REFLECTION

  I've learned a lot from listening to my classmates' presentations. Everyone is so creative and their presentations are all original. They wear costumes to help us understand more about the place they're talking about and also interacted with us so the presentation won't be as boring. I especially like Kelly's presentation because it's fun, entertaining, and also very educational. She had costumes on to let us have a clear idea of what she's presenting about. She doesn't have to say what she's going to present and I already have a good idea of what she's going to talk about. She also brought food and taught us how to dance the Hula dance, which is a traditional dance in Hawaii. It's very entertaining and educational. I think that everyone really did a good job. I also want to thank Mr. and Mrs.K for giving us the opportunity to choose our own topics and giving us so much time to work on it. And thank you for helping me learn so much about things I don't really get to learn in other classes! (:

Case Study 5

Local problems in LA

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States. With the great number of population, crime is one of the major problems. The average crime rate in Los Angeles, either violent or property crime, is higher than the national average.

The Crime Statistics shows that the crime being most performed is larceny or theft. It has been a big problem since there are 77,111 crimes being reported. The second highest is car theft, the rate is 33,555.

In the downtown area of Los Angeles, there are not much parking lots for people to park their cars. So people might park their cars in narrow alleys or places where there are not a lot of people around. These places give the thieves more opportunity to steal someone else’s cars and belongings.

Due to the high population of the city, the price of the products are getting higher and higher. Wealthy people are making more money; however, people in the lower class cannot afford to pay double the money for a product. In order to feed their families, people started to do illegal things such as stealing.

To keep the crime rate in LA from increasing, the government should put on strict restrictions about migrants from coming into the place. The government should also make sure that the price of the products are fair for both high class and lower class citizens. Good policies from any kind of government are always better for the citizens.

Infographic

Opinion

            The crime rate in Los Angeles is increasing each year. In order to reduce the crime rate, I think that the government should set up really strict policies about immigrating into the city, how high and low the price of each product will be, and also set up birth policies like China.

            If Los Angeles government set up these policies and regulations related to them, it can reduce the population growth of Los Angeles and other problems. When less wealthy people come into Los Angeles, the price of products won’t increase in such a rapid rate, people who are in the lower class will be able to afford their basic needs and feed their families. This way, these people won’t have to regulate the law and do things that will get them into trouble.

            I also think that the government should give people who are in the lower class to have some benefits such as helping them to pay a proportion of their children’s tuition fees. Children will be educated; they will know what’s right and what’s wrong to do. With the more educated children and less burden of the family’s economy, I believe that there will be less stealing, murdering, suffering…etc. It will really improve the society and also the level of all the citizens in Los Angeles. 




Documentary

AFRICA

 
  This is the movie Hotel Rwanda that we watched last week. It's a very touching movie and it's really hard to believe that something like that actually happened in real life! All the killing and the rebellion!! I can't believe that someone like Paul ever existed on this planet Earth! He is so brave, so responsible and so loving. After watching all the kids singing and smiling at the end of the movie really moved me inside. After all the things they have been through, they haven't become full of hatred and terrified; instead, they smile and sing and showed that they are all innocent victims of this war that the adults set up.
  
3 PERSPECTIVES
 
  The government officials in the movie and also in real life Rwanda is corrupted. They did not have more powerful police force to keep the rebellion down and they didn't do anything when there's something so big going on. Hundreds and millions of people were killed but they just sat there and do nothing. It's not what a good government should do. They should be setting up laws and restrictions about what they will do to the rebels. 
  The foreign aid gives a really big hand to the country. They provided medical care and help to the country, also help taking care of the children and the refugee who are hurt or lost their family. They have doctors, medical resources, and clean environment for the refugee. I think the foreign aid really had an impact on the people in the war zone because they help the people and they show them love and care. These people, who lost their families and the people they love during the war, will be very thankful to the people who are providing medical care.




