacked natural resources. The growth of these countries had a huge impact. There was fast urbanization. People worked long hours and horrible conditions. Factories were making things faster and in large numbers, which made the prices go down. Jobs were created like building the cities and railroads. World trade began and competition between countries was fierce. The west dominated the world because they had technological and economic advantages. New things like steel, chemicals, electricity and new ways of making goods made the economy grow even faster. During this time too, transportation and communications were changed for the better. Steam was used for faster ships. Railroads allowed cities to connect to each other and mining regions to industrial places. Cars were invented and Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the airplane, which allowed faster travel between continents. The telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. These communication items allowed people to talk and do business all over the world. In order for the countries to grow, more money needed to be invested. Businesses changed the way they did business by selling parts of their companies, called stock, in order to raise money for their companies. People who bought the stock became small owners of the company. Larger businesses grew and the biggest ones were called monopolies because they would control an entire industry/business. This was bad and good. Competition caused some companies to go away. This made people unemployed. The Government started making laws to help small businesses. The countries that did well were also setting up businesses in other countries and going global. Technology was good in that new things were invented but it also put people out of work. More crimes happened, during this time also, medicine got better, which meant that less people died. This also meant that the population grew. Penicillin was invented and anesthesia was used to relieve pain during surgeries. With the industrial revolution came urbanization. More people were moving from rural areas into the cities for work. This made the cities change in that they needed more buildings, streets, and transportation. The division between the rich and poor also started in that the rich lived in nicer places than the poor. Sidewalks and sewers were important in cities to help people get around and to get rid of waste, which decreased the diseases caused by human waste lying around. Skyscrapers were being built with steel. Even though cities were growing and developing, slums were still found. During the industrial revolution, workers had bad conditions that they worked in. They tried to make it better by forming unions, which gave workers rights and helped regulate and get better working conditions. The unions also helped get the workers better pay for their work and a better quality of life at work. During this time also the two classes of people developed – the nobles and peasants (rich/poor). It was difficult to cross into the other. After a while a third class of people, middle class came about. They were rich, but they were not poor – they were in the middle. They married who they wanted to and families changed as well. Women started campaigning for fairness in marriage, divorce, and property laws. Women also tried to get alcohol limited. Women, after a while, began a movement to allow them to vote. Public schools began to get setup with elementary schools and high schools later on. Colleges and universities grew too. Science also started thinking of new ways of doing things. Atomic energy was thought about and the origins of earth were debated. Charles Darwin began the biggest debate ever by bring up the challenge of evolution. Even while all of this stuff is going on, religion still continued to be a big focus for most people. A new culture, the arts, was being noted. Writers, musicians, composers, and artists were being noted. Novels were being written, plays were being made, and painters were painting famous works of art. Different kinds of art were also beginning, like photography. Different styles of art were born as well.

I believe the most interesting city I would be interested in living in is Washington DC. Washington DC is known for being one of the cities with the best education in the country. They have public and private school. DC has some of the best higher education universities in the country as well, like Georgetown and George Washington University.
(http://dc.about.com/od/familyactivities/u/DCLiving.htm). Washington DC also offers many activities for weekends. There are a lot of monuments, museums, sporting events, Smithsonian, Mount Vernon, and two airports are there that can take you anywhere. Washington DC is a very historical city in that our country is run from this place. The president lives in the White House. Our lawmakers are in the Senate and House of Representatives. The cherry trees blossom in the spring. The Pentagon where our military is run from is there. There are a lot of jobs in DC too. My sister and her husband live there. New York is just north of DC and easy to get to for a long weekend.
http://dc.about.com/od/touristattractions/tp/Top10ThingsToDo.htm. The National Zoo is in DC and there are a lot of different places you can live all around DC.
http://washington.org/visiting/browse-dc/attractions/100-free-things-to-do. There are subways and metro trains to get you from one place to another and you do not need to use your car. Some negative things about living in DC is the number of people that live there and the fact that it is a big target for terrorists. With DC being the place our country is run from, terrorists look at it as a target so they can get rid of our lawmakers, military leaders and the president.

