The Few, the Many, and Us

The humanist, the capitalist, the communist, the engineer, the pragmatist all met in this blog by Miguel. I have to confess that amidst all the tension of quarter grades and Communities of the World my perspective got fussy. I really forgot the reason why I chose to teach at TASIS until I read all your reactions to Miguel’s posting. You make me very proud. As a group, you have hit the core issue: should the state decisions and policies benefit the few or the many?

As you study in Rome, large scale decisions were made for the few in the name of the many. Conquering Gaul was for the “glory” of Rome, but in reality it provided Julius Caesar and his generals more land to distribute among war-weary veterans plus a chip on the shoulder to the would-be imperator. The Caesar boosted his troop's morale and credibility plus secured their loyalty.  In China,  the Qin Emperor built one of the world wonders for the “security” of the state (and as you remember according to Confucian beliefs, state goes before individual) in seven years. None of you live in a bubble because in your comments there is the awareness that the GOOD OF THE MANY WILL ALWAYS ENTAIL THE NEGLET OF THE FEW. Andy is right, but also Robert. Who holds the wealth and the lever that decides which humans are expendable in the name of the collective well being? Hyper powers like the Roman Empire and the Han made decisions that ended the lives of many but also pushed population, progress, and even peace… of course perishable, yet Pax.

The problem becomes when the expendable few become the many, at this point FOCDoM takes over and the wheel of history goes for a spinning.  Is an egalitarian system like communism the cure for this historical fist that has befallen upon the expendable? Is capitalism the ladder towards escaping the unfortunate few “status”? What happens when the monster mutates into STATE-CAPITALISM like China? Are all these economic systems just flawed and bound to do atrocities in the name of the collective well-being?

What is the United States without the genocide of its Native American inhabitants or slavery? What is the United States without its welcoming arms receiving the exodus of starving and persecuted immigrants in Elis Island?

What is the former Soviet Union without the forced relocation of steppe people to state farms and labor camps, its gulags and annihilation of dissenters, and the pogroms (skirmishes) to Jews before WWII? What is the former Soviet Union without crushing Nazi Germany from the Eastern Front and defeating Hitler before any other power?

Caramba, maybe we are all well aware of these contradictions but choose to live in a bubble, like Andy said. Or we are pretty much Confucians yet closeted Taoist (like in Han China): we comply we our Ziggurat/Shopping Mall duties in the name of our trusted economic system and abide the law, yet in our privacy and intimacy we believe that state power is futile, flawed, unnecessary and like Jose Oscar pondered, even capable of destroying its own citizens to achieve its goals. 

But if we are not in a bubble, and like Siddhartha, we have realized that this is a world of suffering, and like Emperor Asoka (of the Mauryan Empire) we decide to open temples and multiply good deeds, that this is our time to clear Karma, maybe we are humanists. Take for instance Fafi and Andy, they both participate in drives and fundraisers to help those in need. Although Andy never brags about it, but he and his mother participate in many activities aimed at the improvement of those “expendable” few. So do all of you in school through community service and other efforts.  Now, one thing that we will all disagree with Siddhartha is his detachment to the flesh- but that’s another debate.

I think that the most important thing is to be humanist (like Fafi stated), and perhaps, be a contributing or positive factor to counter act the moments when the collective well-being threatens the powerless. Gabi’s soccer ball is a beginning. Yet we should live in a state of doubt like Osqui, we ought to be pragmatic like Miguel, capitalist like Andy, communist like Robert, and… well, you get the notion.

The Way and its Power

This chapter caught my attention because of the philosophies created during and after the period of the Warring States, specifically Daoism. The grand scheme of conquering and being conquered is very interesting, and significant, but even more remarkable, is how through all the violence, man can detach himself from the survival mind frame to reflect, reminisce, and evaluate himself, his surroundings and how it all fits in the worldly equation, to ultimately create a philosophy of life, society, human interpretation (of basically everything), and how people should function and behave, in the hopes for peace and prosperity within a civilization, but more importantly within oneself.
Daoism ,like Confucianism, is exactly that.
In the core of Daoism, the Daodejing stands as the core text of the philosophy, not religion, with small verses of nature, simplicity, how to live life, what philosophically Daoism is, excetera.
The verse in our History book ,in p.212, talks about simplicity, and completely motivated me to find more verses from the Daodejing. Here are three verse from the Daodejing about Qualities, distractions and the continuity of Tao. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Comment and make your own interpretation on those and any other poem that connect to you personally from the site: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-ex.html


Distraction
Too much color blinds the eye
Too much tone deafens the ear
Too much taste dulls the palate
Too much play maddens the mind
Too much desire tears the heart.
The sage provides for the belly, not for the senses;
He lets go of sensation and accepts substance.

14. The Continuity of Tao

Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beyond form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beyond sound;
Grasped at but cannot be touched - it is beyond reach;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.
In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what can not exist,
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name mystery,
Meet it, it has no face,
Follow it, it has no back.
Understand the past, but attend the present;
In this way you know the continuity of Tao,
Which is its essence.

