Class Participation

    I think my class participation grade should be around a 90-95. I think this because I raise my hand nearly every class and usually pay attention. Sometimes I do get caught up and talk to people but, for the most part I always pay attention and get involved in ever class.

New Guinea

     Today we did some group work in what Papua New Guinea is like today and we got some pretty amazing facts:

• Has the 12th fastest growing economy in the world
• Home to many, many animals because the area is mostly rural, so they're not deforesting the land so the animals have places to live, unlike most countries who clear out masses of land to make big cities
• There is over 800 languages put to use among the population
• 11 languages have no human speaker
• Very little interactions among people so they develop their own language
• Can cause tribal conflict
• Net migration rate is zero
• Surprisingly so because of their rising economy
• Not a lot of pull forces
• There is 542 unpaved runways
• 20 paved runways
• 37 percent of the population is over the poverty line
• Only 6 Universities
• 42.7 percent of the population is illiterate, this affects particularly women
• 13 percent of the population lives in urban areas
• over 50 percent of the world population lives in urban areas
•  3,100 out of 6 million people are actively in the military
• Seems small, but they are not a target of attack
• 125,000 people have access to the internet. 
• 
  

Wheat! (GGS Cont.)

       Today we watched part 6 of Guns, Germs and Steel. It seemed like it was then end because Mr. Schick said we weren't watching all 18 parts and there was end credits so we might be finished with the documentary. Well anyway, the video today talked about why certain areas were more efficient to cater to farming needs. A major factor of this was because places on the equator were far better for farming because the climate and weather were ideal for farming crops. After we finished watching the video Mr. Schick emphasized on how much wheat is consumed. About 20 million tons of wheat is produced each year. So, that is around 40,000,000,000 pounds of wheat. All of that wheat is divided up into around 300 million people in the United States, which averages out to around 133 pounds of wheat per person. This means in one year the average person will have consumed 133 pounds of wheat in one year. This hows how important it was for people back then to be able to farm and have good conditions for farming because it was healthy, abundant, and your cattle could eat the leftovers and fertilize your farmland to make more. And today, if something isn't made with wheat, there's a good chance that it is made from some other grain like barley, rice, or corn. So, being in a good geographically friendly area for farming lead to big success for becoming a civilization and being able to survive.

GGS

       Today in class we continued watching Guns, Germs, and Steel like we have been doing. Today we branched out more on Jared Diamond's theory of geographical luck. Out of 148 possible species that could be domesticated, only 14 are. Them being goats, pigs, bali cattle, mithans, reindeer, horses, llamas, yaks, sheep, cows, donkeys, bactrian camels, arabian camels, and water buffalo.  Out of all of those domesticatable animals only one of those species originated from some place other than Asia. That animal being the llama which was located in Africa. Also, the fertile crescent was located in Asia. It had fertile land for farming and many species of domesticatable animals which provided aid in farming and gave them excess food. Also, those animals could be used to make clothing and other useful materials. All of these reasons lead to why Mesopotamia became the first civilization in history. So, the people who lived on the fertile crescent were clearly very geographically lucky because there were no other places in the world being as successful as them because no one had the same resources.

Guns Germs and Steel Part 3

     Today in class we began  finished watching part 2,3 and began on part 4 of Guns Germs and Steel and Diamond has gained clues to answering the New Guinean's question of why people in other areas are more advanced than others. One big part of the answer to this question was geographical luck. Based on where people were living, some people could thrive more than others because of their surroundings. People that are living in an area of a lot of fertile land are most likely going to thrive and prosper more than people who are living in a desert for example. This is because that landscape's geographical feature allows them to farm food, feed themselves and even animals. Animals are very important in this whole geographical luck situation too. This is because animals like goats and cows produce milk. But that's not all they do, when the people pick the stuff they want from when they farm, the animals eat the leftover and then fertilize the crops. So, it's a win-win situation. Mr. Schick also squeezed the 3 factor for a civilization. A large population, technilogical advancements, and division of labor.

Definitions

 Capitalism- an economic and political system that is based on private ownership of the means of production and the production of goods or services for profit. Lead by private individuals, Government doesn't tell you what to do.

Communism- A system of government meant to create a classless and stateless social order. Meant to make sure that everybody has enough money, too little or too high.

Free enterprise -An economic system where few restrictions are placed on business activities and ownership.

Free market-  a market where the price of a good or service is determined by supply and demand, rather than by governmental regulation.

The People's Republic of Capitalism

     Today in class we continued watching the YouTube video an moved onto part two of the video. This video is all about the interdependence between the US and China. one important relationship between the US and China is the economy. People in the US are losing jobs because Americans wont work and do hard labor for little amounts of money, but the Chinese will. So, American people lose their jobs because all the these big companies lay people off of their jobs because , why pay more money to receive the same exact labor. But, there's a twist. This may sound bad because Americans are losing their jobs, BUT, since the companies are paying less money to have all of these items made, it costs a much lower price.
   In the video today it talked about the crowdedness of major cities. The automobile industry has just been introduced to China. Before cars, people commuted to destinations by mostly bicycle and by foot. Now with  have automobiles and an immense population, China's road systems are extremely loud, dangerous, and crowded. Also, most people never learned how to drive. So, imagine millions of people who are not particularly good at driving, driving around everywhere.