Post 2: Unit 2, Guns, Germs, & Steel

Recap: When I wrote my letter as the Ambassador from Hippotron, I learned a lot about earth’s geography and the impact on the development to the people, cultures, and societies. I learned how the people or countries that could farm, developed well. They were able to provide food for themselves and sell to the more unfortunate people who could not grow their own food. Farming is a very important part of developing a society. Farming can only be done if you are geographically put in a good spot on the earth. Certain foods can only grow and survive in certain areas. Like grapefruit – can only grow in very warm areas (Florida/California/Texas). Corn can only grow in and around fertile soil with temperatures around 80 degrees and well watered. Wheat has its own needs as well. So, for the countries who are in a well fertile part of the earth, has its own water supply and the technology to grow their own food, they are much better off. These are First World Countries. The Third World Countries, dry, hot, mountainous, no water countries, are the countries that can only survive by the help of other countries. Technology is also a huge part of a developing country. Technology takes money, money is in the already-developed countries, and technology is what helps farmers farm better, technology is used also for means of travel, the economy, and other important parts of living. Without technology, you cannot survive/thrive. I also learned that plants were domesticated as well as animals. Years ago, plants only survived in certain areas. Seeds were used from these plans, taken to other areas and learned how to grow with the help of humans. Same with the animals. Horses have been taken out of the wild, tamed, and used for working. Llamas were also used to help farmers farm. Some lands are not able to raise some working animals because of the land and temperatures. For the countries that cannot domesticate animals, they are poorer countries and the richer countries help them out. There is an inequality to the land. Some can have farms, some cannot have farms. If you live close to water, you are more likely to be able to farm. Living on flat lands allows you to farm easier. The Europeans brought steel. Tools were made from steel that made work and farming easier. Guns use steel and guns also helped countries develop. Natural resources were used also to help countries develop. A country must be able to use technology to get and use their natural resources. Undeveloped countries are not lucky enough to have natural resources and use them. Disease is also an important part of being developed or undeveloped. Diseases, if left untreated, will take over a population and kill them. If a society is lucky, they can come up with an immunization to keep you from getting sick. Or, if a person gets the disease and doesn’t die, then they build up immunity against the disease and pass it down to their kids. If a society is not use to a germ and they get infected, then more than likely will mostly die off. The Small Pox was the disease that killed 95% of the first Americans years ago. There are a lot of other diseases that are harming people now – H1N1 flu, AIDS, measles, mumps, and tuberculosis. While there are immunizations against the measles and mumps, still, some people are getting these diseases and some die. A person can build up an immunity against the immunizations too. So, it is very important to live in the best area of the earth to be able to develop and live well.
Revisit: http://www.kenya-advisor.com/poverty-in-kenya.html. Kenya is the country I chose for the revisit/update. Kenya still has problems with poverty. Close to ½ of the population earns less than $1.00 a day. Kenya is doing all it can to reduce poverty. Tourism is a very big source of money for them and tourism is a fast growing help for them. Every three years, the staff of the World Bank and people who are interested in helping Kenya, make a Kenya: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The latest one I found is January 2005. This paper discusses many plans to reduce poverty in Kenya. It is very interesting to me that in Kenya, they are trying to equal out the education of everyone, which gives everyone a better chance of getting good jobs. Primary education is free and the enrollment of children increased by 1.5 million children in 2003. Disadvantaged areas and urban areas are looked for and brought to schools for education in order to give them a better chance of reducing their poverty. http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/801762/-/hggi0rz/-/. According to this website, Kenya is trying to be able to get into the U.S. Market by selling their flowers, vegetables, and fruits that they grow. Right now, there are not any airlines that are direct between Kenya and the U.S., so Kenya is going to bring their goods to the U.S. by sea. This should start in 2010. This will help the poverty rate go down in Kenya, as well as other countries in Africa. HISTORY: Masai and Kikuyu are the tribes that came to Africa that is now called Kenya. They arrived in Africa in the middle 18th century. These people were known for their agriculture and fierce fighting. In 1885/86, Germany and Britain fought over the Kenya territory. It took a year before they decided who would get which territories. In the end Germany got the south and Britain got the north of the dividing line that is latitude 1 degree S. This line that was drawn then, is still drawn and lived by today, which is the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The British East Africa Company is brought in to develop their part. They developed all the way from the east coast, to the kingdom of Buganda. This area could only be developed if railroads were brought in. In the meantime, the British company was in the middle of a civil war between them and the French Catholics. During this struggle, it was decided that the British company was not able to do their duty in developing their part of Africa. In 1895, the East Africa Protectorate was established to develop the Kenya territory. This company encouraged Kenya’s settlements to farm their region to help provide the money needed to build the railroad. The Kenya Colony started in 1920 – 1963. Settlers from the southern part of Africa were given the land and the people who were already there had to move to reservations. This caused a lot of anger. The best farming land was given to the Europeans, which also caused anger. It seems to me that the early meeting between the Europeans and the people from Kenya did not go so well. The Europeans came in and took over and did not give the people from Kenya much. They were forced off their fertile land onto land that could not be farmed, which caused starvation and poverty. The Europeans made out better than the people from Kenya. The British too more land from the Africans then was originally decided. All African adults were forced to carry ID whenever they left their reservation. In a way, the people of Africa was treated just as bad as the American Indian. I was unable to find any information on the diseases that the Europeans brought over that infected the Kenyans, but I would have to agree and state that this probably did happen.
Reflect: In thinking about the impact of “geographic luck” and global inequalities, I would have to say that the United States was the luckiest. The U.S. is has the best farming land, the most natural resources, and the best technology that lets us use the natural resources in the best way possible. We are a First World Country. The Third World countries are not so lucky. They do not have fertile land, good water, and land worth enough to plant seeds in it to grow. Third World Countries are unable to make any money to develop technology and sell to First World Countries or any other country. Our geographical luck also puts us far enough away from enemies that it is difficult for any enemy of ours to come to our country and attack us. It took years for terrorists to start invading our country. In Third World Countries, they are so close to other hostile countries that they are easy to take over. Third World Countries do not know how to defend their lands well enough to keep them, so they are lost in quick wars and take-overs. There are a lot of global inequalities too. The United States and other good countries like Canada, Britain, and Germany, are lucky enough where they have enough to provide for their own countries and at the same time, help the poorer countries. There are not just humanitarian things we do, but also military interventions and technology help. We provide new ways to farm to these countries, new transportation's, and education. If Third World Countries are not educated, then they cannot learn and grow into a better providing country. The U.S. is very lucky in where we are on the earth and the fact that we have been educated. If Europe had not come to our country, we may not have been so lucky. The influence of Europe and other people, have given us many ways to live, grow, and know what to do. Many foreigners come to our country to become better.

