Identity and Culture

While reading this chapter about the cultural change in the second wave of European conquest, I can’t help but think back to the stories my parents used to tell me. My parents were both born and raised in Vietnam. By the time they were old enough to go to school the life style in Vietnam had completely change.  My mom would remember her siblings would go help their parents out on the farm, but my mom was lucky enough to attend school. She would remember her siblings talking about how they would have preferred to go to school because then they wouldn’t be stuck in the lifestyle that my grandparents lived in. Reading about the changes that some culture went through when the missionaries began to teach, allowed me to realize how each generation seems to appreciate the type of schoolings they receive. In the chapter Strayer mentions how the kids in countries like Kenya looked up to those kids that were able to go to school. They were happy to be assimilating into the European culture. And that was exactly how my mom felt when she was able to go to school.

            Listening to my parent’s younger days and reading about the type of education that was spread to Africa and Asian makes me appreciate our school system here in the United States. I know that the school system isn’t perfect and there is always budget cuts that cut off important classes, but we do have free public K-12 schooling. My mom always talked about how hard her parents had to work to send her to school, and the things that they learned wasn’t half as useful as what we learn in school today. Western education allowed the people of Africa and Asian to assimilate into the western lifestyle.

Second Wave of European Conquest

While reading about the Second Wave of Europeans colonialism, I couldn’t help but wonder how did the Asian countries like China and India go from being the top traders in the first wave of Europeans colonialism to being controlled by British rule. In previous readings we read about how China and India were high up in rank. The Europeans were the ones struggling to keep up with the trades because they didn’t have goods that the Chinese and Indians were interested in. But in this second wave of colonialism, the Europeans had more control. They didn’t use as much violence in this second round of colonialism but they did try and use military force to scare people into doing what they wanted them to do.

            As I got further into the reading I noticed that the citizens in Africa didn’t try and rebel. They may not have like what was happening to their countries but they didn’t try and fight back. I would think after the Haiti war the citizens of Africa, who were close in population to the Europeans, might have wanted to fight for their own land and freedom. It amazes me even after seeing other countries suffer; some countries don’t have the strength to fight for their freedom. I understand that the citizens of Arica may fear for their lives and their lives of their families, but Strayer mentioned that if the colonies didn’t meet their quota for the goods, often time their village would be killed and burned down too. The way I see it is the African citizens had a lose-lose situation. If they didn’t try and fight back then they were stuck in working under harsh conditions for the Europeans often time leading to their death, if they did try and fight back they could either be killed or they may even be successful.

            The images in this reading were really harsh this time. On page 600 there is an image of two young boys, each missing their hands. Due to harsh working conditions and the cruelty of the Europeans, people of all ages were suffering. Its heart breaking to see kids, who should be in school, working so hard. It’s sickening to see that some people don’t bother to think about the consequences of putting kids at work. If they needed labor that badly they should at least wait until the kids could grow into men. Kids don’t have the strength of an adult to work so hard. Their bodies are not meant to go through such harsh labors. It is crazy to think about how the colonies in the United States were fighting for their own labor rights around the time of the Second European colonialism. It’s true that it takes one change to bring on another form of change. Although the kids in Africa may have been suffering, eventually child labor will be combated. It may not be fully gone but it’s good to know that people are aware of it now.  

Communist Manifesto Part 1

While reading the Communist Manifesto, I couldn’t help but think about how the Bourgeois and Proletarians reminded me of the 98% and 2% group that was control in France. The Bourgeois may not have had as much as the 2% but they still looked down at the Proletarians. The Bourgeois expected those under them to make money for them. With this said I think it’s crazy how much money can change people. When people work hard for their money they can be proud because they know that they earned that money by themselves. They learn how to stretch a dollar because they know that having a job isn’t an easy thing to do, but they continue to work because they have to. But as soon as people acquire money, things start to change. They expect people to do things for them; they no longer value money because they know that there is more where they come from.