Qualities

When Beauty is recognised in the World
Ugliness has been learned;
When Good is recognised in the World
Evil has been learned.
In this way:
Alive and dead are abstracted from growth;
Difficult and easy are abstracted from progress;
Far and near are abstracted from position;
Strong and weak are abstracted from control;
Song and speech are abstracted from harmony;
After and before are abstracted from sequence.
The sage controls without authority,
And teaches without words;
He lets all things rise and fall,
Nurtures, but does not interfere,
Gives without demanding,
And is content.

Go to the link and read poems # 1, 4, 10, 16, 25, 29, 34, & 60. They'll help you grasp what Daoism is better (if a definition can be grasped).

Over Population, China a window of our future?

Through the history of China, one can notice that the common man is not given many rights. When making the Great Wall of China it took millions of people. Those people worked in dangerous terrain and many lost their lives. In modern china we can still see this type of projects were many people are affected negatively, such as the making of the Three Gorges Dam (the world’s largest man-made producer of electricity from renewable energy) or even more recent, when making the beautiful buildings where the Beijing Olympics were held. In the making of this two modern projects MILLIONS of people where displaced and kicked out of their homes. This is where one can become aware of how the human mind works. If you have millions of marbles, it does not hurt you to lose a few thousand if it makes you more powerful. In the case of the Chinese however, since they have billions of people, it does not bother them to lose a few million to be more powerful. The Chinese have so many people, that the life of one person could count for nothing. We can notice this sad truth in an article of a newspaper (Prof. Terris should have it), where the body of a baby is seen in a side of a street for a whole day and no one pays attention to it, until one man finally puts the body in a shoe box and throws it away.
Now, many people might say that sometimes you have to sacrifice a few percent (which may still mean a big amount) for the benefit of the majority. This will mean losing some of the key rights of the individual. I just want to hear what you guys have to say about this, and come up with solutions (be creative) to the problem of overpopulation which your children may have to face since the population is expected to more than double in the next 60 years. Soon it won’t be only China and India who will be facing this problem. HAVE FUN!!!

Critics and Critiques of Athenian Democracy http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml

Since we just finished Chapter 5: The Dawn of Empires I thought that it would be very interesting to broaden our understanding of one of the empires we studied. As part of the Participation in Democracy class we studied the foundation of democracy, which the chapter briefly explained on. That is why this topic that I choose for our discussion is based upon the creation of democracy and the Greek’s genius to create political theory. You will find this piece of information on the following link: www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml The biggest reason for this topic and work to be discussed is the fact that the first appearance of the formal concept of democracy was when it was presented as a type of government to replace the forceful tyranny imposed by Cambyses II. This we know did not win because Darius succeeded him with his autocracy. I hope that you all find this article and topic as interesting as I did. Contribute greatly to this blog post and have fun.

P.S. Don't forget to "click" next after you have finished the opening page, it is a set of 5.

Olimpics : Then & Now

A bit past the date of the Olympics but since we had the competitions this year I thought it would be interesting to post an article I found on BBC that compares the purpose and the way people view the Olympics in Ancient Greece versus the phenomena that it is now. Before, the Olympics were a popular way to encourage fitness and the winners were thought to be championed by the gods. Nowadays, you see that the promotion if athleticism is still the key part of the Olympics but we see that it has turned from a religious focus to that of national identity and pride for your country. What is your take on the matter?

Link : http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greek_olympics_01.shtml

P.S.:
Sorry, I'm not that skilled at this so I do not know how to post a link.

Aksum Obelisk back home

After being take in 1937 by Mussolini's troops, Aksum's Obilisks have been reinstalled in Ethiopia. These 1700 year old 24m high 150 ton Obelisk were taken to Rome and were given back to Ethiopia in 2005. They now serve as a symbol of cultural identity to the Ethiopian community.

Article from http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/444

The first phase of the re-installation works of the Aksum Obelisk, also known as Stele 2, in its original location at the World Heritage site in Aksum, Ethiopia was completed on 12 June 2008. The first of three blocks of the stele, which stands 24.3 metres high and weighs 152 tons, was successfully and smoothly mounted.

The Aksum Obelisk re-installation project, funded by the Italian Government and conducted by UNESCO contractor Croci Associati, is using an innovative high-technology approach, and its implementation represents a technical feat of colossal scale. The project has been prepared to ensure a zero-risk approach for the monument and the surrounding site. The successful mounting of the first block is an extremely important step confirming the soundness of the project's complex design as well as the skills of the UNESCO contractors, the construction company Lattanzi and the supervision team (Croci Associati, SPC Engineering, and MH Engineering).
The remaining two blocks will be reinstalled from 16 to 31 July 2008, one year after the start of this exceptional project.

The inauguration ceremony will take place on September 4th.

AP WORLD HISTORY

WHICH HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE CIVILIZATION ?

