Chapter 20

This will probably be my favorite chapter. The World Wars were always very fascinating to me, especially the social ideas and events that came with them. One aspect that I want to touch on first is the Great Depression. I find it very interesting because it was the first time that capitalism was hit and went on a downward spiral. It really made me understand better how capitalism really worked when Strayer described the background of it and how it is unstable, "with cycles of boom and bust, expansion and recession." In the millennium, I find that we are still struggling with our economic system such as the recession in the late 2000s, and how the significant social inequalities still exist. Another part of this chapter that I always enjoyed reading about was the women of this time period. The "flappers" were very comfortable with themselves, and it also reminds me of the music and some of the artists around that time. Josephine Baker was the first person that came to mind. Of course I could not help but to mention Hitler and his Nazi Regime. After taking the Holocaust class, I found myself very fascinated by Germany's expression of European fascism. With that being said, I was captivated by Strayer's last words in this chapter, "History repeats itself most certainly only in its unexpectedness." I am not in no way comparing anyone to Hitler, but I find that we often find ourselves going back to certain mindsets that could potentially not only make that certain aspect of history repeat itself, but others as well. With the flappers, I think of the Women's March and how women are expressing themselves in a certain way today. With the Great Depression, we had a Great Recession and are still fighting with how the economic system should be in the U.S. With Germany's past issues, I think of the people who still have this kind of Nazi mentality and are now emboldened to enforce them in very subtle ways. I find myself very much engaged in how Strayer presents these chapters.

Chapter 19

In Chapter 19, it was very fascinating to me to read and learn about China's struggles. I always thought of China as a powerful and independent nation and did not realize that they had their share of struggles economically, socially, and politically. It was surprising to learn how China was behind on the Industrial Revolution since their population soared from being a success earlier in time. One aspect that I thought was interesting was how women were treated and a concern for their rights during reform. Many women suffered from the Industrial Revolution since they were excluded from political life and only way to survive was by working in the factories, which were in terrible conditions. I also laughed inside when Europe or "the West" were considered "barbarians," which I agree in that the West were barbaric in how they conquered and became powerful and successful globally. That brings me to the reflection at the end of this chapter when Strayer questions what was actually successful in history and what were the failures. Like Strayer, I think that that question depends on what we consider more important for a nation in terms of being successful and/or failing. When I read over the reflection, it made me reflect on the "successes" of the Western civilizations and if I would really consider them a success. I think that I would disagree in terms of morale and ethics because what the West did and how they became successful was very wrong in my eyes, and I somewhat see it as a failure. Furthermore, I consider them a failure because we are continuously dealing with the same problems since colonization with issues including equality, justice, and much more that are constantly haunting us. Therefore, I believe that it depends on your own interpretation of how you view succeeding in life and failing in life.

Chapter 18

This chapter reminds me of my research paper that I just wrote for this class. This chapter explains how Europeans thought of themselves as superior and entitled to anything they wanted. It further describes how colonial rule over different empires such as Africa, Asia, and India brought a lot of racism and inequality, but they were still very successful economically. It is very frustrated but somewhat fascinating how the Europeans were very successful with doing what was very wrong socially, politically, economically, and morally. I could not help but to think about slavery in the American South when Strayer stated that European men wanted to be called "master" and called African men "boy." It also reminded me of that when they limited the education in order to keep the natives inferior. The intro stated how the Europeans spoke to the Africans in Swahili even though some were very fluent because the Europeans want that kind of superiority over them and other natives. Even though I knew South Africa experienced the terrible effects of colonial rule, I did not realize that the Europeans settled in many countries to instill their own ways of living. With colonial rule, the Europeans wanted to bring their culture to these new empires regardless of the native culture that existed first. This is nothing new to me nor others who pay attention to history. Because of colonial rule, ideas of racism, and other kinds of superiority from the Europeans were spread throughout the world, well at least in my opinion I think so. The fact that the Europeans tried to scientifically prove that they were racially superior further proves what occurred after those years like the Holocaust with effects that society still endures today. I like how this chapter goes into great detail about what colonial rule was all about around the world and its effects. I think that this shows how far we have come, but we still need to be aware and notice some of the aftereffects that are happening today.