Post 1: Unit 1, Afghanistan

My research on Afghanistan was very effective. I did research on the types of jobs women could get in Afghanistan. This helped me understand their lives and culture. I basically had no knowledge of this subject. I was pretty shocked when I found out about their terrible living conditions and that women were not much thought of when it came to the kinds of jobs they had in the past. While the women here in the United States can have any job they want from collecting garbage up to the President of the United States, the women in Afghanistan have not been so lucky and treat as fairly. The women I did research on were nurses, fashion, aid worker, wedding worker, and a borrower. Some of these women lost everything during the war and have brought themselves back from nothing to something. Nadjia Shujaee owns a fabric store and shows the women in Afghanistan new ways to dress. She lived in Iran for several years when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Now she is trying her luck with the same kind of store in Afghanistan. Mohammad Rahimi is an aid worker who is helping to rebuild the lives of the people and the community she live sin. Shala, the wedding worker, lived as a refugee in Iran and helps women have the most beautiful wedding they possibly could have. Shamisia, the borrower, is from Kabul and she has a school for women to help team them how to do things for themselves. These women don't seem to be out for the glory or money, they are doing a service for the women in their country, which is a selfless thing. These are good women who are helping others and not putting themselves first. I am quite amazed at what I learned just by choosing these five types of jobs. I am sure there are other jobs out there with the same kinds of stories that would help me understand more about their culture. All in all, my research taught me quite a bit about the lifestyle of women in Afghanistan and how bad they have had it in the past and still have it bad.
Update: http://news.yahoo.com/topics/afghanistan. This website gave an update on the current Taliban problems that Afghanistan is having. The Taliban are the ones who are some of the worst terrorist the world has. They are the ones who attacked the U.S. on 9/11. President Bush did a lot to try to get rid of terrorists and have war against them. President O'Bama isn't as strong on the war on terror as Bush was. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/06/afghan-troop-withdrawal-gradual/. This news story about Afghanistan talks about President O'Bama's policy on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. This news story says it will not happen in 2011. (this is their opinion). The President does not want to do it all at once, he wants to make sure that the Afghan country will succeed and be able to take care of themselves before all of the U.S. pulls out of their country. If the U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan too soon or all at once, it will just create the same problem and maybe worse - more terrorists. The President also recently announced that he wants to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to help them out. The general over there had actually asked for 40,000 extra troops, but the President is hoping that NATO will supply the extra 10,000 troops. The United States is not making a time table and insisting that they be out of Afghanistan by a certain time. They will pull the troops out slowly to make sure that Afghanistan is ready to control their own country. These current stories could affect the women and their jobs either way I think. If the U.S. pulls out too soon, the Taliban could take over Afghanistan again and the women may lose everything and have to start all over again. Since more troops are going in now, the women may have a chance to survive a little while longer with their jobs and their businesses. I really believe that this country wants to be free from terrorists, but it takes more than just wanting it for it to happen. The whole country needs to pull together and work hard, like the U.S. did when we got independence from Britain back in 1776. Once Afghanistan becomes a free democratic country and can keep it that way, these women's jobs will succeed and the women will earn more rights like we have in the U.S. I don't think it will happen quickly, but the women will have to be patient to get everything they want.
Reflect: I am very happy and proud for Afghanistan as they get nationalism. They are fighting for their own national identity just as the French did (Chapter 10). Before, the people of Afghanistan just lived the only way they knew how to - under the rule of terrible leaders that hurt their people. Now that we have gone in and showed them a better way of living, running their own democratic country, being able to vote for their leaders, the people of Afghanistan are wanting this too. These people are very devoted to their country. They are not leaving their country just because they are in conflict with the Taliban. Some people have fled, but for the most part, most have stayed to fight for their country. The people of Afghanistan are now in a revolution for their country - just like the revolution of other countries when they want to be different than the way they are being run. The U.S. had a revolution against the British. The French revolted. It happens when a country is being run wrongly and the people want something better than what they have. This is what is going on in Afghanistan now. The people want a better life. They want to be free. They want their children to have a better life. They want to chose their rules and make their own laws. They do not want to stand by and watch their country go down the drain. As long as the Taliban are there, their country will struggle. I am happy that the country of Afghanistan is trying to get better.