A Perfect Way to Close Early Civilizations

From my highest branch I witness cities rise and fall.
For most of your years I told you all that I saw.
Yet, all that wisdom is all for not,
If you crossover and our wisdom is forgot.

This stanza of Roberto's poem is perfect to close our discussions pertaining early civilization. After all, the figure of the tree is imprinted with the traces of civilization. It may bare those marks the are long lasting- the arrowhead, the bullet, the forest blaze, the carved names of young lovers, the nails of countless signs... or maybe the hanging place of the criminal or the innocent. As each civilization reaches its apex and declines, it leaves its fragmented memories like riddles. Who knows? We shall be like Roberto's tree and preserve the testimony and wisdom of these early civilizations... if there was wisdom.

I have selected Cecilia Joy to be the coordinator of our next discussion. She has the duty to serve as the omniscient voice that will guide us through the discussion.

As we all know North America and Asia were connected by a land bridge called Beringia caused by our most recent ice age. Historians have said that the first Americans arrived in 10,000 BCE from Asia when the ice age ended through the land bridge connecting Asia and North America. Since it is said that the first people in America came through Beringia when the ice age was ending (10,000 BCE) then to get walking all the way to Mexico should have taken them a pretty long time since from Alaska to Mexico is approximately 5,000 miles away. This history fact is already “smashed” because the finding of the oldest skeleton in the Americas, which is found in Mexico and is 13,600 years old, contradicts this fact. So the first people that arrived to the Americas were not from 10,000 BCE and didn’t came through Beringia. The most logical the first Americans arrived was by boats that came from Asia most likely doing island hoping they encountered the whole Pacific Ocean until getting to Mexico accidentally.

Map of Byzantine Constantinople

"The Seige of Constantinople", 1499

A New Archaeological Site in Mexico Further Contradicts the Bering Strait Theory

As a social studies student I was taught the Bering Strait theory of migration as the origins of America's first settlers. As a college student I couldn't care less about pre-history due to my obsession with XX century history. As a regular history and geography teacher, I tried to simplify the theory for easy digestion. As your APWH teacher (and learner), I have read and reflect upon evidence (like Monte Verde, although not universally accepted by all historians), that pushes back the dating of the migration from Asia to the Americas, or what is called "Pre-Clovis sites." Remember that Clovis is the "accepted" archaeological site accepted by most historians that shows evidence of the first migratory waves to the Americas. However, in the article by Eliza Barclay for Nat Geo News (September 3, 2008), Oldest Skeleton in Americas Found in Underwater Cave?, the date of the first migrations is pushed back further. Another revolutionary detail is that the physiology of this “Eve of Naharon” resembles that of the inhabitants of the South Asia (see map in posting). Thus, if the dating holds true, inhabitants of North Asia weren’t the first to inhabit the Americas.

What’s my point? Well, I want you to REACT to the possibility that the first inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere may have not been the classic stepped or mountainous hunter-gatherer party that we imagine hunting through Alaska, but instead they were from a whole different region with its own geography, which implies an issue of migratory routes or movement. How did these people reach the Americas? Which of theories of migration patterns to the America’s is best supported by this finding?

Also, remember that Spodek says “In many respects, the cities of the western hemisphere still had one foot in the Stone Age. Urban societies evolved much later in the Americas. […] These processes were much slower than in the river-valley civilizations of Eurasia perhaps because humans arrived in the New World relatively recently.”  If the “Eve of Naharon” finding establishes a new paradigm, will his assumption yet be substantiated or not? 

About the Ancient Amazon City Finding

Ancient Amazon Cities Found; Were Vast Urban Network

Can the culture whose urban remains have been recently uncovered in Brazil be considered a Neolithic village or a civilization? According to the information available in the Nat Geo piece, this city was made of village clusters organized like medieval towns in Europe. Well, what do you think? Can the organizing principle of civilization be applied to this finding? Or this is just a Ban Po or Jomon-like site? 

History is a work in progress. I am really interested in whether this archaeological site will establish a new paradigm or just add data to our current body of knowledge. The article also reports on the issue of environmental interaction. Would this place be an example of a form of civilization in balance with the environment? 

Read the article and react! Remember that this is free writing and that no APWH rubrics will be used to measure your inputs. Write poetry if you want to! But react! You can also post images, movies, and other media.

Welcome to Constaninople 1453

Constantinople was the last bastion of the Roman civilization. As the crossroads of three continents, the city's diverse population created a unique plural and tolerant setting that fostered the mix of classical knowledge with the ideas of scholars from other cultures. In 1453, Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, heavily shelled the city with cannons, a technological innovation that no European power possessed at the time, and conquered the city. After the defeat of Constantinople, the Byzantine world crumbled- and the "place" of thousands of individuals vanished. Empires and their capital cities often vanish. However, the Ottoman Empire and the city of Istanbul emerged. Such is the overwhelming force of history that I have decided to name our APWH Blog after the year in which a city became a historical memory.