  As I had mentioned before, the people who lost their families need support and love. Most of the children were hidden by their parents so they survived through the war while their parents were caught and killed my the rebels. These children lost their parents and were found by the foreign aid people and they were brought to be treated with proper medical care. I think that the children will hopefully be thankful to the people who had helped them and they can know how to take a good care of their next generation.






CAUSE AND EFFECT


  The main cause of the rebellion and killing is based on the idea that the Europeans gave them, which is racism. The Belgian colonial power divided the Rwandians into two groups which is Tutsi and Hutu. Tutsi are people who owns more than ten cows or people with a longer nose. Since the Tutsi people has a physical feature similar to the Belgians, they set up a racial theory about how the Tutsi people have European ancestry and considered them more superior than the other Africans. So when the Belgian colonial power first entered Rwanda, they only allow the Tutsi people to be educated and be involved in the colonial government. However, the majority, which is the Hutu, are not satisfied about this. After the Belgians left, they leave the power to the Hutu people. So I think this is why the Hutu people started the rebellion and killed so much people.

   Hutu guerrillas

  
This is how a typical Tutsi looks like.           

This warrior dance is specially performed for the Tutsi King..

CLASSMATE'S EYES ON AFRICA

  The project that really got in to my head deep deep down is Tracy's project! It's not only just fun with all the activities, but I have also learned a lot from those activities. We had to trace our hands on newspaper and cut it down and ask how much money we can get from the officers perspective. It's not really fair because we worked so hard but the officers were so picky about the quality! We did our best! This helped me understand more how harsh the condition was for the Africans when they actually had to cut their hands down and get just a little money from the Europeans.
  It's really hard to find a diamond. I found one in the last five minutes of the activity and the second one in the last two minutes. It's super hard! Especially when you were in a war zone looking for diamonds and you were in danger of being shot in any second when you were only seventeen years old! It's really stressful! All these diamonds were sold in a cheap price and those diamond miners only get a small portion of the money. It's really not fair for the workers. 
  From these activities, I've ever learned more deeply into the subject that I've known a bit before. And I can know how their feelings were when they only got a little money from the officers and when they were mining diamonds. 

 

Trailer for the movei "Blood Diamond".

EYES ON AFRICA


  I did the tribe Ashanti for my Eyes on Africa project. Ashanti is a tribe that locates in Ghana, it was once a rich country that traded with Portugal very often and became close trading partners. But after the British power came, they still couldn't deny the destiny that they will be conquered. After the British came, they were forced to go gold mining and plant crops like the other poorer African countries. They grow crops such as cocoa beans, corn, oranges and many others. Now Ghana is the second most largest cocoa producer in the world. They also export logs. Nowadays, the majority of people in Ghana are producers of the crops and some of the others mine gold. Even though they couldn't go back to the days when they were one of the strongest and richest countries in Africa, they can still feed themselves and make money for themselves!

Case Study 3

Weeks March 7 ~ March 14

African Development
The first homosapiens emerged in East Africa. Agriculture began about 10000 B.C. The very first civilized country is Egypt and later in Maghreb. From the 15th century, Europeans and the Arabs took slaves from West, central and the Southeast of Africa. European colonization of Africa developed rapidly in the Scramble for Africa of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Scramble for Africa is also known as Race for Africa, it's one of the most important parts of African history. European countries started dividing up Africa without dealing contracts or their permission. The African leaders such as the Ashanti, the Abissinians, the Moroccans and the Dervishes sought to resist the European aggression; however, they could not fight over the advanced weapons that the Europeans had.
 England trying to get all the land they wanted.

This picture shows how much slaves the Europeans countries are trading. Hundred and thousands of Africans had to be squished inside the ship that's taking them from Africa to the European countries. They have been given no food, water and a lot of torture is going on.

When the slaves get on to the ship, they were to be tortured by the Europeans in the cruelest way you can't imagine. The Europeans seems to be happy to torture them and they see it as a kind of entertainment.

