Blog 18

In the 12th century, educated Asian and African individuals began to arise. During this period of time many leaders, such as Gandhi, Nehru, Sukarno, Mandela and Ho Chi Minh, With the India under British rule, they were able to develop their culture which bound their people together. British attacks on Islamic Ottoman Empire antagonized India's Muslims. After this war, influenza broke to wiping out millions of Indians. This is when Gandhi decided to make a move and start a movement to protest against racial segregation of Muslims. He also fought for women to help elevate their say in marriages. Shortly after, women were able to gain more rights than they could ever imagine. They were granted equal rights in divorce and child custody. The Turkish women gained the right to vote20 year before French women did. Iran had read wealth in oil and a solid alliance with the U.S. The White Revolution's purpose was to grant women the right to vote, modernize the country and improve lives/working conditions.

Blog 17

According to Catholic social teaching, it is frowned upon by God to ignore our less-fortunate neighbors and those who are in need of goods that are necessary for life. It is believed to be that God's gift of Earth serves to provide for all of his children, being everyone who lives on the planet, and not jus those who are fortunate and can afford. God also opposed those who hoard wealth and the fact that wealthy plantation owners in Latin America were succeeding as their workers were nearly starving. People who owned large property were also responsible for being able to provide for those who are in need and being responsive/available to them. No one officially owned anything materialistic since material goods were owned and created by God. Due to this belief, land or property can be taken and given to those who are in need of it even if it was formerly owned. 

In the nineteenth century social catholicism dedicated itself to improving the conditions of labor. To enforce prevailing labor protection, the government has became the answer to it. Doing this has included minimum wage laws and a few other regulations the give rights to workers. Rerum Novarum and the Laboream Exercens are to be two encyclicals are the most extensive treatment of labor issues. Even though they are years apart, they both share one common feature. Which was that they both had the tendecny to move back and forth rather quickly between abstract theological reflection and practical principles of worker justice. Both Leo XIII and John Paul II held an ideal of worker justice.

Blog 16

The Soviet Union was the first country to claim that they were communist. After World War I, many organized demonstrations to express their outrage. Many trade unions arose to defend workers interests and benefits for even independence. The Provisional Government was unable to meet Russia's demands and out them out of the war which caused aggression towards the government as many were demanding for their withdrawal. A group called the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917 as their leader, Vladimir Lenin, promoted the end of the war and land for the people. The Bolsheviks eventually called their party the "communist" party. The Bolsheviks then signed a treaty that took the Soviets out of the war and temporarily lost territory.
About 30 years after the Russian Revolution, communism hit China. The party that opposed the communist party was know as the Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek. The Nationalists promoted modern development meaning the construction of railroads, light industry, banking, airline services, etc. Women also began to gain more rights as their gained their right to vote and a Marriage Law outlawed arranged marriages, and made divorce easier. Women then learned to read and write as well as produce clothing, blankets and shoes. Japans invasion of China broke down the Nationalist Party.
For women, divorce and abortion was made easier for them. women no longer had to take their husbands surnames, pregnancy leave was granted for women who worked,
The two alliances that were formed during the Cold War were NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The border that separated the East from the West was known as the Iron Curtain. Tensions grew but no shots were fired. The Cold War was basically a stand off war between the United States and their allies and the Soviet Union and their allies. The United States and Soviet Union never fought directly due to the fact that their allies basically fought their battles for them. Nuclear weapons were used aside from the hydrogen bomb.
As China began to industrialize and welcomed foreign investment, their economy grew dramatically. Improved diets, lower mortality rates, declining poverty and massive construction all helped to improve millions of peoples' lives in China.

