September 29, 2020

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Chapter 21

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Why did the communist experiment, which was committed to equality, abundance, and a humane socialism, generate failed economies and oppressive, brutal, and totalitarian regimes? The first Communist Revolution occurred unexpectedly, according to Marxist theory, in the backward country called Russia.   Marxists thought that revolution would occur in the most advanced industrialized countries where the combination of class struggle by the industrial working class and the high productivity of advanced Capitalism would lead to a revolution in which the workers would control production and everyone would have plenty to live on. Unfortunately, the revolution took place in a backward peasant country that was very poor, illiterate, and wracked by a disastrous war. This was followed by a ruinous civil war.   The Russian Marxists did not believe their revolution could succeed without revolution in the West, especially Germany. However, revolution in Germany ...
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Chapter 6 Ways of the World

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Chapter 6 Africa benefited from its proximity to Eurasia. Eurasia had a great many wild animals that could be domesticated, which Africa lacked. However, once they became domesticated they became available in Africa. The proximity of North Africa to Eurasia allowed contact with Mesopotamia, which created cross pollination of their cultures. In addition, coastal North Africa was part of the Roman Empire and was used to produce crops, with slave labor. Camels came to Africa via Arabia and affected the development of a pastoral economy in North Africa and trans-Saharan commerce. The East African coast was an important port for trade between Africa and Eurasia. The Americas, on the other hand, were isolated from Africa and Eurasia. The only domesticated animals were llamas and alpacas in the Andes Mountains.  Therefore, there were no animals to pull carts or plows. Being lightly settled, there was very little interactions between different cultures. Also the geography was not s...
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Chapter 3 Ways of the World

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Chapter 3  Ways of the World  3. Do you think that these second-wave empires hold “lessons” for the present, or are contemporary circumstances sufficiently unique as to render the distant past irrelevant? Yes, the second wave empires do hold lessons for the present. As is a parent in Chapter 3 Empires arise, grow stronger, reach a peak, recede, and die.   Thus, the Empires of Spain, Portugal, and England no longer exist.   There are more and more expert opinions that suggest that the American Empire is receding and China is rising. The United States military, which has 800 bases in 80 countries, is being stretched thin as the US relies less and less on diplomacy and more and more on military action.       It has outsourced its industrial base to third world countries including China.   Similar to the decline in the Roman Empire, the taxes of the wealthy and large corporations are decreasing and the share paid by the less wealthy is i...
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