There are slave trades going on since the 15th century; however, it's just a small amount of them. In the 18th and the 19th century, when "Scramble for Africa" is happening, thousands and millions of slaves were brought from Africa to other colonies that the European countries have. The thicker the arrows are, the more amount of slaves are imported into other places.


European Economics in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, there was a period of time called "The Great Depression"(1873~1896). It's also known as the "Black Tuesday".  In the late 19th century, European economic started break down and decline. The United Kingdom is often considered to have been the hardest hit; during this period it lost some of its large industrial lead over the economies of Continental Europe. In the late 19th century, many wars such as the Franco-Prussian War, American Civil War just ended, the economic status of the world is not stable. In addition, the booming stock prices in central Europe had reached a fever pitch plus the failure of the banks hadling the stock prices, the economy in Europe collapsed. With all the factories closing, many people were unemplyed, they couldn't even find the most simple job such as cleaning the floor. The second effect is poverty. People who are not employed have no income; thus, they can't afford to buy food. The third effect is homelessness. People who couldn't afford to pay rents were wandering on streets, not just adults but also children! They walk on streets holding up signs that says "I need a job" or something similar to that.

Innocent children walking on streets and holding up signs that reflects to the difficulties their families are facing.

Jobless and homeless families were forced to live on the only property they have left, which is their truck. It's the only shelter they have.


Profilce Character
David Livingstone
David Livingston is the most popular national hero in the 19th century. He is a missionary, a scientific investigator, an explorer and the most important, he is an anti-slave crusader. He explared all throught the Nile River and drove Europe into the time period of the obssession of Central Africa. David Livingstone used to work as a missionary in Southern Africa. He found a water fall which he named "Victoria Falls". While he's exploring Africa with a few of his servants, he preached along the way; he preached a Christian message, but did not force it to unwilling ears. David Livingstone lost contact with the outside world for the last six years of his life and spent the last four of them ill. He did write letters to people outside Africa, but they arrived after his death.


Henry Stanley
Henry Stanley is a journalist and an exploreer. His parents were unmarried when he was born, so his birth certificate refers him to as the stigma of illegitimacy. At the age of 18, he decided to move to the United States and start a new life. He then met a person named Henry Hope Stanley and he adopted him, so his name became Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley also participated in the American Civil War. Following the Civil War, Stanley became a journalist. In 1896, Stanley was instructed by Benett's son, which is his owner's son, to find Dvid Livingstone whom people have not heard for some time. It was a long and harsh journey to find Livingstone. Some of his servants deserted him during the journey. At last, Stanley found Livingstone, and his famous phrase was spread world wide, "Dr. Livingstone, I persume?"


Shaka
Shaka, known as Shaka Zulu, is the most influential leader in the Zulu Kingdom. He united tribes in the Nrothern Africa and is known for his reforms and innovations. He spent his childhood in his mother's settlement and learned to be a warrior. After his father's death, Shaka defeated his brother and assumed leadership. Since he had a background as an warrior, he taught his tribe that the fastest way to gain power is by conquering and fighting, so he called out wars and united the tribes in Northern Africa.

Case Study 3

Weeks February 7 ~ February 11

French Revolution

Absolute monarchy was first started by King Louis XIV. From then on, the king should not be restricted by any law, which means that the king can do anything without the restriction of the law. During the 18^th century, there were three estates; the First Estate includes clergy, the Second Estate includes nobility, finally, the Third Estate includes all the generality. The First and Second Estate didn’t have to pay taxes, in other words, the Third Estate had to pay all the taxes and labor.

  While King Louis XVI was the king, France had some financial crisis. Due to the poorness of the country, citizens became furious and broke into Bastille. After breaking into Bastille, the Third Estate gained the power to control France so they executed King Louis XVI. At the same time, Robespierre started the Reign of Terror and arrested people against him, but at last, he was executed, just like King Louis XVI.

Scramble for Africa

  A process of invasion, attack, occupation, and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period. The partitioning of Africa may be seen as a way for the Europeans to eliminate the threat of a Europe-wide war over Africa.