            Reading about how hard the Proletarians have to work in order to survive makes me think about the thousands of companies that still rely on sweatshop like working space. I know retail stores like Nike rely on workers from out of the country to work fast and efficiently. There have been lawsuits because the people working for such big corporations feel like they are still being underpaid and their long hours and harsh work environment is affecting their health. If I were to break this down in terms of Proletarians and Bourgeois terminology, those actually making the clothing would be the Proletarians and those working in the actually store selling the items would be the Bourgeois, then those that rank higher than store managers would be the 2%. Most of these companies started off small, they had one guy that came up with the idea and they just expanded. I wonder how the founders of such big retail chains have change? Are they still able to make a dollar stretch or does it not matter anymore because they bring in so much money.

            As someone who works for a big retail chain, I never really thought much about those who are actually making the clothes. I have always complained about how tiring it is to deal with customers and having to hear them complain about how they don’t like our store policy that I never really thought much about those actually making the clothes. I wonder how their working conditions are? How long do they usually work? Do they get the standard breaks that we do? Another thing that I have never really thought much about until now is when customers comment on how they love our store because of the “cheap prices” and “cheap but good enough material”. The customers are always telling me that they shop at Forever 21 because if they were to go to Nordstrom for a tank top they would pay at least 20 dollars, but at my store for 20 dollars they can get about six tank tops. This makes me wonder is our price cheap because the labor is cheap?

Echos of Revolution

Reading about the revolution has reminded me that the effects of the revolution still live on today. The younger generations may not have known what it feels like to be oppressed and violated, but they try to understand. The younger generations often tries to live with a daily reminder of how harsh the past must have been for the older generations. With this said, the reading about freeing the slaves reminded me of the other night when I went out with some girlfriends. I went out with a close friend and some of her classmates. We were in a group of six girls and they were all African American. After a night of dancing we decided to go out to Denny’s. We were taken to the back of the restaurant and we had terrible service. Some of the girls kept mentioning that the only reason they were place in the back was because of their race. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this because; I like to think that our world has change. Yes racism still exists, but the limitations that were once put on people of other ethnicity may still be around but it is limited. It’s interesting to see how people hold on to the past as a reminder to continue to fight on.

            I also found the reading on the feminists beginning very interesting as well. At one point in the reading, Strayer writes that the most radical women never took on their husband’s surname. This quote caught my eyes because it is interesting to hear what women now have to say about taking on their husband’s last names. My mom did not take my dad’s last name when they got married, and sometimes I have mixed feelings about whether or not I would take on my future husbands last name. The reason I have mixed feelings is because a part of me is saying that by taking my husband’s last name I am considered to be his; that I am passed down from my father to my husband. The other half of me tells me that if I loved a man then it should be okay to take their name. It doesn’t really change whom I am and if it really bothers me that much I can always hyphenate the two last names. So that I can have my old identity and new identity combined. 

French Revolution

Whenever I look back at the past history classes I have taken I realized that I don’t know much about the French Revolution. While reading about the change of power in France it was shocking to hear how the people revolted to the point where they would execute their own King and Queen. The clergy of the Catholic Churches must have been fearful of their lives because they had as much power as the King and Queen did. It was very disappointing to read about how much violent action the French counterpart participated in. Strayer mentions but doesn’t go in much details about the Reign of Terror, and it made me think about the lives that were all lost. If the French participated in the American Revolution, then they would have seen all the lives that were lost. The French should have learned from the mistakes of the Americans and try to preserve as much life as possible.

            It was really heart breaking to read that the French started destroying all things that once belong to the King and the Catholic Church. The reign of the King and the Churches must have been that terrible that the French citizens wanted to destroy all evidence. I would like to think that the French were people that prided themselves in their culture and they would have wanted to preserve what they had. One thing that I found very surprising in the reading was the leadership of Napoleon. I have always seen him portrayed as the bad guy, the person that is running people out of their homelands. But Strayer points him out in a positive view, he was a man that was expanding the French Ruling and he was fighting for equality in France. It was surprising to read about the positive facts of Napeople when I have always heard negative things about him.