Make-up blogs. BEH & MIU-10

Before European Hegemony 3-184
The first part of the book focuses mainly on the trade practices which existed before the trade domination by Europe. This includes the different trading fairs, or the Champagne fairs, which served as sort of a gateway into the global trade. With the decline of the fairs, the commercial epicenter shifted to the Flander's cities, Bruges and Ghent. These two cities became the trading posts for european countries such as Italy and Britain, and served as a connector to the middle Eastern countries. With the Black Death wiping out large populations, the trade decreased and the “survival of the fittest” law took effect, as Venice emerged as the new commercial giant. The author later goes into discussion of the main middle eastern trade routes and the dominance of these routes, and the trade, by the Mongol Empire. During the Mongol Empire, foundations of the world trade system were starting to be formed and, closely resembled the trade structure of today's world, although, of course, on a much smaller scale.
The most fascinating event of the discussed time period to me was the spread of Black Death. It is a perfect example of the negative consequences of the global trade and capitalism. Carl Marx would probably be fast to note it as an instance of “capitalism destroying itself”. I wonder if there is something today that could do so much damage to the world trade? Global warming, perhaps?

Before European Hegemony 185-373
In the second half of the book, the author discusses the importance of the middle eastern countries, as well as China and India, along with their trade routes, in the world trade system. One of the most important trading routes was through the Red Sea, with India, and the numerous land routes to China. Much has changed when the Portuguese successfully completed their ambitious sail around Africa, thus eliminating the need for the Middle Eastern routes, which turned disastrous for the Middle eastern, especially Egyptian, economies. China's later withdrawal from the trade system was a devastating blow to the world system as it fell apart.
This last part does not really make that much sense to me, personally. Why would China make such a decision, when it had all the means necessary to become the world hegemon? Perhaps if it wasn't for that, we would be living in a China-dominated world even today? And, perhaps, there would never be a need for the Chinese revolution and the establishment of communism. Who knows?

Mix It Up 10

In this chapter, the author talks about the role of the internet in the modern age. He discusses the good and the bad sides of the newly emerged “virtual” world. Some of the good sides are that a lot of information is available instantly, although it may be overwhelming, which is not so good. He discusses the benefits of online video games, which can stimulate one's thinking and be otherwise beneficial to one's mental development, a statement I would disagree with. Grazier also talks about the bad side of the online world, giving examples such as the gambling student and the suicidal myspace girl. These cases are extreme and fail to show the complete picture. While someone gambles away thousands of dollars, someone else comes up with a fresh idea and makes millions. Or, while someone is thinking of suicide due to what someone said on myspace, someone else uses that same website to find the love of their life. Thus, I believe that there will always be the good and the bad, just as with anything else in this world. For a discussion question I will ask this: What do you, personally, think is better for you, a game of football/soccer/whatever sport or 5 hours playing warcraft? And there you go.