Global Commerce

While reading about the commerce that used to be traded back in the 1450-1750, it made me think about how different the lives of the citizens used to be. When people needed supplies they would have to wait until the boat travels to their destination before they can buy and trade their supplies. In our modern day society, we have trucks that travel through well-paved routes and we have planes that can get our goods to wherever they need to be. I couldn’t image what it would feel like to live in a time where there is bloodshed over natural resources. At one point in the reading it stated that “15000 people were enslaved or left to starve…virtually the entire population was replaced with Dutch” (440). The Dutch killed the people of the Banda Islands because they wanted to take over their Nutmeg trade. It is ridiculous how so many people died due to the greed and needs of others.

            The numbers of death that resulted in other countries taking over smaller islands was horrifying but it does remind me of how we get our goods in America today. In the United States we don’t believe in harsh working conditions and we definitely don’t believe in child labor. But if we think about how we actually get our clothing and electronics we are not better than the other countries. We may not be murdering people to get what we want, but there have been many deaths due to harsh conditions in factories and just the fact that people are being overworked. It’s sad to say that while the world’s commerce has improved immensely, we still lack a proper way to function without human labor.