Blog 15

The reading talks about the different alliances between the countries of Europe. It also talks about the Germans' defeat in the Great War. The war made each European country mobilize. The war also mocked Enlightenment values of progress, tolerance and rationality. As the war ended, many' values and beliefs changed such as women receiving the right to vote, radios and movies started to be created, and people became more open about sexuality. The Great War also widely affected other countries out of Europe. Some could argue that it sparked the beginnings of the ideas of the Nazi party. The war also led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The Great Depression began in 1929 as the stock market crashed. The Depression led the rich to jack up stock prices as the poor became poorer.Banks had closed and many lost their savings. The unemployment rate plummeted as many shops had to close down due to their loss of savings and business. Adolf Hitler discriminated against those who didn't have blonde and blue eyes or who were not a part of who he believed to be the master race, also known as the Germans. Many were exiled to concentration camps, the most popular being Auschwitz. The Nazi government then became the aspect of German life. The Marshall plan was put into place by the Americans who seeked to aid Europe and Asia. They donated billions of dollars to rebuild Europe after all the damage that had been done after World War II. The Germans felt threatened by the Soviet Union which lead to the birth of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO split up Germany into two, the West and East. NATO was formed in order to keep peace between the allies and axis powers.

Blog 14

By 1912, China was unable to keep up with their internal expansion and growing population. They underwent a crisis where they were unable to effectively perform functions such as tax collection, flood control and public security. Eventually China lost its power as internal trade routes lead to a higher rate of unemployment and higher peasant taxes. The Taiping Uprising occurred alongside the crisis in China. Its leader, Hong Xiuquan claimed that he was Jesus' younger brother who was sent down to rid the world of demons. He called for the abolition of private property, prostitution and opium smoking. Hong believed that the Qing dynasty "poisoned" China. Differently from Confucian customs, the Taiping Uprising promoted equal rights for women. The Taiping Uprising then established their capital in Nanjing in 1853. From then, it took Chinas economy nearly a decade to recover from all its devastation. They also went through a phase of "self-strengthening" where they largely depended on foreigners for materials and machinery.
Opium had first been transported from Arab traders to Britain, American and China. It became a highly addictive drug known to relieve pain. Opium was traded illegal into China which dramatically affected their population growth. The legalization of opium became a hot topic for years but Commissioner Lin Zexu had opposed the legalization of such a drug. As the British defeated China in the second Opium war, the Chinese lost control over Taiwan, Vietnam and Korea. Western nations plus Japan and Russia then controlled all influence on China. Later during the nineteenth century, Japan became the leading force in the West. Japan's army became one of the most powerful as they were able to fight for and capture Taiwan, Korea and later on Manchuria. Japans big defeat of Russia became a huge wake up call and proved Japan's military strength.

Call to Action Day

Today was Call to Action Day and I decided to go to Fair Oaks Elementary school to read to the students. When we first go there it was bit awkward and I felt like the directions weren't very clear but once we got started with the kids, they helped us get a feel of their routine when they come into the reading center. For the first 10 minutes, we read a book to a student while asking them comprehension questions to make sure they're paying attention. After that we would use a white board to write out different letter combinations that form different sounds and try to help the student understand how to pronounce those set of letters and what words you can find them in. Once we were finished with that, we gave the student a book that emphasized that specific letter combination so they could get a feel of the different words you can find those vowel sounds in and why it is relevant. The last activity we did was we let the student read the same book they just read while timing them for a minute and seeing how many words they can read per minute. We completed that three times while setting goals for the student to reach. The first student I had a session with was such a sweetheart. He loved reading and he was good at it for a fourth grader. As we were leaving Fair Oaks, he ran up to me and asked when I would be coming next which made my heart melt. The second student I had was a second grader. He had a hard time focusing on the reading as he found everything to be a distraction. Towards the end of our session he was able to pronounce words that have the letter U with the letter E at the end (ex. Flute). He struggled in the beginning but during the session where he had to read the book twice, he started to get the hang of it. I really enjoyed today and found it very rewarding especially when one of my students came up to me which showed me that he really enjoyed our session. I am now starting to consider volunteering for elementary schools' reading center in Redwood City since I enjoyed having one-on-one time with the students and making a difference in their reading and comprehension skills.

Blog 13

the CST handout talks about how smaller nations are deprived of true self determination due to the fact that they were formerly controlled by larger countries and experience dependency. As European countries took over the New Word, Africa and Asia, they spread Christianity by forcing baptisms and conversions at gunpoint. These actions were hidden. Catholic teachings both taught others that they all have moral obilgation to care about world poverty and want to change the gap between the worlds richest and poorest lands. Catholicism also provided believers with suggestions and ideas on how to improve their struggles. Poverty in the cities mainly affected the bishops as they urged to make a difference and guide individuals towards the right path just as Pope Paul VI did.