 

This picture shows that the European countries are trying to conquer all the countries in Africa.

   From the beginning of the Age of Discovery, in the 15th century, European explorers started sailing across seas to explore new lands for their country. European exploration of the African interior began in earnest at the end of the 18th century. By 1835, Europeans had mapped most of northwestern Africa. In the middle decades of the 19th century, the most famous of the European explorers were David Livingstone and Serpa Pinto, both of whom mapped vast areas of Southern Africa and Central Africa.

  The 1870s, European states still controlled only 10 percent of the African continent, all their territories being near the coast. The most important holdings were Angola and Mozambique, held by Portugal; the Cape Colony, held by the United Kingdom; and Algeria, held by France.

Weeks February 14 ~ February 18

Population

 

  The world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Black Death around the year 1400. Annual births have reduced to 140 million since their peak at 173 million in the late 1990s, and are expected to remain constant, while deaths number 57 million per year and are expected to increase to 80 million per year by 2040. Current projections show a continued increase of population with the population expected to reach between 7.5 and 10.5 billion in the year 2050.

19th Century in Economics

  There are three realities in economics: capitalism, socialism, and “third-way” solutions. Capitalism started in the 18th century during the Industrial Revolution. The main point of capitalism is that all profits go to those who own the means of the production.
  The basic thesis of free enterprise is best explained by Ludwig von Mises’s “Human Action”. In the book, Ludwig wrote that the consumer is the king. In free enterprise, price is determined by no specific group of sellers or buyers. The market is basically controlled by the “invisible hand”. The invisible hand creates complex relationships to meet all the society’s needs and it makes changes to meet the changing needs under a changing circumstance.
  If you own many capital and you get more profits in return, then you’re a perfect capitalist. A perfect capitalist owns all the means of production and gets all the profits. This idea came from Karl Marx. Perfect capitalism is capitalism without a free market.
  Human participation can be counted as a capital. Participation can be in many different forms, such as sharing risks of ownership, coming up with ideas…etc. Human capitalism happens when sharing profits based on the level of participation.
  Participatory economics includes Big business, Big labor and Big government. These three categories are very large opponents in participatory economics.
  Human participation can be in various forms, for instance, creativity and information. With these elements, we can meet the needs of the market and create the most amount of wealth.

Weeks February 21~ February 28

Rough Draft

  Capitalism and socialism has many differences and similarities. They both gave people all the power to be shared equally. However, capitalism is where free competition and free market takes place; socialism is when all power is being shared equally. Since the 19^th century, both capitalism and socialism exist and they were used in different countries.

The similarities between capitalism and socialism are they agree with free enterprise, they allow having all the power to be shared equally. They both give companies a free market, which means that they won’t be involved in the economy; it is also called the “invisible hand”. They also give enterprises the opportunity of free competition.

Capitalism is when private enterprise owns their own private profits. They don’t need to share with others nor give it to the government; only do they need to pay a fixed portion of their profit. Business owners can have the direct profit and workers can have wages depending on how much they have put effort into the business. Socialism is happens when everything is equal. Enterprises still have to pay a fixed portion of tax, but the “fixed portion” is quite a lot. When all the money goes to the government, the government will give all citizens a high quality living environment. They will have good welfare such as getting a lot of money after retirement and children can go to school for free till college.

People who are more justice and who will feel bad if people are treated unevenly will be more likely to like socialism. These people are usually from the middle class or lower. Though they don’t earn as much money as the upper class or people who make more money than they do, they want the same benefits the upper class has. Other people who gravitate toward capitalism are the people who are in the upper class or people who are wealthy. These people are usually satisfied with what they have and own, they deserve to get the good welfare since they paid more tax than others.

In conclusion, “free” is the main similarity between capitalism and socialism; “equality” is the main difference between them. Both of these economic systems are used since the 19^th century till now, no matter how good or bad it is, they are formed by our ancestors’ wisdom.