What is Power?

Power was a main theme that we covered this year in almost all the topics we studied.
First, during the topic of imperialism, we covered power because some countries had the power, while the other countries, in Africa for example, had no power whatsoever. The Europeans achieved the goals of gold, god, and glory. There was nothing positive for the Africans who were basically turned into slaves to accomplish European needs. This would probably go under political power, because politics basically has to do with governments. Later on, power was shown in both the World Wars. In WWI the Kaiser had power over all of Germany, and wanted to expand that power throughout the world. Unfortunately for him, the countries on the opposing side, like England and France, had much more power and were able to overcome Germany and its allies in the war. Political power was also shown during the Russian Revolution. The Russians revolted because they weren’t treated properly; as a result, the Bolsheviks took the power. Under the rule of Stalin, the Russians were even worse off than before the change of political power.
The World Wars are examples of economic power, because the countries with a greater economy won the war. They could afford better weapons and rations for the soldiers. As a result of this war, all the financial power shifted to New York, in the United States. The countries in the war lost most of their power because they owed money to lots of countries, of, in Germanys case, had to pay reparations for all the damage that was caused. After the wars, the two super powers were the USSR and the US. With all their power, both believed that their ideologies were the best. They tried their hardest to bring down the other countries economy, and in the end, the US won because Russia went bankrupt. Basically, higher economies have more power because they can achieve their goals much more efficiently.
The last type of power is personal power which was also shown throughout the year. One example is in the book Animal Farm. The pigs were the smarter animals, so, as a result they could control the environment around them and make everything work to their personal benefit. Because the book was an allegory of the Russian Revolution, it shows how Stalin took the power for himself and became dictator. Another example of personal power is from the book The House of the Scorpion. El Patron has all the power and makes everything around him work to his personal needs. He even lived 8 lives, because that’s what he wanted, and he was able to achieve it because of his power. Not all personal power has to be bad though. Matt had power, and made it work toward the good of society. I thought that power meant complete control over everyone, but then I realized that many times, people with power don’t always have control. This is why revolutions start, and why power is always shifting. And, this is why I think power is the ability to achieve a certain goal or purpose.

Quick Write- Power

In the House of the Scorpion, there are a lot of examples of power. The person who has more power than anyone else is El Patron. Because of this, he has control over them, but only to a certain extent. What he doesn't know is that there are people who he can't control all the time. An example of his power is when Celia is talking to Matt she says "Once El Patron decides something belongs to him, he never lets it go." (139 Farmer). Since Matt is El Patrons clone, he also has power over people, but this doesn't mean he has control because there is no one who listens to him. Instead, he's treated like livestock, but he still has power. This is showed when El Patron says "Anyone-anyone- who messes with Matt will be dealt with severely. Do I make myself clear?" (63 Farmer). In this way, Matt can do whatever he wants, and no one can stop him or get in his way unless they want to be turned into eejits. Later on Matt realizes he only has power because people are afraid of El Patron and no one want's to be a living robot. When El Patron dies though, Matt has to escape and has no power whatsoever. This is because there is no El Patron to protect him, and no one knows who Matt is. The Keepers at the Plankton Factory have power too. That is, until Matt comes and proves to be smarter than all of them. They get mad at him and try to control him. "I think the aristrocrat needs to understand why his behavior needs to be controlled." (318 Farmer). But, since Matt used to be the one with the power, he got out of everything the Keepers tried to do, including kill him. When Matt gets back to Opium, Ceclia says "We all belonged to him- the Alacrans, the bodygaurds, the doctors, Tam Lin, me, and you. Most of all, you." (372 Farmer). This shows how people had power throughout the book, but not always control. Matt got away.

Population Project

While doing the Population Project, I learned a lot of things. Since I spend 3 months just researching malaria, I know plenty of information on the disease. But the information I learned while doing this project wasn't as important as the other skills I learned. Usually while doing long term projects, I leave it all until the last minute. This project taught me that it is better to spread your work out over time, so it doesn't all pile up at the end. This way, the workload isn't as much, the project isn't as stressful, and most likely, the results are better. This will probably help me a lot in high school where there are many projects, from all the classes. Another thing I learned from this project was time management. I would always get my homework done, but I would usually leave it till the end after I went on facebook, played the piano, went outside, etc. With the Population Project, I had to learn to keep my priorities first or else, there was no way I would get any work done. Lastly, I learned how to write a research paper. The first time I wrote one, it wasn't very good, because I had no prior experience. This time, I learned not to keep repeating information (which is something I tend to do a lot) and keep my paragraphs concise. I also learned to use better words, and how to in-text and MLA cite. This will also be really useful in high school.
This is why I think I learned a lot during this project.

The Net Effects of Globalization

There are both positive and negative sides to globalization. Basically, globalization is the spread of cultures, ideas, technology, and economies making everything worldwide. One of the positives of globalization is better communication throughout the world. This helps in lessening fights and wars between countries. On the contrary though, weapons, bombs, and other items of mass destruction all go under technology. Because of globalization, third-world countries are able to get out of their shell and build a better economy. People are starting to get jobs because of off shoring and outsourcing. Then again, people in countries such as America are losing their jobs because of this. Globalization also disrupts traditional values and cultures because western culture spreads to countries changing their way of life. This isn't always bad though, it helps many people so they can live a better life. Because of globalization we have so many items such as TVs, cars, i-pods, computers, etc. People all around the world can eat food, wear clothes, and talk in languages from different countries. The world's shrinking so that people from all around the world can communicate with each other.
In my opinion the the net effect of globalization is positive. It is probably a matter of opinion, or and what age you are. It might not be such a good thing to my grandparents, for example, but for people my age, it's a great thing. In our generation, nobody could live without their i-pod, TV, cellphone, and Internet. Globalization is good because the world has been brought so much closer. I can go to an American school in New Delhi, and go out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant with my European friends. People from different countries can share ideas and technology so they can be even farther improved for the costumer, which is us. We can have friends from all around the world and talk to them on a daily basis because of technology.
This is why I think globalization is a good thing.

Image: http://www.cuc.ca/youth/socialjustice/globalization.jpg